2008 Castle Chess set....insane.

[Voran_the_Scholar]

What an insane moment it will be when I open this prize of a set.

I shall be most jealous of you, my friend.

[Emperor James]

im confused as to whom this is supposed to appeal to; its way too expensive for kids and afols arent willing to spend that kind of money on a chess set. i dont buy the planned price reduction, for a company the size of lego with a product that has limited appeal all that really does is cut down the amount of time it actually sells well.

In a lot of ways this appeals to me, for instance, I have a shortage of black and white tiles. This set contains a massive chunk plus a number of figs I aim to aquire anyway, now I can do it all at once. What an insane moment it will be when I open this prize of a set.

youre the exception that proves the rule

[smegged]

im confused as to whom this is supposed to appeal to; its way too expensive for kids and afols arent willing to spend that kind of money on a chess set. i dont buy the planned price reduction, for a company the size of lego with a product that has limited appeal all that really does is cut down the amount of time it actually sells well.

In a lot of ways this appeals to me, for instance, I have a shortage of black and white tiles. This set contains a massive chunk plus a number of figs I aim to aquire anyway, now I can do it all at once. What an insane moment it will be when I open this prize of a set.

youre the exception that proves the rule

This is a dumb saying which is untrue. I imagine that most of those who are whining about the price on this forum will look at the options and eventually get it, especially once reviews start coming in. The price/piece really is not bad at all and the number of wonderful accessories is going to draw a lot of people in.

The thing about this set is that once people start realising what they actually GET from this set, they will stop thinking of it as solely an army builder set and start seeing it for what it is - a chess set which contains small constructed forts, contains a high number of minifigs and oodles of pieces and parts which most castle builders will find many uses for.

Not only that but it's a gorgeous looking set

Really, Americans are going to have to get used to the price increases on Lego and other products with their economy and dollar in the state it is in. This set may or may not sell well, but on the basis of the fact that Lego is releasing piles of huge sets, then one must assume that they are making large amounts of money out of them.

Interestingly enough, I think the real reason that Lego is releasing such high quality, high cost sets across the board these days is to taunt and tease the AFOLs. There is no way we could afford them all so we must be content to drool and lust after the ones we cannot afford (like the new UCS-style city sets) .

[Emperor James]

youre the exception that proves the rule

This is a dumb saying which is untrue. I imagine that most of those who are whining about the price on this forum will look at the options and eventually get it, especially once reviews start coming in. The price/piece really is not bad at all and the number of wonderful accessories is going to draw a lot of people in.

The thing about this set is that once people start realising what they actually GET from this set, they will stop thinking of it as solely an army builder set and start seeing it for what it is - a chess set which contains small constructed forts, contains a high number of minifigs and oodles of pieces and parts which most castle builders will find many uses for.

Not only that but it's a gorgeous looking set

Really, Americans are going to have to get used to the price increases on Lego and other products with their economy and dollar in the state it is in. This set may or may not sell well, but on the basis of the fact that Lego is releasing piles of huge sets, then one must assume that they are making large amounts of money out of them.

Interestingly enough, I think the real reason that Lego is releasing such high quality, high cost sets across the board these days is to taunt and tease the AFOLs. There is no way we could afford them all so we must be content to drool and lust after the ones we cannot afford (like the new UCS-style city sets) .

whats dum is that you contradict my statement, but completely agree that few people will buy the set.

[Dr. J]

Isn't that what LEGO is wanting right now? It was mentioned that the price might be so high so that those few people who are rich enough and desperate enough will pay big money, then later they'll cut the price.

[MarioDAlessio]

I too was one of those who earlier complained about the cost. I agree with Lord Doom, smegged and others that the mood/opinions may change in time, I appreciate your posts.

I definitely have not complained about the price per part/aesthetic/quality/design of this set!

I spent some time on the SAH site with the zoom tool thanks DNL.

But the cost

Mario

[Mog]

Exactly. It's a beautiful, beautiful set - certainly the best LEGO chess set ever.

The thing is, though...I think most AFOLs, if they heard a $300 "UCS" Castle set was coming, would hope it would be something else. Like, an actual castle. If you told them it was "just" a super-fancy chess set, they'd be sort of disappointed.

I think most of us dislike this set, not for what it is, but for what it isn't. It's a well-designed set - no one is denying that. But it's probably not what most AFOLs want for $300.

