10224 - Town Hall

[trekgate502]

I agree that Lego is not held up in the ports and my Town Hall comment was a joke but I do think the situation is why many of the toy aisles are empty...

[chipbee]

People are over thinking this retirement. Kenxxx made a list of rare and unique parts of TH, and in that list you will see that TH shares many rare parts with recently retired sets such as GE. So a simple reason for TH retirement now is because the company has ran out of these rare pieces and it does not make business sense to make a small batch just for TH.

Also TH is not exactly making an early retirement. This set has been around for more than 2 years and the quantity of the rare parts were probably planned and decided on many months back. So once the last batch of TH is produced, the retirement is baked.

[redghostx]

Lego for North America is produced in the plant in Mexico, you will know by the "R" packing tabs. Therefore, I imagine they come via road

Thanks! I don't pay attention to seals, I just know how my company deals with containers from both Asia and Europe

Ex Astris, Scientia.

[Ciglione]

Another factor about 'collectibles' market. Demand is driven by the common knowledge that product is around for a limited time and won't come back. So people buy it because they don't want to miss the ship and pay inflated prices together with the fact they know that the product they own will hold its value. If people believe the value is persistent they are more likely to haul cash. If LEGO destroys this 'belief' sales of exclusives may drop by a not insignificant amount overall. 

 

So LEGO has to weigh the following: cashing in on a popular and desired retired set vs. keeping up the 'limited availability" belief. Since the latter most likely affects all exclusives I would vote on the latter since they can always create new awesome products that would sell just as well as resurrected ones. 

 

I might also add, just as Ed also mentioned somewhere earlier, that the current rapid growth of LEGO as a company is mainly a result of the increased perceived value of LEGO. People saw in the emerging secondary market that value is persistent over time, even increases and began to consider it differently than other toys and regard them as valuable durables rather than ordinary consumption goods therefore their propensity to throw cash increased. Since they are not run by imbeciles they know this and don't want to destroy it. The large quantity of AFOL sets is part of the strategy of keeping this up. 

 

Amen...

 

What makes a Ferrari so awesome and makes people wanting to pay alot of money for it? Outside the fact they are cool it is the limited productions that make it exclusive. Not seeing it on every corner of the street. 

 

Ferrari could reproduce a new 365 Daytona Spyder easily. There will be alot of demand (including me). But that is not in their interest in the long run and is bad for their reputation. 

[Val-E]

This set will retire when Lego call centre staff are unable to take any new orders because the lines are clogged with people wanting to know when the TH will come back in stock again so they can get it at half price as advertised.

[LegoManiacc]

To show you how much we know, there were only 3 posts in this thread before 9/17/14.

For a laugh, I had to go back and read the first 5 pages or so. The amount of ppl posting with strong convictions like they were "in the know" was entertaining...I think someone even mentioned ALL of the sets that were retiring this year jokingly, but it was very close to being accurate in the end.

In all fairness, I voted for not retiring this year and missed the boat on TH for the most part, so I have to laugh at myself too. *now cue my laughs turning into tears*

[Kenxxx]

Take off your tinfoil hats people.  There's been a lot of interesting speculation here about Lego manipulating the market with Machiavellian strategies.  The Town Hall is retiring because it was the slow seller of the theme and that is that. For it's entire life it sat on the shelf at $200, right next to the beautiful Grand Emporium, the fun Pet Shop, the romantic Parisian Restaurant - all of which were much cheaper, and were more emotionally attractive.  Do you want to dream of having your own pet shop one day? ... or dream of having a bureaucratic job at City Hall?  It was always peoples' 2nd or 3rd choice, so it didn't sell well. Mystery solved.

 

I made a list of about 2 dozen "rare" part numbers for the TH (parts used in the TH which were unique, or shared by no more than 2 other sets).  I was interested in the "eliminating rare parts" theory ... but even I don't buy it.  If the Town Hall was a hot seller, it would still be available today.  Eliminating a dozen or so part numbers is a small, small bonus for Lego, but in no way a deciding factor. A similar list of "rare" parts for the Detective's Office would have over 40 part numbers on it - many of which could have been substituted with more common parts... but obviously, the design team wanted "that certain shade of blue", or unique new hair on that minifigure... clearly part number proliferation is not a big concern for Lego.

