TPLSTER21 Posted December 30, 2014 Posted December 30, 2014 Yeah, I believe UK is getting Ninjago before the US. I was wondering about this. Why are the sets being released so late in North America and why are the dates seemingly different this year for other regions as well.? Why did Lego not release any new sets in time for Christmas and theoreticaly cost themselves sales at the busiest time of the year for retailers (no new sets since May/June in NA). Then I thought of this: Lego is an entity and product onto itself with no real competitors in the market. Perhaps this is being done intentionally as a way to change the timing of their product releases to better capitalize on seasonal buying in the future. So now in North America, the "Winter Wave" sets dont get released until March (I believe that a member said that they saw a store release schedule that indicated Ninjago sets were not coming out in either January or February) as opposed to showing up at retail in November or December. Then, the "Summer Wave" doesn't drop until late August or September instead of May or June(since it wouldn't make sense to flood the market with a huge second wave of sets jest 2-3 months after the first wave drops). This way, Lego can get new prouduct on shelves before the Christmas season without having to release the next year's sets earlier than perhaps they would have liked. This would have been executed at the expense of some holiday sales this year, but sets things up better for the future. If so, then this will definitely change things up at the consumer end with "Wave 1" and "Wave 2" replacing winter wave and Summer wave, but with new sets still hitting the market every 6 months or so. Sorry if this is off topic, but I didn't know where else to put it! Quote
Aanchir Posted December 30, 2014 Posted December 30, 2014 I was wondering about this. Why are the sets being released so late in North America and why are the dates seemingly different this year for other regions as well.? Why did Lego not release any new sets in time for Christmas and theoreticaly cost themselves sales at the busiest time of the year for retailers (no new sets since May/June in NA). Then I thought of this: Lego is an entity and product onto itself with no real competitors in the market. Perhaps this is being done intentionally as a way to change the timing of their product releases to better capitalize on seasonal buying in the future. So now in North America, the "Winter Wave" sets dont get released until March (I believe that a member said that they saw a store release schedule that indicated Ninjago sets were not coming out in either January or February) as opposed to showing up at retail in November or December. Then, the "Summer Wave" doesn't drop until late August or September instead of May or June(since it wouldn't make sense to flood the market with a huge second wave of sets jest 2-3 months after the first wave drops). This way, Lego can get new prouduct on shelves before the Christmas season without having to release the next year's sets earlier than perhaps they would have liked. This would have been executed at the expense of some holiday sales this year, but sets things up better for the future. If so, then this will definitely change things up at the consumer end with "Wave 1" and "Wave 2" replacing winter wave and Summer wave, but with new sets still hitting the market every 6 months or so. Sorry if this is off topic, but I didn't know where else to put it! Generalizing things as a "winter wave" and a "summer wave" can be misleading, because it's normal for set release dates to vary somewhat by theme and region. On BZPower right now, there are people complaining about the fact that the first wave of 2015 BIONICLE sets is taking so long to show up in Great Britain and Europe, since the sets are already showing up in some shops in North America and will be released on the online LEGO Shop January 1. So it's not as though North America gets all sets later than other countries. Quote
PenPlays Posted December 30, 2014 Posted December 30, 2014 (edited) I was wondering about this. Why are the sets being released so late in North America and why are the dates seemingly different this year for other regions as well.? Why did Lego not release any new sets in time for Christmas and theoreticaly cost themselves sales at the busiest time of the year for retailers (no new sets since May/June in NA). Then I thought of this: Lego is an entity and product onto itself with no real competitors in the market. Perhaps this is being done intentionally as a way to change the timing of their product releases to better capitalize on seasonal buying in the future. So now in North America, the "Winter Wave" sets dont get released until March (I believe that a member said that they saw a store release schedule that indicated Ninjago sets were not coming out in either January or February) as opposed to showing up at retail in November or December. Then, the "Summer Wave" doesn't drop until late August or September instead of May or June(since it wouldn't make sense to flood the market with a huge second wave of sets jest 2-3 months after the first wave