brickmeistro

Detective's Office, Brick Bank and Tower Bridge retiring soon?

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After a long time collecting other themes and being on the sidelines on most of the creator expert sets, I have now been bitten by the modular and large landmarks bug.
I realise that the tower bridge - 10214 has been around super long and could easily retire without any notice. The same could apply to Detective's office 10246 and Brick Bank 10251.

I have been monitoring the prices, but they are all much higher than the 1 year low point.

The 6 month lows represent a £108 discount over RRP and a £62 discount after accounting for the 10% cash back.

If the price doesn't drop further and shop at home don't drop prices or offer any more double/triple VIP points offers before retirement, I would have lost £23 (half of the current 10% cash back).

Would you recommend that I take advantage of the current 10% VIP points/cashback? Or do you think there's a chance of a better price drop at Lego or one of the online retailers before the sets retire?

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If you're looking for a good discount on Creator Expert sets and buying from the UK then I would check out Smyths toys. They currently have a voucher promotion that takes £12 off any item over £100. So you could get Detectives Office for £130 or Brick Bank for just £117. You'd need to be quick though as the voucher ends tomorrow.

https://www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/voucher-web

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25 minutes ago, Bricked1980 said:

If you're looking for a good discount on Creator Expert sets and buying from the UK then I would check out Smyths toys. They currently have a voucher promotion that takes £12 off any item over £100. So you could get Detectives Office for £130 or Brick Bank for just £117. You'd need to be quick though as the voucher ends tomorrow.

https://www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/voucher-web

Thanks Bricked1980!

I will check out the discount code. Though I think the Lego 10% cash back (£12.8 off the brick bank and £14.2 off the detective's office) combined with the free minifig display frame make it more attractive to buy directly from the lego site.

I do think though, that this discount would be very useful for something that's already discounted by Smyths (and still over £100).

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Just now, brickmeistro said:

Thanks Bricked1980!

I will check out the discount code. Though I think the Lego 10% cash back (£12.8 off the brick bank and £14.2 off the detective's office) combined with the free minifig display frame make it more attractive to buy directly from the lego site.

I do think though, that this discount would be very useful for something that's already discounted by Smyths (and still over £100).

Yes actually your deal from the LEGO store does look better and you get the free gift thrown in as well. Not to mention the great customer service you get buying directly from LEGO.

Whist we're on the subject of LEGO deals though there does seem to be some cracking promotions going on at the moment. I recently picked up the Creator 3 in 1 Surfer Camper van for just £12.50 from Tesco. I've also got my eye on the new LEGO City "Capital" set that's just been released. This is on offer for just £79.99 from Argos, reduced from £120.

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3 hours ago, Feng-huang0296 said:

The prices of Lego in the U.K. . . . you're so lucky . . here I am trying to find a way to get Brick Bank for less than $200 . . 

AUD200 is about £110... that's much cheaper than in the UK!! But the question is... would you grab it directly from lego for 10% cash back or would you wait for the price to drop further before it retires?

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9 hours ago, brickmeistro said:

would you grab it directly from lego for 10% cash back or would you wait for the price to drop further before it retires?

I think there is definitely a risk that Detectives Office could be retired although logically I would expect Parisian Restaurant to get the chop first. I wouldn't worry too much about Brick Bank at this point as it was only released in 2016.

Personally I reckon I'd wait and see what happens at Black Friday. Last year Brick Bank was reduced to £99 from the Lego Store and you'd also get the free festive set (whatever that turns out to be this year).

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10 minutes ago, Bricked1980 said:

I think there is definitely a risk that Detectives Office could be retired although logically I would expect Parisian Restaurant to get the chop first. I wouldn't worry too much about Brick Bank at this point as it was only released in 2016.

Personally I reckon I'd wait and see what happens at Black Friday. Last year Brick Bank was reduced to £99 from the Lego Store and you'd also get the free festive set (whatever that turns out to be this year).

This is great advice. Last year, there were so many sets for sale. The only one that I paid full price for was the PR. I got DO (£119), BB (£103.99) and AS (can't find the receipt, but I think it was £140). 

This year, I'm wondering if the DD will go into the sale.. if it does, I may think about leaving the 2019 modular building until Christmas next year instead. 

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1 hour ago, Bricked1980 said:

I think there is definitely a risk that Detectives Office could be retired although logically I would expect Parisian Restaurant to get the chop first. I wouldn't worry too much about Brick Bank at this point as it was only released in 2016.

Personally I reckon I'd wait and see what happens at Black Friday. Last year Brick Bank was reduced to £99 from the Lego Store and you'd also get the free festive set (whatever that turns out to be this year).

That makes a lot of sense, and also gives me a bit of comfort ?

been splurging recently on Ideas, Technic, Jurassic, Star Wars etc., so money’s a bit tight at the moment. 

