10188 - UCS: Death Star

[GhostDad]

One clue/sign that speaks for the chance that the Death Star will not retire for at least one year:

 

The little set 75034 Death Star Troopers. It fits nicely with the Death Star. What would be the value of this little set if there was nothing to use/combine it with?

 

Please tell me if I am crazy or talking sense. 

You are talking sense.  However...  Lego does a terrible job managing inventory.  We can see by their summer catalog they expected the SSD to last well into, well, the summer.  Oops.  Anyway, their minifig packs don't generally combo with the other sets.  I think they're in their own little world, like the "Planet" sets.  The DS Troopers are awesome, but I think they're meant more to be the "poor man's DS", as opposed to a complement to 10188.  For one thing, they come with their own gun.  10188 has plenty of guns already (turbolasers and super duper mega planet destroying laser).  If anything, I could imagine Lego seeing the Troopers as a sort of replacement for 10188.

 

Anyway, here's a strong reason for 10188 to go: Lego wants to raise prices.  Look at 10221 vs. 10030: very similar piece count, radically different prices.  10188 has a similar price/weight ratio as GE.  For a licensed set, this is very unusual.  I'm sure Lego would like a 3800-piece SW set to retail at $499, not $399.  But Lego almost never (AS maybe the only exception?) raises prices on a set after it's released.  By Lego tradition, the only way to stop selling the DS at 2008 prices and take into account dollar devaluation since then is to retire the set.  In a few years, maybe we'll see a new, slightly modified, much more expensive DS.  But it's time for 10188 to go, and every sign, except for the prediction of one anonymous mystery man, says it is on its way out.

[trekgate502]

It's obvious that we are all in camps of complete disagreement.

That is ok.

Someone will be right.

I'm with the brick show it will be gone by end of 2015 early 2016.

Great idea to stock up on the Death Star troopers to go as a freebie with the high price Death Star when they retire soon.

[Ciglione]

The battle packs are a ploy for kids to ask for the bigger sets. Have a $13.00 battle pack entice kids to want the $400 Death Stars and the other big sets. It's so they can nag.  

 

Exactly!

 

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me. Maybe the guys at the Brickshow are right. The 75034 Death Star Troopers came out this year (2014). So it will retire in two years (2016). Together with the Death Star.

[Ciglione]

Again... I do not want to repeat myself. (I am not hunting to add more posts). But what is a little arctic set without the arctic base? And what is an arctic base without the little sets? They belong together. Hope I made myself clear.

[GhostDad]

Times change. Principle doesn't. More and more people see that money on the banc is not working and how fragile our capitalism is with the example of Lehman Brothers that held the world economy hostage. No longer, you save money by letting it sleep in a banc. You can still sell lego, but only you'll have 1/5 or more of your 'clients' from China in 2018 and growing from that moment on until you will sell most to Chinese and India middle class. That combined with sites like ebay trying to wring you like a lemon more and more, It will be lot more of a hassle to sell lego so I understand waddamon's choice.

If we're depending on customers in China, we're in serious trouble.  China makes its own "legos" in huge quantities at low prices.  Everyone talks about how China and India are the future.  No, they're not.  China is a giant fixed-investment ghost-town building ponzi scheme, and India is a third-world nation with a first-world debt problem.  You would be hard-pressed to find a functioning democracy as fiscally incompetent as India.  If it were in the euro zone, everyone would be talking about it as the next Greece.  Anyway, Lego's future, like its past, is North America, western Europe, Australia, and the "western" Asian countries: Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan.  Lego itself claims to have big, bold plans for China.  Good luck with that.  It hasn't worked out very well for other western companies.  Basically, you enter the Chinese market, all your IP gets stolen, and then the government prosecutes you for being an illegal foreign monopoly.

[GhostDad]

It's obvious that we are all in camps of complete disagreement.

That is ok.

Someone will be right.

I'm with the brick show it will be gone by end of 2015 early 2016.

Great idea to stock up on the Death Star troopers to go as a freebie with the high price Death Star when they retire soon.

Consider for a moment how you're going to ship these sets together, without deboxing the troopers.  I predict trooper pancakes...

[toycrazedchris]

Consider for a moment how you're going to ship these sets together, without deboxing the troopers.  I predict trooper pancakes...

