LEGO Hobbit 2014

[Regenerate builder]

Wow, can't believe they are retiring so quickly, they have only been out about 8 months. I bet prices for all middle earth sets will skyrocket soon.

[Deathleech]

Wow, can't believe they are retiring so quickly, they have only been out about 8 months. I bet prices for all middle earth sets will skyrocket soon.

Extremely limited initial runs probably contributed to this heavily. Here in the US only a few stores have had them in stock for the past few months. Target, Amazon, and of course Lego S@H.

[tom20arc]

Wow, can't believe they are retiring so quickly, they have only been out about 8 months. I bet prices for all middle earth sets will skyrocket soon.

I still need to get lake-town chase, barrel escape, goblin king battle, riddles for the ring and mirkwood spider ambush sets to complete the hobbit wave. Got the last wave (79015-79018) for 20% off

Edited June 24, 2015 by tom20arc

[Balbo]

Although I expected them to retire soon, I was really shocked when I saw that they are all gone from the shop@home yesterday. Now there's only one Middle Earth related set left

[General Magma]

I'm thinking whether I should get a bunch of smaller sets (like Witch-king battle) and save them for a while, to resell them again later (since I already have the set).

Been thinking of doing the same with Orthanc (buy two, keep one sealed and sell it later). I'm still doubting whether I should do it or not, but it seems like a good idea to me.

[Almaras22]

Noooo! I still need The Lonely Mountain and The Battle of Five Armies to complete my collection! I was waiting until next month. They're not likely to come back at all, are they?

[Vorkosigan]

These have not been discounted on the US S@H and are still in stock. Interesting to have this forewarning, I wonder how long till this hits us.

[HawkLord]

I expect them to retire soon, in the fall at the latest. I also don't think they'll jump in price. Most of the LOTR stuff can still be had at retail or close to it on the secondary market. Uruk-hai army being the major exception. Hobbit being less of a fan favorite, will probably not jump.

[Regenerate builder]

^ I disagree. I predict once people realize that middle earth lego sets are gone for good, prices of lord of the rings and the hobbit sets will double or triple in the next 3 years or so. Unlike Star Wars, middle earth sets will never return. I think that will hit people once the very last wave and orthanc retire.

[Deathleech]

^ I disagree. I predict once people realize that middle earth lego sets are gone for good, prices of lord of the rings and the hobbit sets will double or triple in the next 3 years or so. Unlike Star Wars, middle earth sets will never return. I think that will hit people once the very last wave and orthanc retire.

I dunno. I think it will be hit and miss. If you look now, only a few of the LotR sets are going up any significant amount in price even after being retired for a few years. They are the more popular sets like Uruk-hai Army and Battle of Helm's Deep. Other than An Unexpected Gathering though, none of the Hobbit sets have really increased much in price. Heck, some you can still get for under MSR, even a few years later (like with Goblin King Battle).

Like I said, I think it will be hit and miss. I think Helm's Deep, UHA, Unexpected Gathering, and Tower of Orthanc will all steady rise while the rest of the sets will only go up a little bit over the years.

[Flieger]

Damn! That was fast. They were only a few days on discount and now they are all gone at Lego's shop (Germany). I remember I wanted to post a message that you should hurry to get a set because they'd retire soon, but I would have never thought it was that soon.

What an inglorious ending. The line was not perfect, especially considering what they did not do (army building e.g.), but the builds and minifigs we actually got were very good more often then not.

With that premature end I think the minifigs of Thorin's company will make quite some money soon.

[Chookdude]

No I haven't had the chance to buy any of the sets yet oh well ebay it is

[TheLegoDr]

I have hardly seen any of the Middle Earth sets in stores period, especially not in large quantities.

I really haven't seen any in multiple months. My wife picked up the new Lake town set in February when they were having a big Target clearance sale and I haven't seen any of them since. February! Didn't they come out in October-December sometime? Very short lifespan.

I just bought Smaug recently thinking it won't be around come Christmas. It looks like I may be right in my thinking.

[Dazz]

I have hardly seen any of the Middle Earth sets in stores period, especially not in large quantities.

I really haven't seen any in multiple months. My wife picked up the new Lake town set in February when they were having a big Target clearance sale and I haven't seen any of them since. February! Didn't they come out in October-December sometime? Very short lifespan.

I just bought Smaug recently thinking it won't be around come Christmas. It looks like I may be right in my thinking.

I'm sure you're right. Though the latest Hobbit wave came out just 8 months ago it's pretty much done by now. These sets were probably not the easiest to move. Attack on Lake-town specifically looks like a glacially slow seller.

[Deathleech]

I'm sure you're right. Though the latest Hobbit wave came out just 8 months ago it's pretty much done by now. These sets were probably not the easiest to move. Attack on Lake-town specifically looks like a glacially slow seller.

