List of price increases in the USA

Oof

Some pretty big jumps here =(

Wow…That is a dramatic price increase for so many sets right there! Lego is already so expensive and this price increase is really gonna make many people buy less

Wow some of those are eye watering. Not many of these on my want list thankfully and seems predominantly bigger sets and licensed ones in particular. Very interesting. Wonder what the damage in the UK will be.

Yikes

@Big_Jarv said:
"Wow some of those are eye watering. Not many of these on my want list thankfully and seems predominantly bigger sets and licensed ones in particular. Very interesting. Wonder what the damage in the UK will be."

Didn't the UK already have it's turn in January?

I have become much more deliberate in my purchases and buy way less sets than i used to. Day one purchases are no longer standard but reserved for sets that wow me, like the starry night. I am fortunate to still be able to purchase the lego i want, but i find myself less and less inclined to keep spending hundreds of euros on sets. Pricing is certainly a contributing factor in this.

Some of these increases are brutal. No good deals allowed.

The Mercedes and Aston Martin speed champions 2 packs are getting a $5 increase each too

Is this an exhaustive list of the price increases? Or are these only the sets that are sold at Barnes and Noble?

Why are five Super Heroes sets listed under Star Wars?

Anyway, really annoyed by this. I can only imagine what will happen in Australia, given how overpriced the LEGO is here to start with. No wonder I’m shifting to MOC Building!

I'll be cutting way back on what I buy from now on. The prices have gone from 'Really expensive' to 'scarcely believable'.

Given that the LEGO Group announced record profits this year, I'd be interested in understanding their long term aims that require even more cashflow. I know there's a $1bn plant in Virginia, USA in the pipeline, but I can't help thinking that an ever-expanding range of themes, combined with price rises, is going to lead - sooner or later - to the sort of troubles we saw in the early 2000s.

There's a limited, and shrinking, pool of disposable income that consumers have to spend on Lego, while every new range incurs development costs, new moulds etc. The wider the range of sets, the less the economies of scale become a factor.

I see a radical rationalisation in the next few years, driven by dramatically shrinking sales.

Or maybe we'll all keep buying Lego and just cut down on other stuff, like food...

Why yes, my buying habits will change.

This pisses me off. None of these are even remotely reasonable, I wanted to buy 75288 and now I have to save 20 dollars more. I hope this affects Lego so negatively that they come to their senses, but until then I'm done

The Star Wars diorama sets were already well overpriced, so let's raise them!

I know LEGO said that these increases are to combat rising production costs but that excuse is not sitting right with me. I’m no financial analyst, but looking at their recent earnings reports it really seems like they’re in a position to absorb some of that cost without passing it on to us. Anybody else notice that most of the sets getting price hikes are the popular ones? Capitalism at its finest.

And of course, a lot of us collectors will shell out the extra 20% without a second thought. Now might be a good time for all of us to reevaluate our spending habits.

Thank you for the update. This makes me wonder what might happen to Canadian prices next month. Seeing the price increases generally and the explosion of larger and/or more detailed sets this year combined with inflation overall, makes me very curious for Lego's 2022 financial report.

@BooTheMightyHamster said:
"I'll be cutting way back on what I buy from now on. The prices have gone from 'Really expensive' to 'scarcely believable'.

Given that the LEGO Group announced record profits this year, I'd be interested in understanding their long term aims that require even more cashflow. I know there's a $1bn plant in Virginia, USA in the pipeline, but I can't help thinking that an ever-expanding range of themes, combined with price rises, is going to lead - sooner or later - to the sort of troubles we saw in the early 2000s.

There's a limited, and shrinking, pool of disposable income that consumers have to spend on Lego, while every new range incurs development costs, new moulds etc. The wider the range of sets, the less the economies of scale become a factor.

I see a radical rationalisation in the next few years, driven by dramatically shrinking sales.

Or maybe we'll all keep buying Lego and just cut down on other stuff, like food..."

Because they can. It is the same with Apple. Apple is one of the companies which can increase prices even if there is practically recession and inflation skyrocketed. There are many fancy words covering this customer behavior but I simply call such customers sheeple. The power is in people hands but it is very rarely used. :-)

Wtf?!?!?

@Brikkyy13 said:
"I know LEGO said that these increases are to combat rising production costs but that excuse is not sitting right with me. I’m no financial analyst, but looking at their recent earnings reports it really seems like they’re in a position to absorb some of that cost without passing it on to us. Anybody else notice that most of the sets getting price hikes are the popular ones? Capitalism at its finest.

