A Return To Originality

Brickmaster47

With all my preferred franchises becoming rather expensive - Star Wars, Pirates Of The Caribbean - I have started to move back towards LEGO's original themes, having have recently become enchanted by the wonderfully retro Alien Conquest and the pulp Pharaoh's Quest. These sets have great designs and strong characters and concepts, like the old Adventurers theme, and so I find myself drawn to their cheaper price tags than the insanely expensive franchise stuff. Is this happening to anyone else out there?

PerryMakes

Alient Conquest... cheap? You must be in a different market than me.

Let's compare a few sets from this theme you call cheap with a theme you call rather expensive, say Pirates of the Caribbean.

PotC
4194-1: Whitecap Bay 10.737c / piece
4193-1: The London Escape 10.820c / piece
4183-1: The Mill 10.956c / piece

AC
7065-1: Alien Mothership 14.421c / piece
7052-1: UFO Abduction 14.213c / piece
7051-1: Tripod Invader 12.115c / piece

What are you going by?

Brickmaster47

You must pardon my ignorance, us Aussies don't get piece counts on our boxes. I just compare prices at stores. But price aside, do you find yourself more towards the franchise sets, or LEGO original themes?

prof1515

I believe he's going by price, not price per piece. The cheapest Alien Conquest and Pharaoh's Quest sets cost $4.99 while the most expensive are only $89.99 and $99.99 respectively. In between, they follow a $9.99, $19.99 etc range whereas Star Wars and other licensed lines start at $10.99 and go much higher. It doesn't take into account price per piece but it does reflect the amount of money one has to spend to purchase the collection of that year.

PerryMakes

(first ... sorry for my tone there ... I'm having a really bad day!) I love those two themes. Like I mentioned a week or so ago, I'm currently buying THEM ALL :) But the power company keeps threatening to shut off my electric if I don't pay them, so this LEGO spree must come to an end, I'm afraid!

That's crazy they don't put the piece count on your boxes. I gather from a few other comments from down under that LEGO really gives you guys the old heave ho in several other areas as well.

Cheers ~ Perry

Brickmaster47

I believe he's going by price, not price per piece. The cheapest Alien Conquest and Pharaoh's Quest sets cost $4.99 while the most expensive are only $89.99 and $99.99 respectively. In between, they follow a $9.99, $19.99 etc range whereas Star Wars and other licensed lines start at $10.99 and go much higher. It doesn't take into account price per piece but it does reflect the amount of money one has to spend to purchase the collection of that year.

Thankyou, that helps explain my position. And like I said, we don't get piece counts on our boxes over here, or even set names, so I judge based on the price on the tag as compared to what I find the box.

NeilJam

The Star Wars license brought me out of my dim age (never actually had a dark age), and from 1999-2006 most sets I bought were from licensed themes. Since then I have mostly returned to LEGO original theme sets and have gone a little crazy with Kingdoms lately. I kinda lost interest in SW since most recent sets have been Clone Wars or rehashes of movie sets that had already been done.

Brickmaster47

That's crazy they don't put the piece count on your boxes. I gather from a few other comments from down under that LEGO really gives you guys the old heave ho in several other areas as well.

Oh goodness, yes they do. We've only just got Pharaoh's Quest, which I eagerly look forward to buying when the next payday comes around. Price-wise, I generally don't complain, but money is money, and what little spare I have I put into LEGO, and the rather high prices on POTC and Star Wars means I have moved back towards the other side. That being said, I hope to complete my POTC minifig collection via Bricklink. (Probably cheaper, too).

Eric

^ I'd love to begin scooping up some of this years brilliant 'classic' sets, but I can't seem to bring myself to pay the inflate Aussie prices. I just keep putting them off 'til next month, but the year is already half over, and I still have no money... :(

bluelion3

My LEGO formative years were from 1977-1983 or so. Classic Space is gone but I still occasionally enjoy a nice little Town (City) set. I have the two smallest Pharaoh's Quest sets but no Alien Conquest sets (yet?). Being "old", I prefer the LEGO sets from the original Star Wars Trilogy to the prequels or Clone Wars. I received the Landspeeder as a gift and I will get the new Millennium Falcon because I missed the others, but not many Star Wars sets have struck me as must-haves lately.

My two-year-old son is crazy for LEGO trucks, so we have gotten mostly City Sets lately. He can understand City sets but it's hard to explain Star Wars, Pharaoh's Quest, and Alien Conquest to a little boy. Looking back at the sets I had a child, it makes me wish LEGO would create some small, simple sets in the same style as, say, Town circa 1978, with cars no wider than four studs. With a little boy, sturdiness is a factor!

Robb

^ I agree. I have a toddler who also loves to play with our Lego cars. The fire engine from the Fire Brigade has to be rebuilt daily, and even the City small car is easily dismantled by his hands. I found that the Airport Building set (mostly just a set of bricks and wheels) has instructions for some fairly sturdy vehicles that he is less able to tear apart. Most other sets don't stand a chance against him.

Of course he loves Duplo too, but I think he already recognizes that Lego bricks are the big boy kind.

war44lock

Ha my little boy is the same, LEGO is not just for building with it's also for tearing down! He has that mastered. I can't wait for him to build with me though. As for the topic, not only have I moved away from Star Wars sets lately (not a clone wars fan) but I'm also selling the clone wars sets I do have so I can buy up some more Pirates sets and get financially ready for the release of the beautiful new Kingdoms sets, can't wait for them. I'm in New Zealand so the prices mean some sacrifices must be made unfortunately.

madforLEGO

Plus I think you may (I said may) have a better chance at seeing the Lego 'original' lines go on Clearance to remove stock more readily than a licensed line as well.

sonsofsceva

My boys actually favor the original lines, Pharaoh's Quest, Kingdoms, Alien Conquest, and the City Space stuff. Those are the pages in the LEGO catalogue they examine (at 5 & 3 yrs.) much more than HP, PotC, or Cars 2. They love the PQ video game on the website also.
That being said, the new superhero stuff next year will garner ALL of their attention.

Brickmaster47

Having have recently just heard about this Marvel/DC/LEGO event, I'm rather attracted (having have just reconciled my obsession with LEGO Batman), but I guess I'll need to see the LEGO original themes for next year as well before I decide where my money is going to go...