Looks great, but maybe not quite so 'retro' when you consider the numerous current Roberts Radios!

The US price at the start of the article is incorrect. The correct price is $99.99, as shown on lego.com and correctly stated at the end of the article.

@illennium said:
"The US price at the start of the article is incorrect. The correct price is $99.99, as shown on lego.com and correctly stated at the end of the article."

oh... noooooo

My grandparents had one of these in the kitchen all through my childhood...tuned to CBS radio every weekday morning. Heavy nostalgia...but not enough to get me to buy. Nice but not for me.

I was initially interested when I heard about this, then when the rumours said it would be a gramophone, I was really looking forward to seeing it. When it switched back to a radio, I still thought it could be good.

But now seeing it, I'm not interested. It's alright, it would have been good if you could turn it into a gramophone - but its off my list.

Not sure about the tuner graphics but the other tiles appear to be printed.

I was excited for it. But this looks more early sixties transistor radio. I was hoping for more of a 30’s-40’s tube style…

"With a modern twist, music fans can insert and hide a mobile phone via the radio’s back panel to play tunes."

A small Google Home / Alexa hidden in the back would provide a voice-controlled music player with a speaker.

The proportions look off somehow..

Really need Philips 1st ever compact cassette recorder from 1963 now, to go with it.
The Sony Walkman will be good, but the 1st would have been better!

Why is it staring at me that way?

Should’ve made it look like the radio from the Brave Little Toaster.

@DaLegoNerd1 said:
"On the product page at Lego.com the video shows someone turning a nob and it actually changing sounds... so is it interacting with the phone? or does the soundbrick have whole songs programmed into it?
https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/retro-radio-10334?CMP=AFC-AffiliateUS-LNtsWdwRzsQ-2513819-1182088-10 "

I assume just the Sound brick with some short fragments of songs or radio shows. I don't see how it could interact with the phone inside.

I am sure somebody will like this!

@Modeltrainman said:
"What does the sound brick sound like? It'd be cool if LEGO came out with a speaker brick so we could play our own sounds, without stuffing a phone in there. I don't have an expensive phone, but 'hey! Stuff your phone inside!' seems weird.
"

I swear, if it isn't a jazzy version of the 2012 LEGO City theme...

I refuse to believe this will sell better than a new Space theme would. Because clearly people at Lego believe so, seeing how this is being made, and Space sits untouched since 2013 Galaxy Squad.

Is it just me who thinks this looks really ugly?!

That IDEAS submission is much nicer.

Easy pass for me.

The same designer who made the ideas submission made another one that got to 10k and got rejected. Seems a little off to me ??

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/bdcc6f22-3dd3-4703-96b2-36694ac77b8f

As a wise man once said...
Radio, someone still loves you

Apparently he was correct
How Lego changes through the years

@sjr60 said:
" @labronco2 said:
" @DaLegoNerd1 said:
"https://ideas.lego.com/projects/078c9500-d914-4478-a280-ff7127005c94
to bad for this guy :("

Looks like they got a lot of "inspiration" from his submission."
What "inspiration"? It's a representation of a very common real life object with sound provided by a very obvious method. It looks great, but I see no "Idea". I think copies of real life objects, without significant added features or techniques, should all be automatically dropped from "Ideas" submissions and left for more suitable themes, maybe just the rest of the Bricklink scheme."

Lego would have Never in a million years made a LIFE SIZE CAT, without 10,000 people saying that they would buy it. some things need to be brought into the light. Otherwise Lego won't even give it a thought

@EvilTwin said:
"As a wise man once said...
Radio, someone still loves you

Apparently he was correct
How Lego changes through the years
"

So don't become some background noise
A backdrop for the girls and boys
Who just don't know, or just don't care
And just complain when you're not there
You had your time, you had the power
You've yet to have your finest hour
Lego...

@lordofdragonss said:
"What's next? A working fan? A mixer? A DISHWASHER?"

I'm going to pass on this one and hold out for the LEGO dishwasher that opens up where you can put dirty dishes. Of course, we'll all have to throw the set away after that first use.

I may still buy this...

...but I think a classic 50s wooden radio (possibly with a touch of an art-deco), OR an 80s boom box would have been more desirable for me, personally.

As an experiment I tried replacing the minty green with reddish brown in Photoshop and... yeah I like it more. Although it doesn't pop as much.

Very cool. Sound brick has me intrigued, and love the ability to put a phone in. Guess we see why the Ideas submissions didn't pass. I liked that submission, but I like this, too.

@MartyMcFly said:
"I would hide a bluetooth speaker inside, rather than a mobile phone."

Or an Alexa!

@erdrickgr said:
"if I listen hard enough, I can hear the polka music coming through the speaker as my grandma makes lunch"

Guffaw!

Should come with a brick-built pickle.

