DrJB

Pricey Technic Parts vs. Our Hobby

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Not sure if I should blame globalization for this but, in recent years, some parts now command ludicrous prices (on Bricklink). I can name the various suspension arms and shock absorbers ... but really, I somehow feel this is pure speculation as opposed to supply/demand.

What's your take/perspective, and how do you see this affect our hobby?

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I also noticed that ball joints, suspension parts (as you said) bigger wheels and more technical stuff is quite expensice. Oh and the 55615's prizes are simply mental! Maybe its connected to the whole "technic is not true Lego" mentality of some people... Or they dont understand those "fancy" doohiceky parts and trasure them (read sell at higher prize).

Edited by Zblj

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Looks like pure supply/demand to me. There are plenty of rare parts that are cheap. You can usually trace a spike in uncommon part price back to the release of instructions for a popular MOC. The problem in Technic is greatly exacerbated by the fact that there just aren't that many sellers and therefore supply is small, and competition is low.

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Looks like pure supply/demand to me. There are plenty of rare parts that are cheap. You can usually trace a spike in uncommon part price back to the release of instructions for a popular MOC. The problem in Technic is greatly exacerbated by the fact that there just aren't that many sellers and therefore supply is small, and competition is low.

Just what I wanted to add... Not enough technic fans = higher prizes.

Edited by Zblj

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The majority of a Technic set consists of axles, bushes, pins and common connectors that are low priced and don't sell well. There are far fewer of the more specialised or rare pieces, so to make money selling Technic, the desirable parts that will sell have to be priced accordingly. There are some Technic sets where the part-out value is actually lower than the retail price (even with up to 30% off) - so desirable or rare parts or not, not many people will be willing to buy those to part-out.

So as others have already mentioned, it generally is just down to supply and demand.

Richard.

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Looks like pure supply/demand to me. There are plenty of rare parts that are cheap. You can usually trace a spike in uncommon part price back to the release of instructions for a popular MOC. The problem in Technic is greatly exacerbated by the fact that there just aren't that many sellers and therefore supply is small, and competition is low.

Exactly this. There are more and more awesome Technic MOCs available which a LOT of people want to build (especially with sites like Rebrickable (shameless plug!) becoming more popular), yet the supply of rare Technic parts has always been low and parts which are no longer in production will ofcourse become even more rare, hence more expensive. Some MOC builders like Crowkillers already take extra care when designing their MOCs to not use very rare parts. Unfortunately, his MOCs are so popular that any semi-rare parts any of his new MOCs may use almost immediately become very rare after the MOC is released :laugh:

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If it's supply and demand, wouldn't TLG be interested in making/selling special/universal packs with all the rare pieces? I have hard time 'understanding' that there is a need/market for this out there, and yet the only ones making $$$ are speculators ... Can't Lego Ambassadors (on this forum) make a point with TLG and see where this takes us? Obviously, TLG has got nothing to lose ... but only make AFOLs even happier.

Edited by DrJB

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I doubt LEGO would cater to such a small niche (compared to the rest of the buyers) that we Technic AFOLs form. Our best bet is new sets reintroducing older parts, like 42029 did for suspension arms (right? I'm not sure, haven't build it yet).

Edited by jantjeuh

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I doubt LEGO would cater to such a small niche (compared to the rest of the buyers) that we Technic AFOLs form. Our best bet is new sets reintroducing older parts, like 42029 did for suspension arms (right? I'm not sure, haven't build it yet).

Case in point ... I just bought 42029 off eBay. That set is an excellent assortment of 'good' parts, both suspension and red panels.

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If it's supply and demand, wouldn't TLG e interested in making/selling special/universal packs with all the rare pieces? I have hard time 'understanding' that there is a need/market for this out there, and yet the only ones making $$$ are speculators ... Can't Lego Ambassadors (on this forum) make a point with TLG and see where this takes us? Obviously, TLG has got nothing to lose ... but only make AFOLs even happier.

This has actually been brought up through the ambassadors (and earlier) many times already. The logistics of selling parts packs and the tiny numbers (compared to their normal sales) that could be expected are just not worth it for a big company like LEGO. There's no reason they couldn't sell every part individually if they wanted to, and AFOLs would buy them, but ir appears only AFOL sellers are willing to spend the labor required to pick an order with 300 assorted LEGO parts costing $0.10 each.

