Licensed Prices

[Zilcho]

I recently compared the £70 Medieval Market village with about 1200 peices to the PotC Whitecap Bay with the same price tag but about half as many peices. Why does it cost so much? Is this a set-specific thing, as it does include many rare peices? Or is it to do with the licensing of the set? Do most licensed sets cost as much?

Thanks

Edited July 18, 2011 by Zilcho

[Aanchir]

I recently compared the £70 Medieval Market village with about 1200 peices to the PotC Whitecap Bay with the same price tag but about half as many peices. Why does it cost so much? Is this a set-specific thing, as it does include many rare peices? Or is it to do with the licensing of the set? Do most licensed sets cost as much?

Thanks

Well, TLG has to pay royalties for licensed sets. So, for instance, while they would get around 100% of the profits for a LEGO Atlantis set, they'd get a smaller percentage of the profits for a LEGO Star Wars set, with the rest going to Lucasfilms. For the sets to remain profitable, TLG has to raise prices accordingly.

Occasionally it might have something to do with rare pieces, but I think the cost of royalties has a much bigger impact on prices than any production-related costs.

Also, certain licenses cost more than others. Star Wars sets tend to have hugely inflated prices, whereas the SpongeBob Squarepants sets have typically had prices closer to those of non-licensed sets.

[Zilcho]

Thanks, I guess the inflation charges must have a big effect on PotC because it is quite popular and well known.

[Hoboman]

Didn't the PotC sets introduce some new parts as well? Wouldn't that have an impact on the line too?

[Aanchir]

Didn't the PotC sets introduce some new parts as well? Wouldn't that have an impact on the line too?

Possibly to an extent-- after all, some of the hair pieces have complicated printing. But something to keep in mind is that all themes introduce new parts-- the main difference with licensed themes is that fewer of their new parts can be used outside the theme in which they are introduced.

[Haltiamieli]

I recently compared the £70 Medieval Market village with about 1200 peices to the PotC Whitecap Bay with the same price tag but about half as many peices. Why does it cost so much? Is this a set-specific thing, as it does include many rare peices? Or is it to do with the licensing of the set? Do most licensed sets cost as much?

While I share the opinion that the prices of PotC sets are very steep, the Medieval Market Village (which actually has 1600 pieces) is a very good value-for-money set even compared to most unlicensed sets of regular lines (i.e. excluding AFOL-oriented exclusives and such). The MSRP of Medieval Market Village is 100 dollars in the USA, the same as the biggest normal Castle set of that year, Trolls' Mountain Fortress (7097), which has 844 pieces, or the biggest Kingdoms set of the following year, King's Castle (7946), which has 933 pieces.

[Blondie-Wan]

I think it's also worth pointing out not all pieces are equal; one wouldn't expect to pay the same for five 1x1 round plates as for five 48x48 baseplates, for example. What is the average piece size of each of these sets? I think the piece count is certainly a valid criteria by which to compare prices, but what about the average size of those pieces? Has anyone thought about comparing the weight of the sets to measure the overall quantity of material? What about prints and complex parts (light bricks, for example)?

[Geertos13]

I think we're all quite right here. I agree with Aanchir who has told us about the royalties! It is obvious that LEGO or TLG has to raise their prices, because a part of their profits go to the License they're working with. We can assume that new designed parts, and especially minifigures may have an impact. Minifigures need to be designed after a character, recreating a character in lego form is one of the most expensive things for Lego to do. They have to pay to get the righs to build the sets, but I believe Characters are a much more complicated story.We can safely assume that because of all that, to keep their own benefits reasonable, they have to raise their prices!

I think it's also worth pointing out not all pieces are equal; one wouldn't expect to pay the same for five 1x1 round plates as for five 48x48 baseplates, for example. What is the average piece size of each of these sets? I think the piece count is certainly a valid criteria by which to compare prices, but what about the average size of those pieces? Has anyone thought about comparing the weight of the sets to measure the overall quantity of material? What about prints and complex parts (light bricks, for example)?

An interresting idea you got there Blondie-Wan! I think that the weight and size of the sets do have a role to play with the price too! Let's be honest, licensed set often suffer from empty spaces, gaps in the walls, the use of bigger pieces or BURPs! All these are supposed to make the set bigger! How bigger the set, how more expensssive they become! It's all about the size! the Biggest Licensed sets aren't always the one with the most pieces, I mean, of course, there will be alot of bricks, no doubt about that, but with the slightest modifications, they make the set look much bigger by including BURPs, raised baseplates or pillars. So the Size goes up, and so does the price!

Edited July 23, 2011 by Geertos13

[Mr_Malfoy]

The new parts and the license always pushes prices up. The PotC sets are overpriced, but I wonder why $10 dollar sets are $12 today

[Aanchir]

The new parts and the license always pushes prices up. The PotC sets are overpriced, but I wonder why $10 dollar sets are $12 today

Rising oil prices, rising steel prices, inflation, and a number of other factors play a part in that. Really, I'm quite impressed at how little sets have increased in price over the years, given the trend towards higher prices for just about everything non-LEGO these days. There's a topic about this in the LEGO General Discussion subforum.