@ledmouse said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
"And while the sound bricks seems like a fun inclusion, but in the end it's nothing more than a (probably rather pricey) gimmick. And putting your phone inside.....no one is ever gonna do that. Now if this had included a Bluetooth speaker, or at least the possibility to put one inside, that would have made so much more sense."

Google "small bluetooth speaker" and you should understand how easy it would be to put one inside it."

Oh absolutely, it's Lego after all, so you can always customize things. And indeed depending on the speaker it shouldn't be complicated anyway. It's just that once again they designed something to be used with a phone while in this case it doesn't really make that much sense.

@ToysFromTheAttic said:
" @legoapprentice said:
" @Arnoldos said:
"I refuse to believe this will sell better than a new Space theme would. Because clearly people at Lego believe so, seeing how this is being made, and Space sits untouched since 2013 Galaxy Squad."

"Untouched"

2024
42178 Surface Space Loader LT78
42179 Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit
42180 Mars Crew Exploration Rover
42181 VTOL Heavy Cargo Spaceship LT81
42182 NASA Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle LRV
10341 NASA Artemis Space Launch System
40712 Micro Rocket Launchpad
31152 Space Astronaut
42602 Space Research Rover
42605 Mars Space Base and Rocket
60428 Space Construction Mech
60429 Spaceship and Asteroid Discovery
60430 Interstellar Spaceship
60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life
60432 Command Rover and Crane Loader
60433 Modular Space Station
60434 Space Base and Rocket Launchpad
60439 Space Science Lab

2023
21340 Tales of the Space Age
30682 NASA Mars Rover Perseverance
40595 Tribute to Galileo Galilei
31134 Space Shuttle
31142 Space Roller Coaster

2022
40533 Cosmic Cardboard Adventures
10497 Galaxy Explorer
41713 Olivia’s Space Academy
60313 Space Ride Amusement Truck
60348 Lunar Rover Vehicle
60349 Lunar Space Station
60350 Lunar Research Base
60351 Rocket Launch Centre
60354 Mars Spacecraft Exploration Missions

2021
10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery
31115 Space Mining Mech
31117 Space Shuttle Adventure

2020
21321 International Space Station
31107 Space Rover Explorer

2019
40335 Space Rocket Ride
10266 NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander
31091 Shuttle Transporter
70841 Benny’s Space Squad
30365 Space Satellite
40345 Mars Exploration Minifigure Pack
60224 Satellite Service Mission
60225 Rover Testing Drive
60226 Mars Research Shuttle
60227 Lunar Space Station
60228 Deep Space Rocket and Launch Control
60229 Rocket Assembly & Transport

2018
31071 Drone Explorer

2017
21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V
21312 Women of NASA
31066 Space Shuttle Explorer

2015
60078 Utility Shuttle
60080 Spaceport

2014
21104 NASA Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover
70816 Benny’s Spaceship Spaceship Spaceship
"

Plus a full series of minifigs, some of them retro-themed. Had to laugh out loud by this -- and this is coming from a LEGO castle fan. "

"That's not good enough! Not nearly good enough."

Looking forward to the LEGO toaster.

@EvilTwin said:
"As a wise man once said...
Radio, someone still loves you"
If the 72,000 choir, from when I saw him, fit in the sound brick I'd be very happy!

@jsutton said:
"Looking forward to the LEGO toaster."

Pretty sure there already was one in one of the ideas books back in the 70s. Along with stuff like a typewriter, several phones, and a camera.

Haven't really played around with Lego sound bricks before. Just showed this to a friend and they're wondering if you can upload your own custom songs to it.

The phone feature is clever, but not exactly the first time they've done something like that, since I believe a Friends set or two had a display where a smart phone could stand in for a movie theater screen.

@yellowcastle said:
" @BricksAhoy said:
"I may still buy this...

...but I think a classic 50s wooden radio (possibly with a touch of an art-deco), OR an 80s boom box would have been more desirable for me, personally."

So long as that 80s boom box comes with friends Laserbeak and Ravage."

If it's a boom box, rather than a microcassette player, then Laserbeak and Ravage are actually its mortal enemies...

The dust mites around the world are celebrating.

@Andrusi said:
" @yellowcastle said:
" @BricksAhoy said:
"I may still buy this...

...but I think a classic 50s wooden radio (possibly with a touch of an art-deco), OR an 80s boom box would have been more desirable for me, personally."

So long as that 80s boom box comes with friends Laserbeak and Ravage."

If it's a boom box, rather than a microcassette player, then Laserbeak and Ravage are actually its mortal enemies..."

Lol, whups. I'm getting old. Was it by chance named Master Blaster?

I like the color, even if I can't recall ever seeing a radio that color. (Most radios of that type that I've seen are plain black. But perhaps I'm just too young; all the radios in that form factor that I've seen were from the ’70s or early ’80s.)

