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LEGO |OT5| DARKNESS! NO MONEY! (or Break the Rules! Mix the Bags!)

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I have to say, while I hate the idea of bootleg stuff and stealing other peoples work like this, after looking at some videos and reviews of lepin stuff the quality seems to be really good. I'd say its at least megablox level. There's no large gaps between pieces, the connections seem to be solid and not loose, the colors are actually very close to actual lego pieces, only problem is that the minifgures look weird sometimes and there's frequent missing pieces. I'm not buying them because I dont want to support stuff like this, but its kind of impressive that someone can come out of nowhere and replicate lego so well like this.

And considering how lego has been arbitrarily increasing prices on a growing number of their sets (yes it may be a difference of .11-.12 cents per piece in some larger sets but when thats translated to real world dollars that could mean $20-50) I could understand why people would look to knock offs. Again I'm a purist so I wont do that type of thing as I want to support the company's hard work. Generally if I find something that costs too much I just wait until the sets are a year or two old and are being sold for $20 off or something at retailers
 

Osahi

Member
When I look at the price of fake Lego sets against retired Lego sets, it's easy to see why it's tempting. I don't think me buying a Lepin Green Grocer would affect Lego's bottom-line either, since they're not giving me the opportunity to buy it from them.

There's literally no way I could ever buy one though. Having nine real modulars and two fake ones would never, ever allow me to be actually happy with my display, even if at a glance it looked fine. I would always know. I'd rather pay the fucking stupid amount it'll cost to get a real one, or at least a Bricklinked one (and I expect that one day, I will.)

It hurts Lego in other ways then the direct one. You would support Lepin in stealing creative stuff and grow as a company, so they can steal more and more stuff and offer better quality, which would make more people going for the knock off stuff. So even if it looks like you are not hruting Lego because the set is actually retired, you still do...

So yeah, don't touch this shit with even a ten foot pole :p
 

Koren

Member
Would it be the same for fake videogames carts? Copied software?

I could understand why people would look to knock offs.
The main thing I fear for myself would be finding bootlegs in Bricklink orders, but I wonder about safety. There's plently of rules about plastic and pigments used, the way the pieces break, etc. If an adult use a chinese copy willingfully, I don't care, but I'm not at ease with children playing with chinese knock-offs. They're often dangerous since they avoid any safety tests...
 

mrkgoo

Member
Fucking hell. I hope Lego gets all their lawyers and ninjas on this. A minifig here and there, fine, especially if they aren't ones already published (although I hate that too). But this is so blatant. This is literally pissing in the face of Lego, and of you don't care about Lego as a big ole greedy corporation, at least know that it's also pissing in the face of its designers. That's Jamie's creations right there, and they're being copied right off. They even copy the fucking cover image even though the set has minor changes - probably because these fuckers have access to Lego molds but can't make retired parts - because they have no fucking creative part in their bodies.

I don't care very much that cheap bastards get their Not Café Corners cheaply. As long as they don't resell it and feel proud of their stolen merchandise, fine. I don't care very much for scalpers either. But I do care that fake parts are being dumped into the market, making it just as hard to find real Lego as it is to find, let's say, real original GBA games. I don't want to finally track down the last set of ridiculously expensive Grand Carousel parts in a few years and find that, hey, this doesn't look like the real thing.

If you care at all for Lego as a product and a hobby, you should take a stand against this shit. And if you think that "hey, Lego is not making the sets I want so I'll go with this instead", well, then you can fuck right off. Respectfully.

Yes, this riles me up.

I'm in agreement. I don't even like supporting fake minifigs.

There's also the fact that the second hand market is built into the price. Like in video games, publishers talk about how they hate the secondary market because it undermines their sales, but what they don't realise is that it's built in. A significant portion of People buy stuff at full price because they can get some return from it.

Lego company is aware of this. That's why their sets retire and retain value. If there's a significant knock-off market, even of just "retired" sets it actually does affect their bottom line.
 
