Did Lego make a huge price increase on its 2016 sets? I was at ToysRUs today and saw this set for $70 CAD!! Now I know the weak Canadian dollar is a contributor... but $65 for only 376 pieces!!! That's getting insane!! Prisoner Island at $120 CAD for 754 pieces! If license fee was involved then I understand, but for unlicensed product, this is starting to get expensive and ultimately leads to the bubble thread on this forum.

 

Edited December 30, 20159 yr by tacsniper

In America, that's supposed to be $49.99

50 for a city set with no special parts like large ship hulls or cockpits etc? wow. Ambitious.

I agree.  Three minifigures.  Nothing special.  But after scanning 2015 CITY sets, it's right in line.

5 hours ago, tacsniper said:

Did Lego make a huge price increase on its 2016 sets? I was at ToysRUs today and saw this set for $70 CAD!! Now I know the weak Canadian dollar is a contributor... but $65 for only 376 pieces!!! That's getting insane!! Prisoner Island at $120 CAD for 754 pieces! If license fee was involved then I understand, but for unlicensed product, this is starting to get expensive and ultimately leads to the bubble thread on this forum.

Today's exchange rate for Canadian to US dollars is,  C $1 = US $ 0.7224

 

So $70 Canadian dollars is $50.57US - right in line with the USA price of $50US for this kit. $65C is only $46.96US

 

I personally like this kit and I think a full scale ladder truck has been long overdue. Everybody likes the big ladder trucks, and people now are will to pay more for over-the-top kits. I do think the price to piece count is a bit high and I would not buy to resell at $50US or $65C. I think we will see retailers discount this kit.

42 minutes ago, Average Guy said:

I do think the price to piece count is a bit high and I would not buy to resell at $50US or $65C. I think we will see retailers discount this kit.

The price to piece is mainly what I am referring to. Seems a bit how now a days or is the average 10cents per piece long gone? Also, if price per piece continues to rise, does it benefit us as in the future, our "old sets" will not seem that out of wack for a retired product and price to piece ratio?

Edited December 30, 20159 yr by tacsniper

5 minutes ago, tacsniper said:

The price to piece is mainly what I am referring to. Seems a bit how now a days or is the average 10cents per piece long gone?

Long gone, many years.  I do think however that Lego has purposely overpriced their kits in the last few years knowing that they will still make money when it goes on sale or clearance. Just my opinion

It's all relative. Look at the 2016 Creator line - 31045 213 pieces for $14.99 ($0.07/piece), 31048 368 pieces for $29.99 ($0.08/piece but includes minifigs), 31050 467 pieces for $39.99 ($0.09/piece but includes minifigs). All below $0.10/piece.

5 minutes ago, Phil B said:

It's all relative. Look at the 2016 Creator line - 31045 213 pieces for $14.99 ($0.07/piece), 31048 368 pieces for $29.99 ($0.08/piece but includes minifigs), 31050 467 pieces for $39.99 ($0.09/piece but includes minifigs). All below $0.10/piece.

The Creator theme doesn't use any specialty pieces really and could be considered the meat and potatoes of Lego pieces so that theme price per piece count will always be lower than any other theme.  

Took a quick look around on Brickset - the price seems to have crept up to around $0.11/pc in most City sets, with some noticeable exceptions. The Fire boat is around $0.15/pc due to the large hull part, and so are some other sets with larger pieces of plastic. OTOH, the Van & Caravan set (http://brickset.com/sets/60117-1)  comes in at $0.08/pc (250 pieces for $19.99). So it really varies.

Anyways, as I understood it the price of LEGO sets has to do with the weight of the plastic used, not so much with the amount of pieces. Perhaps that new ladder piece is particularly heavy, or the baseplate used for the trailer? Just guessing (BrickLink doesn't have entries yet for these sets so I cannot compare weights).

Edited December 30, 20159 yr by Phil B
Added BL reference

With the price of oil dropping, LEGO is making even more profit.

Brick Bank $170 

30 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

With the price of oil dropping, LEGO is making even more profit.

True dat.

11 minutes ago, Pseudoty said:

Brick Bank $170 

2380 pieces for $170 = $0.0714/pc. Compare with Detective Office 2262 for $160 = $0.0707/pc - same piece price. Parisian Restaurant was a better deal (>2400pc for $150) but Palace Cinema is again close to the $0.07/pc. So no change there I'd say.

PR is $160. Don't do PPP do PPG. 

13 minutes ago, Pseudoty said:

PR is $160. Don't do PPP do PPG. 

Agree - but no BL data on PPG so had to go for PPP. And indeed, PR is $160, was typo in my post, the numbers are calculated with the correct price so no change there.

Interesting

BB 170/X = ?

DO 160/2624 = 0.061

PR 160/2610 = 0.061
PC 150/2770 = 0.054
PS 150/2820 = 0.054
GE 150/2903 = 0.051

ETA: I messed that up 

Edited December 30, 20159 yr by Pseudoty

16 minutes ago, Pseudoty said:

Interesting

PR 160/2610 = 0.061
DO 160/2624 = 0.061
PC 150/2770 = 0.054
PS 150/2820 = 0.054
BB 170/2903 = 0.059

Cool! Where did you get the weights from?

2 hours ago, Ed Mack said:

With the price of oil dropping, LEGO is making even more profit.

But other (production) cost continue to increase such as licensing, labor cost (health mandate in US for 50+ employee bussinesses) etc. still increasing I don't think the cheaper oil will offset those costs

Watch out! The new Fire Station has done a WTS/ Poe Xwing and is up 20%. Haven´t checked the part count but it should help sales of the old one for those that couldn´t flip at Xmas.

10 hours ago, Wijnmaalen said:

But other (production) cost continue to increase such as licensing, labor cost (health mandate in US for 50+ employee bussinesses) etc. still increasing I don't think the cheaper oil will offset those costs

True, but their prices are increasing as well it would appear.  The oil situation is an added bonus.  Let's not start a pity parade for The LEGO Group.  LOL

10 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

True, but their prices are increasing as well it would appear.  The oil situation is an added bonus.  Let's not start a pity parade for The LEGO Group.  LOL

They increase prices because they are bumping into capacity constraints. If you can't establish new capacity quickly (which they can't) it is reasonable to turn the excess demand into more profits. When I saw the press talking about capacity issues I already thought that there should be a price hike soon to relieve production strain and make more money.

7 hours ago, valenciaeric said:

Watch out! The new Fire Station has done a WTS/ Poe Xwing and is up 20%. Haven´t checked the part count but it should help sales of the old one for those that couldn´t flip at Xmas.

At least the new Police Station----errr, Prison, is down 10% (for USA anyway) to $90 (completely ignoring piece counts, lol).

1 hour ago, inversion said:

They increase prices because they are bumping into capacity constraints. If you can't establish new capacity quickly (which they can't) it is reasonable to turn the excess demand into more profits. When I saw the press talking about capacity issues I already thought that there should be a price hike soon to relieve production strain and make more money.

So a company states that it won't have enough inventory to satisfy customers and then raises prices to quell the demand, yet will keep the prices high after they meet demand.  Sounds like a sweet deal to me.

7 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

So a company states that it won't have enough inventory to satisfy customers and then raises prices to quell the demand, yet will keep the prices high after they meet demand.  Sounds like a sweet deal to me.

LEGO has a quasi monopoly since competition is nowhere in terms of quality, brand awareness, marketing and appeal. They will keep prices high only tho if that brings in more cash than selling more at reduced prices. Another reason next to capacity issues might be the short term positive prospects of US and UK economy, so people can swallow a price increase which they couldn't before.