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Toys R Us has changed the conditions of their rewards program as of early 2015. These changes are not well documented on the TRU reward website and these changes are important if you wish to gain maximum value from their rewards program. Here's a short guide on these changes, how the program works, and how to gain maximum value from TRU rewards. 1) Sign up and point accrual. You need a TRU rewards account, its easy to sign up online or in person. Here's the link for on-line sign up. You get 1 reward point for each dollar spent, the equivalent of 4% back on your purchase. 2) Reward Amounts. Rewards are issued in $5 increments, and require 125 points for each $5, up to a maximum reward of $200 or 5000 points. You can set your desired reward level online here (you need to be logged in for this link to work). You can "bank" up to $200 in future rewards (5000 points) at this link. If you don't opt in to point banking (and you should), TRU issues rewards every 2 weeks in whatever value you've earned, if you have at least 500 points accrued. These rewards come by postal mail and are also posted in the "My Rewards" tab online. 3) Reward Restrictions. THIS IS IMPORTANT. TRU changed their reward program, and your reward certificate/coupon can ONLY be used to purchase a SINGLE ITEM ONLINE. You will want to carefully consider what value of coupon you want the certificate to be issued for. If your reward certificate is of value greater than your most expensive item, that item will show as $0.00 at checkout, but the remaining value of your certificate will be lost. At present, you should be able to use your reward certificate to purchase multiple items in store, but be sure to check before you use a certificate worth more than your most expensive item. 4) Rewards on demand. If you've opted into "points banking" above, you can have TRU issue a reward certificate instantly and any time by the "Create a Reward" link on the right side of the "Rewards Preferences" tab. You can issue your own reward in $5 increments up to your point balance at any time. It takes about 10 minutes for the reward to appear in your account under "My Rewards". 5) A flexible way to use rewards. Given #3 and 4, above, the easiest way to use rewards is to set a high reward level (I use the maximum, $200) and then just issue yourself certificates when you have the points using the procedure in step 4. As a bonus, this happens instantly. 6) Purchases. You use your certificate in person by scanning the coupon/certificate. You can also use it online by typing in the number during TRU checkout. If you have a balance remaining, you must pay that. Tax is ONLY charged against any balance remaining, not on the sale price of the item. 7) Percent-off coupons, Sale Prices, and rewards. Coupons and discounts work differently when also using a reward certificate. The reward value comes off the price of the item before any percent discount is applied. This means that percent-off coupons aren't nearly as valuable when cashing rewards, and will only apply to any remaining cash balance on your item. If a TRU item is on sale, your reward will be applied against the sale price. Carefully choose your item and make sure you know its price before completing your purchase. 8] Dollars-off coupons and rewards. Dollar-off coupons work just fine. Note, the minimum dollar amount for a coupon to work ($5 off a $25 or greater purchase) is applied to the item price after your reward coupon has been applied. 9) Reward Expiration. Reward coupons expire 60 days after you issue them. 10) Returns. THIS IS ALSO IMPORTANT. If you return an item purchased with a reward certificate, you forfeit the reward certificate and it will NOT be reissued. Choose your reward items carefully as you basically can't return them. 11) Double Rewards Points. If you use the TRU credit card, you receive double reward points on all purchases, the equivalent of 8% back. You can use your TRU credit card for partial payment during checkout, and still receive double points for your entire purchase. 12) Online and eBay purchases. TRU is pretty good about knowing who you are when purchasing both online and via eBay, and there purchases accrue reward points just like in person. If you're logged in, you can see all your purchases online at this link. That's it! Good luck in accruing and using points. Be sure to issue your certificate for close-to or less than the amount of the item you want, try to use a dollar off coupon, and know that the item basically can't be returned.

I ended up with 55 of them. I'll start selling them 3-4 years from now. Until then, I'm on a ramen noodle diet.

I don't usually buy City but...

As contradictory as this sounds, I'm loving the terrible 2's. The little guy is trying to make sentences and how things are starting to register with him like traffic lights, red is stop, green is go. I'm especially lovin' when he shows an interest in the hobbies I like. He'll bring his lego (Duplo) downstairs to build with me or he'll ask to go outside to play "hockey ball"! I've even been turning down the overtime at work to make sure I don't miss this part of life because I know the teens are right around the corner. Good times!

6857 Funhouse and 76013 steamroller bundle $139 shipped Set of mixels series 2 $85 shipped

My wife made this out of it for the kids.

One of my TRU shipments. This box was 20 x larger than a Unimog w/ zero air bubbles.

WHY DID I NEVER THINK OF THIS You just made my day.

I'm the sucker that paid 229 (minus red card and discounted gift card) for another R2 at 4:29 am CST. I promptly went back to sleep and dreamed of untold riches...

