10188 - UCS: Death Star

[GhostDad]

Ah, the classic Chinese 'Lego to Jewelry' bait and switch.  It's the oldest trick in the book.  I still have a giant heap of costume jewelry where my stack of MISB 10179's is supposed to be.  I just can't bring myself to take the loss and accept that the UCS Falcons I was promised by 'supertrustguy99' (only $99 each with free shipping!) will never arrive...  I mean, delivery from China can take a long time, right?

[mscheaf]

Ah, the classic Chinese 'Lego to Jewelry' bait and switch.  It's the oldest trick in the book.  I still have a giant heap of costume jewelry where my stack of MISB 10179's is supposed to be.  I just can't bring myself to take the loss and accept that the UCS Falcons I was promised by 'supertrustguy99' (only $99 each with free shipping!) will never arrive...  I mean, delivery from China can take a long time, right?

 

So you are the one with all my jewelry for the Dragon Boat Festival. I didn't know what to do with all these aluminum falcons.

[golong]

i put up the original post on the 1st of Feb about the 4 death stars listed on ebay uk for 180 pounds each.  I am glad that i missed out now given the general view that it appears to be a scam.  I must admit i was taken in and would have snapped one up had i had the chance.  I am interested in what the tell tale signs are.  When i saw the listing i immediately went to the check the sellers feedback.  He had 100% feedback with 28 transactions.  These all appear to be sales of some fitness programme, then all of a sudden he/she starts listing death stars.  

 

I note that they listed 4 originally, then another 6 an hour later, then another 4 yesterday.  At the time i did not think it completely implausible that someone would off load their DS at below MSRP as i thought maybe they need to free up cash asap.  I appreciate now that selling 14 DS for 180 pounds each seems a little unlikely.

For my future reference is it common for sellers to build up positive feedback with a few genuine sales before launching a scam.  I know a good starting point is to take the approach that if it is too good to be true it probably is, but i assume that in the future i good starting point if you spot a really good deal is to be looking for extremely positive feedback with a high number of transactions

[MathBuilder]

[meme]

 

Is that the guy waiting on his Death Stars to arrive or waiting on them to retire LOL?

 

First thought that came to mind (no offense intended to anyone with the analogy:

 

Surely it has to be the loyal dog sitting on those DS's patiently waiting for master LEGO to retire them. I know how it feels to walk in those paws. 

[Heart Juggler]

Just a quick update,

 

I have reported the ebay seller so hopefully action will be taken asap.

 

Next time I will not be so gullible, I hope others learn from my mistake. In the future when buying the larger sets I will stick to the lego shop and not hunt for bargains that sound too good to be true on ebay!

 

As for my refund, I will have to wait until 11th to open a case (as that was the latest expected delivery).

[terrymc4677]

i put up the original post on the 1st of Feb about the 4 death stars listed on ebay uk for 180 pounds each.  I am glad that i missed out now given the general view that it appears to be a scam.  I must admit i was taken in and would have snapped one up had i had the chance.  I am interested in what the tell tale signs are.  When i saw the listing i immediately went to the check the sellers feedback.  He had 100% feedback with 28 transactions.  These all appear to be sales of some fitness programme, then all of a sudden he/she starts listing death stars.  

 

I note that they listed 4 originally, then another 6 an hour later, then another 4 yesterday.  At the time i did not think it completely implausible that someone would off load their DS at below MSRP as i thought maybe they need to free up cash asap.  I appreciate now that selling 14 DS for 180 pounds each seems a little unlikely.

For my future reference is it common for sellers to build up positive feedback with a few genuine sales before launching a scam.  I know a good starting point is to take the approach that if it is too good to be true it probably is, but i assume that in the future i good starting point if you spot a really good deal is to be looking for extremely positive feedback with a high number of transactions

It's most likely a hacked account that has been sitting dormant. When was the last "legitimate" sale of the fitness program? Without looking, I'd be willing to bet that it was quite some time ago. These hackers find accounts with positive feedback that seem to have been "abandoned" and start listing a bunch of expensive lego at incredible prices. Meanwhile, the original owner of the account has no idea this is going on. Scum.

