Good luck to all trying to hunt this down. Knowing Lego, there is probably less of these than the pirate coin with Brickbeard's emblem (not Redbeard's) because they thought nobody would ever want a space agency logo coin, amiright?

Anyway, I'm personally glad I don't collect these. It would clearly be a hassle to do so. And it doesn't include genuine system-compatible parts anyway.

One has already sold on eBay for £99...

I got one, I’m already having ‘coin FOMO’ for the last one on May 1st!

@Slave2lego said:
"This has been a real sh1t show on behalf of Lego, some people (UK) had access to the coin at 12 midnight - no rhyme or reason why. "

It wasn't, I tried.

@Angry_Warlock said:
" @Slave2lego said:
"This has been a real sh1t show on behalf of Lego, some people (UK) had access to the coin at 12 midnight - no rhyme or reason why. "

It wasn't, I tried. "

It was. I got it at 00:00

@Michael40Plus said:
" @Angry_Warlock said:
" @Slave2lego said:
"This has been a real sh1t show on behalf of Lego, some people (UK) had access to the coin at 12 midnight - no rhyme or reason why. "

It wasn't, I tried. "

It was. I got it at 00:00"

Interesting. It wasnt available for me at 23:30, 31, 32....58, 59, 00:00, 01, 02.....09,10.

Checked every couple of mins from 11 30pm through to 1am.

Well that was quick. It was sold out already at midnight in the United States. We didn't have a chance.

Was able to get one by pure chance at 9:45. Was going to check at 10 after trying last night so was really lucky. At least that’s one less coin for the scalpers to put on eBay

@legoboyUK said:
" @Michael40Plus said:
" @Angry_Warlock said:
" @Slave2lego said:
"This has been a real sh1t show on behalf of Lego, some people (UK) had access to the coin at 12 midnight - no rhyme or reason why. "

It wasn't, I tried. "

It was. I got it at 00:00"

Interesting. It wasnt available for me at 23:30, 31, 32....58, 59, 00:00, 01, 02.....09,10.

Checked every couple of mins from 11 30pm through to 1am."

At exacting 00:00 the website ground to a halt (shift change for the hamster I presume) and the VIP rewards page was updated with the coin there to be redeemed. Of course I understand form others that this was not the same experience for everyone.

The real test will be if they honour the code I received.

@Slave2lego said:
"I got one, I’m already having ‘coin FOMO’ for the last one on May 1st!"

I'd assumed the Space one was the last one and that the unpainted gold one came with the frame. Is this not the case?

This must really suck for people who collected the first three but can't get the fourth. I guess some consolation will be the option of selling the coins they do have for a decent return.

At least this debacle "only" happened with some coins. Hopefully Lego can learn from their mistakes so when they make a truly desirable Lego set available, there's enough to go round.

In the US -- just ordered the space shuttle, but coin is sold out.

"This one is likely to be very popular, so get in quick and good luck!"

Based on the reviews of previous coins published on this very site... nah thanks, I'm good.

@Brainslugged said:
" @Slave2lego said:
"I got one, I’m already having ‘coin FOMO’ for the last one on May 1st!"

I'd assumed the Space one was the last one and that the unpainted gold one came with the frame. Is this not the case?

This must really suck for people who collected the first three but can't get the fourth. I guess some consolation will be the option of selling the coins they do have for a decent return.

At least this debacle "only" happened with some coins. Hopefully Lego can learn from their mistakes so when they make a truly desirable Lego set available, there's enough to go round."

No the frame was released alongside the first coin but were separate (and frame sold out first), fifth coin will be released separately like the rest.

I had the first two slip (I wasn't sure what they would turn up to be). Alas, seeing the aftermarket prices, I jumped on the band wagon not as much to collect it but to make some extra money for my LEGO purchases. I missed the Octan one in the same fashion as many of you have (refreshing every hour only to discover that it had already been sold out in between my two refreshes). I was lucky this time, being up at 1.a.m. on purpose to see what happens and it did pop up. I like the classic space the most and will part with it only because I need money to buy things I really want. Lego can't please everybody..If LEGO made reeditions, I will rather vote for global release of Comicon Bespin duel or Nebulon rather than these coins.

@Johnny__Thunder97 said:
"Wow...I clicked the article to read the comments about how silly the coins are, and how money and VIP points can be infinitely better spent... But then this comment section seems to actually be 80% keen for the coins in spite of their widely reported (lack of) quality..."

The people that don't care about the coins probably don't bother to comment on this article (or didn't even read it).

I, for one, am happy that I decided not to collect these and save my points for actual LEGO.

Managed to get this coin this morning. This was the one I wanted most. I got the Pirate and Octan coin before, and the display case.
Some say the quality is bad, but I think it's rather inconsistent. The Pirate coin looked great, the display case so-so, and the Octan reasonably okay.

Initially, the Castle coin was not so popular, but once the prices on ebay became known, it seems that everyone wants one. Had the coins been widely available, they wouldn't have become so popular.
The VIP prints look very nice imho, but even the limited numbered editions (like 5000 pieces for the German patent) took a long time to sell out. It's just psychology.
And usually the price will go down once the hysteria has settled.

Maybe getting banned was a blessing in disguise, not having to deal with this nonsense. LOL

Did get the first 2 coins and coin holder. Was redeeming for the Octan coin when found I was banned. And then what with the [very!] short window for this last one...yeah...screw being a completionist.

@Brainslugged:
These slipped below the radar with the first release in January. That drop was two separate items, which were the Castle coin and the five-coin case (each coin ships in a single-coin case in the same style, so the big case only makes sense if you go for the full set). February was Pirates, and March was Octan for City. Several of us guessed Space would land today, and the generic LEGO logo will come in May.

