Collectable Coin Display Case review

I'm probably being dense but what am I meant to be looking for in the final picture?

the display is sold out on LEGO.de so there are quite a few collectors out there (including me, the dissappointed VIP). I must say that the coin review was not entirely reflecting the whole story. I agree with another brickset mate that the "painting" is enamel and just because of its irregularities is attractive and potentially increasing the value. In spite of all the shortcomings outlined here, I will go for the display!

@Hitscan said:
"Apparently so bad it doesn't even qualify for a number grade!"

On a scale of 1 to 10? I would rate this with a well deserved minus 10. It is the disappointment together with the bad quality.

Thanks for sharing all the info

I've ordered the coin but taken a screenshot of it's picture on the VIP page. If it bears no resemblance and looks shabby compared to what was advertised I'll ask for my points back.

The case was sold out in the UK, can't really see the point of it though now I've seen that the individual coins have their own case.

I would complain to customer service and ask them to justify the high point spend for this tatt !, the key chain is very nice pleased i got that, avoided this one as it looked a little suspect. Sorry you had to spend your points on it.

Thank you for reviewing these items. I, too, was super excited about them, but after seeing your reviews (and similar reviews elsewhere), I will hold on to my VIP points.

I just ordered the coin, but after reading this (and laughing out loud), I'll pass on the storage case. I have some extra acrylic cases sitting around from other coins I've collected. Amazing that LEGO would let this go out with their name on it.

From the VIP points redeem picture, the coins look to be representing the classic Castle, Pirates, City (the Octan symbol) and Space lines, with one general LEGO coin. Any idea of the release schedule?

I didn't even know of these items....

As I understand it, VIP points are a bit like supermarket loyalty schemes and you can use them to get money off Lego plastic construction toys.

I like the general idea but I find the design of the coins not very appealing. Easy pass.

If the three layers are misaligned, have you tried flipping over the middle layer?

I like the concept of these coins quite a bit, along with the new metal keychain. Redeeming VIP points on sets is all well and good, but I mostly save mine up for large D2C purchases and I like to spend smaller amounts on the unique rewards LEGO offers, like old GWP sets. That's nicer to me than just using them for discounts (although I'm still not a fan of the new system with the vouchers and gift codes being unable to stack). These coins are kind of strange since LEGO doesn't really do metal things, but I liked the idea a lot and I got codes for the Castle coin and display case. It's disappointing to see the lack of quality, though. They're just chucked into boxes wrapped in a bit of tissue paper and scratched on arrival? That's kind of ridiculous. I'm all for LEGO branching out into new and weird VIP rewards, but I definitely expect better than this.

I also appreciate the candid review. LEGO is great, but they are certainly not perfect. I like their building system, but not as interested in their other business pursuits. That said, I did like both LEGO movies. ;-)

Don't be so concerned about being "negative" and just give a true rating.

I think there needs to be a clearer function to demonstrate who's actually writing the reviews @Huw , as you can see above it's led to some confusion, understandably so I think.

I am also disappointed that the previous coin review was not completely honest.

@Royweeezy said:
"Am I the only person thinking about getting the coin and maybe the case anyway and just hoping I get a good one? Maybe they aren’t all that bad lol. I feel like I’ve got tons of points anyway and am always hoping for something different to spend them on so I might as well try... fingers crossed"

I am also going to try to get all the coins and the case. No one can argue that the complete set of these coins with the case will go up in value after 3 to 4 years . These will probably be big collectors items later and cost quite a bit of money.

Abhorrent thing

Rating?
-10 / 10

I enjoy numismatics, and was initially very tempted to get these VIP rewards. Unfortunately, the cost is high, even when compared to genuine coins that have been properly minted. So I really appreciate these reviews. I'd like to know if the quality issues continue throughout the whole series.

On a separate note. I recently redeemed two VIP key chain rewards and I also thought that I needed to place two orders to obtain both key chains. However, upon contacting LEGO support (for a different reason) the representative told me that they can manually add a second reward to an order if you call them shortly after placing the order. I didn't take him up on his offer since I had two orders to place anyway, but it is worth trying in the future.

I redeemed my points for both this and the coin. The display case quickly sold out so I was “lucky” in that sense, reading this review sounds like I would have been better off. Still yet to place my orders to actually get the coin and case though

I am glad I ordered only the coin and not the display case...

Boy, I must be a real goober in JimmyO's mind, as the main thing I like about these coins is that they ARE PAINTED! That's what drew my eye to them! Had they been simply "regular" coins, I wouldn't have even looked twice.

Thanks for the user-sourced review, but since I utterly disagree with the primary thesis (painted / unpainted), I'll enjoy my coin just fine!

@Samdefisher said:
"The bottom photo doesn’t really show how bent, if at all, is it. It needed to be lined up straight at one end of the paper at least. Or photographed from the side with it lying down ‘flat’.
I appreciate the honest review, but I’m still looking forward to receiving mine. I appreciate the exclusivity of these and I do believe they will hold a good value in the future. "

Agreed. The floorboard is not horizontal in that photo, the paper appears lined up with the edge of the floorboard, but the coin case is at an angle and that makes it hard to see what you're trying to show us. Put a straight line down the middle of the paper and line the top edge up with that to show the curve away from the line. ...or put it flat on a table and show us the gap. Please. That photo is really not helpful.