If you replaced all the aqua and white pieces with black it would be a pretty close match to the radio my dad used out in the garden. But it would also be a much more boring looking set.

I like the use of the white 4175 (well, I guess it's actually a 31593 but same thing) 1x2 ladder pieces for the speaker cover. Very retro, both in terms of the appearance (perfect part usage!) and in being such a retro piece (a staple of ’80s classic space and town sets).

I like the phone feature!

I can imagine this puppy would look good blasting out Spray's Children of a Laser God.

@WizardOfOss said:
" @DaLegoNerd1 said:
"On the product page at Lego.com the video shows someone turning a nob and it actually changing sounds... so is it interacting with the phone? or does the soundbrick have whole songs programmed into it?
https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/retro-radio-10334?CMP=AFC-AffiliateUS-LNtsWdwRzsQ-2513819-1182088-10 "

I assume just the Sound brick with some short fragments of songs or radio shows. I don't see how it could interact with the phone inside."

I expect the sound brick plays back that whole sequence as heard in the video as soon as the knob is turned and it's just presented to appear that the sounds change as the knob is turned to move the tuning needle.

Sound bricks have a very limited capacity and usually just contain a few seconds of sounds.

Go home LEGO, you’re drunk.

At least eat a snicker’s, because when you’re frustrated you insist on making LEGO sets out of every day objects

Love this idea, I think this would have been the best set to bring out in a few retro colors all at once to test fan favorites to see which color people loved over others or the idea of recoloring sets and offering choices.

Love the idea of putting a cell phone inside to play music, but would be been awesome with a bluetooth speaker that you could cast to.

All I think about when I see this is Fallout. Does look cool and will definitely get it. I would’ve preferred a 80’s Boombox/Ghetto Blaster though.

@MartyMcFly said:
"I would hide a bluetooth speaker inside, rather than a mobile phone."

I built a radio like this in the past and embedded a Google home mini in it. It looked good, but the downside is that it sounds awful. The bricks distort the sound a bit and the sound quality is way worse than when the speaker is not inside it.

@Reventon said:
"All I think about when I see this is Fallout. Does look cool and will definitely get it. I would’ve preferred a 80’s Boombox/Ghetto Blaster though."

An 80s style boom box would probably cost £500+ if done at real size.

One of my other interests is listening to old radio shows, including while building, so I'm interested in trying this out with a small bluetooth speaker I have; although, the old programs I listen to are from the 1940s and 50s, so a more vintage radio would have been even better, but I still want to try this out. I just hope the acoustics still work with the speaker inside.

The phone feature is cool (certainly more so than 21347's), but I'm mildly disappointed that opening it up doesn't reveal brick-built vacuum tubes, reminiscent of 21329's circuit board and speaker cone.

@Murdoch17 said:
"Makes me think of the radio from Gilligan's Island with the batteries that (apparently) never run down in the ten years they were on that island."

I seem to remember an episode where the Professor created a pedal-powered generator to recharge them.

@ForestMenOfEndor said:
" @macwhit2017 said:
" @Chopstix89 said:
" @Goujon said:
"Interesting but not for me. Weird but cool colour choice tho, good parts pack for medical blue."

Is this thing not green? Where are we seeing the blue? Am I colorblind?"

I am colour blind! and it looks greenish to me..."

It is Light Aqua, according to New Elementary. And that's great, because Light Aqua is one of the five best LEGO colors! I will have to pick this up, even if it's just as a parts pack."

Granted, the Lego color is called Blue - Aqua as well, so, I accept this is blue!

I like TLG's practice of selling different types of everyday things in brick-built form. I won't buy it, though, but I would see a group picture of these everyday things released (including botanicals) in recent years.

@missedoutagain said:
" @Tuzi said:
" @Rabrickzel said:
" @Jotahesse1 said:
"So many $100 display sets. Pocket money for those AFOLs with the means and space. "

I wonder what happens when those AFOLs run out of space or realize are those sets are pretty much collecting dust and they only bought them to get that sweet dopamine kick."

then we start making the hard decisions, like replacing your kingsize bed with a regular bed and putting in an extra table. Or replacing your 2 meter wide closet with a 1 meter wide one so you can add a cabinet for sets.

help"

Thought you said replaceing kingsize bed... with a lego bed.."

...A king sized bed, made out of LEGO

@Tony_Stark said:
"Cool, but you could just buy a real retro/retro style radio on marketplace for less. Lego's doing cool larger sets these days but they really need to put some effort into the $10-30 range of licenced sets for star wars (and marvel.)
If all a large portion of kids are going to grow up with is star wars/marvel mechs, I don't think they'll have the same nostalgic buyer base in the future.
Credit where it's due, this year has had a great wave of cheap city and friends sets - if we could please get this back in Star Wars that would be a dream.
"

Agreed.

