10237 - Tower of Orthanc

[Darth_Raichu]

1 minute ago, Val-E said:

Was anyone OT in TFA for more than 10 seconds, though?

I would have walked out of the theater had Han said how he liked the bowcaster 1 last time as he fell down the bridge  

[exciter1]

5 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

I would have walked out of the theater had Han said how he liked the bowcaster 1 last time as he fell down the bridge  

That was the first time he every shot one (very believable).

[Val-E]

7 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

I would have walked out of the theater had Han said how he liked the bowcaster 1 last time as he fell down the bridge  

Yeah, his only dialogue was "I like this". You don´t get much for your retainer these days.

Anyway, it was nice to see so much activity in this thread. Back to the bubble one for me.

Edited October 17, 2016 by Val-E

[thebluewizard]

Back on topic, I think this set has a lot going for it. It wasn't on the market for too long, probably won't be remade and shoud do well with AFOL in the coming years.

[GregP]

Evening

First of all apologies if the following question is posted in wrong place.

I'm looking to get my hands on this set. Are there any U.K based brickpickers that have one available?

[fossilrock]

On 10/17/2016 at 3:32 PM, exciter1 said:

Harrison Ford

And Anthony Daniels!

[Orthanc_Residen]

On 19.10.2016 at 0:10 AM, GregP said:

Evening

First of all apologies if the following question is posted in wrong place.

I'm looking to get my hands on this set. Are there any U.K based brickpickers that have one available?

Well, do you expect them to sell it for less than those on Ebay.co.uk?

[Guest TabbyBoy]

On 18/10/2016 at 11:10 PM, GregP said:

Evening

First of all apologies if the following question is posted in wrong place.

I'm looking to get my hands on this set. Are there any U.K based brickpickers that have one available?

I've sent you a PM ;-)

[GregP]

Thanks tabby

just replied 

[GhostDad]

On ‎9‎/‎28‎/‎2016 at 9:04 AM, KShine said:

This set is an absolute no brainer, and yet many are looking to get out with little to any gain (after going EOL) - This is sad, and very telling.

Eh?  The whole LotR/Hobbit theme was a disappointment.  Best to move on.  I've been watching other sets I fortunately sold out of last year, like Haunted House, R2-D2, and Arkham Asylum, actually decline this year.  I'll grant that AA has seen a remake, but that particular issue has been cropping up more and more lately.

[thebluewizard]

On 11/22/2016 at 3:24 AM, GhostDad said:

Eh?  The whole LotR/Hobbit theme was a disappointment.  Best to move on.  I've been watching other sets I fortunately sold out of last year, like Haunted House, R2-D2, and Arkham Asylum, actually decline this year.  I'll grant that AA has seen a remake, but that particular issue has been cropping up more and more lately.

I would have to disagree. Don't forget; it's only a matter of time until the Silmarillion gets made into multiple movie pictures. When that happens, sets like ToO should see a nice bump.

[Sprocket77]

12 minutes ago, thebluewizard said:

I would have to disagree. Don't forget; it's only a matter of time until the Silmarillion gets made into multiple movie pictures. When that happens, sets like ToO should see a nice bump.

Certain things shouldn't be made into movies, Silmarillion shouldn't even have been released as a book. There was a reason it didn't get released for years, even though it was written before Lord of the Rings, it just wasn't very good.

[jaisonline]

Having a related LOTR movie will help with demand but I'm not sure how much.  I think if there's no Lego line to coincide with such a film, that will help the retired Hobbit and LOTR theme.  If there are new sets, I think people will just buy those and ignore the older sets.  

Regarding 10237 ToO, it's similar to most of the LOTR theme.  As a product, it's a great set.  However, As an investment, it was a dud at retail is continuing to be one after retirement.  Such as disappointment. After fees, most sellers people are barely making a profit.  

I know my 10237s are collecting way too much dust with little appreciation.   This makes. buy-in price very important,   I believe this set was not discounted often either (people has to make their own discounts - e.g. Amazon points).

[thebluewizard]

30 minutes ago, jaisonline said:

Having a related LOTR movie will help with demand but I'm not sure how much.  I think if there's no Lego line to coincide with such a film, that will help the retired Hobbit and LOTR theme.  If there are new sets, I think people will just buy those and ignore the older sets.  

Regarding 10237 ToO, it's similar to most of the LOTR theme.  As a product, it's a great set.  However, As an investment, it was a dud at retail is continuing to be one after retirement.  Such as disappointment. After fees, most sellers people are barely making a profit.  

I know my 10237s are collecting way too much dust with little appreciation.   This makes. buy-in price very important,   I believe this set was not discounted often either (people has to make their own discounts - e.g. Amazon points).

Yeah, I managed to get three of these at a 15% discount so that does help. There are better sets out there if the only option is buying at rrp.

[Ciglione]

Do not forget. Helm's Deep struggled to get above RRP the first year after retirement. Now it is getting better. I do not say ToO will follow suit. But it still can change for the better.

If not, we must accept ToO is a dud.  

[KShine]

I've seen enough signs of life with the LOTR sets/minifigs - and things will continue to improve.

