weemsc54

I don't agree that M&R hates every set that comes out. I'd say he has high expectations based on a long history with the hobby (now career). For example, when he says LEGO would've done a better job on these minifigures 10 years ago, that may be whining but it also matters considering the current value proposition is worse than 10 years ago and newer consumers lack that context. It isn't the best they are capable of (despite their lofty motto) while continually squeezing the YoY profits higher and higher. Jang remains the gold standard. Unfortunately LEGO is pricing (and pre-distributing) him out of many of their flagship sets - no way he spends $1000 (of his own money) on a Death Star at public release just to review it a month after all the pre-loaded LAN slop soaks up the views with pointless positivity.

I don't really stress about brand new buyers anymore. As noted everyone starts at 0, and there aren't really good options for avoiding them in Buy It Now listings anyway. The scammers I run into tend to have accounts 3-6 months old with positive feedback already received.

I also have offers turned off and still receive offer messages. Typically I block them as fast as I can. Someone who wants to negotiate an already fair price is far more likely to be a difficult buyer after the sale in my experience, so I avoid them altogether.

Well, that's awful. Why did he receive a full refund though? You have to approve that upon proper inspection of the returned item, or at least you do when they select the Item Not as Described return option.

Thank you for sharing so they can be properly blocked for others. My scammer rate on eBay is very low (<.002%), but in those instances I know they'll 100% stand with the buyer while I pay the return shipping and get stuck with something in far different condition than I shipped.

Now that's a day 1 personal buy!

If you don't allow returns in general, eBay shouldn't force a return unless the item description was incorrect. I'm not seeing the issue (from the seller's perspective with seller protections) with some parts inside a sealed set being less durable than others.

If listed and sold as a 'sealed' set, I'd suggest they contact LEGO for replacement parts and be done with it. Not the sellers responsibility to guarantee quality for LEGO years down the road on a platform like eBay.

My last 2 were 35 minutes apart: 5005563457 5005563906 750/hour checks out.

Seller Protections are holding, but It's a mess lately. Lot of free sets to be had and petty sums to be eaten. Several recent users have been banned before I could ship, and eBay advised to ship regardless to preserve my metrics. Doesn't seem sustainable.

Predatory...

$31.99 at least once (July 2022).

And the lack of LAN affiliation nowadays also goes a long way...

Yes!

Finished 75355 last night. Didn't have either of the previous UCS X-Wings, so it's still a heck of a thing to see and build the scale. Most of it is really good. The entire S-foil setup isn't as rigid as I'd expect, but I have it displayed flying straight up anyway which negates any droop

Spring VIP bundle still working, so 4x GWP on a $150 purchase.

Got an order through.

Not great, Bob.

Dagobah Diorama back at $58.49 (35% off): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Q46YHKC?psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

Looks to be this one: https://brickset.com/sets/71714-1/Kai-Avatar-Arcade-Pod