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Lego price per part over the years

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Re: Lego price per part over the years

#131

Post by lostlogin »

phil21 wrote: post #87
robinson-wall wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps set size is a contributing factor? I've bought two sets over the last few years, and both of them have had a piece missing. One was 1969 pieces (no prizes for guessing which set that is!) and the other 1222 pieces. Both occasions the pieces weren't structurally important, and were small decorative elements.

I've put together probably 50 sets over the past 5-6 years. I pretty much only buy the largest sets they make, especially Technic. I doubt I have many sets under 1500 pieces. I've yet to find a single missing piece so far. Many times we thought a piece would be missing, only to find it trying to escape somewhere. The plastic bags carry a pretty heavy static charge in dry winter conditions, and the tiny pieces love to…

> If you accidentally sit on one they will basically become one with your flesh

But in the dark they become savage. Stand on one or even worse, kneel on one when trying to find the tv remote. I might have cried.

Re: Lego price per part over the years

#133

Post by swores »

londons_explore wrote: post #109
dr_kiszonka wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can put them into a pillowcase and wash in a washing machine. Given how expensive Legos are many people will gladly pick them up from your place, especially if you live in a city. You can look up Buy Nothing and similar groups in your area on FB.

Sure, but most people don't know that. So they chuck them out with the rest of the dog-eared teddy bears.

I'm not convinced you're correct in your belief that most people are like you in this respect. But I don't have evidence to disprove you either.

Re: Lego price per part over the years

#134

Post by WilTimSon »

beAbU wrote: post #126
sandreas wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LEGO is indeed pretty expensive these times. Not every set is that bad, but the most cars are not only expensive, but not even the best sets on the market... There is a lot of comparisons, but the most convincing one maybe the LEGO Ferarri (42125) vs. CADA Italian Super Car (C61042W) video[1] of "Held der Steine" (german youtube channel). The LEGO is "parts only" - the CADA is remote controlled with led lights near d…

I don't think you can compare LEGO with not-LEGO... Firstly it feels a little sacrilegious, but religion aside quality is often uncomparable and there was this common meme from my childhood that your parents did not love you if you got knockoff LEGOs. Part of the reason why we buy LEGO is because it's LEGO. Buying some other brand (regardless of quality) does not hit the same way.

But that's a learned behaviour, and one learned specifically thanks to decades of marketing. Sure, LEGO is quality, but it's not some unbeatable gold standard. At some point it simply becomes one of those things where people ask for Coke instead of Pepsi, even if they can't tell them apart - brand loyalty trumping the desire to simply get the product.

Re: Lego price per part over the years

#135

Post by Freak_NL »

beAbU wrote: post #126
sandreas wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LEGO is indeed pretty expensive these times. Not every set is that bad, but the most cars are not only expensive, but not even the best sets on the market... There is a lot of comparisons, but the most convincing one maybe the LEGO Ferarri (42125) vs. CADA Italian Super Car (C61042W) video[1] of "Held der Steine" (german youtube channel). The LEGO is "parts only" - the CADA is remote controlled with led lights near d…

I don't think you can compare LEGO with not-LEGO... Firstly it feels a little sacrilegious, but religion aside quality is often uncomparable and there was this common meme from my childhood that your parents did not love you if you got knockoff LEGOs. Part of the reason why we buy LEGO is because it's LEGO. Buying some other brand (regardless of quality) does not hit the same way.

A local toy store here has one set of shelves filled with Sluban (about ⅓ the size of their Lego offering), and it's just bleak to see. The shop focused their Sluban offering on military hardware for some reason (perhaps because Lego doesn't do any of that), so you end up with drab boxes of greens and browns, in addition to looking just off in terms of accuracy of the parts.

There's also a bunch of the 'fake' stuff on AliExpress, where you can tell the quality of the bricks is crap just by looking at the low-res photos. Getting the fit of bricks right is apparently quite hard to do if you want to offer lower prices than Lego does.

Re: Lego price per part over the years

#136

Post by Freak_NL »

dsr_ wrote: post #76
samstave wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Epic! thank you! I loved going to Valley Faire Mall in San Jose and scooping parts by the pound. I didnt see any of the lego store by-the-pound model. An interesting method for sus-ing up what parts they had would be looking into the shipments to-from lego entities in NL and USA - sea shipping bills of lading can be found on import yeti (now obviously unless someone has digitized historic bills of lading, etc (and we…

Part existence probability changes every couple of months, probably not enough time for you to be able to make good estimates. LEGO tends to get hoarded, resold or donated, not thrown away. I believe I have more than 99% of all the LEGO I or my parents ever bought, going back to 1976 or 7.

