Aussie sales! Share the news of LOCAL sales!

[dragonau]

^{My local Toys R US had all the new Star Wars sets and still has 20% off at the moment if anyone is looking for those.}

I think that catalogue ends today... didn't see anything in the catalogue from tomorrow (4th)

Sorry this is kind of offtopic but I thought ya'll might get a chuckle. Logged on to S@H for the first time in ages and it prompted me to update some details, notice anything odd?

As long as Myser doesn't hoard all the Lego to itself and give us the minimal possible (e.g. not give us the minifigs or the extra bonus lego pieces in sets)...they can call it what they like.

I wonder if they realise there is no Lego Store in Australia yet (here's hoping for PAB walls)...

------

ShopForMe daily blitz (Mon)

LEGO Star Wars Red Five X-wing Starfighter 10240

$279.99 $223.99

Save: 20% off

LEGO Kings Carriage Ambush 7188

$69.99 $35.00

Save: 50% off

Edited February 3, 2014 by dragonau

[Artanis I]

notice anything odd?

That they still haven't fixed Myser or removed Lego Stores after however long.

[dragonau]

That they still haven't fixed Myser or removed Lego Stores after however long.

Well..one could pop into a Lego Store when one goes travelling to the US or the UK. @Lego: Please do not remove Lego Stores....add them :)

[Darth Malgus]

I can't see why they don't have one in the principle cities in Australia? They rreally should.

[Artanis I]

Has it been reported yet about the Red 5 X-Wing in Myer? Well I've seen them recently anyway. Slightly more than twice the price of the other X-Wing, but probably less than twice the coolness.

Problem with introducing Lego shops here is that the chains will lose exclusives and those that live in less metropolitan areas will miss out. If only every city could have one.

[TheDarkness]

And we really don't want Lego forcing us to pay full price for exclusives.

I am happy for them not to be here :p

[Brickus]

Just noticed on the Big W website that they are selling the EVO Walker from the Hero Factory line for $15, but they show the picture of the EVO XL Machine, the dearest set. Could be another situation like when they were selling the Monster Fighters Castle for the price of the Hearse.

[Artanis I]

Myer online only selected sets @25% off. Too many to list, and not obvious to me as to why some are discounted and others aren't.

Olivia's House is $87.

[Darth Malgus]

Was in Myer melb CBD and they have a spend $50 get $10 off toys till Sunday, picked up some new SW, they had Chima Speedorz for $9 on clearance too!

[Kha-khees]

I can't see why they don't have one in the principle cities in Australia? They rreally should.

You think they'd get the hint after the successes of lego exhibitions here, particularly brickvention which continually sells out.

And we really don't want Lego forcing us to pay full price for exclusives.

I am happy for them not to be here :p

They run their own promotions, VIP, pickabrick (bloody hell i want this), events.... and at least that money would be directly injected to lego, rather than to distributors and retailers here.

[dragonau]

Shopforme Blitzathon started!

Have no idea what is coming up over today, but they are claiming it is the "BIGGEST BLITZATHON EVER"...

Last year late on the Friday night, they were giving one free minifig per order---no idea if this will be done tonight.. but probably worthwhile checking if you can.

I think they release one or more specials each hour over the day. Welcome to correct me if it is different today.

Edited February 7, 2014 by dragonau

[dragonau]

Lego Stores

They run their own promotions, VIP, pickabrick (bloody hell i want this), events.... and at least that money would be directly injected to lego, rather than to distributors and retailers here.

Don't wanna knock out the retailers/distributors...that would be worse where Lego is less accessible and monopolised (and Target has been very nice recently letting us get 2014 sets for about 50-55% retail). The Target in the US definitiely still has exclusives, so it would unlikely change here too. Lego Stores are usually only in the larger centres (in the US too), so retailers are needed in the other areas.

Not sure what you mean Artanis about people missing out outside the metropolitan areas...this is the same in the US and visiting the larger cities is not unusual. Would you mind to elaborate on your meaning? the exclusives not available? (would online lego shop be sufficient for that anyway?)

What particularly we don't get are the promotional items like minifig sets, polybags (small lego sets usually with a minifigure), and at the moment the Lego Movie posters each week and extra movie poster stickers for the Palace Cinema.

