LEGO Ideas: 21110 Research Institute/Female Minifigure Set

[AncientDayz]

I think the latest comments have secured my decision. I was already leaning away from the set. This is a pass.

[VintageLegoEra]

What is the most attractive thing in this set? I am planning to buy 1

[opn2]

Edited September 27, 2014 by opn2

[Crazy Packers Fan]

Really disappointing to me that this got the green light. If they had gone with a full laboratory with some real substance to it, it would be interesting. Instead it's not much more than 3 polybag sets with several rare pieces included.

[m0dulo]

I imagine this could be very good for a girl if the timing is right. I like the three vignettes. They represent three possible futures, and for me that is what makes it a complete whole. Personally, I'm more of an ExoSuit kind of guy but I like to pick up something different for $10-$20 every now and then and this fits that.

My wife thinks it is a neat idea. On the other hand, she is not interested in it - she's into Friends. :)

[Faefrost]

What is the most attractive thing in this set? I am planning to buy 1

It's "girl power" in a box. In terms of a Lego playset or display piece? Honestly? It's kind of dull. You could use it to flesh out some existing themes various labs or maybe populate a modular museum.

[Cinderbike]

Set now shows as Sold Out and unavailable for purchase in the US shop. Hope everyone who got one was able to.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Cinderbike

[AFOLguy1970]

Well, it looks like we have the new Mars Rover. I guess in the future we will see a lot more midnight purchases and lines at the Lego Store before opening at the end of select months. What have I learned from this, if you cannot live without the set, get it ASAP. Fortunately, neither Exosuit nor this set were priorities for me. However, it is a bad break for people who needed a little bit of extra time to get the money together.

[FishHead]

That's it? Gone? Dang!!!!

[Sarah]

Set now shows as Sold Out and unavailable for purchase in the US shop. Hope everyone who got one was able to.

I'm glad I ordered when I did! 2 hrs before you posted this!

[JGW3000]

I got two before they changed the order limit from 2 to 1, one set for me (I work in a lab) and one for the daughter who likes science (the other daughter is more Goth, so she gets Monster fighters)

[parksroad]

Wow! The other day when it was Out of Stock I assumed they were going to be making more.

[Faefrost]

I am going to speculate that simply based on the amount of mainstream press and chatter the set is getting, and how it is driving some first time traffic to Lego stores, that the set will get another production run.

[opn2]

Edited September 27, 2014 by opn2

[Boettner Builds]

Damn. I REALLY hope they make another run

[Sarah]

This is entirely possible. Out of Stock doesn't necessarily mean 'Gone for Good.' Grand Emporium, for example, went out of stock June 23rd in the US but resurfaced (albeit on backorder) on July 31st.

On the other hand, I have to wonder if the set really might be gone. Consider the hype surrounding the Exo-Suit that followed after the announcement that there would only be a single production run. One has to imagine that the Exo-Suit would be expected to sell more than the Research Institute, and yet the former is still on backorder while the other isn't. I wonder if Lego might have possibly underestimated how popular the set could be.

Actually, I've always though Research Institute would sell better than the Exo-Suit

Exo-Suit appeals to Classic Space fans. I thought about buying one because I like the green men.

I wanted to buy three Research Institutes, at least. 1) Cheaper and 2) I could think of many more people who would buy it. I also figure Research Institute would do MUCH better at bringing in fans outside of Lego's typical fans

[opn2]

Edited September 27, 2014 by opn2

[rollermonkey]

Well, today's the 6th, so it beat that quite handily!

I told my Chemistry teacher that if she wanted one, that she'd better either stop at the Lego store on the way home, or buy it online as soon as she got home. I hope she didn't put it off.

[The Jersey Brick Guy]

Figures..

I was on the fence between getting this or the exo-suit. I wanted to spread out my orders between August and September, so I got the eco-suit this month as it was supposed to sell out first.

I hope they restock this set.

[craiggrannell]

On a Lego investment forum, someone has speculated that the number of RIs produced was kept intentionally low in the interest of good press. With a low production run, they suggest, Lego would sell out quickly and the venture would then likely be written about as a 'smash success.' They hypothesize that the interest in the RI is actually quite low, and that had they produced them in large quantities, that the item wouldn't sell and that it would look poor on Lego's part in the media given the recent equality controversy.

If this really is the case, it seems to be a strategic blunder. Everywhere I look, this set has made an audience not these days often associated with Lego excited about Lego. Women in my Twitter feed love the set, and people said their young daughters were excited by it. Plenty were planning to buy one; how awful it would be if after mere days they couldn't actually secure a set.

Still, the UK online store is still stating a ship date, (September 4), which could suggest another production run is happening, similar to the Exo Suit (September 11 restock). (The US store states 'sold out' for the RI and temporarily out of stock for the ES.)

[Legoaholic]

I'm lucky as i live close to a Lego store. I asked instore if they could confirm i had the release date correct for the Research Institute, which they did and also said they had 38 ready in the back but thought that once they were sold, they were unlikely to receive anymore. So DD and i were there within five minutes of opening and bought one each but there didn't appear to be any limit on how many you could buy. I think it is a little overpriced for what is included but i think all the idea models have been a little overpriced.

My local store had the exosuit designer visit and sign the boxes a few days early and it did cross my mind to go and get one as an investment but although i like the exosuit, i am trying to stick to certain themes and didn't want to deprive a child of the chance just to potentially make a few pounds in the future. Apparently people came from all over the country to have their box signed.

[AFOLguy1970]

Typically, "Out of Stock" means that the item will be resupplied and "Sold Out" means it is gone. The recent examples of fairly quick runs to go directly to Sold Out would of course be the Mars Rover and to some extent the advent calendars from last year. Right around Thanksgiving last year, the calendars were gone from Lego stores and S@H. On a side note, if you have your heart set on one of this year's calendar's, it would be best to get it when it comes out.

Now there is a ray of hope. I can think of one set that did go to Sold Out, but did eventually get another run: Architecture Studio. So it is not impossible. Research Institute apparently has gotten a lot of press and attention. If it was meant to help draw a new audience to buy Lego, it obviously cannot succeed if it is already gone. I would imagine most of the people who bought the sets are avid Lego collectors/builders to begin with and were well aware of the release dates.

[craiggrannell]

There's also the usual scalping going on. A quick trip to eBay sees the set going for anything from 1.5x to 4x its original box price. Curious, though, that there's the discrepancy between the US store (sold out) and UK store (September 4).

didn't want to deprive a child of the chance just to potentially make a few pounds in the future

That seems a pretty great attitude to me.

[FishHead]

I'm really hoping it's not a once-and-done deal. *sigh*

[Sarah]

I'm really hoping it's not a once-and-done deal. *sigh*

Wouldn't it be neat to become a series like Minecraft? She had more than 3 vignettes in her original idea!