In a bit of surprising and puzzling news, “Nintendo Micro” figures have been spotted on GameStop’s website.  These are clearly the Micro Land figures that Jakks Pacific discussed at Toyfair a few months ago.  The name could be a mistake on GameStop’s part or perhaps Jakks Pacific are rebranding the line.  Part of me wonders if they aren’t just making Micro Land figures that are only released in blind boxes and no more playsets.  Blind bags/boxes are very popular and seem to be low risk for many companies so this is a possible explanation.  Perhaps the final product will look like what was spotted at Toyfair below?

What many Micro Land fans will not like seeing is that GameStop and/or Jakks Pacific is apparently charging $4 for one figure!  Of course, this is one random figure so it would be really easy to get repeats and at $4 each, I’m not sure how many existing collectors will buy these blindly.  The fact that they are boxes mean there is no way to feel the blind bag before you buy it and at least guess who might be getting too.  That doesn’t bode well for the success of this product in my opinion.

Another thing that is interesting and surprising is that according to the picture above from GameStop’s website, the Blind Boxes are apparently going to have characters from all different waves instead of just original Series 1-1 figures which are rare nowadays.  Gold Mario and Nabbit in the same series is not what I expected, but is fine and will certainly appeal to new collectors.  The Nintendo Micro Blind Boxes hit stores August 1 and preorders are available on GameStop’s website if you’re interested.  There are a lot of strange decisions when it comes to this first look into the next Micro Land release.  I was not too excited about the news of blind bags overall and I’m even less so about this.  If we don’t get new playsets, I can’t see Micro Land being successful in the long run, especially not at $4 a figure.  What do you think about this news?  Better Blind Boxes than nothing?  Let us know in the comments below!