10221 - UCS: Super Star Destroyer

[mudcatsfan]

We can't assume any of these sets are great sellers, true, but your point of LEGO extending set lives to 6 years was based off of one set, the 10188.  There have been over 10,000 LEGO sets produced, and even if 10 or 20 had a 6 year shelf life, that is an outlier.  The 10188 is an exception...for now.  In no way am I knocking the 10188.  I have pointed out many times that bang for your buck, it is one of the best sets LEGO ever developed and sold.  Maybe LEGO is changing their philosophy on retiring sets.  Time will tell.

 

My original point was that by retiring LEGO sets, it makes them more valuable than if they were never or rarely retired.  Sure, it helps the investors of the world as well, but most of all, this value after EOL helps LEGO itself.  If an item is perceived as valuable after it is retired, more often than not, the same would be true when the item is being sold by primary retailers.  It is much easier to sell a $400 LEGO set to an AFOL if they believe that the LEGO set will be worth more money one day than they paid for it.  How many $400 boxes of plastic would LEGO sell if the pieces became almost worthless after opening the box like many toys?  Not many.  The primary and secondary markets compliment one another and the retiring of sets is a key component to it all.

 

My point was only to examine your statement that Retiring product is what makes Lego successful. My opinion is that the retirement aspect has minuscule benefit to Lego the company, but HUGE benefit to folks like us. I think the knowledge within this group of folks overly colors our opinion of Lego's perspectives and what makes them tick.

 

I think there are very, very few folks buying Lego with the thought it will ever be worth more tomorrow than when you purchased it. If that's true, (which we have no real way of knowing) Lego itself gains very little if any benefit from any perceived value increase.

 

PS - Thanks for being an engaged site owner. I very much enjoy discussing this stuff. LOVE this site!

[Frank Brickowski]

But then what's the reason for lego to retire <any previously retired popular set>? Is <any previously retired popular set> somehow less popular that DS and SSD?

 

Why does any company retire any product? Because they want to arouse people's attention and get them to spend money on NEW PRODUCT!

 

Why do electronics companys release new cell phones and TVs, why are there new car models coming out all the time etc. every year while the models from last year did already (and still) work perfectly? Because people love NEW stuff!

 

Maybe this aspect is part of the answer to why the Death Star survived for so long, some kind of "vicious" cycle - it sold very well, so LEGO decided to keep it a little longer and not to release a new set of that size, so people bought more and LEGO decided again not to retire it for another year, so people bought more... and so on; because it is a very attractive set, sales remained at a very high level over the years - which seems to be quite exceptional, otherwise the DS would not have been there so long. But NOW there is the Sandcrawler - a NEW PRODUCT of comparable size. I DO really think they released it to replace the DS. They cannot keep to many different sets on the shelves at the same time.

 

I think LEGO looks at the sales of every exclusive maybe twice a year or so to decide, if the numbers are still good enough to let this or that set live longer or retire it. What other logic would there be to it? It has to be simple math most of the time imo: "If a set goes below xyz sales per month/6months/year then it will be retired, because the demand is too low now and people seem to want something new".

[trekgate502]

On specific SSD news, while on vacation last week, I bought 2 SSD's from LegoLand Florida. I bought an annual pass upgrade on my ticket, and they then discounted the annual pass amount for me even more than I expected, and went and bought the two SSD's with the 10% off. I had them ship them out of state fedex ground and that waived sales tax and so I got both with 3 of the TC-4's for about $760 shipped. Both are in great shape. Thought I had a great deal until I got up front and saw a guy with 3 of them he was taking home, they gave him 10 of the TC-4's. That explained what happened to the 3 of the 7 I counted when I went in. Still happy with my deal. They had 3 left in the Studio Store but were not best of box shape. Not horrible either. The discount shop had a large Sydney Opera House all beat up I left. Lots of older poly packs too available. Was a great trip.

[brickelements]

"The primary and secondary markets compliment one another"

 

This is very true.

 

And it is an interesting economy theory to study.

 

On a side note, order of 10221 on  June 20th (WM) was not shipped yet AND I got an email saying if it didn't get shipped within 10 days it will get cancelled.

Ordered 6-18-2014, shipment of 2 SSD's arrive tomorrow.

[ZULU]

My point was only to examine your statement that Retiring product is what makes Lego successful. My opinion is that the retirement aspect has minuscule benefit to Lego the company, but HUGE benefit to folks like us. I think the knowledge within this group of folks overly colors our opinion of Lego's perspectives and what makes them tick.