I'm glad I saw this review though. I'd have been suckered into buying all of these. Not gonna do that now...except maybe the Classic Space coin because Classic Space. I don't care about what potential resale value might be because I buy Lego for me (and my family) and not for selling.

Lego contracts with RDP UK for a lot of their non-brick promo products, if not all. For example, the picnic blanket, canvas tote bag, lunch box, lunar mission patch, are all from RDP (but made in China or South Korea).

I'm curious to see if they are all like this, or if this one was just defective.

Disappointing to see such a low-quality product, even if it is outsourced.

"Only the best is good enough" needs to apply across the board.

I received my coin and display a little bit ago. Both items seem to be of good quality and a fun promotion. This is not something intended for everyone but for few collectors who are sitting on their VIP points for no reason. The fact they even did anything was worth it. I saw no low quality when i opened mine. This seems to be the review of a spoiled brat who thinks lego owes him something. I enjoy these pieces and will display them proudly despite what the toxic fanbase thinks.

Thank you for the warning, JimmyO. I had gotten excited about the coins, but I agree, they look shabby.

Sometimes people seem to forget who the target audience for some of the gifts are. VIP or not, this is clearly not aimed at intense coin collectors who expect 24 carat gold and pristine details... It's from a toys company, whose main audience are kids, who certainly aren't as nitpicky about the perfection of the paint. What I've seen from pictures is a nice looking bonus, although far from a necessary one. And the display: does it really need to be perfectly flat? The scratches are a bit of a bummer for something brand new, but otherwise I don't see what the fuss is about. My kids and my friends' kids would be delighted to get their hands on these products.

I had requested the codes for both coin 1 and the case. Thankfully I have not redeemed them yet. I think I’ll let the codes expire and get my points back. Thanks for your warning, I mean review

I think this looks perfectly OK, so long as you realise it will be the quality of a souvenier you'd get from a gift shop, and not from a jewellers. I've got the coin reserved and will also get the case when it comes back in stock. I also know that if I don't like them when they arrive I'll be able to get more than the VIP point value on eBay, once they're no longer available.

The individual Castle coin comes in a single coin display case, so I assume that the other coins will come in that same case too. If you get all the coins, they're already each in cases. If you get this multi-coin case, then you would have 5 empty single coin cases left. What's the point of this multi-coin case? The 5 individual cases could be arranged in a row, like the multi-coin case displays them, or they could be arranged in whatever geometry/design you want. Regardless of the quality and price of the multi-coin case, I see no reason to get it.

Fantastic... great to know I have a code for the case and the first coin... Hooray! (yes sarcastically). Wish I would have read the reviews before getting the codes. It is sad that they appear to be of less quality then what one would expect for a "VIP" treatment. At times it does seem as Lego is putting less value on their loyal customers these days.

@Samdefisher said:
"The bottom photo doesn’t really show how bent, if at all, is it. It needed to be lined up straight at one end of the paper at least. Or photographed from the side with it lying down ‘flat’.
I appreciate the honest review, but I’m still looking forward to receiving mine. I appreciate the exclusivity of these and I do believe they will hold a good value in the future. "

What "value" are they supposed to hold? They are worth nothing now, so if they "hold" that value, good luck to you.

Also might I suggest seeing an optician? If you can't see how bent this thing is, this would really be a wise option.

After just watching the latest Held der Steine video about the next laughable lawsuit threat by TLG, I have decided to take a break from buying any more LEGO sets for the foreseeable future. I know many people in Germany who used to love LEGO are beginning to think along the same lines.
Marketing-wise one can really only scratch one's head at these decisions by TLG. Don't they see how they are ruining their brand image?

@Synthia1980 said:
"I do not need glasses, the last photo shows nothing. I see no bend or warp at all?"
Proves my point.

It's a shame because the press release image of all five coins in the case looked pretty nice.

Hey, you dig up some old Shield pieces from your collection and you could make a higher quality brickbulit version of this for around the same price if not cheaper

@OneIsLit:
I placed an order for a backordered item, and got a message this week saying the payment method hit a snag. I used Paypal, so either the authorization expired (Jan2 order), or Paypal objected to the fact that splitting the order also split the payment. Whatever the case, I asked about adding my coin and case to the backordered item, since I know it hasn't shipped yet. Firstly, because the order had already gone to warehouse for the first part of the order, they could only remove backordered items from the remainder of the order, so I'm still stuck having to place more orders to get these to ship. Second, even after consulting a supervisor, my CS rep assured me that their system will only allow _ONE_ physical reward code per order.

