Second Christmas GWP cancelled
Posted by Huw,
It's usual for LEGO to release two matching seasonal gift with purchases at this time of year, one during the BFCM events and one in December, but we now have official confirmation that the second one, which would have been 40489 Mr. and Mrs. Claus' Living Room, has been cancelled.
An official statement issued by LEGO today states that "We decided not to release this product as it didn't meet our strict quality standards. Because we work so hard to provide the best possible play experiences, we never compromise the quality of our products."
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I see nothing that could be wrong with it.
That's a fair few sets this year not releasing because of "not meeting high standards" - what on earth is happening with their QA department? The Marvel mechs, now this...
Christmas is cancelled again?
Please make the Mrs'. Claus parts available from Bricks and Pieces and not just Lego stores. I really want those parts but not having a Lego store in Ireland, we miss out if they're only in Build a Minifig bins.
I guess they'll never let on what the problem is, but it would be very interesting to know what it is.
It looks pretty cool, but empty on the inside, maybe it was cancelled because of its size?
Maybe the problem is that Santa is sitting in his chair, while his wife is at work?
I'll have a blue Christmas... :(
Elves are slacking.
This looks infinitely better than 'Santa's Front Yard". Too bad it's cancelled!
40484 is available again, at least in UK, Maybe they have too many of those left and will release the other one next year instead? It's a shame whatever the reason
@sirventricle said:
"That's a fair few sets this year not releasing because of "not meeting high standards" - what on earth is happening with their QA department? The Marvel mechs, now this..."
What's the deal with the Marvel mechs?
The exact reason of the cancellation was accidentally left out from the statement.
That's a shame. It's a nice looking set
Can we at least get a Mrs. Claus at some point in the near future. Maybe in a polybag?
Arguably so, so much better than Santa’s Front Yard.
So sad.
@maffyd said:
" @sirventricle said:
"That's a fair few sets this year not releasing because of "not meeting high standards" - what on earth is happening with their QA department? The Marvel mechs, now this..."
What's the deal with the Marvel mechs?"
Apparently something wrong with the connections between the legs and the torso, resulting from weird parts use. BrickFanatics reported on it: https://www.brickfanatics.com/lego-confirms-cancellation-marvel-2022-mechs/
Just a quick scan of the design makes me 99% certain the problem lies with the rocking chair. Santa is meaning waaaaaaay back in that thing and probably has a concussion from falling over backwards in that thing.
BTW, for those complaining about not having a proper star to put on Christmas trees, take note...
I, too, am super-curious as to what happened with the Marvel mecha. A few of them *were* released this year, they were great.
Just looking at the picture, here, I can't imagine what aspects of this set would've caused any issues with their quality control department?
Maybe they accidentally produced all the red pieces in the same colour?
@Jackthenipper said:
"Christmas is cancelled again?"
Rudolph caught covid, he has to quarantine until after New Year's. Tragic.
It's not necessarily am issue with the design: it could be a production problem, parts missing, wrong parts etc.
I love it! The chair is ridiculously oversized, but other than that it is a beautiful vignet piece. I guess perhaps LEGO didn't manage to produce it in time due to everything that's going on in the world right now.
Hopefully LEGO can get it out next year.
That's sad... they were already pics of actual boxes, so they have to scrap them all :-(
Unfortunate.
I certainly hope it might not be a supply chain issue in, if not the bricks, the packaging did not meet with their standards. Maybe another vendor used for cardboard and/or printing? Instructions?
The floor of the living room is a plain plate. That is why it got cancelled. LEGO cannot release a set with a plate this plain... Maybe they should have thought of that before making the boxes and packaging and jazz
@Wrecknbuild said:
"Maybe the problem is that Santa is sitting in his chair, while his wife is at work?"
Problem is in the eye of the beholder.
I suspect it's a printing or production issue rather than a design one. It's a shame because it would be a nice compliment to Santa's Front Yard! Maybe they can get it worked out and issue the sets as a GWP during Christmas in July.
Maybe it has something to do with the VW Camper Van problems lately? That se is full of faulty parts made from a bad plastic batch / mix and it might be that more sets are affected.
If they manage to sort out whatever the issue was and release this next year, I'll have to get it. I love that fireplace with the big wreath on the chimney.
This is odd....
@sirventricle said:
" @maffyd said:
" @sirventricle said:
"That's a fair few sets this year not releasing because of "not meeting high standards" - what on earth is happening with their QA department? The Marvel mechs, now this..."
What's the deal with the Marvel mechs?"
