Where did the Advent calendars go?

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Sorry, not sure if this should go under "General Discussion" or somewhere else. Has anybody else notived that the Advent Calendars have vanished from local stores? I've checked my local Targets, TRUs, and elsewhere, and they're gone. There were plenty last week. I had a coupon for $5 off a $29 purchase, so I finally decided to get the Friends calendar. It's vanished, along with the Star Wars and City ones. (I already picked up the other two, so I don't need them--but they're also gone.)

I realize that Advent starts in a week, but last year there was plenty of AC stock in the stores. I was still finding them on clearance until March. Is it because the price is lower this year? Were the production runs lower? Did Lego suddenly pull them from stores? What gives?

[Freddy Bricker]

I visited my local target today, and I didn't see any calenders either. However Toys R Us did, if I recall. I on the other hand haven't found Hulk's Helicarrier breakout, and I really want that set before it discontinues. So yeah, most stores I have visited lately (with the exception of Toys R Us) have had very little 2012 sets (espicially from the superheroes, ninjago, and city lines). As far as 2013 sets go, I've seen plenty, so maybe calling to check if they are in stock might help.

[CardinalBricks]

Sorry, not sure if this should go under "General Discussion" or somewhere else. Has anybody else notived that the Advent Calendars have vanished from local stores? I've checked my local Targets, TRUs, and elsewhere, and they're gone. There were plenty last week. I had a coupon for $5 off a $29 purchase, so I finally decided to get the Friends calendar. It's vanished, along with the Star Wars and City ones. (I already picked up the other two, so I don't need them--but they're also gone.)

I realize that Advent starts in a week, but last year there was plenty of AC stock in the stores. I was still finding them on clearance until March. Is it because the price is lower this year? Were the production runs lower? Did Lego suddenly pull them from stores? What gives?

I haven't found any either. Just order it online, that's what I did.

[tafkatb]

They've just been a lot more popular this year for whatever reason. LEGO didn't pull them off shelves - customers did.

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Whew. I found the Friends calendar (and a few City and Star Wars) at a smaller chain. They were nearly cleaned out, but had a few left of everything. (ONE City left.) Still plenty of Star Wars, which they speculated was due to the higher price.

Nobody seems to have them online for retail price--most of them seem to be 3rd-party resellers who are selling for significant markup.

[vestige81]

I had the same issue. I ended up buying one from Bricklink as there are still some available there for retail price.

[Peppermint_M]

Huh, that is odd, I mean, I am wading through the things in supermarkets and toy sellers. One of the toy shops even has an off-brand brick advent calender and a Playmobil one too...

Maybe the retailers did not anticipate demand?

[OldBuilder]

I'd never seen them before so when I saw a StarWars one I bought it, that was two months ago now. Come on December!

[meyerc13]

This seems to happen in cycles. One year, LEGO puts out calendars with great pieces, and they sell out. The next year the retailers increase their orders, but the sets aren't as desirable so they end up on clearance. The next year the stores cut their orders, LEGO again puts out great calendars, and they sell out. Repeat this loop indefinitely.

Last year Friends calendars were only available from the LEGO store, so most people probably didn't know they existed. I think this year the stores decided to be conservative on their orders (or LEGO is still having issues producing these in quantity), so they have been extremely hard to find. I'm glad I picked mine up when I did.

City and Star Wars seems to be easier to find, but both are selling out unlike last year which leads me to suspect that stores cut their orders based on last year's overstock. My TRU has more of the 2012 Star Wars calendars left than I've seen of the 2013 calendars.

For those who didn't buy calendars last year, remember that older calendars can still be used, the inside is just humbered 1-24, so it doesn't matter what year LEGO produced the calendar in. I've done this a couple of times for my kids, picking up older ones on ebay or on clearance. However, those deals are getting harder to find, and now we've bought the calendars the last few years so they aren't new to my kids any more.

[Lego Otaku]

Toys R Us had a good sale on LEGO last week and I remember seeing SW Advent set was cheaper than usual. So it's no surprise that TRU is out or nearly out of any advent sets.

[Brandon Miller]

Well being brain dead I never bought the calendar when I should have. Every store around me is out. I did the frantic search at lunch only to think I will be telling my son no calendar this year. Luckily I found one on Bricklink.

[Pandora]

Interestingly on the UK shop@home site, all the Advent Calendars are significantly reduced: £19.99 down to £15.99 for Friends and City (although City is currently sold out at the time of writing) and £24.99 to £19.99 for the Star Wars one. An awful lot of their seasonal stock seems to be sold out, so I'm surprised the prices have been reduced.

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

This seems to happen in cycles. One year, LEGO puts out calendars with great pieces, and they sell out. The next year the retailers increase their orders, but the sets aren't as desirable so they end up on clearance. The next year the stores cut their orders, LEGO again puts out great calendars, and they sell out. Repeat this loop indefinitely.

Last year Friends calendars were only available from the LEGO store, so most people probably didn't know they existed. I think this year the stores decided to be conservative on their orders (or LEGO is still having issues producing these in quantity), so they have been extremely hard to find. I'm glad I picked mine up when I did.

City and Star Wars seems to be easier to find, but both are selling out unlike last year which leads me to suspect that stores cut their orders based on last year's overstock. My TRU has more of the 2012 Star Wars calendars left than I've seen of the 2013 calendars.

For those who didn't buy calendars last year, remember that older calendars can still be used, the inside is just humbered 1-24, so it doesn't matter what year LEGO produced the calendar in. I've done this a couple of times for my kids, picking up older ones on ebay or on clearance. However, those deals are getting harder to find, and now we've bought the calendars the last few years so they aren't new to my kids any more.