Meijer had CMF series 16. Once again, I stupidly thought I felt out the arctic guy and left him behind. I knew I had it too. Moron.

However, did get another penguin suit, 2 babysitters (I didn't have any yet), and four more banana suit guys! Now i have a whole clique of banana suits.
 
Bootlegs of current sets are pretty shady IMO.

I get bootleg figures of characters that are either no longer in production (Deadpool) or likely never will be (Punisher) but current characters I can't really stomach. No reason to get a bootleg Spiderman when you can get him in like 10 different sets right now.

Full on sets? Ehh, I could kinda justify it if I wanted some OOP set from several years ago that is outlandish to get now, but current sets are ridiculous.
 

3N16MA

Banned
As a Canadian those prices on those knockoff modulars (current models) are not that great. They seem to be around $70 USD which is around $91 CAD. I have been able to purchase my modulars for around $195 CAD including taxes (factoring in discounts and VIP points)

You're looking at a savings of $104 per set. That is decent but you have to factor in:

- Higher potential for missing pieces
- Quality not on par with LEGO
- Shipping that can take weeks
- Return policy?
- No box

Even if you put a value of $20 on not having to deal with the above you come out with $84 in savings. Not really worth it considering modulars are released once per year.
 

Rootbeer

Banned
Back from LEGO store shenanigans.

Really happy that they didn't sell out of the London bus yesterday or before I got to the register, so now I have two!

Got the exclusive set too, of course ;)

Was a mad house!

Don't believe me...?

Well here is the line outside the mall 90 Mins after they opened. It goes around the block. Most of these people won't get the set, unless they had way more than 400.

ig0Sz4b.jpg
 
As a Canadian those prices on those knockoff modulars (current models) are not that great. They seem to be around $70 USD which is around $91 CAD. I have been able to purchase my modulars for around $195 CAD including taxes (factoring in discounts and VIP points)

You're looking at a savings of $104 per set. That is decent but you have to factor in:

- Higher potential for missing pieces
- Quality not on par with LEGO
- Shipping that can take weeks
- Return policy?
- No box

Even if you put a value of $20 on not having to deal with the above you come out with $84 in savings. Not really worth it considering modulars are released once per year.

You also have to factor in that bootleggers (in other industries) are very frequently tied to mob dealings. Also, if you think that actual Lego factories are sweatshops, imagine what bootleg factories must be.
 

Nitemare1

Member
So i put together the Spidey/Ghost Rider set this afternoon and have to make a couple of observations.
Firstly. I loved the street light and paper boxes. It looks fantastic and is immediately going on the corner of one of my modular buildings.
The bike is fine even if it seems a little over sized but that's ok.

Two little nit picky things.
If they went though the trouble of printing those pumpkin bombs / heads the least they could have done was throw in 3 or 4 rather than just one :(
And what the hell is up with having ghost riders fire glued to his head? That's really disappointing !
Other than that Im just happy to have Ghost Rider and Hobgoblin minifigs to add to my collection! :)
 

AMUSIX

Member
OK, so this LEGO thing really does turn into a sickness, doesn't it?


Need some WSIG advice...(question in bold)

So, I started back into LEGO as a way to ease stressful weeks. Started with the Tower Bridge, then made the Ferris Wheel and the Avengers Helicarrier, and my wife made the Haunted House. We have the Disney Castle and Elizabeth Tower which I'll make this fall, but here's the thing...

...we've just finished the Palace Theater, and have the Detective's Office and the Parisian Restaurant. I'm really liking the idea of making the neighborhood street, but see that I've missed out on a number of past sets (Green Grocer and Town Hall being the two I'd want the most). I've also seen that currently I can buy the Brick Bank and the Pet Shop. Should I just grab these two now? Or is it safe to wait on either of them? I obviously have a bunch of sets to build, but I don't want to finish those and then realize I missed out.

Finally, the Green Grocer is fuck expensive...the Town Hall is much, much less (while still being overpriced) but is there any way of getting these sets for less than $500?


edit: also, does the Ghostbusters building fit with the other town buildings? I mean,like scale-wise?
 

