Retiring Soon - open speculation

[Val-E]

 I'm new to this, but the two seem incongruous to me. How does a set from such a dreadfully unpopular series double or triple in price after EOL? I've been buying these because of the perceived scarcity, but, to be 100% honest, when I look at the box there's nothing about it that excites me. I wouldn't buy it (for myself) for more than $40 or $50, and that would be just for the parts.

what am I missing about this?

(haha and why am I buying it since I obviously think it's lame? I'm such a lemming)

Scarcity trumps quality in this game.

[Miami Bomb Squad]

Scarcity trumps quality in this game.

I don't know about that.
There are some scarce Lone Rangers, Prince of Persia & Galaxy Squad sets out there.

[dcdfan]

Normally, I wouldn't have paid any attention to this line but reading at how many people are upset (not just on this site) that these 3 sets aren't even coming to their countries has made me take notice. The reviews I've read of the boat have been really good & the excitement prior to its release & non-release have me interested.

[Val-E]

I don't know about that.There are some scarce Lone Rangers, Prince of Persia & Galaxy Squad sets out there.

An unpopular theme trumps scarcity to an infinite negative !

[conceptmachine]

I'm not a investor...i just buy a set here and there and still manage to have 30k in sets down in the basement that I've accumulated in 4 years time.  I didn't buy 1 ultra agents set.  I did however get 1 lone ranger train set because it looks cool.  Galaxy squad had some fairly cool sets...so did buy some of those.  Ultra agents were just meh.  Maybe I should go on Tru site and drop a few hundy for trade bait

Edited August 29, 2015 by conceptmachine

[Val-E]

I'm not a investor...i just buy a set here and there and still manage to have 30k in sets down in the basement that I've accumulated in 4 years time.  I didn't buy 1 ultra agents set.  I did however get 1 lone ranger train set because it looks cool.  Galaxy squad had some fairly cool sets...so did buy some of those.  Ultra agents were just meh.  Maybe I should go on Tru site and drop a few hundy for trade bait

Maybe the point is that you had the choice to buy them or not. With this set, we were not given a choice - had we been, it may well have passed unnoticed like so many other UA sets but because it is impossible to find people want it. See also Marina Sands and Sungnyemum which are really nothing special either or some of the Maersk and Lufthansa stuff too.

[conceptmachine]

I'll pick up a couple for SAG and hopefully be able to trade in US

Edited August 29, 2015 by conceptmachine

[chipbee]

I'm not a investor...i just buy a set here and there and still manage to have 30k in sets down in the basement that I've accumulated in 4 years time.  I didn't buy 1 ultra agents set.  I did however get 1 lone ranger train set because it looks cool.  Galaxy squad had some fairly cool sets...so did buy some of those.  Ultra agents were just meh.  Maybe I should go on Tru site and drop a few hundy for trade bait

ultra agents is meh? My kid built a few of the bigger sets like the helicopter, and our view is that they look really cool with the blue transparent bricks against the largely black colour theme. The mini figs are also very well designed. If lego had put in the same marketing effort to this theme as they had for chima, i would think that the ultra agent theme would achieve the same popularity as ninjago. Too bad some exec in the company made a wrong choice.

[Miami Bomb Squad]

Maybe the point is that you had the choice to buy them or not. With this set, we were not given a choice - had we been, it may well have passed unnoticed like so many other UA sets but because it is impossible to find people want it. See also Marina Sands and Sungnyemum which are really nothing special either or some of the Maersk and Lufthansa stuff too.

These are good examples of scarcity, MSB was sold in Singapore, Sungmawhatyoumacallit was EOL in 6-8 months, and Lufthansa  polybags were giving to kids on their flights.
However, I think all those designs are very nice.  So, scarcity and well design makes excellent investments.

[conceptmachine]

I did my share and picked up a couple just now.  Didn't realize I had 300 in my paypal just sitting there.  Been a while since I used it.  So now 100.  Even if they never do well...i don't see them going below msrp...so no harm done.  Trade bait is good to have laying around.

[conceptmachine]

Looks like SC is gonna make a return for a bit at LSAH

Edited August 29, 2015 by conceptmachine

[Ciglione]

Looks like SC is gonna make a return for a bit at LSAH

Sopwith Camel?

[conceptmachine]

Sea cow...they were sold out just a while ago...now they must have another batch coming in.