Missed on it. Annoyed but can live with that - just another brick on the wall of Lego incompetence: "only the best is good enough; yeah right."

And Lego, probably still not understanding that classic space is highly regarded and in high demand some 30 odd years after its initial release...

Company executives with 5 cents of brain would at least "try" to cash in on this but Lego still refuses to give its customers what they want, go figure... (maybe their designers have problems recreating the magic of classic space; 70816 was no classic space even if it has the colour scheme - but then again, they did so well with the Pirates theme)

Here in Spain, I’ve been looking for the space coin til 2 am. In the morning, at 10 was still unavailable. At 11 am it was yet gone! OK, it’s just a coin, but I’m spending my VIP points just for the fun of having a nice collection of Lego products. If I can’t get one of the coins, the previous points I’ve used are useless. So, I’ve complained to Lego customer service, with little hope of an answer.

@hergas said:
"Here in Spain, I’ve been looking for the space coin til 2 am. In the morning, at 10 was still unavailable. At 11 am it was yet gone! OK, it’s just a coin, but I’m spending my VIP points just for the fun of having a nice collection of Lego products. If I can’t get one of the coins, the previous points I’ve used are useless. So, I’ve complained to Lego customer service, with little hope of an answer."

Which is why I was asking, why are they making things exclusive?
What's the point? All it does is annoy people

Nnoooooooo!

What a joke. Lego must really hate it's fans. Right after that $@-show with the GWP for the Porsche they've done it again. Doesn't this get through to their management?

@diamosuk:
Evidentially getting griefed by other people who feel personally offended that we would choose to spend points on these. If it had been possible, I actually would have grabbed doubles of the five coins, just to see if I could work one set into some MOCs.

Besides, when you get right down to it, what do any of us gain by buying LEGO sets?

I missed the previous coins, I would have liked the pirate one, but got lucky on this one. I was scrolling on ebay and saw one listed at 9:30pm (Eastern US). I went to LEGO VIP and got the code and placed a $60 order and got the coin and the carrot house promo. I'm glad I wasn't looking to get the shuttle, at least day 1, and didn't wait...though I guess if I had gotten the code earlier like I did, I would have been alright actually. Just glad, the Space Coin is the one I most wanted.

sold out!!!

Well... that STINKS. I have all the other 3, but missed this one. Anyone out there wanna help me out with getting the last one? If so, I would be appreciative....

Nooo! First one I missed. Great. Just great.

So I looked for this from 23.00 on 31/3 and literally looked and refreshed till 05.00!!!!!!

At about 02.00 there were two on sale on e bay

Somehow there was a way of getting one!

Then was lucky enough to get one in the morning

I don’t mind missing out in a fair way

Missing out because of Lego’s randomness and say for example with the Porsche the set being on sale before the given time is annoying

I looked yesterday in the early evening (US store) and happened to see the Space coin listed. Redeemed points for the code. I put it in my shopping cart, but haven't actually purchased anything to get the coin yet. (My next purchases are currently out of stock.) Hopefully having the code is good enough to reserve one for me until I place an order. Otherwise I'm going to be demanding those points back!

The ONLY coin I really wanted and the d**n thing is gone. I have every other coin AND the 4 coin holder. I'm annoyed about this. EXTREMELY annoyed. Lego can take these other coins back. Ridiculous.

@PDelahanty said:
"I looked yesterday in the early evening (US store) and happened to see the Space coin listed. Redeemed points for the code. I put it in my shopping cart, but haven't actually purchased anything to get the coin yet. (My next purchases are currently out of stock.) Hopefully having the code is good enough to reserve one for me until I place an order. Otherwise I'm going to be demanding those points back!"

You have 60 days. I have redeemed codes and held that code for just over a month. Around 40 days I think to be exact, before redeeming it. Just don't lose the code because you'll have to call to get it if you do.

Why are these so popular all of a sudden? Limited quantities really caters to the "collectible" fan, not the "LEGO" fan. I would not be surprised if there are knockoff versions of these coins by the end of the year, if not sooner.

I was lucky and got one just before they sold out :-)

Sorry for those who didn't.

I heard that some managed to get several by modifying the code or something... Shame on them!

Got the castle coin and the display case and today the classic space coin. But missed the Pirates and Octane and nom I am in fear of missing the last one as I see how quick these were sold out..

This one is cool, now I really want to see the review.

So flipping angry right now!

...and...on order:D...along w/the Tractor (couldn't resist it forever...), and some B&P stuff (which I wanted/needed, and roundin' out the 'free shipping').

In fact this morning I realized how I'd like to display it: Part of a MOC of a 'Space Base'/HQ (I'm thinking the roof...:))...

Oh, and for those who missed them: I've noticed that Lego usually adds more coins during a given month (saw it w/Pirates, and City/Octane); so just keep checking, they'll probably be back in later...

@PDelahanty:
In theory, they should have limited codes to the number of coins available. In practicality, stuff happens, and sometimes it’s best to not take chances. What if you’re the last person to redeem your code and the coin gets dropped and run over by a forklift?

@mfsinger:
Makes me glad I didn’t take chances and stayed up late to grab mine. If they were made in equal quantities, I suppose it makes sense. This is easily the most popular of the four logos, plus people have been seeing the prices these fetch on the secondary market, so it figures there was a run. The previous four lasted a few days each in the US. This was my biggest concern with these, too. You have to grab each one while you can, not having any guarantee that you’ll be able to complete the set without paying more cash for one than the points value of the full set. If you’re not planning to buy the Space coin, my suggestion would be to consider selling the previous ones rather than asking for your points back.