Apparently something wrong with the connections between the legs and the torso, resulting from weird parts use. BrickFanatics reported on it: https://www.brickfanatics.com/lego-confirms-cancellation-marvel-2022-mechs/"
Aw man! I was really looking forward to those.
Probably contained the necessary missing parts for Green Grocer...
IMO, significantly better than Santa's front yard.
GWP a bit useless now: all the good sets are either sold out or temporarily unavailable - some are backorder but I guess this does not affect the gwp.
Set must have been axed because of improper spatial issues: someone realised Christmas trees and one’s spouse also belong inside the living room, not outside.
There’s been a recent worldwide packaging shortage due to extreme demand and lack of labor (because workers are underpaid & overworked). My workplace has been hit by it too. It looks like lego is delaying small sets because getting boxes for those urgently would be very expensive and they’d lose profits on them. On top of this set, the marvel mechs, postcard sets, and encanto book sets have been delayed.
We received the information about the Marvel mechs a few days ago but have been awaiting further clarification regarding whether those sets are being cancelled or merely delayed and subsequently updated. Hopefully we can let you know soon.
Wonder if this has something to do with the quality issues spotted on the VW van set.
Maybe it is because some people have complained that the existence of Ms. Claus has never been proven?
It's the new cancel culture. It must not have been woke enough.
@SuperSith said:
"There’s been a recent worldwide packaging shortage due to extreme demand and lack of labor (because workers are underpaid & overworked). My workplace has been hit by it too. It looks like lego is delaying small sets because getting boxes for those urgently would be very expensive and they’d lose profits on them. On top of this set, the marvel mechs, postcard sets, and encanto book sets have been delayed."
I've just looked and the postcards hve disappeared from my wish list. Hope they come back soon because I was really looking forward to those.
@DoonsterBuildsLego said:
"I guess they'll never let on what the problem is, but it would be very interesting to know what it is."
I bet the build was just fragile and kept falling apart. Maybe that side wall on the left. But I'm surprised it wasn't caught early on in the designing stage and fixed.
There's no obvious reason from looking at it for me, so I assume a Banksy has appeared on one of the exterior walls (possibly a dejected looking elf working an assembly line), and LEGO have realised it's now worth a lot more.
Really a shame as from the picture it looks great, and arguably so much better than that Front Yard one.
I was lucky enough to notice by accident that they offered 31093 as a GWP for purchases over 170 Euro, so I finally pulled the trigger on the Modular Police Station, using some VIP points for a nice discount too.
@BrickAstley:
I actually just saw some of the postcard packs at my local LEGO Store yesterday.
@PurpleDave said:
" @BrickAstley:
I actually just saw some of the postcard packs at my local LEGO Store yesterday."
Thanks, that's good to know. Will keep an eye out for them next time I'm visiting mine!
That looks like such a great set. Mrs Claus is awesome. I really hope it is a production/packaging/design/quality issue and not some woke nonsense.
I’m starting to get a little concerned LEGO is slipping. The Ospery thing not too long ago was pretty bad, the marvel mechs being canned so close to release is disappointing, and now this. What is going on over there? Did they release a bad batch of parts?
As for the packaging ordeal, I can believe it, but I figured smaller sets would just be delayed in that case.
@BrickAstley said:
"I've just looked and the postcards hve disappeared from my wish list."
Have you found that items that have disappeared from your wishlist still count towards the 30 maximum of the list? I currently have 15 on my wishlist, but it's telling me I've reached the 30 maximum. (I gave up and started 2nd list)
@PixelTheDragon said:
"I’m starting to get a little concerned LEGO is slipping. The Ospery thing not too long ago was pretty bad, the marvel mechs being canned so close to release is disappointing, and now this. What is going on over there? Did they release a bad batch of parts?
As for the packaging ordeal, I can believe it, but I figured smaller sets would just be delayed in that case."
Don't forget the misprint on the USC Gunship and the technic error in the legs of the USC AT-AT. I too am getting worried.
I know someone in a design industry and they told me their company had some design issues since they all were working from home and the samples of the product (color swatches, parts, etc) they required were at the HQ. Mistakes increased as a result - so wonder if that has something to do with it as the lego sets coming out would have been worked on last year during lockdown.
Bummer! I love these little corner vignette sets—I wish the reindeer and elf set was one of them, too.
@sjr60 said:
"
Have you found that items that have disappeared from your wishlist still count towards the 30 maximum of the list? I currently have 15 on my wishlist, but it's telling me I've reached the 30 maximum. (I gave up and started 2nd list)"
I've got this same issue, original wish list stops at 24, and I've just given up on it.
