First VIP Add-on pack available now

I want those pigs!!

No email for me, but then I can’t even remember the last thing I ordered from Lego. It would have been barracuda bay but I got it from John Lewis with a discount…

I got the email today. Thing is I have just bought my wish list so have to make another purchase to use the code. Sure I’ll find something!

Any e-mails outside of the UK?

@Data_2006 No it’s a UK only trial (for the moment apparently).

No email for me

@Arpie said:
" @meignenc said:
"Lego few month ago « we’re going to stop regional exclusivities »
Ok....."

They did stop regional exclusives now its even more select to individual exclusives!"

@meignenc said:
"Lego few month ago « we’re going to stop regional exclusivities »
Ok....."

Actually the full release states regional exclusives will still occur under four categories. This falls under that as they are rolling out trials. Give it another 6 - 12 months and we will see them all worldwide.

@bekuehn said:
"If you're planning on making a purchase- then great!
But if you don't make a purchase, then it seems like you're wasting a free gift.
Do the codes have an expiration date?"

There is no minimum spend to redeem, buy a keychain, pay shipping. Voilà

Man I need to order something soon.

Piiiiiigs <3

Boo hoo! nothing for me yet. Some of us must be more equal than others.

I'm never special

Orange space helmets! <3

I want pigs.

OINK OINK!!!

Lego: Let us introduce the NTIP: Not That Important Person (but still awesome!)

So does this mean that regular VIPs will not be getting this? I mean, in exchange for VIP points or something?

I’ve got the email…….

@Slave2lego said:
"I’ve got the email……."

Me too! Looking forward to playing with these with my kids!

@Arpie said:
" @meignenc said:
"Lego few month ago « we’re going to stop regional exclusivities »
Ok....."

They did stop regional exclusives now its even more select to individual exclusives!"

It’s just market research at this point xx alas I didn’t get an email :( xx

Is there anything to stop people passing on or even selling the codes to other people?

If this ever gets released with worldwide, I doubt I will be able to get them as there’s no VIP program here so that’s sad :( I really hope lego doesn’t make this a VIP exclusive product just sell it in stores please

@ChromedCat:
It says “LEGO VIP” right on the polybag. It was announced as a VIP exclusive when they unveiled the first packs. It seems your three options are to emigrate, find a way to open a VIP account in another country, or buy them secondhand.

@chrisaw:
I don’t believe that’s true. They launched several at the start, and have added one or two periodically, but they’ve also only retired one or two at a time I think. At present the US only shows 40375, 40464, and 40465 in stock, with the last two being new this year.

Didn't get the email, kind of disappointed about it too. A little bummed.

@Huw
Question: the only thing I can't find in your report is: cost? Is it really in VIP points (and if so, how much), or was it a kinda' 'freebie' for review purposes.

I'm just curious as 'the points thing' is the story that we've gotten 'thus far', and wondering if that's changed at all...

Thank you for the report though:)

@Mr__Thrawn said:
"How is it "blatantly obivous" how many people want these sets? 30 people on Brickset saying they'd buy the sets is absolutely not sufficient research for a company debating whether to spend the enormous sums to produce and distribute a product line. I am sure that if this pilot program is a success, the sets will be available to VIPs at some point in the future. And I've personally never had a negative experience with TLG customer service. They've always been extremely helpful."
Up to about four years ago I would have agreed, but since then, every experience I had with their customer service was negative. In former times they tried their best to help and fix any kind of issue that might have arisen. Nowadays, all they do is send emails with the gist "we are sorry but there's nothing we can do. Thank you for shopping with us anyway." They just don't seem to care anymore. And as for our local LEGO store, again, up to about four years ago, everything was awesome there too. Then the store manager changed, and suddenly everything went downhill. Staff started to constantly change, the new ones didn't know a thing about their products (or customer service), so in the end I stopped shopping there.

