Confirmed: how to tell LEGO Minifigures Series 25 apart using box codes

Still hunting for LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71045 Series 25? There’s now a fool-proof way to tell what’s inside each blind box using a code on the packaging.

This is the second LEGO Collectible Minifigures series to come in cardboard boxes following 71039 Marvel Series 2, and the move away from foil bags has made their contents impossible to identify… until now. Redditor wesandell claimed to have found a way to tell what's inside individual boxes of 71045 Series 25 minifigures a little under two weeks ago, prompting much trial and error from fellow fans keen to replicate their results.

We've now been able to test this method ourselves using boxes of minifigures found at retail in the UK, and can confirm that it does indeed work as suggested. Scanning a code on the bottom of each box will reveal its contents – as long as you know what you're looking for.

The key is in the data matrix code (which resembles a smaller QR code) on the bottom of the boxes, next to the regular barcode. All boxes contain some kind of code here: one very small, and one a little bit bigger. It’s the larger one you’re after. Scanning this code using either your built-in camera on Android or a reliable third-party code reader on iOS will return a string of four numbers, which look something like this:

6472867 245S3 13916839 000341

The first section will allow you to ascertain which minifigure you’re currently holding. The codes appear to vary slightly between regions, which is apparently a result of the factory they’re produced in: either Mexico for the US and Canada, or Czechia for the UK and Europe. You can tell the difference from the five-digit code underneath the data matrix on the box, which is also the second code in the string above.

If the fourth digit is ‘R’, you’re holding a box produced in Mexico, and will need the US codes. If it’s ‘S’, you’ll need the UK/EU codes. Check out the tables below to see which codes correspond to which minifigure in 71045 Series 25, courtesy of FourBricksTall.

LEGO Minifigures Series 25 codes – UK/EU

LEGO Minifigures Series 25 codes – US

We’ve tested all 12 of the different UK/EU codes on boxes produced in Czechia, and they’re a complete match for their contents. Remember that you’ll need to find a case of minifigures with the larger codes on the bottom of the box: earlier batches with the tiniest codes won’t return the correct string of numbers to identify the character inside. This is still a much easier way of finding the specific minifigures you’re after than weighing the boxes, though.

The LEGO Group has not formally declared this as a way to figure out what’s inside Collectible Minifigures boxes, so there’s a good chance it could just be a code for internal use that the community has stumbled on – and in that case, it could well be removed for future series (or even later production runs for this series). But there’s also a chance that it is a sneaky solution to the mass destruction we’ve seen on shelves since the switch to cardboard boxes.

After all, the very first Collectible Minifigures series (way back in 2010) included bump codes on the foil bags that allowed keen collectors to instantly tell which minifigure was hiding inside. The LEGO Group took that away in the spirit of blind purchases, but these scannable codes feel like a modern-day equivalent.

And if it is intentional, it’s difficult to imagine the company shouting it from the rooftops: it would likely still want the vast majority of purchases to be blind, given that’s the entire point behind the packaging. This solution just tempers the frustration of those who know where to look. What effect that might have on the rampant tearing apart of boxes remains to be seen, of course.

71045 Series 25 is available now. Check out our full review of the latest series of Collectible Minifigures to decide which ones you want, then head down to your local toy store, LEGO Store or supermarket with a code reader (and the tables above) in hand…

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