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Showing content with the highest reputation on 08/25/2016 in all areas

  1. Hi evereyone, Just made a stop motion build of Cinderella's castle/ disney's castle. This thing is tremendous. It's huge! Really liked the detailing. What do you guys think of it?
    26 points
  2. No. I only like to pay full price. [emoji23]
    16 points
  3. Am I the only one seeing a red middle finger on this chart ? Especially given what red represents on that chart
    11 points
  4. Isn't that how they always do it? If they want to move stock right away, just place a "sold out" tag or "call to check tag" on the lego site in the states, and the horde will eliminate the stock from all sites within hours, then they can start moving the excessive warehouse stock and allocate it from slower selling areas of the world, like Europe. You guys keep getting played like fiddles. Granted, it's evident this one is going away, but now they have set the trigger to where this comes back in stock, they can throw that tag on it every few weeks, blow it out and rinse and repeat for months. In the end, thousands of sets just move into reseller hands, and the price stagnation happens again.
    8 points
  5. Sold 75002 Star Wars AT-RT for $75 before fees and shipping, and 7959 Geonosis Starfighter for $85, both on Amazon Canada. Found the ATRT on a Walmart shelf 6 months ago and paid $18. The starfighter was a 2 years ago purchase for $25. Now to dig up those posts about how Clone Wars/Prequels based sets will never do well.......
    7 points
  6. I remember sneaking in a few SSD orders from shop at home the very last minute. Those were the days... Destroyed by 10188? This is how I would best describe my experience:
    6 points
  7. This set was a slow seller. The horde can make it a top seller. We are our own worst enemy in some cases.
    6 points
  8. They are not moving stock from Europe. European boxes are different (they lack piece counts, because Europeans hate being able to calculate price/piece ratios before buying), and as a rule European boxes do not show up in the North American market via official channels. More likely they are moving stock to LEGO Shop at Home, from Lego branded stores. Anyway, I'll be investing in perishable food items, which I can at least eat if they fail to appreciate.
    5 points
  9. I didn't actually sell a Lego set today. It was one of two items I've ever listed on ebay that weren't Lego, in fact. But it sold (a GoPro WiFi remote), and with that sale, launched me into Top Rated Seller status. The stoke is high! I didn't think I was anywhere close yet. Cheaper FVFs for the win! Yay!
    4 points
  10. Come on guys... this is the SandCrawler thread!
    4 points
  11. 4 points
  12. I love the second picture. It gives me hope. It means people have to buy at least two to display.
    4 points
  13. You don't think so? I think they nailed it.
    4 points
  14. Not saying what Lego Store I seen the new Death Star 75159, as the manager said no pictures and don't post what store you seen this in. So I got at the Lego store at 10 this morning, head manager was there and first thing i asked him is whats the story on the new DS he said hold on, he went in the back and came out with one, he said they had 10 so far, he scanned it and it says $499.99 and it looks just like the leaked photos. same size Box, so he you go its coming mid September, he said thats not confirmed but he said thats most likely the exclusive along with the Holiday Train. so as I posted the other day, I sold 20 so far, $262 from B&N and Toys R US buy 2 get one free. plus the other ones are from Amazon, Etc $300-320 so selling 20 and making the most from craigslist and even Ebay did pretty good. Enough for me to spend another $1200 or so today. So am I mad Lego Screwed up yes, but in my situation I am still making money, its like me having money in the bank and taking it out and loading up on Sandcrawlers, Fairground Mixer, etc. "Now me and Ed Mack starting that the 10188 DS would be $1000-1500 and growing months ago and if Lego would have not screwed us the 10188 would have been gold. But the way I see it now I doubt if it will ever be a big money maker, so I will sell about 20 more around the Holidays if I can still make $100 and up. and just hold on to the other 20 for a while to see what happens. The Guys that really got screwed are the ones that paid retail and up $425 -$500 on these and I am pretty sure alot did. Ed
    4 points
