12 minutes ago, gbg108 said:

Yeah previously I've done that with no issue. But in this case I wanted them replaced, not just returned so I went though customer service. I wasn't really expecting the return labels to be an issue. Lesson learned.

 

I was thinking you could still have them send you new ones and just take the bad ones back.  I am not too picky about box condition but if there are noticeable rips like  you have, I would definitely go for a replacement.  Ideally, I would try to get a small refund but from what I heard, Target doesn't do that. 

i went to 2 different lego stores and they both only allowed a limit of 1 per person.

i guess i could go back another day and pick up more sets.

8 minutes ago, Average Guy said:

You can return them in store or online but will you get anymore? Will the replacements be damaged? Will you get banned? Some of this damage must be absorbed by the reseller as "breakage". You can not expect every single item you order to be perfect. My position is that you don't play or build with the kit box, so I absorb it.  I have other copies that are in good condition. On the other hand I am glad to read everyone's post about the condition of their received shipments regardless of good or bad condition as it may affect my, or someone else's decision to order from a particular retailer at any given point in time. I too have some on the way from Target and I now know what condition they will be in - bad condition. Thank you gbg108 and the others for posting your pics and sharing.

I agree. When I inventory my items I have two box conditions "acceptable" and "bad". If the box is anywhere from perfect to having a dent or even a flattened corner I'll mark it "acceptable" and inventory it with the others. If it's in real bad shape like the one I posted I'll mark it "bad" and either expect a partial refund or send it back. I don't think it's reasonable to expect every item to arrive mint from a major retail outlet. For me items that are "bad" and I have to deal with seem to be ~1% of my purchases.

Target generally does a very good job packing for me and they are the best place to get good discounts. The downfall is they sell damaged returns as new so as we get to the end of the line box condition can get quite poor. As long as the seals are intact and there are no tears or punctures I have no problem getting top dollar. Opened/tears/punctures I sell to my local independent lego store or as collectible on Amazon at a small discount. One lesson I have learned is profit from a damaged retired set beats no retired set at all. Cheery picking/repalcing/returning all cost way more in time than I lose on the value of the set.

Another reason to buy early so you don't have to deal with all this.  I know if you have unlimited funds, space, time.  If you return to target B&M they now send the sets that are online only direct to salvage.  

The joker fig is in 3 separate bags so not an easy task to steal and have it go unnoticed. 

Whomever thought that Lego was doing resellers a favor by slapping that "Retiring Soon" tag on this set is mistaken IMO.  

I don't believe the retiring soon tag is meant to be a favor to resellers but rather to aid consumers by allowing them a chance to purchase this set at a reasonable price before the are subject to purchasing though inflated reseller prices. We just happen to benefit from this advance notice as well.

There have been many early retirement speculations since it's introduction.  I believe there are many who still have a stash of Tumblers from the last Christmas retirement scare. Now the retirement tag invites investors to hoard even more, and because of those reasons I believe it will be a few years before it hits x2 MSRP. I believe the demand is there, but not the same kind of demand SW sets receive.       

On a side note I do not believe the limit one at Lego played a large contributing factor in prohibiting investors and collectors alike from acquiring large quantities of this set. I believe it made only a small impact.    

17 minutes ago, Yinchuan said:

I don't believe the retiring soon tag is meant to be a favor to resellers but rather to aid consumers by allowing them a chance to purchase this set at a reasonable price before the are subject to purchasing though inflated reseller prices. We just happen to benefit from this advance notice as well.

A PP had said it was a favor to resellers. I don't think many consumers benefit either as most are uninformed and they don't know about it or see it. I do think that is Lego's intent to allow them to purchase the set not just move inventory or they would increase or remove the set limit. The hoard may benefit by having time to buy up stock and get their quotas but this decreases the value of the set. It would have been better if it did a TH IMO. Plus as we all know the sudden spike in demand may cause another production run or two or three as another member explained in detail somewhere on here how there has been a change in EOL strategy by Lego. 

Not to sound like a selfish ass but I would have been in a better position to maximize my ROI with my small stash with less reseller competition then having 50 like everyone else will. 

