Just snapped a pic.......don't think these are supposed to be on shelves yet are they?

No picture... But I'm guessing it's Star Wars sets to be released in August??? 

 

Edit: There it is.  I want it!!!!

Pic posted now sorry.

I stopped by a Super Target last week and they were out there as well...all but the sail barge.

I have seen them at TRU. The JEK set was there too

Bet LEGO doesn't know they put them out yet!

Bet LEGO doesn't know they put them out yet!

I'm going to guess Lego doesn't care.  It isn't like a video game, where there can be issues with a game not being finished.

Says right on the case to not open/display until release date

Bet LEGO doesn't know they put them out yet!

Shh... Noone tell! Anyone planning on picking them up?

Says right on the case to not open/display until release date

I've never seen the cases that they send them in.  My thought is, Lego will likely not find out, or if they do they will ignore it.  It isn't like a video game where if a game is released early the online community can possibly crash the servers.  Target, Toysrus, etc. would likely keep ignoring it, as they don't particularly like having empty shelf space.

This seemed to happen with the new creator sets too. I saw them (and bought a couple) at TRU a couple of weeks before they were "released". I do remember that they were on the website too, and then were pulled shortly after.

TRU typically releases sets a couple weeks early. They did the exact same thing a year ago with the LOTR sets, which led to some lucrative sales if you knew what you were doing. Nothing new here...

Yep. made a quick flip selling king's castle when they put it on BOGO at the store at non-inflated pricing... lol. 

TRU is like Cartman:  I do what I want

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZLVi4v7lSM

How much over MSRP were they? ;)

Lego does care about Stores putting Lego sets out before the release date, The Stores are fined for releasing the sets early, but Toys R Us Etc don't care because they know that the advance sales will be way more than the fines. Its just like when Toys R Us, walmart,Etc use to get fined by Hasbro all the time for Releasing The New Star Wars Movie Figures before the release date that was on the Hasbro Boxes.

Lego does care about Stores putting Lego sets out before the release date, The Stores are fined for releasing the sets early, but Toys R Us Etc don't care because they know that the advance sales will be way more than the fines. Its just like when Toys R Us, walmart,Etc use to get fined by Hasbro all the time for Releasing The New Star Wars Movie Figures before the release date that was on the Hasbro Boxes.

Plus, what is Lego going to do? Stop selling sets to them? 

My understanding as far as why products have specific release dates has a lot to do with some kind of fair retail act agreement that most companies agree to honor. Basically how it works is a manufacturer will put a specific date of release on a new product, despite them shipping it a week or more before that date. Some retailers may receive the items much sooner than others, but are supposed to agree not to put the product on shelves until the date specified to ensure all retailers have the product in-hand and in-stock to sell. That way there isn't a system of "favorites" going on in which one retailer is able to monopolize the market on a specific product because they got it first and are able to sell it without competition. Of course, as shown in this thread, companies often don't bother with waiting.

 

There's a myth (often told by Gamestop employees) in the video game world that they (retailers) will be "fined" by a publisher if they put their products out for sale early. This is largely a myth, because although a publisher could attempt to impose a fine if they wanted to, there has not been a true recorded instance of it happening in history, and there is no real obligation for a retailer to pay it. Sure, Activision could attempt to "fine" Wal-Mart for laying those copies of COD out a couple days early, but what regulatory agency actually exists to make sure Wal-Mart pays? Certainly not Interpol or the FBI. The truth is, if Activision really wanted to seek damages for this, they would have to sue Wal-Mart in a civil/business court. Activision would most likely pull their shipments from Wal-Mart stores, WM would respond by banning their products from the stores anyway, and the end result is you have Call of Duty games going out on a much more limited release campaign. In this situation, it's easy to see that everyone loses. To keep the peace, retailers will generally try to conform to the street date standards at the strong insistence of the publisher. But to be clear, the whole thing about fining a GS store 10,000 dollars or whatever is BS. It wouldn't surprise me though, if GS execs told their employees that to keep them from thinking about doing it.  

 

Here's an article about why breaking street dates are not good for the retail industry (it specifically talks about video games):

 

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2011/10/why-street-date-breaks-are-bad-for-the-games-industry-as-a-whole/

I have seen almost every LEGO set early at TRU. 

Man I am glad though - I wanted another chance at that AT-TE. Looks sweet.

So this is basically another example of why TRU is garbage? They put out those sets early so that they are the only one carrying them? Amazing how shady TRU is!

So this is basically another example of why TRU is garbage? They put out those sets early so that they are the only one carrying them? Amazing how shady TRU is!

 

Plus they probably cost an actual arm and a leg.

How much over MSRP were they?

$20-$30 IIRC

Several weeks ago TRU had the new Friends sets (that are supposed to go on sale Aug. 1) up on their website. Two of the sets were available for online ordering, and I was actually able to order one (I tried to order more than one, but they cancelled the additional ones). Not long after all of the new listings disappeared from the site and have not been back up since. Was it a mistake or one of those accidentally-on-purpose situations?

TRU typically releases sets a couple weeks early. They did the exact same thing a year ago with the LOTR sets, which led to some lucrative sales if you knew what you were doing. Nothing new here...

Pretty much. Toys R Us has been doing this practice of having items for sale a month or so before everyone else for a very long time. It isn't anything new really. Supposedly, Toys R Us has some kind of agreement with the various toy companies allowing them to sell their products earlier than others. This is also the alleged reason as to why they can mark up their prices more than the other retailers, too.

Several weeks ago TRU had the new Friends sets (that are supposed to go on sale Aug. 1) up on their website. Two of the sets were available for online ordering, and I was actually able to order one (I tried to order more than one, but they cancelled the additional ones). Not long after all of the new listings disappeared from the site and have not been back up since. Was it a mistake or one of those accidentally-on-purpose situations?

Knowing business, I'd say it was 'accidentally-on-purpose'.  Then again, after seeing Stephanie's Soccer Practice available for the amazing price of $96.99, I guess mistakes do happen from time to time.