I picked up Parisian on eBay bnib for 100, so really pleased with that!!

will wait for DO and BB to pop on the Black Friday or Christmas sales. Otherwise can always pick up at retail price from John Lewis in case it retires suddenly. 

What are your thoughts on the Tower Bridge? Feels like it could retire soon but on the other hand, it could also be the first set to be offered for 10 straight years ?

44 minutes ago, RuffDraft said:

This is great advice. Last year, there were so many sets for sale. The only one that I paid full price for was the PR. I got DO (£119), BB (£103.99) and AS (can't find the receipt, but I think it was £140). 

This year, I'm wondering if the DD will go into the sale.. if it does, I may think about leaving the 2019 modular building until Christmas next year instead. 

I’m going to leave AS for next year - or at least until there’s a 25% plus discount. 

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10 minutes ago, brickmeistro said:

What are your thoughts on the Tower Bridge? Feels like it could retire soon but on the other hand, it could also be the first set to be offered for 10 straight years ?

That set has been around for ages. It must be a good seller for it to have endured this long but it's age must mean it's on the list to be retired soon. I might be wrong but I can't imagine them retiring it without a new set being released to fill it's spot. So perhaps next year if a new Creator Expert landmark set come out, then they might retire Tower Bridge to make way for the new one.

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2 hours ago, brickmeistro said:

I picked up Parisian on eBay bnib for 100, so really pleased with that!!

I’m going to leave AS for next year - or at least until there’s a 25% plus discount. 

Woah! Great deal on the PR! 

Sounds wise... fingers crossed there's a discount for you on AS before Christmas! 

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14 hours ago, brickmeistro said:

AUD200 is about £110... that's much cheaper than in the UK!! But the question is... would you grab it directly from lego for 10% cash back or would you wait for the price to drop further before it retires?

I've been surprised a lot lately to see Australian prices of many sets no longer up there with Scandinavian prices as some of the world's most expensive. Even at RRP, the Australian price of Brick Bank ($250 AUD) is only about $6.50 USD or $9.20 AUD higher than the RRP in the United States. The standard prices for that set in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, New Zealand, and even Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands are WAY higher.

Has anybody been keeping track of whether this shift is because of Australian prices actually getting lower or just exchange rates and the relative value of the Australian dollar changing?

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12 hours ago, Bricked1980 said:

Personally I reckon I'd wait and see what happens at Black Friday. 

Agreed, this is probably the only clear precedent for significant S@H discounts (beyond x2 VIP points), although I did pick up a bunch of other relatively exclusive sets in the Boxing Day sale last year (WV train, Beatles Submarine, Caterham 7) at a pretty good discount ?30%.

That being said, the modulars are all great value for the PPP to begin with, so I don’t know how much there is to be gained from chasing relatively small discounts.

On the flip-side, I know personally that I have been far too tempted to buy sets when they do go on sale, so that I don’t “miss the opportunity”, though have ended up with half an attic of sets I’m not sure whether to open or to sell on! #Accidental scalper... :def_shrug:

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@brickmeistro I would probably suggest making Detectives Office your next purchase. I've just received the Lego store Christmas catalogue in the post. Rather than being shown on the page with other modulars, Detectives Office is on the page with sets that are retiring soon. 30680869927_6ea6eafd52_k_d.jpg

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On ‎10‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 8:31 PM, Bricked1980 said:

@brickmeistro I would probably suggest making Detectives Office your next purchase. I've just received the Lego store Christmas catalogue in the post. Rather than being shown on the page with other modulars, Detectives Office is on the page with sets that are retiring soon. 30680869927_6ea6eafd52_k_d.jpg

Whoa!!!

What does this mean?!?!

How long do I have to buy this? Will it last past Black Friday? Or should I make a move on the last day of double VIP points today???

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36 minutes ago, brickmeistro said:

Whoa!!!

What does this mean?!?!

How long do I have to buy this? Will it last past Black Friday? Or should I make a move on the last day of double VIP points today???

Well it's not actually been confirmed as retiring yet. I posted about this over on the Brickset forum yesterday and some of the guys on there have pointed out that it only says "Many retiring soon". It doesn't say which sets specifically will be retiring. I just thought it was odd that Detectives Office has been included on this page instead of in the section with all the other modulars. And as someone else pointed out to me, it doesn't necessarily confirm anything because Brick Bank is the only modular to not be featured in the catalogue at all. :sceptic:.

I don't really know what to suggest. I do think that it's very likely that one of the modulars will be retired over the next couple of months and the fact that Detectives Office is on this page would suggest to me that this will be the next one to go. And just one other thing I've noticed - Both Detectives Office and the Ferris Wheel have suddenly gone out of stock on the US version of the Lego store website. That doesn't necessarily mean anything though, it might just be people panic buying as a result of seeing the new catalogue.

