2008 Castle Chess set....insane.

timber_wolf899 · Post by **timber_wolf899** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:35 am

it has been said that there is no need for a 300+ dollar fortress.

No need for a 300+ fortress??? I'd give ana rm for such a thing.

Why? Because I am not first and foremost a fan of lego minifig gaming, or lego chess. I am first and foremost a fan of lego 'castle'! That's what its all about folks!

: )

Jojo · Post by **Jojo** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:26 pm

Hello!

I just backordered this Chess set. Even though I don't even play chess… Now I’ve got time till September to make €200,–. Sigh.

(Obviously Lego (the company) finally noticed they couldn’t afford lower $-prices compared to €-prices any longer. $300 are only €190.)

Bye
Jojo

Foxglove · Post by **Foxglove** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:03 pm

I've put in my order for one, too.

It'll help with my dwarf population - once my other sets arrive, I'll still only have seven. Most of those redbearded. So it'll be good to add to my trolls and dwarves. It is a fair bit pricy, but bear in mind that there's free shipping on it from S@H - when I factor that in, it's only costing me $255 as opposed to $300. And $255 for this amount of pieces is fairly alright in my books.

While like most I would have loved to see what kind of a castle they could have offered us for the same price, I'll be content with what I get.

albero78 · Post by **albero78** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:41 pm

It's beatiful, probably the most beatiful LEGO castle set ever, but it is too expensive.
As someone else has already said, I would have preferred a huge detailed UCS castle with lots of minifigs, or a less expensive (130-150 euro) castle with lot of details like the Greengrocer set.

natelite · Post by **natelite** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:29 pm

well, i hope instead of using the creator line (like green grocer or cafe corner) they have UCS castle using the factory line, or maybe the fan inspired factory line (like the new star justice and space skulls). what i am looking forward to is AFOL-centric castle sets. and there are endless possibilities. i need a human castle, a dwarf mine, a troll village, a skeleton/dragon lair, an elven fortress and other structures belonging to the current castle theme! all priced between $100 to $200 but with elaborate details for the buildings/structures instead of heavy with minifigs.

i think creating minifig packs (like the latest battle packs) should be enough to appease those who are into army collecting. the UCS should be for those who are into the structures.

timber_wolf899 · Post by **timber_wolf899** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:58 pm

amen to nat!

Mog · Post by **Mog** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 11:34 pm

Foxglove wrote:I've put in my order for one, too.

It'll help with my dwarf population - once my other sets arrive, I'll still only have seven. Most of those redbearded. So it'll be good to add to my trolls and dwarves. It is a fair bit pricy, but bear in mind that there's free shipping on it from S@H - when I factor that in, it's only costing me $255 as opposed to $300. And $255 for this amount of pieces is fairly alright in my books.

While like most I would have loved to see what kind of a castle they could have offered us for the same price, I'll be content with what I get.

It's free shipping? I didn't see that on their website. Only if you pre-order it, I presume?

That eases the sting a little bit...but still. I can't get over the fact that the Eiffel Tower, which has one thousand more pieces, is one hundred dollars less. I know, this one has more minifigs, and an XL baseplate, but the ~600 plain tiles of the chessboard should make up for that, right?

$300 is double what most of us were pegging this set as. Even at $199, I'd be tempted...but $299 is just too much.

They should have made the chess set $199, and then released the super-huge castle everyone wants for $299. For $299, I think people expect more than "just" a chess set, no matter how fancy.

They're clearly testing the waters for AFOL-targeted Castle sets...so I really want to buy it to show that I'm interested...and I am interested; just not at $299...

Heir of Black Falcon · Sat Mar 29, 2008 6:48 am

I do not think I will be getting this one anytime soon. Sadly this 2008 year already has a wide number of sets I really would like and between my other hobbies and while this set is totally and utterly awesome beyond belief my wife laughed when I mentioned 150 pounds....

R

LORD DOOM · Post by **LORD DOOM** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:51 am

I want this for the convience of a parts pack but it's a pretty burly parts pack as far as my paychecks are concerned.

Thanks a lot Lego.

Better start getting used to beans, rice and Top-Ramen again.

Oh well at least my inanimate armies will be happy.

Then again, it's kinda hard not to be happy when you look like this http://www.bricklink.com/PL/3626bp01.jpg

DaleDVM · Post by **DaleDVM** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 12:44 am

Holy moly. 300 USD!

