LEGO Minifigure Glossary: Terms Every Collector Needs

A LEGO minifigure glossary is a reference list of the terms collectors and resellers use to describe condition, rarity, parts, and marketplace shorthand, like CMF, MISB, part-out, and grail. Knowing these terms matters because they directly affect how a figure is listed, how buyers judge trust, and ultimately what price it sells for. I've been buying and selling LEGO long enough to know that a seller who mixes up "complete" and "MISB" loses buyer trust fast, and trust is most of what drives a sale on BrickLink, eBay, or Whatnot.

This guide walks through the vocabulary in plain language, organized by how you'll actually run into it: abbreviations, condition grading, completeness, BrickLink-specific terms, rarity language, and the sourcing slang resellers throw around in group chats and at conventions. I'm including a quick-reference table near the end so you can bookmark this page and check a term in a few seconds instead of digging through five different forum threads.

• CMF means Collectible Minifigure, LEGO's blind-bag series where mystery is part of the appeal.
• MISB, MOC, and NM describe how untouched a figure or its packaging is, and each one changes buyer expectations.
• Complete means every original piece is present and accounted for, not just "looks right."
• BrickLink terms like "new," "used," and condition notes work differently than eBay or Whatnot listings.
• Learning this vocabulary helps you price faster and avoid disputes, especially when you're scanning and listing a large lot.

What Do CMF, BAM, and Other Common LEGO Abbreviations Mean?

CMF stands for Collectible Minifigure, LEGO's numbered blind-bag series that started back in 2010 and now spans dozens of themed waves, from generic City figures to Star Wars, Marvel, and Disney lines. BAM usually refers to Build-A-Minifigure stations found in LEGO retail stores. Other common shorthand includes POP (part out potential) and BL (BrickLink).

I use these abbreviations constantly when I'm sorting a bulk lot, and honestly it took me a few months of scrolling BrickLink and eBay listings before they became second nature. If you're new, don't feel bad about looking a term up mid-listing. Everyone does it, including sellers who have been doing this for years.

A few more you'll see often:

• SW, HP, NIN are theme shorthand for Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Ninjago.
• LOZ / KO refers to knockoff or bootleg minifigures, which are not genuine LEGO and should always be disclosed if you're reselling them.
• POTC means Pirates of the Caribbean, a theme that overlaps heavily with the general Pirates collector base.
• Torso print or just "print" describes the graphic on a minifigure's chest piece, which is often the single biggest factor in identifying a specific character.

What Condition Terms Should You Know Before You Buy or Sell?

Condition terms like MISB, MOC, and NM tell a buyer exactly what state an item is in without them having to ask, and using the wrong one is one of the fastest ways to get a return request. MISB means Mint In Sealed Bag, MOC means Mint On Card, and NM means Near Mint, meaning it looks new but the packaging has been opened or is missing.

From what I've seen, sellers who are precise about condition terms build repeat buyers faster than sellers who just write "good condition" and hope for the best. Here's how the main terms break down:

Term	Meaning
MISB	Mint In Sealed Bag, meaning the original polybag or box has never been opened
MOC	Mint On Card, used for figures still attached to their original blister card
NM	Near Mint, the figure looks unused but is no longer in original packaging
Used	The figure has been assembled, displayed, or played with, and may show wear
LNC	Like New Condition, a step below NM, sometimes with light print wear

What Makes a Minifigure "Complete" Versus "Incomplete"?

Complete means every original piece the minifigure came with is present, including head, torso, legs, hair or helmet, and any accessory it originally shipped with, like a weapon, tool, or cape. Incomplete means at least one of those pieces is missing or has been swapped for a part from another figure.

In my experience, incomplete figures get treated like a completely different product category by serious buyers, even if the missing piece is a small accessory. A lot of resellers I know actually specialize in incomplete inventory because it's cheap to acquire and can be rebuilt into complete figures using parts sourced separately. I'd call this an underrated corner of the hobby. Most casual sellers throw incomplete figures in a junk bin instead of treating them as fixable inventory.

If you're working through a box of incomplete figures, cataloging what's missing before you list anything saves a lot of back-and-forth with buyers later. Tools like brick'em's LEGO minifigure database can help you confirm exactly which parts a specific figure should have shipped with, so you're not guessing.

Which Terms Are Specific to BrickLink?

BrickLink has its own condition and cataloging language that doesn't always match eBay or Whatnot conventions, and mixing them up confuses buyers who are used to BrickLink's system. On BrickLink, "New" means factory condition parts, "Used" covers anything that's been assembled or handled, and every part and figure has its own catalog number.