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4 minutes ago, Bricked1980 said:

Well it's not actually been confirmed as retiring yet. I posted about this over on the Brickset forum yesterday and some of the guys on there have pointed out that it only says "Many retiring soon". It doesn't say which sets specifically will be retiring. I just thought it was odd that Detectives Office has been included on this page instead of in the section with all the other modulars. And as someone else pointed out to me, it doesn't necessarily confirm anything because Brick Bank is the only modular to not be featured in the catalogue at all. :sceptic:.

I don't really know what to suggest. I do think that it's very likely that one of the modulars will be retired over the next couple of months and the fact that Detectives Office is on this page would suggest to me that this will be the next one to go. And just one other thing I've noticed - Both Detectives Office and the Ferris Wheel have suddenly gone out of stock on the US version of the Lego store website. That doesn't necessarily mean anything though, it might just be people panic buying as a result of seeing the new catalogue.

I checked the Lego UK website and DO hasn't yet been listed as retiring soon... just hard to find.
I have decided to take a chance that the set price will drop on S@H or another retailer, before it retires. The additional 5% VIP points don't really amount to much. I may be able to save much more by waiting and potentially am no more than £7 worse off than if I bought the set today :)

I got the Ferris Wheel last month at a Lego store to get my VIP points topped up enough to buy a Voltron outright. Now waiting for the carousel to drop to a sweet level!

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14 minutes ago, brickmeistro said:

I checked the Lego UK website and DO hasn't yet been listed as retiring soon... just hard to find.
I have decided to take a chance that the set price will drop on S@H or another retailer, before it retires. The additional 5% VIP points don't really amount to much. I may be able to save much more by waiting and potentially am no more than £7 worse off than if I bought the set today :)

I got the Ferris Wheel last month at a Lego store to get my VIP points topped up enough to buy a Voltron outright. Now waiting for the carousel to drop to a sweet level!

I think you're doing the right thing. Even if the status does shift to "retiring soon" on the Lego store, you'll still have a bit of time left to get it. Also even if it sells out there you can still buy it in the UK from John Lewis and Smyths toys who are currently selling it for £139 anyway. I reckon you'd be best to wait till Black Friday. It might well be reduced in prce and you'd get the free Christmas set with then as well.

I'm a bit torn myself. I can only afford to buy one modular at the minute and I have been holding on to see what the new set is going to be. If I don't like the new one I was planning on spending the money on Detectives Office instead.

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17 hours ago, Bricked1980 said:

I think you're doing the right thing. Even if the status does shift to "retiring soon" on the Lego store, you'll still have a bit of time left to get it. Also even if it sells out there you can still buy it in the UK from John Lewis and Smyths toys who are currently selling it for £139 anyway. I reckon you'd be best to wait till Black Friday. It might well be reduced in prce and you'd get the free Christmas set with then as well.

I'm a bit torn myself. I can only afford to buy one modular at the minute and I have been holding on to see what the new set is going to be. If I don't like the new one I was planning on spending the money on Detectives Office instead.

I am so thankful for John Lewis! Early this year, I had a change of mind on the SHIELD Helicarrier, a long time after it was retired... and the reseller prices were already exorbitant. Luckily JL had still it in stock and I was able to get it at RRP :)

The more I think about DO, the more I like it... it looks like a very fun and interesting set to build, display and play with. You should go with DO if you don't already have one, because any new set will eventually be available for a good discount over it's first year anyway.

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28 minutes ago, brickmeistro said:

I am so thankful for John Lewis! Early this year, I had a change of mind on the SHIELD Helicarrier, a long time after it was retired... and the reseller prices were already exorbitant. Luckily JL had still it in stock and I was able to get it at RRP :)

The more I think about DO, the more I like it... it looks like a very fun and interesting set to build, display and play with. You should go with DO if you don't already have one, because any new set will eventually be available for a good discount over it's first year anyway.

Another good thing with John Lewis is that they will often price match other retailers. So if the price drops at Smyths or the LEGO store you can send them a request to lower their price too.

I have been thinking of buying DO for quite a while but in the end have always decided on other sets instead. Unfortunately I can't afford to buy loads of expensive sets so often find myself prioritising the ones I like best. I am hoping the new modular for 2019 will blow my socks off and have got the money put aside to buy it. But if it turns out to be a another building in the style of the Diner I reckon I'll definitely go for DO instead.

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Just picked up TB for £150, BNISB, through a local FB listing. That one's now checked off my list, but on the flip side, the eBay seller for the PR hasn't yet posted the set, so might need to keep looking for that one :(

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23 minutes ago, CopperTablet said:

Brickset has confirmed it: Detective's Office and Brick Bank are done.    Parisian is still being sold as of this time.

Oh... thanks for the news! Any word on when? SAH is still not showing them as retiring soon. Would you wait for black friday or snap up something just now?

Please can you share the link?

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That's an interesting development if it's true. Seems like PR is the new Fire Brigade / Pet Shop then, as in: stuck around way longer than everybody expected.

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