[mscheaf]

i put up the original post on the 1st of Feb about the 4 death stars listed on ebay uk for 180 pounds each.  I am glad that i missed out now given the general view that it appears to be a scam.  I must admit i was taken in and would have snapped one up had i had the chance.  I am interested in what the tell tale signs are.  When i saw the listing i immediately went to the check the sellers feedback.  He had 100% feedback with 28 transactions.  These all appear to be sales of some fitness programme, then all of a sudden he/she starts listing death stars.  

 

I note that they listed 4 originally, then another 6 an hour later, then another 4 yesterday.  At the time i did not think it completely implausible that someone would off load their DS at below MSRP as i thought maybe they need to free up cash asap.  I appreciate now that selling 14 DS for 180 pounds each seems a little unlikely.

For my future reference is it common for sellers to build up positive feedback with a few genuine sales before launching a scam.  I know a good starting point is to take the approach that if it is too good to be true it probably is, but i assume that in the future i good starting point if you spot a really good deal is to be looking for extremely positive feedback with a high number of transactions

 

The trick is to be a cynical, glass completely empty, a-hole all the time then these kind of things just get ignored.

[ravenb99]

i put up the original post on the 1st of Feb about the 4 death stars listed on ebay uk for 180 pounds each.  I am glad that i missed out now given the general view that it appears to be a scam.  I must admit i was taken in and would have snapped one up had i had the chance.  I am interested in what the tell tale signs are.  When i saw the listing i immediately went to the check the sellers feedback.  He had 100% feedback with 28 transactions.  These all appear to be sales of some fitness programme, then all of a sudden he/she starts listing death stars.  

 

I note that they listed 4 originally, then another 6 an hour later, then another 4 yesterday.  At the time i did not think it completely implausible that someone would off load their DS at below MSRP as i thought maybe they need to free up cash asap.  I appreciate now that selling 14 DS for 180 pounds each seems a little unlikely.

For my future reference is it common for sellers to build up positive feedback with a few genuine sales before launching a scam.  I know a good starting point is to take the approach that if it is too good to be true it probably is, but i assume that in the future i good starting point if you spot a really good deal is to be looking for extremely positive feedback with a high number of transactions

It is usually an account with good feedback that is not currently active or being used.

The account is hacked and used and the original owner of the account probably doesn't even know.

Best sign is to check the accounts prior sales history. Most of the ones hijacked have no LEGO sales history. An account that has no prior LEGO sales that suddenly sells one of the more expensive sets at a huge discount is a big red flag.

2nd is check transactions completed over the last year. Most are 0 from what i have seen. The accounts hijacked are almost always good feedback accounts as they figure someone will see 100% positive and feel safe. They usually are lower scores as well but i have seem some higher ones.

 

They will also use the technique you mentioned in selling a small amount, then add more as they sell.  They don't want to draw to much attention by listing 25 DS at once.  So they sell 4 or so then ad more and keep repeating it.

Edited February 4, 2015 by ravenb99

[richardcore]

BP Price Guide:

http://www.brickpicker.com/bpms/set.cfm?set=10188-1

Thanks, overlooked that!

[oneknightr]

Is this set close to done? I didn't see any at my local Lego store. Target has it for $550. Walmart and TRU are out of stock online and LEGO Shop at Home is OOS and expected to ship on 2/22/15. I stopped tracking this set over a year ago since it's the set that won't die, so I don't know if it's been like this because of Christmas or not.

[justapilgrim]

It's been retiring for years

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Brickpicker mobile app

[vexxet]

It's been retiring for years

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Brickpicker mobile app

yes, but Toys R Us just emptied out their Distributors center by having all the remaining of their stock site to store.  thats never happened before and could be telling.

[trekgate502]

yes, but Toys R Us just emptied out their Distributors center by having all the remaining of their stock site to store.  thats never happened before and could be telling.

 

Can you explain this further?  Their website has been not allowing ship orders for months now except one time when a few came in stock and when I select store pickup there is none in the area it will allow.  thanks.

[vexxet]

Can you explain this further?  Their website has been not allowing ship orders for months now except one time when a few came in stock and when I select store pickup there is none in the area it will allow.  thanks.

yeah... i feel kinda bad, because i was trying to get my brother to buy one before i was going to post this... but then he finally bought one last night off of TRU.com.  and then early this morning it was sold out.  its been available to site to store for the last 4 days to site to store and i picked up 2 of them.   sorry guys, at least its still available on ls@**** though. 