 

And resurrecting the Town Hall? That ship has sailed. Lego recognizes this "after death demand" for what it is. If they produced another batch, investors would snap them all up.  If they went into full production, and continued to carry this model for another year or two, many investors would be very hesitant to buy more exclusives.  They would be shooting themselves in the foot.

 

Last year, Feb 4th, 2014 was Retirement Apocalypse Day... dozens of sets got their "Retired" tag that day, even though most had been gone for months.  I expect TH will earn it's badge within the next few weeks.

[Ed Mack]

The Town Hall could have been "retired" for multiple reasons...Big Box...High MSRP...Slow sales...Expensive pieces...Think back a year ago, few cared at all for this set and didn't want one.  A few like myself, liked the set and knew it would sell well one day when people woke from their "Fire Brigade and Grand Emporium Daze." The "Big is Best" belief in the LEGO world and that is a reason for the recent upsurge in prices.  This set is somewhat unique and large in comparison to the other Modulars.  It is now somewhat rare, a great combo for LEGO secondary success.

 

If LEGO chose to make another production run of this set it would be a waste of time and hurt their future sales.  That would send a major negative message to the LEGO secondary market that LEGO will reproduce a set for short term gain.  LEGO and its decision makers are smart people and value the collectibility of LEGO sets.  They even market it.  LEGO walks a fine line of producing sets for kids, their main source of sales, and mixing some adult collector sets to appease AFOLs and the secondary market.  They obviously are doing a great job from the looks of their sales.  

 

LEGO likes the secondary market, but just doesn't want to promote that fact,  We help keep their product valuable in the eyes of millions of fans.  A last point...think back when LEGO's sales and profits started to explode.  It was about the same time eBay and Bricklink took off and LEGO reselling began to prosper and grow.

[Deejay]

Town Hall now 89,99euro at LEGO Shop at Home!!! (Sold out )

[Val-E]

Call them and ask when it is coming back;)

[TLKC]

Gone @ LEGO Shop at Home europe.

U can search for it but id u click on it page is gone

[Val-E]

Me likey! Ditto for HH, HE is still hanging on.

[makr]

Did disappearing ever mean something? I thought that just happens for store maintenance reasons and retired items get a retired product flag (sometimes after having a sold out flag for ages).

Honest question, I'd actually like to know.

[Val-E]

Not all sets get the retired label and all sets that have retired disappear in the end. The main thing is that they can

[vexxet]

its borderline hilarious how much that one on eBay just sold for loose with no instructions or box.

[No More Monkeys]

Anyone requested a shipping quote to US on the Bricklink from European sellers that have TH priced in $320-$340 range?

Edited January 20, 2015 by No More Monkeys

[Val-E]

How much? I guess this set will tell us if it is still possible to attain CC and GG prices in today

[marcandre]

Anyone requested a shipping quote to US on the Bricklink from European sellers that have TH priced in $320-$340 range?

 

I got a quote from a seller in Russia two weeks ago. Shipping was going to be $150 for two sets. Sets were priced at $280 each. 

[Val-E]

US shipping would be between 60 and 100 euros at a rough estimate. There are still some to be had on EBay spain for less than 300 euros NISB so if anyone wants to clean out my market - full forward by all means!

[Val-E]

270 euros plus 75 shipping makes 330 x 1,15 exchange rate means it could come in just under 400 USD - maybe less if the euro continues to decline.

[No More Monkeys]

ARCTICbricks seller gave me 52 euro shipping quote, for 2x10224 at 295 euro each (I am not buying, was just curious), 632 euro total for 2xTH

Edited January 20, 2015 by No More Monkeys

[Val-E]

I am a little concerned that this one is spiking too much, if that makes sense. It

[minicoopers11]

I am a little concerned that this one is spiking too much, if that makes sense. It

[Val-E]

And look at them now. That

[minicoopers11]

I got a quote from a seller in Russia two weeks ago. Shipping was going to be $150 for two sets. Sets were priced at $280 each. 

That sounds right, based on the cost to ship the same from US to Russia.