zux Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 It was on sale for $27 around Christmas of 2013. I picked one up for my son as a Christmas present. If you look on brickset you can see the min price it got to was $27. It doesn't look like the graph goes back far enough. The set became available just last year Quote
MAB Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 That said, I do think it makes much more sense to assume they're speaking of the end of production rather than the end of sales, since they obviously have total control over when they choose to stop making it, but they have no control over when consumers might elect to purchase the last units to hit shelves. They can try to have control though. If they've got piles left and they are not selling fast enough, then they have a couple of options (i) discount it to increase sales and (ii) increase sales in some other way. I think they tool the later option. Make people think it is about to go out of stock and hope consumers buy it out of panic / resellers buy it to stock up for the aftermarket sales. The one thing I would be sure of, though, is that they never meant "we'll sell this until a specific date, and any unsold units at the end of that time will be returned to the factory or discarded, rather than being kept until they sell" (and yes, I fully realize is not what you said). I just honestly don't understand how their statements could be taken to mean something other than what I'm taking them to mean, and I similarly don't understand your interpretation of them, or your perception of a gulf between their expectations and the reality of sales. As above, hoodwinking people into buying it by making them think it is about to disappear. The set became available just last year He is talking about the BTTF set, Aug 2013. Quote
Blondie-Wan Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 I'm sorry, but I just don't see anything remotely "hoodwinking" about their actions at all. Does that word have a different connotation in the UK? Over here it means scamming or cheating or otherwise doing something unsavory to trick someone, and I don't see anything in their actions to warrant that. Quote
shaggysanchez Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 The set became available just last year I was asked when I bought the BTTF set on sale which was December 2013. Quote
zux Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 I was asked when I bought the BTTF set on sale which was December 2013. Yeah, sorry, I saw previous message. My bad Quote
MAB Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 I'm sorry, but I just don't see anything remotely "hoodwinking" about their actions at all. Does that word have a different connotation in the UK? Over here it means scamming or cheating or otherwise doing something unsavory to trick someone, and I don't see anything in their actions to warrant that. Telling people it is the last chance to buy it when it is not. It has been available for months since they sent that email. Quote
dr_spock Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 Telling people it is the last chance to buy it when it is not. It has been available for months since they sent that email. If they didn't do another production run after that email, then it can be considered last chance as no more will be produced. If they are still in stores months after the email then it probably means no one is really buying them and they have inventory stock sitting around doing nothing. Hmm, how long before the fire sale to make room in the stores and warehouses? Quote
Blondie-Wan Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 (edited) Telling people it is the last chance to buy it when it is not. It has been available for months since they sent that email. Yes, and? It was available for months before they ceased production. The critical difference, though, is that if they ran out of stock when they were still making it, someone would still be able to get it once the new stock became available. With it out of production, that has changed - now, once LEGO sells out, LEGO will no longer sell any more in the future. And so it is the last chance to buy it. From February to now, and however much longer before it sells out = one long chance. Because when it sells out this time, it's not coming back. Edited May 22, 2015 by Blondie-Wan Quote
SMC Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 Did Lego say it so we didn't miss out or so we would buy it? I think I know! Quote
Blondie-Wan Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 Did Lego say it so we didn't miss out or so we would buy it? I think I know! It's not as though one precludes the other; both are mutually compatible. In fact, they're interdependent - we have to buy it to not miss out, and if we do miss out, it's because we didn't buy it. Quote
SMC Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 (edited) They said it would be discontinued February and it was not they mislead us. Big deal no, did they say it to sell sets in the hope it would sell out yes. Edited May 22, 2015 by SMC Quote
Artifex Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 The Lego store at Westfield White City in London still has some. Spotted it on Monday. Quote
Blondie-Wan Posted May 23, 2015 Posted May 23, 2015 They said it would be discontinued February and it was not they mislead us. Oh? Are they still making it? Quote
SMC Posted May 23, 2015 Posted May 23, 2015 (edited) NO they are not and they have not been for some time, ideas sets don't get made over and over they can sometimes only get on run that does not mean lego print limited on all the boxes. Its clear what happened because of how Lego have handled ideas sets in the past people know that they might have to be quick to get this set we were even told so by the designer though websites like brickset. So at first the set sold extremely well and Lego thought ok we need to make more and they did. But it turns out that because of the warnings the people that wanted the set brought it already and now Lego have lots left over. So Lego thought it worked the first time why not tell people its on its way out again and people might buy a second. In fact look at brickset Stock level in EU, start of march they had none and we were told it would be gone in February so how come by the end of march they had 5000? Edited May 23, 2015 by SMC Quote
