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^ This looks identical to the previous one released

I've noticed at least a few occasions where people post about returning sets they bought on clearance elsewhere to their local LEGO Store for full retail store credit. Then in the daily deals thread on the first, several people were saying how they had or were going to return their Cottages to rebuy at the lower sale price. I'm not looking to crucify anyone here, but I'm genuinely interested in peoples' thoughts on these practices, especially the people who are doing it. What do you think of the practice? Are the stores giving you any grief when you are returning and/or "price adjusting"? Do you think it could have any negative impact on future returns for yourself or others? I know not everyone who does this will want to post about it in public, but I'd love to hear what you have to say about it in a PM if you're more comfortable with that. Thanks!

I love Billy Joel's songs. Only caveat is that every time I visited the dentist, it seems that "Tell Her About It" and "For the Longest Time" was always playing (probably an easy listening station). And dentistry is not a good memory. My favorite song of his is actually "An Innocent Man" and a very close second "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)". But I love all his hits and most of his albums. Nice selection!

Hate to burst your bubble, but honestly, I don`t think very much, if any, investment potential. The set design has been almost cookie-cutted, with minor changes, over and over again. There really isn`t too much to this set that makes it "desirable" in comparison to the many similar versions out there. 9494 is probably retired now, and has/is being replaced with this model (75038), which as you can see by looking at it just illustrates my point. Same ship, tiny changes, different paint job, not very much investment value or desirability for previous versions. One more thing to note is the mini figures. 9494 has several, but 3 are very common (neimoidian, droid, r2-d2) and the remaining two are also common, but have some small details changed. Every Lego SW collector and his/her dog has some version of Anakin and Obi-wan, making these figures desired only by completists (for the most part). Bottom line, most just by what is on the market. Many consumers of Lego are parents, grandparents, the target audience, kids, then there are collectors, AFOLs, investors, and a whole whack of others. Only reason I mention that is to say that pretty much the only people who will want this set now that is is (presumably) EOL are the last few groups mentioned who missed the opportunity to get them. Pretty much everyone else is going to go for 75038 as it is soon to be readily available. That does mean 9494 is a bad set, it`s just that there is little need for people to buy it now that EOL is coming. It does not offer very much more then 75038, and it is less money, so why should people pay a premium? So to recap: remake, very similar to previous models, minimal desirable mini figures, and 75038 replacing it = not very much desirability and thus little investment value. That`s just how I look at it. Value will remain constant, and rise slightly with age. I`d be very, very surprised if it went any other way.

Since I started the "Sets of 2013" thread as a way of cataloging every single set for this year, I thought to do the very same for the next one here. Anyway, here is what is currently known or rumored to be released in the year of 2014. Juniors Vehicle Suitcase - $24.99 House Suitcase - $24.99 Spider-Man: Spider-Car Pursuit - $12.99 Digger - $9.99 Construction - $14.99 Princess Play Castle - $14.99 Turtles Lair - $19.99 Fire Station - $19.99 Batman: Defend the Batcave - $29.99 Race Car Rally - $29.99 Pony Farm - $29.99 Police: The Big Escape - $29.99 Knight's Castle - $49.99 Creator Fast Car Cute Kitten Transport Plane Red Thunder - $4.99 Power Digger - $4.99 Emerald Express - $4.99 Sunset Speeder - $12.99 Highway Cruiser - $12.99 Forest Animals - $19.99 Twinblade Adventures - $17.99 Furry Creatures - $19.99 Turbo Quad - $24.99 Yellow Racers - $29.99 Roaring Power - $29.99 Mountain Hut - $39.99 Bike Shop & Cafe

This is normal. Sometimes Lego releases sets to the USA before the UK, and vice-verse. It happens with themes too. Do not worry, you will get them eventually.

Looks like we shall be getting Storm and another Magneto. The Brick Fan

There's a bunch of new polybags listed on the front page of Brickset.com too.

Weirdest thing...about a half hour ago I went into walmart and found a Ninjago 2260 Ice Dragon sitting on the shelf. A little banged up, but totally sealed. Rang up full price ($19.97). Gonna throw it on ebay tonight... Over the last week or so: 2X Stagecoach escape (paid about $33.00 each at a local mom and pop, but these were literally the last two in town) 4x Lex Power Armor (20% off at Target) 1x Coast Guard Plane (must have been a Christmas return, as these have been dried up a while around here) 1x Friends Camper Van (30% off at Target) -Jeff

Orc man! You have all those Billy Joel classics there, and they are indeed, but where is Piano Man? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxEPV4kolz0

