Has LEGO gone nuts? $6 for ONE minifig?

[DanDanLegoman]

Spring assortment impulse minifigs are $6 at Toys R Us. Six dollars for one minifig! I remember back when you could get 6 minis for that price. I could see them charging maybe $3 for one of these guys, even though they only charge about $10 for the Star Wars battle packs (which have 4 figs plus a vehicle). But $6 for one minifig? Insanity!

I'm done with impluse sets.

[Aliencat]

Spring assortment impulse minifigs are $6 at Toys R Us. Six dollars for one minifig! I remember back when you could get 6 minis for that price. I could see them charging maybe $3 for one of these guys, even though they only charge about $10 for the Star Wars battle packs (which have 4 figs plus a vehicle). But $6 for one minifig? Insanity!

I'm done with impluse sets.

Can you give us a link to which set(s) you are talking about?

[RichardAM]

You know, i'm sure it probably still works out a lot cheaper than the prices getting charged in other areas.

This is Earth, not Americaland.

[Heir of Black Falcon]

Where was this at? Was this direct from TLC or a store jacking prices up?$6 is more than we pay over here Richard, £2.50 at most ever came out to just under about $5. S@H is now about £1.99 each! About a pound or so more even when the pound was stable and worth two US dollars. No I agree with Dan in general. I think even here in the UK the prices for one guy in the impulse sets are somewhat silly anywhere over £2/ Best bang for buck is the battle packs not impulse about £6.50 or $12.99.

R

[Pluto]

Spring assortment impulse minifigs are $6 at Toys R Us. Six dollars for one minifig! I remember back when you could get 6 minis for that price. I could see them charging maybe $3 for one of these guys, even though they only charge about $10 for the Star Wars battle packs (which have 4 figs plus a vehicle). But $6 for one minifig? Insanity!

I'm done with impluse sets.

There isn't a mystery to solve; the answer is in the first sentence: Toys r Us. They are responsible for the price tag which you abhor.

Pirate Survival At Toys R Us - $5.99(US dollars):
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3316064

Pirate Survival at online at LEGO - $3.49(US dollars):
http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=8397&cn=554&d=70

[DanDanLegoman]

Can you give us a link to which set(s) you are talking about?

Behold: Pirate Survival

You know, i'm sure it probably still works out a lot cheaper than the prices getting charged in other areas.

This is Earth, not Americaland.

What the heck is that supposed to mean? I should be grateful just because someone else is being overcharged even more? Are you kidding me? Please think before you post.

Here is another set that is also $6: Cannon Battle
Tell me how that makes any sense.

[DanDanLegoman]

There isn't a mystery to solve; the answer is in the first sentence: Toys r Us. They are responsible for the price tag which you abhor.

Pirate Survival At Toys R Us - $5.99(US dollars):
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3316064

Pirate Survival at online at LEGO - $3.49(US dollars):
http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=8397&cn=554&d=70

Aha! I was just about to check that myself, actually. Unfortunately Toys R Us is the only store within a 50 mile radius of me to offer these sets. Unbelievable that they would mark it up almost 100 percent!

So the answer is: Toys R Us has gone nuts. That actually makes a lot more sense. Although in a way I can be annoyed with Lego not getting these products to stores that don't completely suck (like Target).

[RichardAM]

I should be grateful just because someone else is being overcharged even more?

Absolutely.

It's already been pointed out in this thread that if you don't like that pricing you can go somewhere else for a cheaper alternative. Toys R Us isn't the only place in the US selling this set, so I see no reason to get upset in the first place.

Toys R Us must be doing something right- people elsewhere are paying that much for these sets. Consider yourself fortunate that you can go elsewhere for cheaper prices.

[Tower of Iron Will]

The online price is not inclusive of all stores, the three I frequent in California are $4.49 a piece for that set. Plus they just had the buy one get the second at 50% off sale. Luckily if TRU is too high I'll go to the LEGO store in the Mall 500ft away.

I think this is TRU trying to make some money during a bleak holiday shopping season. I would be surprised if this is the only area TRU is raising their prices. On the flip side TRU could also have another sale thus reducing the price down to normal. But $5.99 for that set is too high.
-Tower

[puddleglum]

I haven't yet figured out any rhyme or reason to TRU's LEGO pricing. All their Pirate sets match LEGO MSRP, except the impulse sets. Many other sets are marked up, and, strangely, it seems that they just kind of randomly decide to mark up everything by 1-3 dollars, regardless of the MSRP. Example - at my TRU, Tower Raid is $30.99 (+1), Skeleton Carraing is $22.99 (+3), the small creator sets are $6.99 (+2), and the impulse sets are 5.99 (+2.5!!). Unfortunately TRU has the best selection of LEGO outside the LEGO stores themselves, so sometimes the only way to get the set you want is pay TRU markup, or pay shipping from the LEGO Shop Online. My local Target and Wal-Mart only carry about half of the current line of impulse sets. I thought about picking some up at TRU during the sale, but even at buy one, get one %50 off, they are still $4.50 a pop, a dollar over MSRP!

[Tyrant]

So the answer is: Toys R Us has gone nuts. That actually makes a lot more sense. Although in a way I can be annoyed with Lego not getting these products to stores that don't completely suck (like Target).

I believe, based on what I have seen, that TRU cut some kind of deal with LEGO to get these ahead of time. These are 2009 sets. There should have been a tag somewhere calling them spring impulse sets. Anyway, given that they have them all (complete with a TRU exclusive Pirate set) and other 2009 sets, and the fact that they specifically advertised the sets as 2009 sets in a flyer in the last week or two, I have to believe that TRU got an exclusive deal for some of the product lines. I would just wait until other stores have them (like Target, though it will likely be around Easter when they get those impulse sets) or order them through LEGO. If you're going to order enough of them (the threshold is $20 or $25), you can use online promo codes to get $5 off which should make it cheaper than actually buying them in a store even after shipping is factored in as they don't charge tax and shipping should be minimal for those.

[puddleglum]

Well, my local TRU has already raised the prices on all the Pirates sets. +5 for the ship and the fort, +3 for the shipwreck and the island, +2 for the raft, +1 for cannon battle.

[davor]

I haven't yet figured out any rhyme or reason to TRU's LEGO pricing.

maybe the reason is that tru needs to taking every single $ from lego addicts so that some TRU corporate menager can buy himself 5th ferrary that he won`t drive but gotta have and cos he needs to pay 10th plastic surgery to his mistress?

[Sir Nelson]

Meh. TRU is just taking advantage of the holiday season and customers' need/desire for small gifts and stocking stuffers. If the market is there, can you blame them for jacking up the price? They want to be profitable (or at least stay in business)!

Sorry, Richard.. when it comes to LEGO, this IS Americaland.

[The Crusader]

TRU is jacking thier prices up on everything they can, it isn't just Legos. I guess they need to make up for lost profits somehow