The face to the customer is what makes or breaks whether he or she will keep doing business with them, and in my case, too many bad experiences have soured my appetite and attitude towards the company.
This new farce of a product "launch" is just another piece in the puzzle.

As for "blatantly obvious", from my experience for every one person voicing their opinion on Brickset there's hundreds if not thousands out there who think alike.
That TLG's market research doesn't mean a thing is clearly evident by all the failures they had in recent years that apparently tested well before, like Vidiyo and the like. Perhaps they should have asked people who actually buy LEGO.

I hope the codes do not have an expiration date. I don't order from Lego every two months, so I would likely miss out on the packs I want if the codes expire quickly.

no email :(

@Huw lucky though I am to receive THE email these just don’t interest me. Not sure if the codes are linked to my VIP account, but I’m happy to pass them onto someone who would find them useful. Any idea how I can do it without giving them to a scalper?

@Slave2lego said:
" @Huw lucky though I am to receive THE email these just don’t interest me. Not sure if the codes are linked to my VIP account, but I’m happy to pass them onto someone who would find them useful. Any idea how I can do it without giving them to a scalper?"
That would be interesting to know indeed, as I have already seen several crop up on eBay (just like the code for the Amelia Earhart GWP set). I thought they were directly linked to a specific VIP account.

There's a lot of talk about less used accounts being targeted but I received the codes on my regularly used account (UK) Maybe it's just random?

i am Lego number 1 VIP must be lost in the post as well.

This set of details is great! But... that feeling when you live in Russia and there is no official lego store here. I am very sad :C

What is the logistics of this code system? Is it one code per pack type or can all 4 codes be used on a pack type? Are packs retired after 2 months when new codes issued? Only thing I understand is the one pack per order criteria.

I appreciate it's sensitive subject on here but I can't make any sense of the email and plan accordingly. This whole thing has not been handled very well by Lego at any level.

Hope they'll become available to the loyal customers as well.
On the customer service: on the telephone they are absolutely the best in my experience.
Via e-mail they are way below average. Most of the time there is not even a response, other than the standard: "Thank you for your message. You will hear from us soon."-like.

@Troubled_Badger said:
"What is the logistics of this code system? Is it one code per pack type or can all 4 codes be used on a pack type? Are packs retired after 2 months when new codes issued? Only thing I understand is the one pack per order criteria.

I appreciate it's sensitive subject on here but I can't make any sense of the email and plan accordingly. This whole thing has not been handled very well by Lego at any level."

I received 2 codes. Both of them allow me to get a 'Fun and Funky' pack with an order on Lego.com. I believe the codes will stop working after 2 months and I'll then be sent the next 2 codes. I've only used 1 so far, but tested both of them in my basket and they both had the same effect.

@AustinPowers said:
" @Slave2lego said:
" @Huw lucky though I am to receive THE email
these just don’t interest me. Not sure if the codes are linked to my VIP account, but I’m happy to pass them onto someone who would find them useful. Any idea how I can do it without giving them to a scalper?"
That would be interesting to know indeed, as I have already seen several crop up on eBay (just like the code for the Amelia Earhart GWP set). I thought they were directly linked to a specific VIP account. "

Looks like the codes are linked to the account (fair enough) won’t stop scalpers (or gifting) but they’ll have to buy something else first

Is this coming to the rest of the world too or just the UK?

@eiffel006 said:
"So many entitled people on here. My gosh."
Going by the low number of comments by people who actually got one of these mails I think you'll find that there is actually very few people that are entitled to get these sets/codes.

Reading all of the comments… can we not just see it for what it is… a load of nonsense! TLG must be following the UK government on how to do make a complete balls up of everything.

@meesajarjar72 said:
"Reading all of the comments… can we not just see it for what it is… a load of nonsense! TLG must be following the UK government on how to do make a complete balls up of everything."

Or the Americans for that matter...

Honestly handling it as only random individuals in a specific country is odd; but makes sense on a trial basis. I've always felt these should have been sold under the Xtra banner as regular sets.