Ponn

Banned
OK, so this LEGO thing really does turn into a sickness, doesn't it?


Need some WSIG advice...(question in bold)

So, I started back into LEGO as a way to ease stressful weeks. Started with the Tower Bridge, then made the Ferris Wheel and the Avengers Helicarrier, and my wife made the Haunted House. We have the Disney Castle and Elizabeth Tower which I'll make this fall, but here's the thing...

...we've just finished the Palace Theater, and have the Detective's Office and the Parisian Restaurant. I'm really liking the idea of making the neighborhood street, but see that I've missed out on a number of past sets (Green Grocer and Town Hall being the two I'd want the most). I've also seen that currently I can buy the Brick Bank and the Pet Shop. Should I just grab these two now? Or is it safe to wait on either of them? I obviously have a bunch of sets to build, but I don't want to finish those and then realize I missed out.

Finally, the Green Grocer is fuck expensive...the Town Hall is much, much less (while still being overpriced) but is there any way of getting these sets for less than $500?

Pet Shop definitely. It's the oldest and most likely to retire first but since we've been speculating that it would retire for the last couple years its anybodies guess when exactly.

Green Grocer under $500? Never as a boxed set unless they decide to redo it someday. You're best bet if you really want it is to bricklink all the pieces and then use online instructions to build it. Town Hall on the other hand you may luck out and find it cheap on ebay, craigslist or even Amazon Warehouse Deals just under $500. It's only going to get more expensive as time passes though so pick your threshold but don't dally.

Congrats on all the awesome sets by the way. If you and your wife into it you may want to look into getting into the Winter Holiday sets as a fun yearly tradition. Santas Workshop is still available so you can start there.
 

Koren

Member
Or is it safe to wait on either of them? I obviously have a bunch of sets to build, but I don't want to finish those and then realize I missed out.
With Lego, you never know, but Pet Shop is really old, and should retire soon. I'd suggest grabbing it quickly if you want it.

Brick Bank should be there for a while, it's only 7 months old.

but is there any way of getting these sets for less than $500?
Depends what you're after... I wanted a Green Grocer, but didn't want to pay a huge price for it, so I brinklinked it.

I decided to go with sand blue instead of sand green, since I also like it and it's a bit cheaper. And changed a couple things (I have only a single viking tile instead of three, substituted proper windows instead of train windows like in the original set, and I've yet to build the curtains). I was also not interested in minifigs.

At the end, I was under 250€ if I'm not mistaken. I'm really satisfied with the result.

I'll probably do Cafe Corner next, although I think this one will be heavily modified, as it aged a bit (adding something inside, to begin with).

edit: also, does the Ghostbusters building fit with the other town buildings? I mean,like scale-wise?
Well, the scale is the same*, but the building is massive. It'll dwarf a bit the most recent modulars. I don't think that's bad myself, but it's a matter of taste.

You should be able to find pictures and videos, like this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DJuxt1rhfM&feature=youtu.be&t=7m31s


* well, scale is a bit hard with Lego, since height is mostly minifig-size, but some sets don't really make sense in their dimensions (you wouldn't see such a small theater or department store, for example...)
 
Everyone is hopping on the 79.99 Spidey Bridge bandwagon. TRU, amazon, wal-mart and Target. Good price guys.

Get one at Target for an additional 5% off using RED Card.

http://www.target.com/p/lego-super-heroes-spider-man-web-warriors-ultimate-bridge-76057/-/A-50546753

I caved in and ordered from Target only to have the order cancelled. Went into a Target by work next day and found out sale is only for online as in-store still rings up as $99.99. Anyway, I found a Target by my home that was able to fulfil the online order.

I was planning on holding out for 30% or more off.

Darn you LEGOGAF!!!


Has anyone seen 40228 creepy TRU giraffe in the US stores? I have to remember to try to buy one.

