I am referring to the sets on LEGO Shop at Home that we all know are more or less retired.  For instance, all the Super Heroes stuff in the blue boxes, the rest of the LotR stuff from the first wave, SpongeBob, etc.  These things all just show "Sold Out" for their status.

 

Since we all know Lego is on to us and our methods of making money off their products, I'm sure they are also aware that we are just waiting for those "Retired Product" tags to show up, so we can market our sets differently and jack up our prices.  Lol.

 

What do you bet they stay "Sold Out" for quite a while longer?  After all, what is Lego's hurry to declare a set retired?  When a consumer goes to the LEGO Shop at Home site and sees that the set they wanted to order for little Timmy is retired, their first instinct is going to be to go try eBay.  And Lego can't have that, can they? 

 

I say all of this strictly in the spirit of fun, but I'll bet I'm on to something.

For some of the sold outs I would have to agree with you. It would be nice if it was true for all of them. Like all the Architecture sets that are sold out. That would be great.

Your right! I'm so mad that I basically missed all of those. 

doffy nailed it.  the jig isn't up but getting harder 

Yeah I wouldn't be surprised. Its not too difficult to figure out which ones though. You can mostly bet on the ones that have had their respective pages taken down on retailer websites like TRU.

 

Even if they come back in stock, may not be a crazy huge deal assuming they go out again. The blips didn't hurt the Orc Forge of the Catcycle.

 

Now if they do what the VC did - different story.

I don't have access to this type of information however, sets that are listed as out of stock could be returned by stores that have them....an inventory shift so to speak, helping underperforming stores move inventory?

Giving Lego far too much credit...

They take a long time to "retire" sets, but that hardly influences demand.

It may not have much impact if it stays sold out for long time. Check 3187 and 3188.

Giving Lego far too much credit...

They take a long time to "retire" sets, but that hardly influences demand.

 

so says the lego employe  spy  

Then I wish they would hurry up and put "sell out" on the ssd, ds, hh, ge, to, tb. Well maybe not quite yet i need to double my holdings on most. Then i give them permission.

You know, I really don't get all the supposed hate from TLG.

 

Why do they care if we sell Lego's and try to make some money on their product? Hell all the sets we all buy, and I'm not a huge reseller, far from that, do put money in TLG's pocket. I'm sorry to say but with AFOLs and this secondary market, Lego wouldn't be where it is now. We aren't responsible if there's a secondary LEGO market where some people are ready to pay lots of $$$ for retired sets. That's just the way it is with things that can be collected.

 

What's next, post offices banning people from buying too many stamps because those stamps get sold for 10x their value to stamp collectors once they retire?

You know, I really don't get all the supposed hate from TLG.

 

Why do they care if we sell Lego's and try to make some money on their product? Hell all the sets we all buy, and I'm not a huge reseller, far from that, do put money in TLG's pocket. I'm sorry to say but with AFOLs and this secondary market, Lego wouldn't be where it is now. We aren't responsible if there's a secondary LEGO market where some people are ready to pay lots of $$$ for retired sets. That's just the way it is with things that can be collected.

 

What's next, post offices banning people from buying too many stamps because those stamps get sold for 10x their value to stamp collectors once they retire?

I have always had a lot of these thoughts too.  The people who buy to resell really inflate Lego's sale numbers!  And anytime your product has a good secondary market presence, you should be celebrating that fact, not trying to limit it.  I'll never understand why they try to keep us down.  Maybe things work differently in Denmark or wherever the hell Lego is from.  Lol. 

I think it's an image thing. Lego actually loves the investors but has to keep it's "we are a private held company devoted to children" image. They plan and build sets knowing that those sets will blow up the investment world...cuuso rover??? Anyway, that's my take on it.

Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

I have always had a lot of these thoughts too.  The people who buy to resell really inflate Lego's sale numbers!  And anytime your product has a good secondary market presence, you should be celebrating that fact, not trying to limit it.  I'll never understand why they try to keep us down.  Maybe things work differently in Denmark or wherever the hell Lego is from.  Lol. 

It's the growth that is the problem. Kind of like an expansionary economy..In the short run it seems great because their sales are record breaking, but in the long run this may end up hurting them. Too many resellers out there saturating the market, or perhaps a false creation of demand that means they are over producing.

 

They are simply trying to taper back the expansion. They would rather REAL steady growth over the next 20 years instead of fake crazy growth based solely off speculation from investors in the next 3, and then a bust. 

9492 Tie Fighter.

Sold out at every legoshop, except at Legoshop US

I think it will retire in a few weeks.

How can this be?

 

On Legoshop NL; the 9492 Tie Fighter is allready retired.

 

http://shop.lego.com/en-NL/TIE-Fighter-9492

 

BUT... when I look at the US store... it is still available?!

 

http://shop.lego.com/en-US/TIE-Fighter-9492?_requestid=2709921

 

How can this be?!

How can this be?

 

On Legoshop NL; the 9492 Tie Fighter is allready retired.

 

http://shop.lego.com/en-NL/TIE-Fighter-9492

 

BUT... when I look at the US store... it is still available?!