Besides that we don't get many of the polybags (ok...perhaps we get a few from the online lego shop).

Though what is the most valuable is the Pick a Brick (PAB) Wall, where you can fill a cup chock-a-block full of 100s of cheese-slopes for example for approx $10 to $20 (small and large cup resp) , and get the free PAB boxes for the holidays [when $75 spent at a LEGO store in November or December last year]. The only prob is you can only pick up pieces that they have (and that changes over time) (i.e. not as big a range as can be found on the online PAB).

At least 382 1x2 bricks can fit inside a small cup. How much do we have to spend to get a 382pc set?

Not to mention buying a type by the Case (a box) for US$70 (depending on the piece)...a case of 1000s of 2x2 bluish grey tiles would be very useful for pavement and roads/driveways in a a large city scene!

If anything, would love just to have the PAB! haha

Edited February 7, 2014 by dragonau

[Xyver]

Not to mention buying a type by the Case (a box) for US$70 (depending on the piece)...a case of 1000s of 2x2 bluish grey tiles would be very useful for pavement and roads/driveways in a a large city scene!

If anything, would love just to have the PAB! haha

Being able to buy a box of 2x2 (or 2x4) light bluish grey tiles would be astronomically wonderful. The 2x4s aren't available from S@H and I need more to pave my city. I've used over 700 already and I've had to resort to unpaving the outside edge of the road so that I can finish around the buildings.

I'm planning a trip to the UK next year, and plan on hitting the retail stores over there, but that's 18months away.

I say please give us a LEGO brand retail store, not just for the PAB wall but also for easier and quicker access to the exclusives sets, I hate having to wait 8-12 months for them to hit our shelves, though this isn't as bad now that free shipping is standard.

[dragonau]

I'm planning a trip to the UK next year, and plan on hitting the retail stores over there, but that's 18months away.

They have PAB in UK as well. Would suggest asking a friend there that is close to a Lego Store to keep an eye out for the pieces you are after, because they may not have the pieces you are after when you are there (they change all the time).

[pjchilds]

The 2x4s aren't available from S@H and I need more to pave my city. I've used over 700 already and I've had to resort to unpaving the outside edge of the road so that I can finish around the buildings.

You could try bricks and pieces service (?)

ie https://service.lego.com/en-us/replacementparts#WhatIndividualBrickBuy/87079

Looking at those prices though you would be better off with

http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?sID=159216&itemID=32887834

[dragonau]

Looking at those prices though you would be better off with

http://www.bricklink...itemID=32887834

Good spot. Could get 1276 pcs for AUD$250+postage from Deutschland

1276 Items in 1 Lot, EUR 160.84

Still.. 2000+ 2x2 LBG tiles for USD70 makes it seem so expensive...

You could try bricks and pieces service (?)

ie https://service.lego...lBrickBuy/87079

Is it free to get replacement pieces, if for example a plate is warped, instructions ripped or the Creator Seaside house medium blue colours of the bricks are all different (1x2, 1x4, 1x1)?

LEGO Store PAB cases (2x4 LBG bricks):

Edited February 7, 2014 by dragonau

[Darth Malgus]

I think there is room for the lego stores and bricks and mortar retail in the capital cities, they are to an extent mutually exclusive.

[Kha-khees]

I think there is room for the lego stores and bricks and mortar retail in the capital cities, they are to an extent mutually exclusive.

If apple can manage to run its branded stores alongside selling products to JB, BigW, Myer, Dick Smith, etc etc...

Don't wanna knock out the retailers/distributors...that would be worse where Lego is less accessible and monopolised (and Target has been very nice recently letting us get 2014 sets for about 50-55% retail). The Target in the US definitiely still has exclusives, so it would unlikely change here too. Lego Stores are usually only in the larger centres (in the US too), so retailers are needed in the other areas.

This is a good point and I didn't really mean that local retail business would be cut out entirely (especially since I'd never expect a lego store local to me, rather in the CBD ~40 minutes away), but there are certain things that they're just never going to stock, and apart from TRU style exclusives I'd expect a lego branded store to carry pretty much everything (Well, maybe not the clothing and other accessory stuff they sell). This would make finding a certain set less of a chore if they are selling out elsewhere. It is very nice to get lego at sale prices (and I rarely buy elsewise) but if they never sold anything at rrp they'd either stop shipping it here or the quality would be forced to drop as a result.

