Category Archives: Most Expensive Minifigures

The Lego Figures that Traveled to the outer Reaches of Space with Nasa!

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EDIT:  These figures reached Jupiter yesterday for a one year orbit so I thought I would repost this article from 2014.  Also, I have been told by one of the people that worked on this project that a second set of these figures exists and that they are put on display from time to time.  🙂  See the details below!

Also..  I am waiting for someone to make a clone of these.  Hint Hint!

A few people have been asking about this figure and why it is valued at 2.2 Billion dollars.  I say that I think it is a little low at 2 billion and I will explain below.  🙂    Here are some details about these three figures from the original news article that NASA put out on August 3rd 2011.

Three Lego Figures go to Outer Space.
Three Lego Figures go to Outer Space.

This figure set of three tops the list of the 100 Most Valuable Minifigures of all time.

The three figures included in the set are

  • The Roman God Jupiter
  • Jupiter’s wife Juno
  • Galileo Galilei – “The father of science”

http://www.minifigpriceguide.com/Top100LegoMinifigures.html

“NASA’s Jupiter-bound Juno spacecraft will carry the 1.5-inch likeness of Galileo Galilei, the Roman god Jupiter and his wife Juno to Jupiter when the spacecraft launches this Friday, Aug. 5 2011.  The inclusion of the three mini-statues, or figurines, is part of a joint outreach and educational program developed as part of the partnership between NASA and the LEGO Group to inspire children to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics.”Jupiter

I was recently contacted as a result of this post by a former Lego employee that worked on developing these figures with Nasa.  Here is what he had to say.

Having been directly involved in the creation of these 3 figures (actually, a fourth one was made, but it got turned down by NASA), I am deeply honored to see them on the top 100 list of minifigures!

Actually, another pair of the three figures ex
ist.. As back-up… And they are indeed unique, as the bolts of lightning in Jupiter’s hand and the telescope and Jupiter ball in Galileo’s hands were specially made for this special event.”

WAIT!  Did he just say another set exists?  Where is lego stashing these?  Are they in a museum somewhere?  Does anyone know?  Let me know if you have seen them anywhere.

Here is the link to the original article.  Nasa Article

Here is a link of a copy of the Lego Press release that is posted here.  I made a copy because these things keep disappearing.

I did some research on what it would cost to go to Jupiter and pick them up, and it looks like it would be about 2.2 Billion.  And that is assuming that you could intercept the space ship and retrieve the figure safely and then return home.  All of these would add to the budget and I have not accounted for them.  Finally, you need to get it all done before the craft crash lands in 2017!

According to Fox News in this article ( Fox News Article ) The figures are supposed to made out of Space Grade Aluminum and cost about $5000 each to produce.    The figures will be mounted in the spaceship in the same way that Nasa has Mounted the other surgical instruments that will be used on the mission.  They have also been placed under Thermal blankets.

Someone should create a lego ideas project to recreate these three figures.  I think that would be a great set!

The spaceship will also include this plaque.  The plaque has a self portrait of Galileo and includes the following text.

Text from the Plaque

“On the 11th it was in this formation — and the star closest to Jupiter was half the size than the other and very close to the other so that during the previous nights all of the three observed stars looked of the same dimension and among them equally afar; so that it is evident that around Jupiter there are three moving stars invisible till this time to everyone.”

Here is the current status for the Juno spacecraft.  It is supposed arrive at Jupiter in July 2016.  After having traveled over 2.8 million miles.    It will then orbit Jupiter for a year.  Probably sending back all sort of useful information.   It will then intentionally crash land into the giant gas planet sometime in July of 2017.

Juno Current Status

What is Juno supposed to do?

Juno’s main goal is to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter. The solar-powered probe — its three tractor trailer-size solar panels the first to power a spacecraft so far from the Sun — will map the planet’s gravity and magnetic fields to learn what Jupiter’s interior structure is like. Juno’s color camera will provide close-up images of Jupiter, including the first detailed glimpse of the planet’s poles.

In addition to expanding scientists’ knowledge about the solar system’s largest planet, Juno’s investigations will provide clues about what conditions were like in the early solar system when Jupiter was forming. Knowing more about Jupiter’s origins and how it evolved will also help scientists better understand the many planetary systems being discovered around other stars.