If it is handled this way; as a code to be used on any LEGO purchase, I might start actually buying from LEGO. I mostly order LEGO sets with other items from the online stores of major retailers or buy them locally. I rarely spend the usually $100 or more threshold typically used for GWP sets on any single LEGO purchase. Usually, I buy small to mid-sized sets. If I actually like a GWP as a standalone set (like the classic locomotive); I will wait until they show up on Bricklink for a price comparable to a normal set. A lot of the polybags have been offered for general sale at Walmart and other retailers also.

I guess depending on cost and future availability, only the pigs interest me (but not in a Black Mirror sort of way)...

Since pigs are licensed currently, they are harder to come by. Maybe the license will drop off and become more available at LEGO.

@HOBBES
"A simple concept of scarcity but in the end, Lego will most likely begin to realize that making less of something gives it a greater value - and this is precisely what members on this forum do not want to see."

I've argued before that this is exactly what LEGO wants. If you want to attract wealthy adults, you have to make the product you sell a luxury item. I'm pretty sure LEGO does not want to be COBY, etc., or being just another toy company.

The value of their exclusive sets or of certain retired sets on the secondary market actually increases the value of sets they are currently selling. I'm pretty sure they don't really mind sets being out of order after a couple of days (or hours!). Again, scarcity is good for the value of a product.

That's why everything that has been happening lately (especially the scarcity of sets/promotions) is part of a coherent strategy, I would think. I don't think it's incompetence.

Now, as I said above, I personnaly believe LEGO is just a kid's toy. But I don't think LEGO sees it that way. And I don't think many people on this board see it that way either...

@eiffel006 said:
" @HOBBES
"A simple concept of scarcity but in the end, Lego will most likely begin to realize that making less of something gives it a greater value - and this is precisely what members on this forum do not want to see."

I've argued before that this is exactly what LEGO wants. If you want to attract wealthy adults, you have to make the product you sell a luxury item. I'm pretty sure LEGO does not want to be COBY, etc., or being just another toy company.

The value of their exclusive sets or of certain retired sets on the secondary market actually increases the value of sets they are currently selling. I'm pretty sure they don't really mind sets being out of order after a couple of days (or hours!). Again, scarcity is good for the value of a product.

That's why everything that has been happening lately (especially the scarcity of sets/promotions) is part of a coherent strategy, I would think. I don't think it's incompetence.

Now, as I said above, I personnaly believe LEGO is just a kid's toy. But I don't think LEGO sees it that way. And I don't think many people on this board see it that way either..."

I totally agree that it might very well be in their strategy. However I disagree with "just a kid's toy" as they are now trying to position themselves as an "everybody" hobby and their new 18+ range is a clear manifestation of this. There is however a balance to maintain between offering value and alienating people - it is still a mass-marketed product.

See, we have a deep attachment to Lego because we had themes back in the days that created this attachment (space,castle, pirates, trains, technic). If Lego wants to prepare the next generation, they will have to come up with better than generic police and fire stations - no need to reinvent the wheel, just themes that sparks the imagination of kids without needing a back story. The last time Lego created a theme with deep attachment was Bionicles (this had a back story but it was Lego owned). In 10-years time, when the 'boomers' slow down their Lego purchases, they may not have a next generation to continue the 'hobby' as strongly as it is now.

@ronvining:
I’d probably poke fun at you, but you actually have a legit complaint, since you can’t set up a VIP account in Singapore. For most anyone else with both LEGO.com and VIP access who’s complaining that when they want to do a small, localized test before rolling it out worldwide, they should let everyone in the world participate, that’s just sour grapes.

@Troubled_Badger:
How much is “regularly used”? If Joe uses one account to place daily orders, and a second account to place weekly orders, but Fred has one account that he uses to place monthly orders, “regularly used” to Fred is “clean off the cobwebs before using” to Joe.

