Case layouts no more?

[davemoseley]

Does it feel as though Funko has decided to make things harder for us recently? I remember with previous series', the cases would form a predictable layout... it feels like GOT S2 was the last set to be reliable for this. Now, looking at everyone's Supernatural unboxings... sure, the case letters contain the same chase figures, but their placement in the box is varying wildly. I've also watched a few case unboxings for Minions and seen wildly different placements.

Is this a conscious decision, do you think, to make things fairer for everyone? And how do you feel about that?

I know personally it makes buying single boxes in the wild much more of a 'risk'... and I feel as though it pushes people to cheat the system more. Particularly at BAM, I saw an entire case of Supernatural minis that were out of shrinkwrap with a small sticker keeping the tabs together... someone had obviously bought the case, carefully opened the boxes (which has also gotten easier it seems, no more tearing the box to pieces) and felt through the bags to determine the figures before returning the commons.

[Valde]

Harder for who? I feel that unpredictable layouts make it harder for cherry pickers, which I dislike a lot. No matter if you need some of the rares to complete your set or someone wants those to put up on eBay, nobody should know where they are going to be. countless times I would go into Hot Topic and see full cases with 2 missing, and that point I don't even bother because I know one of those people came in and ruined the fun for me.

As far as the opening boxes and putting them back in that's a whole other problem.

[MadLove]

With larger series like supernatural they come shipped in a cardboard box labeled"assortment a" or "assortment e" (highest I've seen is "f" for supernatural) so unless you can verify which case assortment it's pulled from then yes, it will be difficult and that's the point. They're designed to be traded with people. You're supposed to keep buying them until you get the one you want-retailer runs out, buys more, Funko makes money. I personally love blind boxes because I love trading. I love the anticipation and surprise and excitement if I luck out and get a chase. The more difficult it is to predict, the better: more trade fodder.

[saban]

I think it's a conscious decision on their part because of those that cherry pick (which I am totally guilty of myself for GoT series 2 yet still ended up with 5 Jon Snows). I also think it pushes people to buy the whole case because they know that there's a rare somewhere in there. I know it has worked for me personally. Plus making them all similar weights has also cut down on people buying only a specific character like with the dragons, Hulkbuster and Marshmallow.

So they make money and the mystery mini process is much more fair to the general public. Good for them, bad for my bank account.

However I do wish there weren't so many 1:12 characters and more 1:24 tbh. I have way too many Sams, Deans and Crowleys.

[Nenja]

I'd much prefer it to be harder for people to know what they're getting. I'm more than happy to buy a case, but walking into a store to find a case with 11/12 figures is irritating. And for sets where the most sought after figure is heavy, guaranteed that's always the one missing, so now I have gaps to fill and will have to pay 200%+ to do so.