Dissapointed in Lego Germany

[trisha]

Hello all,

I don't know if this has only to do with germany or Europe. I would love to be less temperamental and say it in a nicer way, but really, Lego germany sucks!!!

I just got back from the Lego store. I got my calendar. And what "lovely surprise". there is only ONE voucher for a minifigure in February. That's it. Period. Zero, Nada.

Also, there is no friends or star wars promotion this month. Only the flower cart over purchases of 55 Euros.

So, we have to pay more than in the US for sets. okay... maybe logistics. But no nice promotions, and also a substandard calendar?

So, so dissapointed and angry.

[Blondie-Wan]

On the other hand, you guys get sets that we don't. There's that...

[paanjang16]

Hey, atleast you have a PROPER Lego store owned by Lego themselves with VIP points, Store calenders and Free Polybags. Here in Malaysia we have a Lego store with no VIP, free Polybags nor store calendar events. Even our PAB is lackluster and at one time they don't allow to reuse the PAB cup (not sure about now, since I didn't went back after the price increased and the no reuse of PAB cups).

[legoman19892]

You guys got the new Chi Warriors and the US did not. Also US did not get Planet Series 4.

Edited January 9, 2015 by legoman19892

[Robert_88]

At least you don't have to pay 70 Euros for a 50 Dollar set:

http://shop.lego.com...s-Bananas-76026

http://shop.lego.com...questid=2847984

This is ridiculous! And this is only one example. There are many more.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Robert_88

[Saint]

And I wonder how TLG can justify that ! Basicly , sometimes it's cheaper to buy it in the USA than buying it here... and not all lego is china made, but also european...

I can understand that TLG makes it cheaper in a new market ... but it's steadely increasing by the year !

Being a world wide company , I would rather think that TLG would have the same prizes everywhere !

And really, I only buy LEGO now in discount, rather than running to the store for every set..

AND !!! Don't get me started with those polybarfs !! For a simple one we pay € 5 , and not even all the poly's are availible or so rare that you don't stand a snowballs chance in hell of getting one..

No Legostore here in The Netherlands.... Belgium has one now @ 45 minutes drive from my location.... so that is a quarter of a tank gasoline.... and then back.... so it aint cheap to go there !

sorry about the ranting... I simply love LEGO, but it's a hobby that is hard to maintain up to date... and getting harder with each new wave of overpriced set .

Grtz Saint

[Faefrost]

Hello all,

I don't know if this has only to do with germany or Europe. I would love to be less temperamental and say it in a nicer way, but really, Lego germany sucks!!!

I just got back from the Lego store. I got my calendar. And what "lovely surprise". there is only ONE voucher for a minifigure in February. That's it. Period. Zero, Nada.

Also, there is no friends or star wars promotion this month. Only the flower cart over purchases of 55 Euros.

So, we have to pay more than in the US for sets. okay... maybe logistics. But no nice promotions, and also a substandard calendar?

So, so dissapointed and angry.

There's a Friends or Star Wars promotion this month? I thought the Flower Cart was the only giveaway? The Star Wars one is in May. I think there may be a Friends in the next month or two(I could be wrong on that one I don't pay much attention to friends giveaways)? Also I am pretty sure my US calender only had one minifigure voucher thingy?

[TheLegGodt]

I try to buy at Lego store Germany because they are cheaper than S@H in the Netherlands. E.g latest modular is 10 euros cheaper! That really does not make sense!

Personally I would look at it more positively: it is great that LEGO often do give free giveaways. Are we not a little spoilt if they fail to do so one month?

Finally, I must mention I was disappointed at the service at Lego store in Overhausen. I got there on the 2nd of Jan nice and early to secure the latest sets and they were not even in the shop! I was considered a bit of nuisance that I insisted they check in the back but they wouldn't do so for all sets. I wouldn't mind if I could rely in buying then the next day but Lego is so hyped nowadays (and I do realize I am participating in the madness as well) that you have to get in quick if you do not want to miss certain it sets...

[Dosenbrot]

I would like to know who thought it was a good idea to sell the Gorilla Grodd set for 70 Euros!!! That would be 82 Dollars!!!! We are literally paying 20 Euros only for Air....

We European ( atleast Germany and Austria) are really neglected by LEGO, we don't even get most of the Polybag's (IF we get them), or the Promo Items ( Target's Gift Minifigure Box)

Atleast they could tell us their reasons for this Madness!