  15. For some time, every time that I have heard the Legend of Chima mentioned, it's been half joke, half cautionary tale. The conventional wisdom says stay away, stay far away. There's a few people that are wild enough, dangerous enough or wily enough to have made some money on Chima. They say buy cheap enough and you can make money on anything. I began to wonder about the non-licensed LEGO Intellectual Properties. What is it that makes Chima such poison? Why are these LEGO sets reviled? I felt like I had to know more. I felt like I had to understand what makes one series less desirable than another. I decided to start with what I know of Chima. In the early days, LEGO was giving out Speedorz for free with purchases. I know because I got some. I was able to sell those eventually making about $5 each. As far as I was concerned, I made money, though not much, and notably less than LEGO was trying to sell the same thing for. My buy in was good, free with purchase. That doesn't tell me much though. I didn't keep the Speedorz because I was uninterested in LEGO sets that weren't really building sets. Now that those sets were long gone. I needed something else. I had to go further. Maybe the denizens of the land of Chima could help. Half forgotten memories of something that I sold off as an afterthought weren't going to do it. I had to look deeper. I had to follow the trail. I unearthed a handful of minifigures that came in a bulk lot, and a couple that were part of Target cubes that I had purchased. Nature's mistakes some might call these poor twisted creatures. That is, if there was anything natural about them in the first place. Anthropomorphic animals that wear animal head helmets. Are the helmets supposed to be part of them, or some representation of the animals that they once were? How could I know? I took off the helmets and was happy to see the dual sided heads, until I realized that they were worse than useless. The Chima helmets cover the entire head. No face is visible when they are wearing the helmets, but when you take them off, these freaks become some kind of grotesquerie with two faces. Every single Chima is like Professor Quirrel and Voldemort. It doesn't really matter how good or bad the figures are when something fundamental like creating dual faces without a reason slips by. Sure, you can turn the head around so they'll be angry, but the angry face will be just as hidden by the helmet as the happy face. This is worse than Batman's sweatband. I fled the tiny freaks with their shoulder armor and wings (fire wings are awesome by the way) and their transparent limbs and zombie-ish body damage. Is this why people didn't travel down into the dark heart of Chima? Is this what stops most people? My journey almost ended there, but I had to push on. I had to get to the heart of it. I had to observe. I had to see what the children saw, so I unleashed the torments of the cartoon upon myself. I thought that I knew what I was getting into. I've watched more than my fair share of licensed toy cartoons. I've seen the LEGO Movie and the LEGO Super Heroes videos. I thought that I knew what to expect. I thought I was prepared. I was wrong. The cartoon is dreadful. It's poorly executed nonsense. The main "hero" (Laval) is an idiot and the main antagonist (Cragger) is an easily manipulated fool. As far as I can tell, the "Chi" is some kind of naturally occurring steroid with hideously addictive properties. The Lions are the kingpins and the Crocodiles are the meth addicts that live in the swamp trailer park, constantly jonesing for their fix. The rhinos are dumber than a bag of hammers and the gorillas are too stoned to be effective at anything. The wolves are thug, the eagles are the lion's enforcers and the ravens are some kind of group of mercenary scavengers, easily distracted by shiny things. There's a collection of animals that just said no at some point hundreds or thousands of years before. Somehow, not taking the drugged water made them stronger and longer lived. I have to stop there. I can't relive the unspeakable horrors of this cartoon anymore. I lost days in there to madness. Was it a symptom of that madness to continue this foolhardy quest? It probably was, but I had come this far. I had to see it through. I needed to get a feel for these monstrosities myself. I had to build them to see if there was beauty buried within. I couldn't believe that they were all terrible. The underlying parts were the same as sets and themes that I enjoy. I found 2 sets on my shelves, but that wouldn't do. I couldn't do it with just a couple sets that I had found on clearance. I needed to dive deeper. I put out the call for sets that were cheap, expecting people to be thrilled to get their money back out of these beasts. Strangely, no one stepped forward. The only offers that I received were full retail offerings of used sets through Facebook and a few scattered offerings of new sets at a markup. People who spoke ill of Chima, still seemed to believe that there was something