Is Friends starting to feel more like a seasonal theme, more popular during the holiday gift giving season than really any other time of the year?  It really does seem to be a slow moving theme during the off season.  I do think it's becoming a little saturated and I find myself avoiding the newest offerings at moderate discounts and maybe only putting my toe in the water during heavy discount periods.

I know some of you have avoided the theme altogether.

Let's just say the days when you can sell $20 Friends sets for $80-$100 are long gone. 

Several Friends sets have potentials. Like dolphin cruise and Shopping Mall. The rest of the little sets are not moving well. 

I have a couple of News Van 41056 from Walmart when they are 50% off MSRP and I've sold none of them..

Seasonal is the way to go but I probably won't be spending as much on clearance Friends sets in the future.  I have some DC, Pet Salon, and Bakery sets stashed for 4Q this year but I'm not sure how the latter 2 will perform.  

Seasonal is the way to go but I probably won't be spending as much on clearance Friends sets in the future.  I have some DC, Pet Salon, and Bakery sets stashed for 4Q this year but I'm not sure how the latter 2 will perform.  

​I had a feeling the wave 2/3 buildings/shops would not do well, so I have been avoiding them.  If I was wrong on this, then 1 less competition for you  

They may not perform well, but I did get most of them at a good discount and I don't have a ton of them.  Last year I was really surprised how well the Heartlake Stables and Summer Riding Camp performed considering the Sunshine Ranch and HL Horse Show were still available. 

Is Friends starting to feel more like a seasonal theme, more popular during the holiday gift giving season than really any other time of the year?  It really does seem to be a slow moving theme during the off season.  I do think it's becoming a little saturated and I find myself avoiding the newest offerings at moderate discounts and maybe only putting my toe in the water during heavy discount periods.

I know some of you have avoided the theme altogether.

​I have to agree with you. I bought a bunch of Olivia House's and Heartlake High's at a nice discount but am disappointed in the post-retirement market values. I might have to hold onto them until Christmas to get the returns I was hoping to get with them. 

​I have to agree with you. I bought a bunch of Olivia House's and Heartlake High's at a nice discount but am disappointed in the post-retirement market values. I might have to hold onto them until Christmas to get the returns I was hoping to get with them. 

​I can't speak for the whole theme, but I have to disagree with you here on these two sets. I can still find Olivia House at a few retail establishments near me, and this set is fetching 95ish on Amazon now, I got most of mine for 35/40, and considering it's only been gone from SAH for 6 months, I am pleasantly surprised with this growth. Same deal for heartlake highs - $70 now and I got these for $25. I find those numbers VERY encouraging.

I am curious what kind of numbers you were hoping to see at this point?

 

​I can't speak for the whole theme, but I have to disagree with you here on these two sets. I can still find Olivia House at a few retail establishments near me, and this set is fetching 95ish on Amazon now, I got most of mine for 35/40, and considering it's only been gone from SAH for 6 months, I am pleasantly surprised with this growth. Same deal for heartlake highs - $70 now and I got these for $25. I find those numbers VERY encouraging.

I am curious what kind of numbers you were hoping to see at this point?

 

​I got them for about 35-40% off, so not as good as your 50% off price point. I see $95 on eBay which after fees and shipping, would net about $72. That's about a 35% return. I guess I really shouldn't be complaining. Thanks for brightening my day!

Is Friends starting to feel more like a seasonal theme, more popular during the holiday gift giving season than really any other time of the year?  It really does seem to be a slow moving theme during the off season.  I do think it's becoming a little saturated and I find myself avoiding the newest offerings at moderate discounts and maybe only putting my toe in the water during heavy discount periods.

I know some of you have avoided the theme altogether.

​Sales on Friends sets are far slower than I expected. 

Can't say I'm happy with those investments.

And that's from somebody who was quite bullish overall on this theme.

A lesson learned.

I think Friends is kind of like the girls-oriented counter to the boys-oriented City series. And how many of us here see City as an interesting Lego series for investment purpose?