@LegoMike said:
" @Amik said:
" @Rabrickzel said:
" @Jotahesse1 said:
"So many $100 display sets. Pocket money for those AFOLs with the means and space. "

I wonder what happens when those AFOLs run out of space or realize are those sets are pretty much collecting dust and they only bought them to get that sweet dopamine kick."

They love to call themselves "investors" and will immediately put them on sale for 2x-3x the original price. "

Not at all.
You assume AFOL’s are profiteers. Many of us are just traditional collectors and hobbyists.
It will all get left to my kids. They can do what they like with it…………I’ll never know ;-)"

Many (not all) are pure speculators who are buying to sell later for profit. I see it all around me and none of these people buy sets at regular price since there are thousands of Lego employees close by who buy for 50% discount and sell to others for further 10-20% mark up. It wasn't like this before the entire Lego investment crap bubble. Once it started, it changed everything. I personally think that half of what Lego offers today would not be made at all if not for profiteers who are mostly driving the sales for these sets.

I like it.

Nuff said.

One can bemoan the 'investment bubble' but the truth is that , in current society, it's a fact of life across all manner of genres. One only has to see the massive growth of resale sites - with new ones regularly springing up - to realise that literally millions of people are trying to make a profit. Granted that much of it is second-hand goods but there is a substantial part of these marketplaces where Lego, toys, action figures, vinyl, figurines etc. etc are sold at a substantial profit. IMHO the companies themselves (including TLG) encourage this by - in LEGO's case - offering limited edition GWPs, limited edition collectables and announcing retirements well in advance.

There will always be investors/profiteers whether you like or loathe them.

Cute radio. My grandparents use to have such a small radio to take with them to the beach and on the camping. But is was black and a had a tapedeck.
But still this takes me back to my childhood days with my grandparents.

@Amik said:
" @LegoMike said:
" @Amik said:
" @Rabrickzel said:
" @Jotahesse1 said:
"So many $100 display sets. Pocket money for those AFOLs with the means and space. "

I wonder what happens when those AFOLs run out of space or realize are those sets are pretty much collecting dust and they only bought them to get that sweet dopamine kick."

They love to call themselves "investors" and will immediately put them on sale for 2x-3x the original price. "

Not at all.
You assume AFOL’s are profiteers. Many of us are just traditional collectors and hobbyists.
It will all get left to my kids. They can do what they like with it…………I’ll never know ;-)"

Many (not all) are pure speculators who are buying to sell later for profit. I see it all around me and none of these people buy sets at regular price since there are thousands of Lego employees close by who buy for 50% discount and sell to others for further 10-20% mark up. It wasn't like this before the entire Lego investment crap bubble. Once it started, it changed everything. I personally think that half of what Lego offers today would not be made at all if not for profiteers who are mostly driving the sales for these sets. "

I don’t necessarily disagree with you.
Just try not to be ageist as the trend you refer to is not age specific.
For example you could argue younger generations today are less materialistic, therefore may need/want to flip more due to cost of living issues for example, and space issues. Something that doesn’t necessarily affect older generations quite as much currently.
I don’t know peoples circumstances so can’t really make suggestions that are too specific.
Who knows? ;-)
Maybe the AFOL group needs breaking down a bit more? Lol

@CCC said:
" @Amik said:
" @LegoMike said:
" @Amik said:
" @Rabrickzel said:
" @Jotahesse1 said:
"So many $100 display sets. Pocket money for those AFOLs with the means and space. "

I wonder what happens when those AFOLs run out of space or realize are those sets are pretty much collecting dust and they only bought them to get that sweet dopamine kick."

They love to call themselves "investors" and will immediately put them on sale for 2x-3x the original price. "

Not at all.
You assume AFOL’s are profiteers. Many of us are just traditional collectors and hobbyists.
It will all get left to my kids. They can do what they like with it…………I’ll never know ;-)"

Many (not all) are pure speculators who are buying to sell later for profit. I see it all around me and none of these people buy sets at regular price since there are thousands of Lego employees close by who buy for 50% discount and sell to others for further 10-20% mark up. It wasn't like this before the entire Lego investment crap bubble. Once it started, it changed everything. I personally think that half of what Lego offers today would not be made at all if not for profiteers who are mostly driving the sales for these sets. "

Quite a few LEGO investors aren't AFOLs, they are investors and LEGO is just a product. Personally, I am both. I did it both before and after the boom. Small time investor, big time AFOL. Nowhere near as much now though as the high profitability just isn't there for new sets for me.

If someone puts a retired set (new or used) up for sale at 3x RRP and it sells, then they got current market price for it. Why sell it for less, when someone is willing to pay more. Offer it for less and chances are the buyer will just flip it for the current value.

If investors are driving the types of products LEGO are making, what does it matter? You don't have to buy the ones you don't like. And they are still making plenty of traditional style sets. Investments only work if they can be sold for a profit larer, so investors clearly believe there is a future market if they are investing.

