Vindice

Thanks for the info, I think i'd be tempted by that actually.

Hi all, not sure if this is against protocol to suggest this but with the HP line probably winding down, does anyone think we should give it a right royal send off? The HP moc competition last year was awesome and some people did some unbelievable MOC's. I was too busy unfortuantely to take part but would have loved to. What about a little competition with slightly different rules? I'd love to see people making a MOC of different classrooms or areas of Hogwarts Castle and it's surrounding areas. It doesn't have to have prizes, we could all do it just for the love of the franchise. no brick limit and custome pieces allowed! What does everyone and (Mods of course!)think?

The sets sell well and there is plenty of ideas but there are a couple of problems that historically point to it being discontinued. 1/ no more films means limited publicity. No kids going into the cinema and coming out wanting to recreate a scene in toy form. 2/ TLG doesn't like to have too many licenses going at one time. SW has been renewed on a multi-year contract so that is here to stay. Pirates of the Caribean has just started (although maybe not faring too well in terms of sales against predictions), and then there is the new and returning superhero license and this is a big one!! If you see the visual dictionary, the HP creation team is not small. I doubt they could have them all on a dead or dying license so they would probably be re-deployed to the new license. this means no team to design new sets. We would love to see more sets but it is unfortunately not very likely. Believe me if I'm wrong I will be happier than anyone.

Guys, hasn't Mirandir been on this forum for 4 years already?!? I think maybe he deserves the benefit of the doubt. If these sets are confirmed then I'm very grateful to Mirandir for giving us something to get our teeth into. If they aren't confirmed then really what is the harm?? Personally I would rather have some rumours going around that we all can debate about than have nothing at all. The battlepacks make perfect sense, retailers are ALL powerful! And if they have lots of stock (mandalorian and assasin droid packs) that they can't sell despite reducing the price (which cuts into their profits) then they will ask TLG to change the way they package them or they will take more listings from a rival, cheaper brand. this is how retailers work with manufacturers. I personally can't wait for the new sets to arrive whatever they are. And I know my son who will be 5 when they come out will love some smaller, cheaper sets that he can buy with his own pocket money. Impulse buying is very appealing to toy manufacturers but it doesn't work in public perception unless the goods are cheap enough to appear to be of good value. Having conflict in one pack will achieve this.

UCS AT-AT makes a lot of sense, it is most definately iconic. Wonder how big it would be. Would it be the size of an poodle or an irish wolf hound?

I think there probably are enough spots of cloud city to create a large set but the question is how would it sell??? the Death star is iconic and so is the millenium falcon and even a star destroyer. These sets reach beyond the adult community and also appeal to more general fans of Star Wars and even non SW Lego lovers. I'm not convinced cloud city is as big a draw. Jabba's palace is perhaps a bit more realistic. I think with it's exotic mix of aliens it would appeal to a larger audience for a smaller price tag.

I've had no internet access for 2 weeks so I've only just noticed Capt. Kirks comments. Really nice that someone in that position took the time out to address us fans. I have my hopes for next years wave of sets but to be honest I'll be pretty happy with whatever we get, much like I have been this year. Thanks Captain!

Who cares if it devalues the current set anyway?! Since when should TLG be encouraging the sort of price hikes you see on ebay?! Lego is first and foremost a childs toy and it should not be out of the price range of the average child or they will instead start buying the cheap chinese knock offs you get in places like wilkinsons. (This is already happening!) If the target market is diminished by bad pricing structures then we can all kiss goodbye to Lego.

HP has been the second biggest license that TLG have had so another nice direct to customer set would be a perfect way to round off the theme because lets face it, once it's gone it ain't coming back! No more films or books = no more Lego i'm afraid to say. I'm hoping for a big ministry playset............ but in truth I think it's already finished.

Let's hope that supply meets demand then. The Batman profiteering has been way out of control and unfortunately it seems to be a practise that TLG encourage for some inexplicable reason.

I've been thinking about this too. I don't think the trolls are any good for this. Looking forward to see your brickbuilt giants!

Actually this is not a positive sign. The Pirates sets didn't make it into the last catalogue because of their release date so they should have been in this one. Coupled with the discounted sets which incidentally have been discounted for many, many weeks already then this is a bad sign for the sales of these sets in Argos. Remember Argos are a huge retailer of toys. If these sets are doing badly through them it is likely it is the same elsewhere too. I think this range is struggling. With the Batman license returning and the other superheros stuff, there will be at least one license being bumped. This is a strong candidate.

