Uh-oh! Looks like LEGO is at it again! It’s becoming a time-honored tradition for LEGO to blackmail collectors into purchasing the latest LEGO video games just to have a complete minifigure collection. Two years ago it was the exclusive Elrond minifigure with the LEGO Lord of the Rings video game. Last year it was the awesome Iron Patriot minifigure with the LEGO Marvel video game. And this year? You’re going to have to pre-order The LEGO Movie video game from Gamestop to get your hands on the exclusive LEGO Movie Western Emmet minifigure…

If there’s one thing you can count on with LEGO, it’s that if something makes money, they’ll keep doing it! And one of their most successful marketing tactics over the last couple of years has been pairing a fan-demanded (but perhaps not totally essential) exclusive LEGO minifigure with video game purchases.

While last year’s big exclusive Iron Patriot LEGO minifigure was a character that most anyone would agree should have been a mass market release, this year’s release is a little bit more suitably niche–although definitely still an exclusive figure most big LEGO Movie fans are going to want! While the Western Wyldsyde minifigure is part of the LEGO Movie Minifigures Series of blind bags, the Western Emmet minifigure will only be available to LEGO fans who buy the LEGO Movie video game from Gamestop or EB Games in advance!

You’ll have to pre-order the LEGO Movie video game from Gamestop or EB Games if you want to add the LEGO Movie Western Emmet minifigure exclusive to your collections. The video game is due out on February 7, 2014–just a little bit over a month from now–and is available for all major video game consoles (including the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PS3, PS4, XBox 360, XBox One, and yes–even the Playstation Vita).

I really, truly hadn’t been planning on picking up The LEGO Movie video game, but LEGO has coerced me into placing my PS3 LEGO Movie pre-order with this latest promo. What about you, LEGO collectors? Does this promise of a theme-completing exclusive LEGO Movie minifigure sway you to pre-ordering the next (hopefully) great LEGO video game release?