17 minutes ago, Haay said:

I think Friends is kind of like the girls-oriented counter to the boys-oriented City series. And how many of us here see City as an interesting Lego series for investment purpose?

Me

Both themes have been really good to me - especially as they can be bought at rock bottom discounts sometimes.

Depends on the set. I think the first wave was the absolute best. Alot of horses and stuff. Girls love horses.

33 minutes ago, Ciglione said:

Depends on the set. I think the first wave was the absolute best. Alot of horses and stuff. Girls love horses.

We'll see how Dolphin Cruiser does. And the shopping mall. 

But in general, I'm not impressed by the sales velocity of these sets. Just me obviously.

Some City sets at vast discount are interesting though. Maybe just not the next police station...

Last week I scooped up a few Friends sets:

41085 Vet Clinic - 2 for €20 (€10 a piece)

41095 Emma's House - 2 for €50 (€25 a piece)

41058 Heartlake Shopping Mall - €70

41015 Dolphin Cruiser - €50

The 41058 was on insistence of my wife who wanted it. So it's probably not for reselling.  

 

And just in ... Dolphin Cruiser now officially Retired in Europe!  

Edited November 23, 201510 yr by Haay

5 minutes ago, Haay said:

Last week I scooped up a few Friends sets:

41085 Vet Clinic - 2 for €20 (€10 a piece)

41095 Emma's House - 2 for €50 (€25 a piece)

41058 Heartlake Shopping Mall - €70

41015 Dolphin Cruiser - €50

The 41058 was on insistence of my wife who wanted it. So it's probably not for reselling.  

 

I hate to admit it. But if I would have listened more to my wife regarding investing in lego I would be very rich now.

Advice. Free of charge.

Yes I support that - if I had listened to my husbands advice on sets I would be very poor by now

I know it went unnoticed but 41085 Vet clinic is another set in that haul that's retired.

Where did you find Emma's House for that price?

Edited November 23, 201510 yr by TigerG

32 minutes ago, TigerG said:

Yes I support that - if I had listened to my husbands advice on sets I would be very poor by now

I know it went unnoticed but 41085 Vet clinic is another set in that haul that's retired.

Where did you find Emma's House for that price?

Yes, I noticed yesterday that the 41085 is already retired.  

There was a special sale in the Dutch general store Vroom & Dreesman (V&D) Tuesday last week with a 1+1 on select items, and an additional discount code of €10 on purchases of €50 or higher. So the 41095 which was already on sale at €60 a box was now €60 for two, and an additional €10 discount on it, made it €50 for two. My best Lego buy ever!  

Looking back now I realise I wasn't greedy enough and should have bought more sets with this 1+1 discount! Oh well, I'm still a small-scale Lego investor and learning the ropes. 

 

https://brickset.com/article/32587/lego-friends-is-changing-in-2018

How do you think this may impact any of the sets you've invested in?

2 hours ago, richiej1979 said:

https://brickset.com/article/32587/lego-friends-is-changing-in-2018

How do you think this may impact any of the sets you've invested in?

This is a more in depth clarification and comparison between old and new:

http://brickingaround.com/2017/12/06/lego-friends-team-addresses-the-2018-friends-redesigns/

Regarding the impact ... For the short-term it depends on whether the parents/children feel positive or negative about this change. Those who feel negative about the change will have a preference for the older sets, while those who like the change will develop a preference for the new sets. 

For the longer term though new generations of kids will grow up with the new minidolls and their new looks, and they will consider those as the standard. They will more likely reject older sets which include the older, different looking, minidolls.

Ultimately though it depends on how much little girls playing with these sets really care about these minidolls, their names and physical appearances. 

I noticed that B&N claims 41447 City Park as their exclusive...yet Kohls has it on their site as well. Anybody know the truth on this one?

most "exclusives" have disclaimers such as date range or even regions..and w LEGO they seem to be getting creative;

maybe on odd days it's an exclusive at B&N and even days its Kohls