@Altair1970:
I’m not sure how that would even work. Each VIP account is limited to purchasing one code per item (try a second time and it tells you you’ve already bought your limit). Each code should be single-use, which means the only way to cheat a code like that is guess someone else’s code. If the codes were locked to only work with the VIP account that generated them, then the only remaining workaround would be to register multiple VIP accounts and make enough purchases with each to fill them with points. Given identical shipping destinations, it seems like that would be pretty easy to catch, and likely to get you banned from the VIP program.

@Classique:
The studs are always greener on the other side of the brick.

^ That's not completely fair. Collectors want quality, and more so for a product specifically aimed them. And if you're going to make fun of the "completionist" mentality, you're in the wrong place. Collectors like to have their collections be complete. I personally only planned to purchase the Space coin, but even I understand that the drive toward completion it just the nature of collecting. It's not unreasonable to expect both quality -and- availability.

@brick_r said:
"Oh, and for those who missed them: I've noticed that Lego usually adds more coins during a given month (saw it w/Pirates, and City/Octane); so just keep checking, they'll probably be back in later..."

I have personally not seen this in the Danish LEGO online store, but I absolutely hope that information is correct.

@Slave2lego said:
"This has been a real sh1t show on behalf of Lego, some people (UK) had access to the coin at 12 midnight - no rhyme or reason why. "

I checked at 1 am (EU Austria) and they had them in quite big stock then. If you are refreshing page, use incognito mode in browser, it might be bugged with cache not refreshing.

This whole coin collection thing is a bad April Fools joke.

I noticed the Space Coins were available at LEGO.com last night (March 31, 2021) a little after 8PM EDT while I was checking to see if the Ulysses Space Probe was available (it was not of course). I'm not into the coins and just assumed there were probably many available since I am never lucky enough to check the site when something hard-to-get is actually available. I guess the saying "even a blind squirrel finds an acorn occasionally" is true...except this squirrel wasn't smart enough to acquire the acorn.

@dtobin123 said:
" @Astro7726 said:
"Looks like this is a place I can vent into the void about out of stock Space Coin. I get up for work at 4:30 am MST, and go to bed early, so I thought I’d be ok trying in the morning. When I saw the out of stock message I yelled at my phone and woke up my wife. I even called LEGO and waited on hold for 1.5 hours to tell them my displeasure. I’m seriously think about calling it quits for LEGO over this. I’m sure losing one customer who can afford to buy whatever I want doesn’t affect them, but for some reason I feel betrayed by a brand I love. And I’m not buying from jacked up eBay prices. Sorry LEGO, we had a good run!"

If you're seriously done with LEGO because you couldn't obtain some cheap coin than did you really care about LEGO in the first place? "

If you’re seriously done with LEGO because you couldn’t obtain some cheap coin, can I have your collection please? :~P

I got the first three and the case. I am a big Lego collector, and have a small interest in coin collecting, so these, regardless of how cheap they are or aren't, were quite interesting to me. I was looking forward to getting this one, even got up and checked this morning before work. It was sold out by then, obviously. Was rather saddened.

But then again, it's not Blacktron. Not a lime B in an octagon, nor three yellow triangles.

@Classique
Sorry about that, I guess my statement is a bit of an 'overreach'; what I should I have stated was how: here in Canada, I noticed our Lego site adding coins back in a short time after sell-outs. I guess I 'thought' other countries did the same...YMMV...

@ElephantKnight
"...nor three yellow triangles."...the Legend of Zelda?...serious though, I always liked the triangles over the 'B', But don't really hate the latter...it funny though; I just realized: when Lego does a Space CMF of 'BT', only first one has a 'B'...then the 'civilians/fans': first one ("Video Game Champion") has triangles, the last one ('Violin Kid') got the 'B'. Don't know who's progressing or regressing...

@ra226:
When you start your reply with “^”, it generally means you’re replying to the post immediately above yours, but either you replied to a completely different post, or you’re very confused about what I wrote.

@dtobin123:
No, there isn’t. This is just a hobby. None of us are going to die if we can’t get the item we seek. I collect keychains and smashed pennies as my default souvenirs, because they’re cheap, easy to pack, and usually easy to find wherever you travel. For me, the Carbonite Han keychain, the 2x4 plate keychain, and these logo coins are the intersection between two hobbies, so they matter as much to me as being able to buy a set that I really want. You may place little to no value on them, but given the prices they’re fetching, clearly they matter to others. It’s not your collection, so you don’t define what holds value.

Another member of my LUG buys all the Modulars, builds them, and then a few years later unloads them for a profit. He can’t understand why I haven’t sold off the various SDCC minifigs I own, given how much they sell for. We have completely incompatible views on what matters in terms of collecting LEGO product, but _that’s_okay_! We each have our own collections, we each fund our own purchases, and if he wants his to have a revolving door while mine has no exit sign, that’s our personal business, respectively.

@brick_r:
They’ve been really bad about mixing Blacktron and Super B Blacktron Cadet/Target Corps iconography. The first instance was the peg legged space pirate with an original Blacktron outfit and a Super B logo. The only really good one is the Bounty Hunter which has colors, design, and logo that all match the original Blacktron.

The release of this collection is being managed by baboons, for sure.
January's coin showed up in the middle of the month, out of nowhere, and it showed already "sold out".
February's coin showed up at mid-night on the 1st fo February. It sold out by the end of the day.
March's coin didn't show up until the 2nd of March on the website...and when it showed up, it showed up as already "sold out".
April's coin didn't show up at mid-night GMT, and when it finally was put on the website at around 12am GMT, it was put as "sold out".