 

I think there are very, very few folks buying Lego with the thought it will ever be worth more tomorrow than when you purchased it. If that's true, (which we have no real way of knowing) Lego itself gains very little if any benefit from any perceived value increase.

 

My point was only to examine your statement that Retiring product is what makes Lego successful. My opinion is that the retirement aspect has minuscule benefit to Lego the company, but HUGE benefit to folks like us. I think the knowledge within this group of folks overly colors our opinion of Lego's perspectives and what makes them tick.

 

I think there are very, very few folks buying Lego with the thought it will ever be worth more tomorrow than when you purchased it. If that's true, (which we have no real way of knowing) Lego itself gains very little if any benefit from any perceived value increase.

 

PS - Thanks for being an engaged site owner. I very much enjoy discussing this stuff. LOVE this site!

 

I'm sorry, but this post seems wrong to me. 

 

A. Retiring product is a MAJOR decision for TLG. The CEO even quotes it in his annual speech: 'more than 60% of products are renewed yearly. This makes this toy always new and innovative for customers.' Retiring LEGO is a major driver of sales.

 

B. It is not clear whether retirement is a clear positive for resellers. Some product retires early because it's a miss. Or because the line gets a refreshed and better BUT VERY SIMILAR new product. As a reseller you need to pick which retired sets go buy - even at steep discount (my personal opinion: too much stock on sets bought at -40% that isn't sellable yet after years EOL)

 

C. Your thought that TLG doesn't follow the resellers market  / second hand prices is also wrong in my opinion. A good 'luxury/collectors' producer, be it a toy cy, comic book manuf or handbag producer, will create scarcefull quality that should perform in the secondary market AS THIS WILL INCREASE THE BRAND IMAGE of the firm. TLG has EVERY INTEREST in keeping the resellers market healthy. And that's the reason why I personally think they shoud review their prices differences between continents before it's too late and the US will be flooding the market with cheap SSD's.

 

Regards

[Ed Mack]

My point was only to examine your statement that Retiring product is what makes Lego successful. My opinion is that the retirement aspect has minuscule benefit to Lego the company, but HUGE benefit to folks like us. I think the knowledge within this group of folks overly colors our opinion of Lego's perspectives and what makes them tick.

 

I think there are very, very few folks buying Lego with the thought it will ever be worth more tomorrow than when you purchased it. If that's true, (which we have no real way of knowing) Lego itself gains very little if any benefit from any perceived value increase.

 

PS - Thanks for being an engaged site owner. I very much enjoy discussing this stuff. LOVE this site!

LEGO is successful because it is a dynamic product.  The best toy ever created IMO.  Now if you go back when LEGO wasn't so dynamic financially, you will find that many of their products were not so "dynamic."   Stale might be a better word.  There are many reasons why LEGO has found its groove recently, but building highly collectible and interesting sets that get retired is a major one.  Many other members have stated it better than I... Widgets have a shelf life...Out with the old and in the new are two that I like.  But how about this idea...

 

eBay is the reason why LEGO has exploded in growth over the past 8 or 9 years...Face it, 20 years ago, there was no eBay, thus no LEGO secondary market.  With the advent of the internet and auction sites like eBay, people began to learn of the value of old LEGO sets and realized they could make money off of reselling old, used sets.  This morphed into saving and selling MISBs.  People related LEGO sets to other collectibles that were limited in production, such as stamps, coins...Barbie Dolls and eBay was the perfect conduit to sell these secondary LEGO sets to the public.  

 

LEGO might like to act like it hates resellers, but I don't think that it really does.  We all know that LEGO benefits greatly from our purchases and the interest and buzz we create about their products.  What company wouldn't?  They really just want to keep the reselling in check and manageable.  Don't underestimate the power of social media to spread information about making money schemes and ideas.  Jeff and I find links about our site in the wackiest places, so people are learning more and more about the value of the brick.  Would LEGO still be profitable without eBay and the secondary market?  Probably, but by a whole lot less that is certain.  

 

Sorry for taking this SSD thread way off topic...

[JRandall]

 

My point was only to examine your statement that Retiring product is what makes Lego successful. My opinion is that the retirement aspect has minuscule benefit to Lego the company, but HUGE benefit to folks like us. I think the knowledge within this group of folks overly colors our opinion of Lego's perspectives and what makes them tick.

 

I think there are very, very few folks buying Lego with the thought it will ever be worth more tomorrow than when you purchased it. If that's true, (which we have no real way of knowing) Lego itself gains very little if any benefit from any perceived value increase.