I need to remember to go to Target for the Strange set too before it's gone.

Based on your creepy "real life" minifig head avatar, I am not surprised you want that set.

THanks for reminding me as I also want that set. :) Seeing creepy Geoffrey dancing and hugging the kids makes me think of Barney the Dinosaur.

Anyone find the set in TRU in the States on the east coast?

I1GyENk.jpg



So everybody loves the Morro Dragon. Can someone tell me if it plays a big part in the series as well? My boy is just in the second season, so we're not there yet. It looks great, but if it is only in one episode, the draw would be a lot less. It is now about 47 euro (instead of 70), so it does have an attractive price point. Have seen it coupled a lot with the Master Wu dragon, is this a must have combo, or can one stand on its own?

Was also eying Jays elemental dragon 70602. Is this any good? It is a lot better priced (half of the Morro dragon).

Edit: almost forgot, the Morro dragon, is it easily playable / swooshable or does ot break apart very fast?

Haha, didn't want it as a display piece, but good to know.

The Elves dragons are a bit too hugable for my taste, but to each their own. If I had a girl, I would probably be all over them and steered her in that direction.


It all depends on you budget and how much you like the look of the Morro dragon set. I really like it. It has the look of a Chinese dragon which separates it from most of the other brick build dragons. Personally, I'm all over all these recent Ninjago brick built dragons.

I agree Elves dragons are huggable, but I plan on getting them as they have their own appeal and I feel they will be part of LEGO's historic footnotes. They definitely won't fit in most LEGO system settings which is part of the reason I want them too.
 
...And what the hell is up with having ghost riders fire glued to his head? That's really disappointing!

I know, it doesn't make any sense why it's fused to Ghost Rider's skull and the Green Goblin's pumpkin bomb. It's superhard plastic with no thin, breakable areas... I don't get it.

I caved in and ordered from Target only to have the order cancelled. Went into a Target by work next day and found out sale is only for online as in-store still rings up as $99.99. Anyway, I found a Target by my home that was able to fulfil the online order.

I was planning on holding out for 30% or more off.

Darn you LEGOGAF!!!

Huh, when it rang up $99, I showed the online price on my phone and she just told me to go up to the guest services and they'd adjust the price there.
 
Waited almost a month for this to arrive and it's finally here! This is my first time ever building a Lego set so I'm really looking forward to it. Probably won't be able to start until later next month since we have to complete a few renovation projects on the home first.

You have chosen wisely. Welcome to the LEGO money pit.
P0STLwi.jpg
 

TalesFromHoth

Neo Member
I'm in agreement. I don't even like supporting fake minifigs.

There's also the fact that the second hand market is built into the price. Like in video games, publishers talk about how they hate the secondary market because it undermines their sales, but what they don't realise is that it's built in. A significant portion of People buy stuff at full price because they can get some return from it.

Lego company is aware of this. That's why their sets retire and retain value. If there's a significant knock-off market, even of just "retired" sets it actually does affect their bottom line.

Logically then Bricklinking a set also affects their bottom line since folks are not buying from the shelves or other resellers, but are just piecing sets together. I'm not saying they're doing anything illegal but if we are talking about a second hand market then it has a place as well.
 
I wonder how many sets it would take for a reprint of *anything at all* to be profitable.

Say LEGO offered a service where you could register interest in a retired set, kinda like Ideas, and if they got over 10,000 people (or whatever) to actually pay for the set it got a reprint for those people. It'd be kinda like crowd-funding! I wonder how many people you'd need though for, say, Green Grocer. A 2,000+ part set with many of them out-of-production.

A logistical nightmare, obviously, but it'd be nice if there was some solution to this that could make LEGO money while saving consumers some.
 
I think with so many mixel eyes to use, Lego is going to be giving us a lot of creepy sets in the future.

Also yes, these counterfeit sets will make me worry about second hand pieces, but afaik they haven't directly copied the LEGO logo on pieces?