I was surprised by how complete some sets of mine where when they came over. I don't doubt the 99%, although in my case they are not mine any longer as such, but my five year old son's.

Lego stashes do indeed get hoarded for a generation at a time; a lot of it is kept as valuable for the next generation (lucky bastards).

Re: Lego price per part over the years

#137

Post by vr46 »

sandreas wrote: post #120
ryukoposting wrote: post #47

I made a script last year that scraped LEGO pricing data from their website. Besides finding out that the Bugatti Bolide Technic set is a pretty good deal as a parts bag, I found that there's only a weak correlation between set size and PPP. The Dots sets throw a wrench in things, of course, and large Technic sets often have expensive electronic and pneumatic parts that must be considered. My conclusion was that PPP…

LEGO is indeed pretty expensive these times. Not every set is that bad, but the most cars are not only expensive, but not even the best sets on the market... There is a lot of comparisons, but the most convincing one maybe the LEGO Ferarri (42125) vs. CADA Italian Super Car (C61042W) video[1] of "Held der Steine" (german youtube channel). The LEGO is "parts only" - the CADA is remote controlled with led lights near d…

I’ve seen how much attention Lego puts into designing and making their bricks and sets, as well as their general outlook, so combined with their better quality, fake Lego bricks is not something I want polluting or diluting my/my kid’s Lego.

Re: Lego price per part over the years

#138

Post by 4ggr0 »

vr46 wrote: post #137
sandreas wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LEGO is indeed pretty expensive these times. Not every set is that bad, but the most cars are not only expensive, but not even the best sets on the market... There is a lot of comparisons, but the most convincing one maybe the LEGO Ferarri (42125) vs. CADA Italian Super Car (C61042W) video[1] of "Held der Steine" (german youtube channel). The LEGO is "parts only" - the CADA is remote controlled with led lights near d…

I’ve seen how much attention Lego puts into designing and making their bricks and sets, as well as their general outlook, so combined with their better quality, fake Lego bricks is not something I want polluting or diluting my/my kid’s Lego.

Why are you so sure that the other bricks are of lesser quality?

Re: Lego price per part over the years

#139

Post by jangxx »

bluetomcat wrote: post #127
sandreas wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LEGO is indeed pretty expensive these times. Not every set is that bad, but the most cars are not only expensive, but not even the best sets on the market... There is a lot of comparisons, but the most convincing one maybe the LEGO Ferarri (42125) vs. CADA Italian Super Car (C61042W) video[1] of "Held der Steine" (german youtube channel). The LEGO is "parts only" - the CADA is remote controlled with led lights near d…

In general, their brick quality isn't on par with Lego. The clutching of Lego bricks is finely weighed and consistent. The colouring is brighter. They don't have nasty toxic smells and paints. The set catalogues are more diverse with many more themes. Set designs are original and matching the age group. There is also historical significance and nostalgia for certain sets and themes, and they can be re-released as new…

Is this based on your own recent experience? I recently got into the mood to build some LEGO again, after not having done it since childhood, but I recoiled at the prices of current LEGO sets. Got something from BlueBrixx instead and am really happy with it. The bricks look great, feel satisfying to put together and I can't tell a difference from how I remember it from all those years ago.

I definitely remembers seeing some Mega Bloks some 15-20 years ago and they were really really bad like you described but from what I can tell, other competitors have actually caught up to LEGO nowadays.

Re: Lego price per part over the years

#140

Post by exar0815 »

sandreas wrote: post #120
ryukoposting wrote: post #47

I made a script last year that scraped LEGO pricing data from their website. Besides finding out that the Bugatti Bolide Technic set is a pretty good deal as a parts bag, I found that there's only a weak correlation between set size and PPP. The Dots sets throw a wrench in things, of course, and large Technic sets often have expensive electronic and pneumatic parts that must be considered. My conclusion was that PPP…

LEGO is indeed pretty expensive these times. Not every set is that bad, but the most cars are not only expensive, but not even the best sets on the market... There is a lot of comparisons, but the most convincing one maybe the LEGO Ferarri (42125) vs. CADA Italian Super Car (C61042W) video[1] of "Held der Steine" (german youtube channel). The LEGO is "parts only" - the CADA is remote controlled with led lights near d…

Just one "Datapoint", but I have a colleague that works in injection molding. Granted, he works on the "other end" of the size scale (complete car underbodys in one part), but he always said it was more or less a given fact that the two companies wo had "dialed in" their molding processes to near perfection and quality were Lego and Games Workshop in the UK.
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