No Castle Advent set for North America

[The Cobra]

I wasn't laughing at that!

I know. I was :skull:

@ Shoc: I PMed you, so that we don't go off topic.

Edited September 5, 2008 by The Cobra

[Dadster]

My 4 yr old daughter is now wondering why her 36 yr old father is crying...

This stinks - It was the set I was really looking forward to the most beyond the Giant Castle set. I'll have to contact my agent in the UK for some help when they become available...

[fenrir]

I realy feel sorry for all of you living in America.

The castle advent callender is perhaps one of the best sets this year.

Now you have a lot of shipping costs, if you'll buy it in Europe.

at the other hand, I have a suggestion. Why don't you ship, say 20 advent callenders. split the shipping costs with other buyers, and perhaps you'll end up with a great set for not that much money. ( order 40 good wizzards as well)

[AwesomeStar]

Although I'll probably get my big behind kicked by the whole of NA...

TAKE THAT YANKS!!!!!!!!!!!

~A.S.

P.S. I'll be putting them on eBay for you all.

[Tenorikuma]

I just got an email from Amazon Japan letting me know that the Castle Advent Calendar is being sold here. :)

[Lord Of Pies]

Well considering how the US gets Lego so much cheaper than in Europe it is not that bad. I would rather miss out on one set and get others a whole lot cheaper myself.

[Fatespuppet]

Everyone says we get things so much cheaper here in the US, but that doesn't mean Lego is cheap here. It's VERY expensive when compared to the knock off brands. Obviously you get what you pay for, but the average theme costs almost a week's pay for the average household. Relative to the world it's cheap, but relative to the local market it's not even close.

If I were to ask my boss to buy one from England while he's visiting family it would cost me 40 to 50 dollars, or the same price as a Dwarve's Mine. At that price it's just not worth it for the 2 or 3 figures I really want from the set. I'll check Bricklink and Ebay, but since it's widely known in the Lego community that these are in high demand in the US, I can expect inflated prices.

I agree that Lego shouldn't pick and choose where they distribute sets. It really makes me wonder how they determine a theme's success when they could be cutting out entire markets. I'm of the opinion that Lego should use retail stores for focused marketing and use their online S@H to offer everything.

I also agree that it's doubtful a simple warning is what has caused the distribution problem. I would hazard a guess that it's simple supply and demand. Lego probably didn't take the US market into account when it planned production, and now it's too late to go back and add it. It's like how the teacher treated gum chewing in school. If you don't have enough for everyone then you can't have any. Rather then include the US and limit the total number for the rest of the world, Lego decided to stick with their original plan so they'd have enough.

[Norro]

I'd say, unfortunate as it is, that they only ran so many copies and faced with the choice between supplying overpriced europe and underpriced USA (from their perspective) they knew where they would rather sell out... The cost of repackaging/stickering just made the choice clearer. Why they wouldn't run off a few more for the us now though is beyond me. Any company should be able to produce more of an item certain to sell if it wants too and the price is right...

God Bless,

Nathan

[Derek]

You know, sometimes I wonder about TLC. The Good Wizard and this calendar especially, would probably be right up in the Top 5 at least on S@H, if only they were released in NA. It is a really stupid decision, considering how much money they are missing out on. Im sure the cost of a few thousand stickers (a few cents, tops) will definatley made up with the profit from thousands of copies of a $30 set. I really don't see any logic in this situation whatsoever.

darthperson

Edited September 6, 2008 by darthperson

[Lord Admiral]

I've sent an e-mail to TLG through the S@H feedback system about this and The Good Wizard. No reply yet, obviously, but I'm sure somebody has heard it. And I'm certain if more people e-mail or call them instead of merely lamenting the sets' unavailability online, our collective disappointment might grab their attention that much quicker.

That having been said, if they still refuse to sell to US/NA customers at least through S@H, there's very little we can actually do about it except purchase it overseas. I for one, will be doing just that. This just means I'll need to bring a bigger bag and less clothes.

[legobear]

Remember December 2006 when Lego Castle's main builder said Castle fans are in for a big surprise at the end of next year?? Surprise!!!!!!!! North America you're excluded from the surprise omg I want to CRY

[Oky]

Seeing as there is only the City Advent Calendar in the new Catalog, I guess this must be true.

Well, that sucks. I was looking forward to all those Castle minifigs. But my dad makes business trips to europe all the time, so I bet he can bring me one if he goes there around the end of the year.

[blueandwhite]

Well considering how the US gets Lego so much cheaper than in Europe it is not that bad. I would rather miss out on one set and get others a whole lot cheaper myself.

Of course, in Canada we're extra lucky. We get higher prices like the rest of the world and the added bonus of missing out !

[bsmith13]

I am also extremely disappointed by this news. I hope that the good citizens of eurobricks will be able to help me pick this up when it becomes available.

I can't imagine the thought process behind this decision...

[CopMike]

Understanding how everybody feels here´s answer from Steve Witt:

......... the toy stores didn't want it (TRU, Target, Wal-Mart, etc.). Shop@Home then has to figure out what products aren't being developed for the US that it still wants to try and carry. they decided they didn't want to take the risk on the Castle Advent Calendar (lets repeat 'which I god onto them heavily for'), so here we are.

So after the big chains turned the Calender down S&H didn´t want to take the risk . I suggest you try to convince your nearest toy store that they NEED this product and let it roll on from there.

CopMike

[Shoc]

It's not being sold because the other stores didn't want it? Obviously they didn't realise how popular it would be. But for TLC to not sell it in the US themselves because other shops didn't wan't it, that's silly...

:skull:

[DaleDVM]

Wow my first post and it has to be about this

I understand not selling this here in North America if the stores refused to stock it on their shelves. But to not sell it through S@H doesn't make any sense. The good wizard not being available and this along with it makes me think... Maybe TLG is encouraging us to buy the more expensive chess set and probably future sets to get the witch, wizard, jester, and peasant woman.

As a collector I will obtain one of these sets somehow. However, if they were available here for list price I probably would have got 6-10 of them. After all can you have too many peasants?