I think this will be an issue for people that buy bulk used LEGO. Well, even without bootleg parts, there are clone brands that are often mixed in with bulk LEGO.
Even though most LEGO parts have the LEGO name on them it's still time consuming to separate those parts which is why I avoid purchases like that.


So i put together the Spidey/Ghost Rider set this afternoon and have to make a couple of observations.
Firstly. I loved the street light and paper boxes. It looks fantastic and is immediately going on the corner of one of my modular buildings.
The bike is fine even if it seems a little over sized but that's ok.

Two little nit picky things.
If they went though the trouble of printing those pumpkin bombs / heads the least they could have done was throw in 3 or 4 rather than just one :(
And what the hell is up with having ghost riders fire glued to his head? That's really disappointing !
Other than that Im just happy to have Ghost Rider and Hobgoblin minifigs to add to my collection! :)

I was also disappointed to find out the fire was glued to the head as I would have like to be able to reuse the head and fire. I believe the issue had to do with make sure the part wouldn't break easily and/or move too much during play.


OK, so this LEGO thing really does turn into a sickness, doesn't it?


Need some WSIG advice...(question in bold)

So, I started back into LEGO as a way to ease stressful weeks. Started with the Tower Bridge, then made the Ferris Wheel and the Avengers Helicarrier, and my wife made the Haunted House. We have the Disney Castle and Elizabeth Tower which I'll make this fall, but here's the thing...

...we've just finished the Palace Theater, and have the Detective's Office and the Parisian Restaurant. I'm really liking the idea of making the neighborhood street, but see that I've missed out on a number of past sets (Green Grocer and Town Hall being the two I'd want the most). I've also seen that currently I can buy the Brick Bank and the Pet Shop. Should I just grab these two now? Or is it safe to wait on either of them? I obviously have a bunch of sets to build, but I don't want to finish those and then realize I missed out.

Finally, the Green Grocer is fuck expensive...the Town Hall is much, much less (while still being overpriced) but is there any way of getting these sets for less than $500?


edit: also, does the Ghostbusters building fit with the other town buildings? I mean,like scale-wise?

Sickness? Addiction isn't a sickness....oh wait...

P0STLwi.jpg


I also recommend the Pet Shop next. Bank should be good for another year, but if you want to be safe get it sooner than later.

I wouldn't worry about the previous modular sets unless you have the money to spare and really, really want them. I also missed out on earlier modulars as well. Only one I missed out that I had the chance to buy was the Town Hall.

If your collection grows enough, you can find sites that have instructions for MOCs for free or for purchase.

Also, LEGO is cranking out huge sets lately so you wont have a shortage of newer sets.
 

AMUSIX

Member
Pet Shop definitely.
[lots of help]
Santas Workshop is still available so you can start there.

With Lego, you never know, but Pet Shop is really old,
[lots more help]
such a small theater or department store, for example...)

Thank you both. I ended up being a fool an ordering both the Pet Shop and the Bank, as well as the Ghostbusters building (which I'm now worried looks too tall for the rest of the street...oh well).

I'm not quite ready to bricklink a full set yet, but I did show the option to my wife, and we may do it in the future.


I think I'll build the Disney Castle next...and then consider starting to buy up sets with various Marvel heroes, but my wife will think I've gone overboard.



hmmm...now to figure out where to put these.
 
Back from LEGO store shenanigans.

Really happy that they didn't sell out of the London bus yesterday or before I got to the register, so now I have two!

Got the exclusive set too, of course ;)

Was a mad house!

Don't believe me...?

Well here is the line outside the mall 90 Mins after they opened. It goes around the block. Most of these people won't get the set, unless they had way more than 400.

ig0Sz4b.jpg

It definitely was a madhouse! Got there at 8:35am and didn't walk out of the store until 11:40am. I wanted to pick up the new beetle but was told they just gave the last one away. While I was in line holding the Mini Cooper, someone from the back brings out a case and proceeds to hand one to someone standing near me. I immediately asked if I could have one and was ecstatic to get it. Got the London bus, Lego store set, and Olaf polybag (bought a tiny $6 Disney set). It was crazy but I'm a happy camper.