 Whether it be the hoarding, the timing of the general LEGO downturn, or whatever - yes, the success of this theme has been slow - but it is happening.

Edited March 3, 2017 by KShine

[fantomas007]

The performance of LOTR/Hobbit sets is a big disappointment for me. I expected a big increase of prices, since this theme has big fan base among AFOLs and they know that there is 99% probability that no other LOTR/Hobbit set will appear in future. What is also interesting for me is the bad sale of the best sets, which I thought MUST be winners - Helms deep, ToO, Unexpected gathering (unique set, full of special pieces). The best results of my portfolio have small and medium sets, which were turds for me (shellob attack, weathertop, etc). I dont understand that somebody pay EUR 70 for Urukhai army and not pay EUR 190 for Helms deep, which is 5x better...

[exciter1]

34 minutes ago, Ciglione said:

Do not forget. Helm's Deep struggled to get above RRP the first year after retirement. Now it is getting better. I do not say ToO will follow suit. But it still can change for the better.

If not, we must accept ToO is a dud.  

Helm's Deep has been on a 2 year plateau.  I've made good profit on LOTR sets (sure, it's not Harry Potter).  I honestly can't complain about FBA prices for Shelob's Attack, Uruk Hai Army, Black Gate, Mines of Moria or Orc Forge.

[feed]

58 minutes ago, Ciglione said:

Do not forget. Helm's Deep struggled to get above RRP the first year after retirement. Now it is getting better. I do not say ToO will follow suit. But it still can change for the better.

If not, we must accept ToO is a dud.  

How is it a dud?  It’s selling for £100 above retail on eBay (£270/£170). 
Sure it’s a slow seller, but there was always going to be a small market / low demand for £250+ LOTR sets.  
 

 

[jay4e]

59 minutes ago, fantomas007 said:

The performance of LOTR/Hobbit sets is a big disappointment for me. I expected a big increase of prices, since this theme has big fan base among AFOLs and they know that there is 99% probability that no other LOTR/Hobbit set will appear in future. What is also interesting for me is the bad sale of the best sets, which I thought MUST be winners - Helms deep, ToO, Unexpected gathering (unique set, full of special pieces). The best results of my portfolio have small and medium sets, which were turds for me (shellob attack, weathertop, etc). I dont understand that somebody pay EUR 70 for Urukhai army and not pay EUR 190 for Helms deep, which is 5x better...

I believe this fell pray to exclusives bubble burst (deflation?) of 2015.  there were a number of high profile exclusives that retired that were heavily horded due to all the hype of lego reselling, and a big focus on "exclusives" in particular.  Same with Red5, Sea Cow, tumbler and a few others.  They will all see slow growth but long term they may still do well.  

This set further falls pray to a down turn in hard core fantasy.   Star Wars, Super Heroes, and apocalyptic worlds have pushed out Game of Thrones, and there is just not enough market left for fantasy, and especially high fantasy like LOTR.  You can see the same trends in gaming, having shifted to more sci-fi than fantasy.  This set needs big fantasy booster to come along again, the same way Rogue One and LEGO Batman have have helped Red5 and the Tumbler, recover a bit.

Edited March 3, 2017 by jay4e

[Val-E]

It would have been better to have bought the Star Wars AT AT or ISD than any of the 2015 retired exclusives, even at full RRP and at 40% off  no brainer.

I have moved away from Exclusives because they are just not performing anymore.

[John82]

19 minutes ago, feed said:

How is it a dud?  It’s selling for £100 above retail on eBay (£270/£170). 
Sure it’s a slow seller, but there was always going to be a small market / low demand for £250+ LOTR sets.  
 

 

It's one of the few sets that is doing better in the EU than the US. 

I think the theme will eventually become good, but it's currently still hoarded like crazy. Although I think this set in the EU market is nearly at the ceiling, the demand in exclusives as Val-E says has gone for us.

Edited March 3, 2017 by John82

[jay4e]

5 minutes ago, Val-E said:

I have moved away from Exclusives because they are just not performing anymore.

I still play in diversity.  Exclusives these days are like bonds, long term solid returns.  I am especially banking on the big time resellers mostly being skittish short term investors.  I believe we saw indications of that this Christmas season.

[Val-E]

9 minutes ago, jay4e said:

I still play in diversity.  Exclusives these days are like bonds, long term solid returns.  I am especially banking on the big time resellers mostly being skittish short term investors.  I believe we saw indications of that this Christmas season.

Yeah but Lego selling these days is all about selling in volume at lower margins. You are going to be making more money flipping Mazes, Elves sets or Wall-E than on PS and it´s way way easier to shift the former. We have seen that there is a 300 euro ceiling on FB and GE and PS won´t get there for at least 18 months. By then you could have flipped next year´s gems and the year after that´s and turned more profit. That would also be diversification as you can get 4 or 5 for the price of a medium exclusive.

 

Edited March 3, 2017 by Val-E

[KShine]

This theme best shows the effect that the horde of "min-emazers" had on overall LEGO investment performance.

Everyone started piling in on the large exclusives (which have not performed so well), and started ignoring the small/medium sets (which comparatively, have done so much better)