Winter Village Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[RichardGoring]

59 minutes ago, CDM said:

I saw an IG account post photos / video of a similar box. Seems odd to have a box printed for retail without the piece count / title but it matches the format of 40484. The "naughty list" issue seems a plausible.

The piece count and set name are only on North American sets. Sets everywhere else don't have them, so the photos are of a global (non-NA) set.

[Maple]

Yes because the USA has laws saying they need to have a price count. The rest of the world LEGO doesn't want to tell you how much you are getting screwed.

Why would LEGO make a nice list and a naughty list the same year, and one for a GWP? That seems like a waste of a print. 

[alvinofdiaspar]

2 hours ago, CDM said:

I saw an IG account post photos / video of a similar box. Seems odd to have a box printed for retail without the piece count / title but it matches the format of 40484. The "naughty list" issue seems a plausible.

Oh come on, that set would have been perfect!

[CDM]

4 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

The piece count and set name are only on North American sets. Sets everywhere else don't have them, so the photos are of a global (non-NA) set.

Somehow I was not aware of this. Seems like piece count is a relevant bit of info for all markets but what do i know?

[Robert8]

On 12/13/2021 at 5:54 AM, RichardGoring said:

Brick Fanatics reckons it may have been cancelled as it has a 'naughty list', instead of a 'nice list', and that's not very 'LEGO'. Interesting.

https://www.brickfanatics.com/why-lego-cancelled-second-christmas-2021-set/

Hmmm

Whoever is making these decisions is costing TLG a pretty penny huh

They have said they work a year in advance, so someone must have greenlighted the design more than a year ago. It went through all phases of production, and they decided to cancel it right when it was ready to go out. That's literally all the costs with 0 revenue.... and all over a printed tile that says Naughty List, which is a well known element of Santa's lore

Same with the city set which suddendly didn't represent TLG's values right before being released. And also the Technic set from last year

 

[CDM]

I can see no structural / stability reason why it would be shelved. Maybe the chair? There's nothing objectionable about the figures so it only leaves the piece prints or the box / instruction booklet prints. A decent amount of resources have been sunk into this so if it's either of those two things I think it'll be released eventually with whatever corrections they deem appropriate.

[Maple]

On 12/13/2021 at 2:55 PM, CDM said:

Somehow I was not aware of this. Seems like piece count is a relevant bit of info for all markets but what do i know?

Yes it is but literally LEGO doesn't want the rest of the world they are being screwed by piece vs price. Been that way for decades.

This teen explains it pretty well. (I have no idea who this is, I just googled and he came up.)

 

[Vindicare]

They couldn’t have possibly canceled that set because of a list & face print? Have we really become that soft as a society...the Naughty List has always been around. 

[CDM]

18 minutes ago, Vindicare said:

They couldn’t have possibly canceled that set because of a list & face print? Have we really become that soft as a society...the Naughty List has always been around. 

It has nothing to do with "society" being "soft"...It's how they choose to represent their brand.

[Vindicare]

24 minutes ago, CDM said:

It has nothing to do with "society" being "soft"...It's how they choose to represent their brand.

I beg to differ...releasing a set with that piece would only “hurt” their brand in the eyes of people who would be mad over the tile...otherwise why not release it? Clearly it went through many stages of development & was probably weeks away from being given out. 

[Robert8]

I'd get that if Santa had an axe and blood splattered all over his face.....   but it's just a frown

A frown was fair game a year ago when this was designed, but now it's a no no

 

 

At this rate, all "unhappy faces" prints will be banned in a couple of years.... 

 

Edited December 15, 2021 by Robert8

[Lyichir]

It occurs to me that there's a more practical reason why a naughty list could potentially result in the set getting pulled, and it's not Lego being "soft"... it's that the list would have a very different impact if YOUR name happens to be on it. Imagine being a kid, excitedly building the set, only to see "Bob" or "Carlos" or "Sophie" or whatever your name is on Santa's naughty list! Suddenly instead of a charming holiday scene, a small demographic of impressionable kids with unlucky names might see it as a grim omen—definitely NOT the message Lego wants to send to any of their customers!
 

[icm]

That makes sense.  Seems like a good reason to me.

[Yellowturnip]

I hope this isn’t the case and they do release it. I really want that naughty list.

[Maple]

2 hours ago, CDM said:

It has nothing to do with "society" being "soft"...It's how they choose to represent their brand.

Damn straight!
Their original themes can be human-like animals fighting each other with the biggest brick built weapons a minifigure can carry (Chima). Batman can have machine guns. City is a police state. 

But LEGO draws the line at a naughty list!

(I really don't think it's the list, but LEGO 'standards' are a joke.)

[RichardGoring]

I have an email alert for LEGO sets on Craigslist. Sometimes something good appears, but often not. It's usually got at least a few investor sets on repeat, which is fine. But just recently the scalper listings have grown. Home Alone, AT-AT, Titanic, and of course Santa's Visit all appear for maybe 20-50% over MSRP, which I really don't like. Just had one for Santa's Sleigh where they're asking $100 for it. Only 300% of the MRSP. I really hope no one buys it. I know it's not illegal, but it winds me up, because, unlike resellers, they're not providing any value at all.

[Robert8]

1 hour ago, Maple said:

Damn straight!
Their original themes can be human-like animals fighting each other with the biggest brick built weapons a minifigure can carry (Chima). Batman can have machine guns. City is a police state. 

But LEGO draws the line at a naughty list!

(I really don't think it's the list, but LEGO 'standards' are a joke.)

