This is totally my own observation - I have no inside info and I could be totally wrong.

I've been very closely monitoring lego set sales on eBay, S@H and stores for a few years now. I have never seen a year like this one.

Nearly everything at S@H Canada is sold out or backordered to 2006.

eBay prices for MISB sets are insane, sometimes 3-4 times the list price for THIS YEARS' SETS!. I know some of this is Christmas fever, but I have not seen this intensity before (The Chess Set, The Scudaria Ferrari Truck, some of the SW sets).

My regular discount stores where I get much of my stuff have been a wasteland. Nothing to be found. Last time this year I bought nearly 500$ worth of great sets at 50% off. This year... NOTHING!

If Lego company did not turn a big fat profit this year, then I can't imagine they ever will.

Go TLC GO!

Are other people seeing what I am seeing too?

Gyl

I think you must be right..They have made lots of beautiful sets this year..I am begining to smell a comeback. Starwars has pretty much always been wonderful, Vikings are pretty good..I like the ships but hate those dragons and stuff(So ugly) but other than that things have been real nice...And yes I cant seem to find a good deal anywhere, went to Toys'R'us and couldnt get a viking ship(all gone)... SOo yah!

Go TLC!

Things are going well. Look at all the new SW sets for 2006, KK3, and Spongebob? There's loads of awesome new things.

Sales must be going good. My parent's ordered Graveyard duel for Christmas, and due to the popularity of this item, I won't be recieving this set for a week after Christmas.

It is like this all over. :-D

Dino and Viking is selling much better than LEGO expected!

And LEGO are having problems producing/distributing them to the shops.

I have read that LEGO has increased the sale in denmark alone with over 10% since last year.

the v-wing look on ebay $35 and peopole are buying the stuff crazy :D keep it up lego go go go ;)

yes lego! GO! :oD

YEEEEEHHHAAAAAWWWW!!!! :-D

lego belgium has increased sales of 20%

but then, sales have been really bad in the last ten years. According to a rep, they've lost 30% of sales, most going to playmobil. their own explenation is this: playmobil and lego were both confronted by new toys 10 years ago. Lego responded by exploring new toys, like electronic toys, playmobil stuck with the old formula. 10 years later, lego found they made a mistake by changing the strategy and toys. so they decided to go back to bricks, this year...

Sure, they have a very good year for certain themes this year, but:

1) they've scaled down production in order to save money, so they've been producing fewer sets

2) there's something wrong with supply lines, many sets don't arrive in time, it seems...

so even tho it may seem they're highly successful this year, lack of availability of sets may also be a result of both arguments

not everything is going great in belgium, anyway. Vikings, for instance, is not that successful as i thought....

GO LEGO!

The better sets are almost non-existant. Most of the SW, Viking, HP and Ferrari sets are gone. What I find surprising is that bionicle and KK are still for the most part easy to be found. Though some stores still have quite a lot because they won't put it on sale, raise the normal prices or both.

LEGO should be way out of the black after this. 2005 was a very good year for LEGO though because both HP and SW came out. That alone drove up sales. Next year will have no movie to help boost sales.

Exo Force, Sponge Bob, Batman, new SW, Avatar and the new KK sets all look very promising. 2006 should do just as well or better I hope.

My biggest fear now is that there will be nothing to buy on clearnace. :(

the v-wing look on ebay $35 and peopole are buying the stuff crazy :D keep it up lego go go go ;)

Well... Most of that money goes to the evil eBay cutthroats, NOT to Lego themselves. I hardly think that's a good thing.

My dad (the PR guy of Karstadt Quelle AG) told me that Karstadt sold really much of Lego products than the last years! *y*

GO LEGO GO!!!

The better sets are almost non-existant.  Most of the SW, Viking, HP and Ferrari sets are gone.  What I find surprising is that bionicle and KK are still for the most part easy to be found.  Though some stores still have quite a lot because they won't put it on sale, raise the normal prices or both.

LEGO should be way out of the black after this.  2005 was a very good year for LEGO though because both HP and SW came out.  That alone drove up sales.  Next year will have no movie to help boost sales.