Blondie-Wan Posted May 23, 2015 Posted May 23, 2015 I don't see how that's misleading us. They stopped making it, and told us they stopped making it. Did they say they were definitely going to sell out by the end of the week after production? No (honestly, the last sets off the line probably weren't even in stores yet; there was never any reason to think they'd be sold out that quickly after production stopped unless they were all bound for online orders anyway, and shipped directly from the factory straight to customers). Did they say they would sell them only to a certain date, and then pull any unsold stock remaining at that time and send it back to the factory? No. Did they say they only had four left, and one of them was on fire? No. They just said they were discontinuing production at the end of February. That's all. Honestly, regardless of whether their motives in doing so were mercenary or altruistic, they did us a favor in letting us know exactly when they'd stop making it. I'm absolutely agog anyone might think it was somehow a bad thing, and yet that appears to be the case. Just what course of action would be preferable - that they not tell us when it was discontinued? That they tell us, but only a few months later when stocks were nearly depleted, saying "oh, by the way, this was discontinued back in February but we didn't want to say anything then"? That they just flat-out lie and say it would remain in production indefinitely, for years on end, alongside the brick separator and extra-large grey baseplate? I don't see how any of those would be better than what they did. Quote
SMC Posted May 23, 2015 Posted May 23, 2015 'Decommissioned February' sounds like they are going to stop selling it, I am guess they stop making it long before then so what happened in February, nothing. Quote
paul_delahaye Posted May 23, 2015 Posted May 23, 2015 They still had them on the shelf of the Watford Lego store just a week ago. Paul Quote
Artanis I Posted May 25, 2015 Posted May 25, 2015 'Decommissioned February' sounds like they are going to stop selling it, I am guess they stop making it long before then so what happened in February, nothing. "Decommissioned" was an in-character reference. Like turning off a machine for the last time because the technology is obsolete. In product sales, there is no such thing. Old products are discontinued, meaning that they are no longer produced. Depending on the situation, stock may disappear quickly or hang around for a long time. Whether that is in store or also in warehouse. (Some companies will recall old stock if it is being replaced by a new version, others don't.) I go to shops and see items that have been out of production for years. I go to shops and can't find items that are still in production that never reappear in stock, this happens for a lot of Lego sets. Why did TLG tell us it was going out of production in February, and to act so that we didn't miss out? Because so many times AFOLs have been upset/annoyed when a certain set has suddenly disappeared forever. Especially regarding Ideas/Cuusoo. If a set suddenly gets put "on clearance" and sells out in an hour (often due to resellers/scalpers), many people who were wanting one miss out. We have been given enough notice. Why are people complaining about that? Quote
Peppermint_M Posted May 25, 2015 Posted May 25, 2015 Alright,this argument has gone on long enough SMC. It has been fully explained. Everyone let it drop. I think original the question has been answered. Quote
MAB Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 NO they are not and they have not been for some time, ideas sets don't get made over and over they can sometimes only get on run that does not mean lego print limited on all the boxes. Its clear what happened because of how Lego have handled ideas sets in the past people know that they might have to be quick to get this set we were even told so by the designer though websites like brickset. So at first the set sold extremely well and Lego thought ok we need to make more and they did. But it turns out that because of the warnings the people that wanted the set brought it already and now Lego have lots left over. So Lego thought it worked the first time why not tell people its on its way out again and people might buy a second. In fact look at brickset Stock level in EU, start of march they had none and we were told it would be gone in February so how come by the end of march they had 5000? Yes, and it appears that they have enough to last through to November for all worldwide (non-US) online sales at the current sales rate, unless they discount it or put further promotion on it. Quote
SMC Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 (edited) Yes, and it appears that they have enough to last through to November for all worldwide (non-US) online sales at the current sales rate, unless they discount it or put further promotion on it. Unfortunately I cant really comment on this topic because: Alright,this argument has gone on long enough SMC. It has been fully explained. Everyone let it drop. I think original the question has been answered. I have repeatedly asked Peppermint_M to change her post but cant get a response. I am talking about it in this topic: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=99550&st=100#entry2226521 Edited May 27, 2015 by SMC Quote
Deathleech Posted June 24, 2015 Posted June 24, 2015 Now 30% off online and in store! *but not in the U.S. Quote
MAB Posted June 24, 2015 Posted June 24, 2015 Now 30% off online and in store! Yes, it will be interesting to see what this does to the sales rate. For me, £20 is a good buy to build price, but not buy to invest price. I'm sure some resellers will jump in though. Quote
MAB Posted June 24, 2015 Posted June 24, 2015 And with that, it is OOS at S@H (UK). It looks like they could have sold almost 3000 in a day from the european hub. That's double what they have sold in 3 months! It shows what it needed to get shifted, a proper discount. I still don't really see significant profit in them though, as these have almost certainly gone to resellers rather than consumers. Quote
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