Lego - given up on the UK?

[TheBrickHitHouse]

Once upon a time Lego was everywhere - toy shops were full of it, adverts on tv

Now....

Nothing

As a serious collector I have given up looking in shops for new sets - they just arent there, and despite living in the South East, I just cant find places that sell the stuff

Toys R us sells Star Wars Lego but thats about it - I am yet to see a Batman set for instance in a major retailer anywhere

How is the rest of the continent (and country for that matter) finding things?

Has Lego just given up trying to sell its product here?

[Jameseh]

My local TRU may sell Batman but I've never seen it, but I've seen every other theme there; Star Wars; Indy; Speed Racer; Castle; etc.

[rriggs]

I know what you mean! Toyr r Us and Woolies have a few sets each but not exactly what you would call a range. Most independent toy shops don't stock any sets. I remember when I was younger going to John Lewis every Saturday as they had the full range all the time; even they now only have a small handful of sets.

Having said that, it's not just the UK. I go to France regularly and the stores there only have the same small selections that can be found in the UK (Normally half a dozen CITY sets, one builder set, one Technic set and a few Star Wars or Indiana Jones.) Maybe 20 sets in total in each (giant) hypermarket.

Even the shop in Legoland Windsor is disappointing. It has lots of the same sets but by no means not the full range.

Thank heavens for Lego's website and eBay!!

Cheers

Rog

Edited June 29, 2008 by rriggs

[fugglewyg]

We have a small independent shop down here i go into quite a lot and he told me part of it is TLG's doing. He told me that when new sets come out they get the advanced catalogue to place their orders a long time in advance of the actual release date and they used to be able to order one or two sets at a time. Now he says they can only order in multiples determined by TLG. These are usually 5's or 10's. while this may be cheap enough for him to do with small sets he cannot afford to do this with large sets. also being a small shop he has to consider display space for that amount of sets and even if he can sell that many. i think that may explain why so many independants have stopped carrying lego. Another small shop down our way gets around this because although independant, it is part of the toymaster chain for buying purposes. this means they can share multiples of sets with others in the group. consequently he usually has a very good stock of the latest sets - however independants can't compete price wise with the big chains or ebay which is another problem.

[Karto]

It's the same case in Belgium: Most independent toy shops don't sell Lego. This was already the case 20 years ago as they had to order for several thousands Euro at once. They just couldn't afford to spend that much... On the other hand we have enough bigger stores which sell Lego.

[Lord Of Pies]

The woolworths I visit to buy lego has an okay stock actually, not great, but still not as bad as some places.

[Shoc]

As a serious collector I have given up looking in shops for new sets - they just arent there, and despite living in the South East, I just cant find places that sell the stuff

I too live in the South East and I've seen plenty of new sets around, Woolworths used to just do some Exo-Force, City and Bionicle, but now I am seeing sets in there which are out quite early. Other shops like Gamleys and the Toy Cupboard do a wide range of sets.

Toys R us sells Star Wars Lego but thats about it - I am yet to see a Batman set for instance in a major retailer anywhere

I assume you're talking about licenced sets, because Toys R Us sells loooots of Lego, unfortunatley lots of Megabloks too.

I am dissapointed that Batman Lego doesn't seem to be in many shops. I bought almost all of my Batman sets from Rockbottom Toystore! That seems to be the only place that does them in England, it also sells Avatar sets, that aren't meant to be in this country.

:skull:

[Ralph_S]

I think things have improved a little, actually in the last two years. Indeed, Woolworths always have a very small selection (some Batman though), but my local Toys R Us has pretty much everything. Gamleys is good and even The Entertainer have started selling LEGO again and when I last went there a few weeks ago had pretty much every single city set on their shelves and quite a few Coast Guard sets as well. Indeed, The Rockbottom Toy store sell lots of Batman and I bought an Avatar set there as well. They do grey import from the US, without a doubt. Is that a chain or is there only one, by the way? If not, Shoc may live close to where I do (in Hampshire).