@sjr60 said:
" @BrickAstley said:
"I've just looked and the postcards hve disappeared from my wish list."
Have you found that items that have disappeared from your wishlist still count towards the 30 maximum of the list? I currently have 15 on my wishlist, but it's telling me I've reached the 30 maximum. (I gave up and started 2nd list)"
Now that you mention it, I've gone and checked and am having the same issue - 28 items but tells me I have 30 and can't add anymore. Very odd
Rumors are circulating that 40491 Christmas Party at Downing Street is only offered in UK stores from £ 200 purchase ... ??
@BrickAstley
@MLF said:
" @sjr60 said:
"
Have you found that items that have disappeared from your wishlist still count towards the 30 maximum of the list? I currently have 15 on my wishlist, but it's telling me I've reached the 30 maximum. (I gave up and started 2nd list)"
I've got this same issue, original wish list stops at 24, and I've just given up on it."
I found a few missing items by changing location to different countries, and deleting wishlist items that were still available there... but couldn't find all.
Customer Support suggested deleting cache / logging out / changing browser. Unsurprisingly made no difference as same issue on several devices. I think it's a fundamental issue of the new 'improved' wishlist.
Too bad as this was definitely the better of the two sets that we were supposed to get this year. At least now I don't need to try to find $170 worth of items one can actually place an order for.
Someone must have accidentally added the name “Donald” to the nice list Santa is holding (an obvious error and QC issue).
Quite disappointing.
First you had to spend 220 bucks to get the small free set. In other years it was 100. Then they cancel the second set. Not cool.
Quality issues?
My theory is that LEGO just sold much less expensive (>170€) sets than expected, hence they still have loads of the cheap Santas Frontyard sets in storage.
So why should they bother giving us an actual good GWP?
@BrickAstley said:
" @sjr60 said:
" @BrickAstley said:
"I've just looked and the postcards hve disappeared from my wish list."
Have you found that items that have disappeared from your wishlist still count towards the 30 maximum of the list? I currently have 15 on my wishlist, but it's telling me I've reached the 30 maximum. (I gave up and started 2nd list)"
Now that you mention it, I've gone and checked and am having the same issue - 28 items but tells me I have 30 and can't add anymore. Very odd"
When the new wish list thing started, it said that I had too many items (around 50), and that I would soon need to put them on a different list, with a maximum of 30. Now I just have 55 things on one wish list, and I can still add more, without any notifications arising.
This one is so much better than the front yard. My guess is they don't have enough stock to give out all of the front yard, and then also all of these. I've been waiting for Santa's Sleigh to be in stock for a month now....nothing.
It also kind of reminds me of the two limited edition sets I have from 2011. 3300002-1
As several of the most sought after sets that were unavailable for Santa's Front Yard, are still unavailable, a new GWP would be a bit pointless.
This (and last) year've been strange for The Lego Group. First cancelled sets, then mismatches of colours in new pieces (lime technic ones) and then errors in the instructions...
There's something wrong at Lego HQ.
@spikes said:
"Rumors are circulating that 40491 Christmas Party at Downing Street is only offered in UK stores from £ 200 purchase ... ?? "
They're just finalising what minifigs need to be included....
Maybe it's because everything is sold out on Lego.com in USA. $200 of Dots sets? - don't think so.
And yet the Camper Van, with its appalling bendy bricks, is still on sale?
Quality went out the window years ago when LEGO just decided policy was to ignore anyone complaining about mis-matched part colours.
@sirventricle said:
"That's a fair few sets this year not releasing because of "not meeting high standards" - what on earth is happening with their QA department? The Marvel mechs, now this..."
Given that I've had to get replacement parts for three sets this year alone (last time I had an issue was in the '90s) due to poor quality and damage, and I will have to request a sticker sheet due it being missing from a set I've just received, I'd say their quality checks are lacking somewhat!!
So they release the ugly one and cancel the beautiful one? Come on LEGO…
No to this, But yes to that Tehnic aircraft
I recently built the Creator Expert Mustang. The quality of the prints was pitiful. I even had to request a replacement part for one particularly bad piece.
Otoh I have Classic Space sets from my childhood. Their prints are still great, fourty years after I got them, and much better in quality than anything from recent years.
Cost cutting at its worst. Sad.
The reason was the fireplace should not be up to standard, it was too narrow and the Santa Claus could have got stuck inside .....
After reading a handful of reviews regarding the 10279 Volkswagen T2 Camper, it doesn't seem like it's a design flaw, but rather the condition of the pieces. It seems as though Lego has had a quality bump, with bricks losing clutch power/have become less rigid and are more flexible (which is not ideal, from a construction brick standpoint)
A shame, I do enjoy two-wall vignettes like this.