I agree, I think a lot of people towards the latter half of the line didn't get the promo set. As I walked out the door, I overheard an employee saying that they were running out of the promos. That sucks...for them.

Now I'm contemplating whether to go tomorrow for the 3-pk minifigure promo. Are you going Zulithe?

The minifigure promo is numbered and has special SF printed packaging, right?
 
Neither Green Grocer nor Town Hall is worth $500. Town Hall wasn't really worth $200 either. Luckily, the excellence of Green Grocer isn't really the colour, and you can make great versions with cheaper parts.

As for the Bricklinking being similar to pirated sets - hell no. It's still second-hand parts produced by Lego. It's literally MADE to be rebuilt into other things. It's part of the appeal and the value.

Can I just say that the newer softer capes make everyone look silly?

Looking forward to finding out what that piece difference of 200 means between this set and the previous version.

200 spare ammo for the stud shooters.
 

Rootbeer

Banned
oneknightr: Well i've heard conflicting things about the minifigure 3 pack

It should have exclusive packaging that has san francisco themed art on it. But I'm not sure if it's pre-made minifigs or if they just let you make your own 3 minifigs just like the normal minifigure stand figures.

Anyone who has been to a store opening before: do you know?

If it's the later I'm not sure it's worth me going through that ordeal again tomorrow, I have other stuff to attend to.

In any case, Saturday by far had the best promo of the three days so I'm glad I went!

I was looking around for Jang, I don't know if he came or not. Seems like a set he'd want if he doesn't already have one.
 

Koren

Member
Logically then Bricklinking a set also affects their bottom line since folks are not buying from the shelves or other resellers, but are just piecing sets together. I'm not saying they're doing anything illegal but if we are talking about a second hand market then it has a place as well.
I disagree...

Especially when you buy *new* parts. You definitively pay for Lego R&D. I don't see how buying 1% of this set, 2% of that one, 5% of the other one, etc. is any different than buying a set from Lego (In fact, they probably receive MORE money, since I'm pretty sure that resellers must have troubles to resell some of the parts).

And probably half of the time, those pieces are bought directly from Lego...


If you stretch this argument, you shouldn't be allowed to build something else than what's displayed on the box... That doesn't make sense.


For second-hand, it's may be a bit different, but WHICH physical product hasn't a second-hand market? And bricks do wear...

(I've yet to buy non-new parts from BL, anyway)
 
oneknightr: Well i've heard conflicting things about the minifigure 3 pack

It should have exclusive packaging that has san francisco themed art on it. But I'm not sure if it's pre-made minifigs or if they just let you make your own 3 minifigs just like the normal minifigure stand figures.

Anyone who has been to a store opening before: do you know?

If it's the later I'm not sure it's worth me going through that ordeal again tomorrow, I have other stuff to attend to.

In any case, Saturday by far had the best promo of the three days so I'm glad I went!

I was looking around for Jang, I don't know if he came or not. Seems like a set he'd want if he doesn't already have one.

I just assumed it would be pre-made minifigures with hopefully one having exclusive printing. It didn't cross my mind it would be the build your own minifigures.

If anyone knows the details, I'd really appreciate it. I want to call the store but I can't find a number listed online.

Edit: I just called the Westfield Mall customer service line and they confirmed that the Lego store doesn't have a phone line yet. Ugh
 

Rootbeer

Banned
I just assumed it would be pre-made minifigures with hopefully one having exclusive printing. It didn't cross my mind it would be the build your own minifigures.

If anyone knows the details, I'd really appreciate it. I want to call the store but I can't find a number listed online.

Edit: I just called the Westfield Mall customer service line and they confirmed that the Lego store doesn't have a phone line yet. Ugh

Not true!

They have a phone # and I already added it to my phone hahaha.

The SF store's # is 415-778-2827. I called them yesterday and that's how I found out where to line up.

