balladofwindfishes
Member
That box is actually really poorly priced. It's significantly cheaper to just get two medium boxes.. You'll end up with almost 1k pieces for roughly the same cost.
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Lego to cut 1,400 jobs and 'reset company' after sales drop
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That box is actually really poorly priced. It's significantly cheaper to just get two medium boxes.. You'll end up with almost 1k pieces for roughly the same cost.
I'm the same. I managed to get R2 and Red Five, but this, B Wing, Y wing and ISD are too much now that they are out of print.
Price itself isn't my issue, price for what I'm getting is. No issue with the new mf for example, will be ordering!
This is what I'm most likely to do.
bonesmccoy
Banned
I find of all the set's I've picked up in the past 5-6 years, the castle/medieval sets age the best.
Other than the Star Wars ship sets. <3
SiegfriedFM
Member
One time I was in Barnes & Noble and saw this for $60.
I was like...who the fuck is buying this shit for $60?
Is it supposed to be for kids? Is it for adults with too much disposable income?
Lego has been enabled for far too long.
Funny, this exact, random set from 2012 was used in the exact same argument in another similar thread here. If you're going to drive-by troll, can we at least expect some originality?
PhoncipleBone
Banned
Infinite hours, since you can take it apart and make anything else with it. Rinse. Repeat.
I'm generally fine with pot smoking, but not murder.
It's not hypocritical to think one law is unjustified but another is.
balladofwindfishes
Member
Unless you build particularly quickly, I've found that the 25-50 dollar sets take me between 1.5 to 3 hours to do. I just did this one a couple nights ago and it was about an hour and a half
The one 150 dollar set I have took me 5.5 hours to build.
Unfortunately when everything is assembled together, all the mechanics get covered up and no easy way to access the chassis without taking everything apart again.
The model can only be fully appreciated by the builder.
And no easy way to add a working motor is also a disappointment.
If you're having to wait for sales... then by definition it's too expensive my friendThose of you who say it is too expensive, you have to wait and shop deals.
I got these for $30 this past black friday in walmart. I got 7 of them (that was the limit)
I do think it's expensive, but waiting for sales is just good shopping as well. Even decent priced stuff, I can try and find deals to save more money. Does that mean, by definition, everything I wait for sales is too expensive? The more money I save, the more things I can buy.
aygomyownroad
Member
I bought The lepin petshop and the lego one. The Lepin one is very good quality, some glass is foggy but for £40 delivered (compared to £120) is cheap as.
Want the Ninjago City but its far too expensive.
Want the Ninjago City but its far too expensive.
Bingo. Kids still want these sets (as do many adults) but they have inflated their pricing model way out of the sweet spot demographic. They will loose shelf space and mind-share. Unfortunate they seem to be taking the Games Workshop mentality of doing business.
I wanna open my box, but it'll take me a LONG time to finish it lol.
friskykillface
Banned
Here's my $30 set I just completed.
It retailed for $50
Stupid overpriced for a smaller ship than the first movie set
I have nothing Lego at home, still have no idea what a Ninjago is, nor do I have an idea what is going on in this thread, but damn, I clicked on that link for the city yesterday and now I want it.
Their pricing hasn't really changed. Lego sets have always been expensive. You just get more pieces for your money these days.
Ninjago city is 6 cents per piece USD. I'm sure TLG could sell it at a lower price point but how much lower? Less than 5 cents per piece?
It's a collectors set aimed at a specific audience. Pricing it $50 less is not going to get your average consumer interested in it. You would have to be crazy to think TLG would price it under $200.
It's a collectors set aimed at a specific audience. Pricing it $50 less is not going to get your average consumer interested in it. You would have to be crazy to think TLG would price it under $200.
That set is frigging awesome and one of my all-time faves.
The last Chima sets were released in 2014, I think.
Those of you who say it is too expensive, you have to wait and shop deals.
I got these for $30 this past black friday in walmart. I got 7 of them (that was the limit)
Even the Lego Classic is still really expensive for what it is. Even though you get a lot of pieces, the pieces come in 20 different colours so you end up with 3 or 4 pieces of each one. That's why you bought 7 of them.
I will also be getting a couple of boxes soon.
I just checked it out, damn the Lepin quality is excellent.
LOL no way bro, I bet Ninjago City ends up in a lot of Top 10 lists later this year. It's so colorful.
I can't believe its US$299 in the US though and AU$499 in Australia. Urghhh...
It seems there are plenty people in this thread that are interested in LEGO products but think they're too expensive. There doesn't seem to be a lack of interest and to be honest TLG still had a great year. Same can be said for Apple (they grew for years before finally seeing a small decline).
However you can't seriously think that TLG should price their products at knockoff price points. It seems that some people are going to go with the knockoff unless TLG substantially reduces their prices by more than half. That is not going to happen.