Yet, on eBay, there are tons of them being resold.
I start suspecting LEGO employees are diverting the coins for themselves and reselling them. Because this is too much BS to be just "technical errors".

At this point, the VIP program is an absolute joke.

@djcbs:
I still have my code e-mails for all five items that have been released. The 5-coin case and Castle were obtained on 1-18, but that was because I hadn’t even heard about them before that. I don’t remember if I claimed them right away, or if I waited a few days to think about it, but I hadn’t seen a peep about them on the 1st. Pirates was 2-1, Octan was 3-1, and Space was 3-31. Pirates I claimed right after midnight, Octan I had to wait until afternoon because I forgot what day it was, and Space I was able to grab the evening before because I saw someone post here that it had gone live a few hours early in the US. I still haven’t seen any credible statement on when the first two actually released because as far as I know, nobody even knew these were happening until someone stumbled across them in the VIP Rewards section and reported them to one or more AFOL sites.

I know it’s been a little rough in Western Europe because every country appears to be getting their own rollout, possibly with quantities limited by individual nation, and not every drop has been consistent across the board (UK specifically had a bungled drop for Space if some people were checking since midnight and couldn’t ever see them, while others were able to log in later and put a claim in). In the US, things generally go live for everyone on Eastern time, so the left coast can actually start in at 9pm the day before, and there would be one huge pool rather than allocating small amounts for each individual state.

What I don’t know, and what I’m curious about, is exact quantities. Did the US and Europe get the same total amount? Were they just being claimed faster in Europe such that the first few coins actually lasted at least a couple days in the US? Did they actually split them up in Europe so eastern nations couldn’t eat up the supply before western nations even had a chance to claim them? And were all of the different coins produced in matching quantities (I’m assuming the large case had a smaller run because nobody would want it if they were cherry-picking one or two coins), or did Space get a smaller run that it sold out even in less than a day even in the US?

@djcbs said:
"January's coin showed up in the middle of the month, out of nowhere, and it showed already "sold out".
February's coin showed up at mid-night on the 1st fo February. It sold out by the end of the day.
March's coin didn't show up until the 2nd of March on the website...and when it showed up, it showed up as already "sold out".
April's coin didn't show up at mid-night GMT, and when it finally was put on the website at around 12am GMT, it was put as "sold out"."
None of that's true for the United Kingdom (as per your post header), but where are you referring to because you have a country set as United Kingdom, but a location set as Portugal?

Totally worthless.Just another scam that LEGO cooked up to rob your hard earned VIP points. Probably cost 10 cents to produce in some remote area in China. Use your points for the real deal, not some worthless keychain or coins that's not going to worth anything someday.

@argee1969 said:
"Just another scam that LEGO cooked up to rob your hard earned VIP points."
rob:- verb. Take property unlawfully from (a person or place) by force or threat of force.

Not sure when that occurred!

@sjr60 said:
" @djcbs said:
"January's coin showed up in the middle of the month, out of nowhere, and it showed already "sold out".
February's coin showed up at mid-night on the 1st fo February. It sold out by the end of the day.
March's coin didn't show up until the 2nd of March on the website...and when it showed up, it showed up as already "sold out".
April's coin didn't show up at mid-night GMT, and when it finally was put on the website at around 12am GMT, it was put as "sold out"."
None of that's true for the United Kingdom (as per your post header), but where are you referring to because you have a country set as United Kingdom, but a location set as Portugal?
"

I'm talking about Portugal. Which is my location.
I have no idea why it says "United Kingdom" in "country". But I also can't change it on my profile. I can only select "Location" and that one is set to Portugal. Maybe Brickset is basic it on the fact that I use Windows in British English, as there's no option for proper European Portuguese anymore.

@PurpleDave said:I know it’s been a little rough in Western Europe because every country appears to be getting their own rollout, possibly with quantities limited by individual nation, and not every drop has been consistent across the board (UK specifically had a bungled drop for Space if some people were checking since midnight and couldn’t ever see them, while others were able to log in later and put a claim in). In the US, things generally go live for everyone on Eastern time, so the left coast can actually start in at 9pm the day before, and there would be one huge pool rather than allocating small amounts for each individual state.

What I don’t know, and what I’m curious about, is exact quantities. Did the US and Europe get the same total amount? Were they just being claimed faster in Europe such that the first few coins actually lasted at least a couple days in the US? Did they actually split them up in Europe so eastern nations couldn’t eat up the supply before western nations even had a chance to claim them? And were all of the different coins produced in matching quantities (I’m assuming the large case had a smaller run because nobody would want it if they were cherry-picking one or two coins), or did Space get a smaller run that it sold out even in less than a day even in the US?]]

Rough? It's been a complete mess. VIP prizes always launch at mid-night...except when they don't.
And these coins have been a complete disaster left and right.
The LEGO Shop @Home store is common to the entire European continent as far as I'm aware. Our purchases all seem to be dispatched from the warehouses in either Köln (Germany) or Belgium.
So I've also wondered if they have a single batch for the entire continent. Which would explain why those of us in the Western end of the continent are getting f*cked over this. If they put the coins up at mid-night for each EU country, Portugal, Britain and Ireland are the last countries in Europe to reach mid-night. Which would explain why when it shows up on the site it's already, miraculously "sold out". Because the entire continent already had the chance to buy them and bought all units.
I sincerely hope LEGO isn't doing something like this, 'cause if they are, that's utter BS.

I'd like to have clarity too on all those questions you asked. They're pretty valid.
Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure LEGO won't address anything, just like they didn't address last year's regional exclusives.
I've written them, complaining about this issue. Let's see what they say...(if anything at all).

