LEGO Star Wars Pricing Discussion Thread

[Leo604]

Could the price increase on sets lately have anything to do with Disney wanting more of the share from lego???

It wouldn't surprise me, it's been like this with all licensed products and whatever company Lego is partnered with. There's been so much Star Wars content coming out in recent times that it's reasonable Disney would want to maximize their products from said license; it could even be Lego trying to profit more and knowing they can raise the price, and still have people like us willing to pay for the sets.

Star Wars has always been the most expensive of the licensed themes as well so I'm sure that doesn't help.

PSA no experience with business or marketing here, this is just my guess.

[Jacob_9821]

Have we ever considered that weight of a set could also be what drives price up? It isn't always going to be the piece count, you know. Of course, I know what 10 cent per piece caught on, it generally indicated a good value for what you bought. But that doesn't always translate over completely. For instance, (I'll be using US prices as a guide for this, and bricklink.com) the microfighters Millenium Falcon set came with 94 pieces, and cost $9.99. According to Bricklink, it weighs 99.05 grams. The First Order Tie Fighter costs $69.99, and has 903 grams of plastic, with only 517 pieces. If you multiple the Falcon's cost, as well as weight and pieces by a factor of 7, you end up with roughly $69.99, 658 pieces and 693.35 grams. Not to mention, the First Order TIE Fighter set came with 3 unique printed parts, while the Falcon only came up with one. Furthermore, the TIE comes with a staggering 200 grams more of plastic over 7 microfighter Millenium Falcons adjusted for the TIE's pricing.

The point of the comparison is to show that just basing a set's value off a "10 cent per piece" ratio is inherently flawed. Haven't mentioned the set's price per part ratios yet, but for the Falcon it's 10.6 cent per piece, and for the TIE, it's 13.5 cent per piece. To the average fan it seems you get less with the TIE and more with the Falcon from a number's value, but physically that simply isn't the case.

I've come up with my own personal system for Star Wars Lego, but it's purely my own method, which probably won't be generally accepted. Regardless, how I determine a set's value, generally I base it off unlicensed sets because they are cheaper. What I like to do is take the US price, round it to the nearest whole number, as in make $19.99 $20.00, move the decimal to the right, making it 200, and multiplying it by a factor of two, getting 400. That's how much the set should weigh, 400 grams. This works out surprisingly well for many unlicensed sets, but since this is a Star Wars thread I'll choose another Star Wars set to look at; why not the Final Duel, from 2015. According to Bricklink, the Final Duel weighs 1198 grams, meaning it should be a $60 set. Here's where my system is also inherently flawed, it's too harsh on modern day sets after the recession of 2008. (I'm not going to get into that, but US currency lost a lot of value, yadda yadda, why aren't things as cheap as they used to be! ) so I add $10 for every $50-$60 dollars. Which means the set should be a $70 set to be at it's optimum value, so I just wait for a sale and pick it up then, problem solved. You also have to weigh in on how much you want the set, if you don't care that much for it, don't bother wasting your cash for it. Save it for a 4th Death Star.

There's also the possibility of Disney just wanting more money, but I have seen the same value for sets since 2009 and 2010, before the Disney buy-out. To me, the inflated prices we pay now are just because of both American and European currency inflating over the years, rather than Disney being a greedy corporation who just wants your money.

Really I think it just comes down to this, Lego is a high quality toy, and high quality things cost more money, so Legos thus become more expensive overtime. As sets become more and more detailed with smaller parts, price will increase to justify the better techniques, unique prints and moldings, as well as maintaining that Lego quality we all love. In the end I think it just comes down to how much you want to pay for your collection, because if you can't afford it, you won't be buying it.

Edited June 14, 2016 by Jacob_9821

[Cjd223]

*snip*

Well said.

[DarthTwoShedsJackson]

I've also come up with with a method to determine if I'll buy a set or not, and whether I'm willing to pay its price or not. It's a bit different than the one described in the post above, but let me elaborate:

I like the set and/or it contains one or more minifigures I absolutely want, I buy it. I know, it's a bit complicated and outlandish, but it works and always makes me happy!

