Yup. They would never retire the Haunted House right before Halloween either. And no way they retire Town hall before Pet Shop. 

It's not an apples to apples comparison though. Who controls the IP for the sets you mentioned? TLG. Who controls the IP for the Ewok Village? Disney.

The X Factor here is that we don't know what Disney has asked of LEGO. We don't know what's in their contract or what sort of money has changed hands.

Who thought Lego cared at all about HH and Halloween? I don't get that. Is Halloween really a big $200 Lego set selling holiday? When did TH and HH have a message that said more would be back in a few months?

Isn't Halloween a much bigger deal in the US than in Europe? I thought that was the case. If so, it would make sense that LEGO might not "get" the demand for HH prior to Halloween last year. It's possible that their response to Halloween is to make Series 14 figures - which Id argue probably has a higher profit margin than HH does.

There´s a possibility Disney prefer this set out of the way during TFA release and have it brought back afterward and after the Xmas rush.....

Some good points. I see the distant "availability notice" from LEGO as a means to halt production on EV (and other sets) so that they can divert production runs to other newer sets like TFA and seasonal sets.

Additionally as Waddamon pointed out there is no guarantee that EV will go back into production for a Jan release.

Chalk it up to yet another fine example to support the argument that it is futile to try and predict TLG's actions.

 

Yup. They would never retire the Haunted House right before Halloween either. And no way they retire Town hall before Pet Shop. 

You're right. LEGO Shop at Home wouldn't mark HH as "Retired" before Halloween b/c it retired after Halloween.

It did however get marked as "Sold Out" before Halloween.

Isn't Halloween a much bigger deal in the US than in Europe? I thought that was the case. If so, it would make sense that LEGO might not "get" the demand for HH prior to Halloween last year. It's possible that their response to Halloween is to make Series 14 figures - which Id argue probably has a higher profit margin than HH does.

I guess? For costumes and candy sure, but $180 Lego sets? I don't know of any of that. I don't know what the 1%ers are up to (those neighborhoods have gates), but i don't think the average consumer is buying giant Lego sets for Halloween. I could be wrong but I have never heard of people doing that in my life.

It´s a strange one, indeed. With SH maybe they were trying to push KWEM sales by pulling SH for a while but not retiring it altogether.

I guess? For costumes and candy sure, but $180 Lego sets? I don't know of any of that. I don't know what the 1%ers are up to (those neighborhoods have gates), but i don't think the average consumer is buying giant Lego sets for Halloween. I could be wrong but I have never heard of people doing that in my life.

I think we maybe give too much importance to events than we should e.g VW scandal, Halloween etc etc. Lego´s big event is Xmas season and everything else is pretty much incidental to them. Deliberately pullling a set over XMAS but assuring us it will be back must have some good  commercial reason behind it.

Isn't Halloween a much bigger deal in the US than in Europe?

Yes. Although that map is a bit dated.

 

Edited September 28, 201510 yr by pstebbing

I bet LEGO just needed 3 months to design and produce new EV boxes with Disney logo on them

Why would Disney have any input whatsoever on TLG retirement timelines? 

You're right. LEGO Shop at Home wouldn't mark HH as "Retired" before Halloween b/c it retired after Halloween.

It did however get marked as "Sold Out" before Halloween.

Semantics.........it was retired the second it went sold out status.

Isn't Halloween a much bigger deal in the US than in Europe? I thought that was the case. If so, it would make sense that LEGO might not "get" the demand for HH prior to Halloween last year. It's possible that their response to Halloween is to make Series 14 figures - which Id argue probably has a higher profit margin than HH does.

I suspect that every "holiday" that is graced with its own dedicated section in Target and has come to revolve around the conspicuous consumption of consumer goods is a bigger deal in the US than in Europe simply because our corporate overlords and their minions in the advertising world have been far more successful in manipulating us into believing that it is a big deal than they have been in Europe.  

Edited September 28, 201510 yr by redcell

If the licensing agreement provided for specific launch dates (e.g. Sept 4th) it could perfectly well specify EOL dates too.

It could purely be a Lego knows best decision in that they don´t want too many old trilogy sets around  that don´t fit with the new film or maybe they ran out of Ewoks and have gone hunting for more - who knows?

 

There is even an ewok in this years SW advents calendar...

I think the "check back for availability" statement gives them alot of options early next year. They can just sell thru the current stock they have and not make anymore and retire it if they feel it is not a good seller. They can do one last run and retire it. Or they could restart production and keep it going if it starts to sell well again. Most likely no firm decision has been made IMO.

So, if the 1st 5 minutes of SW VII show a bunch of flametroopers burning the entire population of the moon of Endor to the ground, will that impact positively or negatively to the future value of this set?

 

Sets to be marked retired next spring have already seen their last production run.

Yup. They would never retire the Haunted House right before Halloween either. And no way they retire Town hall before Pet Shop. 

^ The method of retirement used with the HH and Town Hall seems like a "1 off" or "outlier" than any new standard. Lego has continually said (and shown) they'll make more of all the current higher priced hoarded sets.

Maybe they've added more production capacity since then? 

Sets to be marked retired next spring have already seen their last production run.

Why would Lego want to store big quantities of sets for 6 months???

So, if the 1st 5 minutes of SW VII show a bunch of flametroopers burning the entire population of the moon of Endor to the ground, will that impact positively or negatively to the future value of this set?

 

I think that it really depends on whether they reprint the box with the Disney logo on it.

There will be ewoks in SW 7. 

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/star-wars-7-warwick-davis-to-reprise-role-as-wicket-the-ewok-9800992.html

 

So i think this set will not retire soon?

^ The method of retirement used with the HH and Town Hall seems like a "1 off" or "outlier" than any new standard. Lego has continually said (and shown) they'll make more of all the current higher priced hoarded sets.

Maybe they've added more production capacity since then? 

How did Monster Fighters fare as a product series. It seems only Haunted house really gained much traction. I entered too late to know the history of this series, but maybe a decision was made to cut bait on the entire line?

i do remember that before TH vanished that the set was receiving mild popularity and the higher msrp drove more buyers towards lower priced GE, PS, PR, PC...so it would make sense that Lego pull the plug.

Temporarily out of stock

We're sorry that this set is not available. Please check back in January for product availability.

 

I don't know, seems pretty clear to me. They are out TEMPORARILY and Jan would be a good time to start looking for more. Either way I have been at my target for a while. I wish it would retire. I will probably buy a few more. In JANUARY.

I think that it really depends on whether they reprint the box with the Disney logo on it.

How is that?

Members here often yap about the impact of the new movie on the other SW sets.  What if the next movie just eradicates portion(s) of previous movie(s)?  This is a very common movie trope, cf the fate of planet Vulcan in the new ST movies

How is that?

Members here often yap about the impact of the new movie on the other SW sets.  What if the next movie just eradicates portion(s) of previous movie(s)?  This is a very common movie trope, cf the fate of planet Vulcan in the new ST movies

I was just joking.