there of value. Was conventional wisdom just a blind that people hid behind, believing that there was still money to be made down the road? Was money back worth less than the effort of digging out the hated sets in order to convenience a stranger? Probably the latter. But, I found a few more sets on clearance, and found someone dumping his collection on ebay and dove in to the murky depths. I had to build, the fever of madness was upon me. It would be either glory or grotesquerie, but my journey would be over soon. Soon I would know the truth. . . The brightly colored packaging was appealing. Warm orange and cool blue mutually highlighted each other. The packaging though, only hid what was inside. I had to open the packaging to see what lay within. I started small with a battle pack and a legendary beast. Strangely, the legendary beast was enjoyable for such a small set, better than many other $9.99-$12.99 sets that I have built. The small ones were harmless and easily dismissed. I was hunting bigger game. Surely as I worked my way up the ladder, I would be exposed to the depravity of this theme. As I built the sets, I looked for simplicity of design including large elements that made them easier to put together. I looked for play elements that were more important than functionality. I immersed myself into the ideas of this theme. I went native, thinking of how the ability to change a vehicle from one form to another might make sense. A large boat that could actually float made less sense to me than vehicles that looked like birds that would never fly. I pulled ripcords and launched Speedorz at targets, at each other, at my cats before succumbing to the darkness inside. I awoke, surrounded by animal head helmets and dual sided heads placed in a row before the greatest darkness. My eyes wouldn't focus upon it for the longest time. I forced myself to look. There I beheld something that I wish I could forget, even here at home, long after my ordeal. My eyes rested upon Worriz' Fire Bike, and I knew fear. I am told that I spoke two words only, but I lost some time there. They say that I said "The horror." When I came back to myself, I was clutching my Star Wars minifigures to my chest tightly. Someone knew how to restore my sanity. Brief glimpses of the dark heart of Chima still haunt me at night. The truth is, there's nothing inherently wrong with Chima. The same pieces were used by the same designers to create a theme aimed at children. The builds run the gamut from clever to uninspired. The minifigures are highly repetitive, I'm not entirely sure I can tell a main character from one of the faceless hordes. I enjoyed the build aesthetic where everything looked to some degree like the animals that used them. As an adult, we had no anchor or inroad. We could jump in to the deep end, as I did and find something to enjoy about them, but it's like candy. You can enjoy it while you're building it, but it's easily forgotten. As far as a future, children (especially modern children) have a very short memory. Very few children will return to the world of Chima to recover their youth as they graduate up through the themes. Adults weren't the original market and inherently knew it, so they didn't really get behind it. There's nothing wrong with Chima, but there's nothing really right about it. When you look at the whole line, the problem suddenly crystalizes. This theme was supposed to take the reigns from Ninjago. Ninjago was supposed to fade away and allow for Chima's Pre-eminence. Something happened that allowed Ninjago to continue. Ninjago outlasted Legends of Chima. I've watched Ninjago with my kids and seen the sets that they've built, and I realized that while they are both juvenile, it seems that Ninjago was treated with more respect by the company. Fans, young and old can tell when they are being respected and when they are just being given a new product for the sake of change. I can look at the sets that I have built and appreciate them for some things. I'll try to ignore the problems with the minifiures. I'll play with them with my kids and try to forget the terrible cartoon. I'll try to forget how incredibly stupid the characters are. I may not try too hard to reassemble things if my kids smash them. It's time to move on and forget the confusion, the fear and yes even the beauty. I'll try to forget that somewhere out there, Worriz waits with his fire bike. EDIT: (I never intended for this to be a typical dog whistle where I jump on and make fun of Chima. I was actually fairly curious about the theme and decided to try it out. My final feelings are mixed because it serves its purpose, but it doesn't really excel. Nothing that I built was terrible or truly worthy of disdain,just not worthy of praise either.)