 

 

maybe it was a west coast DC thing or maybe it was just luck, but the last 3-4 days my friends and I were able to do store pickup in our area.

Edited February 8, 2015 by vexxet

[toycrazedchris]

yeah... i feel kinda bad, because i was trying to get my brother to buy one before i was going to post this... but then he finally bought one last night off of TRU.com.  and then early this morning it was sold out.  its been available to site to store for the last 4 days to site to store and i picked up 2 of them.   sorry guys, at least its still available on ls@**** though. 

 

 

maybe it was a west coast DC thing or maybe it was just luck, but the last 3-4 days my friends and I were able to do store pickup in our area.

 

Stock at TRU fluctuates all the time, most times it means nothing. Best advice I can give is stick around a while and pay attention to stock at the various sites over a longer period of time. Very hard to draw a good conclusion based on one in/out stock event. Especially with this set.

[mudcatsfan]

Is this set close to done? I didn't see any at my local Lego store. Target has it for $550. Walmart and TRU are out of stock online and LEGO Shop at Home is OOS and expected to ship on 2/22/15. I stopped tracking this set over a year ago since it's the set that won't die, so I don't know if it's been like this because of Christmas or not.

 

Be sure to check out the very first post on this thread

[vexxet]

Stock at TRU fluctuates all the time, most times it means nothing. Best advice I can give is stick around a while and pay attention to stock at the various sites over a longer period of time. Very hard to draw a good conclusion based on one in/out stock event. Especially with this set.

I agree with everything you said, but this was not an in-stock scenario.  it was a sold out online site to store thing.  if that's the same thing as what you are talking about I apologize.

 

the reason why my brother took so long to buy one because he actually called up toysrus and they told him it was sold out and they had no stock remaining, but when i called him and walked him through the process he had to click on store pickup.  all other options were exhausted.  You can still do all the steps as he did, however now the local stores available are all greyed out which is the only difference.

Edited February 8, 2015 by vexxet

[Flippingbricks]

I'm prob the only one on this forum hoping it's not to late to get this set. I would love it just for display not investing but anything above retail I will hold off.

[cdenmier]

I'm prob the only one on this forum hoping it's not to late to get this set. I would love it just for display not investing but anything above retail I will hold off.

 

Not the only one...I wasn't that into the DS but have grown an appreciation for it, especially with my two young boys eating up Star Wars stuff. I decided about 2 weeks ago to stop waiting for double points push the button, only to find it backordered. Hopefully it's only a post-holiday shortage, or I have the worst timing ever!

[emazers]

Don't worry half the people on this site will be Scrambling to buy Death Stars when its just about to late, and coming up with the $400 to buy them will be another problem for alot of other people. So you guys that still believe this set is a dud or will take years to make big money will miss the Biggest Boat yet. Ed

[BrickLegacy]

Does anyone know what the latest reported seal code is on this set?

[toycrazedchris]

Does anyone know what the latest reported seal code is on this set?

 

Did a quick search for "seal" in this thread and found 47R4 and 46S4 posted recently.

[trekgate502]

Don't worry half the people on this site will be Scrambling to buy Death Stars when its just about to late, and coming up with the $400 to buy them will be another problem for alot of other people. So you guys that still believe this set is a dud or will take years to make big money will miss the Biggest Boat yet. Ed

 

I love this set.  One of the few I have built.  I love this non UCS, Kids product that does not get much love.

I still think it will be gone by early 2016 and plan to work to get a few more in the next few months if I can work it out.

I agree it is not easy to pick lots up at $400 a pop but I think it will be worth it to get what I can get before its gone.

[ravenb99]

Don't worry half the people on this site will be Scrambling to buy Death Stars when its just about to late, and coming up with the $400 to buy them will be another problem for alot of other people. So you guys that still believe this set is a dud or will take years to make big money will miss the Biggest Boat yet. Ed

Is that a cryptic hint to buy EEE???

 

Oh wait, wrong Ed

[GhostDad]

In the future, all cargo will be transported by Death Star, rendering the EEE obsolete.  You heard it here first.