@Melian:
As with all VIP Rewards redemption codes, these can’t be used in any LEGO Store. They can only be used in conjunction with a LEGO.com order, whether placed by website or phone.

@Troubled_Badger:
My read on it is that every two months they will roll out a new pack and send two codes for that pack to each VIP*. Then, like any VIP Reward code, you plug in one physical Reward code per order on LEGO.com, and they send you the pack for that code. I see no mention of whether the codes expire (but they probably do after 60 days), if the packs are retired after two months, or if they’re first-come-first-served with the possibility that latecomers may miss out.

*pending worldwide rollout

@Bricktuary:
Exactly. If you’ve redeemed every physical VIP Reward available, and still place another 2-3 orders per month with no codes, who wouldn’t tack on a free code for random bonus parts? I mean, if you stand on top of a building and throw $100 bills out over the street, even rich people will probably grab some.

@HOBBES:
Besides general disgruntlement with the high spend, and the usual issues with regions that have no LEGO.com/VIP access wanting LEGO.com/VIP access (which, I mean, I get why people complain about that), what issues have there been with the Ideas boat?

Anyways, the problem with artificial rarity is that they don’t really make money on the product they don’t sell. I mean, sure, they get a percentage of every sale that happens on Bricklink, but why chase hundreds or thousands of dollars when you can just crank up production and chase millions?

And just as a personal curiosity, why are you using online PAB and B&P instead of Bricklink if the parts are so expensive?

@Sethro3:
Pigs are licensed to whom? Looney Tunes?

@eiffel006:
You’re assuming, incorrectly, that they have a clear understanding of how their decisions affect the market. They don’t. They so grossly underestimated demand for the UCS MF2 that they created the VIP Black cards to help move product, and then had to start running wait lists in every LEGO Store for all the incensed customers who were worried about missing the deadline to qualify. Some GWPs linger forever (ask your local LEGO Store if they have any Hoth Han minifigs, and they may force you to take one with you for bringing it up), while others blow out in days or even hours. Vidiyo.

@HOBBES:
Go to any AFOL convention or sit in on any LUG, and I think you’ll find that Boomers never were the majority of the online community. That really started with Gen X and continued from there.

@HOBBES said:
" @eiffel006 said:
" @HOBBES
"A simple concept of scarcity but in the end, Lego will most likely begin to realize that making less of something gives it a greater value - and this is precisely what members on this forum do not want to see."

I've argued before that this is exactly what LEGO wants. If you want to attract wealthy adults, you have to make the product you sell a luxury item. I'm pretty sure LEGO does not want to be COBY, etc., or being just another toy company.

The value of their exclusive sets or of certain retired sets on the secondary market actually increases the value of sets they are currently selling. I'm pretty sure they don't really mind sets being out of order after a couple of days (or hours!). Again, scarcity is good for the value of a product.

That's why everything that has been happening lately (especially the scarcity of sets/promotions) is part of a coherent strategy, I would think. I don't think it's incompetence.

Now, as I said above, I personnaly believe LEGO is just a kid's toy. But I don't think LEGO sees it that way. And I don't think many people on this board see it that way either..."

I totally agree that it might very well be in their strategy. However I disagree with "just a kid's toy" as they are now trying to position themselves as an "everybody" hobby and their new 18+ range is a clear manifestation of this. There is however a balance to maintain between offering value and alienating people - it is still a mass-marketed product.

See, we have a deep attachment to Lego because we had themes back in the days that created this attachment (space,castle, pirates, trains, technic). If Lego wants to prepare the next generation, they will have to come up with better than generic police and fire stations - no need to reinvent the wheel, just themes that sparks the imagination of kids without needing a back story. The last time Lego created a theme with deep attachment was Bionicles (this had a back story but it was Lego owned). In 10-years time, when the 'boomers' slow down their Lego purchases, they may not have a next generation to continue the 'hobby' as strongly as it is now.
"

As I was saying, I think LEGO is a toy. LEGO does not. We agree on that.

