Were LEGO Boxes ever shrink wrapped?

bitay

I am considering purchasing Hogwarts Express 4841 but it is shrink wrapped. Were Lego sets sold this way? The seller says she purchased it from an individual this way, she did not get it from a store. Thanks very much

BTHodgeman

The only sets I know of being shrinkwrapped at the LEGO Games.

I can personally confirm that I recall buying a Hogwarts Express from Target without shrinkwrap on it...

nkx1

I purchased many of these, most from amazon.fr, and I believe I bought some in the US as well. None were shrink wrapped. This is just my experience; I can't state with any degree of accuracy whether or not any were ever sold with shrink wrap. Although, in the 2 years I've been back into Lego and the hundreds of sets I've bought, I don't recall ever seeing shrink wrap.

graphite

Some of the series 4 planet sets from amazon.fr were shrink wrapped.

cody6268

So far, the only shrink wrapped set I've bought has been the Race 3000 game.

JeffH

There is shrink wrap machine. It could be done by a collector to protect the content, or to hide damage to the tape seal.

rancorbait

^ As are individually sold base plates.

Legoboy

Some resellers shrink wrap their boxes to help protect against dust and small scrapes/scratches whilst in storage.

jadedanc

I have a shrinkwrapped Glider set #4442 and the games I have seen but that's all.

Basta

Other than base plates and games I have never seen shrink wrapped Lego.

Interestingly the last two Lego games, LOTR & Batman were not shrink wraped, they had one piece of Lego tape on each side.

LegoFanTexas

The Chima games that I have aren't shrinkwrapped either, but all the others were.

Kumbazo

I've never seen a shrinkwrapped Hogwarts Express, but I do know of one Barnes & Noble store that shrinkwraps most of their Lego sets to prevent theft (they also put a security sticker on the bottom of the box). In your case, I would guess this was added by a collector. Sounds like the set has traded hands a few times.

Oldfan

Back in the '70's and '80's, the packaging was a box with a sleeve that could not be sealed, so those sets were sold in shrink. Once TLG redesigned the boxes to use glued seals and (later) tape seals, the shrinkwrap was not necessary. None of the LEGO I've purchased new since 1999 has been in shrink, including the set you're looking to purchase.

bitay

Thank you for all of your comments. I have decided to pass on this sellers 4841 set. I have little niggling doubts about it being new and unsealed. So I will wait for another to come up for sale.

mrseatle

Does anyone know if Lego retail stores have a shrink wrap machine in back?

BTHodgeman

@mrseatle - I've never seen an item sold at a Lego retail store shrinkwrapped, so if they do, they're not using it....

SirKevbags

Can't remember who told me this, Could have been at the Brickish AGM, @Legoboy I'm sure you were part of the conversation. Anyway over time shrink wrap actually has a negative effect on boxes and causes a crushing effect.

Legoboy

That's correct. @Bluemoose revealed that TLG had in fact shrink wrapped all of their archived sets for long term storage. I'm not sure of the timescale, but perhaps years later they found that the shrink wrap had continued to 'shrink' over time and ironically crushed the boxes they were protecting.

mrseatle

That burning plastic smell can't be good for your lungs either...

BeardedCastleGuy

The only sets I recall being shrink wrapped when I got them have been a number of 'Value pack' type packages consisting of normal style boxes inserted into a larger cardboard tray before shrink wrapping.

@mrseatle, if you are burning your shrink wrap, you are doing it wrong.

rocao

#7814 in this photo is shrink wrapped. It never occurred to me that the slight crushing of the box might be a product of the shrink wrap :/
Now I'm not sure if I should leave it on.

LegoFanTexas

^ The plastic is protective, so long as you don't heat and shrink it. Wrap it, but leave it loose.

Yellowcastle

MISSW

Hardrada

Basta said:

Other than base plates and games I have never seen shrink wrapped Lego.

Interestingly the last two Lego games, LOTR & Batman were not shrink wraped, they had one piece of Lego tape on each side.

The last batch of City Alarm to hit the stores wasn't shrink wrapped either. (At first they were.)

Heartbreak7

There is a local hobby shop that shrink wraps all of their sets to prevent theft.

Legoboy

^ Blimey, I like the sound of that.