Keep those stacks down to 10 - 12 sets each or you'll have some flattened modulars at the bottom to deal with in 24 months. Also note that a large cat weighs about as much as two GE's, so keep the stack a bit on the short side if the top set will be serving as a feline lookout tower. Had to learn all this the hard way. Can't believe Lego doesn't put helpful warnings like this in place of the useless "Don't feed pieces of your Fire Brigade to any child three years of age or less"...

Spent all of my expiring SYW points on Kmart. I bought some City, Bionicle and Ninjago. None of these were for investments. They were all future gifts for my son. It felt great to buy something that was 100% gift and 0% investment. I can't wait to see the smile on his face when he opens these, or better yet, when he asks me how proud I am of him when he builds them on his own. (edit: spelling mistake)

Not that I can think of. Just make sure to fill out the paperwork.

Pretty sure Lego made one of these for every child on Earth :)

I'm planning to grab 10 myself. If I find more than that I will pick them up and offer them to other BP members at my cost + shipping if anyone is interested.

7965 Falcon for $230 + shipping Have 6 left, will hold out for higher numbers next time.

Why do people gather together and stay up until late on December 31st ? New year falls on January 1st year after year.

Why are people anxiously awaiting these retirement status updates? Do you need confirmation of what you've been able to see with your own eyes for months now?

I loved the box when I first bought one to build. I hated the box when I had to find room to store my investment.

Re selling price : I heard the same thing regarding 9493, 9515, 9500, 9492 and 7965.

Meijer is having 15% off general merchandise this weekend (3/13 - 3/14) when you use your Meijer credit card. This will stack with the already 25% off on this set. This is the time to stock up. Comes to $83+ tax each.

Individual pages for many sold out items have no details on them as of now, so perhaps we'll see the mass retirement today. e.***., http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Grand-Emporium-10211?fromListing=listing

If anyone is selling 9515s for a loss, they're doing it wrong.

Agreed. When I display unique figs that come with a helmet and hairpiece, I usually take a trans minifig head (or similar piece) and mount the helmet on that and have the fig hold the helmet. I am sure that is what I will do with this one.

Comic book store with Wil Wheaton.

Yeah, I quickly learned eBay and Bricklink sellers don't budge on this set I was lucky (that someone owed me a favor) to get me this set especially with it's authenticate printed tile which more than makes up for the box condition. Plus the manual is in excellent shape. All said and done, everything cost $115 with postage.

Guys and girls, I cleaned up this thread. Some posts were edited and deleted. The original poster created a thread and even posted an offensive language acronym.. Some folks replied with suggestions while others didn't. Let's move on. Also.. REMNDER.... Ed and Jeff DO NOT ALLOW BUYING / SELLING solicitation on the forums. Those posts were also removed.

They'll let you order them anytime... Whether they fulfill the order or ban you is the real question. Only one way to find out! *edit... *OR* ... le sigh*

I think the set is a poor investment. I mean it hasn't even hit $1000 and it's been like 3 or 4 months. Jeez Louise!

Wait, so you're saying that the release of a movie will increase interest in movie-related merchandise?

There was a brief(ish) moment that some members were getting under my skin but I've done a lot of thinking and realized how awesome this entire community is and my attitude was not reflective of how I feel about this forum and it's members. I'm good now!

Inspiration: https://www.google.com/search?q=cardboard+box+structures&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=saEAVd-vC6ieywPxtIKwBw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=1075

About 3 weeks ago I had a $100 rewards certificate. I purchased 2 items for around $104 and the total came out to $4+tax. I think multiples are ok. EDIT: I should add that this was in-store. I never use them online because one time I ordered an item that went out of stock and lost my reward!

Double rewards points are effective anytime with the TRU credit card. I believe you're referring to the 10% off all items on Thursday using the TRU CC. And yes, you have to ask the cashier to activate that coupon on Thursdays.

actually not a lot of people will have it as sets i am thinking that 90% of that set was scooped up by part-out-ers.

I was given the sage advice of keeping the boxes vertical without stacking, which does make sense regarding keeping the edges for bowing in if not stacked perfectly, but obviously limits space. But it might create a more stable structure for the cat...

Make sure to contact US-based support.