As for themes, you forget Ninjago. It's a HUGE theme that has been going strong for a decade now. Yonsters are also building memories with Marvel and SW sets, etc.

@PurpleDave:
I know this, but I cannot get the code and make such an order either on the website or by phone, because there is no Lego VIP program in our country. I just want to be able to get this set.

@PurpleDave
"Pigs are licensed to whom? Looney Tunes?"

HP since they used the design-points to bring it back, even if the pirates in B-bay managed to steal one from the Weasleys ;)

I made an order today to get one off the packs. The code was accepted but it didn’t show in the order. On to customer service and it took 30 mins to figure out how to add it to the order. Not the smoothest. Hope they sort it out for future codes/months

@Bricktuary said:
" @blogzilly said:
" @LegoHound33 said:
"I have two VIP accounts. Email received for the account I never use, no email for the account I buy all the big sets with.
So maybe they are testing to see if this offer encourages more orders with a not very active account."

Similar situation, two accounts in one household, one gets used more than the other.

That is the worst kind of BS, though. Here is what you’re communicating to your consumers.

“Oh, you spent a ton of money with us? Screw off. But you? Keeping your cash to yourself and not supporting our brand? Here, please accept this wonderful gift!”

This company is not good at all when it comes to understanding how to manage its online marketplace."

I dunno. At this stage this is a test, not a reward.

If you are going to do a test to see if these are popular, it makes no sense to target the people who buy things 10 or more times from you, big spenders who have most of the GWPs from the past year, because they'll certainly pick them up anyway, so you learn nothing.

I can see why they are doing it like this, and there's a pretty decent chance they'll be coming out more widely in future."

Have you ever heard the phrase “Perception is reality?” Read the comments, my friend, feel the pulse of the room. The perception of this “test” by all of us is going to influence the reality. It’s just how it is. I don’t make the rules of the Universe, I just live by them and comment on them on from time to time on message boards. ;)

@Melian:
So, you can order from LEGO.com, but not with a VIP account? Weird. Singapore has the same issue, I believe. The only thing I can think of is that the VIP program grew out of the brick & mortar stores, not the direct sales. The earliest form I witnessed in person was in ‘05 or ‘06, when I did a show in Chicago. I went to one of the local LEGO Stores with some of the local guys, and they all had these loyalty punch cards. Spend money and they’d punch the little boxes that lined all four edges of the card equal to the pretax value of your purchase. Kill the card (the boxes added up to $100 per card) and you could redeem it for $5 off your next purchase. The only thing was, it was only usable for in-store purchases. As far as online sales were concerned, those cards did not exist.

@Roebuck:
Okay, I can understand that HP revived the part, but where (and from whom) did you hear this meant it was license-restricted? The fact that it showed up in an unlicensed Ideas set suggests it’s fair game for any set designer to use, and that they just don’t care to. I mean, the lightsaber hilt is specifically designed to represent a copyrighted movie prop, and that’s not restricted to a single license.

@SuperMatt:
And that’s another thing they can learn by running a small, local test: Does it work as intended?

@PurpleDave said:
" @ronvining:
I’d probably poke fun at you, but you actually have a legit complaint, since you can’t set up a VIP account in Singapore. For most anyone else with both LEGO.com and VIP access who’s complaining that when they want to do a small, localized test before rolling it out worldwide, they should let everyone in the world participate, that’s just sour grapes.

@Troubled_Badger:
How much is “regularly used”? If Joe uses one account to place daily orders, and a second account to place weekly orders, but Fred has one account that he uses to place monthly orders, “regularly used” to Fred is “clean off the cobwebs before using” to Joe.

@Melian:
As with all VIP Rewards redemption codes, these can’t be used in any LEGO Store. They can only be used in conjunction with a LEGO.com order, whether placed by website or phone.