^^
Ah yes, I assumed Portugal must have been the actual location. Makes the half hour availability we had in the UK feel quite luxurious!

@sjr60 said:
" @djcbs said:
"The LEGO Shop @Home store is common to the entire European continent as far as I'm aware. Our purchases all seem to be dispatched from the warehouses in either Köln (Germany) or Belgium."
The UK deliveries also come from Belgium (Mechelen). The April coin appeared properly also around 09:30 (although it had apparently appeared fleetingly around 00:00) and was sold out by about 10:00. I got it because the March release was around 09:00 (lasting about 3 hours), so I was expecting it at that time.

So it doesn't appear there was any specific aim for a midnight release, and also no universal release time.

The 'sold out' times you mention for Portugal do seem to tally with the UK times so it looks like there was one pool per distribution warehouse.

The cock-up seems to have been that all countries using one distribution warehouse didn't go live at the same time, so it went live in the UK just before it had run out, but in Portugal just after it had run out.

If they want to make it fairer it would seem they should either have a separate pool for each country, or synchronise the release time for everyone supplied by the same warehouse."

Sorry, just reading the comments and had a thought. Do you think Lego has deliberately aimed to release the coins ‘not at midnight’ to try to allow younger fans (ie. school kids that are tucked up in bed at midnight) the chance to enjoy the coins?
It would make sense but doesn’t explain the shambles that we’ve seen with the coin releases

@LegoMike said:
"Do you think Lego has deliberately aimed to release the coins ‘not at midnight’ to try to allow younger fans (ie. school kids that are tucked up in bed at midnight) the chance to enjoy the coins?"
School kids aren't meant to be VIP members (18+), unless they've pinched their parents' credit cards!

@argee1969:
Tell you what. The next coin that comes up, cash in the points required to buy one. I'll then happily buy it form you for twice the value of those points.

@djcbs:
It's a bit more obvious what's going on with set launches, especially when they appear to be kicking off flawlessly with the tiny exception that some nations are given preferential positioning in line, while others have to wait until stock is gone or nearly so. For the coins, it was unclear if each nation was given a reserved quantity, since I was seeing people from several nations claiming it was Sold Out the first time they could get it to load.

I'm not sure what "regional exclusives" you're referring to, though. If it's the SDCC/SWC sets, those were produced as convention exclusives (pointedly excluded from the "no regional exclusives" policy), and needed new distribution channels once those events were cancelled. The entire production run had already been shipped stateside, so the only way to open that up to the entire world would be to either fulfill orders from the US (where shipping costs would have wiped out any profit margin), or to bulk ship sets back to Europe and forward on to any other distribution centers around the world. Either they would have had to pre-determine how many sets would go where, or they would have had to globally link their entire ordering network so the entire world was able to dip into the same limited pool.

And the DC and Marvel minifigs were given away as prizes, which further excludes them from NRE policy. You've got a legitimate complaint regarding staggered access to the same pool of product, but anything that's tied to a single convention is specifically excluded from current policy, and complaining that they violated their own rules by coming up with a last-second alternative distribution plan isn't going to get you anywhere.

@PurpleDave heh, when I replied with ^, the post directly above mine was Classique's "Schrödinger's brickset" comment. I guess the thread was super hot and by the time I posted a few more got in before me? Anyway, sorry for the confusion. It sounds like we're in agreement anyway--just because someone may not understand the value a collector gives something they collect doesn't mean the value isn't real, nor the disappointment when it's missed.

@ra226:
I actually gave a humorous response to that same comment. If people want to collect something, that's their business. But I do agree with @Classique and @fakespacesquid that the comments regarding these coins turned on a dime, skewing negative about the quality of the coins right up until the point where people couldn't actually claim one for themselves, at which point they skewed negatively about how they didn't produce enough. The comment section taken as an entity unto itself is like that all the time. If you actually track who says what, things may look a little more consistent, with some people making early complaints and dropping out of further conversations, and silent observers jumping in to make different negative comments later on.

As someone who started grabbing these right away, I fully sympathize with those who have found themselves getting shut out by the sudden surge in popularity. But if anyone has been complaining that these are pure garbage, that they're trying to "steal" our VIP points, or that no true LEGO fan would ever want these, I've got zero respect for them if they're suddenly complaining that they couldn't manage to grab the fourth coin now that prices have spiked on the secondary market. To me, that signals that they only want it because it's valuable, and can be flipped for a significant profit, hence my other comment about people complaining about the CMF vintage cop until they realized they could flip it for $20.

Time and again, we see that something is reviled until it can be sold for a profit. Only then do some people complain that it's unfair that they can't get their hands on it, ignoring the fact that the only reason it's so valuable is because they can't get their hands on it. If they made a million of these coins, Classic Space or not, you couldn't unload them for more than $10 because anyone who really wanted one could simply cash in that value in points to get one. So, you I completely sympathize with because you obviously wanted one badly enough to try to scrape up eight lousy points. I sympathize with Europeans who got locked out because stock was sold out before they even had access to it. But I also completely agree with @Classique and @fakespacesquid, who are commenting more on the opportunists than the true collectors.

@bananaworld said:
"
@dtobin123 said:
" @Astro7726 said:
".... I’m seriously think about calling it quits for LEGO over this. I’m sure losing one customer who can afford to buy whatever I want doesn’t affect them, but for some reason I feel betrayed by a brand I love. And I’m not buying from jacked up eBay prices. Sorry LEGO, we had a good run!"
If you're seriously done with LEGO because you couldn't obtain some cheap coin than did you really care about LEGO in the first place? "
I made a similar vow yesterday about no longer buying direct from LEGO anymore, so I see where @Astro7726 is coming from
It's not about the coin, or the wider product, it's about LEGO's attitude to its customers. They willfully, deliberately created ARTIFICIAL scarcity KNOWING that many more people wouldn't get one than did get one, leading to many disappointed LEGO fans (whether or not those fans should be disappointed about not getting the cheaply-made MacGuffin is another issue; this rant is about The LEGO Group and them knowingly annoying people.)