I would say the worst seller was the Battle of the Five Armies set. Almost every Target around me still has one or two sitting on their shelves collecting dust. The Lake-town Attack sets, and especially the Witch King Battle ones all sold out months ago (well, what few there were to begin with...). It's hard to say where The Lonely Mountain set stands since most stores like Wal-Mart and Target never even got them in.

Edited June 27, 2015 by Deathleech

[Flieger]

The BotFA set was sold out in all of my city, including the Lego store, just after Christmas. I had to order it from the online-shop, because the Lego store assistent could not tell me how many sets they'd get in the future but said something about limited stocks. Not sure if that was post-Christmas related or not.

Anyway I would suggest they produced the Hobbit sets in smaller quantities from the beginning, which would also explain why some retailers did not have them. It would also explain why they were gone so early.

[Dazz]

I would say the worst seller was the Battle of the Five Armies set. Almost every Target around me still has one or two sitting on their shelves collecting dust. The Lake-town Attack sets, and especially the Witch King Battle ones all sold out months ago (well, what few there were to begin with...). It's hard to say where The Lonely Mountain set stands since most stores like Wal-Mart and Target never even got them in.

Well, my Attack on Lake-town set I got during the LEGO online sale a few days ago had a production code from last August! The Lonely Mountain set was at least given another run in January.

[Artanis I]

The sets were released in December in Australia, sparingly. They were sold out before the movie opened, I never saw them in stock anywhere. Lucky I got them from S@H in advance. Absolutely 0 chance to pick anything up at a sale.

[Deathleech]

The Lonely Mountain set was at least given another run in January.

I wonder if that was because it was a decent seller though, or because there were so few produced initially? Literally the only major retailers that sold The Lonely Mountain around me were TRU and the Lego Store. It was available online at Target and Wal-Mart as well, but not in their brick and mortar stores.

[MAB]

I didn't bother with Riddles for the Ring, as I already had the minifigs but every other set I bought was 50% off (this is in the UK). Some of them were 50% off even within a month of release (Dol Guldur Battle). I think there was a combination of discounts for the previous LOTR sets that people were used to (33% off was very common) and some supermarkets in the UK trying to partly out-battle each other in a bad climate and partly reduce toy stock that lead to discounts of 50% off for most Hobbit sets. Once that precedent was set, people knew they could wait for discounts and wouldn't purchase at retail price.

For the investors in this scenario, staying at RRP will probably be fine as this represents a doubling of their money (before fees, etc).

[Deathleech]

I didn't bother with Riddles for the Ring, as I already had the minifigs but every other set I bought was 50% off (this is in the UK). Some of them were 50% off even within a month of release (Dol Guldur Battle). I think there was a combination of discounts for the previous LOTR sets that people were used to (33% off was very common) and some supermarkets in the UK trying to partly out-battle each other in a bad climate and partly reduce toy stock that lead to discounts of 50% off for most Hobbit sets. Once that precedent was set, people knew they could wait for discounts and wouldn't purchase at retail price.

In the U.S. it has been the opposite. I remember getting all the original wave one LotR sets on sale for around 25-30% off a month or two after they were released. The wave one Hobbit, and wave two LotR sets also had some decent sales. After that they became less frequent and the amount discounted wasn't near as good. They went from 25-30% off to 20% off or less. Finally with the last Hobbit wave there were almost no sales. Looking at the sales tracker on Brickset, it appears The Lonely Mountain only had one decent sale since it's release. I'm guessing retailers didn't get near as much initial quantity of these sets and don't have them clogging storage warehouses so they don't feel the need to give as many/any good discounts to move what's left?

[Dazz]

Today I managed to build The Lonely Mountain set. The set itself looks nice at first glance. The thing is that some of my assembled sets are set up behind my LEGO building area. In comparison to sets like Town Hall, Ewok Village and other sets The Lonely Mountain looks extremely tiny, especially considering the epic location it's supposed to represent. This is something I did not expect, at least not to this extent.

[Flieger]

The Ewok Village is an unfair comparision since it is a much larger set, and a lot more expensive. I agree with you that a UCS set like the Ewok Village would be better suited to do the Lonely Mountain justice, though.

The main draw of this set is the Dragon anyway, that is why it is so expensive compared to the piece count. However I like the minifigs (the dwarves in regal armour) and the many sand green pieces.

[Geno]

For those who care, BoFA set is on clearance in the states in-store at Target at 30% off

[The_Chosen_1]

I've been waiting for The Lonely Mountain to go on sale, but as Deathleech alluded to, that may never happen...

Seriously considering just biting the bullet and ordering on Amazon, rather than risk it being retired in the next few months without a price drop.