And of course, a lot of us collectors will shell out the extra 20% without a second thought. Now might be a good time for all of us to reevaluate our spending habits. "

Yeah, I mean Lego is a luxury and with the overall inflation, the high gas prices, and the rising interest rates, some things will have to be down-prioritized. Luxuries like Lego.

During the pandemic a lot of people haven't been able to spend their money on trips or had to buy gas to go to work when working from home. At that point a lot of people had extra cash to spend on Lego, but now, not so much. This is the worst time for Lego to raise prices.

If production costs are going up across the board, wouldn’t that be reflected in a consistent price rise across the entire range of products instead of what we’re seeing here? Surely the contents of the set would play a factor, but do the green pieces in the Lambo really cost that much to make? How is the Hogwarts castle going up by so much but the UCS AT-AT is going up by comparatively little? Idk, I’m well aware of the economic situation we’re in but some of these just scream pure greed to me.

You will own no more Lego and you will be happy. The Great Reset in progress...

I think I'm cutting back to Advent Calendars and that's it. And I'll drop City as a cost-saving measure.

Maybe I should just open one advent window a month to really space out my Lego buying.

I think LEGO may have a plan in mind to reduce sales. They may want to close a few of the factories they have in certain countries. A reduction in LEGO sold means a reduction in needed LEGO, and a good reason to shut down production in places they may not want to do business anymore.

I was debating on the AT-AT, but I think I’m gonna pass on it now. I can’t justify over $900 after taxes for that set, especially considering I have the 2020 play scale version which is a good display model as is.

They're raising the price of Baby Yoda? That thing is already on sale most of the time, how will adding $10 to the price make it more popular?

I'm not in the USA but the price hikes are already visible in Europe, and they will be following whats shown here for the US. It has already changed my approach to buying lego sets- I buy much less since last year and I plan to buy even less this and next year. I still love Lego, but my collection exceeds 100 thousands pieces now and I want to focus on building with what I have rather than 'collecting'. Times are hard and braggin 'hauls' from Lego is not on my wishlist.

That dark trooper set was not nearly worth 30, let alone 5 dollars more.
I haven't felt that underwhelmed after building a set in a long time

Well, it’s limited to ‘adult’ themes at least, so the sets my kids are after aren’t on this list, but we have had a roughly 10% increase on rrp price points in the past couple of years anyway (I don’t know whether that’s just Australia).

So what happens now? I’d guess the inevitable whinging here won’t impact sales too much, and any long term correction will just be in the number of sets produced. The new prices just mean I have to reevaluate my spending habits.

@Brikkyy13 said:
"If production costs are going up across the board, wouldn’t that be reflected in a consistent price rise across the entire range of products instead of what we’re seeing here? Surely the contents of the set would play a factor, but do the green pieces in the Lambo really cost that much to make? How is the Hogwarts castle going up by so much but the UCS AT-AT is going up by comparatively little? Idk, I’m well aware of the economic situation we’re in but some of these just scream pure greed to me. "

To play devil's advocate a bit, Lego designers have said in the past that they spread licensing and new part costs across their entire range. It makes sense to me at least that assuming they have to raise costs, they could raise them in all their most popular adult targeted sets to allow their cheaper more kid friendly toys to remain more affordable.

Well, they have said that past year was a sales record, they need to take steps to beat it

Those that didn't mind the high prices before (the people I tend to call "fanboys") will probably not change their buying habits - just like all those Apple-holics who don't mind overpaying for a name and image only.
For all normal people who already only buy LEGO if there is a sizeable discount, I guess those will think twice even more often now before deciding to buy a set.

@Jiesdeo said:
"Yeah, I mean Lego is a luxury and with the overall inflation, the high gas prices, and the rising interest rates, some things will have to be down-prioritized. Luxuries like Lego.

During the pandemic a lot of people haven't been able to spend their money on trips or had to buy gas to go to work when working from home. At that point a lot of people had extra cash to spend on Lego, but now, not so much. This is the worst time for Lego to raise prices."

I 100% agree with this. They are misreading what is happening now and what happened before during the pandemic.

Some of these were already way overpriced in relation to what you get in the box. Now they're beyond unreasonable.

I think lego's plan is to make their entire lineup into 75326's , piling up at clearance....

Getting real f***** greedy there aren't ya, LEGO.

