41999 from shop.lego.com - problems, concerns, questions, answers

[N-4K0]

Hmm, mine still says "backordered"... and I'll be really pissed if they cancel my order :(

Especially since about a week ago the local Lego store called and said they had received some... I did not pick one up since I had already ordered it online. On the other hand, they reopened ordering several times after I ordered, and counting to 20,000 should not be that hard - I really expect them to fill all orders that went through.

Perhaps the safest option is to cancel your order and buy one from your local Lego store. If they still have some left, you'll be guaranteed to get one.

[kungpo]

Don't cancel in the slight chance you get one. But call a store and see if they have one and can hold it for you. If your S@H goes through then you get two. If you cancel you risk getting none.

[N-4K0]

call a store and see if they have one and can hold it for you. If your S@H goes through then you get two.

This is probably the best option.

[dhc6twinotter]

Some of the LEGO stores received a shipment of Crawlers today.

Several LEGO employes told me this is the last shipment going to the stores, and none will be shipped from LEGO S@H.

[phool]

If anyone kind-hearted enough can assist me in securing one, I would eternally grateful. Lego South Africa have indicated that this set will not be released here, so it appears I am at the mercy of bricklink and ebay sellers

[Cwetqo]

From resellers forum:

"Appears more and more Crawlers are coming online driving down the price... I see a few at 310 to 350 with no bids or about to expire. "

"I hope 300 crawlers or more get sold over the next week or two in the 3-400 dollar range, when the short term people are out, better for the long terms like us still sitting on 30-40 sets."

They are being upset because no one buys at their overinflated prices.

"Ok thanks for the info, I'd be happier sitting on 4 sets vs 2. "

"i bought 7 with my vip card. no problem. "

"17 Crawlers sold worldwide on eBay yesterday by my count including 12 by this time (1:21 PM CDT). Today - 0."

"Also---I would have had 9 now--but sold 4 already. I have 5 on hand now---well---4 at home and 1 in the trunk"

"this month I bought 7 funhouses,7 chess sets, 2 BTTF, 2 hayabusa, 4 crawlers all this month on my vip card. Should I not order any more? I was going to make at least 15-20 purchases in $75 dollar increments to get the 20 free poly bags? help!"

This one got punished, but it didnt work:

"I've been banned along with 23 other people from buying any Lego exclusives from the four Lego Stores closest to me.. The big resellers in my area. I can only buy one of each exclusive for myself now apparently. They will check photo ID at the managers discretion and will not allow me to buy the sets if my name appears on the list (which it is on) Both me and my partner and Rich B along with several others I know are on that list hah.

I got a phone call today telling me. It sucks because I definitely contribute a lot of money to keeping at least one of the stores going hah. But whatever they can't ban all my family and employees and friends so it doesn't really limit me that much. Also doubt it really had that much to do with the crawlers, I bought most with cash and with different VIP cards. I think it was more just buying crap tons of sets for 8 years straight hah!

I'm still getting 8 crawlers tomorrow..so I'm not too worried

"

"It's corporate who did it, the stores seemed kinda apologetic. They just mentioned they would lose their jobs if caught selling it to the actual person on the list. Sucks for any John Smiths out there.....

I've got 26 Crawlers so far so a little ban doesn't hurt too much

"

Picture proof:

Making exuses:

"Sorry for back-to-back posts on this, but the more I think about TLC banning customers, the more I see how out-of-line they are—not to mention the way they are going about it.

I could see the interview with the TLC spokesperson going about as well as the, "We believe in hydration" interview, with the Coke CEO:

The TLC Representative starts off with the line about how, “TLC has clear policies in place” ...and then proceeds to turn beet red when the interviewer points out that they are blaming their customers for not enforcing policies that their own employees and corporate website failed to uphold.

“Is it fair to place that responsibility on your customers, Mr. Lego Representative?”

“Well,” the spokesperson will argue, “We are just trying to ensure that our products have the chance to get into the hands of as many children as possible.”

“...So your failure to accurately gauge the supply and demand is also the fault of your customers?

Let me ask you about a set known as Fire Brigade, Mr. Lego Rep; because one of the reasons for banning Customer X was his purchase of twenty of these sets. How many of these sets has your corporation produced?”

“Well, I wouldn’t know off hand...”

“A thousand? Ten Thousand? A Hundred Thousand? Is it fair to say that Customer X's purchase of these sets was an attempt to keep them out of the hands of children? ...Hello, are you still there? Hmm, we may have lost the feed.”"

[Brickus]

^ That photo makes me so mad, it is totally unfair to people who can't even get one let alone 26.

[Meatman]

I can't really fault the resellers. I would blame Lego for their policies. IMO this should have been a one per household, one per store limit item.

[Cwetqo]

Or even better; limit the purchase to VIP holders only and set "one per VIP card limit".

And never again give such large portion to TRU, while some LEGO brand shops get just 6 sets in total.

Please mind that those post copied from resellers forum are just from last few days. It looks like some countries (ie:USA) are still getting (or having) a lot of those sets, while others got those few and thats all.

It'r really bothers me and I will raise this question at Lego Ambassador forum.

[Meatman]

I've read stories about people going into Lego stores and buying everyone that they had on the shelves and then going to the next nearest Lego store and buying all of theirs and coming home with a dozen.

By the time the casual fans realized about this set, they were sold out.

[peter_m]

This makes me sick. I was told by Support that I am not getting my set while those people get tons of them... :/

[aol000xw]

Sad. I got two, but i am up for the "one per vip card" limit, then they need to check household too, so multiple vip cards can't be used.

Edit:

Also why not limit them to S@H?