[trisha]

There's a Friends or Star Wars promotion this month? I thought the Flower Cart was the only giveaway? The Star Wars one is in May. I think there may be a Friends in the next month or two(I could be wrong on that one I don't pay much attention to friends giveaways)? Also I am pretty sure my US calender only had one minifigure voucher thingy?

Well, hmm, I read this on brickset, also on Brickfan though I would have to search for it too

http://brickset.com/article/13709/[us-ca]-new-products-launched-at-shop-lego-com

and here

http://www.thebrickfan.com/lego-december-2014-store-calendar-promos-and-events/

hope it is okay to post links here?

And yes, I have never seen any polybag in our store in Cologne :(

I know that we cannot expect to be given free stuff all the time, but I was so excited to get something exclusive for my niece who loves the friends series and also for the son of a friend who is so much into lego star wars and whose birthday is next week. I came expecting to buy some sets and also get some goodies for them and nope :(

How true the saying, what you don't know doesn't hurt you....

Also, I got the bike shop in november so I would have enough for the ice skating scene and the calendar, and yeah.. wish I had bought it in October with double VIP points.

So, rant out. But it is nice to know I am not the only one. thank you guys.

And also I feel sad with the people who are doing even worse than us like paanjang.

And well, to be honest, I just thought of people complaining they don't have a roof on their heads or food, now I feel like a jerk. :(

*sigh*

[Blondie-Wan]

There's a Friends or Star Wars promotion this month? I thought the Flower Cart was the only giveaway? The Star Wars one is in May. I think there may be a Friends in the next month or two(I could be wrong on that one I don't pay much attention to friends giveaways)? Also I am pretty sure my US calender only had one minifigure voucher thingy?

There were (technically still are, but effectively no longer, or not for much longer) multiple promotions this month, indeed. There's the Creator Flower Cart, free with any purchase of $75 or more, a Friends polybag (Emma playing mini-golf) that's free with *any* Friends purchase (no minimum dollar amount!), and a Star Wars polybag (a mini AT-PT) that's similarly free with *any* Star Wars purchase (again, no minimum dollar amount). These do stack, so one could get $75 worth of stuff that included a single Friends keychain and a single Star Wars keychain, and get all three polybags, *in addition to* the free LEGO Store Employee minifigure that one gets with the coupon from the calendar, for a maximum possible total of four freebies from a single $75 purchase.

Unfortunately, stock didn't last long. The promos were for January, but most stores are out of at least one or two of the polybags. Here in the Atlanta area (you're in this area too, right?), as of a couple days ago the Lawrenceville store was out of the Creator and Star Wars polybags, while the Alpharetta one was out of the Friends and Star Wars ones, within a week of the promo periods' beginnings. That was a couple days ago, too; for all I know, both stores could be out of all three polybags by now (I suspect both do at least have good numbers of the Store Employee minifigure, but I'm not sure of that). I know lots of the other stores ran out quickly of one or more polybags; even Shop at Home was out of the two non-Friends ones within a few days. Reportedly, the stores have been moving a lot of Friends and Star Wars keychains this month. :p

Re: the minifigure coupon(s) in the calendar, I think the OP meant about ours having three in total (the LEGO Store Employee this month, Han Solo in his Hoth outfit next month and a single free BAM minifigure in March). We do just have one free minifigure voucher for each month, but they're there for three different months. I think the non-US calendars have only one, for January.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Blondie-Wan

[usbdevice]

I would like to know who thought it was a good idea to sell the Gorilla Grodd set for 70 Euros!!! That would be 82 Dollars!!!! We are literally paying 20 Euros only for Air....

We European ( atleast Germany and Austria) are really neglected by LEGO, we don't even get most of the Polybag's (IF we get them), or the Promo Items ( Target's Gift Minifigure Box)

Atleast they could tell us their reasons for this Madness!

You can add Switzerland to that list too my friend. Not only do we not have a Lego Store and the prices in their online store are even higher than yours, no, we also get about 30% less VIP points on all sets.

There's also barely any polybags, and when there are, the price threshold to receive one for free is quite a bit higher (for the Flower Cart it's at 100 Swiss Francs).

It's like Lego is trying really hard to make you buy your Lego from anywhere BUT them.