 

 

I'm sorry, but this post seems wrong to me. 

 

A. Retiring product is a MAJOR decision for TLG. The CEO even quotes it in his annual speech: 'more than 60% of products are renewed yearly. This makes this toy always new and innovative for customers.' Retiring LEGO is a major driver of sales.

 

B. It is not clear whether retirement is a clear positive for resellers. Some product retires early because it's a miss. Or because the line gets a refreshed and better BUT VERY SIMILAR new product. As a reseller you need to pick which retired sets go buy - even at steep discount (my personal opinion: too much stock on sets bought at -40% that isn't sellable yet after years EOL)

 

C. Your thought that TLG doesn't follow the resellers market  / second hand prices is also wrong in my opinion. A good 'luxury/collectors' producer, be it a toy cy, comic book manuf or handbag producer, will create scarcefull quality that should perform in the secondary market AS THIS WILL INCREASE THE BRAND IMAGE of the firm. TLG has EVERY INTEREST in keeping the resellers market healthy. And that's the reason why I personally think they shoud review their prices differences between continents before it's too late and the US will be flooding the market with cheap SSD's.

 

Regards

 

 

Can you link me to some place where I can read the CEO saying that they retire their products rather than renew them to increase value of the TLG brand?

 

When a company's goal is to make money, I don't see them having any reason to retire an expensive set that is selling very well, there's simply no reason to when people are still buying it.  If anything, I'd assume they might promote an early retirement through a site like this to drive sales upward by resellers buying hoping to make a profit, and then release another few batches over the course of the next year to squeeze out the last bit of profit possible while the item is still in demand from resellers and those who hear about the "retirement" before moving on. I'm sure they have better supply/demand data than any of us, and I don't think they would leave money on the table. There might be 20 thousand purchasing collectors/investors/(ebay, amazon)resellers on this website each buying anywhere from 2-20 of a set.  The question is if this group composes 2% of all Lego Buyers or much more than that...  what would be even more interesting is to see the statistical demographic data of consumer for Lego in North America.

 

Either way if I can purchase 1 or 2 SSD's at cost before the years over I probably will.

[Ed Mack]

Can you link me to some place where I can read the CEO saying that they retire their products rather than renew them to increase value of the TLG brand?

When a company's goal is to make money, I don't see them having any reason to retire an expensive set that is selling very well, there's simply no reason to when people are still buying it. If anything, I'd assume they might promote an early retirement through a site like this to drive sales upward by resellers buying hoping to make a profit, and then release another few batches over the course of the next year to squeeze out the last bit of profit possible while the item is still in demand from resellers and those who hear about the "retirement" before moving on. I'm sure they have better supply/demand data than any of us, and I don't think they would leave money on the table. There might be 20 thousand purchasing collectors/investors/(ebay, amazon)resellers on this website each buying anywhere from 2-20 of a set. The question is if this group composes 2% of all Lego Buyers or much more than that... what would be even more interesting is to see the statistical demographic data of consumer for Lego in North America.

Either way if I can purchase 1 or 2 SSD's at cost before the years over I probably will.

See, the thing is, we don't really know if it is selling well in relation to other sets. Maybe they just don't produce that many SSDs and the few that hit the open market get bought up quickly. There might be way more lucrative sets for LEGO and we would never know. We can make educated guesses, but the amount of resellers buying these sets and the amount of sets sold by a primary retailer are unknown to most of us.

Sent from my iPad using Brickpicker

[MillerTime]

People who keep saying Lego hates resellers are starting to be a pet peeve of mine. From a finance perspective, the reason why Lego bans some people from retail purchasing is simple: to force resellers to become an official Lego reseller, which benefits Lego even MORE than having their products sold via retail.

 

I manage 3 shifts and inventory control for a very large online retailer. When I need more labor, I offer voluntary overtime to 50 or so associates. Many of them ask if they can come in for only 1/2 of a day to work overtime. I tell them no and that it is a full day of overtime or nothing. Using the logic of many of you on these forums, that means that I am against employees getting overtime. That's the exact opposite. I know more than 50% of them will settle for coming in for a full day, which gives me more labor overall. It is the exact same logic for Lego. They think by trying to round up resellers into their official program, they will benefit more down the road, as well as keep sales for its end consumers more constant and easier to forecast. It does NOT mean they hate resellers.

