7979 available in US! for a limited time only

[fugglewyg]

Whatever the case, damn fine job, LEGO! Now, don't jerk us around and not offer things through normal channels in the future, ok? Thanks!

Good for you guys that are getting sets but i am kind of annoyed at this decision. The US gets quite a few sets that we in the UK (and other parts of europe) do not. We complain and TLG says "hard luck" basically. Then we get one set that you guys dont, you complain and TLG caves in and kisses a***. Sucks if you ask me and shows how much importance lego attaches to the US market (or how much disdain they have for europe !). Why cant they just treat us all the same.

Enjoy your calenders though folks they are GREAT !!

[Shoc]

Good for you guys that are getting sets but i am kind of annoyed at this decision. The US gets quite a few sets that we in the UK (and other parts of europe) do not. We complain and TLG says "hard luck" basically. Then we get one set that you guys dont, you complain and TLG caves in and kisses a***. Sucks if you ask me and shows how much importance lego attaches to the US market (or how much disdain they have for europe !). Why cant they just treat us all the same.

I share your feelings. It is good that America can now get this brilliant Advent Calendar, but sad that we don't get a lot of sets in Europe, despite complaining, because TLC can't be bothered to release them here.

What I don't get is that Lego is European, so if they're going to sell to the other continents, they shouldn't leave Europe out!

Anyway, enjoy the new availability of the awesome Castle Advent Calendars!

:skull:

[Trudop561]

We can only order 2 of this calendar? Not 1?

Because I don't want to spend the double of the price.

[DarthPineapple]

We can only order 2 of this calendar? Not 1?

Because I don't want to spend the double of the price.

You can, but you may only order a maximum of 2. So 1 or 2 sets, it's your choice.

[samthelegoman1]

I thik I'm gonna order mine between today and the 29th (My birthday! )

[Dadster]

I share your feelings. It is good that America can now get this brilliant Advent Calendar, but sad that we don't get a lot of sets in Europe, despite complaining, because TLC can't be bothered to release them here.

What I don't get is that Lego is European, so if they're going to sell to the other continents, they shouldn't leave Europe out!

Anyway, enjoy the new availability of the awesome Castle Advent Calendars!

:skull:

I keep hearing this, but have never asked, so I'll ask now... Can you give some examples of the sets/ lines that aren't available in Europe?

[Shoc]

I keep hearing this, but have never asked, so I'll ask now... Can you give some examples of the sets/ lines that aren't available in Europe?

Well, I can only really speak for England, but - No SpongeBob (just S@H), Batman only at Legoland and S@H, Avatar non-existent. I hear it is worse in other countries, one was Italy. There's actually a topic about set unavailability.

:skull:

Edited September 27, 2008 by Shoc

[Zzz]

Perhaps first time ever that I am sorry for my american friends.. compared to the 16 euros here it is a bit pricy.. You should also check to get it from ebay or amazon in europe or from a friend here... But I am happy you get it at least, it seems to be a wonderful set and an upgrade for every castle collection!

(I am so happy to be in germany right now, also in Italy and Japan it was a mess to get sets, here it is the cave of wonders lego!)

[brickzone]

Well here in Ireland it is €20 which is nearly $30, and then add shipping. Some in the US are ordering two - well to do that here would be shipping of €12, a grand total of €52 (approx $75).

So I do not think those in US are getting much worse of a deal.

[Dadster]

Well here in Ireland it is €20 which is nearly $30, and then add shipping. Some in the US are ordering two - well to do that here would be shipping of €12, a grand total of €52 (approx $75).

So I do not think those in US are getting much worse of a deal.

It wasn't the price, it was the availability... Originally, these sets were only going to be avail. outside the U.S. Now we (Americans) have a slight reprieve. I was simply curious as to the sets not avail to Euros, etc, but as was stated above, there is another topic dealing with it.

I just hope folks who want them were able to order them...anyone have a "# left in stock"? I know earlier in the day, it was 900+.

[SirNadroj]

Got my 2x quick, easy and painless. Thanks for posting the info here!

[danth]

Just wanted to say thanks to I Scream Man, Hinkley, and Aaron at Brothers Brick. My wife and I will have a very merry Christmas with the Castle Advent Calendar this year! We only bought one (didn't feel greedy), plus a City calendar.

--Dan from California.

[meschepers]

I thought it was funny that the one I had shipped to me via a member of another board visiting the US arrived before the ones offered by TLC even shipped out AND mine was cheaper ($36 as opposed to $38).

And I do think it was stupid of TLC to cave when some US Lego fans cried about not getting one set. And yes, I do live in the USA. I heard it wasn't coming here so I made other arrangements to get it, without complaining about the availability.

[salty tbone]

And I do think it was stupid of TLC to cave when some US Lego fans cried about not getting one set.

I'll go on record as saying I like it when companies try to make their customers happy.

After some procrastination, I ordered mine Monday morning, so there's still some available!

[tedbeard]

And I do think it was stupid of TLC to cave when some US Lego fans cried about not getting one set.

Right... because giving loyal, dedicated customers what they want is bad for business?!?!

[Fluyt]

I'll go on record as saying I like it when companies try to make their customers happy.