You mention that close to you there are 1000s of LEGO employees that are buying at a discount then selling on. How do you know it is going on at the scale of 1000s? I thought part of the contract was that they could not sell on what they purchased at a discount. For there to be 1000s local to you all willing to risk their employment seems unrealistic."

Think about it this way, each employee buys on average 5-10 sets per year as his currency limit given by Lego allows him. They buy them directly from Lego's website and boxes come by post as regular sets, not marked for discount as in factory store. There's no way Lego can track each employee to see what they will do with them later on. Due to huge local demand, they are always able to find buyers. Now Lego does keep track of specific sites and does certain monitoring to make sure it's not getting out of control. But in general they don't care because in global terms it's still pennies for them.

@Amik said:
"I see it all around me and none of these people buy sets at regular price since there are thousands of Lego employees close by who buy for 50% discount and sell to others for further 10-20% mark up."
So you're saying you personally know at least 2000 Lego employees doing this? That's interesting to know, because embroidering theories with made up facts tends to expose those theories as bs.

@sjr60 said:
" @Amik said:
"I see it all around me and none of these people buy sets at regular price since there are thousands of Lego employees close by who buy for 50% discount and sell to others for further 10-20% mark up."
So you're saying you personally know at least 2000 Lego employees doing this? That's interesting to know, because embroidering theories with made up facts tends to expose those theories as bs."

The fact is that you can always find a new set for 10-30% off on release day where I live. That was the point. If it's 2000 employees selling or just one, does it matter ? You're not as smart as you like to sound

@WizardOfOss said:
" @Amik said:
"....But in general they don't care because in global terms it's still pennies for them. "
Yet you say this is driving what products they make more than the general market does?

"

I'm saying they don't care if Bob and Mary from production line buy 20 sets per year on discount so they can make some small profit by selling them later. That was a reference to previous message about not believing employees are able to sell because they would get fired from Lego. Of course, they won't allow you to make business out of it. There were people who did and Lego learned their lesson.

What's driving them to produce bigger set variety is for a complete new discussion.

@Amik said:
" @sjr60 said:
" @Amik said:
"I see it all around me and none of these people buy sets at regular price since there are thousands of Lego employees close by who buy for 50% discount and sell to others for further 10-20% mark up."
So you're saying you personally know at least 2000 Lego employees doing this? That's interesting to know, because embroidering theories with made up facts tends to expose those theories as bs."

The fact is that you can always find a new set for 10-30% off on release day where I live. That was the point. If it's 2000 employees selling or just one, does it matter ? You're not as smart as you like to sound"
It matters because you lied about the 1000s of Lego employees, so nothing that comes out of your mouth can be trusted.

This would be cool if it actually came with a working radio insert like a Bluetooth speaker

I don't particularly like the model, but I like even less that we're moving towards a world where I can wake up and everything around me is made from Lego, and I won't know if it's a nightmare or a surprise.

@TheOtherMike said:
"The phone feature is cool (certainly more so than 21347's), but I'm mildly disappointed that opening it up doesn't reveal brick-built vacuum tubes, reminiscent of 21329's circuit board and speaker cone.

@Murdoch17 said:
"Makes me think of the radio from Gilligan's Island with the batteries that (apparently) never run down in the ten years they were on that island."

I seem to remember an episode where the Professor created a pedal-powered generator to recharge them."

Yes, I remember that, too.

@sjr60 said:
" @Amik said:
" @sjr60 said:
" @Amik said:
"I see it all around me and none of these people buy sets at regular price since there are thousands of Lego employees close by who buy for 50% discount and sell to others for further 10-20% mark up."
So you're saying you personally know at least 2000 Lego employees doing this? That's interesting to know, because embroidering theories with made up facts tends to expose those theories as bs."

The fact is that you can always find a new set for 10-30% off on release day where I live. That was the point. If it's 2000 employees selling or just one, does it matter ? You're not as smart as you like to sound"
It matters because you lied about the 1000s of Lego employees, so nothing that comes out of your mouth can be trusted."

All this info comes from people who work there directly. Before the "investment" period majority of employees didn't care as most of them work in the production line, warehouses, not making lots of money. Now that they see how much Lego is worth, they do this in one way or another. I don't care if you believe me or not lol. I think your problem is you can't stomach the fact that people do that in the first place, giving others ability to buy cheap while you can't.

@Amik said:
"I think your problem is you can't stomach the fact that people do that in the first place, giving others ability to buy cheap while you can't. "
Doesn't work... bloke down the pub's got no Brickset Affiliate link.

@WizardOfOss said:
[[ @Amik said:
[[ @WizardOfOss said:
[[Yet you say this is driving what products they make more than the general market does?
]]

What's driving them to produce bigger set variety is for a complete new discussion. ]]

Is it really?

