Predictions on Discontinuing Sets and their Secondary Market Value

stevemack

So getting a bunch of WVC at £62.99 would be a good idea :)

iso3200

^Are there any actually left at Lego stores now? I'll be near a JL tomorrow and suddenly a price match might be the right thing to do ;-)

hoyatables

Cathedrals, mosques, temples and so on are all fantastic works of architecture in and of themselves. I could see why LEGO stays away from churches in the "city" theme but it seems like the architecture line would be a fantastic opportunity to introduce these monumental works. Particularly the smaller sets, so you can produce multiple types of buildings (rather than a SOH or Tower Bridge style set where they are realistically only releasing one every year or two).

madforLEGO

LegoFanTexas said:

madforLEGO said:

Simple reasons why this will almost NEVER occur. Most importantly (and helping me make my point) you forgot all major religions by forgetting synagogues and Hindu Temples (and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few as well). There are more than three major religions. Leave one out, and it is a hornets nest kicked.

Forgive me for lumping Hindu and Buddhism together, I always in my mind put the two together, but if they are not, then I'm sorry. No offense was intended.

As for extremists, I always thought the world would be better off if everyone just ignored them. But that's just me. You do make fair points.

Sorry LFT. Did not mean to point the diatribe at you, I meant it more generally, but it was late when I was writing it out. But really the LEGO group should not want to envelope themselves into the quagmire that is religion.

hoyatables said:

Cathedrals, mosques, temples and so on are all fantastic works of architecture in and of themselves. I could see why LEGO stays away from churches in the "city" theme but it seems like the architecture line would be a fantastic opportunity to introduce these monumental works. Particularly the smaller sets, so you can produce multiple types of buildings (rather than a SOH or Tower Bridge style set where they are realistically only releasing one every year or two).

I think even though the buildings are beautiful I do not think you can do them, again extremists look for any excuse to cry foul so I would not expect LEGO to try to run into such a probable mess.

mathew

I think the "no religion" rule by Lego is self-inflicted and contradictory. What about the no gun rule? Every Star Wars set has numerous guns. Ok, so they're laser guns. What about the Lone Ranger sets? Guns galore. But the poor police officers are not allowed to have them in the City sets. I get it, but it's contradictory.

SuperTramp

Not that they ever would but would love to see some vehicles from WW2 like the Spitfire, Panzer, M4 Sherman etc

pharmjod

There is really only one set of religious extremists that LEGO would be concerned about and that is easily rectified: don't make any mosques. Other than that, the "extremists" in the other world religions aren't likely to try to kill you. I agree, it is silly to not acknowledge the great architecture present in many of the worlds religious centers.

SuperTramp

Christians

pharmjod said:

There is really only one set of religious extremists that LEGO would be concerned about

Christians?

y2josh

mathew said:

I think the "no religion" rule by Lego is self-inflicted and contradictory. What about the no gun rule? Every Star Wars set has numerous guns. Ok, so they're laser guns. What about the Lone Ranger sets? Guns galore. But the poor police officers are not allowed to have them in the City sets. I get it, but it's contradictory.

The latter half of this point is, I believe, the reason they cited for why they never made a Mark VII in the Indiana Jones line, which always seemed odd to me, given the other obvious military vehicles they produced for that line (actually some of my favorite vehicles LEGO has ever produced).

mathew

SuperTramp said:

Christians

pharmjod said:

There is really only one set of religious extremists that LEGO would be concerned about

Christians?

Don't be silly. For all of the ridicule that modern Christianity receives from the media I think they would be last group to be offended. I don't know why it's so PC to point out the obvious. Especially after the the Jabba's Palace fiasco.

mooman66

I can't believe that no one has commented on the incredible job LEGO is doing in the midwestern United States today drumming up interest in their Arctic line. I can't wait for the party tomorrow here on the East Coast. I'll be at the Lego store filling a PAB box to show my support if my car starts.

hoyatables

pharmjod said:

There is really only one set of religious extremists that LEGO would be concerned about and that is easily rectified: don't make any mosques. Other than that, the "extremists" in the other world religions aren't likely to try to kill you. I agree, it is silly to not acknowledge the great architecture present in many of the worlds religious centers.

Those bombed at abortion clinics would beg to differ.

Also, why would anyone get upset about a model of a mosque? I think what people are saying is that any anger is more likely to come from those upset that the building associated with their particular religion was NOT built.

I also think releasing sets featuring architecture from various faiths is one of the best ways TO further tolerance and understanding and highlight the positive impacts of religion. Perhaps more people would appreciate their contributions after experiencing the beauty and detail of the world's grand cathedrals, mosques, shrines and temples. Nothing beats the real thing (my trip to Istanbul was extraordinarily memorable in that regard) but brick-built could transport us, too . . . .

