Are Male Minifigures Worth More Than Female Minifigures?

18th September 2022

We recently investigated the levels of female representation in LEGO minifigures and found that there are significantly more male minifigures. This also got us thinking about whether there is any preference towards male minifigures amongst collectors. To find this out we looked at sales data on Bricklink over the past 12 months for each minifigure released between 2015 - 2019 and categorised the gender of them all.

This categorisation was not possible for all minifigures, predominantly due to the absence of a printed headpiece or if the minifigure was unnamed and non-human. Examples of these include Stormtroopers and droids under the Star Wars theme and Pyro Vipers under the NINJAGO theme. Many minifigures of skeletons, statues, and babies were also not possible to categorise. Sales data was not available for all minifigures, so any minifigure not sold in a “new” condition in the past year would not have been included in the analysis.

There are many variables that can be responsible for determining a minifigure's price, such as rarity, age, design, aesthetics, theme and character popularity, size, and uniqueness. To eliminate the contribution these factors might be having in determining the price of minifigures in our analysis we applied some exclusion criteria. These included:

• Irregular minifigures (e.g. brick-built minifigures))
• Over or under-sized minifigures (e.g. Big figs, statuettes, babies)
• Limited edition minifigures (e.g. Comic-Con exclusives)

We also broke the analysis down into themes to further make the minifigures being compared more similar, and the results more relevant and accurate. For example, it would not make sense to compare Star Wars minifigures with City minifigures, as those from Star Wars tend to be more desirable and therefore more valuable. The 2015 - 2019 period was selected to ensure that the vast majority of minifigures would come from retired sets, while still having a time period that is representative of the current situation.

Results

The table below displays the average sale price for male and female minifigures across a number of LEGO themes. To make the average figures more reliable, we've only included themes which had data for at least five male and five female minifigures.

Theme	Male Minifigures - Avg. Price	Female Minifigures - Avg. Price	Price Difference
Ghostbusters	21.58	12.46	9.12
Dimensions	9.18	4.88	4.2
Collectable Minifigures	8.39	5.21	3.18
LEGO Brand	6.14	4.07	2.07
Ideas	7.68	5.93	1.75
Star Wars	15.42	14.37	1.05
Jurassic World	4.99	4.02	0.97
Speed Champions	3.23	2.52	0.71
Superheroes (Marvel + DC)	9.97	9.48	0.49
Hidden Side	1.85	1.63	0.22
City / Town	2.03	1.91	0.12
Harry Potter	4.61	4.52	0.09
LEGOLAND	2.57	2.64	0.07
Holiday / Seasonal	2.74	3.04	0.3
NINJAGO	5.33	5.96	0.63
Legends of Chima	3.59	4.64	1.05
Nexo Knights	4.1	5.82	1.72
Incredibles	6.34	8.07	1.73
The LEGO Movie	4.46	8.45	3.99

The average price of male minifigures was greater than that of females in nearly two thirds of the themes included (12 out of 19). On average the price difference between the two sexes was greater for themes where male minifigures were more expensive (£2.00) than for those with more expensive female minifigures (£1.36). These findings show that in general male minifigures are more desirable and expensive than their female counterparts.

Within licensed themes, this can potentially be explained by male characters having a stronger appeal, as traditionally they have been the main protagonists who display more heroic qualities, while females tend to have less prominent roles. For example, with the Marvel and DC franchises there has historically been a focus on male superheroes. Fortunately, this dynamic is changing, and we are seeing more women cast in lead roles, as well as a shift away from men being portrayed as the stronger and more courageous sex. However, many collectors are of an older generation who would have grown up with predominantly male role models in TV and film, and therefore these are going to be at the top of their minifigure wishlist.

Regarding LEGO's own themes, the preference for males appears to be slightly less strong. City / Town, LEGO Brand, LEGOLAND, and Speed Champions are all themes without a narrative, meaning there are no distinct male and female characters. Instead, the minifigures depict generic personalities. Consequently, comparing male and female minifigures in these themes is likely to be more insightful as to the effect gender has on determining price. With the exception of LEGOLAND, where female minifigures are slightly more expensive, all show a preference towards men. Although there are no official statistics, it is likely that the AFOL community is male dominated, so it is reasonable to expect that they will exhibit a preference towards male minifigures in their collecting habits, which could explain our results.

LEGO are making progress regarding female representation in their products, so it will be interesting to see the effect this has on the desirability of women minifigures.

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