Snazzy Bricks Posted October 9, 2020 A list of sets that will be retired this year has been released, and there are some questionable names on it, notably hidden side. Phantom Fire Truck 3000 was recently released, and is supposed to retire at the end of the year? https://retiringsets.com/lego-sets/lego-sets-to-be-retired-2020/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MAB Posted October 9, 2020 The whole Hidden Side theme is due for retirement. That doesn't mean that they will all disappear from shelves at the same time though, especially in independent shops. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JintaiZ Posted October 9, 2020 Like MAB said, they are all due to retire this year. However, if there is leftover stock they will stay in the market until they sell out. P.S. I think the list from stonewars.de might be more accurate. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snazzy Bricks Posted October 9, 2020 Then does that mean Hidden Side is ending this year? it seems like it to me... 4 hours ago, JintaiZ said: Like MAB said, they are all due to retire this year. However, if there is leftover stock they will stay in the market until they sell out. P.S. I think the list from stonewars.de might be more accurate. Also I don't read German :) All of the Overwatch sets are retiring as well, is it possibly ending? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JintaiZ Posted October 9, 2020 (edited) 26 minutes ago, Snazzy Bricks said: Then does that mean Hidden Side is ending this year? it seems like it to me... Also I don't read German :) All of the Overwatch sets are retiring as well, is it possibly ending? Sure... there's a translate... I think there will be new overwatch sets... but it's not 100% sure. Other than that... I thought some of the Harry Potter sets that were supposed to retire in 2021... Edited October 9, 2020 by JintaiZ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Friscorays Posted October 9, 2020 47 minutes ago, Snazzy Bricks said: Then does that mean Hidden Side is ending this year? it seems like it to me... Also I don't read German :) All of the Overwatch sets are retiring as well, is it possibly ending? List includes pictures. https://www.stonewars.de/news/lego-end-of-life-eol-2020/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snazzy Bricks Posted October 9, 2020 2 hours ago, Friscorays said: List includes pictures. https://www.stonewars.de/news/lego-end-of-life-eol-2020/ I know, but I have to translate all the captions and side notes -- Stonewars' list is very similar to the one I linked. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MAB Posted October 10, 2020 That is because they copied the one from Stonewars. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mylenium Posted October 10, 2020 (edited) 15 hours ago, Snazzy Bricks said: All of the Overwatch sets are retiring as well, is it possibly ending? Overwatch ended last year already. It was a complete fail sales-wise, which is of course not surprising, given how rudimentary the sets were. And Hidden Side has suffered from poor sales right out of the gate, so likewise it's not at all surprising it is getting nixed as well. Mylenium Edited October 10, 2020 by Mylenium Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Redroe Posted October 10, 2020 2 hours ago, Mylenium said: Overwatch ended last year already. It was a complete fail sales-wise, which is of course not surprising, given how rudimentary the sets were. And Hidden Side has suffered from poor sales right out of the gate, so likewise it's not at all surprising it is getting nixed as well. Mylenium The Overwatch sets were shocking, as if they'd been rushed off with a tight deadline and I say that as someone with no interest in the source material. I'll be sad if Hidden Side dies though. It seems to have good models, characterful minifigs, an imaginitive story with a stranger things-y vibe - all the things Lego does well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snazzy Bricks Posted October 11, 2020 16 hours ago, Redroe said: The Overwatch sets were shocking, as if they'd been rushed off with a tight deadline and I say that as someone with no interest in the source material. I'll be sad if Hidden Side dies though. It seems to have good models, characterful minifigs, an imaginitive story with a stranger things-y vibe - all the things Lego does well. Agreed. Hidden Side was the first original theme in a while that hasn't had a TV show to go with it -- creative vehicles and characters. But, I have noticed that app-based sets receive lower ratings and fewer sales :l Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mylenium Posted October 11, 2020 22 hours ago, Redroe said: an imaginitive story Not really. I strongly disagree and in fact think that the total lack of a stringent story and world-building is a strong contributing factor to the series' demise. 6 hours ago, Snazzy Bricks said: But, I have noticed that app-based sets receive lower ratings and fewer sales Well, I would argue that it's not per se an issue with those things being app-based but rather how LEGO are simply forcing it down people's throat when there often is no need to. That and of course LEGO still being rather clueless on how to even create apps that actually work reliably and are fun to use. In a world where hundreds of apps get released every day their botched attempts can only come across as laughable and amateurish... Mylenium Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Redroe Posted October 11, 2020 4 hours ago, Mylenium said: On 10/10/2020 at 10:51 AM, Redroe said: an imaginitive story Not really. I strongly disagree and in fact think that the total lack of a stringent story and world-building is a strong contributing factor to the series' demise. Ok- I admit I spoke there without actually being familiar with the story, I should have said an imaginative premise. Like ninjago the premise is obviously Ninja, the story exists but you can ignore it if you want and make up your own. Hidden side the premise is ghosts, and quite well executed as far as i can see. Can't speak for the story. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f2k Posted October 11, 2020 Looks like it will be a definitive goodbye to Power Functions. Let's hope they'll stick with Powered Up from now on. But what really strikes me is how young many of these sets are. And I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with that. There seems to be a fair deal of FOMO creeping into the sales strategy now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mylenium Posted October 11, 2020 2 hours ago, f2k said: There seems to be a fair deal of FOMO creeping into the sales strategy now. Yes/ No/ Perhaps/ Maybe. Point in case: To me it seems LEGO don't know what they want strategically and are just firing sets out like crazy and entering a ton of cross-licensing schemes. As has been said in another thread lately, it appears as a desperate attempt to find the next big thing and see what sticks while in the meantime cashing in with short-lived hype cycles. The FOMO experienced by many traditional LEGO-ites is probably an undesirable side effect, but at the same time I don't think they