I found the phone # here but they removed it... maybe they are changing it or something? weird

*edit* also the number is listed on the yellowpages website
 
Based on your creepy "real life" minifig head avatar, I am not surprised you want that set.

THanks for reminding me as I also want that set. :) Seeing creepy Geoffrey dancing and hugging the kids makes me think of Barney the Dinosaur.

Anyone find the set in TRU in the States on the east coast?

I1GyENk.jpg

I'm going to message Tested and suggest they do a real life LEGO Geoffrey and minifig kids for their next conference.
 

Ryuuroden

Member
Sorry, but that is just not the case. There are plenty of reasons to go for fake instead of real. In some countries Lego isn't as widely available as in others, in some the prices are even higher than in our Benelux (think twice that, even for simple sets). Some people just can not afford and will never be able to afford the real deal. If they can get the enjoyment through second rate knockoffs, then so be it.

It is not our problem. The only parties that should have an issue with this are the licensees, Lego and investors. It shouldn't mean anything to anyone else. If it is not important enough for Lego to care, why should you?

No need to pick sides or condemn others who do like the off-brand stuff.

Mega Bloks is cool too (they are for instance way better at handling the TMNT lincense). They started as an imitator of Lego and look at where they are now.

Um, directly stealing the exact copies of LEGO sets is beyond appall. These companies selling exact copies of already existing sets as their own is not the same thing as Mega bloks. I also do not need to see that crap getting mixed with real bricks, Just because I can tell doesn't mean jack shit. I am already finding 3rd party and Chinese knockoffs mixed in with real LEGO at actual conventions now. It used to be ebay and garage sales but now you have to look at every individual brick wherever you go wasting great amounts of time so yes it does fucking matter to me.

It's also an issue because of what others have mentioned including the cost of creativity and such creating such sets (R&D) As a company if you spend a bunch of money developing molds, testing them, checking the market, coming up with set designs and then someone else comes along and takes all the work you did and starts selling it as their own, how long do you think you think that original company will exist. One of the reasons that bootleg/stolen shit is so cheap is they are not spending any money on the R&D side of things. Btw, Lepin and others have started sneaking company reps into conventions like Brickworld and giving their bricks away to convention goers on the down low. I've been approached by them due to my Orthanc cause they wanted me to start using their bricks and legitimize them. I have a couple bags of one of the companies bricks they forced into my hands before I realized what they were.
 
Not true!

They have a phone # and I already added it to my phone hahaha.

The SF store's # is 415-778-2827. I called them yesterday and that's how I found out where to line up.

I found the phone # here but they removed it... maybe they are changing it or something? weird

*edit* also the number is listed on the yellowpages website

Thanks. The number wasn't of S@H's site or Yelp so I gave up. Lol.

I called and they said the minifigures will be pre-packed and one (I think at least one) will have SF printing on it. I guess I'm going again. But this time I'm going to have my two kids which is going to make it tougher. The things we do for Lego.
 

neonglow

Member
Thanks. The number wasn't of S@H's site or Yelp so I gave up. Lol.

I called and they said the minifigures will be pre-packed and one (I think at least one) will have SF printing on it. I guess I'm going again. But this time I'm going to have my two kids which is going to make it tougher. The things we do for Lego.

They actually had it on display at the Ninjago building area. The 3 minifigures are a girl with a cellphone, a miner that looks like Emmett and I think a female dog catcher (tan outfit).

For me, I got there at 7:30AM and they let us into the mall around 9:45AM to wait into another queue line by the store. I didn't actually enter the store until 10:40AM because they were waiting for people to finish their purchases and leave before letting in others.

What I noticed is that they were letting in some parents who didn't wait in line. Most of their stories was that they didn't realize there was a line on the other side of the mall and they were waiting until the mall actually opened. Most of the time the LEGO employee was sympathetic and actually let them in the store after hearing their sob story.

I managed to get the new Beetle, the exclusive store set and the London bus sets. It seemed that lots of people were getting the new Beetle set.
 