Thanks for looking

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Hungarian Horntail Dragon from Lego Harry Potter

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I saw one of these on eBay this morning that was complete and I started watching it to see what price it goes for!   Hungarian Horntail on eBay  I thought that I would pull up this old post and review it and see if it needed any information added to it.  See below….

A while back in 2014 I went on a mission to find and acquire a new Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail.  I wanted a new copy because these are prone to breaking and they are usually missing some of the pieces.   I also always try to buy new because I find myself really irritated when the used pieces that I just saved a few dollars on have a major flaw.  I just ran into this issue when I received an Avatar Aang figure with a scratch on his face.  I had to promptly go back to the seller and get a new one.  UGHH!

20160423_073336

According to the movies, the Horntail has the following characteristics.

  • Its back end is as dangerous as its front.
  • It is Native to Hungary
  • It is the most dangerous dragon breed.

He is currently 52nd on my list of Top 100 Lego Minifigures.  I have included certain animals in my list due to the fact that they are important to the theme and because people collect them with their minifigures.  I also included Smaug and a few others.  I will add the rest as time permits.

http://www.minifigpriceguide.com/Top100LegoMinifigures.html

The hungarian Horntail is a dragon that was included in Lego set 4767 called Harry Potter and the Hungarian Horntail.  This set (click to see) is also rather expensive due to the fact that it has Mad Eye Moody in it as an exclusive.

Lego 4767 Hungarian Horntail

After a huge search, I finally found one and it is even better than I thought it would be.  I am a huge collector of minifigures and this has fallen into my definition of a minifigure.  It is awesome.  I was also surprised to see how big it was.   It will definitely not fit on my display shelf.


At the time of this post, I was also in the process of finishing up my Harry Potter Minifigure Collection as well.  That is now complete if you want to see it here.

Lego Harry Potter Minifigure Collection

I am going to share with you my process of putting this guy together.  Please let me know if you like him.  If you do, I would head over to eBay or Bricklink and pick up a copy before they are all gone.  They are impossible to find in any condition, but especially new.

I believe that part of the rarity of this figure is due to the fact that people were done with the Harry Potter line by the time that this set came up for sale.  I think that people are ready for the Harry Potter Line again now, but they may have been saturated at that point.  I guess that you can only have so many Harry Potter minifigures in your collection before they begin to get boring.  I know I have been attempting to complete my collection of harry potter figures and it is silly how many exist.  At least 16, but I may have lost count.

Here are all of the pieces that came with the dragon.  My favorite piece is the tail.  It is awesome and it is a one of a kind.  The wings on this dragon are also jointed in two places that allows for the wing to turn a little, but not too much.  I think it was a good design and one that they should have used on the new Smaug dragon in the Hobbit series.  I think that it would have made those wings more usable for other MOC’s.

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (11)

Lets start with the head.  The head is ok.  This would have looked much better with a brown Smaug head.

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (13)

 

This is more fitting based on the movie dragon in my opinion.  However, this was several years ago and this may have been too complicated of a design for Lego at that time.

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (15)

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (14)

And the tail.  Nothing special in the tail yet.

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (18)

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (16)

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (20)

This piece is awesome!

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (26)

Now the hinges for the wings.

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (22)

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (23)

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (24)

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Notice the joint for articulation.

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (25)

 

And the horns.

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (27)

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (28)

 

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (1)

 

And Finally the wings!!!!!!

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (2)

 

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (4)

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (3)

 

Now the talons and the fire.

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (5)

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (6)

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (7)

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (8)

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (9)

Lego Harry Potter Hungarian Horntail 4767 Dragon Minifigure (10)

and the finished product.

4767_Set

20160423_073336

Thanks for looking!

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Inspired by Wired – How do the Lego Licensed Minifigure Themes Stack up in Current Value?

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Small Image here.What does it cost to collect complete lines of licensed Lego Minifigures - Small

Several Years back, (2014?) I picked up my monthly copy of Wired (Copyright 2014) magazine and I was greeted by this image.  I put an embedded copy of this image here for you to see.  You can see the full article or the full image by clicking here on the image below.  This original image below was Created by Wired Magazine.  The image above is the new one created by me.