 

http://shop.lego.com/en-US/TIE-Fighter-9492?_requestid=2709921

 

How can this be?!

Quite simple. I think Lego keeps most sets in stock longer because buyers in the US buy a lot of Lego (compared to other countries in the world) so they want to make the most money possible before the set officially retires here in the US.

It's the growth that is the problem. Kind of like an expansionary economy..In the short run it seems great because their sales are record breaking, but in the long run this may end up hurting them. Too many resellers out there saturating the market, or perhaps a false creation of demand that means they are over producing.

 

They are simply trying to taper back the expansion. They would rather REAL steady growth over the next 20 years instead of fake crazy growth based solely off speculation from investors in the next 3, and then a bust. 

I agree with this.  I think LEGO wants to slow things down a tad.  LEGO reps have stated that they do not mind people buying a couple sets to build, collect and invest in, but the issue arises when people buy 10, 20, 30 or more of the same set to resell.  Not only does this sort of reseller make it more difficult for regular customers to buy these sets, these resellers will compete directly with LEGO when they list their sets.  It also makes it hard for LEGO to make production estimates  if resellers are propping up the market to a degree.  Although the market seems to be coping with the added reseller's purchases, LEGO's recent buying restrictions have helped slow the reseller market down a bit IMO. 

And to add to that, If Lego stays this popular, I think the reseller market will wave up and down. We wont become flooded, because some people will get out as new people get in. Really only thing that stops it is Lego becoming less popular.

It's the growth that is the problem. Kind of like an expansionary economy..In the short run it seems great because their sales are record breaking, but in the long run this may end up hurting them. Too many resellers out there saturating the market, or perhaps a false creation of demand that means they are over producing.

 

They are simply trying to taper back the expansion. They would rather REAL steady growth over the next 20 years instead of fake crazy growth based solely off speculation from investors in the next 3, and then a bust. 

 

Lego is not overproducing the more expensive sets.

They do production runs.

So if the demand from the stores are low, they will not do another production run until there is enough demand.

They will never overproduce.

On a different note; I think LEGO has got a big problem with the new competitors.

We know the new brands and they will take over the lower market segment and a part of the middle segment.

Anybody can figure that out.

 

BUT... here we come in.

'We' resellers are mainly concerned with the top segment of LEGO.

'We' make sure that a lot of expensive sets in a new condition will be around for many years.

Prices above the 2000 dollar level are no exception anymore.

'We' have propelled LEGO into another level which probably never will be reached by the new brands for many years.

It has become a new dimension, where LEGO is the single player.

 

The top sets of LEGO will be the lifeboat of LEGO in the years to come.

And they need the resellers for the continuation of their company.

Because no one else will be prepared to pay the future prices of the top sets of LEGO.

My prediction is; within 3 years LEGO will have sets above the 1000 dollar retailprice.

I agree with this.  I think LEGO wants to slow things down a tad.  LEGO reps have stated that they do not mind people buying a couple sets to build, collect and invest in, but the issue arises when people buy 10, 20, 30 or more of the same set to resell.  Not only does this sort of reseller make it more difficult for regular customers to buy these sets, these resellers will compete directly with LEGO when they list their sets.  It also makes it hard for LEGO to make production estimates  if resellers are propping up the market to a degree.  Although the market seems to be coping with the added reseller's purchases, LEGO's recent buying restrictions have helped slow the reseller market down a bit IMO. 

I find this to be an odd corporate policy. If I were a company, I would produce as much of something as I could, that I knew I could sell.

 

Taking this to other avenues, it would be like Sears not allowing you to buy 1,000 refrigerators from them on-line, or Topps baseball cards not allowing you to buy 1,000 of their sets on-line.

 

Lego has built in advantages to their system which would actually make reselling a non-issue if they produced enough of their product.

I find this to be an odd corporate policy. If I were a company, I would produce as much of something as I could, that I knew I could sell.

 

Taking this to other avenues, it would be like Sears not allowing you to buy 1,000 refrigerators from them on-line, or Topps baseball cards not allowing you to buy 1,000 of their sets on-line.

You also however don't have people buying 20-30 refrigerators to flip / invest. There is also the problem with people who will end up deciding they want out and end up  returning all the unsold refrigerators.

Why not just change the return policy?

Lego is not overproducing the more expensive sets.

They do production runs.

So if the demand from the stores are low, they will not do another production run until there is enough demand.

They will never overproduce.

You don't understand my point. Im saying if the reseller market is driving up false demand, then they will overproduce with respect to true demand. 

I find this to be an odd corporate policy. If I were a company, I would produce as much of something as I could, that I knew I could sell.

 

Taking this to other avenues, it would be like Sears not allowing you to buy 1,000 refrigerators from them on-line, or Topps baseball cards not allowing you to buy 1,000 of their sets on-line.

 

Lego has built in advantages to their system which would actually make reselling a non-issue if they produced enough of their product.

People consume refrigerators, but in the Lego world many are starting to invest in Lego sets, which can lead to a whole set of problems for the company if they cannot taper the growth back.