They'd also be extraordinarily educational from a constructability standpoint. Flying buttresses, domes and other amazing architectural features. Have we ever seen a true brick-built dome.

Of course, we could always just make them ourselves . . . .

BrickDancer

Oh my creator! Can we all take a breath and restrain ourselves from delving further into this contentious subject? Even though this is the best thread of choice for such topic, this forum is still not the most appropriate place to carry out blog-jihads on which religion is best/worst.

Side note - Bhuddism is not a religion, let alone a blend of Hindu or otherwise.

mathew

hoyatables said:

They'd also be extraordinarily educational from a constructability standpoint. Flying buttresses, domes and other amazing architectural features. Have we ever seen a true brick-built dome.

Of course we have. The Taj Mahal.

Interestingly from Wikipedia we have this quote: "The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage"."

Strange that the Taj Mahal is ok to reproduce in Lego, but not something like the Notre Dame Cathedral.

jcb193

Funny, I looked into this this morning, but I guess it's technically a mausoleum, and I don't think it is actively used as a place of worship anymore (at least the central building), so that might be the qualifier Lego uses.

rocao

In light of the fact that (1) we've previously had lengthy discussions about TLG's avoidance of religion and war machines, and (2) we discourage discussion about religion here because of its contentious nature and this discussion is heading down that path, let's discontinue this. I predict we'll be back to some other off-topic musings in short order -- which is ok; I just hope it's not about the market value of LFT's monthly groceries.

Gavin83

mathew said:

But the poor police officers are not allowed to have them in the City sets. I get it, but it's contradictory.

Who says the lego police are American? Not all nations equip their police with guns.

The Taj Mahal is borderline. It's not technically a religious building itself but it has several mosques surrounding it and is definately a Muslim building. It is a beautiful piece of architecture though and I've been lucky enough to see it in person. However, there are many more religious buildings that could be made.

madforLEGO

h

Gavin83 said:

mathew said:

But the poor police officers are not allowed to have them in the City sets. I get it, but it's contradictory.

Who says the lego police are American? Not all nations equip their police with guns.

The Taj Mahal is borderline. It's not technically a religious building itself but it has several mosques surrounding it and is definately a Muslim building. It is a beautiful piece of architecture though and I've been lucky enough to see it in person. However, there are many more religious buildings that could be made.

Sorry @Rocao...

I will just say this and stop.
World of difference between muslim ART, or a Muslim BUILDING and a place of worship. The Taj Mahal was build for an emperor to commemorate his wife and not to go pray at/in.

Misunderstandings, and over reactions about religious beliefs, are the reason why LEGO will likely make a religious line or a religious building.


OK, back on topic.
I notice that once again TRU has Sets that are gone from LEGO but still around as they have raised prices, do people think this will cap aftermarket prices (like the Unimog and Log truck specifically)?
And
Does anyone know when LEGO may drop the 4207 Garage price further? I do not remember how long it normally take LEGO to do this.

starwarfan77

i am assuming when tagmahal represent religion, it is meant to be religion of LOVE. its definitely masterpiece built by a sultan, a finest piece of architecture. but it definitely does not represent a religious monument of "muslim" religion.

if it was the case then
a. none of the hindus in india or surrounding nations would be allowed in or go near there
b. during various religious riots in the past "tajmahal" would not have been spared.

Gavin83 said:

mathew said:

But the poor police officers are not allowed to have them in the City sets. I get it, but it's contradictory.

Who says the lego police are American? Not all nations equip their police with guns.

The Taj Mahal is borderline. It's not technically a religious building itself but it has several mosques surrounding it and is definately a Muslim building. It is a beautiful piece of architecture though and I've been lucky enough to see it in person. However, there are many more religious buildings that could be made.

bricktuary

Not buying a Taj Mahal when I had the chance is my greatest regret.

jcb193

bricktuary said:

Not buying a Taj Mahal when I had the chance is my greatest regret.

You can still get a used one for $500-$600, can't you? That's not crazy expensive, since SOH is about $350+tax.

LegoFanTexas

bricktuary said:

Not buying a Taj Mahal when I had the chance is my greatest regret.

I just shipped off my Taj Mahal today...

I was sad to see it go, but darn that has gotten expensive...

LegoFanTexas

jcb193 said:

You can still get a used one for $500-$600, can't you? That's not crazy expensive, since SOH is about $350+tax.

Not that I've seen...