They are still not available in the usual places in the UK. Just been on base.com and they have them up with a release date of 20th August! You can pre-order at pretty decent prices though. £82.99 for republic frigate and £119.99 for the Falcon.

I wholeheartedly agree that Harry Potter could provide us with a lot more sets and TLG with a lot more profit......... unfortunately i just dont think it will happen. I think SW is the only license Lego are locked in on and all the others are going to have to be satisfied with a year or two maximum of new sets. As I've said many times before, i will be one of the happiest people if I'm wrong.

the main reason it won't surpass star wars is because of the lack of vehicles. SW has enormous potential because of the space ships. The varierty of minifigures also helps now more than ever. They could do a lot more with HP but unless the line is outperforming other lines then it will not be renewd. At the end of the day it's a business decision............... but it's also a decision that is taken long in advance. If PotC is underperforming then Potter could be kept but i wouldn't expect them to have planned for that.

It is a huge undertaking for anyone to make a MOC of hogwarts that looks authentic and is also playable. I started mine with the idea of ticking all the boxes but it just wouldn't work like that unless I spent a ludicrous amount of money (which technically I had, even though i made plenty back) and had loads of space. in the end I settled for something playable and with plenty of space at the back for animating with a camera. Unfortunately now, almost everything is in pieces due to moving house.......... and now my boy wants to build a moc of the Jedi temple! Which to be fair would be a helluva lot easier.

Argos are selling the clone tank at 25% off. Now £76.99

Thanks for the info Mutley, I was thinking of ordering the podracers from woolworths today for my little boy. They seem to have most sets in. I'm baffled as to why there is nothing showing up yet in TRU, Argos or even S@H.......

very true, I made the max amount of profit at the time because stock of the castle was almost non-existent in the UK and there was no other way to get some of the figures. That is beginning to change now and you can easily pick the castle up for 80 notes anyway. Still it would be a cheaper way of doing things, you just got to get creative. Good luck!

That's good advice, thanks. I think i'd have a hard time convincing anyone checking cases that I was bringing back 2 suitcases worth of death stars or something like that for the plane ride home!

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I think the value has to be under something like £18 or so here to pass through without charge. I might just ask the seller if they can be a bit creative with the declaration, I understand if some don't want to do that though. I may be going stateside for work soon so i may just take a couple of empty suitcases!

TLG's "formula" for releasing sets is likely completely unworkable now in terms of a marketing strategy. We've never had a time period such as this where you have an ongoing series running through a large part of each year plus films due out in each of the next 6 years. That's not to mentione the new impending cartoons and the glut of games. you can rip up your old formulas, people who tell you that they release sets in a certain order are working on the assumption of what we've seen over the last decade or more. Times have changed and TLG have to change too if they want to make the most of this financial opportunity. It is still generally seen as a boys toy and boys want the sets they see on the screen and usually in battle, generally vehicle or playset based (as evidenced by the constant rehasing in the Police and Fire themes.)so i expect a re-release of the AT-TE, republic gunship and some droid tanks for the CW crowd and, as evidenced by this summer's wave, a contined re-releasing of TPM sets.

I'm sure a moderator can move this to the right place for you. in my opinion forget both of these sets and wait for a 3 for 2 sale somewhere. Sorry i didn't notice which country you're in but in the UK, Argos, TRU and Tesco all run a 3 for 2 sale at some point in the year (TRU have already done one) I used this method to buy 6 of the latest Hogwarts castle set for a total cost of £400. I sold one of the extra sets off when stock was scarce, taking the price down to £300 for 5 castles. Then........ i split the minifigs on ebay and sold 4 sets of Voldemort with 2 Dementors for £30 each now taking the cost down to £180 then sold 3 sets of the teachers for £25 each takign the cost down to £105 for 5 castles and more minifigs than I can shake a stick at! I will still probably sell off more duplicate pieces takign the total cost down further but i kinda like having all those suits of armour and loads of the uniform pieces. Now you can get the new voldemort in the FF set you probably wont make the same sort of prices on minifigs but you could still buy multiple castles for a small cost if you play your cards right.

Can anyone tell me if they have incurred customs charges when ordering from a Bricklink store in the US? I am thinking of placing a substantial order from a store there but I was wondering if I'm going to get caned when it clears customs in the UK. Any help is much appreciated!