I was wowed by this image and I really liked.  In fact, I liked it enough that I dropped about $75 bucks on several hundred yellow bricks to see if I could recreate the image.  I was distracted for a while and now I think that it is time to update this picture to include all of the current licensed lines.  Additionally, one thing that I did not like about this image is that the image conveyed what it would have cost you to collect all of the minifigures by buying each of the sets at the time that the sets were released and did not reflect what they would cost you to collect today.  It also used the height of the towers to reflect the number of sets that were released for each line.    So I set out to correct this.

Even with the above points, the image and the article were super cool and I suggest that you the article to see what they say.   You can also read a little bit more information over here on brickset.com.

Here is the first half of the image that I created.

What does it cost to collect complete lines of licensed Lego Minifigures Part a

Here is the second half.

 

What does it cost to collect complete lines of licensed Lego Minifigures Part b

Finally, here is a super big copy of this image with the best editing skills that Microsoft Paint has to offer!  You may click on it to zoom.  Warning it is huge!

What does it cost to collect complete lines of licensed Lego Minifigures

 

The image values are based on the following scale.

  • The first four cube blocks = 1000 US
  • Each cube after that equals 1000 US
  • if it is less that one cube high, then each 1 high plate is work about 100

Here is a summary of the number that I used which were based on the values in the price guide here. and the top 100 minifig price guide here.  I removed any impossible to get figures such as the solid Gold and Silver c-3p0 as you cannot really purchase those even if you have the money.

Star Wars 11000
Super Heroes 9000
Collectible Minifigures 2900
Harry Potter 1700
TMNT 900
Hobbit and LOTR 900
Batman 700
The Lego Movie 700
SpiderMan 500
Indiana Jones 300
Pirates of The Carribean 300
NBA 275
MineCraft 225
Simpsons 200
SpongeBob 200
Toy Story 200
Cocal Cola Soccer 150
Avatar 100
Prince of Persia 100
Scooby Doo 100
Speed Racer 100
Lone Ranger 100
Red Sox 100
Back to the Future 50
Ghostbusters 35
Big Bang Theory 25

When I set out to create this image, I had a few things working for me and a few things working against me.

Working for me I had

  • The figures to display
  • A passion to collect and display these things.
  • The yellow blocks to put them on
  • The estimated values of each of the themes if you look at the bottom of each of the line in the price guide here.

Working against me I had

  • Poor photography skills
  • A fairly limited camera.  I am using my Samsung S5 Camera Phone
  • Poor lighting.  It is really difficult to photograph Lego Minifigures

My pictures are based on what it will set you back to go and pick up all of these figures at current market value on Bricklink or eBay.   It does not account for the many hundreds of hours that you will spend hunting these figures down, or the joy that you will feel when you finally complete a line.  It also does not account for how irritated your significant other may get during your journey.  I wish you the best of luck.

Thank you for looking and please like my Facebook page if you get a chance.

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Official George Lucas Prototype Figure from Billund

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A few years back we learned of this figure in a few places.  FBTB.net reported on it here.

Here are a few pictures that I obtained from an individual that has (had) one of these. He no longer has it and he does not know of any others.  I currently have it valued at about $2500.

http://www.minifigpriceguide.com/Top100LegoMinifigures.html

Here is his detail info.

Here he is with my Orange C-3PO

George Lucas Prototype Figure With Orange C-3PO Prototype Figure Billund and Red Darth Vader Mask

Here is the front of George

George Lucas Prototype Figure Billund Front

and the back

George Lucas Prototype Figure Billund Back

They were shown at the the Fan Display at Star Wars Weekend in 2010.  They also made an appearance in the Star Wars visual dictionary as well in chapter 4.

Here is a post of Eurobricks that shows someone else that has one.

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=48016&st=0

Here is a Flickr account from the poster that shows a few views of the figure.  He is the same individual that posted on Eurobricks I believe.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/55256802@N02/with/5126903982

Image from Flickr user PJHibbs

Picture 15

and also from PJHibbs

Picture 14

One sold on eBay in 2013 for about 5,000.