care that much. You can really smell how a certain corporate mentality is all behind this and has taken over with the emphasis clearly not being to keep AFOLs and long-time fans happy, but rather broadening the customer base to a point where it ultimately won't matter what the products are as long as they generate some sort of revenue.... Mylenium 3 hours ago, Redroe said: I should have said an imaginative premise. We can agree on that. Stylistically it is unique enough and the effort behind it can be seen in many places. It just doesn't gel practically. Mylenium Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f2k Posted October 11, 2020 18 minutes ago, Mylenium said: Yes/ No/ Perhaps/ Maybe. Point in case: To me it seems LEGO don't know what they want strategically and are just firing sets out like crazy and entering a ton of cross-licensing schemes. As has been said in another thread lately, it appears as a desperate attempt to find the next big thing and see what sticks while in the meantime cashing in with short-lived hype cycles. The FOMO experienced by many traditional LEGO-ites is probably an undesirable side effect, but at the same time I don't think they care that much. You can really smell how a certain corporate mentality is all behind this and has taken over with the emphasis clearly not being to keep AFOLs and long-time fans happy, but rather broadening the customer base to a point where it ultimately won't matter what the products are as long as they generate some sort of revenue.... Mylenium You make some very good points. And you may very well be right. But if so, it makes me really sad. It's not that many years ago they were en deep trouble. And a large part of the solution was returning to basics. Or... At least, that was what they said... Have they already forgotten that? Are they spreading themselves too thin again, losing sight of their core business? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snazzy Bricks Posted October 11, 2020 10 minutes ago, f2k said: Have they already forgotten that? Are they spreading themselves too thin again, losing sight of their core business? Sometimes it seems they might be Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MAB Posted October 11, 2020 1 hour ago, f2k said: Have they already forgotten that? Are they spreading themselves too thin again, losing sight of their core business? I don't think they are. Their core business is selling plastic building toys and they seem to be doing it very well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toastie Posted October 11, 2020 53 minutes ago, MAB said: Their core business is selling plastic building toys and they seem to be doing it very well. Yes Sir! I have the feeling that this core thing gets off the radar of many folks too often and needs to be brought up from time-to-time. And yes, they are a family owned business. But they are as far away from what a family owned business of this size can family-wise do to keep it going (I mean the million/billion$ decisions while having a nice cup of tea at grandpa's beautiful home, which was built back then in the early days, with all the kids running around playing joyfully with wooden toys) - in a world consisting essentially of businesses operating on a non-family business philosophy called: Survival of the fittest. The really nice things about TLG are: They still successfully maintain this charisma, they do produce >top< quality plastic products (I am not talking about themes or the like), they have a very nice philosophy people actually accept and develop further - and they do very well in the big pond full of sharks. Which always makes you wonder why that is - but it is. So here is to TLG: (And I am sooo glad, they are still doing bricks and stuff. Soo glad!) Best Thorsten Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mylenium Posted October 12, 2020 14 hours ago, f2k said: Are they spreading themselves too thin again, losing sight of their core business? You would have to figure out what their "core business" actually is/ is supposed to be and so far nobody has been able to tell me that beyond talking about "the good old times" when allegedly everything was better. The rest is probably too early to tell. You can only tell if a company has spread itself too much once the bubble bursts and in that regard the next two years could be interesting when the global economic crisis hits everyone. My personal peeve with all this is that LEGO seems to have forgotten the "little man" and has moved into this somewhat deluded state of seeing itself as a premium brand, not least of all also indicated by all those licensing deals that have nothing to do with actual brick-based toys. I'm not sure if LEGO needs to be the next Louis Vuitton where the brand name is merely a hollow shell with "licensing available for everyone" and crazy prices for products that aren't even "essential" in their original context as toys... Mylenium 12 hours ago, Toastie said: they do produce >top< quality plastic products LEGO's production quality has noticeably degraded over the last three years. It's still perfectly acceptable, but "top quality" is something different in my little universe. From noticeable errors in building instructions to way too large manufacturing tolerances on the bricks to ultimately that nonsense of replacing materials with lesser ones just to save a few cents there have crept in so many bad things lately. They may claim to be the market leader and offer a premium product, but once you look deeper this doesn't really hold up many times, even more so since competing brands have massively caught up in that same time span and quality is pretty comparable. Mylenium Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toastie Posted October 12, 2020 Well, over the last couple of years I got my hands on only a rather limited number of sets. With a large BL store around the corner, things have shifted here a bit. The sets I actually built (instead of buying them for parts - small sets that is - I still like to do that from time to time) were Architecture/Paris and the Crocodile - plus a few minor things. From that very limited experience I did not really notice any quality degradation. But again, this is a very, very limited "database". However, this 18 minutes ago, Mylenium said: even more so since competing brands have massively caught up in that same time span and quality is pretty comparable. is for sure true. And there is only one way to find out: Get a - forbidden - set from the competitors. Many people talk about that without having had the actual experience - for whatever reasons, loyalty plays certainly a big role, as it does for me. I "did" that last year (the Black Pearl), felt totally bad - just to find out what happened: I was boldly impressed with the overall quality - of the bricks that is. The instruction was simply copied from the original. But again, this is only a single point observation - and adds nothing to the general picture. Best Thorsten Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Another Brick In The Wall Posted December 11, 2020 I can't believe the Kombi is finally retiring..... after 9 years! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
