Maybe it becomes offtopic, but what is the mood in the US massmedia considering the Putin / Crimea?

Are they beating the war drums?

 

The lunatics on the far right can't seem to ever pass up a war, but the majority of the country doesn't want any part of it. Seeing as how Ukraine though is so close to joining the EU/Nato its definitely a tougher situation than say Georgia a few years back.

Note that some themes don't suffer higher prices in europe, and dollar/euro ratio is ok overall.

I can mainly think of lego technics: http://brickset.com/sets/theme-Technic/year-2013

Some Items at 39$ <=> 29

Our friend Grolim wrote an article on this subject:

http://blog.brickpicker.com/comparing-lego-retail-purchase-prices-across-regions/

Tax differences can explain something like a 15-20% price differences.

As you can see, some themes, particularly the licensed ones, go beyond that. Whether that is because of some legal reason, or it's just Lego's strategy, I don't know. Or maybe they produce these themes in their factory in Mexico and it's the transportation costs.

I will say that sometimes the difference is just ridiculous. The Lone Ranger Stagecoach Escape for example was $30 and

The Lone Ranger Stagecoach Escape for example was $30 and

Well I got Stagecoach for 20

Well I got Stagecoach for 20

I've been seeing some fantastic deals in supermarkets recently which never used to happen much.  One day, things will even out I think.

1 to 1 conversion is not fair at all.

1 dollar = 0.725058005 euro's

1 euro = 1.3792 U.S. dollars

So when you are talking about a set which has a 40 dollar / 40 euro retail price.

The Europeans are paying 55 dollars!

The Europeans are paying a whopping 37% more.

We have a disadvantage from the start, when it comes to investing.

How can this be fair?

You have to concider two things:

1. In the U.S. Prices are usually published with sales tax not yet included. The rate varies by state from 0-10%. So costumers wouldn't actually pay 40 for a 40$ dollar set, but somethong like $43.

2. Europe's value added tax (the Dutch BTW) rates are much higher than the American sales taxes. Varies by country but around 20%.

So when Lego sells you a set for

You have to concider two things:

1. In the U.S. Prices are usually published with sales tax not yet included. The rate varies by state from 0-10%. So costumers wouldn't actually pay 40 for a 40$ dollar set, but somethong like $43.

2. Europe's value added tax (the Dutch BTW) rates are much higher than the American sales taxes. Varies by country but around 20%.

So when Lego sells you a set for

I think we must keep cheeking amazon, i think we will see it around 45-50 euros in the future!

 

Thats only my opinion!