Finally, does anyone know where these figures were displayed or where this picture was taken?

Prototypes Lego Star Wars Unknown Origin

 

 

 

 

 

I found the last few advertisments from 2007 for the Solid Gold C-3PO Minifigure promotion

This post and site contains Affiliate links. I may earn a small commission if you click on them. Click here for more details.

I order the rest of the club magazines that I was missing from Bricklink and I searched through them to find out what clips I missed when looking through these 7 years ago.  It is amazing that they did not make a bigger deal about this.

May June 2007 Lego Club Gold C-3PO

I found a few more pictures and I have updated the article to have all of the images.

DETAILS ABOUT THE 5 SOLID GOLD LEGO C-3PO MINIFIGURES GIVEN AWAY BY LEGO. WHERE DID THEY GO?

May June 2007 Lego Club Gold C-3PO AD

July August Lego Club Gold C-3PO

If you have any other information about these figures, please let me know.

Thanks!

 

 

2012 New York Lego Toy Fair Exclusive Captain America and Iron Man Minifigure Details

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Lego_2012_new_york_toy_fair_preview

photo courtesy of http://lego.wikia.com

As I have stated before, I am a huge minifigure collector.  But my first love was comic books when i was a kid back in the late 70’s and early 80’s.  So back in 2011 when when I heard about Lego getting possibly marvel and DC superhero figures, I was floored.  I thought Mega Bloks had at least the Marvel line tied up.  But then these two press release articles were released at almost the same time.

DC

http://minifigpriceguide.com/wordpress/warner-bros-consumer-products-awards-the-lego-group-license-to-create-lego-dc-universe-super-heroes/

Marvel

http://minifigpriceguide.com/wordpress/marvel-entertainment-and-the-lego-group-announce-strategic-relationship-in-construction-toy-category/

And just like that, they dropped a bomb on everyone.  I had not even heard rumors of all of this.  What did this mean to me personally?  It meant that I was going to have to stop collecting only Star Wars figures and look into the Super Hero figures also.

They then went on to announce that they will kick this all off with a few exclusives at the 2011 SDCC Comic-con.  I thought that is the end of my wallet.

http://minifigpriceguide.com/wordpress/wb-builds-on-lego-partnership-2011/  3000 batman and Green Lantern figures to be given away.

I will remind you, that my primary goal at the time was still collecting star wars figures and that these were a distraction from my main obsession.  So in February of 2012 when I was watching eBay and all of the sites for the exclusive star wars figure to be released that year as part of the 2012 Toy Fair, I was thrown off when I found out that it is was really a set of Super Heroes figures and not star wars figures.

“Iron Man and Bucky Barnes Captain America”

See here for current prices for these figures.

http://www.minifigpriceguide.com/detailPages/SUPERHEROES_sh028.html

and

http://www.minifigpriceguide.com/detailPages/SUPERHEROES_sh027.html

Here is the article on FBTB that originally informed me of this.  http://www.fbtb.net/2012/02/12/lego-toy-fair-exclusives-2012/

I immediately started watching ebay for every variation of these figures so I could catch them as soon as people started posting them.  Well me and every other Lego obsessed collector.

“Toy Fair 2012”

“ToyFair 2012”

“Toy Fair Lego”, You get the idea.

Finally, I found a few later that evening on 2/12/212 and they were priced at the ridiculous amount of $400 and I thought, those will never sell.  But sure enough, a few minutes later they were gone. 🙁  I continued to watch for more and finally an ebay member named Druid was selling one with the bag for $225 buy it now and free shipping.

“Toy Fair 2012 Lego Exclsuive Avengers 2 pack”

Note the misspelling.   I think that this is the only reason that I picked this up at such a good price.  BAMM!  I bought it and waited for it to arrive.

In hindsight, this was when people started paying silly money for lego figures.  Before this time, you could still get a Cloud City Boba Fett for $80 – $100 and Watto fir about $45.  After this, who knows.