[Val-E]

We have to seriously work on these abbreviations especially now with the reissues! Just as well that both these ones are (relative) stinkers.

Edited August 29, 2015 by valenciaeric

[outatime]

lol I was sitting here going red in the face thinking Sopwith Camel was coming back!   Dude be clearer next time, your killing me here!   

As it happens I have two Sea Cows at my front door waiting to come in and join my store room, can't imagine its a fresh batch being produced seeing as they are slowly stopping production on the movie sets but I guess time will tell as always.

[Ciglione]

lol I was sitting here going red in the face thinking Sopwith Camel was coming back!   Dude be clearer next time, your killing me here!   

As it happens I have two Sea Cows at my front door waiting to come in and join my store room, can't imagine its a fresh batch being produced seeing as they are slowly stopping production on the movie sets but I guess time will tell as always.

They are becoming that desperate? 

[Val-E]

lol I was sitting here going red in the face thinking Sopwith Camel was coming back!   Dude be clearer next time, your killing me here!   

As it happens I have two Sea Cows at my front door waiting to come in and join my store room, can't imagine its a fresh batch being produced seeing as they are slowly stopping production on the movie sets but I guess time will tell as always.

Are they Jehovah´s witnesses?

[Deadfraggle]

We have to seriously work on these abbreviations especially now with the reissues! Just as well that both these ones are stinkers.

They might not be great from an investment perspective (although I think it's certainly premature to make that call on the Sea Cow), but they are magnificent sets to build and display. Then again maybe they do stink, and my taste in LEGO just runs different than the masses.

[conceptmachine]

Are they Jehovah´s witnesses?

If it were the case there would have been a Sea Cow that visited my front door today when I was in my best undies.

[Darth_Raichu]

Shouldn't the abbreviation be MSC for MetalBeard's Sea Cow ?

[dcdfan]

Shouldn't the abbreviation be MSC for MetalBeard's Sea Cow ?

YES, please!

[Val-E]

They might not be great from an investment perspective (although I think it's certainly premature to make that call on the Sea Cow), but they are magnificent sets to build and display. Then again maybe they do stink, and my taste in LEGO just runs different than the masses.

It´s my opinion and not worth much in the scheme of things. 3-4 years ago both these sets would have done better as they were not around for long and as you say have quite unique designs and builds. The problem is that the target audience is apparently quite restricted (when there were less of us resellers the balance was better spread) and they don´t make good collectibles because they don´t integrate with other sets like modulars or trains do.

Edited August 29, 2015 by valenciaeric

[conceptmachine]

I'll just do without abrevations... they often confuse me too.  Sometimes I actually gotta look up what people are talking about...  sometimes the actual full words are only a couple letters longer than the abbreviation. Lol like in that instance 

[cissi]

Sea Cow only got 6 letters, only 3 letters shorter than MSC... a little bit tedious to make abbreviation, no?

Maybe MSC can be more confusing/challenging than SC for people to adapt to. lol

[bendra1]

I'm really glad we're addressing the topic of abbreviations here. It is pure insanity. I mean, how much time are you saving, really? Even if it accumulates and winds up being a couple of hours, even a day in total, through a life time, I gotta say it's just not worth it. Let's be honest, you were going to waste those two hours/that day. As far as language is concerned, it's the equivalent of buying Chima to me. Utterly pointless, and kind of ugly. Despite Mark Stafford's efforts. 

Also, for those discrediting Sea Cow, you're wrong and spreading misinformation in my opinion. I don't think there's anyone out there who has actually built it that says "Meh, it's pretty dull." On the contrary, anyone that's spent some time with this set knows that it's a remarkable gem with massive potential. I mean think about how much the Pirates of the Caribbean ships are worth now, and those probably (I don't own any, I was lost and adrift in my dark ages.) weren't nearly as big or wonderfully nuanced as my dear cow.  Aside from that, it was a major set piece in the film, thus guaranteeing its place in the zeitgeist for years to come, like the death star, or the bat mobile. Probably not to the extent of those two, but my point is that it's a part of pop culture now, which is basically our mythology now. If I had more money in the bank, or more room in my home, I would completely double down on that set. Stupid stock market. 

On a side note/coffee talk topic: Do you think if lego were around during the age where folks believed in Zues, that Apollo's Chariot sets would be skyrocketing? Asking for a friend in a parallel dimension where that happened.