Are they anticipating to somehow sell *more* units of sets that have already been on the market for 2 or 3 or 4 years by raising the prices?

I can understand a rolling price increase for incoming products. But raising the price on sets already on the market is just strange to me. I'm sure it makes sense in terms of finance/accounting, I just think it's ridiculous to increase the price on the sets that have been available for a while. There are sets I've been looking to get that are affected, and it all but guarantees I'm just going to wait for sales or maybe not even purchase it, BECAUSE the price went up.

i.e. Home Alone - went up from $250 to $300. I'll be holding off now given the extra $50. But had it been a new release and came out already at $300, I would be a bit more willing to get it. It's absolutely because of the principle of it. I still hope I manage to snag it at some point, though.

Some of these sets were already overpriced, and now they're seeing a 20% increase? Even with a potential sale the value is diminishing quickly.

My purchasing of Lego has slowly been decreasing over the past 5 years, this will not reverse that trend.

* scared Canadian noises *

It's the usual corporate lunacy, insisting on limitless growth regardless of whether it's practical or not. Eventually even the wealthy AFOLS these sets seem to be marketed to are going to have to stop buying, after which point I suppose LEGO will be solely targeting AFOL Yotutubers

@BrickByBrick said:
" @Brikkyy13 said:
"If production costs are going up across the board, wouldn’t that be reflected in a consistent price rise across the entire range of products instead of what we’re seeing here? Surely the contents of the set would play a factor, but do the green pieces in the Lambo really cost that much to make? How is the Hogwarts castle going up by so much but the UCS AT-AT is going up by comparatively little? Idk, I’m well aware of the economic situation we’re in but some of these just scream pure greed to me. "

To play devil's advocate a bit, Lego designers have said in the past that they spread licensing and new part costs across their entire range. It makes sense to me at least that assuming they have to raise costs, they could raise them in all their most popular adult targeted sets to allow their cheaper more kid friendly toys to remain more affordable."

I dont really buy that argument, given that city has become one of the most overpriced themes there is. No license there.

1030 USD worth of pricehikes (+taxes)... the 25% increase with The Typewriter and The Tree House seem especially harsh.

What will be the first official $1,000 LEGO set?

I'd be more willing to do the mental gymnastics to justify this if quality wasn't taking a dive at the same time.

Jesus Christ.

I want this to backfire and bite TLG in the a**, but as long as there are people who PRE-ORDER sets, I know it won't.

@NatureBricks said:
" @PicnicBasketSam said:
"Are they anticipating to somehow sell *more* units of sets that have already been on the market for 2 or 3 or 4 years by raising the prices?"

My favorite is the newer sets. We have known since like March that the prices were going up. You telling me that the Boutique Hotel needs a 15% price increase in just 3 months?

No. Of course not. This way next year's modular will have 2500 pieces and cost $250."

Yep, I've been in denial that next year's and subsequent years' modulars won't increase in price (mainly because they're not licensed properties), but this all but confirms it. Modulars will go up from $200 to $230 - $250.

Boooooooo! Boooo I say!

@BooTheMightyHamster said:
"I'll be cutting way back on what I buy from now on. The prices have gone from 'Really expensive' to 'scarcely believable'.

Given that the LEGO Group announced record profits this year, I'd be interested in understanding their long term aims that require even more cashflow. I know there's a $1bn plant in Virginia, USA in the pipeline, but I can't help thinking that an ever-expanding range of themes, combined with price rises, is going to lead - sooner or later - to the sort of troubles we saw in the early 2000s.

There's a limited, and shrinking, pool of disposable income that consumers have to spend on Lego, while every new range incurs development costs, new moulds etc. The wider the range of sets, the less the economies of scale become a factor.

I see a radical rationalisation in the next few years, driven by dramatically shrinking sales.

Or maybe we'll all keep buying Lego and just cut down on other stuff, like food..."

Same here. My wife and I are putting a hard stop on buying any more sets after the upcoming Castle set..... and maybe the Winter Village set if it's good.

We just can't afford this hobby anymore. This is getting nuts, and I'm a bit crushed to see the non-licensed modulars are all but confirmed to be receiving the increase as well. We have 14 of them, but maybe this is a sign to stop?

Price up, quality down CLASSIC LEGO! *laughs*

I’m assuming LEGO are doing this to protect profit. Think it will have double the effect on their losses than if they’d just left the prices alone.

So, if you buy a set before the price increases and then return it after the price increases without a receipt...

