dunamis Posted May 10, 2006 Author Posted May 10, 2006 Could you deeplink? Sorry, should be working now.
Kikuichimonji Posted May 10, 2006 Posted May 10, 2006 Could you please post pictures of the Sailbarge when you have it built? I hope it'll be better then the ISD ;-)
dunamis Posted May 10, 2006 Author Posted May 10, 2006 Could you please post pictures of the Sailbarge when you have it built? I hope it'll be better then the ISD ;-) Absolutely! I'll be home late tonight and may try to attemp this tonight. Otherwise, it will be tomorrow.
natelite Posted May 10, 2006 Posted May 10, 2006 seeing the box getting ripped up like that brought tears to my eyes. :'-( :'-( :'-(
Sir Dillon Posted May 10, 2006 Posted May 10, 2006 They are:http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=182786 (last four pics) Yes, they are. I went back to the store on a break and they had a bunch of KK sets. I have some pics but someone on FBTB put some up on brickshelf. Here is the linkBricklink (from FBTB) Enjoy! Ooh! 8-
dunamis Posted May 10, 2006 Author Posted May 10, 2006 seeing the box getting ripped up like that brought tears to my eyes. :'-( :'-( :'-( Well, at least you didn't have to do it! I had to rip the box up and I still can't even open the little bags until I get home...
Berry Syedow Posted May 12, 2006 Posted May 12, 2006 I recently found this old thread about a set release in July. It's possible that the battle at the pass will launch near the same time. Now to figure out what "LEGO - Knights Kingdom < 10176 Royal King Castles > July sale schedule" means... 8-
gylman Posted May 12, 2006 Posted May 12, 2006 I recently found this old thread about a set release in July. It's possible that the battle at the pass will launch near the same time. Now to figure out what "LEGO - Knights Kingdom < 10176 Royal King Castles > July sale schedule" means... 8-
dunamis Posted May 12, 2006 Author Posted May 12, 2006 I recently found this old thread about a set release in July. It's possible that the battle at the pass will launch near the same time. Now to figure out what "LEGO - Knights Kingdom < 10176 Royal King Castles > July sale schedule" means... 8-
sam89 Posted May 12, 2006 Posted May 12, 2006 I remember seeing that a while back. It as from the same source that bought us the first pics of Battle at the Pass, so I would say it was real.
gylman Posted May 13, 2006 Posted May 13, 2006 Sets are now becoming available in Canada. The prices are uniformly 50% more in Canadian dollars than in US dollars, even though our dollar is 91% of the US dollar. %@&^#%! last year the differential was 20-40%, with our dollar 75% of the US dollar. , which was a bit reasonable. I know, it's even worse in Europe, and even more worse in Australia. But still..... it's shorter to drive across the border than to the nearest Lego store here (Bricks and Blocks, it's called). It's not that I can't afford it - I've been waiting a long time for some of these sets and haven't bought anytyhing new in several months, putting money aside. But I'm just offended at the abuse. >:-(
eNiGMa Posted May 14, 2006 Posted May 14, 2006 Does anyone have a price on the Mythical Creatures set? It looks good. EDIT: Nevermind. I just checked S@H, and it's $30 USD. Not too shabby. The site also has pretty much all the other new sets available to Americans now (except for Avatar and Spongebob)--check it out!
natelite Posted May 14, 2006 Posted May 14, 2006 Sets are now becoming available in Canada. The prices are uniformly 50% more in Canadian dollars than in US dollars, even though our dollar is 91% of the US dollar. %@&^#%! last year the differential was 20-40%, with our dollar 75% of the US dollar. , which was a bit reasonable. I know, it's even worse in Europe, and even more worse in Australia. But still..... it's shorter to drive across the border than to the nearest Lego store here (Bricks and Blocks, it's called). It's not that I can't afford it - I've been waiting a long time for some of these sets and haven't bought anytyhing new in several months, putting money aside. But I'm just offended at the abuse. >:-( hehe...i cant say i feel your pain. i enjoy having cheaper price for almost everything lego produces. besides, most shops a few miles from the border price gouges anyway so you end up better off waiting for a sale in Canada. for eg, the TRU at times square, ny prices the CTT at $110, which is $20 above MSRP because they know there are lots of tourists that come to the shop and even at $110 it is still cheaper than some parts of europe. most of europe have decent pricing (ie having a one for one exchange) except for Germany, Luxemberg and Finland. I just checked set 6211 ISD and it's a massive EUR150 for Germany and EUR180 for Lux and Finland. That's more than 2x for Lux and Finland compared to US. holy cow batman! on top of that the US has frequent sales (at least semi-annually) with deep discounts of 25-50%. WOW....no wonder the US is a consumer society. :-P
xwingyoda Posted May 14, 2006 Posted May 14, 2006 On a side note, TRU decided to play a big competition "game" between Lego & Megablock !! Both competitors in direct shelf opposition !! At least before there was K'Nex and other stuff in between !! Now its a direct face to face !! If TLC decides to keep their European pricing policy, they will suffer a lot from the competition with Megablock !! How often did we hear a mother saying to their child "not this honey, its too expensive, lets get something else !!" And now what do you think they will get if Megablocks is in front ?? TLC please do something fast !! *yoda*
gylman Posted May 14, 2006 Posted May 14, 2006 Actually, for as long as I can remember here they keep Lego and Megabloks beside each other. I have to say, I have never seen anyone buying megabloks. The lego stuff, especially Starwars, Xpods, cars, moves pretty well. Still, that's no justification for the pricing abuse. It does a lot to erode the good will people have towards the company. I presume Lego is not selling their sets at a loss in the US, so a 40-100% markup in other places in the world is hard to understand. I know they are just charging what they think the market will bear, but I am not sure they have a good concept of this right this moment. This pricing issue was not present last year. I am not sure why they are doing it now. Ignorance? Or ar they arrogant again already after one successful year? Oh well. If they are wrong I can expect to catch a lot of S@H bargoons. These days I am buried in work, have no time to build anything, and I have decided not to buy any new sets for now, with the expectation that I can get them on eBay or later on at S@H for 20-50% less. We will see if that works out.