drops). This way, Lego can get new prouduct on shelves before the Christmas season without having to release the next year's sets earlier than perhaps they would have liked. This would have been executed at the expense of some holiday sales this year, but sets things up better for the future. If so, then this will definitely change things up at the consumer end with "Wave 1" and "Wave 2" replacing winter wave and Summer wave, but with new sets still hitting the market every 6 months or so. Sorry if this is off topic, but I didn't know where else to put it! In order to avoid an extra long page, I will put what I have to say in a spoiler tag below. Technically, the Winter wave of 2015 Lego sets have not released late. Over the past few years, Lego has randomly chosen a couple themes that would be released early before the January release date. Yes, last year that included Ninjago, but this year it was decided that only City, Creator, and Technic would get that treatment. Even then, they still didn't release all of the sets for both of those themes (like Destructoid and the Nindroid Mech Dragon last year). The reason for different release dates in different countries, is most likely due to both popularity and the Lego Group wanting to spread out release dates, so that they have new product releasing all throughout the year. It is quite possible that this is the reason why Legends of Chima was delayed in the US last year until Spring. Lego would rather give Ninjago the spotlight after Christmas, so to speak. Lego does have major competitors in the market. The name "Lego" is a generalized term for all "building blocks with bumps on top," meaning that anyone could say "Lego" when referring to MEGA Bloks and Kre-o. I have spoken to many of the employees at my local Lego Store about how often the get asked about product their competitors sell. Remarks like "too often" and "I'm surprised how much" are what I've been told. With Lego, it isn't about capitalizing on seasonal buying. As long as Lego is popular, people will buy Lego, no matter the season. Sure they didn't release anything new and exciting right before Christmas, but that is because they didn't need to in order to make money. They know that no matter the release date, they will still make money on the product they introduce, even if it is long after Christmas. Also, most likely, those same sets will be around for Christmas the following year. Allow me to reiterate that Lego has had multi-date-wave-releases (read that as: new sets show up earlier in the season, whereas the rest release at an official fixed date). This has been a trend for both the Winter and Summer waves of recent years (In 2009, all Agents 2.0 sets released in June, whereas Power Miner's Summer wave was released in August, for example). Spring Waves live outside of this bubble, somewhat, as they can get a summer wave release in June, and sometimes even in May! You speak of a day where a wave is divided into two chunks, and that it is a new thing, when it really has been going on for years. This "plan of attack" (if you will) allows for there to be new sets released nearly every other month of the year, something that many toy manufacturers have yet to realize and capitalize on. Your ideas are very well thought out though, and I see where a feeling of "unfairness" could play in (I too need my Ninjago 2015 fix ). I was the one who mentioned the March release date for Ninjago, by the way. I can't really TL;DR that so... Anyway, I had no idea that Jay didn't have a Stone Armor variant in Battle of Ninjago City! I think it's interesting that they only slapped on a set of shoulder pads and that's that. Edited December 30, 2014 by Penkid11 Quote
Mandate Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 Yeah. With an luck, the other 3 minifigs will be Stone Jay, Stone Cole and Rebooted Nya *overly wishful thinking* Quote
Cagast Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 What other 3? If you mean in the box, we already know them: DC Lighting Lad, Chima Sir Fangar and City Diver. And what do you mean "Rebooted Nya" - only Rebooted Nya variant is Samurai X (upgraded, as I call it) which we have in Battle for Ninjago City. Or maybe I missed something. Quote
Aanchir Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 What other 3? If you mean in the box, we already know them: DC Lighting Lad, Chima Sir Fangar and City Diver. And what do you mean "Rebooted Nya" - only Rebooted Nya variant is Samurai X (upgraded, as I call it) which we have in Battle for Ninjago City. Or maybe I missed something. In episode 27, Nya got a new costume for when she's not in her samurai getup. However, she hasn't yet appeared in this costume in the sets, and a lot of people (including myself) are waiting to get a physical release for it. Quote
TheLazyChicken Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 In episode 27, Nya got a new costume for when she's not in her samurai getup. However, she hasn't yet appeared in this costume in the sets, and a lot of people (including myself) are waiting to get a physical release for it. Nya really needs an update for her costume, the last one was released in 2011 I think. Quote
