9516 - Jabba's Palace

[Diabolos80]

All those ridiculously priced 9516s popped up on ebay the same day amazon "sold out" and target and wal-mart supposedly pulled them off shelves. That was last week. Now they're back at amazon. Are they back in stores? Was this all some weird, industry wide ploy to work up a false fervor over a mediocre set? Basically, who do you think created this nonsense, was it the retailers or the consumers? I'm new to the game, so I have worries that i'm too late, and there are hundreds of thousands of sealed Lego boxes sitting in closets just waiting to compete with mine. Do you guys think this whole jabbas palace ordeal will be good or bad for investors in the long run? I mean, all this attention is sure to convince more and more people to do the same thing we're doing, right?

[stephen_rockefeller]

I don't think it was some conspiracy theory to boost sales. We live in a day and age where almost everything could be deemed offensive to someone. I have said from the beginning that this set would be a winner. It does have a horrid price per piece but its very iconic and its minifigs are second to none in my opinion. You had a shortage for a week for two reasons A) people thought it was going to be gone for good and didn't want to miss having this set in their collection orB) You had people who knew this was a chance to make some quick $$$ so they scooped some up real quick and put them up on ebay. This set will be in the limelight until it EOLs.

[dakotahorn]

Stephen, I completely agree on all points. After EOL this will grow grow grow.

[justgod]

Target back to 119.99... Wonder if Target will have another discount on the set...

If you can find it in a Target store right now, they will match Walmart's price of $95.

[Diabolos80]

If everyone is scooping them up right now for resale, doesn't that mean there will be more for sale on ebay when it eols? With all the attention it's getting, don't you worry that every Lego investor will buy multiples of them? What happens when it retires and there are 400 active listings all asking 200 bucks?

[wesman888]

I don't think it was some conspiracy theory to boost sales. We live in a day and age where almost everything could be deemed offensive to someone. I have said from the beginning that this set would be a winner. It does have a horrid price per piece but its very iconic and its minifigs are second to none in my opinion. You had a shortage for a week for two reasons A) people thought it was going to be gone for good and didn't want to miss having this set in their collection orB) You had people who knew this was a chance to make some quick $$$ so they scooped some up real quick and put them up on ebay. This set will be in the limelight until it EOLs.

And they were on sale for 87.99.

[Anakinisvader]

Stephen, I completely agree on all points.

After EOL this will grow grow grow.

I will politely disagree on this. Reason being: With everyone and their dog - not legodog - picking up this set and creating a false outage, there is a flood of "investors" (that normally don't invest in LEGO sets) not "users" that now have this set. This, in my opinion, will keep the price low even after EOL. BTW, just as I predicted, everyone is getting stock back in and there wasn't a "recall" as people may have thought. LEGO will keep producing this set (probably in more numbers than originally planned because of the so called controversy-I know I would). I'm not saying I won't keep a few around, I just wouldn't stock up on this puppy because the returns may take many, many years after EOL to realize a profit.

[justgod]

I will politely disagree on this. Reason being: With everyone and their dog - not legodog - picking up this set and creating a false outage, there is a flood of "investors" (that normally don't invest in LEGO sets) not "users" that now have this set. This, in my opinion, will keep the price low even after EOL. BTW, just as I predicted, everyone is getting stock back in and there wasn't a "recall" as people may have thought. LEGO will keep producing this set (probably in more numbers than originally planned because of the so called controversy-I know I would). I'm not saying I won't keep a few around, I just wouldn't stock up on this puppy because the returns may take many, many years after EOL to realize a profit.

I agree that there were many for purchased as investments. However, I think most savvy investors realized that the set was coming back after the short outage and that there was no need to rush out and pick up a bunch at $120 to hold long term. I think a majority of the purchases at full retail were the general public panicking based on hype (these sets will get opened) or those hoping for a quick flip. Even if I am wrong, it won't take long after EOL for those holding sets to get scared that there are so many out there and start dumping them for a small profit. As with most sets, I am going long on this set, meaning at least until Christmas of 2014.

[TheOrcKing]

I will politely disagree on this. Reason being: With everyone and their dog - not legodog - picking up this set and creating a false outage, there is a flood of "investors" (that normally don't invest in LEGO sets) not "users" that now have this set. This, in my opinion, will keep the price low even after EOL. BTW, just as I predicted, everyone is getting stock back in and there wasn't a "recall" as people may have thought. LEGO will keep producing this set (probably in more numbers than originally planned because of the so called controversy-I know I would). I'm not saying I won't keep a few around, I just wouldn't stock up on this puppy because the returns may take many, many years after EOL to realize a profit.I'm inclined to agree with you, anakinisvader. Because of the ridiculous outrage, everybody (and I do mean EVERYBODY) went out and stockpiled the holy heck out of this one set, and we're talking about people that would have never given so much as a glance towards Lego investing in the first place. The set will gain value eventually but, with the amount of reserves all of these people are sitting on, that's gonna take a long time to see any real profits gained.

Was this all some weird, industry wide ploy to work up a false fervor over a mediocre set? Basically, who do you think created this nonsense, was it the retailers or the consumers?