@kelano28 said:
"I'd be more willing to do the mental gymnastics to justify this if quality wasn't taking a dive at the same time."

I frantically pressed 'like' on this post but sadly I can only like it one time.

Rising costs are somewhat normal and fine as long as you get what you pay for - with the 'dive' you mention this is becoming incredibly hard to swallow.

I hope their sales plummet.

The look like he Canadian prices… wonder what the Canadian ones will look like now???

'Twas a good run lads, but for those of us who have to choose between paying rent and paying for a Sanctum Sanctorum, the choice is clear. I wish you all the best of luck, Lego - maybe we'll see you on the other side.

@HOBBES said:
"Blacksmith and typewriter are already out of stock in North America."

I'm wondering if this was the actual intent. Imagine telling people the prices are going to increase but the real intention is to sell out the product and not restock as the product reaches end of life anyway. People rush to buy before the price increase and the set sells out.

@Brent007 said:
"The look like he Canadian prices… wonder what the Canadian ones will look like now???"

They'll look like Australian prices...

Higher prices on products that have already sold with a lower one is already disgusting, but up to $50 more on any set is absolutely, abhorrently unjustifiable. That's a horrible way to treat your customers, and I second the hatred of the omnipresent economic mindset of needing to somehow grow in perpetuity (as opposed to finding stability and a loyal audience). If this is a new strategy for them, I really hope enough of the general market buyers out there take notice and say no to it. I don't think/hope that uncritical AFOLS would prove the price increases viable.

I bet this is indeed going to increase sales and profits.....of clone brands on AliExpress...

Increasing prices while skimping on quality. That's always an effective way to drive customers away.

Record profits, ridiculous price hikes. What happened to this company? Shameful.

Higher prices. Lower quality. Not so much Gift With Purchase as Miffed With Purchase :~/

Man, I'm old.
I remember in regular retail stores, when product would be on the shelf for a year plus and then get big discounts to make way for the newer product.
Those days are long gone.

I could understand if LEGO were increasing quality or pulling all production out of China, but otherwise, no.

I've been out of the loop quite a bit for years, but I've noticed in recent reviews, that the formerly "clear" transparent pieces have the milky appearance of some knockoff products.

Well, good bye some purchases..need to make sure I can buy the Modular day one. LEGO is going to lose so much money on this I bet. Honestly, I hope they do. Maybe they’ll rethink stupid decisions like this.

"Will your buying habits change as a result of these increases?"

Of course, it already changed. I'm buying less, and as a result caring less about Lego. I noticed that last week I checked this site only twice (or 3 times?) and not multiple times per day as before. I have a feeling it's the first steps of the next "dark ages" for both myself as a collector and them as a company.

This may not be about making more money.

It was probably embarrassing for LEGO to have so many new sets go directly to backorder status, or be sold out for weeks. It is super bad for them to have fans question their quality. Also it is a bad look when Target/Walmart can't stock shelves. So if you can't keep up with supply, leading to a drop in quality? Just reduce demand. From the looks of this comment section demand will be down for the affected sets.
A private company, swimming in cash, could possibly not care if sales and profits go down for a year or two. Protecting their brand image for the coming decades may be more important than short term profit.

@cody6268 said:
"I've been out of the loop quite a bit for years, but I've noticed in recent reviews, that the formerly "clear" transparent pieces have the milky appearance of some knockoff products. "
Indeed they do. And it looks so terribly cheap.
When I bought a Lepin set out of curiosity some years ago (clone of the Green Grocer for about 65 Euro) I was positively shocked and impressed by how great the quality of the bricks was. Only thing that looked worse were the milky transparent pieces. So I exchanged all of them for crystal clear LEGO ones.

Nowadays the original LEGO looks like the Lepin from years ago. Classic irony.

Plus, those new milky transparent pieces scratch far more easily than the old crystal clear material. Hardly a new set where the "transparent" pieces, especially the larger ones, don't come with loads of deep scratches right out of the box. That definitely feels like the premium quality we paid for - not!

The situation sucks and I agree that increasing prices on existing sets is a bad practice, but some of you getting legitimately spiteful/furious about not getting what you want at the price you want it may be indicative of some unhealthy priorities.

Just in case: my intent is not to look down on others or suggest that a company is immune from criticism, I only mean to encourage self-awareness. I'm certainly not immune from getting caught up in consumerism, but I don't want to give it so much power that it can screw with my emotions.