[amtrak23]

People who keep saying Lego hates resellers are starting to be a pet peeve of mine. From a finance perspective, the reason why Lego bans some people from retail purchasing is simple: to force resellers to become an official Lego reseller, which benefits Lego even MORE than having their products sold via retail.

 

I manage 3 shifts and inventory control for a very large online retailer. When I need more labor, I offer voluntary overtime to 50 or so associates. Many of them ask if they can come in for only 1/2 of a day to work overtime. I tell them no and that it is a full day of overtime or nothing. Using the logic of many of you on these forums, that means that I am against employees getting overtime. That's the exact opposite. I know more than 50% of them will settle for coming in for a full day, which gives me more labor overall. It is the exact same logic for Lego. They think by trying to round up resellers into their official program, they will benefit more down the road, as well as keep sales for its end consumers more constant and easier to forecast. It does NOT mean they hate resellers.

I doubt it has anything to do with becoming an ITD. First, if you become an ITD you don't get much of a deal, and then you have to pay their inflated shipping/freight, which basically negates the wholesale pricing. Second, you have no idea when or if you will get what you order. I have had orders open for 8 months, and they will send 1 of this, 3 of that, 25 of this, etc. Third, it is very tough to become an ITD as you need a BM location. The minimum order requirements are easy, but they removed the option for online only retailers a year or two back, and I'm quite certain it is still that way. So there is no reason for a reseller to want to buy direct. Not to mention almost 100% of the resellers fit the profile of not being able to meet Lego's minimum requirements of needing a physical store front.

 

I believe they don't like resellers for the simple fact that they want the product to be available to the end user. The end user who might walk in a buy one of this, or that, and a few of these, etc. And before you know it you have a shopper who has spent more time in the store and more money on regularly priced items. As compared to the reseller who is looking for only the discounted/hot items, and spends 1 minute in the store. You get no add on purchases from a reseller, and they can only really make your brand look bad (oos instances and inflated prices, thus damaging brand image down the road).

 

It's the same as any other retailer that dislikes resellers. It doesn't make a lot of financial sense to ban somebody who spends more money than 99% of the people who shop there but they still do. And they all do it. To date I'm pretty sure the only stores I have not been banned/blacklisted from is Sam's, Lego (which is miraculous, but probably has to do with how much I used to order from back in the phone special days) and most of the overseas places. 

[hannibal]

 

My point was only to examine your statement that Retiring product is what makes Lego successful. My opinion is that the retirement aspect has minuscule benefit to Lego the company, but HUGE benefit to folks like us. I think the knowledge within this group of folks overly colors our opinion of Lego's perspectives and what makes them tick.

 

I think there are very, very few folks buying Lego with the thought it will ever be worth more tomorrow than when you purchased it. If that's true, (which we have no real way of knowing) Lego itself gains very little if any benefit from any perceived value increase.

 

 

I'm sorry, but this post seems wrong to me. 

 

A. Retiring product is a MAJOR decision for TLG. The CEO even quotes it in his annual speech: 'more than 60% of products are renewed yearly. This makes this toy always new and innovative for customers.' Retiring LEGO is a major driver of sales.

 

B. It is not clear whether retirement is a clear positive for resellers. Some product retires early because it's a miss. Or because the line gets a refreshed and better BUT VERY SIMILAR new product. As a reseller you need to pick which retired sets go buy - even at steep discount (my personal opinion: too much stock on sets bought at -40% that isn't sellable yet after years EOL)

 

C. Your thought that TLG doesn't follow the resellers market  / second hand prices is also wrong in my opinion. A good 'luxury/collectors' producer, be it a toy cy, comic book manuf or handbag producer, will create scarcefull quality that should perform in the secondary market AS THIS WILL INCREASE THE BRAND IMAGE of the firm. TLG has EVERY INTEREST in keeping the resellers market healthy. And that's the reason why I personally think they shoud review their prices differences between continents before it's too late and the US will be flooding the market with cheap SSD's.

 

Regards

 

 

Absolutely true and couldn't agree more. Repeating what the wiser people said is pointless, but in a nutshell this is how the business nowadays works - you need to get people hooked, excited and always offer something new!

