LEGO Minifigures Series 3 (2011)

LEGO Minifigures Series 3 (8803), January 2011: 16 figures including the Elf, Samurai Warrior, Mummy and Gorilla Suit Guy, plus the first bump codes.

LEGO Minifigures Series 3, set 8803, was the first wave without the figure barcode printed on Series 1 and 2 bags: instead, LEGO embossed small dots into the bottom seal of each bag, the so-called bump codes (Wikipedia, Brickipedia, Brick Fanatics). The official release came in January 2011 (14 January according to English Wikipedia), yet some shops – in the US, according to FBTB – had the bags in November 2010. FBTB posted “Dot codes for US Series 3” on 19 November 2010 (cited by Wikipedia), The Brothers Brick confirmed the same day that the dot method worked on bags it had bought, and on 20 November 2010 MostlyBricks found a series that “wasn't due out until 2011” already in some stores. Brickipedia records that later production batches used different dot patterns, so the codes were never a sure guide. The sixteen are the Fisherman, Pilot, Tribal Chief, Samurai Warrior, Snowboarder, Space Villain, Sumo Wrestler, Mummy, Elf, Tennis Player, Race Car Driver, Gorilla Suit Guy, Space Alien, Hula Dancer, Rapper and Baseball Player. The Elf comes with a bow, shield and cape, the Samurai Warrior with a sword, the Sumo Wrestler with a bronze trophy and the Mummy with a scorpion, while the Gorilla Suit Guy — a man in a gorilla costume — holds a banana (Brickipedia, BrickLink catalogue photos). After the lone Spaceman of Series 1, space now gets two characters: the black-armoured Space Villain with a red laser and the green Space Alien. The Fisherman has a rod with a fish, the Pilot has a helmet and a backpack and the Rapper brings a microphone and a boombox.