 

Separate USPS priority small flat-rate pkg for under $5.. : )

[GhostDad]

Separate USPS priority small flat-rate pkg for under $5.. : )

Actually, you can ship 'em 1st class for even less, though you'll have to provide your own box.  But if you're packing and shipping separately, I fail to see how it's useful to combine the sets in one listing.  Use your 80 characters on eBay to talk up the DS and its zillion exclusive minifigs instead...

[trekgate502]

Actually, you can ship 'em 1st class for even less, though you'll have to provide your own box.  But if you're packing and shipping separately, I fail to see how it's useful to combine the sets in one listing.  Use your 80 characters on eBay to talk up the DS and its zillion exclusive minifigs instead...

I have a soft heart to over pack, over box and give the customer great product, at a profitable price,

[newbie77]

Separate USPS priority small flat-rate pkg for under $5.. : )

if i remember correctly battle-packs are big for the small flat-rate box unless you want to pancake it then no need to ship separately.. 10188 will do the job...

 

they can be shipped for cheaper 1st class but expense is your own box..

[GhostDad]

I have a soft heart to over pack, over box and give the customer great product, at a profitable price,

Blasphemy!  You have to show the customer who's boss.  Here's how you do it:  Take the DS out of its brown Lego case, then duct tape the troopers box to the middle of the DS.  Then print out a shipping label and stick it on the troopers box.  Drop that puppy in the mail and you are done.

[c666187]

I've been investing in Lego for a couple years now and have started to really get into these threads. I agree with cashmoney and hope to strengthen his argument. I have five Death Stars and plan on selling all of them this Christmas. People keep on comparing the Death Star to the Super Star Destroyer and I want to raise a couple points that cashmoney has already began to do. The Super Star Destroyer set design used special made pieces that are hard for Lego to make. The Death Star on the other hand uses easy to make pieces and Lego will not stress themselves if they continue to make these pieces. I see no problem with Lego continuing to make this set for even another six years to come. Everything he's said so far I've agreed with.

What special made pieces are used in the SSD? I have built both the DS and thr SSD and I don't recall any special pieces being in the Super Star Destroyer

[trekgate502]

Blasphemy!  You have to show the customer who's boss.  Here's how you do it:  Take the DS out of its brown Lego case, then duct tape the troopers box to the middle of the DS.  Then print out a shipping label and stick it on the troopers box.  Drop that puppy in the mail and you are done.

That's hilarious! Do you work for walmart?

[johnwray]

Every Long Term Investor should be buying the 10188 Death Star whenever you have the money, when it does retire its not going to take 3 years or longer to reach $800 or more, The Death Star price will rise fast. Look at all the guys who said it would take 3-5 years for the SSD to be a money maker. So everybody who who missed the boat on the SSD don't make the same mistake on the DS.How many people on here are regreting not buying these, I am sure there are plenty. "So Buy those DS"

emazers, would you consider the DS the "priority one" set? There are several key sets threatening to retire, but is the DS the most important one to stock up on?

[johnwray]

What special made pieces are used in the SSD? I have built both the DS and thr SSD and I don't recall any special pieces being in the Super Star Destroyer

That flat gray one.

[Bold-Arrow]

emazers, would you consider the DS the "priority one" set? There are several key sets threatening to retire, but is the DS the most important one to stock up on?

I'm gonna give my 2 cents since it is an interesting question . GE before DS before Sopwith before HH.

[GhostDad]

I'm gonna give my 2 cents since it is an interesting question . GE before DS before Sopwith before HH.

I vote the same, except I'm ignoring Sopwith since I'm running out of room for inventory and its EOL signs are much less clear than the others.  So the order would be GE > DS > CV > HH > TB > TO > AA.  The last three are speculative, but Camper Van probably belongs on the short list given the new licensed Mini Cooper set and inventory drying up everywhere but LEGO Shop at Home.