Last year, I did a lot of buying on Goodwill. And while I've had some fantastic finds - the coal tender and passenger car from Emerald Night, some HP sets (complete), Boeing 787 (10177), NIB Santa Fe Super Chief - I've also been burned a few times as well. I've got a Friends Summer Riding Camp that's missing two whole bags (everything else is sealed). I've got a Darkseid Invasion missing an entire bag (everything is sealed). I had an Indiana Jones set that was advertised as "complete!" with no picture of the contents. Got it home, and it was $5 of Lego junk. Darkseid Invasion, I'm going to order the parts I'm missing. It's obvious it was a salvage/damaged box, and that one of the bags was swiped or fell out of a hold in the box. Fortunately, it's only part of the ship, and not the minifigs (which is what's important to me). The Summer Riding Camp, I'm just going to inventory, and eventually order the missing parts. Indiana Jones, I actually wrote them a letter, and told them how badly what was described differed from what was sent to me. They were fine with that, asked me to send it back, paid the postage to send it back, and refunded me my entire amount. It's up to you what to do. If they didn't list it as glued, and they have pictures of it out, it's reasonable to say that it's not as described. I get that they sell it "as is", but, there's also an expectation that you, as a consumer, would be getting Lego blocks, not glued Lego blocks. It's a bit inherent in the product. They have a responsibility, as a sell, to accurately describe, to the best of their ability, what they are selling. It's reasonable to say that they might not be aware that a bag is missing, or parts are missing from bags. But if they've handled the product, and put it on display for pictures, knowing that it's Lego (and yes, Goodwills are quite knowledgeable that Lego are valuable), then they owe it to you to make it right. In my mind, it's a little different than eBay, since the one holding the auction is the seller. They certainly rake in the dough - they overcharge (IMO) on shipping, and adding in a handling fee is really pretty ridiculous. It's ultimately up to you, though. It depends on how much you spent. $20? Eh, oh well. The money is going to a good cause. Over $50? If most of it is not salvageable, then you should consider contacting them.

It can be a bit of a pain. But I always do it...no matter what.

Me and you could have some beers and talk for hours.

Con: Went to walmart and the best deal there was an $87 Heartlake Mall. Pro: sunny and 75!

just saw X-wing 9493 marked as retired in US so maybe they are finally working on the list

I took one back at 53 euros because I didn

Scored another lot today. The calculator values it at 863.31. Will sort out the Harry Potter and Pirates to sell and throw the rest of the blocks in our collection. http://brickset.com/sets?query=4736-1,4865-1,4867-1,4194-1,4183-1,4191-1,4181-1,4192-1,4182-1,8089-1,9443-1,9442-1,7914-1,7948-1,6863-1,2508-1,2504-1,2856134-1 http://brickset.com/sets?query=2258-1,2259-1,2516-1,9441-1,3181-1,7915-1,7929-1,7913-1,7957-1,7848-1,7942-1,7630-1,6858-1,70722-1,70721-1 4194-1 4867-1 2504-1 4183-1 9443-1 8089-1 4182-1 6863-1 9442-1 7948-1 2508-1 4181-1 4192-1 2856134-1 4191-1 4736-1 7914-1 4865-1 7848-1 3181-1 7929-1 7957-1 70722-1 70721-1 9441-1 2259-1 7915-1 7942-1 7630-1 6858-1 7913-1 2258-1 2516-1

It did wonders for Prince of Persia and The Lone Ranger!

In the US, not saying world wide, but December 18, 2015, the movie screen opens and the opening black screen with the standard Star Wars opening theme music and the Episode VII text title screen comes up. That is all that is needed to vault this set and many other retired Star Wars sets up up and away. The quality of the movie does not matter. It will be good enough. I hope it is a home run. But that date, that music, that opening text title screen and I think we will see significant valuation moves in the two weeks following. Mark this post. Come back and tell me I was spot on or to go hide behind the chair in the back of the theater on December 31st. I think I will be spot on.

Know when to walk away, know when to run...away from Chima clearance. Edit: I can't believe I quoted "The Gambler" for my 2000th post. Hangs head in shame.

comments about soooooo many people buying a set as a reason to not invest really make me scratch my head because its like you are saying the rest of the time when you buy a set, its your little secret and no one else is buying that set to invest in. thousands of lego investors/collectors are buying thousands of copies of sets including the ones that don't get talked about and cleared at 50% off & including the ones that people think they are the only one hoarding. .

I realize this is a response to an old post, but I thought some readers might be interested .... There's a free issue of Brick Journal available from the publisher ... http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=108&products_id=924

>Here's an interesting random technique I just came across. >Plus some nice furniture.

LEGO has just officially announced that the next LEGO Ideas product is going to be the Female Minifigure Set. It will retail for 19.99 and will be named the 21110 Research Institute. Read more here. I am extremely disappointed that the Sherlock project did not pass the review. I think that a huge factor in this becoming the next set is that if the did not choose it, then they would get lots of nasty feedback. Plus, this one does not have a license, so it makes more profit for them. I don't have anything against this becoming a set, yet I would have enjoyed the Sherlock project more. What are your thoughts on this bit of news?