Now that LEGO have sold a very large part of their stake in the Legoland parks, the shop in Windsor doesn't get exclusives anymore , which means they have pretty much the same sets for sale as any other large toy store -only more of them.

I can only compare the situation with The Netherlands and Germany, and it doesn't seem to be very different. There are very few independent small toy stores left anyway.

Cheers,

Ralph

Edited June 29, 2008 by Ralph_S

[Shoc]

Indeed, The Rockbottom Toy store sell lots of Batman and I bought an Avatar set there as well. They do grey import from the US, without a doubt. Is that a chain or is there only one, by the way? If not, Shoc may live close to where I do (in Hampshire).

Yep, I live in Hampshire, I did think that Rockbottom Toystore was a countrywide group, but I have discovered there is only one in Southampton. There used to be one in Eastleigh too, but that is empty now.

:skull:

[TheBrickHitHouse]

It seems the toy industry in general has decided computer games are the way forward and have surrendered without a shot being fired

Few companies have more good will directed their way than TLC - but if their product just isn't in stock they will never get anywhere. As a kid I remember so many impulse buys - if the set had not actually been in shops that would never have happened

The MTT is one of my fav sets of all time, I bought it months before its official release via ebay - just the other week for the very first time I saw it in a shop, a full year after its official release

Collectors are almost forced now to turn to ebay which surely hurts shops and makes the whole problem worse

[Wily Manc]

I completely agree - I live in Greater Manchester and I've noticed that Lego has become scarce. TRU used to have a huge Lego display, now it's half the size, and not much bigger than the MegaBlocks display. Asda sells about 4 sets, and Forbidden Planet has a couple of Star Wars sets generally.

Is it just TLG's doing, or are people really not buying Lego over here anymore? Or are they just buying it online?

[Ralph_S]

Yep, I live in Hampshire, I did think that Rockbottom Toystore was a countrywide group, but I have discovered there is only one in Southampton. There used to be one in Eastleigh too, but that is empty now.

:skull:

I didn't read your profile, because it actually says you're in Hampshire! Sorry. They usually have a very limited number of different sets, but usually some interesting ones and often cheaper than in other stores.

Cheers,

Ralph

[Shoc]

I didn't read your profile, because it actually says you're in Hampshire! Sorry.

Hehe! I myself often look to see where people live, it interests me.

They usually have a very limited number of different sets, but usually some interesting ones and often cheaper than in other stores.

That's probably why it's called Rockbottom! I haven't been there for a while, next time I go to Southampton I'll see if they have anything new, maybe Agents!

:skull:

[Ralph_S]

Hehe! I myself often look to see where people live, it interests me.

That's probably why it's called Rockbottom! I haven't been there for a while, next time I go to Southampton I'll see if they have anything new, maybe Agents!

:skull:

Well, there's a supposedly budget bookstore next door, but that's just a ruse to get you in there, because they mainly sell Christian books. So, I tend to take that sort of thing with a grain of salt :D

Cheers,

Ralph

[Pencoin]

i totally agree with everyone

i think another problem is that stockist ( or maybe just TRU i dunno) are a bit thick, there still trying to sell old sets (the old knightskingdom and alpha team to name a few) but of cause kids dont want them they wont new but they wont stock many new sets until they sell the old ones, which they dont reslise is pretty stupid.

and another worrying thing is that i find kids wanting megabloks more then LEGO so stockist have more megabloks then LEGO which is

(even without this though i do think LEGO needs to take a few tips from megabloks)

[Skipper 24]

I live in the southeast as well, I mainly buy LEGO off the Internet now. Although in town there is a shop that sells really ancient lego like orient expedition!

[Shoc]

I live in the southeast as well, I mainly buy LEGO off the Internet now. Although in town there is a shop that sells really ancient lego like orient expedition!

Wow! I'll check it out if I ever go to Woodbridge, I never did get enough Orient Expedition sets (though I wouldn't call them ancient, just a bit old).

:skull:

[Pencoin]

i dont think anyone got enough

we didnt know the direction TLC was headed at that point though did we?

