To much for to little?

[dragonblade24]

well i was thinking about legos prices. I find the cost for them to much for a small set. well what do you think about the prices? I think its getting a bit expensive. I heard the price increases because the oil and gas for cars also applies to bricks. so thats all.Whats your opinion?

[Donut]

I find the prices of LEGO to be reasonable because of its quality. Other clone brands may be cheaper but they are not as durable and intricate as LEGO. I would be willing to pay a little extra for those traits.

[castlebuilder100]

I don't really mind. TLG has to do what they have to do. They are a company and companies have to make money. I'm sick of hearing complaints about how expensive LEGO is. Obviously the I want them to be cheaper but I'm not willing to sacrifice quality for money.

[dragonblade24]

thats true the pecies are gettin better. but do you think it will keep going up?

[Handar]

You might want to check out this topic for some other opinions about how the price of oil will affect the price of Lego.

As for whether or not Lego is too costly, I think you first need to determine the grounds on which it is said to be too expensive. Maybe you think that it's costly because it is more expensive than other building block brands. If that's the case then let me paraphrase Michael Pollan to answer your question. Whenever you see two competing products and one of them is more expensive most people ask why does that one cost more. This is the wrong question. Instead, you should ask yourself what have the producers left out of the product that is less expensive, i.e. what corners have been cut in order to cut costs.

If you think that Lego is objectively too expensive then I think you'll have to say more to show that it is. Lots of people complain that it costs too much, but consumers will inherently complain that any product costs too much money--even if the business producing the product is losing money by selling it at a price that is below what it costs them to make it. Presumably the price of Lego is determined by how much it costs to produce and to sell it. If quality building products cannot be produced and sold for less money then it makes little sense to say that Lego sets cost too much for too little.

[architect]

Since this thread is about prices of any LEGO sets, and not just castle sets, it belongs in another forum. I am moving this thread to the Dear LEGO Forum.

Ben
CC Sets Admin

[DARKspawn]

I think the set cost has improved considerably in the past couple of years. LEGO has made a real effort to cut costs both to themselves & the customer in a number of ways. The most controversal being moving manufacturing to Eastern Europe, which has attracted critisism due to a fall in the quality of some elements. LEGO have said they are addressing this though.

[LordZode]

Life is costly. Hobbies are costly. But your level of comittment is up to you.

Is it expensive to get every set in a theme? Sure.

Is it expensive to have the biggest army, the biggest castle, whatever? Of course.

But look how many MOC's and how much fun you could have with just $50 of bricks or sets.

$50 would get you one video game you would beat and be done with, or one model train, or a couple books, or a few new dvd's, or whatever - these LEGOs will last you for decades.

I think LEGO is a bargain and the price points are perfect.

[Munchy]

I also think the price is pretty reasonable. I would like the price to come down so I could buy more sets but I don't believe that will happen. Instead, I use BL a lot and pick and choose which sets I'll buy multiples copies.

Just the other day I cleared my local TRU out of the Dwarves' Mine Defender instead of clearing them out of the Dwarves' Mining. 3 figs for $10 or 7 for $50. Spent $100 and got 30 figs vs $150 for 21 figs.

Tough choices.

Scr** it. I'm buying the Mining's at lunch. Who am I kidding.

[Lamanda2]

I actually think the set costs have been very good as of late, not just in the Castle line, but the Indy sets, the Agents sets; the prices all looked great to me.

It seems cheap sets are including a heaping serving of minifigs. Take any of these three for example:

Crossbow Attack:
$6.00 - 41 Parts, 2 Crownies, 1 Undead Skellie, and a Skeletal Horse. This set was (And still is) an incredible army builder. At six bucks a pop, how does one resist?

Dwarves Mine Defender (As mentioned above):
$10.00 - 73 Parts, 1 Dwarf, 2 Orcs. I bought seven last week, mostly to part out and sell, but I can tell this is going to be a big seller (To me, at least) this year. An awesome way to boost your Orc Army & your troop of Dwarves.

Jungle Dual (Indiana Jones):
$10.00 - 78 Parts, 3 Minifigs (Indiana, Mutt, & Irina).
This set includes Other Great parts (Like the new Ant piece) as well. A great way to stock up on some nice new elements.


So, are the prices fair?
To me, yes. And if they had to go up in cost, ah well, I'd still buy 'em (I pay extra when at TRU anyways).

~Amanda

[Aliencat]

It really depends what part of the world you're in.
We here usually pay in € what United States residents pay in US$, even though a Euro is about $1.60 now. By rights, a set that costs $99.99 should cost €62.49 here, but it's €99.99 here too.
This is only a minor difference however compared to some non-European Union countries I've been to. When I was in Turkey to visit fellow Classic-Castler Scnicker, I was stunned by the prices there. They pay roughly twice what we pay here for the same set (that is after converting the currency).
This discussion is therefor different depending on where you're from.

[rogue27]

22 years ago, a very small LEGO set (tiny car, 1-2 minifigs) cost $2 or $3.

Now, a similar sized set will cost $4 - $6. That is double, but the smallest cars are bigger now and inflation must be considered. I think LEGO is still quite affordable in today's economy, and I agree that the price for what you get has improved in the past couple years.

[Baites]

To say if smaller Lego sets are too expensive, I think we new to define a few elements. Are we comparing Lego Bricks with competitor bricks or are we only looking at Lego sets on their own.

For my comments, I'm only going to be looking at Lego sets on their own.

Answer: Overall, not expensive.

I think you run into saying smaller sets are too expensive if you compare different themes. When you look at Star Wars, Indiana Jones and the latest Harry Potter movie, the sets appear expensive because the themes lack the impulse set or $7.00 Cdn set. The cheapest Star Wars set is the army builders, a $10 US set. The cheapest in the Indie line are also $10 sets. The latest Harry Potter only had the castle.

But look to other themes. Castle has the impulse set and several sets for under $10. If you need bricks, there is nothing cheaper for bulk bricks than the buckets (correct me if PaB is cheaper, I haven't compared or been in a official Lego store).

Where it gets expensive if you only need certain colours or certain minifigs, then you're having to buy multiple sets to get everything you need.

[Tower of Iron Will]

To me LEGO will continue to seem more expensive as I remember what I was paying twenty years ago. LEGO has always been expensive to me but then I found Bricklink. I would worry more as to why I'm not going to get a raise at my job than prices going up. Prices always go up.

The recent spike in gas prices will have some bad effects in the economy and unlike a fairy tale will not have a happy ending. The oil companys are taking our LEGO money. Nothing will stop them.

Times like this make the LEGO I do buy oh so important and cherished!
-Tower

[Bruce N H]

In general LEGO can be as cheap or as expensive as you want. I suppose the prices can be higher compared to some other toys, but I've still got my LEGO from 30+ years ago (yikes! I'm getting old). I don't really buy sets anymore unless I find a good deal. My basic collection is big enough for most of my needs, so I'll Bricklink or Pick-a-brick for specific desired elements. I do think it would become prohibitively expensive for my budget if I really tried to collect complete lines.

Bruce