There were cannibals in Pirates of the Caribbean

And the CMF theme released roman soldiers, barbarians, vikings.... all of them known for being peaceful civilizations 

But a naughty list is too much!

[Clone OPatra]

On 12/15/2021 at 2:48 AM, Robert8 said:

They have said they work a year in advance, so someone must have greenlighted the design more than a year ago. It went through all phases of production, and they decided to cancel it right when it was ready to go out. 

Not necessarily a year for GWP sets, part of the LEGO Extended Line. I refer to this interview from New Elementary: https://www.newelementary.com/2021/10/lego-extended-line-interview.html?m=1

But yes in any case if the naughty list is the only reason, ridiculous for someone to have only decided that so late in the day.

I agree with @Lyichir's take though. All of the brutal, violent stuff LEGO puts out is different to a list of real world names that could make a kid with one of those names feel deflated seeing it. That's not on-brand for LEGO to make any kid feel any sort of negativity about LEGO's product itself.

[Friscorays]

On 12/13/2021 at 5:54 AM, RichardGoring said:

Brick Fanatics reckons it may have been cancelled as it has a 'naughty list', instead of a 'nice list', and that's not very 'LEGO'. Interesting.

https://www.brickfanatics.com/why-lego-cancelled-second-christmas-2021-set/

So the discussion that the Santa's living room set was cancelled because of a naughty list tile appears to have originated from this linked on-line piece.

I think it is important to note the title is "Is this why LEGO cancelled its second Christmas 2021 set?" Note the question mark.

The text reads in part "But could it be that the LEGO Group ultimately decreed that an angry Santa wielding a ‘naughty list’ was just too miserly for a festive model?" Note another question mark.

The text continues "Remember, this is just speculation at this point: we don’t know exactly why the LEGO Group shelved 40489 Mr. and Mrs. Claus’s Living Room, and chances are we never will." Speculation: Noun defined as the forming of a theory or conjecture without firm evidence.

Nobody but Lego appears to really know why the set was cancelled or postponed.  Dragging Lego across the proverbial coals based on a highly speculative guess as to what is going on seems pretty unfair to me.

If the set is eventually releases with or without the tile in question, we will know whether or not Chris Wharfe actually has any idea what he is talking about. Until then, or until Lego releases a definitive explanation, it seems pointless to argue whether or not it was appropriate for Lego to delay the set over a naughty list piece because it is quite possible this isn't the real reason at all.

[Clone OPatra]

@Friscorays yeah of course, and I don't think anybody is taking Brick Fanatics' speculative article as gospel, but rather a springboard for our own discussions and speculation.

It's fun to speculate about why LEGO cancels stuff, like with the Osprey (is it really the build issue?) and the city dynamite factory.

Other ideas about the Santa set have been floated as well, like perhaps a bad batch of parts got into the set as has effected the Volkswagen bus in some regions.

[Maple]

Target.com USA has the white baseplates for $6 and if you spend $50 on them you get a $10 gift card. So that 9 baseplates for $54 and then a $10 giftcard. The are being relaunched in March with cardboard for $10 so stock up now for future winter displays.

[Rockstaremcee]

18 hours ago, Maple said:

Target.com USA has the white baseplates for $6 and if you spend $50 on them you get a $10 gift card. So that 9 baseplates for $54 and then a $10 giftcard. The are being relaunched in March with cardboard for $10 so stock up now for future winter displays.

Great deal there!


Possible Silver Lining to the set cancellation cloud; Mrs. Claus torso and skirt pieces in BAM towers next year???  Maybe? Maybe?  If we all wish really hard upon a star so bright, maybe they appear in a BAM tower one Lego Store night.

[Maple]

2 hours ago, Rockstaremcee said:

Great deal there!


Possible Silver Lining to the set cancellation cloud; Mrs. Claus torso and skirt pieces in BAM towers next year???  Maybe? Maybe?  If we all wish really hard upon a star so bright, maybe they appear in a BAM tower one Lego Store night.

NO!!!!

I'm sick of Mrs. Claus being in BAM. I don't live near a store!

[Lion King]

5 hours ago, Maple said:

NO!!!!

I'm sick of Mrs. Claus being in BAM. I don't live near a store!

Me too! There are two Lego stores, one is two hours away from my home while the one is one and half hours away. I feel it’s not fair that Mrs. Claus going into BAM. I prefer having Mrs. Claus minifigure in set (not GWP or BAM0. So with that, it would easier to order Mrs. Claus in B&P.

I am not from Boston, MA, but i hear that that city has four Lego Stores?? If true, I would to find a job and move up there and collect some parts in BAM….

[Maple]

42 minutes ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

Me too! There are two Lego stores, one is two hours away from my home while the one is one and half hours away. I feel it’s not fair that Mrs. Claus going into BAM. I prefer having Mrs. Claus minifigure in set (not GWP or BAM0. So with that, it would easier to order Mrs. Claus in B&P.

I am not from Boston, MA, but i hear that that city has four Lego Stores?? If true, I would to find a job and move up there and collect some parts in BAM….

The Boston area has four stores, I live on the other side of Massachusetts with ZERO stores. My closest would be Hartford CT at 38 miles. But the highway system is so bad it would take be an hour and a hour to get there, IF I'M LUCKY.

Here's a hint though, if you find a job near Boston you will make just barely enough money to actually live there. Cost of living is insane. Also if you live in the UK, STAY IN THE UK. Without going on a rant the USA is a hellscape to be avoided at all cost. Also none of the stores are actually in Boston, which is annoying when I visit.