Well, I hope this backfires in TLG executives faces in a massive way! I could see a 10% increase across the board for inflation, but jacking prices by 25% is beyond outrageous.

I will definitely cut back on my spending as a result. I urge you all to do the same to send a message to TLG.

Tactics like this on already overpriced merchandise at a time when global consumers are being gouged from every industry is nothing but Pure Corporate Greed!

As much as I want the UCS AT-AT, $850 US is a no go even with whatever VIP discount I can apply. Time to reduce my wanted list and really contemplate which sets are worth my dollars.

Good news - looks like 10300 Back to the Future Time Machine will be in stock for more than 10 minutes every other month (yay!)

Bad news - I can no longer afford it (aaaaargh!)

I must admit, I'd be more surprised if Lego prices didn't take a hike. Basics like bread, cheese, milk, toilet rolls have all gone up by at least 20% in the last few months, fuel even more.
I'd rather it wasn't happening, but I won't be boycotting the evil, greedy Lego Group for adding 20% to a Home Alone set any more than I'll be boycotting the evil greedy Warburtons for adding 20% to a loaf of bread.

God Lord, this is even worse than for us in Europe.
I mean, America always has the better prices but this is still far too big of a jump in some cases.

LEGO is obviously all about greed.
We need to make them feel the consequences in their wallets.

RIP to the long-suffering 'Only the best is Good Enough' days of old, as they just finally died after a protracted battle with Corporate Greed. Ole Kirk is now spinning in his grave so fast you could hook magnets up to him and solve the Earth's energy crisis. This is squarely a "three-vs-two coats of varnish"-type issue... cost cutting in manufacturing (new clear plastic, etc.) while raising prices higher.

The LEGO Group : 1932 - 2022 (aged 90 years)

@NatureBricks said:
" @vader11 said:
"Many of these sets have price increase for 20-25%, which is way higher than the inflation rate...Stopped buying lego almost completely for several years now and no regrets. Only if people started doing the same...probably not...
Doesn't have space anyway."

Then why exactly are you here?"

Because you can still be interested in things you can't afford (money, time, or space).

Ah yes, drastically increasing the cost of already overpriced luxury nonessential goods, on the eve of a massive global financial recession.

What could possibly go wrong?

C'mon people, whats LEGO to do? I mean those Ferrari's don't pay for themselves.. Epic PR blunder in a company rife with them, considering they put out a book (with the most expensive Ferrari LEGO has produced -if Im not mistaken) apparently espousing how the owner of LEGO has a collection of Ferrari's and then like about 1-2 months later put out the nugget about due to the 'hardships' of inflation and cost of resources they will need to increase the prices (cause, y'know I'm sure they will immediately lower prices once the cost of oil goes back down). Combine this with other boners like removing flexible packaging from their CMF lines which will likely reduce sales in that regard (I'm sorry, I do not see a 5 USD -and likely more when LEGO realizes they can bump it to 6 USD per pack because of the 'hardship' of the new materials used for the packaging- hard package as an impulse buy). Alas, it probably will not happen, and even if it does I have a feeling they will at least break even as opposed to the last couple of years due to the price increases and people still buying.. As much as I shouldn't hope for that, I wish LEGO would be knocked off of their perch at least a little at this point. Only time will tell. I know my purchases of LEGO will greatly decrease at this point.

@NatureBricks said:
" @vader11 said:
"Many of these sets have price increase for 20-25%, which is way higher than the inflation rate...Stopped buying lego almost completely for several years now and no regrets. Only if people started doing the same...probably not...
Doesn't have space anyway."

Then why exactly are you here?"

Even if people don't buy regularly, this site has a database of almost every set made.
So if you have a collection, this is a site to log it all in, see current prices, value of your collection, etc.

Record profits last 2 years but they need to increase prices? Corporate greed is a disease.

My advice is to not buy these, send a message. It's not about the money, it's about principle.

I've never had a dark age but if the same thing is happing to Ninjago and Monkie Kid, then mine is(sadly)coming soon. This is ridiculous.

Fourteen 17 gallon totes of Lego say I've purchased enough. Good luck with your price increases.

Here’s the math:
X : US inflation up 8.25% in 2022
Y : LEGO raises prices 15-22%
Z : LEGO record profits of 2021 increase in 2022 and 2023
M : Matt’s spending habits
Solve for M if Y - X = Z
Solution: M = Matt’s purchases decreases in 2022 and 2023