However you can't seriously think that TLG should price their products at knockoff price points. It seems that some people are going to go with the knockoff unless TLG substantially reduces their prices by more than half. That is not going to happen.
It's just a huge dilemma for Lego.
They have something at all the different price points, but obviously people want the bigger sets. Perhaps they should just increase the piece count for all their sets. That way people get a better deal and Lego's bottom line isn't effected?
I bought 7 because they were only $30 for each one, and I donate them to critical care kids.
I would have purchased more than seven, but they wouldn't let me.PhoncipleBone
Banned
But by increasing the piece count, that would drive the cost up. Even if they kept the MSRP the same, increasing the piece count would negatively affect LEGO's bottom line. The only way that would help LEGO would be to increase the MSRP, which is counter productive to what a lot of people are asking.
I couldn't see this article linked anywhere in this thread.
https://therealityprose.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/what_happened_with_lego/
It's a comprehensive, data-driven analysis of The Cost Of Lego over the years, and an attempt to explain the "Why is Lego so expensive these days?" meme.
https://therealityprose.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/what_happened_with_lego/
It's a comprehensive, data-driven analysis of The Cost Of Lego over the years, and an attempt to explain the "Why is Lego so expensive these days?" meme.
PhoncipleBone
Banned
Data and facts have nothing to do here! We must have knee-jerk reactions!
But in all seriousness, thank you for that link. It is well done and shows that LEGO has always been pricey. I am glad that that article brought up the fact that the average set price has actually stayed the same, it is just that they have more sets on the shelves now.
I am curious as to what percentage of sets released are actually above a certain dollar point, such as $60.
Polioliolio
Member
This is the problem so many corporations go through and it's the same for all of them.
Cut jobs? Two things.. First of all, you aren't making a profit? Really? You really aren't making millions of shitty dollars on this plastic crap, that you have to cut jobs? I don't believe you. I believe you could not cut jobs and raise the wages of all your workers and still be making a profit.
Second.. Cut the prices! Christ. I like Legos, but I will never buy anything that isn't second hand. The prices are out of control.
Cut jobs? Two things.. First of all, you aren't making a profit? Really? You really aren't making millions of shitty dollars on this plastic crap, that you have to cut jobs? I don't believe you. I believe you could not cut jobs and raise the wages of all your workers and still be making a profit.
Second.. Cut the prices! Christ. I like Legos, but I will never buy anything that isn't second hand. The prices are out of control.
I'd guess that Lego's problem is they aren't charging enough. Over the past 10 years or so they've released more and more licensed products. They have to pay their brand partners on these so their margins aren't as high as on their original product lines. In the case of a brand like Star Wars that cost is likely offset by the high demand for those products. However, over time you're selling products at a lower margin, while also diluting the Lego brand and taking risks on licenses that might not be as successful as projected.
Just off the top of my head here are some of the licensed products I can think of that have been released in the last few years:
Minecraft
Star Wars
Marvel
DC
Moana
Frozen
Scooby Doo
Big Bang Theory
Wall-E
Ghostbusters
Jurassic World
Cars
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
And I'm not a collector, just a parent who has bought a number of Lego sets over the past couple years.
The Lego sets such as the 3-in-1 Creator ones give much more value for the money and are much more fun to build in my experience. Plus I know they aren't going to release a re-colored version in another 6-12 months. However, a lot more of Lego's marketing and development are going to the licensed stuff.
Just off the top of my head here are some of the licensed products I can think of that have been released in the last few years:
Minecraft
Star Wars
Marvel
DC
Moana
Frozen
Scooby Doo
Big Bang Theory
Wall-E
Ghostbusters
Jurassic World
Cars
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
And I'm not a collector, just a parent who has bought a number of Lego sets over the past couple years.
The Lego sets such as the 3-in-1 Creator ones give much more value for the money and are much more fun to build in my experience. Plus I know they aren't going to release a re-colored version in another 6-12 months. However, a lot more of Lego's marketing and development are going to the licensed stuff.
They are. Sales just dropped is all. From the article, linked in the OP:
After 13 straight years of growth. It's not a big deal.
PaulBizkit
Member
Just lower the prices, for god's sake. I wanted to buy the Ghostbusters + Ecto-1 set (which is surprisingly small).. and the price turned me off in a matter of milliseconds
Marty Chinn
Member
Everyone says lower the prices, but what should those prices be exactly? How much should the Ghostbusters + Ecto-1 set be in your eyes? How much on average should you be paying per piece?
s_mirage
Member
Perhaps it is the smaller sets that they should lower the price on, especially to attract the kids market. If the larger sets charge less per brick and are still profitable, I question whether it's impossible to do the same for the smaller sets. It might be worth trying to see if there's an up-tick in unit sales big enough to counter the smaller margins.