@Troubled_Badger:
My read on it is that every two months they will roll out a new pack and send two codes for that pack to each VIP*. Then, like any VIP Reward code, you plug in one physical Reward code per order on LEGO.com, and they send you the pack for that code. I see no mention of whether the codes expire (but they probably do after 60 days), if the packs are retired after two months, or if they’re first-come-first-served with the possibility that latecomers may miss out.

*pending worldwide rollout

@Bricktuary:
Exactly. If you’ve redeemed every physical VIP Reward available, and still place another 2-3 orders per month with no codes, who wouldn’t tack on a free code for random bonus parts? I mean, if you stand on top of a building and throw $100 bills out over the street, even rich people will probably grab some.

@HOBBES:
Besides general disgruntlement with the high spend, and the usual issues with regions that have no LEGO.com/VIP access wanting LEGO.com/VIP access (which, I mean, I get why people complain about that), what issues have there been with the Ideas boat?

Anyways, the problem with artificial rarity is that they don’t really make money on the product they don’t sell. I mean, sure, they get a percentage of every sale that happens on Bricklink, but why chase hundreds or thousands of dollars when you can just crank up production and chase millions?

And just as a personal curiosity, why are you using online PAB and B&P instead of Bricklink if the parts are so expensive?

@Sethro3:
Pigs are licensed to whom? Looney Tunes?

@eiffel006:
You’re assuming, incorrectly, that they have a clear understanding of how their decisions affect the market. They don’t. They so grossly underestimated demand for the UCS MF2 that they created the VIP Black cards to help move product, and then had to start running wait lists in every LEGO Store for all the incensed customers who were worried about missing the deadline to qualify. Some GWPs linger forever (ask your local LEGO Store if they have any Hoth Han minifigs, and they may force you to take one with you for bringing it up), while others blow out in days or even hours. Vidiyo.

@HOBBES:
Go to any AFOL convention or sit in on any LUG, and I think you’ll find that Boomers never were the majority of the online community. That really started with Gen X and continued from there."

I do use bricklink when I cannot find what I need at Lego. The reason is quite simple. I will not save $5 in parts to be charged $20 in shipping (multiple times over as the parts will come from different suppliers). In Europe shipping is fairly cheap - I know I spent 10 years in the UK. In Canada, we have a vast territory to cover and very little people on it for economies of scale: i.e. shipping is very expensive here (U.S. is not too bad because they have 10x more people than in Canada). When I order at Lego, I do not order a few bits and bobs - I order a few hundred parts at a time - I pay $4.95 shipping which comes at less then 0.01 per part.

I am gen X. And I guess you are right, from what I've seen at convention, most people would be from that group. The argument is still valid thought, when than group moves into its final dark ages, it might be difficult for Lego

@HOBBES:
Okay, that makes a certain amount of sense. Good thing I’m not in Canada, I guess. I made a minifig-scale Tow Mater. Even at only 6-wide, I used over 360pcs, and spent over $100 procuring what wasn’t already in my collection. A lot of that was shipping charges, as you said, but there were a few parts I could only use in old-brown because there weren’t any reddish-brown equivalents. One of them I could only order from Europe, in a store with a minimum purchase (not exorbitant) and nothing else I was even remotely interested in buying (I just bought enough of that one part to clear, just in case I ever need more). If you factor out what I already had, I was spending about $0.40-$0.50/pc just on that one vehicle. Big stuff scales better. My LEGO Store (giant red 2x4 brick that fills two baseplates) only cost around $400 for maybe half of the 5000+ pieces I used. Three of the main drivers of that price were adding PF lights, all the printed tiles/stickers I used to represent LEGO sets, and filling the PaB wall with 5x 1x1 round plates in 40 different colors (again, one order went to Europe where the only parts I ordered were 5x 1x1 round plates in I think medium-lime). That last part was more difficult then than it would be now, since there were barely enough colors at the time, short of using chrome colors.