One major plus of the recent Kingdoms line, is that it is far superior to the current Castle theme. All the blue really makes the sets unattractive. Red goes much better. Overall, IMHO, Kingdoms looks more authentic. If you take a look at past medieval sets, generally they do quite well. It is a major theme amongst Lego collectors, builders, fans in general etc. All this to say that there is always likely to be demand for most, if not all, of the sets along these lines. That said, I`m not sure how many people care about that "specific" set in regard to Lego remaking so many. I assume quite a few just go for what is available, but could be wrong. Far as the Joust goes, we really haven`t seen too many like that. There has been a few in the past, but not as many as some others. It should do well because it is a solid looking set, great playability, and overall makes a nice display. I`d say the only thing threatening the growth of this set would be when Lego releases another ( I say when, because it is inevitable). For that reason I`d be cautious. Arkham will be a guaranteed winner. There just isn`t any other way to say it. Wonderful looking set, and includes a boat load of excellent minifigs. When retired, my guess is the ceiling will reach as high as $400-$500, with the only impediment being the number people have stocked away. Coming from a Batman fan myself, I can absolutely say that he`s not going out of style anytime soon. Everything Lego batman is going to go up, just a matter of when.

Look at the volume chart for 6210. Volume has plummeted even though prices have dropped 30%. Buyers determine prices, not resellers. Also be aware that the used sandcrawler price listed here is heavily influenced by many being sold without figs. The actual price of a used set is much higher (or was, when I was watching prices carefully).

This would be quite a change. I wonder if Target Walmart TRU would be in the same boat.

The VW Camper Van! A really cool set though definitely a display piece. The roof is a little flimsy over the double side doors, but otherwise it's a pretty nice build. The engine in the back does it for me!

I'll have to upload some pics of the storage unit next time I get out there...but here's some of the storage history... When I first started out, I was just stacking sets in a closet, on the floor, next to the bed, etc. That got old pretty quick, so I got a set of shelving from Home Depot...at this point my friends said I was crazy and had "taken it too far". They are a little under $40 or so per set. They are 36" wide x 18" deep. I like these because the normal "large' sets like HP Hogwarts, Helm's Deep, etc. will fit almost perfectly without the top shelf touching. I ultimately ended up with 7 sets of shelving in the house before I had to get a storage unit...now I have 5 sets of the shelving at home: Pardon the mess! I just moved a couple of months ago and am still getting my workspace setup, and some of the orderliness has gone out the window this month. Essentially I use the shelves at home to hold things that I'm going to list on eBay relatively soon...everything else goes to the storage unit. Eventually I'll have a work table setup in this room for packing, etc. I buy boxes from Uline in bulk in a range of sizes that match up well with the different set boxes that Lego puts out...for the big ones like Helm's Deep I do 24x16x4, for Winter Toy Shop 20x16x4 and so on. Bubblewrap comes from Amazon or eBay depending on who is cheaper, plus packing tape. I've got a cheap postal scale and use an old Zebra thermal label printer to print my Fedex/USPS labels on...I have a ton of free label rolls that UPS gave me a few years ago, so I still use those. Once you get to any kind of regular volume, standardizing packing materials saves a bunch of time. I used to stomp through the house trying to find a box to pack a set in, or cut a box down, etc. etc. With the standardized boxes, the packing becomes a no-brainer. It does require a little investment (Uline will ship free for orders over $250 or $300...they have a warehouse in my area tho so I can pick up for no charge), but the time savings is immense. I recycle packing materials when I can, but the purchased bubblewrap makes it a lot easier...I need to find a cheaper source since I use alot. The storage unit is a 10x10 in a climate controlled facility (basically just a big heated/cooled warehouse that they subdivided into individual spaces). I've got 10 shelving units lining the side and back walls, with a folding table set up for staging. I may need to put in a couple more shelving units as space got real tight after last year's Christmas clearances. I always unpack sets and don't store them in Amazon/TRU shipping boxes...too much air (makes for inefficient storage) and i like visually seeing the sets so that I can quickly pull some if my stock is running low at the house. I will usually make a trip at the start of the week out to the warehouse to unload/unpack new purchases and to bring home anything i intend to sell.

Just wanted to let you guys know I'll be hit and miss for awhile as our first child was born this AM. An 8lb 11oz future member of these forums. Keep hunting the deals, I'll try to catch back up in a couple of months!

Posting some more of my favorite artist as a kid, Billy Joel. My Life The Longest Time Tell Her About It You're Only Human Uptown Girl You May Be Right

Whatever DNIM is on I need some......that man manages to ship probably 40 things a day, post 47 times a day and I cant imagine what else. Oh yeah, he also parts out sets.

Production for 10197 stopped many months ago. Whatever is left in the wild is it. Same for WVC, Mini Mods and B-Wing. Every other 10xxx set will be around for at least 1 more year. Source is the usual british boys who brought you 10212, 10219, 10217 etc last year.

Yes, BUT going from a good design of guns and make a step back (like with fire flick missiles) is just not cool....

I don't own any modulars yet (resisting the urge to get ONE as than I would want to get ALL of them haha) but would love to see an 'arcade'...complete with PacMan/video games, pin ball, foosball, hot shot (basketball) and skee ball machines, build-a-bear, etc. Have a minifig of those change guys with apron walking around haha. Guess I'm revealing how old I am lol. I classic diner would be cool too. They have a cinema already but doing a MOC drive in theatre would be awesome.