Why have TLG done this?

I have no idea.

There is no limit to how many they can produce so why not just have it constantly available? The biggest winners seem to be scalper-scum on eBay, so I'm not sure at all what LEGO's rationale is.
"

No offense, but do you not understand the point of exclusivity?

By your logic, exclusive products only sold at comic-cons or limited edition products shouldn't exist. Because everyone can't get them and so it's not fair. That's not fun at all. Exclusives, items that you can get for being quick or traveling somewhere, THAT'S what's fun. LEGO's rationale is like every single other company that puts out exclusives: making products special and making the fans who own those products feel special. And that is an incredibly important part of a business.

You can argue about the quality of the product or the site breaking or even the limit they they set with regards to the amount that they put out, but to say that all their products should just be constantly available completely eliminates those concepts.

And if you really want a exclusive product that you didn't get first-hand, well, that's when the scalpers become your friends, because they'll typically knock down the overinflated price at least a little bit.

@thebrickguru24 said:
"By your logic, exclusive products only sold at comic-cons or limited edition products shouldn't exist. Because everyone can't get them and so it's not fair. That's not fun at all."
Absolutely. If more people are left with a bad feeling because they didn't get the boondoggle, then, frankly, exclusivity is bollocks; it's only "fun" for the people who got lucky. Limited edition & "exclusive" crap of any sort is a nasty symptom of a greedy system.

And on scalpers: they are noöne's friend. They snap up the (whatevers) which they didn't want, and then sell them to the people who did want them but didn't get one because the scalpers snapped them up. To reïterate: scalpers = scum.

I’m so glad I’ve jumped off the must-have-and-collect-everything-from-Lego train. Life is better.

Quick update!!! I was also in the same boat (as lots here) as I have obtained all the other 3. And this morning when they quickly ran out I was disappointed and frustrated as well. However, something that I would suggest, is rather than calling Lego venting and expressing negativity... I rather called explained where I was at; and then politely asked if they had any more in stock, to help me collect the set. WELL... sure enough the lady on the phone was more than happy too help. She even said she wished people would just call and ask while being polite rather than freaking out and expressing all the displeasure. LEGO rocks!!!!

@bananaworld said:
"
@thebrickguru24 said:
"By your logic, exclusive products only sold at comic-cons or limited edition products shouldn't exist. Because everyone can't get them and so it's not fair. That's not fun at all."
Absolutely. If more people are left with a bad feeling because they didn't get the boondoggle, then, frankly, exclusivity is bollocks; it's only "fun" for the people who got lucky. Limited edition & "exclusive" crap of any sort is a nasty symptom of a greedy system.

And on scalpers: they are noöne's friend. They snap up the (whatevers) which they didn't want, and then sell them to the people who did want them but didn't get one because the scalpers snapped them up. To reïterate: scalpers = scum."

That's just crazy talk then, I'm sorry. It's not a greedy system, it's a profitable one. If exclusive products didn't exist, WAY less people would attend comic-cons and other conventions. And if exclusive products didn't exist that enticed people to buy product, then the company would make WAY less money. That's seriously greedy to you? Companies aren't greedy for trying to make money and doing a great job of enticing their fans to give them money.

As for the fan side of things, your take makes no sense, because you're acting like the sadness of those who don't get a product outweighs the happiness of those who did simply because there are more of the former. Except if there were more happy people than sad, the product literally wouldn't be exclusive. Of course it's only fun for the people who got the product, that is the point. Life isn't fair. We are never going to have the same opportunities as everyone else in life. But like come on, LEGO specifically offers exclusive sets, figures, prints, pieces, boxes and so on that would not be even CLOSE to as special, especially to the fans, as they are without the aspect of exclusivity. Wouldn't even be CLOSE. It is a VERY pertinent aspect to products that we should never get rid of, period.

I never said they weren't a bit scummy. My point was that they give people the chance to still get the product from a third party source if they weren't able to get it from the initial source, and they usually offer them at the lowest prices. An expensive bridge, but a bridge nonetheless.

@bananaworld said:
"
@thebrickguru24 said:
"By your logic, exclusive products only sold at comic-cons or limited edition products shouldn't exist. Because everyone can't get them and so it's not fair. That's not fun at all."
Absolutely. If more people are left with a bad feeling because they didn't get the boondoggle, then, frankly, exclusivity is bollocks; it's only "fun" for the people who got lucky. Limited edition & "exclusive" crap of any sort is a nasty symptom of a greedy system.

And on scalpers: they are noöne's friend. They snap up the (whatevers) which they didn't want, and then sell them to the people who did want them but didn't get one because the scalpers snapped them up. To reïterate: scalpers = scum."

One last thing: the absolute best example right now that I can think of is the Brick Moulding Machine set that is exclusive to The LEGO House in Denmark, along with all the other exclusive sets for that location before it. If you actually think those sets should be sold commercially, we're going to have to agree to disagree on that one. There absolutely should be something exclusive that you can physically bring home for making that journey. Exclusive journey, exclusive product. And people should not complain about that product being unavailable to them when they didn't go. The same goes for conventions or spending a certain amount of money or relentlessly pressing that refresh button in hopes of snagging something sold online, except those exclusive products are even more accessible to everyone, for the most part, which makes complaining about exclusivity in those instances make even less sense. It's as simple as that imo.