@PurpleDave said:
" @HOBBES :
Okay, that makes a certain amount of sense. Good thing I’m not in Canada, I guess. I made a minifig-scale Tow Mater. Even at only 6-wide, I used over 360pcs, and spent over $100 procuring what wasn’t already in my collection. A lot of that was shipping charges, as you said, but there were a few parts I could only use in old-brown because there weren’t any reddish-brown equivalents. One of them I could only order from Europe, in a store with a minimum purchase (not exorbitant) and nothing else I was even remotely interested in buying (I just bought enough of that one part to clear, just in case I ever need more). If you factor out what I already had, I was spending about $0.40-$0.50/pc just on that one vehicle. Big stuff scales better. My LEGO Store (giant red 2x4 brick that fills two baseplates) only cost around $400 for maybe half of the 5000+ pieces I used. Three of the main drivers of that price were adding PF lights, all the printed tiles/stickers I used to represent LEGO sets, and filling the PaB wall with 5x 1x1 round plates in 40 different colors (again, one order went to Europe where the only parts I ordered were 5x 1x1 round plates in I think medium-lime). That last part was more difficult then than it would be now, since there were barely enough colors at the time, short of using chrome colors."

That's the thing right. Either way you get caught. I ordered some parts from bricklink in the US but I ordered so many that the CDN$20 (was obviously less in USD) shipping cost was worth it because I ordered so many parts. Eventually Lego got that part again but it would have come to the same thing. In the end this moc will have taken roughly 3 years to build - some parts were not even existing when I started (I mean in the desired colour) and eventually Lego made them. Hopefully it will be completed by Christmas.

Do you have a site (maybe something like Jang brick) where we can see your Lego store - and I guess the rest of your town? (surprised that the 2x4 is red and not purple - but then that would probably cost a lot more!)

@PurpleDave
Oh.. I know how this program works. But in our country, Lego stores are not represented - if it is an online or an offline store. I can’t place an order from a European or American Lego store because there is no delivery to us. That is why I am sad - I cannot get such VIP sets in any way. Only by buying through bricklink or amazon - having overpaid its cost many times.

@eiffel006 said:
"So many entitled people on here. My gosh."

My thoughts exactly. It’s pretty cringey reading, especially when you know these are adults and not kids having there little tantrums as usual lol
IMO these look like one of my regular BrickLink hauls, bit of this and that themed for a moc - maybe these items are top sellers on BrickLink like the pigs etc so if anyone should be complaining I’d have thought it would be BrickLink sellers! Anyway I didn’t get an email but I did just have a visit from DPD with my £200+ order to get the sail boat so I’m a happy bunny xx

@HOBBES:
I do have a Brickshelf account, but barely post to it. Of around 50 cars that I’ve built (many of which are duplicate builds in different colors), I’ve posted less than half a dozen. As a club, we do so many shows (for me, 15 is about a normal year now, and I may even sneak in ten this year even with our first show being in mid-June) that I don’t really have a lot of motivation to post photos. If you really want to track it down, try looking for MichLUG event photos or videos from mid-2014 to mid-2015 (I tried to include it in every club display for the first year after completing it), excluding our Henry Ford Museum or Greenfield Village displays from late 2014. Brickworld Chicago 2014 is another possibility, as that’s the first place I displayed it.

As for the design, the red 2x4 brick is one of their signature icons, even if they can’t secure a trademark for it. There’s also an issue of part availability, since I used 1x2-2x4 down brackets, 1x2-2x2 down brackets, 4x4 macaroni bricks, some wedge plates, and in its original incarnation some 6x6 webbed radar dishes. I figured out a way to make giant picture windows using a trio of glass panes for the 1x4x6 door frame (I think the window ends up being 10x6 if laid flat, and I was able to fit four across the front wall of the store, with room for a single door in the center). The studs have changed over time as new pieces become available, but they’re functional skylights (oh, one of the other major expenses was the 8x trans-clear 16x16 baseplates that the roof is built on, which I think was about 20-25% of my expense for this project).