Tons of Tumblers here in Sydney's Target. Buy now or wait till July for Australia's toy sales... Hmm.

They had tons of ewoks village going for $300 aud during the toy sales, but they are all gone now

Edited December 17, 20159 yr by Nawoo
Fun

time to empty your wallet!

41 minutes ago, Nawoo said:

Tons of Tumblers here in Sydney's Target. Buy now or wait till July for Australia's toy sales... Hmm.

They had tons of ewoks village going for $300 aud during the toy sales, but they are all gone now

How much are the tumblers going @ target? I did grabbed some EV @ 25% off a few weeks ago.

6 minutes ago, s3110950 said:

How much are the tumblers going @ target? I did grabbed some EV @ 25% off a few weeks ago.

Damn 25% off! 

Tumblers are at $329. No special discounts for now. They were $299 during the july sales

9 hours ago, johnwray said:

I was going for Heath Ledger's Joker...unless there's a One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Lego set that I don't know about?

I guess my humour is wasted here...

 

I don't believe the retiring soon tag is meant to be a favor to resellers but rather to aid consumers by allowing them a chance to purchase this set at a reasonable price before the are subject to purchasing though inflated reseller prices. We just happen to benefit from this advance notice as well.

The "Retiring Soon" tag is simply an advertising tool used by LEGO to promote sets they want gone. Nothing more. Nothing less.

7 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

 

The "Retiring Soon" tag is simply an advertising tool used by LEGO to promote sets they want gone. Nothing more. Nothing less.

You would think raising the buying limit would help them shift them. Or are they just trying to be fair to regular buyers?

 

The "Retiring Soon" tag is simply an advertising tool used by LEGO to promote sets they want gone. Nothing more. Nothing less.

You would think raising the buying limit would help them shift them. Or are they just trying to be fair to regular buyers?

There is probably some truth to that. I don't think they want to promote resellers by upping the limits or make it appear it is a poor selling set. They want to extend its life long enough to make most customers happy, yet clear out inventory at the same time. It's like a wink to the secondary market..... Time to buy. LOL

56 minutes ago, tractorboy said:

You would think raising the buying limit would help them shift them. Or are they just trying to be fair to regular buyers?

Keeping a purchase limit of 1 gives them tighter control over allocated stock. I reckon there are many fans out there unaware that this is retiring soon. Most would probably be anticipating another year or two so can see there being a good initial 50% price hike once it's done. 

Buying a Tumbler at French LEGO Shop at Home yesterday. I'm impatient to see his seal code.

I've bought another one on French store, he coming with a 41S5 code.

 

Took delivery of one from LEGO Shop at Home today... 43S5 code.

I'll have to check my seal codes.  You guys inspired me to get 10 more.  If it fails I'm ok with that.

I can't wait to see this on ebay next xmas with 800 sellers fighting over who can sell it for the lowest. If the horde is anything it is completely predictable.

Any indication that LEGO Shop at Home will offer double VIP again this weekend?  That was a nice surprise last weekend.

11 minutes ago, MarxMarvelous said:

I can't wait to see this on ebay next xmas with 800 sellers fighting over who can sell it for the lowest. If the horde is anything it is completely predictable.

I hope they do, I'm in it for 10 plus years.  I don't have time to sell stuff with a day job and family that requires 95% of my time.  I don't know how any of you do it that aren't retired, unless it is your job.  

When the kids move out and I retire then I'll set up a little shop to sell all my collectables.

7 minutes ago, conceptmachine said:

I don't know how any of you do it that aren't retired, unless it is your job.  

I don't know how people have room to horde massive numbers of large sets for decades. So I guess there is just stuff we don't understand about each other.

6 minutes ago, conceptmachine said:

I hope they do, I'm in it for 10 plus years.  I don't have time to sell stuff with a day job and family that requires 95% of my time.  I don't know how any of you do it that aren't retired, unless it is your job.  

When the kids move out and I retire then I'll set up a little shop to sell all my collectables.

I suspect a lot of family members just go ignored for the sake of making extra money. To each their own I guess.