Either way I think the case for a lego flagship store is very viable, but maybe they don't feel it's worth the hassle for the 5 or 6 they'd expect to fit into the entire country (I don't really feel they'd do well enough in anything but state capitals, unfortunately. Whereas the market in the US is so huge they have some areas where it seems most towns would have one...).

[brickie]

The manager of Lego Aust spoke about 'Lego stores in Aust' at the recent brickvention.

My understanding of what he said to the 100+ audience was that TLG has no plans to introduce 'Lego Stores' into Aust.

I believe that Glen Abell said that at some stage in the future there might be some arrangement with a commercial entity; not a franchise arrangement.

So my interpretation of these brief comments in his 30 min address was that we could possibly see something in the future but it won't be 'Lego stores' like they have OS.

Of course, exhibitors all came up with theories as to what he meant but I guess we will have to wait and see what happens.

Please correct me if I misunderstood Glen.

[Notorious Guf]

You could try bricks and pieces service (?)

ie https://service.lego...lBrickBuy/87079

Looking at those prices though you would be better off with

http://www.bricklink...itemID=32887834

Has anyone used this service for buying larger numbers of parts, say around 100 of a particular piece? It could be an easier place to get all the parts I need for a MOC without having to use multiple bricklink sellers.

[glendo]

The manager of Lego Aust spoke about 'Lego stores in Aust' at the recent brickvention.

My understanding of what he said to the 100+ audience was that TLG has no plans to introduce 'Lego Stores' into Aust.

I believe that Glen Abell said that at some stage in the future there might be some arrangement with a commercial entity; not a franchise arrangement.

So my interpretation of these brief comments in his 30 min address was that we could possibly see something in the future but it won't be 'Lego stores' like they have OS.

Of course, exhibitors all came up with theories as to what he meant but I guess we will have to wait and see what happens.

Please correct me if I misunderstood Glen.

Now if I designed the approach to introducing Lego stores into Oz.....

I'd use the Myer CBD stores in Melbourn & Sydney to do it. PaB walls, and stock EVERYTHING Lego releases. The business model would be similar to having a Virgin Music store or a a Cafe inside a department store... You could use Myer's online website to distribute the complete Lego catalogue (and PaB) to both local Myer pickup or mailing it to your door... PaB would be heavily supplied and stocked.

If the 2 in Sydney/Melbourne were successful, only then would I expand into the other cities, with a Maximum of 1 per city, except sydney/melbourne with 1 in CBD and 1 in Parramatta and Chadstone

..... if only i had the power to do that

[dragonau]

..... if only i had the power to do that

Perhaps you do...

I'm planning to buy cases from Lego Stores in the US (I know the small cup can fit more, but takes too long to pack efficiently) and buy bulk lots from BrickLink sellers in the states, and shipping them over in crates to help MOC builders here get bulk number of parts more inexpensively. (Yes, need to pay GST on that import on top of US local sales taxes, but still cheaper and need to pay GST here anyway when buying locally).

(I did think of setting up a PAB wall here, but haven't worked out a feasible way to do that yet (on the supply side)... rather would initially set up a web-site (easier to use than BL) for us to be able to select what we want) [and would like it to be a sustainable community/social venture rather than a private for-profit business, especially to avoid where BL seems to be going and for the profit to go back to the community that supports it (e.g. use the profits to be able to have better buying power (i.e. cheaper bricks) and get more freebies for members)].

Lego sets are great for children and the Lego instruction builds...but incredibly inefficient for MOC building when you need large quantities of the same part [..inefficient and not as good for the environment---why do I need 10 identical boxes and instructions (and unneeded plastic) when all I need are some of the parts??]. There are some great BL sellers here, but just don't have the quantity at the price that is possible.

Anyone doing that or thinking of doing that?

Image: PAB Wall in the Lego Store

Edited February 7, 2014 by dragonau

[dragonau]

...but if they never sold anything at rrp they'd either stop shipping it here or the quality would be forced to drop as a result.