    3 points
  16. Got a peak at upcoming toysrus ad. It said 20% off select sets and showed ninjago dojo. Not sure what will be featured.
    3 points
  17. you both could be right. online and instore are 2 separate things. last fulfillment of Haunted House orders was online shop at home only and i didn't see an instore Haunted House after May 2014. i won't be surprised with sporadic online availability at shop at home and short lived Amazon/target/walmart sightings where we are F5'ing to get the order in the basket. those giddy moments still lie ahead. that will be especially exciting if early post EOL SC experiences an unexpected BUMP (and no i don't mean they ran over a jawa). i will be surprised and disappointed if LEGO stores get restocked and also if walmart and target show repeated restockings. moan and gripe about how crappy this set is or how lego makes us as all suckers and stupid, hang up your clearance sneakers or place your chips and continue on down the plastic toy brick investing rabbit hole and pray for the hyperinflation that must surely be j u s t a r o u n d t h e c o r n e r.
    3 points
  18. 3 points
  19. I actually really like the box art too. It doesn't really match the tone of Tatooine but it definitely grabs your attention.
    3 points
  20. Eventhough I decided to boycot Lego, I am tempted to order another one of these. I fell in love with the boxart straight away! However, when I look at my sales record, I did not make that much profit on sold exclusives. Except Town Hall, EEE and Haunted House most exclusive sales I made resulted in just marginal profits. Non-exclusives have had such better results. And they are easier to ship and take less storage space.
    3 points
  21. My friend, knows a guy, that knows a woman, who's husband's, neighbor's, son in law, talked to Lego and said the "retiring soon" badge is coming soon...
    3 points
  22. Basically you're telling us this is the Sea Cow of Star Wars sets. Like I've mentioned many times below, I can't understand why more folks haven't built this set w/in the last 26+ months because it's a joy to build. It's basically a technic set which just happens to utilize regular Lego plates.
    3 points
  23. I have 1, yes only 1 for myself, and I'm done. Lego is playing you, people! Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, ...; If you are still fooled, you can only blame yourself.
    3 points
  24. It should read, "Hello, reseller. Thanks for giving this set another year of life." We should know by now that Lego is not leaving money on the table anymore. The more we buy, the more they make.
    3 points
  25. Read up on the SSD and Town Hall threads. We have all been through this before. Imagine if we all returned our 10221s and 10224s when this happened in 2014?
    3 points
  26. I would argue that 2004-2014 seems to be the Golden Age. From my perspective there have been several milestones for us as Lego Investors, that have caused the rise, and now extremely slow fall of Lego investing. 1. The acquisition of the Star Wars License in 1999. I will never forget my excitement the first time I saw a Star Wars Lego set in Walmart for the first time prior to the release of one of the biggest disappointments of my life, Episode I. 2. The creation of the UCS Star Wars line in 2000 with the Tie Interceptor and X-Wing. Saw these in KB toys, and will never forget the initial awe inspiring feeling when I saw these on the end caps. This was the start of Lego realizing that their was an AFOL market. However, not many AFOLs were interested or took note. I remember seeing these on clearance at 50% off at times. 3. The creation of the ISD in 2002. This was their first true large scale model, that truly was aimed at AFOLs. There were other large scale sets before then, like the Statue of Liberty, but nothing that really caught peoples eye. This is where it all started for the AFOLS. Years later Cafe Corner, Taj Mahal, and large Creator sets followed. But it all started with the ISD for the AFOLs, as this was massive, impressive, and accurate. 4. The rise of 10179. I do not state the release, as really not much happened when it was released. It was universally mocked from an resale standpoint (no one used the term for investment regarding Lego's then) due to the high buy-in, and large amount of space for storage. Once this set started to command multi-thousand dollar prices is when the average joe started paying attention to Lego as an investment/resell avenue. Before then, Lego reselling was only a limited niche market. 