The pricing I can understand to some degree, it might not even be all Lego's fault (import duties are high here) but the VIP point thing to me is inexplicable.

[Navy Trooper Fenson]

On the other hand, you guys get sets that we don't. There's that...

Which ones?

You guys got the new Chi Warriors and the US did not. Also US did not get Planet Series 4.

Wow, the worst sets since the 2004 era. Something to be really proud of.

We European ( atleast Germany and Austria) are really neglected by LEGO, we don't even get most of the Polybag's (IF we get them), or the Promo Items ( Target's Gift Minifigure Box)

Atleast they could tell us their reasons for this Madness!

Yeah, I occasionally see some of the bad City polybags in supermarkets and there was a single orange Galaxy Squad polybag in the berlin Lego Discovery center but except for those none are available here, even the dutch get more polybags in their ToysXXL store or whatever it´s called. Not that polybags are that great with all the crappy mini models but something like the Uruk-Hai, elf warrior and other army builders would be nice to have here, too.

It's like Lego is trying really hard to make you buy your Lego from anywhere BUT them.

I get that feeling all the time. Normally you are better off with niche sites and their coupons a couple months after release than Lego itself. Only reason I see why one would buy from Lego are the polybags (which are most of the time not even that great) or because the set is exclusive to Lego Stores/S@H.

There were (technically still are, but effectively no longer, or not for much longer) multiple promotions this month, indeed. There's the Creator Flower Cart, free with any purchase of $75 or more, a Friends polybag (Emma playing mini-golf) that's free with *any* Friends purchase (no minimum dollar amount!), and a Star Wars polybag (a mini AT-PT) that's similarly free with *any* Star Wars purchase (again, no minimum dollar amount). These do stack, so one could get $75 worth of stuff that included a single Friends keychain and a single Star Wars keychain, and get all three polybags, *in addition to* the free LEGO Store Employee minifigure that one gets with the coupon from the calendar, for a maximum possible total of four freebies from a single $75 purchase.

Well, I also got some cramps from the US and UK getting the Star Wars ARC Trooper in September 2013 and Germany not at all but then it turned out they just moved that promo from September to December. Same with the Shredder Polybag and Retro Space Minifig box that appeared earlier in Europe and later in the US. I guess we will get the Friends/Star Wars promo at some other point in time.

Ands sorry for off-topic but there is a way to finally get the Lego Store employee? Can somebody point me to all the details? I was in cologne just two weeks ago and didn´t see anything on the store calendar about the employee polybag.

[antp]

I just got back from the Lego store. I got my calendar. And what "lovely surprise". there is only ONE voucher for a minifigure in February. That's it. Period. Zero, Nada.

Same in France :/ (and so I guess in Belgium ? Is the voucher I got from France valid also in the Belgian store?)

No Legostore here in The Netherlands.... Belgium has one now @ 45 minutes drive from my location.... so that is a quarter of a tank gasoline.... and then back.... so it aint cheap to go there !

I'm in Belgium, in the middle of the country, the capital, and the store of Belgium is also 45 min away for me ;)

And I even usually go to the one in north of France (Lille), a little further away, but some sets are cheaper in France...

About price comparison, do not forget that you have to remove the 21% VAT from EU prices to compare them to the US prices as these are tax excluded, (even if the tax in US is lower).

[talos]

The 2015 calendar I got free at the VIP special sale I was invited to, has/had 3 coupons to tear off the bottom. The January one was for a free Lego store employee minifig with any purchase, the February one is for a free Han Solo Hoth minifig with any SW purchase, and the March one is for a free Build a Mini with any purchase. All of them are only good for 'in store' purchases.

[antp]

Yes we know that in US the calendar had three vouchers vs. only one for the EU, hence the rant :p

[SandMirror38]

Well here in Australia we pay about double the US prices, no lego stores, no legoland, and to get free shipping on shop@home you must spend $250.

So yea.

[dr_spock]

The 2015 calendar I got free at the VIP special sale I was invited to, has/had 3 coupons to tear off the bottom. The January one was for a free Lego store employee minifig with any purchase, the February one is for a free Han Solo Hoth minifig with any SW purchase, and the March one is for a free Build a Mini with any purchase. All of them are only good for 'in store' purchases.

Those coupons seem to be good in Canada too. Got my while supplies last Hans Solo Hoth. Brick Specialist said I was the second person to get one of them at his store. I wonder who was first?