@Amik said:
[[I personally think that half of what Lego offers today would not be made at all if not for profiteers who are mostly driving the sales for these sets. ]]]]

So let's go. Tell me your arguments why it wouldn't be so

@sjr60 said:
" @Amik said:
"I think your problem is you can't stomach the fact that people do that in the first place, giving others ability to buy cheap while you can't. "
Doesn't work... bloke down the pub's got no Brickset Affiliate link.
"

english mate, I can't understand you

@yellowcastle said:
" @sjr60 said:
" @illennium said:
" @yellowcastle said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
" @yellowcastle said:
"We really need to codify the Brickset Bingo game, once and for all. I'll get us started:

-I could buy a real one for less
-They stole it from LEGO Ideas
-It should (or should not) have included an exclusive minifigure.
-That piece should have been printed.
-Why did they change the Ideas submission so much.
-Where are all these (Insert Number) of pieces?
-We should really be tracking Price/Weight.
-This should have been (should not have been) a GWP.
"

The easiest ones:

The price is insane.
Lego hates fans.
This makes no sense/why would a company make this?
Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not for anyone.
I will get it on discount. "

I was trying to avoid the acceptable basics like "too expensive." But this is good, really good.

-I could buy a real one for less
-They stole it from LEGO Ideas
-It should (or should not) have included an exclusive minifigure.
-That piece should have been printed.
-Why did they change the Ideas submission so much.
-Where are all these (Insert Number) of pieces?
-We should really be tracking Price/Weight.
-This should have been (should not have been) a GWP.
-This makes no sense / Who is this for?
-Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not for anyone.
-I will get it once Amazon marks it down (Insert Number) percentage.
-Why won't they just release more (Insert Theme)?
-They should have used (Insert Color) instead."

"No one's ever heard of this" which is a particularly fun subgenre of "this makes no sense / who is this for" that is typically applied to current pop culture like BTS (77 million YouTube subscribers, 75 million Instagram followers).

I think I will have to stay out of the comments section when the Pharrell set is announced..."
- I know all about inflation but.....
.........will now demonstrate that I don't. "
-I could buy a real one for less
-They stole it from LEGO Ideas
-It should (or should not) have included an exclusive minifigure.
-That piece should have been printed.
-Why did they change the Ideas submission so much.
-Where are all these (Insert Number) of pieces?
-We should really be tracking Price/Weight.
-This should have been (should not have been) a GWP.
-This makes no sense / Who is this for?
-Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not for anyone.
-I will get it once Amazon marks it down (Insert Number) percentage.
-Why won't they just release more (Insert Theme)?
-They should have used (Insert Color) instead.
-I understand inflation but...
-Why don't they just take a break from (Insert Theme)?

:o)
"

‘The designer should be sacked for this.’

@LegoMike said:
" For example you could argue younger generations today are less materialistic, therefore may need/want to flip more due to cost of living issues for example, and space issues. "

I doubt that is the case. Young people are just as materialistic as old people. Through my own kids and friends' kids, I see many from younger generations buying up many products, whether it is LEGO, trainers, clothes, trading cards, etc. as investments.

@WizardOfOss said:
" @Amik said:
"So let's go. Tell me your arguments why it wouldn't be so"

Well, like I told you before, it just seems highly unlikely to met that the vast majority of Lego buyers are investors that are only in it to make a profit. But then again, unlike you I don't know thousands of Lego employees."

Ok, so first, I consider anyone who is willing to buy any Lego set just because there's a slight possibility he can sell it later for profit as "investor/speculator". Doesn't matter if he buys 100 sets for himself and 1 to sell later. That's just me. The fact that Lego keeps growing in value has brought countless people into the hobby over the past 5 years or so, making it unnecessarily expensive today. That's why I despise people who do that. But they do exist and I have to accept it even if I hate it lol.

Second, the fact that there exists thousands of employees in one place whom each is given yearly limit to buy any set they want at 50% discount makes it even easier for those "investors" to buy sets for cheap, store them and then re-sell them for 2-3x the original amount. If Lego did not offer such a benefit to its employees, there would surely be less people involved (at least in my area). Now is this happening all over the world ? No. I'm talking about my experiences with the people I know. And I've been buying Lego for the past 15 years or so.

@Amik said:
" @CCC said:
" @Amik said:
" @LegoMike said:
" @Amik said:
" @Rabrickzel said:
" @Jotahesse1 said:
"So many $100 display sets. Pocket money for those AFOLs with the means and space. "

I wonder what happens when those AFOLs run out of space or realize are those sets are pretty much collecting dust and they only bought them to get that sweet dopamine kick."