Exo Force, Sponge Bob, Batman, new SW, Avatar and the new KK sets all look very promising.  2006 should do just as well or better I hope.

My biggest fear now is that there will be nothing to buy on clearnace. :(

Well, I think Bionicle is always so heavily mass produced that it's nearly impossible for it to be out of stock.

KK (frankly, in my opinion) was a disappointment, and they were massively discounting Vladek's dark castle even at TRU (to 80$ Canadian). This is not true, however, for the chess set, which by the way is totally sold out and selling for like 150-200 on eBay right now. TLC needs to do a chess set for StarWars - wouldn't that rock?!

Obviously Star Wars is rocking even though I personally don't care for it.

Ferrari was the surprise of the year for me. I never care much for cars, but the Scudaria truck set was so beautiful I had to buy it . It's been sold out for 1-2 months (I know because I was trying to get another one, but could not at retail or S@H) and is now selling for $200 on eBay I already have the good 2006 Ferrari sets as well. I think that will do just as well in 2006.

HP is pretty easy to find in stores except for GYD, which is gone everywhere. I think success was mixed on that one.

Technic is totally sold out as well at S@H, and most of them gone from TRU as well. That's a pleasant surprise. Technic has had a bit of a revival in the last 2 years. Next year, though, looks weak from what was announced. Hopefuly there will be more.

Vikings - beautiful to my eyes, and not available at S@H any more. Seems to be a success mostly.

Most of hte lego designer sets are gone too. I think this is TLCs most carefully thought out work. Building Bonanaza is sold out everywhere, and it is to my mind the best value for money (at full price) I have ever seen in a decent sized Lego Set. Xpods this year were vastly better than the first generation.

So, TLC seems to have done many things right, little or nothing wrong, by way of set design. If they are not meeting demand due to production issues, that's a different story. Certainly there is a lot more they could have sold this year based on what's going on at eBay and TRU.

I agree with you that there will be little treasure to be found at clearance this year. Sigh.

I hope 2006 is just as good, but my feelings about what I have seen and heard so far are mixed.

Go Lego GO!

Cheers.

Gyl

i have noticed that there are not as many sales anymore i used to get stuff for 50% off but now i have to go on ebay to get anything 1cent cheeper (if that) *wacko*

I was amazed when I saw the ammount of "Backorder" stuff on S@H yesterday...it warms my evil little heart to see LEGO do so well

although I wish I had tried harder to get one of my family members to get me the Knight's Kingdom Chess Set a llittle sooner >-|

Sales have been really bad in the last ten years. LEGO found they made a mistake by changing the strategy and toys. so they decided to go back to bricks, this year...

Better late than never...

Sales have been really bad in the last ten years. LEGO found they made a mistake by changing the strategy and toys. so they decided to go back to bricks, this year...

Better late than never...

If you think they will stay like that it is fantatstic!

Yes it would seem that way.

Good sales is of cause a good thing. But it also so shows that LEGO still have problems reacting to the market!

When market goes up the production should as well. ;)

BTW does anyone have a clue on why they release new stuff january/june and not April/October.

A October release would fit much better with christmas sales. And LEGO them selfs say that Christmas time is a very big part of the yearly sale? 8-|

I went over to my local Toys R Us to see if any of the new Star Wars sets were in and they were pretty much cleared out! Amazing! This TRU usually keeps plenty of stock on hand even during Christmas and they only had a few scattered sets...

I went over to my local Toys R Us to see if any of the new Star Wars sets were in and they were pretty much cleared out! Amazing! This TRU usually keeps plenty of stock on hand even during Christmas and they only had a few scattered sets...

R's has only a couple dino attack sets! they said they sold out!

and Lego was on yahoo! last week, and said that their sales went up 63% this year! :oD :oD

BTW does anyone have a clue on why they release new stuff january/june and not April/October.

A October release would fit much better with christmas sales. And LEGO them selfs say that Christmas time is a very big part of the yearly sale? 8-|

They do release some lines in April, like Star Wars this year and Batman next.