 

 

 

When a company's goal is to make money, I don't see them having any reason to retire an expensive set that is selling very well, there's simply no reason to when people are still buying it.  I

I am sorry mate but this is one of the stupid analogies we're seeing here. If following your logic VW Beetle Mark I (the actual car I mean) would still be in production from VW group (the plant in Brasil doesn't apply in this situation)..same with Golf Mark 1. Peugeot 206 etc etc and all the other successful products on the market, whether its a car, cell phone, piece of clothing or just whatever. I make a living working for the Automotive Industry and I can tell you companies spend Godzillian amount of money early just to keep models fresh. Re-new and re-fresh now is more important than ever, its not a company preference or company specific, its a demand! Product life cycles are getting shorter in order for the companies to stay competitive and give customer more choice. Same applies to LEGO group, regardless how good some sets sell, LG can squeeze several months to a year more out of production, but they have to pull the plug sooner or later.

As with the secondary market, yes...they're complimenting each other and although being more difficult now with more re-sellers, I still think there is room for more as the brand awareness just grows with big numbers every year.

 

[mudcatsfan]

 

I am sorry mate but this is one of the stupid analogies we're seeing here. If following your logic VW Beetle Mark I (the actual car I mean) would still be in production from VW group (the plant in Brasil doesn't apply in this situation)..same with Golf Mark 1. Peugeot 206 etc etc and all the other successful products on the market, whether its a car, cell phone, piece of clothing or just whatever. I make a living working for the Automotive Industry and I can tell you companies spend Godzillian amount of money early just to keep models fresh. 

 

Those who construct glass analogies shouldn't throw stones.

 

The DS is one of several hundreds of products, whereas the Beetle was one of, what tens of VW's each year?

 

Also comedic that you pointed out an example of a company producing JUST one product, and it being the SAME product for 33 straight years because it was a great seller,,,,,,,,,,,but then saying that doesn't apply,

 

 

Lego could keep retiring 99% of its products each year and keep the DS forever and it would not tarnish their image, nor ruin the urgency to get the set you want before its gone. And that's what they've done for 6 years now. Is that over? ( I have 6 DS 10188's that say i hope they do).

[Ciglione]

I would like to add a minor detail to this discussion and then I will shut up.

 

Lego does not really have competition. No serious one at this moment. So the pressure to innovate or renew is not as high as with cell phones. I cannot recall any cell phone that was in production 5+ years and still selling good.

 

Again, it is a minor detail. But not unimportant in my humble opinion.

[naf]

I would like to add a minor detail to this discussion and then I will shut up.

 

Lego does not really have competition. No serious one at this moment. So the pressure to innovate or renew is not as high as with cell phones. I cannot recall any cell phone that was in production 5+ years and still selling good.

 

Again, it is a minor detail. But not unimportant in my humble opinion.

 

I don't agree, Lego has plenty of competition - all the other toys out there.  Remember, Lego's primary customer are not AFOLs, they are kids and teens.  They need to keep the product line fresh so that kids keep asking their parents for Lego as opposed to other toys.  I can tell you, as a former kid, it works.  They used to stick product catalogs in Lego sets during the 80's and 90's that showcased all the current and future sets that were coming out that year.  Those new sets always made my birthday and Christmas list.  I had few toys other than Lego growing up, simply because I didn't ask for anything else.  If Lego starts to appear dull or boring, kids will gravitate to action figures or something else that piques their interest.

[Ed Mack]

People who keep saying Lego hates resellers are starting to be a pet peeve of mine. From a finance perspective, the reason why Lego bans some people from retail purchasing is simple: to force resellers to become an official Lego reseller, which benefits Lego even MORE than having their products sold via retail.

 

I manage 3 shifts and inventory control for a very large online retailer. When I need more labor, I offer voluntary overtime to 50 or so associates. Many of them ask if they can come in for only 1/2 of a day to work overtime. I tell them no and that it is a full day of overtime or nothing. Using the logic of many of you on these forums, that means that I am against employees getting overtime. That's the exact opposite. I know more than 50% of them will settle for coming in for a full day, which gives me more labor overall. It is the exact same logic for Lego. They think by trying to round up resellers into their official program, they will benefit more down the road, as well as keep sales for its end consumers more constant and easier to forecast. It does NOT mean they hate resellers.

Not to get completely off the topic...Maybe if you scheduled more efficiently, you could stop paying overtime altogether and save the company some money.  Just sayin'...

 

On topic...LEGO makes it difficult to be an Independent retailer.  Brick and Mortar store is required.  No exclusives.  You must sell two other major toy brands.  Most cannot afford to do this.

[hannibal]

Those who construct glass analogies shouldn't throw stones.

 

The DS is one of several hundreds of products, whereas the Beetle was one of, what tens of VW's each year?

