Is the Hillside House Overpriced?

mackrel

The Family Home 976 piece count MSRP $59.99
http://brickset.com/detail/?set=6754-1

The new Hillside Home 714 piece count MSRP 69.99
http://brickset.com/detail/?set=5771-1

I will trade you the doorbell for the ten bucks.

Am I wrong to be annoyed? What say you...

NicksBricks

$0.10 per piece is not bad.

brickmatic

Price per piece still not bad. Keep in mind you get a doorbell AND a minifig. As well as price inflation :p

PaulTR

I can see why you're annoyed: The Creator line has always sported lower-than-average prices. It used to make sense for LEGO to keep the prices down, as Creator sets usually use very basic pieces (2x4s, 2x2s, studs, ect.) that are pretty "cheap" to make. However, it appears that in these times of the Permanent Price-Hike Woes (as I call them :), not even the Creator line is going unnoticed. Still, at least the sets are now back to the old system of each piece equalling roughly 10 cents a pop. After all, LEGO could have decided to implement the Star Wars pricing-plan; that would have been REALLY unreasonable!

thewerewithal

200 more elements than the beach house for $40 more??? It doesn't seem significantly larger... what's the deal?

mackrel

200 more elements than the beach house for $40 more??? It doesn't seem significantly larger... what's the deal?

WOW!!!!
How about 262 pieces less for $10 more.

madforLEGO

The sound piece..
I want to say historically (at least recent history) the electric components raise the price for sets up...

dougts

When I saw it today I thought it was overpriced at first blush as well. Last year's Creator house (Apple tree) clocked in at $45, so this one is a full 55% increase over that. while the piece count is certainly higher (714 vs 539), the actual size of the house and yard add-ons is pretty comparable. so I guess that extra $25 is going for the car, minifig, and sound brick.

I collect all the houses, so I'll get it eventually of course. But not wild about the $70 price tag. No baseplates either...

jwsmart

It also looks like they are switching to large plates (in this case it like the Plate 16x16 x4) vs. baseplates for the creator sets. I'm sure that adds to the price.

Si_UKNZ

Let's hope it spends most of it's life on 33% reduction at Amazon (UK) like Log Cabin and Apple tree. I for one won't be getting it until it is. Next to beach house it doesn't seem good value.

brickmatic

^^ I thought baseplates are expensive. They always seem that way when for sale by themselves.

Yellowcastle

Other than the sliding door, everything about this house seems wrong to me. So I would simply take the price point as a sign to instead invest in another Apple Tree House or Lighthouse.

rocao

^ I'd like to call your bluff, or at least see you amend your statement to "until another TRU BOGO 50% sale comes around" :P

Yellowcastle

Look here Mister, I reserve the right to rethink my position at the next BOGO event but only because I may need something to pair. :o). The wife is not too supportive of my recent "multiples" arguments.

madforLEGO

^^---That is one thing I love about Creator houses and BOGO.. as long as I am getting free shipping via TRU.com (it is rare I can get to the TRU by me that actually has lots of Lego selection)

jwsmart

@brickmatic - the plate 16x16 (element ID 4611777) is $3.89 at http://shop.lego.com/pab/
I understand those prices are inflated, and that PAB orders are hand-picked, but a 32x32 baseplate is only $4.99 via [email protected]
I'm thinking that 4x plate 16x16 costs more to produce than a single 32x32 baseplate.

I like the look of the 16x16 plate better - but it does cause difficulty connecting a pre-2011 creator house (like the beach house) with a 2011 creator set (like the lighthouse).

rocao

There isn't much of a hillside, huh?

brickmatic

^ LOL

^^ Good info. I guess I never looked at how much the plates cost.

1265

I suspect the higher cost can be attributed to the environmentalists requesting LEGO to put solar panels on the home.

mackrel

I suspect the higher cost can be attributed to the environmentalists requesting LEGO to put solar panels on the home.

That's it! By the way I liked the original title to my post. It wasn't so on the nose.

Yellowcastle

By the way I liked the original title to my post. It wasn't so on the nose.

It might have had just a tad too much math for a title...

mackrel

I knew it was my old pal Yellowcastle. I think that I will wait for the Enlighten Child version of this set.

jwsmart

I went back and looked at the 16x16 plate again - looks like they added extra structure to prevent warping...

madforLEGO

It is a large 'plate' and not a baseplate. The baseplates cannot attach brick or plates to the bottom to the bottom. .. I think one of these is with the Log cabin as well.. Not sure if this is the future of plates for lego, but they are thicker than a baseplate

Yellowcastle

Hopefully this is not the future for creator houses. All mine line up nicely. Perhaps these are simply different because they're all "destination" houses?

jwsmart

@madforlegos - It's not clear from the picture (oops) but that picture is of the bottom of the log cabin... On the left is the 16x16 plate - on the right is the 8x16 plate.

@Yellowcastle - Although I'm not a collector of the creator houses myself, I do "curate" the town layout for my niece. It's a collection of Creator and Paradisa sets - all on baseplates. I, too, would have preferred to see them stick to baseplates with the creator series.

brickmatic

You know, if you really want the houses to align you can swap out the included plates with a baseplate purchased from PAB. Just sayin'.

Jasen

I'm with Brickmatic- I always build them as they are then transfer them to 'proper baseplates'.... also just saying :)
Take the Apple Tree for instance, I still don't understand the 2x16x32 but they do come in handy as they are a brighter green good for 'parklands' etc but I always put them on the old trusty 32x32 and and some "fill" :D

Jasen

I actually saw this set in store today and it's $99 in Brisbane Australia. I reckon thats a pretty good price actually BUT I am gonna hold off until a sale comes in the near future :D.
Incidently - the Lighthouse is $69-$79 here.

Stormsworder

I suspect the higher cost can be attributed to the environmentalists requesting LEGO to put solar panels on the home.

Let's hope they don't insist on wind turbines on or next to Lego houses. One of those things made to scale with a Lego house would add quite a bit to the price.