These Iron Man and Captain America figures came with the two figures and a bag.  Some people were also including the lanyard as well which indicated which of the 125 figures that you received.  I did not get the lanyard with my set, but at $225, I was OK with that.  I did receive the bag, but I quickly listed the bag on eBay and sold it for $125 alone so my final price for the figures was only $100.  Not too bad I thought.

I sold the bag for two reasons.  I had not way to display it and it looked terrible.  It was dented from the figures and it was silly to keep it when people were willing to pay so much for it.  I am not sure if the was the right decision, but I am planning to keep these figures, so it will never affect me.  🙂

The Lego group produced 200 of these figures.  I have not been able to get a solid number, but I have met people that worked for Lego and stated that another 75 of these were produced and given away internally.  These did not come with a bag or the Lanyard, but they  are the same figures.

These two figures were modeled after the comic book characters instead of the movie characters as you can see in the images.  The other main differences with the figures as as follows.

Here is a side by side of the front of these figures next to the standard one that was released in the sets.

20141226_110845 20141226_110640

  • The shied that Bucky is holding is a much smaller and flatter circle than the one that was finally releases.  It is also made with much duller colors.
  • The iron man figure comes with a printed face instead of the helmet that was released later.  This is a more classic minifigure style.
  • The printing on each figure is obviously also different.
  • The faces on both figures are much more serious looking.
  • The Captain America is the Bucky Barnes version instead of the Steven Rogers version as was released in the sets.

Here is a side by side of the back of these figures next to the standard one that was released in the sets.

 

20141226_110929 20141226_110714

Here are two 360 degree videos of these figures.

Here is a picture of the bag and the figures and the lanyard.

Here is the back of the lanyard.

Lanyard Back

 

Details about the 5 Solid Gold Lego C-3PO minifigures given away by Lego. Where did they go?

This post and site contains Affiliate links. I may earn a small commission if you click on them. Click here for more details.

20141219_043035

Coming in on the list of top 100 figures at #2 with an estimated value of $10,000 to $15,000is the Solid Gold C-3PO

I have never been able to find any of these for sale, but I did find this very nice replica on eBay here.  I am thinking about pulling the trigger since I will never get a real one and the price is pretty reasonable.  It looks like he has sold 19 of these and the feedback is still 100% positive.

Solid 14K Gold c-3po Minifigure Replica

Way back in 2007, the Lego put out an announcement for a contest on the back of the March April 2007 Lego Magazine.  Nothing special was announced other than this and I remember seeing this and thinking that this is the end of my Lego star wars minifigure collection as they were about to release a minifigure that I could not have.

I had been carefully collecting every star wars figure and I am a bit of a completest.  It has always been all or nothing for me.   Before you ask, no, I do not have one and I had to get over this in order to continue my collection.  Lego Super Heroes helped me with that!

On the back cover of this issue, was the following advertisement.   “These are the droids you are looking for.  GRAND PRIZE FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN WIN ONE OF FIVE SOLID GOLD C-3PO MINIFIGURES Details in the next issue of LEGO Magazine!”

Back Cover

March April 2007 Lego Magazine Back

 

Front Cover

March April 2007 Lego Magazine Cover

I carefully cut this picture out and saved it with my bills thinking maybe I will get lucky or someone will sell it on eBay for a reasonable price.

A few months later, the next issue came.  The September to  October 2007 Issue.  I tore through this issue to see how I could win this.  Do I need to build a great creation?  Do I need to buy the most Lego?  Do I need to make a Lego film?

Front Cover

September October 2007 Lego Magazine Cover

On page 19 of the magazine, they had the following advertisement.  In the advertisement is a small blurb containing the following text.

September October 2007 Page 19

“Can you spot the golden C_3PO in the scene?  When you have found him, turn to page 24 to find out how you can win a solid gold droid of your own.”

I thought, I can find this!  Maybe the first person to find it and send in a note wins!.  Heck, I thought I am competing against ten year old kids.  How hard can this be?

Well I tried and tried, and I cannot find the gold figure in this picture.  I even looked again today.  Those must be some pretty smart ten year old kids I thought.  If any of you know where it is?  Let me know.

I still cannot find it.  I posted 4 more up close pictures to see if that helps anyone.

20141223_101314 20141223_101349 20141223_101409 20141223_101427

 

After my failure, I turned to page 24 of the magazine to find this ad.

