I am hoping this rehash is not the only Winter set. But I thought the "sweet" rumour was the gingerbread house which has been confirmed to be the small giveaway set?

Wow Lego. Way to get extremely lazy. I mean I can see reissuing Star Wars and city sets but to just plain ol re release the first winter set? Lol. So disappointed. 

I am hoping this rehash is not the only Winter set. But I thought the "sweet" rumour was the gingerbread house which has been confirmed to be the small giveaway set?

That will be one small gingerbread house.

I wonder how many "average consumers" will buy this one not knowing they already own it...

Maybe Lego looked back at their sales data and found the # of sets sold 4 years ago vs a set sold last year has a significant difference. They must realized by re-releasing a similar set, it will benefit the majority children/collectors. Personally, I am happy to see this set as this was way before I got into this game. I will be sure to grab one for personal collection this Christmas. 

Buy in quantities of 1 to get seasonal promo = win

That will be one small gingerbread house.

I remember seeing a list of the winter sets floating around somehwhere and thought Gingerbread House was listed as the second bonus giveaway set, Getting old so my memory is not the best anymore.

Here it is:

40138 Christmas Train
40139 Gingerbread House

These are the small bonus sets for spending $99. 

Edited August 18, 201510 yr by asharerin

Here my own unique POV, this many pages in.

I'm bummed.

I don't invest in winter sets but so buy them for myself. I was happy earlier this year when I got the WVPO beat that completed my collection.

The Toy Shop I have I Bricklink'd myself. It was a pain and took a long time but I have it.

I'm always looking forward to the winter sets. I don't think I'll be buying this one - I pretty much already have it.

That will be one small gingerbread house.

Or an incomplete one, as in front door + porch + gingerbread figure only

One would assume that re released will only happen to sets that a) sold reasonably in the first place, b.) are not costly in terms of rare and discontinued parts c) are asked for by the public in sufficient numbers.

I can see there being an open vote on which sets to re release in the future - Lego propose 4 or 5 carefully vetted options and the public vote. You would have to consider sets like HH, Robie House and Grand Carousel as candidates.

Edited August 18, 201510 yr by valenciaeric

Or an incomplete one, as in front door + porch + gingerbread figure only

So, you're saying it's 3/4 eaten?

One would assume that re released will only happen to sets that a) sold reasonably in the first place, b.) are not costly in terms of rare and discontinued parts.

I can see there being an open vote on which sets to re release in the future - Lego propose 4 or 5 carefully vetted options and the public vote. You would have to consider sets like HH, Robie House and Grand Carousel as candidates.

I was thinking about the same thing, the Carousel crossed my mind. 
Good After eol performer, was not exposed at Lego's Highest popularity era,........... nowadays.
"Lets rehash this and make it another cash cow while pleasing all the collectors that missed it."

The HH rehash would be a Scary Thought.

Edited August 18, 201510 yr by Miami Bomb Squad

I believe that this decision might be even worse than people realize - a real game changer.

I'm just back to say...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

YOU SUCK...TOY STORE!

I think GC is too dated looking to rehash. I could see a new & improved like the FW though...

Today's Score Ticker

QFLL 1

Patience 0

In my opinion, it doesn't make a lot of sense to re-hash a mostly dead theme (haunted house). 

What is the difference between them re-releasing the toy shop and remaking every star wars vehicle? To me they just copied it more blatently and didn't try to obfuscate the fact they are copying it. One in the same if you ask me.

My main concern as an investor/seasonal QFLL is how can i leverage this. Will Santa's workshop come back and be more popular? Will WVM seem more attractive? Is this set going to follow the same route SW did last year?

The HH rehash would be a Scary Thought.

 

Edited August 18, 201510 yr by landphieran
Clarity

Realistically it would only be a worthwhile exercise with large turnover medium sized sets that are non licensed or have a current applicable license.

UCS, modulars, dead themes and technic studless or flagships probably don´t fit and are not worth redoing and they don´t want to devalue the brand.

The VW Beetle is another one that springs to mind, however it looks quite dated compared to newer models.

What medium sets would you most like to see re released? The large scale technic Ferraris were cool but it would probably make more sense to do a new current model.

Edited August 18, 201510 yr by valenciaeric

The HH rehash would be a Scary Thought.

Disney's Haunted Mansion will be that, could be awhile but with as many Disney collaborations as there are now can't see that not being a set down the road

Or if the Scooby Doo line takes off it could be remade into one of those....

It´s way to soon to think about HH being redone, the target audience is likely to be small as it was only retired a year ago but in 4 or 5 years, why not.

As some have stated, the threat is that when people see they can get  sets again sometime down the line, they may not wish to pay a premium. The moment this happens with  a large sized set there will be shockwaves......

With this move Lego has devalued their brand to some extent.  To some (myself included), a Lego set is more than just a toy or display piece, it is an investment that is almost certain to appreciate when the set retires.  This appreciation is part of why Lego can get the prices they ask for their sets.

It would have made more sense to release a set that could have been tied into last year's fairly small Santa's Workshop and made that North Pole scene larger.

I was just trying to be funny with HH.........."SCARY THOUGHT".
So funny that none of you got it.  ha ha.

But they did kinda rehash the Xwing and its a large exclusive.  So you just never know now.  
 

Remakes and reissues are great and all when you run out of ideas, like Star Wars theme for example but when Lego remakes a set from a theme that has only like 5 sets, then that just screams laziness on Legos part. Every year I look forward to the next winter village set to add to my collection and I wake up to find this. Same name, minifigures, almost same piece count. I mean Lego might as well have just reused the same box. So disappointed at the lack of creativity for the winter set theme this year. oh well. 

With this move Lego has devalued their brand to some extent.  To some (myself included), a Lego set is more than just a toy or display piece, it is an investment that is almost certain to appreciate when the set retires.  This appreciation is part of why Lego can get the prices they ask for their sets.

It would have made more sense to release a set that could have been tied into last year's fairly small Santa's Workshop and made that North Pole scene larger.

Write this to them the next time the Lego Survey pops up.

Winter is a perfect theme to test the market with as the most recent sets have been withdrawn  after Xmas and return the following season in any case. Perhaps with the disappointing sales of WVM (or over supply) they decided to try out a relic from the past to judge demand before designing any more new models. If it bombs, they may well discontinue the theme.

It will also be interesting to see if SW makes a comeback and if they honour the discounted sales to EU customers whose orders were cancelled last January.....

Edited August 18, 201510 yr by valenciaeric

I was just trying to be funny with HH.........."SCARY THOUGHT".
So funny that none of you got it.  ha ha.

But they did kinda rehash the Xwing and its a large exclusive.  So you just never know now.  
 

Perhaps because I already spooked them with my HH speculation up-thread...