Incredibly disappointing...
I'm hoping an updated version is released sometime, or at the very minimum that the instructions are!
This is a real shame. I really hope the Mrs Claus appears somewhere as she is truly lovely.
@Staplestickles said:
"After reading a handful of reviews regarding the 10279 Volkswagen T2 Camper, it doesn't seem like it's a design flaw, but rather the condition of the pieces. It seems as though Lego has had a quality bump, with bricks losing clutch power/have become less rigid and are more flexible (which is not ideal, from a construction brick standpoint)"
That's interesting. I've got the T2, but not built it yet. I've seen lots of examples of it falling to bits at the slightest touch. I look forward to finding out if it's poor quality, or design, or both!
Not sure if posted yet but wolverine 76202 and other 2 mech got cancelled delayed.... stability issues.
@maffyd said:
" @sirventricle said:
"That's a fair few sets this year not releasing because of "not meeting high standards" - what on earth is happening with their QA department? The Marvel mechs, now this..."
What's the deal with the Marvel mechs?"
delayed, stability issues i think
@Huw said:
"It's not necessarily am issue with the design: it could be a production problem, parts missing, wrong parts etc."
The real production problem is that most things are sold out on the Lego web site. If I was going to try and get this GWP, I'd probably end up having to order a ton of random small sets because nothing else on my wish list is in stock. (I probably would have done that if the GWP was available since it actually looks pretty nice and better than the last one. I didn't bother trying to get that.)
The front yard GWP was lame. This looked nice. So what will they offer as the next GWP to get us to spend money just before Christmas? My guess is more simple polybags, bleh.
@AustinPowers said:
"I recently built the Creator Expert Mustang. The quality of the prints was pitiful. I even had to request a replacement part for one particularly bad piece.
Otoh I have Classic Space sets from my childhood. Their prints are still great, fourty years after I got them, and much better in quality than anything from recent years.
Cost cutting at its worst. Sad. "
oh gosh now I'm scared for any new set I'm gonna buy.
@PDelahanty said:
" @Huw said:
"It's not necessarily am issue with the design: it could be a production problem, parts missing, wrong parts etc."
The real production problem is that most things are sold out on the Lego web site. If I was going to try and get this GWP, I'd probably end up having to order a ton of random small sets because nothing else on my wish list is in stock. (I probably would have done that if the GWP was available since it actually looks pretty nice and better than the last one. I didn't bother trying to get that.)"
oh no, don't tell me scalpers have taken over also Lego sets. This could be a realistic (but very sad) scenario.
Super charming set that's really nicely designed and detailed. Sad we'll all miss out on this one!
I collect all Christmas sets and am disappointed with the cancellation. I'll be trying to recreate it based on the images circulating.
Lego really need to address their quality issues and regular mistakes they are making in instruction books. They really ate slipping.
@AustinPowers said:
"I recently built the Creator Expert Mustang. The quality of the prints was pitiful. I even had to request a replacement part for one particularly bad piece."
Yes, I ordered a complete new set of prints and they seem to have realised that they're meant to line up now!
I read somewhere (maybe here) that the production team weren't aware that alignment was important at first!
Extremely disappointing... This Set looks adorable! I'm deeply saddened on this. Of course my Wallet is very happy because this means a saving of a few hundreds of €.
@sjr60 :
They have the ability to fine-tune the placement of the print, but it takes valuable time on machines that do not really have any idle time scheduled. So to trigger that level of precision, they have to inform the production floor which parts need precision alignment. This did not happen for initial copies of the Mustang, but after a slew of complaints, they revisited the set and decided it made sense.
welp, this is the GWP I was waiting on to place my end-of-year order. After checking stock online it looks like it wouldn't have mattered anyway, my cart is empty.
That's too bad, as this would've really completed the scene with "Santa's Front Yard". As it stands, that set on its own is kinda nonsensical.
Pity. I'd rather have had this set than Santa's Front Yard.
@utlf said:
"Lego is slowly turning into Lepin.... wtf is with all of these quality control issues? They are going downhill more and more as time goes on. "
You know what the funniest (or saddest) part is? The Lepin set I bought out of curiosity a few years ago (copy of the Green Grocer) actually had astonishingly good quality. About 99% of the pieces looked, felt and worked just like LEGO pieces. At the time I had no clue that copies of LEGO sets a) existed at all and b) would be almost indistinguishable from the original.
