All Star Wars minifig collectors should be familiar with this site listing everything that has been released or released when it comes to characters from the series. 

Each minifig is documented and a link even returns to Bricklink to have a price estimate. 

The author of the site is rather responsive, the photos are real snapshots and the result is simply stunning.

Meet without further delay on http://minifigs.nl/swminifigs/mfnl-all.html to check if your collection is up to date, and go hunting for minifigs that you are missing ......

Received my order for series 3 minifigs today.

After the satisfaction of opening the box, I now have the biggest thing to do: sorting.

The small dots are visible at the bottom of the bags but it seems that the European version uses a different "secret" code from the US versions.

I would get to work during the week, trying to put together complete sets.

I even read on some blogs that snags have implemented a technique of "palpation" of the bag to recognize the minifig blindly ... Without going that far, I would do my best.

For info, my Bricklink store is located at this address, I sell my doubles or the sets that I replaced in my collection with versions in better condition.

Finally, here is an up-to-date guide that allows you to identify the contents of the Series 3 minifig sachets with almost no risk.

It is no longer a question of a unique barcode but of marks on the bag allowing to guess the minifig it contains.

To print and to use discreetly during your next purchase, so as not to annoy the seller but to be sure to get the 16 minifigs at the best price and avoiding duplicates.

Click on the image to view a printable format.

In addition, you will find here what to identify the minifigs series 1 & 2 without too much effort:
http://bricks.inof.de/docs/minifig-barcodes/

For those interested, here is a comparison between the different C3-POs that I have on hand, a plastic model from Star Wars magnet sets, the C3-PO Limited Edition (10.000 copies) and the two C3-POs received via eBay.

The observation is clear, the last two are no match, they are really mediocre and do not really honor the brand, even if I am torn between outright counterfeiting and the work of a passionate AFOL who s It is risky to reproduce the original minifigure.

Below are some clickable photos of these weird minifigs.