LEGO Polybags Available in the UK

Image courtesy of Brickset.com

Polybags have been a fun part of the LEGO hobby for years, available at various times as promotional ítems. In the USA big chains have been selling them for years, and now polybags are available to buy in the UK. This will hopefully see more of the polybags released here in the UK and make it easier for collectors to track them all down.



It has made sense that these have been available to buy in America for years, as there is a more of a ‘collecting’ culture there when it comes to toys. There is also no promotion where these things come free with a really cheap newspaper, so they don’t seem overprices. Here in the UK, the main source of polybags is the bi-annual newspaper promotions – a polybag free every day for a week with a cheap national newspaper. This might make it tricky to convince folk to part with their cash for something they are used to getting for around 45p.

Image courtesy of Brickset.com

Now these are being stocked at WH Smith stores for £2.99, which does indeed sound expensive when compared to 45p. However, bearing mind a Collectible Minifigure costs £1.99 it sounds a much better deal since most of the polybags available contain a mini-fig as well as some bricks. The most similar product sold for this sort of price in recent years were the little boxed impulse sets, and it was a shame to see those go.

Image courtesy of Brickset.com

There are many polybags released worldwide each year, and they never all see release in any country. Some show up everywhere, some only show up in certain places. Sometimes they are free with a newspaper, sometimes free with a certain spend in the LEGO store and some are only available for sale in the USA. Now, more of them should become available to UK LEGO fans as WH Smith will need regular stock. The one part of this that is a shame is that WH Smith have got these as exclusives, when they don’t do a very good job of supporting the LEGO product. They overprice the sets significantly, and it would be better if a nice product like these were being sold by real toy stores (especially if it were only independent stores as it would give them an edge over the big chains).

Image courtesy of Brickset.com

The initial selection includes sets from City, Star Wars, Legends of Chima and Galaxy Squad. Hopefully different themes will be rotated in and there will be some fun little sets to add to the regular releases. This would be a really good avenue for a product like the Female Minifigure Set currently under review at LEGO CUUSOO. It would also be good to get a few Star Wars polybags that include mini-figures rather than just mini models, as it has been some time since the last time that happened. 

So polybag collectors should get to WH Smith and see how the selection shapes up!