The biggest pain about building it was an unexpected geometry mismatch. See, one of the skyscraper builders in the club (four Detroit landmarks ranging from I think 8’ to 11.5’ in height) decided to switch to 1x2 bricks for everything, because it saves a lot of hassle when you really only need to deal with one size of brick. I figured I’d try the same thing for this, since I had two of those free PaB boxes they used to give out in 2013, and red 1x2 bricks were on the wall. Because the entire building would fill two baseplates, and the door would land right on the seam, I also decided to build a sturdy foundation using 20x 16x16 plates and 8x 8x8 plates, so I could alternate layers. When I built the external wall (interior’s white), it was off by half a stud over the 64-stud length. And I’d just dropped about $400 right before BWC to acquire all the parts I needed. What I ended up doing is using smaller plates to shrink the foundation to 28x60, and then filled in around the edge with a single layer of matching 2x4 bricks. Suddenly the geometry worked out almost perfectly. And even with Bricklink being hacked into oblivion right when I was in the middle of placing orders, I was able to get it finished in time to take to Chicago.

@PurpleDave and @BrickLunch (and others)

Codes/vouchers for physical items are transferable -- within regions. I got codes for a couple of the coins for friends who couldn't be online at the time. A fellow American was able to successfully redeem but a friend in Ireland was not as the code didn't work in Europe. I assume this is because there is a specific number supplied for distribution from their regional warehouses.

My wife got codes for a couple of the art prints but a glitch in the system duplicated her orders. Customer service refunded the double charge worth of points and said to keep the extra vouchers. I posted the extra codes in a Facebook group and they were successfully redeemed.

@FuddRuckus:
There does seem to be regional allocation. In Europe, three countries (UK, Ireland, and Portugal?) got forced to wait until their time zone hit midnight, by which time one of the hotter VIP Rewards was nearly sold out. One of them (Portugal?) got a further delayed access, which resulted in that Reward being sold out by the time the door even opened for them. Meanwhile, North American stock remained untouched until midnight Eastern when all of US and Canada got access simultanously (one of the benefits of each being a single nation when we both span several time zones).

I’m unclear if Europe is further divided into regions that are each serviced by a single warehouse, or if the entire continent uses a network of distribution centers the same way we do in the US. I know I’ve received shipments from
Southaven, MS in the past, but these days almost everything comes from Romeoville, IL. Earlier this year I did get a split shipment, so I know at least two distro centers have been operating concurrently.

@PurpleDave said:
" @Roebuck:
Okay, I can understand that HP revived the part, but where (and from whom) did you hear this meant it was license-restricted? The fact that it showed up in an unlicensed Ideas set suggests it’s fair game for any set designer to use, and that they just don’t care to. "

I have tried to order it from B&P a couple of times on the phone, but it is not possible I believe do to licence. I even predicted that it would come with 75980 as soon as I heard the rumours of the set since there is no way 21322 with their non-existent design budget could have the founds to do it. Lego do not necessarily follow the logic that if a part is in an unlicensed set then it is free game, e.g. the lobster had to be in several non-licensed sets before the removed the license on that one..

@Roebuck :
The lobster is a special exception. It first appeared in one of the TLBM CMF waves, which at the time were exclusively produced in China. The result of this was that _every_ CMF accessory started out exclusive to the CMF theme unless someone managed to pitch expanding it to European production (which required cutting a second mold). The same rule should not apply to the pig, as that started out being produced in Europe, never appeared in a CMF pack, and the CKF theme hasn’t been exclusively Chinese since the second HP wave.

I emailed Lego Customer Services to ask if it was possible to be added to the trial list.

They said that VIPs were being picked at random for the trial, and if I am picked, I’ll receive an email.

I guess I’m out of luck on this one as neither of my VIP accounts got emails.

Arse. Kisseth. Mine. They. Can.

I think this may be the beginning of the end of my polybag collecting. Winter Soldier pushed me close, initially only available with a £300+ set. But making these so exclusive is a deal breaker for me.