So, either your CS rep knows some tricks that even the supervisors don't know (it's always possible), or your CS rep is a bit mixed up about how that process works. I really kinda wish you'd asked them to try so we'd know for sure. What I suspect happened is that your CS rep may have been informed that they could add a physical reward code to an order that had just been placed as long as it hasn't gone to warehouse, and may have believed that this process could be repeated more than once on the same order.

@Synthia1980:
Don't you listen to them. Just because you can't see the very obvious curvature of the case that everyone else sees in that last pic doesn't mean you need glasses. Some people just don't have an eye for that sort of thing.

As for eBay, I can put a used toothpick on there for $1000 if I want. It doesn't mean anyone would buy it. These absolutely _will_ have some collector value, but it's a bit early to see what that will be. Let the panic-buyers get it out of their system, and see what they're selling for in a few weeks to a month.

@AustinPowers said:
" @Samdefisher said:
"The bottom photo doesn’t really show how bent, if at all, is it. It needed to be lined up straight at one end of the paper at least. Or photographed from the side with it lying down ‘flat’.
I appreciate the honest review, but I’m still looking forward to receiving mine. I appreciate the exclusivity of these and I do believe they will hold a good value in the future. "

What "value" are they supposed to hold? They are worth nothing now, so if they "hold" that value, good luck to you.

Also might I suggest seeing an optician? If you can't see how bent this thing is, this would really be a wise option.

After just watching the latest Held der Steine video about the next laughable lawsuit threat by TLG, I have decided to take a break from buying any more LEGO sets for the foreseeable future. I know many people in Germany who used to love LEGO are beginning to think along the same lines.
Marketing-wise one can really only scratch one's head at these decisions by TLG. Don't they see how they are ruining their brand image? "

For context: the "lawsuit threat" is a standard cease & desist letter, prompted by him talking about "Lego" when referring to 3rd party products.
World's tiniest violin etc.

What is even the point of this coin and case? It's not an actual coin (as in, money), so it has no numismatic value. Neither item is compatible with LEGO system (that would have been neat), so the only thing it can do is... collect dust?

@Synthia1980:
Before you put a nail in the wall, you might want to get some glasses first. You know, just in case you really are legally blind. You don't want to lose a fingernail, after all.

Hello all
I received my coin and 5 coin display. My display was warped. Being the mechanical minded person I am, I took it apart, pulled out my calipers and started measuring. I did a CAD model so I could easily visually compare the outer plates to the inner coin holder plate. I wish I could upload a jpg of the parts overlaid on top of each other so you could see how off they are from each other.

1)The overall outside dimensions are different, the coin holder is longer but shorter than the front/back plates.
2)The corner radii are different, the coin holder has 6mm radii and the front/back plate have 8mm radii.
3)The bolt pattern is just all over the place on the coin holder, misalignment every direction. One of mine was even slotted a bit. This is what causes the bowing of the assembly, forcing the treaded pins into the holes bows the plexiglass plates.

I will most likely end up laser cutting my own coin holder section with aligned holes. The thickness is 2.5mm and the coins are 2.75mm thick, being in imperialist USA I may have to go with 1/8" (3.17mm) thick plexiglass.

I find it sad that the vendor LEGO used to create this had such low quality control standards.

Yesterday I got the display case, and a Pirate coin. The display is very straight, unbent. It also looks good imho, but there should have been something like a protective layer on the case, because it's rather susceptible to scratching, and it's only a little protected by a flimsy piece of paper that tears when it's touched.

@JimmyO did you find that the five large diameter holes (which the coins are supposed to fit into) are at least all lined up? Because on mine one of the five is clearly not. I wonder if the subcontractor making them is drilling them by hand, because that's a problem which could easily be avoided with a laser cutter, or even a simple jig on a drill press.

@Wrecknbuild:
Oh, there probably was when they were first cut, or the surface would have tons of scuffs on both sides of each layer. The edges may have been heat-treated so they're not razor-sharp, and that would require removing the protective film from every surface. Assembly would also require this, as the screws aren't pocketed, so the outer films would get trapped under the screw heads (and the inner layers would need to be removed so the eventual owner didn't need to disassemble the whole thing just to remove them). Finally, the logo was probably applied after the pieces were cut, so again the outer front film would have to go.

@BrickTeller:
If you look at the edges of the parts, you can see the distinctive chattered edge produced by a CNC router. How fast the router head moves in relation to how fast the router bit spins, combined with whether the head is moving into or away from the cut will change how aggressive that ripple on the edge is, which is why the corners of the part look different from the straight edges. On a straight path, the cutting edge travels at the same speed as the head. On a curve, the math gets a lot more complicated, and it's difficult to keep the cutting edge travelling at the same speed, at least on older machines. State-of-the-art machines can do all that math for you.

Another trick for getting cleaner edges is to do two passes, so the second pass is just shaving off a tiny bit, and the piece experiences less torque as each chip is removed. However, all of that means nothing if you don't keep a clean workspace. Flat stock is usually held down with vacuum, and one chip on the jig surface can ruin the vacuum seal and cause the part to drift. If one of your coin slots is out of alignment, that's probably what happened.