[vimio]

DS looks like an awesome investment set. I would get one but I dont quite have 399$ to lay out right now. I do have 2 GE however. Hopefully ill make some money with that in a few years. And yes I think the GE goes before DS

[Neosphinx]

If we're depending on customers in China, we're in serious trouble.  China makes its own "legos" in huge quantities at low prices.  Everyone talks about how China and India are the future.  No, they're not.  China is a giant fixed-investment ghost-town building ponzi scheme, and India is a third-world nation with a first-world debt problem.  You would be hard-pressed to find a functioning democracy as fiscally incompetent as India.  If it were in the euro zone, everyone would be talking about it as the next Greece.  Anyway, Lego's future, like its past, is North America, western Europe, Australia, and the "western" Asian countries: Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan.  Lego itself claims to have big, bold plans for China.  Good luck with that.  It hasn't worked out very well for other western companies.  Basically, you enter the Chinese market, all your IP gets stolen, and then the government prosecutes you for being an illegal foreign monopoly.

 

Lego is a very established brand and they have good marketing, a good rep and a good review of parents. I can have a ZTE telephone but I still prefer a nice Samsung even tho it is often copied and the copies are most of the times better bang/buck.

I do not fear Chinese parents won't buy lego or that there will be Chinese and afols. More and more rich Chinese people come to the west and buy scandalously expensive items like purses eg. They can also choose to get a decently made Chinese purse but it's just not the same.

We're not in trouble if we depends on the Chinese lust for 'our' things. With 1,351 billion Chinese in the relative short run and 1,237 billion Indians in the next 20-30 years gaining more and more wealth everyday, our clientele is set.. but it will be a change in how we do business.

[GhostDad]

Lego is a very established brand and they have good marketing, a good rep and a good review of parents. I can have a ZTE telephone but I still prefer a nice Samsung even tho it is often copied and the copies are most of the times better bang/buck.

I do not fear Chinese parents won't buy lego or that there will be Chinese and afols. More and more rich Chinese people come to the west and buy scandalously expensive items like purses eg. They can also choose to get a decently made Chinese purse but it's just not the same.

We're not in trouble if we depends on the Chinese lust for 'our' things. With 1,351 billion Chinese in the relative short run and 1,237 billion Indians in the next 20-30 years gaining more and more wealth everyday, our clientele is set.. but it will be a change in how we do business.

One problem, as I've learned through painful experience, is that some of the world's Lego-loving middle class is stuck in countries with non-functioning postal systems and governments.  I finally gave up shipping to Argentina after the third "lost" parcel in a row.  Russian law now basically prevents incoming parcels to individuals from reaching their destinations.  Ditto for a dozen other countries.

 

With China and India, though...  I've always been willing to ship there, but I have never had a buyer in India and only one in China.  Canada, with its ~30,000,000 people, has generated about a hundred times more business for me than China's ~1,351,000,000.  Personal experience says the Chinese and Indians simply don't want to buy my lego sets.  Does anyone on here do significant business in India or China?  If so, speak up!  I'd love to know your secret.

[johnwray]

Exactly!

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me. Maybe the guys at the Brickshow are right. The 75034 Death Star Troopers came out this year (2014). So it will retire in two years (2016). Together with the Death Star.

I can't believe we're discussing the little Trooper set as a reason why the DS won't retire. We're really scraping the bottom of the barrel here.

A $12 battle pack is not a gateway to a $400 playset; it's a way to get some "army" minifigs out there. Clones, battle droids, Imperial whatevers, Hoth rebels, Endor rebels

[Neosphinx]

What other countries do you not ship to? I've knocked out Brazil, the Russian Federation, and Italy, but I'm curious as to what countries are on other reseller's black lists.

I am the nephew of a rich Prince of Nigeria... send me your goodies!

[inversion]

What other countries do you not ship to? I've knocked out Brazil, the Russian Federation, and Italy, but I'm curious as to what countries are on other reseller's black lists.

If you ship to eastern Europe use only courier services like GLS. The Post is really sloppy (or corrupt) here and lots of civilian parcels don't reach their destination (Hungarian experience). Particularly in Christmas time or/and if coming from abroad.

[Cashmoney-0]

Johnwray and ciglione are both right. Battle packs are sold for the minifigs and people can build their Lego armies or what have you. A kid asks his parents for the death star battle pack acne he is happy as first but the battle pack just isn't cool enough for him and he now wants the death. Then the nagging begins.

[GhostDad]

I can't believe we're discussing the little Trooper set as a reason why the DS won't retire. We're really scraping the bottom of the barrel here.

A $12 battle pack is not a gateway to a $400 playset; it's a way to get some "army" minifigs out there. Clones, battle droids, Imperial whatevers, Hoth rebels, Endor rebels