I started treating BrickLink as my reference point for almost everything because it's basically the Wall Street of LEGO. When I sort a new lot, I check BrickLink's catalog numbers first, then cross-reference pricing before I decide where to actually list the item. A few BrickLink-specific terms worth knowing:

• Catalog ID: the unique number BrickLink assigns to every part, minifigure, and set.
• Wanted List: a buyer's saved list of parts or figures they're actively trying to source.
• Store rating: BrickLink's feedback system, similar to eBay's but weighted toward long-term sellers.
• Lot: on BrickLink, this refers to a single listing of a part or figure in a specific condition and quantity, not a bulk grab bag.

What Do Rarity and Value Terms Like "Exclusive" and "Chase Figure" Mean?

Exclusive means a minifigure was only available through a specific set, event, or promotion and was never sold as a standalone item. Chase figure is slang borrowed from the trading card world, referring to the one or two figures in a CMF wave that collectors specifically hunt for because of rarity or character popularity.

Retired is another big one. It means LEGO has stopped producing that set or figure, which usually pushes secondary market prices up over time, though not always. I've seen retired figures that barely moved in price and others that took off. Rare CMF chase figures can carry serious value. I personally find it wild that a piece of plastic about two-thirds the size of your index finger can be worth a couple thousand dollars once collectors decide it's a grail, though I'd always recommend checking BrickEconomy or recent BrickLink sold listings for current numbers rather than trusting an old article, including this one.

Quick-Reference Glossary Checklist

Here's a condensed checklist you can scan before writing a listing, especially useful if you're batching a bunch of figures at once and want consistent terminology across every listing.

• CMF: Collectible Minifigure, LEGO's blind-bag series.
• MISB / MOC / NM: packaging and condition states, from sealed to opened but unused.
• Complete / incomplete: whether every original piece is present.
• Torso print: the graphic design on the chest piece, key for identification.
• Exclusive: only available through one set, event, or promotion.
• Chase figure: the figure in a wave collectors hunt for hardest.
• Retired: LEGO no longer produces this item.
• Part-out: buying a set specifically to sell its individual pieces separately.
• Grail: a collector's most-wanted, often hardest-to-find item.
• Lot: a grouped listing, though the meaning shifts slightly between BrickLink and general marketplace use.
• Manual: the printed instruction booklet. Common ones typically go for somewhere in the $2 to $5 range, though I've seen manuals for genuinely rare, retired sets list for upwards of $300.

What Sourcing and Selling Terms Do Resellers Use?

Part-out means buying a complete set specifically to break it apart and sell the individual minifigures, parts, or sub-builds for more than the set cost as a whole. Bulk lot refers to a large, often mixed group of figures or parts sold together, usually at a discount because the buyer takes on the sorting work.

A seller I know built an entire business model around buying bulk lots off Facebook Marketplace, sorting them by theme and condition, then relisting individually on BrickLink and eBay. That's basically the classic reseller engine in this hobby: buy messy, sell organized. When I sell on Whatnot, I'll sometimes bundle lower-value figures into a "grab bag" lot to move inventory that wouldn't get bids individually, which is a different use of "lot" than what you'll see on BrickLink.

Terminology mistakes get expensive once you're pricing at scale. I've personally sold over $100k worth of LEGO on eBay, and one thing I learned early is that eBay's promoted listings can push your effective take rate close to 25% of a sale once fees stack up, so mislabeling a "used" figure as NM and eating a return only compresses margin further. It's a similar story on Whatnot. I built my account to 3k plus followers and $30k plus in sales in about five months, and getting condition and terminology right in the show chat is a big part of what keeps buyers confident enough to bid.

Other terms you'll run into: "haul" describes a large purchase a seller shows off or unboxes, "flip" means buying low and reselling for profit relatively quickly, and "grail" is a collector's most-wanted item, the one they'd pay well above market for if it showed up.

How Should You Use This Glossary When Pricing a Collection?

Use this glossary as a first pass to correctly identify condition, completeness, and rarity before you touch pricing, because pricing tools are only as good as the terms you feed them. If you list a figure as "complete" when it's missing an accessory, any price estimate you pull will be wrong from the start.

I recommend running your collection through a proper valuation tool once you've got the terminology straight. brick'em's LEGO collection value calculator and LEGO investment calculator both work better when you've already sorted figures into accurate condition and completeness buckets, since that's the input that actually drives the output. If you're just getting your inventory organized for the first time, our blog has more guides on sorting workflows, and you can also create a free brick'em account to start scanning and identifying figures directly instead of manually cross-referencing catalog numbers.