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What's your take/perspective, and how do you see this affect our hobby?

The discussion has moved off topic a bit in my opinion... but back to the original question. I think the affect it has had on the hobby is that it has made it very expensive if one would like to build an exact copy of some of the fantastic MOCs that are out there... but the few parts that are truly pricey are limited in supply and crazy expensive when they are available. Certain black flex axles are practically non-existent so unless you want to use those ribbed hoses you can forget building a black supercar even though black technic parts are generally readily available. Then there is red... that one peskly connector is going to cost you a pretty penny even though - like black - red is typically readily available in most technic parts. So how has it affected the hobby... its a gut punch to the wallet!

Edited by Osuharding1

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The phenomenon of full instructions being widely available for Technic models is fairly new. Just a few years ago, you couldn't find any. Now there are dozens. On top of that, the prevalence of social media and the publication of lots of new No Starch Press books has greatly expanded the exposure of these MOCs. The secondary market it just far too small to keep up. There is no doubt that it is a real problem for the future of being a Technic fan. Of course sets from LEGO are still readily available, but if you want to build a model which is vastly more complex than LEGO would ever sell, you either need a large existing collection or a lot of money.

The good news is that I think LEGO is listening to a certain extent. There have been a few times in the last couple of years when we fans have been complaining on this very forum about a scarce part (like the red 5x11 panel or the yellow 1x6 thin liftarm) only to have it show up in an official set the next year. I admit that I was really hoping that the 2015 models would be replete with 19L black flex axles and #3 red connectors, but so far no such luck.

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I admit that I was really hoping that the 2015 models would be replete with 19L black flex axles and #3 red connectors, but so far no such luck.

Ah now if those parts were in yellow and rare then you probably would have got them by now. :laugh:

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Not sure if I should blame globalization for this but, in recent years, some parts now command ludicrous prices (on Bricklink). I can name the various suspension arms and shock absorbers ... but really, I somehow feel this is pure speculation as opposed to supply/demand.

What's your take/perspective, and how do you see this affect our hobby?

When I opened up my BL shop I didn't do proper research ( <-- megablock I was!). Among the sets parted out was ten 8070s and sure, _those_ parts (you all know what I mean) went real fast! I could probably have gotten double - or more - for those parts .. alas such is life

Reallly, it's all about supply and demand, nothing else

BL is _the_ venue for getting LEGO parts (I don't know much about eBay, but I've tried looking for parts there and it's quite hard + they seem overpriced as well)

Anyway, I've unloaded all my useless parts (to me) and made enough money to pay rent, food and my remaining stock. So now I got +200k parts (that I realy love) basicly for free :classic:

Making money of LEGO is actually very easy, hence the many BL shops/the reason people do it. Does take a lot of time though (I was unemployed at the time, couldn't do it with a proper job, that's for sure!)

But if you have a serious LEGO habit, I will give the recommendation to open up a BL shop to unload the parts you don't need and/or sell sets (parts really, much money in that!) that you can buy for cheap

And Technic parts do sell very nicely, even the more mundane stuff like pins and liftarms

Cheers,

Ole

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Case in point ... I just bought 42029 off eBay. That set is an excellent assortment of 'good' parts, both suspension and red panels.

I think it is excellent for parts. I got one for the parts. Like 57515 is crazy price on BL, but some of the more complex parts are cheaper.

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I wonder to what extent some of the new 3D printed parts will put a cap on some of the rarer parts. I suspect some people will be willing to accept a 3d printed part, when the alternative is to pay through the nose for a part that was only released in one star wars set in 1993 for example.

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Expensive parts have killed many of my ideas and attempts at building some of the excellent MOC's out there. The flex axles that were common place are now commanding $15-$20 each and when you need six of them it adds up quick. I cannot pay $100+ for thin pieces of rubber now matter how badly I want to build the model.

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I think it is excellent for parts. I got one for the parts. Like 57515 is crazy price on BL, but some of the more complex parts are cheaper.

For 57515, I bet 42037 will be sold very fast next year.

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