[Count Blacktron]

You know, if it really was a UCS Castle set, like we have seen with so many Star Wars sets, not one of us would be completely satisfied. If my UCS Castle did not have a bathroom hole in a tower of some kind, to me it would be incomplete and lacking. If it did not have a proper stable, some one else would be upset. If it did not have an apropriate wizard's tower with library someone would be upset, and if it DID someone else would complain. You see what I mean? When it comes to an ULTIMATE Castle set, that is better left to you, your own bricks and your own idea of what it should contain. This Chess set may not be everything, but it takes most of the elements, characters, locations and the conflict into account as a microcosm event/era design. I don't think LEGO could ship anything larger at a reasonable rate, and this will do for a start. Depending upon how much room I can alocate to Castle once I am able to get this set, I'd really like to expand it exponentially to look like the actual map of the 2007/08/09 Castle realm, while keeping the same general themes and styling.

Expensive? Certainly, but in terms of portability, refection upon the theme and overal cost of a USEFUL Castle collection it can be viewed as a BARGAIN price for admission. All in a handy carrying case.

[timber_wolf899]

Mog hits the nail on the head.

Castle fans want castles!

[Voran_the_Scholar]

Absolutely. More castles! And more affordable to the less affluent!

[davee123]

You know, if it really was a UCS Castle set, like we have seen with so many Star Wars sets, not one of us would be completely satisfied.

While true, that's a bit misleading. If Lego released something that looked like it was designed by a 6-year-old, almost ALL of us would be complaining. And of course if they released something like this:

Only a scant few of us would be complaining. It's true that someone will always be nitpicking some details or claiming that something's not great. I mean, hey, some people complained about Cafe Corner looking ridiculous. But meanwhile, most of us might be thinking something rather different.

As far as the chess set goes, I think the biggest reason that I would consider buying it is to actually support the cause of the UCS castle market. As noted, I think this set is likely to test the waters for adult castle fans. I think it could have been better designed to suit that purpose, but I *would* like to support the idea of such a line continuing, even if I wouldn't normally purchase this set.

DaveE

[Spongey]

You know, if it really was a UCS Castle set, like we have seen with so many Star Wars sets, not one of us would be completely satisfied. If my UCS Castle did not have a bathroom hole in a tower of some kind, to me it would be incomplete and lacking. If it did not have a proper stable, some one else would be upset. If it did not have an apropriate wizard's tower with library someone would be upset, and if it DID someone else would complain. You see what I mean? When it comes to an ULTIMATE Castle set, that is better left to you, your own bricks and your own idea of what it should contain. This Chess set may not be everything, but it takes most of the elements, characters, locations and the conflict into account as a microcosm event/era design. I don't think LEGO could ship anything larger at a reasonable rate, and this will do for a start. Depending upon how much room I can alocate to Castle once I am able to get this set, I'd really like to expand it exponentially to look like the actual map of the 2007/08/09 Castle realm, while keeping the same general themes and styling.

Expensive? Certainly, but in terms of portability, refection upon the theme and overal cost of a USEFUL Castle collection it can be viewed as a BARGAIN price for admission. All in a handy carrying case.

This is a fair statement. However, I think that a lot of people here are saying that a UCS castle, while not necessarily appeasing everyone, would probably be a lot more popular with the AFOL community than the chess set. Although the chess set does have a number of great features, I see why a lot of people are complaining. It doesn't have enough core brick content for builders, and the price per fig ratio makes it uneconomical for army builders. A good first step for LEGO, but nothing near what the average AFOL wants to see.

[smegged]

whats dum is that you contradict my statement, but completely agree that few people will buy the set.

No, I said it may or may not sell well and only Lego will know. What I was contradicting was the ludicrous statement that is made again and again about "the exception that proves the rule".

The fact of the matter is that for $300 I could buy two King's Castle Siege or one of these giant chess sets (remember I live in a country with a currently non-deflating dollar).

[Emperor James]

whats dum is that you contradict my statement, but completely agree that few people will buy the set.

No, I said it may or may not sell well and only Lego will know. What I was contradicting was the ludicrous statement that is made again and again about "the exception that proves the rule".

The fact of the matter is that for $300 I could buy two King's Castle Siege or one of these giant chess sets (remember I live in a country with a currently non-deflating dollar).

i made a perfectly valid point: the fact that one of the few people willing to buy this set wants it for the relatively obscure tiles it contains shows that the set has an extremely limited target audience. nobody cares about your countrys currency.

[The Phantom]

Come on ladies, stop fighting. As for the set: I don't think i can afford it currently, but it looks awsome.