Gomek

Here's an example that ultimately worked out in my favor (I guess) but was really was messed up. When Lego opened up the store in Leicester Square they created a mascot for the store which they promoted on all their materials. Then someone got the bright idea to only produce 300 of the physical minifigures and give them out at the store opening. I thought the minifigure was really cool so I followed it on Ebay. So what happens when you create an ultra rare figure that is highly publicized, yes, it starts to go for stupid money. Several went off in the $2000 to $3000 range. Way to rich for my blood and not even by a little. So then someone at Lego realized that this was a pretty big mistake. They now have a mascot and no physical minifigure to sell. Horrible wasted opportunity and they reverse they the decision and start selling them in the store. Now I'm not going to condemn that second decision because that's what I'm talking about, and I eventually had a nice collecting experience swapping for said figure. But what about the collectors who paid $3000 dollars for a minifigure that's now worth $6. You can certainly say "You shouldn't be paying $3000 for a minifigure" but I take the approach of 'there is just absolutely no reason for a global company to be doing things like that in the first place'. What is the point of creating a $3000 minifigure? Just don't do it.

"Am I against limited edition stuff" is a good question. I'm an old school collector so the model has always been that things are available for a limited time. Be it Lego, Comics or toys in general. So to a degree I guess I do very much support "Limited edition" merchandise. I mean almost everything Lego produces is a limited edition to an extent. Personally I feel if you have good market research and a good marketing team, you should be able to roughly gauge the interest in your products and determine your production runs. Will there be mistakes? Absolutely. But I also don't believe vastly under-producing an item at the expense of consumers is something that is imperative to the success of a business. My gripe is basically Lego is trying to appeal to the collectors market, and to a certain extent the completists, and then they are turning around and supporting marketing practices that exploit them. You can certainly say "it's just business" but it's a business and marketing model that is not there to help collectors, and being a collector, I don't think it's something to feel good about.

Well, like I said, I'm old, so this started long before Lego was considered "collectable". This was a regular practice with action figures and comic books and they were called 'retailer intensives'. Like I mentioned, it was really just a way to take advantage of collectors. And of course I believe there were also a number of products that probably were under produced by mistake, but when manufactures saw what kind of hype the secondary market could generate, this led other companies to do the same thing on purpose. I can tell you Nintentendo is often accused of doing this, though honestly I'm not really involved enough in that market to have real opinion of their marketing.

In the days of the chase figures vendors absolutely ordered more so they could get exclusives that they could turn around and sell for 10 or more times the value of any of the 'common' items. In Lego's case they believe people will but more figures (by mistake?) looking to complete a collection, which is now twice or three times as hard. While some of us are good at feeling blind bags others are not and frequently wide up with doubles.

Yeah, I definitely remember artificial rarity opening the door for the knockoffs. Specifically the Green Arrow figure was the first one I remember coming out of China where AFOLs were actively buying the knockoffs as a infinitely cheaper alternative to the real thing. And that initial support of course opened up the whole can of worms with the knock-offs.

Artificial rarity is my single biggest grip with Lego. It's just awful and a really deplorable practice. If they're going to do figures that apeal to collectors that's great, but then don't turn around and #$^# them with shortages.

No more exclusive figures please. Mr. Gold is by far the single rudest thing Lego has ever done, and that includes convention exclusives, which are extremely heartbreaking. Convention exclusives will kill brickheadz. Why anyone one would want to collect these knowing they can't complete their collection is beyond me.

I was speaking to one of the operators today at Bricks and Pieces and she was saying that they are getting very strict on not selling licensed parts. It's unfortunate, and for some some strange reason this now includes Ninjago, despite the fact that this is a Lego owned property.

I'm infinitely more excited about the prospect of the heroes from the Super Friends party as I would be in more batsuits.

Mr. Gold was possibly the the most insensitive thing Lego has ever done. Building up a lot of kids hopes and then crushing them over and over. And the fact that they limited it so badly the prices sky rocketed was just a slap in the face to everyone who loves minifigures. and not to mention a big ^@#$ U to completists. Lets not do that again.