While Lego has always been expensive, and hasn't really got any more expensive when adjusted for inflation, it doesn't exist in isolation, and IMO that could be a problem for it in the future. There are a lot more entertainment options now than there were in the past, and virtually every other option that appeals to kids has become cheaper in real terms. The value of anything is always going to be judged relative to the cost of alternatives, and those alternatives have become cheaper and more plentiful.
It would be a shame if Lego became singularly focussed on chasing whales in the collectors market.
While Lego has always been expensive, and hasn't really got any more expensive when adjusted for inflation, it doesn't exist in isolation, and IMO that could be a problem for it in the future. There are a lot more entertainment options now than there were in the past, and virtually every other option that appeals to kids has become cheaper in real terms. The value of anything is always going to be judged relative to the cost of alternatives, and those alternatives have become cheaper and more plentiful.
It would be a shame if Lego became singularly focussed on chasing whales in the collectors market.
A flat per-piece price doesn't really work for Lego. They have to share profits with the license holders so if they want to make the same money they'd need to charge more per piece for licensed products. If a set has a lot of custom pieces it will cost more to produce as well.
Bought and built and yeah, can confirm. It was (and will continue to be) the most money I ever spent on a lego set and it was worth it. I worked on it section by section for about 2 weeks and really does look fantastic even without being able to see the chassis.
So the new Kylo Ren ship is $80 for 630 pieces. YMMV, but yesterday Target had his command shuttle, over 1000 pieces, on clearance for the same price ($40 off). It's not the big sets or small sets that are overpriced. There appears to be a bit of wiggle room in either direction on those. The BB-8 is $100 and 1100 pieces. The Star Destroyer is $160 for 1400, Walker is like, 40 pieces less, but $10 less. There's zero consistency on the pricing. Everything between 500-1500 pieces legitimately appears to be priced based on where it landed on a dart board.
I think that Kylo Ren ship might actually be the worst priced lego set I've ever seen but someone more tuned in can probably find one worse.
My wallet is happy I haven't really found in modern sets what I really liked about Lego as a kid. I had a ton but ended up selling most of my bricks in bulk to my then brother in law. I do still walk through the aisles and stores because of my son and what I see here, and while some of it is interesting to look at, I don't see myself buying much. Maybe if they did re-releases or something, I'd love another Alienator.
Marty Chinn
Member
Sure, but on average it'll even itself out. Plus, I'm more looking at what do people expect them to be since everyone says they're too much. I bet a lot of people will come up with unrealistic price points.
clevbrowns94
Member
There are a lot of ways to cut costs. Less licensed products would help. There were hardly any licensed products when I was growing up. Also, they seem to be less piece efficient than Legos from childhood. I had the Space Monorail system in the early 90's, which was definitely one of the bigger sets, and it was only 700 pieces. Now, there regularly sets that are over 1000 pieces, some up to 4000, and of course, the Millennium Falcon is 8000 pieces. But these sets don't seem that much bigger than older sets, just more detailed. You could cut back on details and piece counts, cutting prices in the process. I think they are getting out of hand with piece counts, to the point where having 8000 pieces is the biggest selling point of the Millennium Falcon, forgetting that this results in a huge pricetag, not to mention there have been three other Millennium Falcons before if I'm correct, and it doesn't even seem that big for the piece count. They should also have more smaller and cheaper sets like the starter sets that give you a good amount of minifigures for the cost.
Lego should offer a build and return kit price.
I'd LOVE to build the new Falcon, but I don't have anywhere to keep it after it's done.
If I could buy it direct from Lego, build it, take it apart and sell it back to them like two months down the line for like $39.99 total I'd be down.
I'd LOVE to build the new Falcon, but I don't have anywhere to keep it after it's done.
If I could buy it direct from Lego, build it, take it apart and sell it back to them like two months down the line for like $39.99 total I'd be down.
That Porsche though, those kind of enthusiast model sets, it is a bit weird how they are almost trying to hide the fact it is made out of LEGO? Like they are proud you can actually build something that barely looks like LEGO.
Or to say it the other way around: If you are really into cars, wouldn't you want a smooth, cleaner looking hull for a model like that?
It is like they are trying their best to be like a really detailed model set but they are still a brand that comes from a tradition of having big round tops on their bricks and that identity got more and more bloated with all the thousands of extra bricks trying to smooth things out.
whatsinaname
Member
Any large Lego set you can easily expect 80% back if you put it on Craigslist. (More if you try to maximise the price by waiting or going to ebay).
If you can wait for it to go out of stock, I would be hard pressed to think of a set that goes for less than 100% of original price.
( I am talking about $75+ sets).