SOH is $320, so today TM would probably be $400 (it has tons and tons of very small parts, it actually comes in a smaller box than SOH).

If someone wants to sell me one for anything close to that price, I'll buy! :)

jcb193

There are used ones on ebay for $500-$700 every now and then. Obviously "used" can mean anything from missing a 100pcs, to almost NIB, but they are there. Obviously if you need mint box and nice instructions, that changes things.

jadedanc

I would be happy with one missing some pieces and no instructions lol

FollowsClosely

I sold mine a year back. It's not all I thought it would be.

vasp

NASA mars Rover at [email protected] Limit 1

CCC

^ In UK, limit is 5.

stevemack

What are peoples thoughts on the minecraft sets and when they'll retire?

hendrikdejager

Technic sets are doing extremely well here in The Netherlands. I sold all my 8043 and 8258 this christmas for 110% profit.
I decided to invest in the Unimog now, i managed to buy 8 of them for only 95 euro (129$) each.

@ Stevenmack
I think the first Minecraft set will do good, i got 5 of them.

What do you guys think of 853373? I think it could do very good.

Shouldaville

Batcave officially back in stock...again.

legofanfromleeds

Shouldaville said:

Batcave officially back in stock...again.

lego uk says retired still on there site so just curious where have you seen it back in stock ?

SuperTramp

Its available on the US site.

wagnerml2

I was at Barnes and Nobel yesterday and came across 2 Dino sets and some Kingdoms sets at RRP. Must've really found some old stock in the back!

stevemack

Yeah batcave isn't retired on USA [email protected] :)

timinchicago

It looks like Unimog #8110 may be gone for good (at least in the US). I am not a big Technic fan, but this set is very impressive and I am glad I got it even at full price.

stevemack

timinchicago said:

It looks like Unimog #8110 may be gone for good (at least in the US). I am not a big Technic fan, but this set is very impressive and I am glad I got it even at full price.

It's been missing from UK [email protected] for a few weeks :)

bricktuary

Smyths (may) still have some at full price.

madforLEGO

TRU has them in the US, but for 229.99 now, so I see this keeping prices down a bit until TRU sells out of them finally.

CCC

LegoFanTexas said:

#6862 is not retiring, as far as I know, [email protected] has it in stock and it seems to still be around.

I know it is still available on US [email protected], but on UK [email protected] it is a "retired product".

111ins

#6862 is an old set, which one are you talking about?

Farmer_John

^6862 = Superman vs. Power Armor Lex. It's got to be due to retire soon. It's been out awhile.

wagnerml2

To my reseller brethren, as you know, I buy used lots and sell the sets. I bought a collection on Saturday that has some Exo-Force sets in it. They will require some effort to re-assemble. I've never sold and Exo-Force, so I have no idea of the aftermarket. My research on Ebay, etc shows lukewarm interest. My guess is it's very dead and I'm not really interested in the process, but if anyone has had any aftermarket experience or opinions on Exo-Force, I'd be interested to hear it.

bricknation

this is interesting: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/NETPRICEDIRECT/_i.html?_nkw=lego&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=
#50011 #50003 #50006 all available in big quantities on ebay uk and amazon uk at around RRP from the same seller.

CCC

^ Yes, I predict a massive drop in prices there!

CupIsHalfEmpty

Is either of those games fun to play, or are they just collectable? The completionist in me wouldn't mind getting the helms deep game, but if it's not worth playing, then there's really no point.

CCC

The Batman game is fun to play. I haven't played LOTR though.

wrangler6915

Anyone in the UK willing to take delivery of 50011, 50003, and 50006 and then ship to the US? The seller noted in @bricknation post wont ship to the US.

If you're willing, please PM me!
Thx

Bumblepants

wagnerml2 said:

To my reseller brethren, as you know, I buy used lots and sell the sets. I bought a collection on Saturday that has some Exo-Force sets in it. They will require some effort to re-assemble. I've never sold and Exo-Force, so I have no idea of the aftermarket. My research on Ebay, etc shows lukewarm interest. My guess is it's very dead and I'm not really interested in the process, but if anyone has had any aftermarket experience or opinions on Exo-Force, I'd be interested to hear it.

I ended up with a bunch of Exo-force from bulk awhile back. I pulled a few parts out to resell like the yellow Technic L-Brackets that are sought after for Bricklinking UCS MFs and a couple other big sets. Other than that didn't seem worth the time.

margot

wrangler6915 said:

Anyone in the UK willing to take delivery of 50011, 50003, and 50006 and then ship to the US? The seller noted in @bricknation post wont ship to the US.

If you're willing, please PM me!
Thx

50006 sells in the US, toysrus...