100% true

I’ve been very fond of pointing out how the Lego collectible market is following the trends of the comics market in the eighties. Prices are climbing and people are hording, but eventually when everyone goes to sell, those prices will drop. And when the amount of sellers is greater than the amount of buyers, some Lego will be worth less than you paid for it. So the question is; Do you want the collectible Lego bubble to burst? The obvious con is that your collections will lose a tremendous amount of value, the obvious plus is you’ll be able to pick up some Lego for much less than retail. (Large comics collections from the 80’s with no particular rarity are worth pennies on the dollar)

Just curious, why are you hoping for this? I don't get why people enjoy paying $150 for a minifigure on ebay? Enjoy having holes in their collection? Enjoy paying a hefty price for a convention ticket so you can stand in line for a figure you may or may not get? Are any of these things better than walking into the Lego store at your leisure and buying a $26 set with 4 new figures in it? I'm really not trying to be a jerk. I genuinely don't understand why anyone who loves mini-figures would support this practice.

DC: None None Marvel: None None At some point fans will backlash against this awful practice, and Lego will understand it's not polite to line pockets of scalpers and cause loyal fans and completists to get fleeced on the secondary market.

I much prefer the knock-off Rhino figure as well.

The stay puff marshmallow man doesn't agree: It's not the most disliked trailer in YouTube history for nothing.

You realize there is a Ghost Rider set coming out soon right?

i think it would have been cool if the pirate and camper had almost the same map, but one had a red x and the other had modern icons. it would have been a nice Easter egg.

I agree. This would be a super crappy move. personally, if they are going to do a $400 set, they really should not put ANY mini figures in it so they don't imply that anyone looking to have a complete collection needs to put down $400 for Lego. As a life long collector of Lego I can tell you there has definately been a huge shift. I knew some adult builders in the 90's who had been in contact with the Lego company, and they had the same story.. The Lego company use to view Adult collects as a little bit whack-o. I think the internet proved adult fans were in far greater number than previously believed. Licensed themes revitalized Lego and strengthened its place in the collectables world. And then... The modular buildings. To me, this was Lego's first real admission that they are now making toys for adults. But I'll still say $400 is way to much for a set.

Monsters are never stupid (unless they come with guitars as accessories). I could use another monster series right now as a matter of fact.

didn't work for me. I just got a form field. I assume there was supposed to be an image, but none showed up.

My worst experience is to have a complete set of figures and then Lego decides to do a limited convention run of some figure (of a character from my childhood), and then my collection is incomplete unless I want to pay $200.

When the TEAM GB figs came out they were not that hard to come by via bricklink. At the time regular CMF were $3 USD and I got Team GB for $4 USD per plus I think $10 shipping. Assuming I can get a similar deal off brinklink I will get a set.

Question.. with everyone's want lists.. how long will it take for the Chinese knock off companies to make the figures everyone wants? And will the Chinese ones have molded heads for the Incredibles, because I might just have to buy those too. -c

I've always wore my Lego fandom on my sleeve, so I've met quiet a few AFOLs over the years (and ironically I'm not in a LUG, so I really haven't met any there). I don't know that any spend what I do, but a few have impressive collections. I also only know one kid who really has a 'collection'. Many of my kids friends (and admittedly, I don't really talk to them about it), but they only have a few sets and that's it. Anyway, I'm not saying it's a large percentage, I'm just saying I believe it's a larger percentage than the Lego Group thinks it is. I also have to think that the percentage of the people who bought a $500 Millennium Falcon set have to be damn near 100% AFOLs. But then again, half the reason I think the bubble will inevitably burst, is because I don't think there are enough AFOLs and wealthy parents to buy up all the sets that people are hording, when they decide to sell in future. All that supply will out weigh demand at some point. I think it will very closely follow the comics market. You'll still have sets that were way under produced or had overly short runs be worth money, but the popular sets that people are hording, those will be in much higher supply than demand. Well the good news is I don't see the USC MF as dropping. That's a set no one horded given it's hefty price tag. The $20 licensed sets on the other hand, I'm convinced are being stock piled in some collector's basements.