[Ralph_S]

It's interesting ho many of you mention mega bloks. I'm always immensely ticked off when I go too woolies and the only LEGO I find is a bunch of lousy Bionicle sets wheras they seem to have a huge variety of Mega Blocks. Something is going wrong there!

Many people don't really know the difference between LEGO and Mega Blocks. They see bricks with studs and think it's all LEGO. If you don't know that there is a difference and that the quality of LEGO is a lot better than Mega Blok's (even though LEGO has had a few quality issues in recent years) and go to Woolies to buy a present for their grand-children for instance, and they see a fire engine that costs 12.99 from LEGO and see that the same money also buys them an enormous scale model of a tank or whatnot from what they think is LEGO too, albeit with a different name on the box, the choice seems easy.

Cheers,

Ralph

[commanderbly42]

Buying LEGO on the Isle of Man is also very tough and that was when I was last there in 05. I had to sent relatives to every toy shop on the island in an attempt to find the Wookiee Catamaran (which I still don't have). Woolies sold smaller sets but no big ones.

[TheBrickHitHouse]

I am very lucky that (currently) i can buy sets I like, even the Death Star

...but 80 quid for some sets?

Aside from collectors, who could afford that?

That's a hell of a lot for a birthday present for most families

I would never ask Lego to reduce quality - but even the most basic sets have a price tag that shocks me, Lego is an incredibly expensive Hobby

2 computer games or one set? I think we all know how most people will vote

I just cant believe Lego can cost as much as it does to produce

[CP5670]

It's interesting ho many of you mention mega bloks. I'm always immensely ticked off when I go too woolies and the only LEGO I find is a bunch of lousy Bionicle sets wheras they seem to have a huge variety of Mega Blocks. Something is going wrong there!

Many people don't really know the difference between LEGO and Mega Blocks. They see bricks with studs and think it's all LEGO. If you don't know that there is a difference and that the quality of LEGO is a lot better than Mega Blok's (even though LEGO has had a few quality issues in recent years) and go to Woolies to buy a present for their grand-children for instance, and they see a fire engine that costs 12.99 from LEGO and see that the same money also buys them an enormous scale model of a tank or whatnot from what they think is LEGO too, albeit with a different name on the box, the choice seems easy.

Yeah, unfortunately most people don't really care about quality with such things and will just choose the cheaper option. The manufacturers know this and I think it's a general trend we are getting with a lot of things these days, not just toys. Even TLG realized this a few years ago and it explains why we've recently seen an overall shift towards cost cutting at the expense of quality from them too, although Lego still remains a cut above MB and other clones. I guess the only surprising thing is that it took them this long.

I just cant believe Lego can cost as much as it does to produce

At least with certain items, it does seem like they either have huge profit margins or are doing something wrong with their production. This especially applied to some of the electric parts in the past; one example is the 9V train speed regulator, which was always something like $45 despite being very simple electronically (having only one output and lacking even a power switch) and being made of some cheaper-looking plastic than ABS. I think they have come down on this a bit with the new power functions parts though, which is good to see.

[Tom_castlefan]

It is sad that the amount of stores stacking a variety of lego products is slowly declining. Indeed, the best place to buy these days is online, and this lacks a certain degree of "impulse-buying" - how often have you gone into a shop, and come out with a lego product that you weren't planning to buy? Shopping online lacks this degree of fun, the element of surprise, and it is extremely disappointing that lego is not as popular as it once was.

Tom

[darkrebellion]

In my country lego seems to disappear in the last years. Years ago we have a decent stock with most of the new sets but now there is anything. Just for an example the last year the january sets are put on stock around november so we are talking about months without anything.

[Wily Manc]

At least with certain items, it does seem like they either have huge profit margins or are doing something wrong with their production.

I seem to remember reading something on From Bricks To Bothans where the Lego rep was answering a question about the cost of Lego in the UK compared to the USA. He said that they have to keep the prices higher over here to keep it aimed at the upper end of the market.