Robianco

VIP Event - What to expect?

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Hi all,

I've just had my invitation to the VIP event at my local Lego store next weekend.

I've not been to one before so I just wanted to see if anyone knew what the usual drill was.

Any idea what to expect? Will it be a chance to buy the new sets a week early?

They also mention discounts and special offers... is there a usual 10% or something?

It's just so I'm prepared for when I go in so I know it will be worth picking up a load of sets rather than picking them up over time.

Cheers

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Good question. I rsvp'd to the event.

Hope if they check my VIP card that they don't notice the four modular buildings and the 42009 crane that I bought during October were bought at lego.com and not at their store that's a couple of miles from my house.

Looking forward to the event. There's a Starbucks almost adjacent to the lego store so if the line is too long (meaning any line at all), I'll just grab a grande of some sorts and head to the park for a nice walk.

Cheers.

Edited by Off the wall

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Yeah... I'm not really expecting particularly big queues so I'll head down there and see what's what.

The fact that you had to RSVP today means I know a couple of VIP members who haven't bothered so I'm assuming that already takes the possible queue down. That and the fact that it's an 8am start on a Saturday hopefully means that any kind of trek to get there will diminish the numbers even more.

I'm only 2 miles from the City Centre store anyway so it's 2 mins in the car to park up. I'll be in the queue behind getting a tea!

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I was actually coming to EB right now to look to see if they did this again this year... I saw there was a LEGO VIP event on the 23rd in the catalog we received this week, but unlike the past two years, I did not specifically receive an invitation for the early special event.

Bummer... but then again, I probably spend about 1/5 as much on LEGO this year as last.

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I RSVPed a few days ago and chatted with my local store manager about it for a couple minutes when I was there yesterday. I didn't ask him about the criteria for getting an invite this year, but from what I've heard elsewhere it's still the XX biggest spenders, plus a few more invites at the manager's discretion. Hopefully that means it indeed won't be too crowded.

As for what to expect this year:

He said that we should get early access to new sets (but noted that for their store specifically they hadn't received shipments for some new stuff that he'd expected them to already have so we'll have to see what happens in the next week on that front) and that the 2nd Christmas promo set (the tree delivery pickup truck) will be available with purchase then as well so we don't have to wait until Brick Friday to pick it up.

He mentioned that they wouldn't be the doing percent-off scratcher-type cards this year, but would instead have them for things like "Get a $20 set free," free keychains, dollar amount vouchers (up to a $200 "shopping spree" - guess they don't know what a "spree" would really constitute for the folks there for this event! :wink: ), and that sort of thing.

For sales, he said that they'd be discounting sets from 20-50% and that there would be some things that would be excluded but "pretty much the whole store will be on sale."

Take that for what it's worth, but sounds like it's at least worth going to check it out!

Edited by deraven

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Hoping to get the invite, as I know I spent more at the local Lego store this year than last year...

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That all sounds great. I've been lucky that I've been able to order stuff through my business account this year (it actually counts as office decoration) so it's crept up quite well... The invite says there's a £5000 spend limit... I should bloody we'll think so!!!

20-50% reductions would be great! If all goes well I'll pick up as much as I can... Or is reasonable. Shame the Disney Princess line won't be there yet so I can sort some for my daughter!

SW/LOTR-Hobbit/SH then... We'll see what's there.

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Got my invite this morning for the Westfield store, west London, but strangely it's for a lego store in the UK which I've never visited? seems a little odd, I would have though they'd have tied it to a store I'd at least shopped in. It must be based on my closest store as the crow flies and not my preferred store unless this means not all stores are taking part in the Promo? or whether they think I should pay that store a visit, trouble is not enough notice and I've already planned something for next Saturday, shame as could have been interesting.

I must say the card did not give much away about discount or anything, not even an option to RSVP online, only by phone, very strange. My preference would have been a late evening rather than an early morning.!

Be interesting to see what everyone gets free, hope I'm not disappointed!

The card did mention a £5k spending limit!

Edited by paul_delahaye

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Yeah... My invite was sent from Belgium and the store is my closest one which is Liverpool City Centre... I only live 2 miles away so it's ideal for me.

Not sure why it's an early morning but my 4 yr old will make sure I'm up anyway!

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Same in the US- $5,000 limit per person, limit 1 holiday promo per person, etc.. I guess that does mean that your +1 can help you double all that if you bring along a ringer that's buying for you as well, but I wonder if you could both use the same VIP account? I don't know that I'd spend $10,000, but it would be nice to get 2 of the holiday promo sets that way...