 

Also comedic that you pointed out an example of a company producing JUST one product, and it being the SAME product for 33 straight years because it was a great seller,,,,,,,,,,,but then saying that doesn't apply,

 

 

Lego could keep retiring 99% of its products each year and keep the DS forever and it would not tarnish their image, nor ruin the urgency to get the set you want before its gone. And that's what they've done for 6 years now. Is that over? ( I have 6 DS 10188's that say i hope they do).

If you didn't get the very essence of my post, then it's pointless to give you more arguments. Thanks God companies are not run with such mentality, otherwise they would be extinct by now..

 

 

I would like to add a minor detail to this discussion and then I will shut up.

 

Lego does not really have competition. No serious one at this moment. So the pressure to innovate or renew is not as high as with cell phones. I cannot recall any cell phone that was in production 5+ years and still selling good.

 

Again, it is a minor detail. But not unimportant in my humble opinion.

 

They don't have a competition in the "bricks set" type of play. But in kid's toys, the competition is very fierce.

Yes for the cell phones. If the logic of "never retire or improve something that sells well" was right, we would still be with Nokia 3310s.

 

I don't agree, Lego has plenty of competition - all the other toys out there.  Remember, Lego's primary customer are not AFOLs, they are kids and teens.  They need to keep the product line fresh so that kids keep asking their parents for Lego as opposed to other toys.  I can tell you, as a former kid, it works.  They used to stick product catalogs in Lego sets during the 80's and 90's that showcased all the current and future sets that were coming out that year.  Those new sets always made my birthday and Christmas list.  I had few toys other than Lego growing up, simply because I didn't ask for anything else.  If Lego starts to appear dull or boring, kids will gravitate to action figures or something else that piques their interest.

Absolutely. Kids are over saturated with Toys nowadays, even to the point - spoiled. Way too many choices and over abundant market, especially in the western world. Sometimes parents have to hide little toddler's toys and re-introduce them to the kids months later otherwise interest to play with all gets lost. So in terms of competition its never been as hard. Toys are getting less and less expensive with the cheap labour coming from China and other countries in the region and to be competitive you really have to dig in deep to find out what the kids need nowadays. I am not even mentioning things like game consoles etc.. Anyway, in the last decade it seems Lego has found its Mojo...

By the way, when I was a kid, I had a few toys only. One of them was a tiny Technic set. I looked well after it as it was super expensive and I knew I can't have another one.

Back on the 10221 Super Star Destroyer, what's the status of the UK market? Any SSDs in the shops?

[inversion]

A haul of SSDs just arrived to the Hungarian store which always leaks information.

[trekgate502]

A haul of SSDs just arrived to the Hungarian store which always leaks information.

I wonder if this means the one time restock or a global refill?

Besides my purchase I noted yesterday it seems USA purchases have dried up.

[No More Monkeys]

A haul of SSDs just arrived to the Hungarian store which always leaks information.

Can you check (or ask) what are the codes on the seals? And I was not following - did anyone from Europe reported the codes from the latest SSD wave?

[johnwray]

I'd just like to chime in and say that Lego's competition isn't just coming from other toys... it's coming from video games and apps. Physical toys in general are battling against digital entertainment which renews constantly and is always offering something cutting edge. If the toy industry wants to keep up, they have to regularly design new and exciting products.

[inversion]

Can you check (or ask) what are the codes on the seals? And I was not following - did anyone from Europe reported the codes from the latest SSD wave?

I can check after a week only. I dropped into the shop to check on things before I went on vacation.

[ZULU]

The speech of the CEO on 2013 results was very interesting and validates most remarks - even though you need to read between the lines. 

 

http://aboutus.lego.com/en-us/news-room/2014/february/annual-result-2013-od-video

 

Take care.

[ZULU]

Also: there's a big shipment of SSD coming to France & Holland expected on 30/6. 

[33Lego]

Just picked up my 2 SSD from WM.

 

This time, no packing at all.

 

Shipping label on top and they tape the lego seal, lol

 

 

debating if I should return or keep.

 

 

Any one having similar problems?

[marcandre]

Just picked up my 2 SSD from WM.

 

This time, no packing at all.

 

Shipping label on top and they tape the lego seal, lol

 

 

debating if I should return or keep.

 

 

Any one having similar problems?

 

That sucks. I have four due on Thursday for pickup. I'll decline on the spot if they look bad.

 

You could return and check the store later to see if they turn up on the shelf for less. If they are not terrible you should probably keep them. A blow dryer will get that label off no problem.