5. The creation of Brickpicker. This brought Lego investing to the forefront, and caused it to make national news, and also legitimized Lego investing/resales as a form of income. This combined with 10179 was what truly has caused Lego investing to not be nearly as lucrative as it used to be. The creation of an entire website and community devoted to Lego resale has only cause an increasing number of resellers. 6. The release of 75159. While the release of WTS was shocking, it did will not impact the secondary market nearly as much as 75159. With this release, the likelihood of people being willing to spend large multi thousand dollar sums of money on older sets goes down significantly. Most people will not want to risk the loss of their investment due to a remake. People are willing to spend large amounts of money on collectibles, typically, because they feel it will always be worth something. With 75159, people are now weary that the $5,000 10179 they just purchased could drop $4500 over night if there was a remake. I am already feeling antsy with the $1,000 dollar SSD I bought thinking a remake could bottom it out to $400, and that's only $600 dollars. Lego is a unique toy, in that it commands high resale values, primarily not due to rarity, but due to displayability. Had 75159 been a superior playset, then while 10188 would not have tanked in value like it has no, it would never have reached the heights that it could have had 75159 been a display model. Other collectible items on the market command value because they are much more closely tied to just how RARE they are. While some rare Lego's are worth a lot, it is not typically rarity that sells Legos. It's the fact that they are awesome to display. Because of this, older AND rarer Lego's will not always command higher values than newer Lego's if the newer Lego model is notably superior in build and display quality. There will always be completionists out there, but in the case of Lego, completionists are not what drive the market. AFOLs typically do not have to "Catch 'em All." It is obvious that with the lengthening of retirement/partial retirement of sets, that Lego is no longer willing to leave money on the table. They will sell a set till the market is nearly saturated, and there is a lack of consumer interest, and then retire the set then. If there is even an inkling that there is interest in the set, they are clearly willing to reissue the set. There will be cases of random retirements of sets that are selling well just to keep us guessing, like the Tumbler, but ultimately, if a set is selling well, there is zero reason for Lego to retire it at this point. As resellers we are likely only exacerbating the problem somewhat by increasing sales at times on sets that could be slow sellers, as they near EOL, causing Lego to extend the life of that set.
    3 points
  27. well someone just accused ED of being a Lego double agent over there ... damn shipment of corn is late.
    2 points
  28. LEGO finally figured out a way to get back at people who exploit their return policy
    2 points
  29. You sold them already. [emoji15]
    2 points
  30. Nothing for 13 hours? I guess we have hit the last stage of grief: acceptance.
    2 points
  31. i think he meant "retiring soon" which broadcast EOL was coming. SC's behavior is no different than any other exclusive starting to do the dance. it goes to sold out, then they find some orderable with a delayed date, then it goes to sold out again. As long as we don't get some TOOS or check back in February, everything is beautiful.
    2 points
  32. I'd consider 10212 - Imperial Shuttle somewhat of a Technic build too, also a joy.
    2 points
  33. Anyone in need of a 15% off regular-priced item coupon today - I have one I am not using - can send a PDF scan. First one to PM wins.
    2 points
  34. " The hoarde are buying, quick full steam ahead "
    2 points
  35. Doesn´t matter, when something big is rumoured to retire, the horde goes into action. I think this shows there is a certain amount of investment fatigue out there right now. Too many folk have sunk money into PS; DS, T1 and Ectos with no return and are noy buying anymore.
    2 points
  36. I wasn't gonna get anything....but....it didn't work, Sandcrawler with a freebie (the one Europeans got instead of London bus lately.
    2 points
  37. Evident like Tumbler last year or evident like Pet Shop 12-18 months ago when it looked finished? And my question is not to be sarcastic. What makes the events of the past couple of days any different than what we have witnessed in the past for sets that did not retire?
    2 points
  38. Anyone else catch that the Sandcrawler is back and orderable at LEGO Shop at Home with a Sept 9 ship date? Another run being done?
    2 points
  39. 2 points
  40. Did U tell she is in for a real shocker in the next day or two ?
    2 points
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