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I would think you could use any VIP account you like. It doesn't state that the person you bring has to be a VIP anyway so I would assume that person could simply state the transaction should go onto your account.

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I've spent a lot in the past year buying retired sets. But, I can't see how a collector like me could spend anywhere near five grand. As a matter of fact, unless by some miracle the new Maersk ship or the Parisian Restaurant is there, I can't see spending a lot of money. My interests are primarily the modular buildings and the large count Creator offerings. I suppose my interests just aren't diverse enough for me to spend a lot of money at a Lego store. No interest in SW and a couple of weeks ago I bought the relatively new Technic mobile crane. Maybe it's similar to a left brain-right brain thing, but Technic doesn't interest me, either. I suppose I could buy another Haunted House since I converted the first one to a modular building. Or maybe another Tower Bridge before it's retired. Still looking forward to the event, though.

Hope to see follow collectors at the store in Alpharetta, GA. I'll be the guy with my wife standing next to me shaking her head and saying 'just why do we need a FOURTH grand Emporium?!?!'

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I would be curious to see if they are excluding the exclusives and hard-to-find sets such as the modular buildings, ewok village, death star, etc. If so, it would be hard to buy enough smaller sets to reach the limit.

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I would be curious to see if they are excluding the exclusives and hard-to-find sets such as the modular buildings, ewok village, death star, etc. If so, it would be hard to buy enough smaller sets to reach the limit.

If they do that, then I won't be there very long.

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What will the deals be on Saturday for non-invites? The catalog last week said there'd be online deals for VIP members. Not getting invited is disappointing, but not surprising, but surely there'll be something for the rest of us?

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Hope to see follow collectors at the store in Alpharetta, GA.

See you there. :wink:

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[... excluding the modulars, etc...." - If they do that, then I won't be there very long.

Agreed. I understand that those have a pretty reasonable value on piece count for price already, but they're also some of the most expensive sets and I'd hope that at least once a year we'd get a break. I couldn't use the last 10% off coupon on any of the larger sets I wanted (none of the modulars, Creator Expert, Ewok Village, etc.) so I ended up buying nothing at all and letting the coupon expire. A silly psychological thing to be sure, as 10% off of a $40 set is still better than nothing, but still! :tongue:

I of course don't have access to TLG's marketing numbers, but you'd think the additional sales with discount would offset the lowered profit margin nicely. *shrug* I'll keep my fingers crossed!

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A lot of misinformation here.

For the most part, the invites go to the people with the most transaction numbers per store. Doesn't really matter how much you spend; it's your average transaction number per customer. One guy who spent $500 in one shot has less of a chance than a guy who bought 7 $8 polybags.

That said, the store is open an hour earlier than normal for access -- only the VIPs get to shop for an hour. You get a free holiday PAB box just for showing up, and access to the Black Friday deals a week early, including the second holiday set. After the hour is done, that's it. There's also a rumor floating around about triple points during that hour. Also, a free red keychain!

Trust me, if you were invited, you don't really want to miss this.

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So they reward people with stores and the people who use the online service aren't included. Odd but oh well. Plus the SLC store hasn't been open very long. I can't just imagine getting in line and buying a about 300 minifigs one at a time for next year. :)

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I bought a ton of stuff this year and very little at the Lego store. The online purchases have to factor in or I can't imagine being invited..

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So they reward people with stores and the people who use the online service aren't included. Odd but oh well. Plus the SLC store hasn't been open very long. I can't just imagine getting in line and buying a about 300 minifigs one at a time for next year. :)

SLC store is a different animal. Because they haven't been open long, they were given manager's discretion to hand out invites, which is why there won't be more than 10-15 invited -- you had until the 15th to RSVP, and the managers invited people as they saw fit. As busy as the store's been lately, it's been difficult for them to sit and talk with people about it, much less get their info.

As far as the online purchases factoring in? This is a Lego Store shopping event, not a Lego Online shopping event. Not really that odd. :P

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Anyone get an invite to the Columbus OH (Easton) store? That's my local one and I've been invited the last 2 years (two years ago I was the #1 invite in fact) but haven't gotten one this year. I definitely have had lower spending this year, but dunno if it's enough lower to be out of the top numbers. I mean, it's lower for *me* but it's certainly not low. Might have to give them a call...

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I just talked to a Lego employee. Yep, my online purchases made a difference. A big one.....

Whatever, eh? If we got invited, let's go have some fun!!!!!!

Btw, in the past six months I've spend $1400 on line and about $320 at the store. One visit to the store, multiple online visits. Would have spent more, but the retired sets on Amazon/ebay cost too much and took up a lot of my resources.

Edited by Off the wall

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