Huh, maybe that explains it. I seem to recall the 2011 Calendars going quickly, but I wasn't really into the Calendars that year. I did get one of the few 2011 Star Wars calendars at 1/3 off the day after, and then they vanished. The City Calendar I found on clearance for $10 several months later--I grabbed it on a whim for that price.

The 2012 calendars, though, were all over the place (except the Friends ones which were limited to Lego Stores due to that production screw-up).

[Lego Otaku]

One of the local Walmart is still trying to sell 2012 Star Wars calendar set. When I first found them, I checked, the tapes were all worn and it was missing a lot. Like someone bought them, opened it for rare parts or minifigs, tried to reseal it, and returned it. They still have them when I checked a few days ago, on clearance sale of $30. I doubt it has any LEGO piece left inside considering how worn the box and seal are.

[HawkLord]

The store here still have them - Target, TRU, Walmart. The local Lego store sold out of them at one point, but had them back in about 1-2 weeks later. I think with prices going up on various items across the board, the fact that the Advents stay consistent keeps them popular. Plus, at this point (at least for SW) it's becoming more of a tradition.

[kibosh]

I ran into this issue, too. Luckily I found the SW calendar on clearance for $18, but totally missed out on City and Friends for my kids.

[tedbeard]

Has anybody else notived that the Advent Calendars have vanished from local stores?

In my town they sold out within hours of being put on shelves. For the last few years you have basically had to reserve one with a small shop or by standing in TRU when they unpack the crates.

[Hrw-Amen]

My local store seems to be out of all except Star Wars. I bought a Friends one for the wife a couple of months ago but now they have non left and last week I bought the last CITY one for myself. I put it off as I was not sure that the bits would be much good?

Interestingly they seem to have plenty of the Friends one from last year on sale also.

[HawkLord]

Local Lego store was out of the Star Wars one today, which was pretty strange.

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

I checked eBay for fun. There's a lot of City and Star Wars listed, but they seem to be going for $10-$15 above retail. This is an improvement over a few days ago, where it was $15-$20 over. Since Advent starts tomorrow, maybe demand is tapering off and people could find one for closer to retail value if they don't mind opening it a few days late.

Of course, that Boba figure could be adding to the demand on the SW calendar--it doesn't appear that he'll come out in a regular set.

[Bamos]

Siince this set is the cheapest way to get a Dalmatian I am not surprised they are selling out so quickly.

Bill

[Brandon Miller]

So now I am desperate. Does anyone have a spare calendar? The one I bought for my son was factory sealed. When we opened door #1 the wrong bag was there. I opened the box to find 7 missing baggies and loose parts everywhere in the box.

[meyerc13]

You don't mention which calendar (City, Friends, Star Wars), but I'm betting you have a Star Wars calendar and the seven missing bags are the minifigs. The box may have looked factory sealed, but as other threads here on Eurobricks have shown, theives are very clever and can either loosen the tape or slit the box at the seam and reglue it without it being very obvious. In some cases it is completely undetectable.

I'd contact LEGO customer service. Maybe they can overnight the replacement parts to you. Even though this is most likely a case of theft and the theif is ultimately responsible, the store carries some responsibility for taking back a return and reselling it as new without verifying the contents, and LEGO carries some responsibility for refusing to make it more difficult for these unscrupulous people to do this. If LEGO switched to security tape it would make this much more difficult to do, but for whatever reason they don't even though this is a well known problem.

A note to other parents - if you at all are concerned with this happening (and if you bought your calendar at a retail store without being present to witness it coming out of the LEGO shipping carton, you should be), use the tricks the crooks use or just slit the tape at one end of the box and slide the tray out to inspect it before giving it to your kids. I've never run into a pillaged set, but I have run into a LEGO calendar with the tray rotated, making the days not line up. You can save your kid some disappointment by double-checking before giving them the set, and with a bit of Scoth magic tape they'll be none the wiser.

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

You don't mention which calendar (City, Friends, Star Wars), but I'm betting you have a Star Wars calendar and the seven missing bags are the minifigs. The box may have looked factory sealed, but as other threads here on Eurobricks have shown, theives are very clever and can either loosen the tape or slit the box at the seam and reglue it without it being very obvious. In some cases it is completely undetectable.

I'd contact LEGO customer service. Maybe they can overnight the replacement parts to you. Even though this is most likely a case of theft and the theif is ultimately responsible, the store carries some responsibility for taking back a return and reselling it as new without verifying the contents, and LEGO carries some responsibility for refusing to make it more difficult for these unscrupulous people to do this. If LEGO switched to security tape it would make this much more difficult to do, but for whatever reason they don't even though this is a well known problem.

A note to other parents - if you at all are concerned with this happening (and if you bought your calendar at a retail store without being present to witness it coming out of the LEGO shipping carton, you should be), use the tricks the crooks use or just slit the tape at one end of the box and slide the tray out to inspect it before giving it to your kids. I've never run into a pillaged set, but I have run into a LEGO calendar with the tray rotated, making the days not line up. You can save your kid some disappointment by double-checking before giving them the set, and with a bit of Scoth magic tape they'll be none the wiser.

Oh, I wouldn't even slit the tape--it peels off easily enough. However, I am in the habit of opening the tape on the ACs before buying them just to make sure that everything's in there. I found a few on clearance last winter, checked on a whim, and yep, the minifigures--or at least the prize figures like Santa Maul--were missing. Best you can do is turn them in to customer service so they don't get shelved again for an unsuspecting parent.

[Brandon Miller]

It was the City calendar. Yes it does appear that the minifigs are what is missing.