September October 2007 Page 24 full

LAST CHANCE TO STRIKE GOLD!

“This is it – your last chance to enter to win one of five 14-KARAT GOLD C-3PO minifigures in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Star Wars?  For a chance to win, send a postcard with your name, age, address and daytime phone number to: Golden C-3PO Contest P.O. Box 1179 EnField, CT 06083.  All entries must be received by November 1st 2007!  5 winners will be randomly chosen from all of the entries received.  Winners will be notified in December 2007!  Dood Luck, and may the Force be with you!

WAIT…. I thought.  Last Chance?  Where was my first chance?  Then I looked at the date on the Magazine.  Did I miss one?  I went back and looked through my magazines and I did not have a May June 2007 issue and Nothing in the July August 2007 issue that I could find.

Quick Update.  I am going to order a May June issue off of Bricklink and see if I can find it.  8 years later, but Why not just for curiosity?

Here are the images that I was missing

May June 2007 Lego Club Magazine

May June 2007 Lego Club Gold C-3PO

May June 2007 Lego Club Magazine

 

May June 2007 Lego Club Gold C-3PO AD

 

and finally the July August issue had a very small reminder.

July August Lego Club Gold C-3PO

Someone just pointed me to this image on Brickshelf.  Is this the one I am missing?  I am not sure what this is from.

http://www.classic-castle.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=9913

hmm.  This looks like the same pic here taken from 2007 toy fair.

http://www.fineclonier.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=49

and here

Here is the motherload of images from the 2007 toy fair from Jedi Temple Archives.  See the first one below.

http://www.jeditemplearchives.com/swexperience/toyfair2007/lego/

So, I quickly filled out a card and mailed it in.  Then, I filled out a few more for my wife and kids.  Then I thought about that movie from the 80’s called Real Genius where Lazlo pulls up in an RV with all the stuff he won from the Frito Lay contest by using a computer to create millions of entries.  Hey, I write computer software…

http://www.fast-rewind.com/trivia_rgenius.htm

Then I say back and waited for my Gold C-3PO to arrive.  🙂  It never did.  But then, I thought I will watch eBay and

NOTHING!

Finally, in January February 2008 issue, Lego let us know who won.  These 5 people were announced on Page 19.   I was surprised that they posted the names.  What was Lego thinking.  People will hunt them down.

I thought, maybe I could contact them and see if they want to sell?  I also thought me and 5000 other people.  But laziness prevailed and I never did.

“STAR WARS GOLDEN C-3PO CONTEST WINNERS! ANDREW HOFFMANN CHRISTOPHER GIANCOLA ELIZABETH JACOME JASON MASEY CHRIS MELCHIN”

JAN FEB 2008 LEGO CLUB Solid Gold C-3PO

And that was it.  The hunt was over.  I did eventually find an article on Eurobricks with a picture from one of the winners.  See this article for details.

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=57185&st=25

I sure would like one of these to go with my other 600+ star wars figures.

Here is an update on the one owner that surfaced on EuroBricks.

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=57185&st=100

August 2014

“Over the last couple years I have had several folks seriously inquiring about purchasing this piece. At this time my son has still not sold it. He has entertained a couple of legit offers but in the end he can’t get himself to sell it. He starts college this fall and thanks to his hard work in high school and great test scores he is not in immediate need of cash. As I have stated before I will post if and when he sells this thing to keep everyone updated. On the flip side should anyone catch a sale of any of the other 4 I would appreciate a heads up to educate us on where the market is on them. Thanks and good luck.”

Jim H must be Andrew’s dad I am guessing.  He has stated that he knows the head comes off and he thinks that the arms and the hands move.

Here is another article over at Brickset.  I am not sure how I missed this one when I was poking around.

http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/799/solid-14k-gold-c3po/p2

Finally, I have heard rumor that Lego produced two more of these for Executives at Lego.  But that is just a rumor!

Here is the list of the Top 100

http://www.minifigpriceguide.com/Top100LegoMinifigures.html

and the Detail page for C-3PO

http://www.minifigpriceguide.com/detailPages/STARWARS_sw158g.html