Neil Hillman

Most people don’t realise I’m an even bigger geek than I let on. I collect LEGO minfigures, I have literally hundreds of them at home, including all of the “Collectables” series to date.

The Minifigure “Collectables” series come in opaque polybag packets, designed to stop you identifying which Minifigure you’re buying. But each packet has a faint “bump code” along the bottom, which can be used to distinguish the contents.

I have highlighted the Series 6 bumps with a sharpie and photographed them, (partly to help others, and partly to prevent myself buying the same figure twice)! I currently have 9 of the 16 characters, here are the Series 6 bump codes for the Minifigures I’ve got so far:

Minifigures Series 6 bump codes – Sleepyhead

Sleepyhead minifigure with a Teddy Bear. Feel for the teddy and spiky hair in the packet.
 

Minifigures Series 6 bump codes – Lady Liberty

Lady Liberty minifigure with a Torch and Book. No discernible bump code, feel for large skirt piece and flexible spiky hat in the packet.
 

Minifigures Series 6 bump codes – Flamenco Dancer

Flamenco Dancer minifigure with a Fan. Feel for large skirt piece and fan in the packet.
 

Minifigures Series 6 bump codes – Minotaur

Minotaur minifigure with an Axe. Feel for the large head piece in the packet.
 

Minifigures Series 6 bump codes – Leprechaun

Leprechaun minifigure with a Pot of Gold. Feel for the round pot of gold in the packet.
 

Minifigures Series 6 bump codes – Skater Girl

Skater Girl minifigure with a Skateboard. Feel for the skateboard wheels in the packet.
 

Minifigures Series 6 bump codes – Intergalactic Girl

Intergalactic Girl minifigure with a Ray Gun. Feel for her helmet in the packet.
 

Minifigures Series 6 bump codes – Butcher

Butcher minifigure with a Steak and Cleaver. Feel for the steak and cleaver pieces in the packet.
 

Minifigures Series 6 bump codes – Mechanic

Mechanic minifigure with a Wrench and Toolbox. Feel for the Wrench and Toolbox in the packet.

Among all of the story books my parents read to me as a child, one that really captured my imagination and always stuck with me was, “Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue“, (better known as “I don’t care, said Pierre”).

The book, by the American children’s writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, (best known for his book “Where the Wild Things Are”, 1963), came as part of a miniture “Nutshell Library”, along with three other books by same author; “Chicken Soup with Rice”, “One was Johnny”, (a counting book) and “Alligators all Around”, (a alphabet book).

I stumbled upon extracts of an interesting lecture on the practice of design by acclaimed New York designer Milton Glaser, a man with over 50 years in the business, in which he had some thought-provoking ideas on certainty vs. doubt.

“Everyone always talks about confidence and believing in what you do. I remember a yoga class once where the teacher said that, spirituality speaking, if you believed that you had achieved enlightenment you have merely arrived at your limitation. I think that is also true in a more practical sense. Deeply held beliefs of any kind prevent you from being open to experience. It makes me nervous when someone believes too deeply or too much. I think that being sceptical and questioning all deeply held beliefs is essential. Of course we must know the difference between scepticism and cynicism because cynicism is as much a restriction of one’s openness to the world as passionate belief is.“

I think Rumsfeld said it best when he said,

 ”We know where they are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat…” *

*Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, on ABC’s This Week, 30th March 2003.