Right... because giving loyal, dedicated customers what they want is bad for business?!?!

LEGO tries to make US customers happy, they don't really care about the rest of the world: lots of set unavailability, high prices etc. LEGO does nothing about these complaints, but when some people in the US cry about the ONE set they don't get, LEGO caves instantly. That's what's stupid about it.

Edited September 29, 2008 by Fluyt

[CopMike]

And I do think it was stupid of TLC to cave when some US Lego fans cried about not getting one set. And yes, I do live in the USA. I heard it wasn't coming here so I made other arrangements to get it, without complaining about the availability.

Quote from Steve Witt over at the Ambassadors site:

This wasn't us doing this by planning to just give something to North American AFOLs because we could. We stomped on a mistaken shipment before it was either sent back to Europe or destroyed. The precedent you should really be taking from this is that we will keep our eyes open for every opportunity to make good things happen for the community. Please do not take the lesson from this of "LEGO should make things available because they did it for the US."

The truth is, my colleague's and I saw an opportunity to turn a mistake into something positive for the Community. Please let the lesson be that "certain groups of people in the LEGO Company are watching out for AFOLs." In that sense know that if an opportunity presents itself Jan, Tormod and I will always do everything we can to make it something positive for the community.

So it was NOT some caving in because "some US Lego fans cried" - instead a initiative made by a opportunity that presented itself.

CopMike

[Dadster]

Well, we "got lucky" then...

I certainly appreciate the fact that they gave us (USA) the chance to get these sets - TLC could have easily made no mention of it and shipped the merchandise back to whence they came.

[Eilif]

Thanks for clearing all that up, Copmike.

What an interesting turn of events. In a way, it shows that it pays for us to let LEGO know what we want. If we hadn't made our desire for this set known, they might not have redirected the mis-shippment our way. Or, being that they are inteligent people, they might still have realized that AFOLs are always interested in "exclusives".

Either way, a big thanks to Steve, Tormud and Jan for thinking about AFOL's.

[slimninj4]

Does anyone know why TLC does this? Making sets not available in all markets? I feel bad for countries that do not get so many of the specialized sets/ themes. I guess not selling them in the stores, but online, you should be able to order any of the sets from the online store.

Checked the mail and my 1 set of 7979 is on the way here. So I can put it in storage until DEC 1.

[I Scream Clone]

Does anyone know why TLC does this? Making sets not available in all markets? I feel bad for countries that do not get so many of the specialized sets/ themes. I guess not selling them in the stores, but online, you should be able to order any of the sets from the online store.

Checked the mail and my 1 set of 7979 is on the way here. So I can put it in storage until DEC 1.

There was talk that the calendar in particular is aimed at countries where advents are popular. As for other themes and hard to find sets, im sure TLC has a whole market research dept that determines the best location to sell particular themes. As nice as it would be to find Avatar, Spongebob etc in all shops, its just not realistic to sell all products in all shops around the world as the production costs would increase and they would not be targeting specific audiences.

Hope thats a start

[Klaus-Dieter]

I'm glad to here that our American members are aible to get this set, too.

Because it would be very unfair for those of you which live in America if you don't be aible to get this set since it's really nice set which contains some new great minifigs and a lot of nice additional stuff you can't find in the regular "Castle" sets.

And since it seems that TLG is mainly focusing the American market with their fantasy area in the Castle theme it would imo be absurd to keep it back from the American Lego fans.

Klaus-Dieter

[Eilif]

Does anyone know why TLC does this? Making sets not available in all markets?

... I guess not selling them in the stores, but online, you should be able to order any of the sets from the online store.

TLG sells sets where they believe they will sell. Even online selling requires that you warehouse sets in or near the country (market) you are selling too, and if you don't expect significant sales, it's not worth it to store the sets in those markets.

As for advent calendars specifically, there is very good reason not to sell them in the USA. They didn't sell that well last year. After Christmas I visited two LEGO stores that had numerous copies (stacks in fact) of the the City Advent Calendar at half off. IIRC, it was also in the sale section of the website for a while also at the same price.

That's hundreds, perhaps thousands of sets that TLG will not make a profit on, and a very strong incentive to not intruduce more advent calendars into a country where the City Advent Calendar has a hard time selling.

Interestingly enough, the Belleville Calendars sold out early! So who knows where that leaves my theory...

Edited October 1, 2008 by Eilif

[Dadster]

I think Bellville is more unique (like Castle), whereas, the "normal" Advent calender sets are typically the same MF's year after year with different items or different variations on the same item idea. The Advent calenders are neat gifts to be sure, but IMO, they're too mediocre.

I wish I could get a Bellville Calender...

Edited October 2, 2008 by Dadster

[bamaker]

Wow, that was fast! I ordered my 7979 set last Thursday (as I'm sure many North American collectors did) and it arrived at my door yesterday. I put all the little sets together and sure it's a might skimpy for the ~$35 it cost (incl. shipping) but I'm glad to have it a part of my collection.

I noticed in one of the reviews, rather than a knight & an archer as shown on the box, the reviewer found two archers in his 7979. I point that out, because my set did have the knight and 1 archer. Has there been anybody else that got two archers instead of an archer and a knight?

Edited October 2, 2008 by bamaker