They love to call themselves "investors" and will immediately put them on sale for 2x-3x the original price. "

Not at all.
You assume AFOL’s are profiteers. Many of us are just traditional collectors and hobbyists.
It will all get left to my kids. They can do what they like with it…………I’ll never know ;-)"

Many (not all) are pure speculators who are buying to sell later for profit. I see it all around me and none of these people buy sets at regular price since there are thousands of Lego employees close by who buy for 50% discount and sell to others for further 10-20% mark up. It wasn't like this before the entire Lego investment crap bubble. Once it started, it changed everything. I personally think that half of what Lego offers today would not be made at all if not for profiteers who are mostly driving the sales for these sets. "

Quite a few LEGO investors aren't AFOLs, they are investors and LEGO is just a product. Personally, I am both. I did it both before and after the boom. Small time investor, big time AFOL. Nowhere near as much now though as the high profitability just isn't there for new sets for me.

If someone puts a retired set (new or used) up for sale at 3x RRP and it sells, then they got current market price for it. Why sell it for less, when someone is willing to pay more. Offer it for less and chances are the buyer will just flip it for the current value.

If investors are driving the types of products LEGO are making, what does it matter? You don't have to buy the ones you don't like. And they are still making plenty of traditional style sets. Investments only work if they can be sold for a profit larer, so investors clearly believe there is a future market if they are investing.

You mention that close to you there are 1000s of LEGO employees that are buying at a discount then selling on. How do you know it is going on at the scale of 1000s? I thought part of the contract was that they could not sell on what they purchased at a discount. For there to be 1000s local to you all willing to risk their employment seems unrealistic."

Think about it this way, each employee buys on average 5-10 sets per year as his currency limit given by Lego allows him. They buy them directly from Lego's website and boxes come by post as regular sets, not marked for discount as in factory store. There's no way Lego can track each employee to see what they will do with them later on. Due to huge local demand, they are always able to find buyers. Now Lego does keep track of specific sites and does certain monitoring to make sure it's not getting out of control. But in general they don't care because in global terms it's still pennies for them. "

This doesn't make any sense. If there is huge local demand and an employee only has 5-10 sets to sell, then this is a drop in the ocean. There is no way LEGO employees can buy enough sets at their large discount and resell below RRP but still for a little profit and satisfy the huge local demand. If they did, LEGO stores would not be able to sell product. And their jobs would be at risk because the stores would close.

Most resellers are not LEGO employees. Most are doing it as a side hustle. It used to be that many reselling were AFOLs as they saw the future value in discounted sets, but not these days. These days, the general population knows to buy sets like modulars, and any sets that hit >25% off. That is the big change compared to 10 years

@Amik said:
"Ok, so first, I consider anyone who is willing to buy any Lego set just because there's a slight possibility he can sell it later for profit as "investor/speculator". Doesn't matter if he buys 100 sets for himself and 1 to sell later."
The moment you open the box, with most sets the chance of making any profit out of it is basically gone. Therefore, I have hard time considering anyone who actually builds Lego sets an investor. Or at best most are pretty stupid investors that will never make a penny.

"The fact that Lego keeps growing in value has brought countless people into the hobby over the past 5 years or so, making it unnecessarily expensive today. That's why I despise people who do that. But they do exist and I have to accept it even if I hate it lol."
I do wonder though if Lego keeps growing and if their prices keep going up (something I also don't like and have been pretty vocal about) because of those investors, or just because they manage to attract a wider audience with the ever increasing diversity of sets they offer.

"Second, the fact that there exists thousands of employees in one place whom each is given yearly limit to buy any set they want at 50% discount makes it even easier for those "investors" to buy sets for cheap, store them and then re-sell them for 2-3x the original amount. If Lego did not offer such a benefit to its employees, there would surely be less people involved (at least in my area). Now is this happening all over the world ? No. I'm talking about my experiences with the people I know. And I've been buying Lego for the past 15 years or so."
This sounds like an extremely local issue. I don't live in Austria, as far as I know there aren't any Lego factories in the Netherlands, so this just isn't a thing here. Most sets are just bought either in traditional shops or online, and Amazon and Bol seem often fighting over who can offer the highest discounts. Many of those "unusual" sets do seem to be selling quite well. And I simply have no reason to believe those customers only buy the stuff to never ever open the box.

I'm not saying it isn't happening at all, it surely is. I'm only saying that to mee this seems like such a small piece of the pie that I just don't believe it will have any significant influence on Lego's product choices.

@yellowcastle said:
" @Andrusi said:
" @yellowcastle said:
" @BricksAhoy said:
"I may still buy this...

...but I think a classic 50s wooden radio (possibly with a touch of an art-deco), OR an 80s boom box would have been more desirable for me, personally."

So long as that 80s boom box comes with friends Laserbeak and Ravage."

If it's a boom box, rather than a microcassette player, then Laserbeak and Ravage are actually its mortal enemies..."

Lol, whups. I'm getting old. Was it by chance named Master Blaster?"

He's just Blaster, but "Master Blaster" *was* the title of an unrelated Beast Wars episode.