Edited June 14, 2016 by DarthTwoShedsJackson

[Japanbuilder]

I've also come up with with a method to determine if I'll buy a set or not, and whether I'm willing to pay its price or not. It's a bit different than the one described in the post above, but let me elaborate:

I like the set and/or it contains one or more minifigures I absolutely want, I buy it. I know, it's a bit complicated and outlandish, but it works and always makes me happy!

hah hah, this is generally my system also. Despite the exceedingly high price(of which I will complain) if I REALLY want the figures or build I buy the set. Granted I can't do that too often and, I am scaling back for Star Wars. But generally yeah. This method works best. You will have the LEGO you want going this route. I second this method!

[JekPorkchops]

The general inflation is way smaller than the increase in price, or so I heard. It also doesn't explain the sudden 10 € or £ jump seen with the blue X-wing. That is just an aweful cash-grab which didn't happen in the US strangely (or should I say of course it didn't happen there).

[pittpenguin123]

The blue x wings are all cheaper at stores near me.

[brickmasterben11]

Could the price increase on sets lately have anything to do with Disney wanting more of the share from lego???

I never thought about that. Next thing you know, Disney will be selling Lego sets in the Disney store.

[Tariq j]

I never thought about that. Next thing you know, Disney will be selling Lego sets in the Disney store.

They do

[brickmasterben11]

They do

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[pittpenguin123]

What's wrong with that?

[jamie75]

I normally don't get involved with the prices comparisons.

But, a couple of things I haven't seen in this thread.

1) When comparing piece counts, remember that a baseplate costs more than a 1x1 round plate. If 2 sets, both identical piece counts. But, one has a lot small parts and the other has lots of large plates and baseplates, which do you think will cost more? The one that has more plastic, not parts or pieces!

2) Not all of the pricing is Lego's fault. Think about your countries taxes and what they have to pay in tariffs on those imports.

3) Most Lego pieces are made with ABS plastic, for now. ABS is made with petroleum! I can't find the exact quote right now. But, I remember reading somewhere, 1 KG of ABS takes a total of approx. 2 KG or petroleum and natural gas to produce, or something to that affect. Hopefully someone will have better luck than me. The numbers maybe off a little, but, close!

4) Copied from Wikipedia: "While the cost of producing ABS is roughly twice the cost of producing polystyrene." Again, ABS is almost twice as much as other plastics. Megabloks uses polystyrene, or used to. Not sure if this still holds true! I read they changed there plastic and improved their QC?

5) Lego is trying to move away from ABS by 2030. They are experimenting with a corn based plastic. Some of the current costs on Lego is being spent on R&D for those new plastics.

Just a few things to consider when talking about prices! Believe me, there are reason why things costs what they do!!

Also, I maybe wrong on some of this. This is just what I could find in about 10 minutes of reading. I'm not a chemist.

Jamie

[Richpepperell]

Seems appropriate for here - 75151 CTT only £76 in Tesco http://www.tesco.com/direct/lego-star-wars-clone-turbo-tank-75151/240-2642.prd?sc_cmp=aff*nt*gmo*Gratisfaction+UK_2386618&utm_medium=gmo&utm_source=tradedoubler&utm_campaign=aff*Gratisfaction+UK_2386618

[faire]

I have thrown together a chart comparing US / EU / UK / CZ prices, including VAT. It seems there clearly is a "conversion mark-up" (all values are pct of US value, which I have taken as a starting point; each row is beginning with lowest priced set (Rey's speeder) while price is increasing):

EU: 30.39; 13.45; 19.09; 19.09; 13.45; 4.98; 4.98; 3.41; 3.41; 0.28; -9.13; -9.13

GB: 12.85; -4.36; 13.88; 13.88; 14.46; 2.88; 15.42; -6.96; 4.33; -1.35; -8.70; 2.30

CZ: 34.5; 24.2; 24.2; 13.8; 13.8; 17.3; 6.9; -2.9; 3.5

It seems that the more expensive the set, the less of "mar-kup" is added.

