Omegablue

I generally lurk these forums more than I log on. LOL But after seeing this incredible creation, I had to log in just to congratulate you on such a WOW MOC. Really impressed how it's neat and clean, and it's accuracy... just WOW. Thank you for sharing this with the world.

Hi there fellow Lego fanatics. I was recently going through the images of Toy Fair 2012, and this toy line by Hasbro left me speechless. It's called Kre-o (New to me), which does sound a bit like Lego, and its launching licenses are the summer film, Battleship, and their Transformers flagship. My real disbelief comes that they've identically copied most, if not all of Lego's pieces. Now I'm wondering if Lego is going to let Hasbro get away with this? I'm really surprised as lately alot of people are on the bench of Sopa, and protecting original licensed work. Anyway, I feel this line is beyond copying. It looks more like they made latex moulds over Lego's original pieces. What is your view on this? And how will it impact Lego especially as it's going to be cheaper and towed by the marketing juggernaut of Hasbro? Here's the link. Kre-O

Everything looks so far. Expect that to get a Legolas figures, means buying one of the expensive sets.

Sorry if this has been asked already, but there's too many pages to scroll through for an answer. Just would like to know if anyone knows if the Dark Knight Rises sets will happen, since they didn't appear at ToyFair? Thanks.

Thanks for the feedback guys. :) Interesting read all round. License sets never reach clearance. Actually the most Lego here goes on sale is at %10! Most international sellers, including Amazon, said they're not allowed to ship Lego to South Africa, due to the restrictions imposed by our local wholeseller and Lego in Denmark. Thanks and done. Guess it's conclusive that the rest of the world (outside the USA) is paying for the licenses? So what can we do? This is wrong that since 2008 we in Europe, Australia and South Africa have gotten a 80% increase.

South Africa: Sales tax: 14%, always included (in price) $1 US ~ R8 ZAR A McDonalds cheeseburger = $3.20 An apple= about $0.50 8Gb Ipod touch = $220 Collectible Minifig = $3.00 10222 Winter Post Office = $100.00 10218 Pet Shop = $275.00 - Our currency varies up and down per quarter. R6 to $1 for a couple of months, to R8.50 to $1 for the next. - Licensed Lego appears more expensive. Example, 4182 Pirates Cannibal Escape is $60 to $75.

Hi people, This is my first post, so I'm going to try to make a very important one. I live in South Africa and restarted collecting Lego since 2007. My main concern is that here it feels like we're getting severely ripped off with the prices. And my maths is concluded from the years I've collected and imported other mediums of entertainment. I would to give an example with the general StarWars battle pack. In 2008 it cost around R120.00 in our currency (Rand). At that time the exchange rate was lingering around R8 to R10 to the Dollar, and R10 to R12 to the Euro. So we were paying $13.00 a battle pack, or around 12.OO Euros. Our exchange rate strengthens by 20% to 30% from May to October each year, then drops by the same amount for whatever reason. Never once have the prices of Lego reflected when the rate hits R6 to the Dollar. At the moment the Starwars battle packs are at R200.00! That's an 80% sudden increase. Our rates are at R8 to R9 to the Dollar, and R10 to R11 to the Euro. We're actually doing better. That's now $22.00 per pack, or 20 Euros for one. Yes, there have been expense hikes due to the present decaying economy, mainly on shipping and customs. However when I look at the other items I'm importing, like Japanese Anime figures, model kits, Bandai and Hotwheel diecast collectables, the total increase of shipping, customs, has been around 10% to 30%. Which is within the issued rates. However with Lego it's 80% and more??? Another example are the licenced box sized sets like the Batboat or the Penguin Sub, which at their release time was R200 to R250. Now these middle-small sets (Licensed) are R380 to R400! Now most of the shops that sell Lego here, either get it directly from Denmark, or from the local licensed wholeseller. And the retail prices marginally differ around 5%. No issue there. And that seems to point that Lego issues them with recommended prices? If not then the recommended prices are probably in affect by the local wholeseller? Either way when comparing our prices to other international prices, and being able to assess the costs of importing and retailing, something is not adding up? In the past I've raised this matter to Lego. No reply. And I've also for years asked Lego.com why doesn't it sell to South Africa directly online. We actually cannot get loose pieces, or replacements from them. And still they've ignored me. A small market we are not. We actually have three of the world's largest and fanciest shopping malls worldwide. My local ToyRus moves 300 units and more of lego sets on a average month. And that's just one toyshop. Starwars lego is repacked in every store every month, that's how fast it sells. Really do not know what more to add, aside to share this with you, and perhaps get feedback or exchange similar tales on the international front.