Thinking of you, LEGO Fan Texas. :o)

LEGO speculating only really hurts fans for limited supply items. Otherwise, these resellers help extend the life of products for folks who could not get the sets during their original run, either due to limited funds, not being into LEGO at the time, or only later following that theme. Will there be a markup? Sure. How much will depend on a number of factors.

LEGO has itself eviscerated some speculation by limiting/ending regional exclusives, increasing limited set availability like BLDP run sizes, expanding its iconic offerings, and rereleasing newer versions of anything/everything. I remember when 10179 was so stupid expensive that I could never rationalize opening it.

Prices have begun to become ridiculous due to Covid. LEGO became so popular and so profitable that they’re chasing those margins and at least for now, are not seeing consumers balk with their wallets. Ironically, LEGO is both fueling and extinguishing FOMO with their expanded and spectacular offerings these days.

@yellowcastle said:
"Thinking of you, LEGO Fan Texas. :o)

LEGO speculating only really hurts fans for limited supply items. Otherwise, these resellers help extend the life of products for folks who could not get the sets during their original run, either due to limited funds, not being into LEGO at the time, or only later following that theme. Will there be a markup? Sure. How much will depend on a number of factors.

LEGO has itself eviscerated some speculation by limiting/ending regional exclusives, increasing limited set availability like BLDP run sizes, expanding its iconic offerings, and rereleasing newer versions of anything/everything. I remember when 10179 was so stupid expensive that I could never rationalize opening it.

Prices have begun to become ridiculous due to Covid. LEGO became so popular and so profitable that they’re chasing those margins and at least for now, are not seeing consumers balk with their wallets. Ironically, LEGO is both fueling and extinguishing FOMO with their expanded and spectacular offerings these days."

I agree that Lego has become quite greedy.But when you look at after market prices for retired sets,can you really blame them ? I think it goes both ways and this is exactly why I hate the investment part of this,because it also fuels Lego's greed thinking people will keep buying for higher prices (in general). I used to have all the original SW UCS sets (10179, 10030, 10143 to name few) and was shocked to learn their value years later. There's just no reason for it. It applies to current sets as well. And don't get me started talking about classic lego space which I owned full 6 themes,it's the same story again and again, greed. Nothing else

@CCC said:
" @LegoMike said:
" For example you could argue younger generations today are less materialistic, therefore may need/want to flip more due to cost of living issues for example, and space issues. "

I doubt that is the case. Young people are just as materialistic as old people. Through my own kids and friends' kids, I see many from younger generations buying up many products, whether it is LEGO, trainers, clothes, trading cards, etc. as investments.
"

I wasn’t looking for a dispute or to get overly involved. I was merely trying to highlight to someone else that you can’t throw all of a certain type of person into the same box.
I wasn’t meaning to do the same if that’s how it came across.
We are all so different ;-)

Seems like it would be fun to put a Bluetooth speaker into. Play some Galaxy news Radio on it :)

@CCC said:
" @Amik said:
"I used to have all the original SW UCS sets (10179, 10030, 10143 to name few) and was shocked to learn their value years later. There's just no reason for it. It applies to current sets as well. And don't get me started talking about classic lego space which I owned full 6 themes,it's the same story again and again, greed. Nothing else"

There is a very simple reason for it. Low supply and high demand. Some buyers that didn't buy sets before retirement are willing to pay high prices for items that they don't own. They set the market price. If someone is willing to pay £500 for something I paid £100 for, what should the price be?

Of course, LEGO could reproduce old sets for late to the game collectors if they wanted to destroy secondary market prices, but that would be at the expense of producing new sets and probably lower sales volumes for them."

Ok,I can agree with the supply part that Lego never produced the quantities that are in demand today vs 15-20 years ago. But the demand part I still doubt to justify horrendous prices people ask for old sets (cloud city as an example) but I guess that one deserves its own discussion panel

@fakespacesquid said:
" @gorillax said:
"it doesn't feel like companies ask the basic question, who is this for? anymore when it comes to their products"

The fact that it’s not for you, doesn’t mean that it’s not for anyone. It’s a great big world out there."

"Someone?" is one heck of a marketing strategy.

@GBP_Chris said:
" @fakespacesquid said:
" @gorillax said:
"it doesn't feel like companies ask the basic question, who is this for? anymore when it comes to their products"

The fact that it’s not for you, doesn’t mean that it’s not for anyone. It’s a great big world out there."

"Someone?" is one heck of a marketing strategy."

Better than aiming it at "One specific AFOL."

@TheOtherMike said:
" @GBP_Chris said:
" @fakespacesquid said:
" @gorillax said:
"it doesn't feel like companies ask the basic question, who is this for? anymore when it comes to their products"

The fact that it’s not for you, doesn’t mean that it’s not for anyone. It’s a great big world out there."

"Someone?" is one heck of a marketing strategy."

Better than aiming it at "One specific AFOL.""

Unless that one specific AFOL is awesome…