I had said something to that affect earlier because the timing of the whole racial ordeal was very coincidental. The set was sitting there collecting dust even with a good discount for some months. Then this comes up and BAM! Can't even so much as keep one of them on the shelf at retail.

Still, due to the scale of it and persons involved, I would say it was not a conspiracy just to boost sales. No little green men running around or digital computer people are attached to. Just a wierd clusterfluff with an even more bizarre sense of timing. It was caused by misinformation in the press. I won't dismiss the possibility of such a conspiracy entirely (I did watch X-Files back in the day), but for all intents and purposes I'm going with no conspiracy on this one.

[grackleflint]

I

[TheOrcKing]

A number of the people that did buy the set just because of the hype (especially at retail) will more than likely return the couple they have to their store for a refund over the course of the next few months because that ship has sailed. As you said, how many of them will truly invest into the item? Few of them may hold one or two for the next year or so, but chances are they may not bother if they're not serious about it or see its potential. Still, it will take a little while before Jabba's Palace reaches the potential it deserves. It will grow like Stephen said, just end up being more drawn out.

[Talon]

The thread that would never die! lol Last week I looked at eBay and there were over 350 complete sets for sale, now there are just over 300. Seems like a lot to me so I think a lot of people are trying to flip this set, thinking there are shortages or read the articles that said it was discontinued without really reading them. The average selling price in APRIL seems to be around $155 including shipping so there are probably some buyers who find their local stores are sold out and are panicking and buying these at a markup due to the bogus story. Before April the average price seems to be around $115 including shipping. I think most likely the few people who bought at a premium will decline as these get restocked. However, most stores near me haven't had these in stock since January (except Walmart), so I'm not sure they are even ordering them anymore. The stores seemed to have moved on to newer sets. I think there is an eBay blip in prices right now that will decline until we get to Christmas time when it will go back up again.

[stephen_rockefeller]

[grackleflint]

people tend to get caught up in this investor stuff and think that it is a lot bigger than what it really is. Not everyone went out and bought a JP when the news hit. There was never a shortage where I live. It seems like everyone did because of all the news on this site and other Lego related sites y

[JoshTX]

I wish I live where you do. Around where I am, they are definitely a bunch of Lego investors. I once went to a TRU at lunchtime on the day they get new LEGO's in and saw a couple of guys with a small TRUCK loading up the whole back with all sorts of LEGO's and other assorted Transformers/Super Hero toys when TRU was having their B1G1 50% sale.

I've seen things like this happen a few times with various toys and I'm always amazed that people have the extra capital to do stuff like this. A couple months before Christmas 2 or 3 years ago I saw a guy loading a car with at least 50 of those Hamster pet dolls, and sure enough one of them (probably the one he cleaned them out of) ended up being one of the "craze" Christmas toys every soccer Mom was looking for.

[BUDDY LEE]

I see that the set is available again from Amazon at retail price.

http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-Star-Wars-Jabbas-Palace/dp/B007Q0OVCK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365686952&sr=8-1&keywords=lego+jabbas+palace+2012

[markhan]

As expected, Jabba's Palace is fully in stock everywhere, including Lego and Amazon.

[Fcbarcelona101]

My local stores have started restocking this one too. Good to see things are back to normal.

[Legodog]

Everywhere is stocked again and prices on eBay are back to normal and have even fallen below retail. I never stoop this low to say "I told you so" but I'd like to take this one and only opportunity to say it to the nonbelievers who thought this was going to turn out a different way. I will stop being rude now :)

[stephen_rockefeller]

It probably was a blessing in disquise for some people that were doubting this sets potential. Now they have a few......hold on to them, they will be winners eventually. I could have sold some of mine off and made some money but i chose to hold for the long term.

[dakotahorn]

This turned out great for me. I ended up grabbing 6 at $90.49/ea all in. I sold 3 on eBay and pocketed about $110, and am still left with 3. 2 for long term holds, which was my plan all along, and 1 to build, keep minis, and sell used later. Couldn't have been happier with how this whole thing played out.

[JoshTX]

This turned out great for me. I ended up grabbing 6 at $90.49/ea all in. I sold 3 on eBay and pocketed about $110, and am still left with 3. 2 for long term holds, which was my plan all along, and 1 to build, keep minis, and sell used later.

Couldn't have been happier with how this whole thing played out.

You did it the right way...flip a few quick right in the middle of the fever pitch, hold a few for years later.

[TheDarkness]

This turned out great for me. I ended up grabbing 6 at $90.49/ea all in. I sold 3 on eBay and pocketed about $110, and am still left with 3. 2 for long term holds, which was my plan all along, and 1 to build, keep minis, and sell used later.

Couldn't have been happier with how this whole thing played out.

You did it perfectly!

[jaisonline]

Amazon reduces price to $95.96. Maybe we are starting to get back to normal (some air has been let out if the bubble)

[stephen_rockefeller]

Amazon reduces price to $95.96. Maybe we are starting to get back to normal (some air has been let out if the bubble)

I stand corrected.......I though for sure Amazon, or any other place for that matter would not be discounting this set anymore. At least now we all know what it will be like when this sets EOLs.