There is a lot of profit margin at RRP, especially when ordered directly from them online. It is more the case that the price is presently sustainable here (set at what a sufficient quantity of consumers are wiling to pay), rather than cost+.

Would you think most sets are bought at less than RRP now? (e.g. Kmart has permanent price reductions, many 20% sales by the other retailers during which times lego flies off the shelves, b2g1 offers, etc...) I see product sit on the shelves for a long time when they are at RRP.

Perhaps, as a guestimate, sets on average here are being sold at 15-20% off RRP (some at RRP +/- $1, some at 40% off (e.g. ShopForMe, End of life clearance), many at the 20% level). [That is excluding the resale of sets at rediculously high levels on ebay]

The manager of Lego Aust spoke about 'Lego stores in Aust' at the recent brickvention.

My understanding of what he said to the 100+ audience was that TLG has no plans to introduce 'Lego Stores' into Aust.

I believe that Glen Abell said that at some stage in the future there might be some arrangement with a commercial entity; not a franchise arrangement.

So my interpretation of these brief comments in his 30 min address was that we could possibly see something in the future but it won't be 'Lego stores' like they have OS.

Of course, exhibitors all came up with theories as to what he meant but I guess we will have to wait and see what happens.

Please correct me if I misunderstood Glen.

I wonder if that is a hint to any possible commercial partners to step forward... ("We can't do it ourselves...but can anyone do that for us?")

I wonder what it would take to get to the point of being able to be that partner ... I would put it out there that there is a lot of talent and connections on this forum which together could make it possible.

[ultimately, in my humble opinion, it would be best to be able to buy direct from Lego Australia, rather than needing to buy from the US or UK. Wouldn't it be funny (and perhaps to the Lego Au team's delight) if we were net exporting to the states, and people in the US envious of what we can get here rather than the other way around (though having said that, I should point out that we actually do have it pretty good here at the moment: some things ARE cheaper than the US (esp. the Target sale+b2g1 gave us deals not yet avail in the US on 2014 sets) AND more accessible and cheaper than in asian countries (the prices in TW and Japan are very high)].

Edited February 7, 2014 by dragonau

[jonwil]

Some reports from another forum:

Rumors are that Orthanc wont be comming to Australia, that MYER is getting the Ewok Village and that the CUUSOO BTTF and Mars Rover sets are going to be general releases (i.e. not exclusive to a particular store). How reliable these are we dont know.

Toyworld is going to be doing a sale soon, spend $39.99 on City and get http://brickset.com/sets/30228-1/Police-ATV or spend $39.99 on Friends and get http://brickset.com/sets/30114-1/Andrea-s-Beach-Lounge

[dragonau]

Some reports from another forum:

Rumors are that Orthanc wont be comming to Australia, that MYER is getting the Ewok Village and that the CUUSOO BTTF and Mars Rover sets are going to be general releases (i.e. not exclusive to a particular store). How reliable these are we dont know.

Toyworld is going to be doing a sale soon, spend $39.99 on City and get http://brickset.com/...28-1/Police-ATV or spend $39.99 on Friends and get http://brickset.com/...-s-Beach-Lounge

Thanks for reporting that. My understanding Orthanc is available however from the online Lego shop, and also ShopForMe (Melbourne) had it online when I looked at their site yesterday. So, unfortunately, that means it is just not available in any normal retail store (i.e. probably not gonna get it for 20% off or in a b2g1 sale)?

Just not sure where to put that gigantic tower yet in the city (it's not exactly going to fit right next to the Friends Juice Bar)...perhaps I'll make a forest scene and place it in the middle of that (the Ewok Village would be useful for that).

Good to hear the CUUSOO BTTF will likely come out here as I gave away the one I got from Lego last year.

Anyone after those polybags, the ATV was given free during Jan from Lego shop (US/CA). Can find on BL for US $2.19. The Friends set is not quite out yet, but all the pieces (including all the parts of the minifig) are available from other sets (the gold cone at the base of the palm is in the Junior Princess box, and many of the others are in series 4 animal polybags).

Edited February 7, 2014 by dragonau