LEGO Ideas: 21110 Research Institute/Female Minifigure Set

[finnbricker]

They told me at the Lego Store Vienna Donau Zentrum last week that they would be getting more of those. Hard to say whether they actually knew what they were talking about. I suppose they didn't.

[Gomek]

I keep hearing mixed stories.

Mostly that they are not making any more, but that not all those that have been made, have been sold. And that we can expect to see more in the stores in early October.

My problem is, with the prices they are fetching on Ebay, they will continue to sell out to scalpers instantly. And really my only hope is that there are enough produced that the prices will drop on the secondary market.

Personally the whole situation is aggravating, and I’m not sure what Lego is trying to prove here. It’s almost like a bratty kid who is just caught up in negative attention seeking. If you google it, you will find Lego is getting a lot of press out of this, and from what I can tell it's 100% negative.

and for those interested.. some of the more interesting articles..

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/09/legos-girl-problem-starts-with-management/

http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-lego-girls-stem-petition-balancing-20140827-column.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/22/business/short-lived-science-line-from-lego-for-girls.html?_r=0

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-22/legos-female-scientists-set-sells-out

[craiggrannell]

I agree, Gomek. The RI set is a perfect example of a corporation taking some almost unanimously positive press and flushing it down the toilet. I really don't get the company's approach in this case. Why not just do another run of a set that loads of people wanted to buy? Why essentially turn your one set directed at girls *and* STEM into a ludicrously limited edition that relatively few people managed to get their hands on? It's truly bizarre. Then again, as much as I love Lego as a concept, that Fusion advert *really* rubbed me up the wrong way (quite literally showing siloing and gender division) and made me wonder what's going on at management level, which those articles also talk about. The number of new parents I now see boycotting Lego is starting to become non-trivial, too.

[CrazyDalton777]

I had/have no intention to buy this set. If it was all connected like having 3 rooms connected together in the current science themes, this set would have been much better.

[talos]

They are asking between $70 and $120 for this set in the USA on BrickLink...forget it...I would only of wanted one for the parts.

It is quite strange that they would only make a small number of this set, and then go overboard with the Ghostbusters set, which there seems to be a huge supply...bad planning...

[JGW3000]

Its back on sale in the U.S. LEGO S&H site!

[finnbricker]

This is good news! Not available in Finland, though, but maybe later...

[parksroad]

Its back on sale in the U.S. LEGO S&H site!

That must have been really brief--about 4.5 hours after your post and it's sold out with the "Limited quantities may be available in October in LEGO Stores" message again...

[Bamos]

I picked up the fall calendar at the Lego store Saturday and the Research Institute and the Exo Suit are both in it with the Ecto-1 set. I doubt they would put it in the catalog if it wasn't going to be out for a while.

[Sven F]

Any news? did this set appear in any of the shops recently? European ones at least? Its mid October now. Still unavailable here. got some Ecto-1's though.

[obsidianheart]

Talked to an associate at the OKC Penn Square Mall location, and he said that if they were getting any, it wouldn't be until mid-October, but they weren't sure that it was even going to happen.

[knight_40k]

My girlfriend and I have started building a City and I found a few of these 21110 Research Institute sets at a local Toys R Us. I know they are hard to find but is this worth picking up for $24CAD.

[deraven]

That's basically list price, and it's a nice, hard to find set. I don't know if I'd pick up a whole case of them at that price or anything, but grabbing a couple if it interests you at all (or if you do any reselling) wouldn't hurt.

I mean, with the prevailing pricing, you could buy 3 and selling 1 or 2 of them would cover the cost of the remainder. :)

[Legogal]

These should make wonderful gifts to female friends who are thinking about getting into or are already into LEGO and their daughters. So grab a few if you can. What town are you in? I have not yet seen them in a TRU in NC. Hope they make it to TRU because our LEGO store sold out all fifteen or so within a few minutes after their arrival this morning and just before my call to reserve one 30 minutes after the store opened.

The price you listed sounds reasonable with such high demand. Good luck!

[rollermonkey]

Ten seconds on eBay will tell you how many you want to get.

[Jern92]

My girlfriend and I have started building a City and I found a few of these 21110 Research Institute sets at a local Toys R Us. I know they are hard to find but is this worth picking up for $24CAD.

Buy all of them lol

[fred67]

Why would these only be good for female friends? Anyone in any of those fields would be a good target.

[SithMageHenry]

Generally, girls like to play with female characters over male characters.

[Dorayaki]

Generally, girls like to play with female characters over male characters.

Even though gender does play a role in playing and commercial marketing, we don't assume that a certain gender would only collect the figures of their own gender. We should remember that the buildings are also the star of each LEGO products.

[Sarah]

Generally, girls like to play with female characters over male characters.

But its pretty easy to change out the minifigs. The builds themselves are worth the price. (A DINOSAUR!) I wish I'd been able to get more than one!

[parksroad]

I wish I'd been able to get more than one!

Wish I'd been able to get one.

[Sven F]

Are these exclusive to official LEGO shops? One just opened here, but doesn't hold this set.

I could browse around Bruxelles or Strasbourg for them if they are sold by other toy shops.

[craiggrannell]

It seems to be Lego-only, bar the odd US Toys R Us. The set sold out in the UK insanely quickly — something in the region of 24 hours. Then a limited number showed up a day or two later, which is when I grabbed mine. (Maybe a half hour after I bought a set, it was gone again.)

It's curious that the RI hasn't come back into stock but the Exo Suit has. I guess it won't matter much for Lego's bottom line, but the whole RI thing has left a rather bitter taste for quite a few people I know with daughters and who like Lego in general.

EDIT: I just checked out the sole Brickset review — someone made a nice 'Tricerablocks'. *mulls turning Grand Emporium into a little museum*

Edited October 23, 2014 by craiggrannell

[TheLegoDr]

Well Exo-Suit also sold out within the first few days. I ordered mine on day ONE and it was backordered and they sat on it for two months before telling me they aren't producing anymore. So for whatever that's worth.

They do limited runs on the IDEAS sets, so I assume they weighed another production run vs other sets they plan on producing this year and saw it as not as big of a money maker.

[Ardelon]

Nice little set. My favorite "sub-set" would be the Astronomer, because of the useful parts making up the telescope and stand, and the limited-use but still cool blackboard. But every module has someting going for it. No chance getting it where I live, of course.

I think the original submitter made her point quite well. I have no issue with any gender-related criticism, or with the plain torsos. I do find it a bit funny that LEGO is about a simplified and stereotyped look at the world, with minifigs aiming to be instantly recognizable. Like scientists wearing lab coats and glasses. And now here come a set meant to show that the stereotype is wrong. I wonder what TLGs reaction would be to a set that would try to portray a less romanticized/stereotyped and more realistic take on medieval´or piratical life...

Anyway, hopefully the set plays its own little role in nudging showing girls (and boys) towards STEM fields.