Some buyers enjoy the experience of assembling minifigs themselves.
One of the age old questions among LEGO fans is: should a brand new LEGO minifig arrive assembled or in pieces? According to Bricklink standards, “Minifigs may be listed as new either assembled or unassembled.” (Source: Bricklink.com Item For Sale Condition Help Page)
Although there’s no agreed upon answer whether or not to assemble minifigs, there are clear benefits and drawbacks to both strategies.
Some more complicated LEGO figures, like this Chima Eris minifig, require 10 or more pieces.
Benefits of Assembling LEGO Minifigs
One of the big benefits of assembling minifigs is ensuring that the minifig is complete. For example, it would be very obvious if an assembled minifig is missing it’s legs or head. The only times I’ve received incomplete minifigs from sellers was when the minifigs were shipped unassembled. The simplest minifigs comprise of legs, torso, head and possibly headgear or hair of some kind. Other minifigs contain 10 or more parts! The more pieces the minifig has, the easier it is for a seller accidentally ship an incomplete minifig.
Drawbacks of Assembling LEGO Minifigs
Assembling minifigs may be more labor intensive than shipping an unassembled minifig, especially the minifigs comprising of 10 or more parts. Also, some buyers enjoy the experience of assembling minifigs themselves. These buyers feel the same joy while assembling minifigs that they do while building an entire LEGO set.
A few final thoughts
The biggest concern for sellers is shipping a compete minfig, otherwise you’ll need to ship the missing pieces or refund the buyer. Nobody wants that, do they? For this reason I recommend the method of assembling. You’ll be better able to visually verify that assembled minifigs complete, increasing the likelihood of a complete order and happy buyer.