DuckBricks Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 Nya really needs an update for her costume, the last one was released in 2011 I think. Actually, she got variants as Samurai X in 2012 and 2014, but just her alone would be nice to get... Perhaps as an exclusive mining in that new book? Quote
Mandate Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 What other 3? If you mean in the box, we already know them: DC Lighting Lad, Chima Sir Fangar and City Diver. And what do you mean "Rebooted Nya" - only Rebooted Nya variant is Samurai X (upgraded, as I call it) which we have in Battle for Ninjago City. Or maybe I missed something. I rarely ever check on most forums on EB, so I'm out of the loop most of the time. It's a habit I'm slowly starting to break. By the way, the 2014 Samurai X minifgure is essentially, "Stone Nya". While there most certainly were in-plot differences between her Samurai gear and the Stone armour, the styles of armor are undeniably the same. Quote
Pulp Detective Posted January 1, 2015 Posted January 1, 2015 Has anyone got the new Ninjago sets?? Quote
TheOneVeyronian Posted January 1, 2015 Posted January 1, 2015 Well, I'm going back to the same LEGO Store I went to on Monday later today (got fed up of waiting for S@H - need I explain?) and I'll report back on whether I see anything Ninjago there. If there is (there should be as the manager did confirm they'd be put out today), I'm definitely buying the Titanium Dragon at least Quote
Pulp Detective Posted January 1, 2015 Posted January 1, 2015 I would be appreciate it if you took a close up picture of the minifigs. Quote
TheOneVeyronian Posted January 1, 2015 Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) Success! The entire Ninjago lineup was out at the London Westfield LEGO store so I grabbed the Titanium Dragon (not in the above picture, but it was underneath the cabinet display with the Ninjago sets that you can see). I would have bought more but I've already spent far too much this week. Apologies for the sub-par picture but I only had my old phone on me plus it was very crowded. There's more below the picture, and I'm sure they had every 2015 Ninjago set. UK prices are pretty much the same ones I quoted from Amazon a while ago. I would be appreciate it if you took a close up picture of the minifigs. Sure, I can do that when I crack it open, which will probably be tomorrow. Edited January 1, 2015 by TheOneVeyronian Quote
coolcab1 Posted January 1, 2015 Posted January 1, 2015 Hey OneVeyronian can you take pictures of the back of the Titanium Dragon box? Quote
Peasantseverywhere Posted January 1, 2015 Posted January 1, 2015 Could you also tell us how much the Dojo Showdown set is in the UK Quote
Cagast Posted January 1, 2015 Posted January 1, 2015 And if there are any summer wave previews in the instruction book? Quote
TheOneVeyronian Posted January 1, 2015 Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) I would be appreciate it if you took a close up picture of the minifigs. Actually, I found 2 minutes to do a quick photo of them, so here you go: Hey OneVeyronian can you take pictures of the back of the Titanium Dragon box? Here you go: And if there are any summer wave previews in the instruction book? Nope, only an advert for Shadow of Ronin and an advert for the Ninjago website. Nothing summer wave related there unfortunately. Edited January 1, 2015 by TheOneVeyronian Quote
Cagast Posted January 1, 2015 Posted January 1, 2015 Nope, only an advert for Shadow of Ronin and an advert for the Ninjago website. Nothing summer wave related there unfortunately. Shadow of Ronin is summer wave related, but I've already seen that. Quote
Peasantseverywhere Posted January 1, 2015 Posted January 1, 2015 Ninjago sets now available at LegoShop UK ! , OMG WOW Those figures are so detailed !! Quote
TheOneVeyronian Posted January 1, 2015 Posted January 1, 2015 Shadow of Ronin is summer wave related, but I've already seen that. Sorry, I meant to say "summer wave related there that we haven't already seen". My mistake Quote
Pulp Detective Posted January 1, 2015 Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) Thanks alot TheOneVeyronian!!!Those minifigs look even better than I expected,I'll definitely pick up the Titanium Dragon set for sure.Any thoughts about the brick built dragon?? Edited January 1, 2015 by LOTR343 Quote
-Zond- Posted January 1, 2015 Posted January 1, 2015 Thank you very much!) There isn't any sets here in Russia, and it's killing me. Quote
Mandate Posted January 1, 2015 Posted January 1, 2015 That Zane minifigure Drat, I went looking for the sets just yesterday too Quote
DuckBricks Posted January 2, 2015 Posted January 2, 2015 Zane looks great, I'm glad they went all the way and made him completely silver and not parts of him gray, as Lego has done before with other silver minifigs... Quote
PenPlays Posted January 2, 2015 Posted January 2, 2015 Just to further salt the wound in the US, I went to the Lego Store to confirm whether or not they'll show up in the US today... March is going to take forever to get here... *sigh* Quote
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