If you've ever looked up a LEGO minifigure online, you'll have seen codes like sw0450, hp150 or col005. They look cryptic, but once you know how they work they're the fastest way to find out exactly which figure you have — and what it's worth.
Where the numbers come from
LEGO doesn't print a number on its minifigures, and the official set numbers on boxes don't identify individual figures. The codes everyone uses come from BrickLink, the biggest LEGO marketplace and catalogue. BrickLink gives every distinct minifigure its own item number, and buyers, sellers and price guides all use them — including us.
The letters tell you the theme
The first few letters are a theme code. Some of the most common:
- sw — Star Wars (sw0004 is a classic Darth Vader)
- hp — Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts
- sh — Super Heroes, covering both Marvel and DC
- njo — Ninjago
- col — Collectible Minifigures, the blind-bag series
- lor — The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit
- cty, cas, pi and sp — City, Castle, Pirates and classic Space
The digits and the letter on the end
The digits are simply the order the figure was added to the catalogue, so a lower number usually means an older figure. Sometimes there's a letter on the end — sw0036a, for example. That marks a variant: a figure that looks almost identical to another but differs in a small detail, like a helmet print or the colour of the hips.
Those small differences matter. Two figures of the same character can have very different values, because one version might have come in a single, short-lived set while the other appeared in dozens.
How to find your figure’s number
- Search by name and theme. Search BrickLink’s catalogue for the character, then compare the photos carefully — torso print, legs, hair and face.
- Check the set you got it from. If you still have the box or instructions, look up the set; its inventory lists every figure with its item number.
- Look at the back. Back printing and alternative faces on the other side of the head are often the detail that tells two versions apart.
Once you have the number, put it into our Sell Minifigures page for an instant offer. If you'd rather skip the detective work, upload a photo there instead — or, for a big pile, send us photos of the whole collection and we'll identify them for you.