@TheBrickGuru24 said:
"
One last thing: the absolute best example right now that I can think of is the Brick Moulding Machine set that is exclusive to The LEGO House in Denmark, along with all the other exclusive sets for that location before it. If you actually think those sets should be sold commercially, we're going to have to agree to disagree on that one. There absolutely should be something exclusive that you can physically bring home for making that journey. Exclusive journey, exclusive product. And people should not complain about that product being unavailable to them when they didn't go. The same goes for conventions or spending a certain amount of money or relentlessly pressing that refresh button in hopes of snagging something sold online, except those exclusive products are even MORE accessible to everyone, which makes complaining about exclusivity in those instances make even less sense. It's as simple as that imo."

Terrible comparison, though.
1st - The LEGO House sets while exclusive to the LEGO House store, are NOT limited numbered editions nor available only for 1 day. You can get them at any point in time when you go to the LEGO House.

2nd - The stupid convention exclusives, on the other hand, are not only numbered editions, you are NOT guaranteed to even be able to get them EVEN IF YOU GO to the convention. So EVEN if someone outside North America spent the often thousands of euros that costs a trip to the USA to attend SDCC, they'd still likely be left empty handed. Something which does NOT happen if you go to the LEGO House.

3rd - LEGO promised to end regional exclusives. But that was a misleading promise. Because they then decided to create a bunch of exceptions that basically made their promise as empty as the interior of a Zeppelin. The USA last year had a bunch of regional exclusives. No, the ex-SDCC aren't convention sets. Because the conventions didn't happen. Therefore, the moment LEGO decided to release them commercially in North America, they made them into regional exclusives.
The only thing LEGO's lie ended was the Chinese New Year sets being only available in China. That's it. Everything else was just smoke and screens.

@djcbs:
The inside of a zeppelin is filled with quite a lot of stuff. There's the infrastructure that holds the shape of the gas envelope, there's walkways that allow people to traverse the length and breadth of the gas envelope (necessary if you're going to patch it during flight). Oh, and there's also the billowing cloud of fire.

As for the convention sets, I have a Nebulon B box right next to me. It has the "SDCC" badge on the corner of the box. Sure, the event was cancelled, but that doesn't mean The LEGO Company isn't contractually restricted on how they can disperse those sets. Supergirl was still given out as part of a convention, albeit an online one. Miles was raffled off in association with a game released for the platform that's owned by the company with the character's movie rights. The various sets were technically released as retailer exclusives, as each set was only sold via one retail partner.

But most importantly, they were dealing with unprecedented complications to general production, demand from stay-at-home customers, _AND_ they were diverting a significant chunk of their production capacity to make faceshields to help front-line medical workers stay safe while fighting the pandemic. If you're still bent out of shape over a few stranded convention exclusives being reallocated as retailer exclusives possibly breaking their promise, maybe it's time to rethink your priorities.

@djcbs said:
" @TheBrickGuru24 said:
"
One last thing: the absolute best example right now that I can think of is the Brick Moulding Machine set that is exclusive to The LEGO House in Denmark, along with all the other exclusive sets for that location before it. If you actually think those sets should be sold commercially, we're going to have to agree to disagree on that one. There absolutely should be something exclusive that you can physically bring home for making that journey. Exclusive journey, exclusive product. And people should not complain about that product being unavailable to them when they didn't go. The same goes for conventions or spending a certain amount of money or relentlessly pressing that refresh button in hopes of snagging something sold online, except those exclusive products are even MORE accessible to everyone, which makes complaining about exclusivity in those instances make even less sense. It's as simple as that imo."

Terrible comparison, though.
1st - The LEGO House sets while exclusive to the LEGO House store, are NOT limited numbered editions nor available only for 1 day. You can get them at any point in time when you go to the LEGO House.

2nd - The stupid convention exclusives, on the other hand, are not only numbered editions, you are NOT guaranteed to even be able to get them EVEN IF YOU GO to the convention. So EVEN if someone outside North America spent the often thousands of euros that costs a trip to the USA to attend SDCC, they'd still likely be left empty handed. Something which does NOT happen if you go to the LEGO House.

3rd - LEGO promised to end regional exclusives. But that was a misleading promise. Because they then decided to create a bunch of exceptions that basically made their promise as empty as the interior of a Zeppelin. The USA last year had a bunch of regional exclusives. No, the ex-SDCC aren't convention sets. Because the conventions didn't happen. Therefore, the moment LEGO decided to release them commercially in North America, they made them into regional exclusives.
The only thing LEGO's lie ended was the Chinese New Year sets being only available in China. That's it. Everything else was just smoke and screens."

I wasn't making a direct comparison. The person I was talking to wants the aspect of exclusive products to go away entirely. With all due respect to them, that's absurd. Exclusive products are great for business and great for dedicated fans. I would LOVE to have one of those SDCC exclusive sets or minifigures for instance, but do you know the main reason why? Because I know that if I do get my hands on one, then I'm one of very few that has my hands on one of them, and that's special. If they were released publicly like all the rest of the sets, that special factor goes away completely, and I cannot see how that is a good idea by any stretch of the imagination. It makes fans feel special, it makes collections stand out, and it makes LEGO money. I'm therefore never going to complain about not having exclusives, especially when the people who do have them traveled to a place I didn't travel, spent an amount of money that I didn't spend, and/or were in the right place at the right time when I wasn't. They earned it, I didn't. And that's the way it should be.