Per piece ratios ranged between 0.09 USD per piece (Snow speader) and 0.13 (Tie Advanced vs A-wing) with little relation to price.

Price per kg ranged between 58.4 USD per kg (Ghost) and over 80 USD (Rey's speeder, Tie Advanced vs..., Captain's Rex AT-TE) with generally price per kg decreasing with total price increase.

The pricing itself is inconsistent which can be well seen here:

USD EUR GBP CZK

Poe's X-wing 79.99 89.99 69.99 2599

Resistance X-wing 79.99 89.99 79.99 2599

Ghost 89.99 99.99 69.99 -

Tie Adv. vs. A-Wing 89.99 99.99 79.99 2999

Based on that the Rebel Combat Frigate should be priced somewhat like this:

USD 89.99 EUR 99.99 GBP 79.99.

My calculations might be somewhat off but I think that I have the general picture right.

And yeah, A-wing vs Tie Advanced is a bit expensive across the board.

[appiah4]

I think the A-Wing vs Tie Advanced is a testing bed for future pricing decisions for Lego. They are likely trying to see how the market will adapt to a $10 hike. If it sells well, prepare for higher prices in the future.

[HawkLord]

I'm thinking the new era of Star Wars Lego will include these higher prices. It's a perfect time to make this move given how everyone is all Star Wars crazy with the new movies. Might as well set the bar higher now.

[RetroInferno]

Anyone one has info about the CAN pricing on the RO wave? I'm getting anxious :(

[brickmasterben11]

Going off of what HawkLord said, the pricing for Star Wars is most likely going up because of the new movies. People (Like me) will see the movie, and then are motivated to go get the sets. LEGO sees an easy opportunity to make more money off of this, so they raise the prices.

Edited June 16, 2016 by brickmasterben11

[fighterpilot105]

Anyone one has info about the CAN pricing on the RO wave? I'm getting anxious :(

It will probably be similar to TFA prices!

[Sucram]

I think these prices have reached an all time low.

Here in Australia the new Vader's TIE Advanced VS A-wing set costs $160AU, with around 700 pieces.

The Shuttle Tydirium from last year costs $140 AU, and has about 930 pieces.

So WHY THE HELL does the TIE vs A-Wing set cost 160 dollars, yet it has about 200 LESS pieces?

Also, Captain Rex's AT-TE costs 200 dollars. And it has about 30 more pieces than Shuttle Tydirium. WHAT?

[JekPorkchops]

Those Australian prices might be the worst offenders yeah... I don't get why Lego is still able to sell their products like that.

[JekPorkchops]

http://www.intertoys.nl/lego/lego-starwars/lego-star-wars-rebel-combat-frigate-75158

Darn. My prediction turned out to be correct. Official european price for the Combat Frigate will be 140

[Forresto]

Ouch. See the problem doesn't seem as egregious for us Americans but it seems like a lot of the world gets gouged. Is there actual reasoning for why prices are so high in some countries, such as shipping or local economies, or is TLG just being a tad greedy? I'm not an economist but you would think the pricing would simply be equivalent. Please don't tear me apart for my ignorance in these matters, i'm trying to learn

Edited June 18, 2016 by Forresto

[PLP]

There must be reasons although i do not know what they are but world price differences are similar across many products Europe pays more than America generally no matter where the item is manufactured and UK pays even more again it must be to do with market size or something but its not Lego being greedy its the same with branded clothing electronics cameras etc

Edited June 18, 2016 by PLP

[LegoFjotten]

In Norway the Vader/A-Wing set is the same price as the Marvel Bridge set, which is just crazy... This is definitely not just variations between countries. Either the SW license costs are going through the roof, or LEGO has gone completely bonkers with the SW pricing.

Right now I'm sad to say that SW LEGO is broken for me. Super expensive sets that at most contains a couple of minifigs that are of interest to an old (mainly OT) fart like me.

Luckily I can still get my LEGO fix from other themes.