Does anybody else feel this way? I have been thinking about this, and it is doing some odd things to the shelf life of some good sets. It seems like the shelf life for a lot of things is down to only about 9 months. For example: The 6869 Quinjet is only about 9 months old, but is being clearanced out at many Walmarts. It is already deleted from the site entirely. Same thing with the Ghost Train, 9 months old and on its way out. Half of Monster Fighters has already been clearanced at a lot of Targets, and so has some LOTR stuff from the first wave. The Batcave 6860 is a year old, but it is also being phased out at Walmart. Just off the top of my head, I think of all these sets... -A full load of Hobbit stuff -5 or 6 TMNT sets -TONS of Chima -Lots of new Star Wars (as always) -6 new Ninjago sets -2 new Batman -2 new Spider-Man -Bunch of Galaxy Squad -Lots of new Friends I'm sure there are many more I didn't think of, plus there are a lot more sets slated to come out. Most retailers that aren't the LEGO Store are not equipped to deal with this kind of volume. So this leads me to ask the question... Will shorter shelf lives lead to shorter production times? Why would LEGO keep making stuff for an additional year if their brick and mortar and online stores are the only place to get it? The common LEGO buyer looks no further than their closest retail store to buy sets. I am a little tired and scatterbrained while I am writing this because it is very late, but I'm hoping people will get what I'm saying. Curious to hear any thoughts...

I agree with you. Tons and tons of new stuff and its only January. But if it means that sets retire faster then I All for it. And I still can't get into legends of chima I just personally don't like it but it seems to be everywhere I look lol although I'm sure it's gonna be around for a lot longer than nine months.

Hmm, somewhat. The average set typically sits on a shelf for less than a year. For popular ones, even less. I think it may seem that way due to the sheer volume of new stuff that is completely replacing everything. I'll admit that before this year, I had no idea about actual release dates or 'waves' or whatever. Now I can see and understand the whole scope of things.

And yes, there is tons of new stuff already and the year still has only just begun really. This year in particular seems more organized than previous ones. Brand new themes are just starting out and each ones respective second wave will be available around the middle of the year.

One theme, two waves, same year. Brilliant.

Just to recap, here's a quick list of every theme for this year alone.

The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey (There is no way these are done yet. Plus this year's wave, too!)

Lord of the Rings

Castle

Architecture

CUUSOO (A set we all look forward to!)

Mindstorms EV3

Bricks & More (For kids but still a theme)

Seasonal (LEGO Exclusive polybags, not really a theme I guess but still)

Games

Technic

Hero Factory

Creator and Creator - Expert

City

Star Wars (Regular sets and the Planets Series)

Super Heroes (Marvel & DC sets)

Ninjago (Last wave until 2014)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Legends of Chima (Regular sets, Speedorz, and Ultra-build Action Figures)

Galaxy Squad

Lone Ranger

Friends (Regular sets and collectables)

Minifigures (Three new Series' this year like the last)

And some 'unknown theme' with a possible BMW build.

.....Jeeze louis, that is one LONG list.

So I can imagine why it does seem that way.

I am a little tired and scatterbrained while I am writing this because it is very late, but I'm hoping people will get what I'm saying.

Well it seems that is something we both have in common.

We're both a couple of Insomniacs!