I would never have thought this set was even close to that price. The close to 2500 pieces is alot but almost 600 of those are 2x2 tiles. For tiling out a floor in a moc they are ok but you cant build a castle with them. Actually looking at the set and pieces I doubt you could build a whole lot with it.

It looks to me like there are a whole lot of very inexpensive pieces in this set. I can buy mass tiles like these for 3 cents a piece on bricklink. Even the shields and weapons are relatively cheap because they are from currently available sets. Overall I would say the value here is very very minimal.

I would not look for this set to go on sale at all. I have never seen the millenium falcon for less than its list price and it has been out for quite a while now. Even that set has a better price per piece.

All that said I still think this is a beautiful set. Incredibly gorgeous and a huge improvement on the other chess sets. It just isn't 6 times as nice as the other chess sets. I hope they come out with a cheap dwarf vs troll chess set for army building some time in the future.

I shouldn't complain because I am planning on buying 2, but I feel bad for others who will struggle to get this set. I am definately not getting it as an army builder however. I might keep one MISB and build one for display. I am buying it because I am a collector and I want all of the sets. This is not a good set to piece out.

Mog · Post by **Mog** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 2:49 am

DaleDVM wrote:I would not look for this set to go on sale at all. I have never seen the millenium falcon for less than its list price and it has been out for quite a while now. Even that set has a better price per piece.

The Death Star II and the Imperial Star Destroyer are both $299 sets that are currently on sale for $199. The Millennium Falcon has been out for less than a year. I'm sure that, once sales for that cool off, LEGO will put that on "sale," too.

It's good business sense. LEGO knows they have people who will buy the chess set for $299, so they price it that way at first (the people who would pay $299 for it are also likely to be the people who will want buy it as soon as it comes out). After most of those people take the plunge, and sales start to fall, LEGO will drop the price to $199 or so, which was possibly the intended sale price all along.

It's sort of like what Apple did with the iPhone. They inflated the value of it $200 at launch because they knew that their loyal fans would pay for it. If you think Apple didn't plan on dropping the price to its "real" price in time for the holiday season, you're kidding yourself.

natelite · Post by **natelite** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 12:31 pm

Mog wrote:It's good business sense. LEGO knows they have people who will buy the chess set for $299, so they price it that way at first (the people who would pay $299 for it are also likely to be the people who will want buy it as soon as it comes out). After most of those people take the plunge, and sales start to fall, LEGO will drop the price to $199 or so, which was possibly the intended sale price all along.

It's sort of like what Apple did with the iPhone. They inflated the value of it $200 at launch because they knew that their loyal fans would pay for it. If you think Apple didn't plan on dropping the price to its "real" price in time for the holiday season, you're kidding yourself.

I think i agree with you here. we have seen quite a few instances of such "sales" where the MRSP was inflated. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a new TLC strategy to sell lego sets in the US. since we americans love a good sale, and TLC wanted to sell the set for at least $200 (comparing vs EUR200), I think they mark it up to $300, and will later sell it for $200 as a "clearance" or "sale"! they clearly saw that with the last chess set. MSRP for $50, and sold out quickly at $40 sale price. I am sure if they reduce the chess set to $200 sale price, it would sell out just as quickly as the last chess set for $40.

also, it wouldn't piss off the EU fans who have been complaining about the cheap US prices. i think it is a brilliant strategy by TLC. good job!

Blueandwhite · Post by **Blueandwhite** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:32 pm

natelite wrote: also, it wouldn't piss off the EU fans who have been complaining about the cheap US prices. i think it is a brilliant strategy by TLC. good job!

I suppose that this is true. Alot of European fans are probably pretty happy about the pricing which is pretty standardized across the globe. Americans probably are more put off by the price than any other nation (except possibly those of us in Canada). Apparenetly LEGO still hates Canada when it comes to Castle pricing.

shoggoth666 · Post by **shoggoth666** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:09 pm

I think your exactly right. Makes sense to me, if some fans will pay $300 good for lego. I won't pay $300 for that, maybe $200 but thats pushing it. Its a $150 set IMO.

I'd buy an authentic UCS Castle set for $300 though, wouldn't think twice.

DaleDVM · Post by **DaleDVM** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:39 am

I hope you are right about the sale price but I doubt they will sell anywhere near as many chess sets as they do star destroyers and such. The Star Wars line is the most popular selling theme or atleast that is what I thought. I just don't know if they will make nearly as many of these chess sets and therefore there will not be as many just sitting on the shelves waiting for a home.

Even with that a sale down to $250.00 sounds more plausable. But again... I hope I am wrong on this one.