@PurpleDave said:
" @djcbs:
The inside of a zeppelin is filled with quite a lot of stuff. There's the infrastructure that holds the shape of the gas envelope, there's walkways that allow people to traverse the length and breadth of the gas envelope (necessary if you're going to patch it during flight). Oh, and there's also the billowing cloud of fire.

As for the convention sets, I have a Nebulon B box right next to me. It has the "SDCC" badge on the corner of the box. Sure, the event was cancelled, but that doesn't mean The LEGO Company isn't contractually restricted on how they can disperse those sets. Supergirl was still given out as part of a convention, albeit an online one. Miles was raffled off in association with a game released for the platform that's owned by the company with the character's movie rights. The various sets were technically released as retailer exclusives, as each set was only sold via one retail partner.

But most importantly, they were dealing with unprecedented complications to general production, demand from stay-at-home customers, _AND_ they were diverting a significant chunk of their production capacity to make faceshields to help front-line medical workers stay safe while fighting the pandemic. If you're still bent out of shape over a few stranded convention exclusives being reallocated as retailer exclusives possibly breaking their promise, maybe it's time to rethink your priorities."

My priorities are well defined.
Simping for LEGO isn't one of them, though. Which apparently is what keeps us apart.
Otherwise you wouldn't have tried to play the smartarse and would have understood that the reference to the interior of a Zepplin wasn't to be taken literally.
The claim that poor LEGO couldn't do much because they were producing visors to healthcare workers is ridiculous. In fact, it's even more reason why they should have CANCELLED the sets. Not release them as regional exclusives.
If LEGO can cancel produced sets for no actually good reason - like the Osprey and the Crook's hideout - then they could also have cancelled the SDCC exclusives the moment the SDCC was cancelled.
Even though, in reality, SDCC should NOT exist to begin with.
And since they were "oh so busy" playing the good Samaritan, yet more reasons to cancel the SDCC sets. No, they had no legal obligation to release those products. The contracts are signed based on the pre-condition of the existence of the convention. If the reason why the contract is sign disappears - ie. the convention is cancelled - then the grounds for the contract are gone and so is the validity of the contract. LEGO could, therefore, have either cancelled the sets or released the sets worldwide. They didn't. They decided to turn them into regional exclusives. Because you're NOT going to convince me that someone in Mexico or Canada was more likely to attend SDCC than someone in Europe "because". Yet Canada and Mexico had access to the SDCC exclusives.

It's funny though...the only people I see simping for LEGO and trying to excuse their BS...are ALL North Americans. I wonder how you'd react if the tables were turned.
Oh wait, I already know. Because you already throw tantrums online every time a set release in the USA is DELAYED (see the Harry Potter sets) in comparison to the rest of the World. Imagine the baby-fit you'd throw if Europe were to get regional exclusive sets.

@djcbs:
Well, the next time I feel like absolutely wasting a good Hindenburg joke, I guess I know exactly where to come.

SDCC was cancelled so close to the event dates that the sets would have had to be in the US, and probably already delivered in California at the time. It was a bit late to just not produce them. The SWC set was probably not as far down the pipeline, judging by the fact that they released the two SW sets so close to each other. The Osprey was a special situation where they determined that it did not fit their core values as a company to release it, where the only complaint people have about these convention exclusives is that they couldn’t buy them. Nobody raised a valid argument for why the sets should never have been designed in the first place. It’s all about how they should have made _more_. Nevermind that they may have been contractually prohibited from making more, or from selling them outside the US, or from simply destroying them. They also tend not to do that last one except in extreme circumstances, like when they were requiring all LEGO Stores and LEGO.com warehouses to ship any remaining Spongebob merchandise back for destruction instead of simply letting the product sell until it was gone.

I did not hear a single claim that Mexico had access to any of the SDCC/SWC sets, and I know Canada did not have access to at least one of them. The two minifigs were absolutely restricted to US addresses, to the point that even US territories were excluded.

I would actually be fine with an end to SDCC/SWC exclusives that aren’t just repackaged retail product. As one of the biggest LEGO Batman collectors out there, it sucks to know that every five years I can expect to see another exclusive Batman minifig and set that could cost me $500-1000 to acquire. And I absolutely jumped on the DC/SW sets when they suddenly became easily obtainable. What really sucks for me is that I actually like the stuff they design for these conventions more than most of what ships to retail. DC has had three fantastic comic book cover recreations, the Nebulon B is basically a successor to the fantastic midi-scale subthemr that lasted all of two sets, and I much prefer these iconic scenes that are designed more for display than play. I love the micro scale and Micro Fighters stuff, too. If they released sets like those to retail, I’d snatch them up left and right, where I have little interest in a Red Umpteenth X-Wing.

They haven’t stated exactly why the Crook’s Hideout was cancelled (at least not that I’ve seen), but one possibility I’ve never seen raised is that they may have realized what kind of trouble it could cause if a kid started running around the neighborhood with what looks like a real stick of dynamite.

And lastly, I defy you to find a single instance where _I_ complained about the US getting a delayed release of regular retail sets. Have I been miffed at times? Sure, on occasion, if there was a minifig that I was particularly keen to include in one of my LUG’s many public displays (I think I bought 4-5 of the TLBM Clayface set the year before it was officially supposed to be released just so I could build it, beef it up, and create some new weapon and attack segments for a December show). But I care far more about qualifying for GWPs than buying day-of-release sets. This year, the only ones I can think of that I did buy on launch are Bonsai, Winnie the Pooh, and Discovery. And most of the rest of what I’ve bought this year was sets that came out last year. I want all the SW/DC helmets, but so far all I’ve bought is Boba Fett. I’ll probably try to get the May 4 GWP with the other two from last year, and the two new SW helmets may wait until next May 4’s GWP.