All my experience with non LEGO bricks before that had been a small helicopter set from BestLock, and that was indeed the worst experience in terms quality I ever had. That thing literally fell apart just by looking at it - if you even managed to get it fully built at least once in the first place. BestLock - their brand name is contradiction in terms and should fall under the trades description act.
@sjr60 said:
" @Staplestickles said:
"After reading a handful of reviews regarding the 10279 Volkswagen T2 Camper, it doesn't seem like it's a design flaw, but rather the condition of the pieces. It seems as though Lego has had a quality bump, with bricks losing clutch power/have become less rigid and are more flexible (which is not ideal, from a construction brick standpoint)"
That's interesting. I've got the T2, but not built it yet. I've seen lots of examples of it falling to bits at the slightest touch. I look forward to finding out if it's poor quality, or design, or both!"
I found the front bottom bumper piece to be easy to disloge and that the engine bay door is a bit stiff. Thats if im looking for problems though. I really have no idea what the big issue is that people are facing, what all the complaints are about. Maybe mine was the only fine copy? Or maybe people just like being mad and acting like theyve been victimized?
@Torbo said:
"I really have no idea what the big issue is that people are facing, what all the complaints are about."
Most I've seen have been on build streams, where the problems have ranged from small internal assemblies dislodging and being hard to re-attach, to the entire front end disintegrating. But I shall reserve judgement until I build it myself!
Ok...they pull this, yet the 'Santa's Front Yard' set gets released...I don't get it/sometimes there's no justice...
Seriously though, this is a shame; as that is really neat Santa and Mrs. Claus, and for that matter: how many Mrs. Claus figures have we gotten? I have at least two Santas, but none of the Mrs...weird...
@brick_r:
There have been three Mrs. Claus figures. The one most people are familiar with came in 10245. There was another completely different design included in the 2018 Q4 Build-a-Minifig assortment*. Finally, 41420 had a minidoll version.
*For those who aren’t aware, each quarter has a trio of semi-official minifigs added to the BaM assortment. In many cases these include seasonal designs. Last year it was more obvious than normal because the minifigs were usually prepackaged as many (all?) stores had switched to a touch-free format for both PaB and BaM.
This set looks a whole lot nicer than the hideous reindeer we got 2 weeks ago.
Most likely the problem here is that there is nothing left worth buying on the LEGO site. Everything decent is unavailable.
"supply chain problems"
I think LEGO is facing a huge, potentially ruinous, competition problem from the Chinese bricks cloners. The plastic quality is practically indistinguishable from LEGO, and their sets are either direct copies of LEGO or very good alternative builds based on work done by skilled AFOLs. With prices 1/2, 1/3, or even 1/4 of what LEGO charges, normal people will have a hard time resisting the urge to buy the clones.
That's a shame as this was a far more interesting GWP than the reindeer one.
@PurpleDave said:
" @brick_r:
There have been three Mrs. Claus figures. The one most people are familiar with came in 10245. There was another completely different design included in the 2018 Q4 Build-a-Minifig assortment*. Finally, 41420 had a minidoll version.
*For those who aren’t aware, each quarter has a trio of semi-official minifigs added to the BaM assortment. In many cases these include seasonal designs. Last year it was more obvious than normal because the minifigs were usually prepackaged as many (all?) stores had switched to a touch-free format for both PaB and BaM."
is there a list of these figures from each quarter?..like what was the last 3 trios?..Thanks
@gromit6:
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?catType=M&catString=976.625.1132
This is what Bricklink has cataloged. I know there have been more (and a few of these are A/B variants of the same fig), but many of them have probably been lost for no reason other than that nobody knew they were intended to be a cohesive set of minifigs. I’m not sure when people caught on, but I suspect the pandemic may have had something to do with it. I remember my local store had pre-filled BaM packs laid out for customers to just grab and go, and I noticed a lot of them were identical sets of minifigs in a few different styles (there was a blue flower costume in one). When I asked about it, I think that’s when I learned that each quarterly assortment has three unofficial minifigs included, but I don’t know how that info is communicated to stores, and for sure they weren’t making it well known to customers. Now my local store has some of these built and displayed behind the towering sneeze guards they had to install due to pandemic rules, which certainly helps.
@sirventricle said:
"That's a fair few sets this year not releasing because of "not meeting high standards" - what on earth is happening with their QA department? The Marvel mechs, now this..."
Lego is waste material and everything instead of control.
How many children would be happy with this set ? All of them .... Lego care ? nothing.
Merry Christmas !
This is the best looking one in ages. Might be the best Mrs. Clause in ages as well.