Kikuichimonji Posted May 14, 2006 Posted May 14, 2006 I once read somewhere that US prices do not include tax, while European prices do. That might explain the price differences somewhat, but still, I feel ripped off...
gylman Posted May 14, 2006 Posted May 14, 2006 Certainly Canadian prices do NOT include tax. On top of the 50% Lego markup I can then expect to pay 15% Canadian taxes. Usually I don't pay any on stuff I buy on bricklink or eBay. One more reason to reduce my S@H activity.
Berry Syedow Posted May 15, 2006 Posted May 15, 2006 Hey guys, after googling the set number of the battle at the pass I found this page. 40 Euros isn
eNiGMa Posted May 15, 2006 Posted May 15, 2006 Hey guys, after googling the set number of the battle at the pass I found this page. 40 Euros isn
natelite Posted May 15, 2006 Posted May 15, 2006 well, i think the pricing arb is not just by lego. i have been to different parts of the world (tokyo and london) on extended periods and i can safely say US prices are usually at a deep discount compared to elsewhere in the world. branded suits, shirts and ties sell for 20-30% cheaper in the US. even those by european designers. i think one of the reason is due to the size of the american market. they expect to sell more volume hence are more keen to give pricing discounts vs other markets. for eg, the US market is almost equivalent to the entire EU. another reason is probably higher setup cost to operate in the EU. for eg, you may need to set up multiple companies or hire more experts to deal with multiple issues such as taxes (ie you only need one tax accountant for US but probably 12 for the EU), sales team, different culture and norms, retailers, etc. in the end, net profit per set is probably equal comparatively between US and the EU. but consumers in the EU pay more due to higher operating cost. eg, a very easy comparison can be seen between the Canada vs the US market. Canada is larger than the US geographically but definitely smaller in population terms (about 1/10). to sell in canada will cost a lot in terms of shipping cost or retailer's kickbacks. for almost the same cost you get to sell to 10 times the number of consumers in the US. obviously pricing will be cheaper in the US. another reason could be FX. TLG probably reports in USD since most of its sales is generated from global markets and not domestically. As a USD functional company other markets' revenue are subject to FX conversion risk (since they will be converted to USD for reporting). so even if CAD appreciated against the USD, TLG may have locked in FX forwards or futures and had to charge more to cover the losses it incurred in the FX market to hedge its currency risk.
gylman Posted May 15, 2006 Posted May 15, 2006 well, i think the pricing arb is not just by lego. i have been to different parts of the world (tokyo and london) on extended periods and i can safely say US prices are usually at a deep discount compared to elsewhere in the world. branded suits, shirts and ties sell for 20-30% cheaper in the US. even those by european designers. i think one of the reason is due to the size of the american market. they expect to sell more volume hence are more keen to give pricing discounts vs other markets. for eg, the US market is almost equivalent to the entire EU. another reason is probably higher setup cost to operate in the EU. for eg, you may need to set up multiple companies or hire more experts to deal with multiple issues such as taxes (ie you only need one tax accountant for US but probably 12 for the EU), sales team, different culture and norms, retailers, etc. in the end, net profit per set is probably equal comparatively between US and the EU. but consumers in the EU pay more due to higher operating cost. eg, a very easy comparison can be seen between the Canada vs the US market. Canada is larger than the US geographically but definitely smaller in population terms (about 1/10). to sell in canada will cost a lot in terms of shipping cost or retailer's kickbacks. for almost the same cost you get to sell to 10 times the number of consumers in the US. obviously pricing will be cheaper in the US. another reason could be FX. TLG probably reports in USD since most of its sales is generated from global markets and not domestically. As a USD functional company other markets' revenue are subject to FX conversion risk (since they will be converted to USD for reporting). so even if CAD appreciated against the USD, TLG may have locked in FX forwards or futures and had to charge more to cover the losses it incurred in the FX market to hedge its currency risk. All good points, I agree. It doesn't seem to me that they add up to the markup involved, which as far as I can tell is at historic heights with regard to the US/Canada. Our dollar has appreciated significantly in the past year against the US dollar, but they can surely accomodate within that type of timeframe. Given that they report in US$, and the USA$ is much weaker this year than in previous years, they may end up making a significant amount of extra US$ profit.
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