Edited August 28, 2013 by aol000xw

[TheShortOfIt]

Well really sick that some people got 40 crawlers O_O But to be honest. Everybody had enough time to get one. I know people who ordered 7th August and received their crawlers yesterday...

[dhc6twinotter]

One of my local LEGO stores received 8 crawlers a few days ago. Somebody came in and bought all 8. Another local store received a handful, and the store sold out within several hours of receiving a shipment.

Another store received 10 or so, which is where I bought mine, but it was a 4 hour drive round trip to get there. What ticked me off was that the store told me they could not sell sets over the phone, but when I finally got to the store, one of the employees was taking a phone order for the crawler from somebody else. Thankfully, they had more in stock, but I would have been pretty bummed if the set they sold over the phone was the last one. A little more consistency with their rules would have been nice. The store was pretty strict about the 1 item per customer, which I appreciated, although I would have purchased two if they would have let me.

I'm on the fence about the resellers buying up bulk items. On one hand, it is a free market and people should be able to buy multiple copies of a set for resale if they so choose. On the other hand, with such a limited number of sets, finding a way to limit sets to 3 or so per person would be nice.

Here's what I think LEGO should do for the future:

--Limit the first 3 weeks of a product release to VIP members

--Require a picture ID that matches the name on the VIP card for purchases in stores

--Create computer software that will remember which purchases were made and enforce the max number of an item sold.

--During the first 3 weeks, only VIP members with 200+ points may purchase the limited number sets.

[camaudio]

Someone mentioned that the LEGO store would only sell him ONE when he tried to buy two. And others are buying 8 from a store at one time? What a joke

[EyesOnly]

A joke doesn't even begin to describe this mess. Just the thought of people recruiting their family and friends to shop for them sickens me. Sure it's legal and possible but still, these "people" have no morals.

[bsze]

just called to hold a set at the local lego store.

[N-4K0]

A joke doesn't even begin to describe this mess. Just the thought of people recruiting their family and friends to shop for them sickens me. Sure it's legal and possible but still, these "people" have no morals.

Yeah, too bad it's legal. It should have been clear to everyone that it was limited to 20.000 copies. Anyone with morals should buy 1 or max. 2 sets to let as many as possible get the set.

It's sad to see so many people who only cares about how many sets they can get their hands on and resell for much higher prices.

[bsze]

Yeah, too bad it's legal. It should have been clear to everyone that it was limited to 20.000 copies. Anyone with morals should buy 1 or max. 2 sets to let as many as possible get the set.

It's sad to see so many people who only cares about how many sets they can get their hands on and resell for much higher prices.

thats how some ppl make their money, its not illegal and life is never fair, so learn to deal with it. lol

[Fatteh]

thats how some ppl make their money, its not illegal and life is never fair, so learn to deal with it. lol

It's not illegal to call people out for selfish behaviour either. I really hope the resale market becomes saturated by people who need to sell and those who missed out get the opportunity to buy this set at somewhere near the retail price.

Edited August 28, 2013 by Fatteh

[Marcel1980]

Im up for 1 per vip card and household.

[Trawler Man]

I'm glad i got one when i did. Granted, i'd love to own another for the added blue parts, but that's where i'd stop.

Unfortunately, i am all too familiar with the reseller / ebay scalper business. I have been collecting

records and DVD / Blu-ray steelbooks for a long time. The majority of steelbooks i own only ever

got a maximum print run between 1500 and 4000 copies, so i know what it's like to be forced to

act quick.

I don't appreciate statements like "Everybody had enough time to get one" - for it's quite simply

not true, at all. Not everyone has the same amount of spare time, or even the option to just go

to a Lego store whenever they feel like it. I live 2 hours away from a Lego Store, no matter which

way i drive. TRU is no different, for they are located in the same cities. A lot of people have kids

and jobs and other responsibilities which prevent them from acting as "quickly" as these damn

resellers make them feel they should.

[Alternator]

I'm not too happy with the reseller (scalper) situation with this particular set either.

A reseller going into a store and cleaning out that stores entire stock is basically screwing everyone else in the area.

The stores should be preventing it too, that is if they wish to remain relevant to their customers??

My hope is that Lego learns from this and better manages it in future - I don't think it leaves a good vibe in the air.

That said, I still haven't seen many calls from people who didn't get a set through retail (I think maybe one or two, which still isn't good), no idea how well the ones that have been listed on ebay etc are selling?!

Edited August 29, 2013 by Alternator

[750ACE]

Someone mentioned that the LEGO store would only sell him ONE when he tried to buy two. And others are buying 8 from a store at one time? What a joke

Yes me. He said we need to sell to the kids mind you both my sons were with me at the lego store. I said how the heck do you think my kids can afford to spend $400. Still he said sorry only one per adult.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

I got 4 sets as well, purchased all of them on s@h shipped to the same address. Cant wait to get them and just hide the 3 extra sets in the attic.

just called to hold a set at the local lego store.

thats how some ppl make their money, its not illegal and life is never fair, so learn to deal with it. lol

From trying to comprehending previous posts, I think there may be are negative reactions from some, or most, about reading words like "I", and "have", and numbers higher than the allotted "2", when put together in a sentence...

It's really disheartening to see what has happened in Cwetqo's post. I know there's nothing anyone can do, but still having to read posts about those actively purchasing more for reasons, other than for their first time or for a kid, is not very pleasant. I'm trying to write this stfuf as nice as I can... Just how I feel about it.

I do agree TLG dropped the ball on this and that this was bound to end up the way it did after people took notice of profit booms of other recent sets, as opposed to the limited edition of the Santa Fe Super Chief in 2002. Then again, that was followed with a regular run, so who knows what would have happened if that was limited to just 20K