They actually had it on display at the Ninjago building area. The 3 minifigures are a girl with a cellphone, a miner that looks like Emmett and I think a female dog catcher (tan outfit).

For me, I got there at 7:30AM and they let us into the mall around 9:45AM to wait into another queue line by the store. I didn't actually enter the store until 10:40AM because they were waiting for people to finish their purchases and leave before letting in others.

What I noticed is that they were letting in some parents who didn't wait in line. Most of their stories was that they didn't realize there was a line on the other side of the mall and they were waiting until the mall actually opened. Most of the time the LEGO employee was sympathetic and actually let them in the store after hearing their sob story.

I managed to get the new Beetle, the exclusive store set and the London bus sets. It seemed that lots of people were getting the new Beetle set.

Thanks for the info. I never made it to the Ninjago building area as I had to rush home to my kids. Did any of the figures have any SF-themed printing?

Regarding the people who got in without waiting in line, I heard that a lady was arguing with a Lego employee since she waited in the Bart station entrance to get in. My friend told me it got ugly.
 

neonglow

Member
Thanks for the info. I never made it to the Ninjago building area as I had to rush home to my kids. Did any of the figures have any SF-themed printing?

Regarding the people who got in without waiting in line, I heard that a lady was arguing with a Lego employee since she waited in the Bart station entrance to get in. My friend told me it got ugly.

I didn't notice any unique printing. The packaging will say "San Francisco" and is numbered xxx out of 400. All these parts look to be made up of former pieces from collectable minifigures. Unless you want the packaging or experience, I don't think it would be worth an effort like the store model was.

I can sympathize with people that waited in the wrong place. There also weren't any signs put up. The website wasn't very descriptive on where to line up either but those people should have realized it was wrong by how short their "line" was.
 

Rootbeer

Banned
What I noticed is that they were letting in some parents who didn't wait in line. Most of their stories was that they didn't realize there was a line on the other side of the mall and they were waiting until the mall actually opened. Most of the time the LEGO employee was sympathetic and actually let them in the store after hearing their sob story.
I didn't notice that, but I can tell you that a little further back in the line there were some very angry people arguing with some employees. From what I could tell, they were waiting for the store to open in the wrong place (not in line), but I don't know where. Maybe at the BART entrance. I don't know if they let them in the line or not, was too crowded to keep track.

Sucks employees have to deal with stuff like that.

Overall, I think the staff did a tremendous job managing the line. While it sounds like they did let a few people inside who weren't in line, for the most part they kept it under control and I'm really thankful for that!
I didn't notice any unique printing. The packaging will say "San Francisco" and is numbered xxx out of 400. All these parts look to be made up of former pieces from collectable minifigures. Unless you want the packaging or experience, I don't think it would be worth an effort like the store model was.

I can sympathize with people that waited in the wrong place. There also weren't any signs put up. The website wasn't very descriptive on where to line up either but those people should have realized it was wrong by how short their "line" was.
yeah, I dunno. On the pro side, the line should be much, much more reasonable tomorrow. Probably a little more crowded than on Friday (the backpack promo didn't seem overly popular), but nowhere near Saturday's crowd. So if you have the time to go and can spend another $50+, it might be worth it.

I'm just not sure I want to bother. I had a lot going on today outside of the LEGO store opening, might not have the extra energy to go again!

And yeah, the Beetle seemed popular. But I saw plenty of Modular Buildings and the larger Star Wars sets flying off shelves too. I don't know if this location received any Disney Castles or not. If they did, I assume they sold all of them Friday.
 

Fowler

Member
They opened an official LEGO Store here in Hong Kong ten days ago. I was off in the UK getting married, so decided to pop by today and check it out.

I got out of the lift and saw this line:


That sliver of yellow in in the upper part of this picture near the pillar? That's the store.

In front of the store itself was a line that wound back on itself a few times, so it was at least as long as the one pictured.

This is ten days after opening!

Needless to say, I didn't go in.
 
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