At the launch of the Flagship Lego store in London Leicester Square in Nov 2016, AFOL’s and other LEGO enthusiast were greeted with a tremendous store spanning two stories and enticing opening specials. One of them was a chance to win a coveted Lester minifigure which was heavily used in the promotional materials leading up to the opening with every purchase above £55. This minifigure was very limited during the opening promotion (275pcs only) and was the source of many disappointed AFOL and collector alike.

The general information from credible sources was that the main reason why LEGO didn’t produce more of this minifigure was because the bowler hat was limited in number due to some production issues with the mold used to produce it. Resale prices were transacted at 1-2 thousand pounds at one point.

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Pic Credit Van Chiu (HKLUG)

Fast forward to October 2017, nearly one year after the grand opening and Lester has now been spotted on the racks of the Leicester Square store for £5.99 each
Stocks seem to be quite abundant at the moment but they are limiting the purchase to a maximum of 3pcs per household which is a good move to limit the scalping activity while allowing a little room for you to purchase one or two more for your friends.

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Image credit : Cakeinmilk

Head over to the store if you are nearby. As usual, the resale market has been awash with them after the news has spread around. It is now trading for about 3-4x the retail price set by LEGO but the limit set would probably curb bulk purchases for a bit.

ANY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE LESTERS?

Adeel Zubair has shared a photo of the original Lester from the opening in a FB group (in blister pack on the left) next to the new retail Lester. We do not see any difference between the two versions at all with the exception of the packaging and the additional umbrella on the retail version.

This is good news to all collectors in general with the exception of the few that have paid through the nose for what was first thought of as a limited release.
A good move by LEGO and let’s hope this is the first of many “limited edition” merchandise to be released much later on with a different packaging to maintain the initial exclusivity and also to include general collectors who don’t mind waiting for it.

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Pic Credit : Adeel Zubair