It's a great set, I just don't think table football as a game is that popular (or dare I say it, fun) anymore.

I just don’t see the appeal. For the price you can buy a real one and have much greater functionality

I still think it's a bit over-priced at £150. It looks like a great set at £120-130 but it isn't really playable as a set. They may as well have stuck with the original idea that it was just a model, not a playset. They said they had to do loads of testing and make loads of changes to make it playable, I wonder if that time and effort added more to the price?

It's too soon and poorly-timed for such a significant discount. If I'd bought one at full price intending it to be given as a Xmas present, I'd be livid.

It may have to do with trying to boost some sales during the world soccer/football championships? Or maybe because some countries where table football is popular (don’t know where that can be?) already left that world championships?

I misread the title as discontinued already. :)

This set is a total disaster, and probably failed to capitalize on the World Cup hype as Lego was expecting it to

I wish Optimus had a discount like this.

More fool me for buying it a few weeks ago...

Looking at the discounts for the art sets and going 'no, that still feels like a lot of money.'

Selling great heh?! So many sets that people want that would sell like hot cakes and they keep pumping out overpriced sets that undersell (QE, Seinfeld, stadiums, this...), using up the limited production lines...

Well I for one am absolutely flabbergasted ;-)

Shocking.

Here is Spain table football is quite popular. However, for 1/10 the price you could get a real one (and much bigger than LEGO's).

^ Table foosball is still quite popular here too, but...

... in a bar, with a drink, on a table that is actually comfortable to play and/or stand around with more than two people.

Context is about 90% of the joy of the game.

@Jack_Rizzo said:
"More fool me for buying it a few weeks ago..."

Get well soon.

The price it should have been from the start

Lego starting to realise that high social media tweets/reposts does not equal sales. A lot of people on social media stating how they loved the set and would buy it, clearly didn't buy it.

Lego seem to be having a problem with scale this year particularly when trying to fit around a concept, this set is too small, Hulkbuster too odd (and now building the Eiffel Tower, too big!).

I'm not sure who (if anyone) does the market research for Lego, but when your fans can see something is not going to sell, but you the company can't...

@GusG said:
"Selling great heh?! So many sets that people want that would sell like hot cakes and they keep pumping out overpriced sets that undersell (QE, Seinfeld, stadiums, this...), using up the limited production lines..."
Interesting that so many Ideas sets aren’t doing too hot. Lego has probably already begun making changes to its submission review process.

@GusG said:
"Selling great heh?! So many sets that people want that would sell like hot cakes and they keep pumping out overpriced sets that undersell (QE, Seinfeld, stadiums, this...), using up the limited production lines..."

I don't think Seinfeld compared in sales to this set. I think it did pretty well.

I would like to see how the Eiffel Tower is going to do in sales as it's impossible to store anyore in the house.

Can't be long before poor ol' 76215 joins the on-sale team...

@cosminiana_1993: Well, that depends on how big your house is, doesn't it?

Unfortunately my interest is pretty much limited to minifig scale for my LEGO 'City'. Give me modular buildings and trains and it is almost certain I'd buy them for my city. But most other items have little chance.

@MegaBlocks said:
"Lego starting to realise that high social media tweets/reposts does not equal sales. A lot of people on social media stating how they loved the set and would buy it, clearly didn't buy it.

Lego seem to be having a problem with scale this year particularly when trying to fit around a concept, this set is too small, Hulkbuster too odd (and now building the Eiffel Tower, too big!).

I'm not sure who (if anyone) does the market research for Lego, but when your fans can see something is not going to sell, but you the company can't..."

Yes, I think it would help them if they consulted fans first, especially in the pricing of the sets.
However, personally I am tempted to buy the huge Eiffel Tower.

@Wrecknbuild said:
"Yes, I think it would help them if they consulted fans first, especially in the pricing of the sets.
However, personally I am tempted to buy the huge Eiffel Tower."

You have to be careful when consulting fans because they will tend to say that everything is great (like when they do toy testing with children and they love everything).

But market research is important, ask yourself "who is this for?". The Table Football set is not good on display, it's solidly built, but small compact set, high walls etc. Too small and expensive compared to a normal table football set.

I am currently building the Eiffel Tower and it is massive. It will probably be bigger than my Christmas tree.

I feel for the designers. They did a good job with the set, but the price point is too high.

I know LEGO sets prices before designing the set, and price points are very hard to change after the fact. Maybe they need to have some sort of "value audit" after a set is designed to see if the original price point still makes sense for the final design.

We all want LEGO to succeed. We love their stuff, in one form or another. And it stinks to see something that people worked hard on kinda crashing and burning. Hope they learn something that benefits everyone.

@CCC said:
"There are too many non traditional sets being made. I hope the larger sets concentrate on decent builds rather than quirky objects. Modulars and SW UCS, they really know those markets. (...)"

"traditional" is a tricky word, isn't it? Means different things to different people; a bit like "quirky".

When LEGO released 10030, its scale was a long way from anything traditional they'd done before - quirky! Yet people lapped it up. And people still lust after it, even though it can't hold itself together - double quirky!

We should commend LEGO for trying new things, even if, like this table football, they swing & miss. Ideas is the platform for 'different' things (21309 was a quirky departure from the traditional and has become a legend) and hopefully we'll see more affordable ideas on it: more ships-in-bottles and fewer pricey pianos (and an end to sit-com studio sets seems likely...) Again, however, it's good that they try all these things.

Modulars & UCSs aren't going anywhere (though remember that there are LEGO fans who - shock! - those don't appeal to) so rest easy & assured, knowing that your tastes will always be catered for. We can allow whatever we consider to be quirky to pass us by, maybe with a fleeting thought that we hope it brings someone happiness.

I don’t get all the criticism on the Eiffel Tower being too big to display. I have a 96m2 house and it is standing on my desk in my work room. Its base is about 60x60cm and then it is just height.

Well it is a crap set.

I'm expecting this to be at 50% off at some point - and even then I'm not sure I'd be interested. It just doesn't look like a set that should be over £100 - the original RRP was truly ridiculous!

Hopefully TLG will learn from this, and price future sets a little more sensibly - 71411 has been reduced by £100 in the UK recently (44% off) which is incredible!

I just wish they had that kind of discount on 21335-1 Motorised Lighthouse!

@YanVanLan said:
"^ Table foosball is still quite popular here too, but...

... in a bar, with a drink, on a table that is actually comfortable to play and/or stand around with more than two people.

Context is about 90% of the joy of the game."

yes it is popular here, BUT:

-on an actual wooden tabel
-with actual wooden figures
-with cork balls

everything else is crap!

This is NOT a good set, it is NOT enjoyable to play. Just look at all the reviews,..it is horrible, simply horrible and I cannot comprehend (well I can - slap/hand/feed/mouth) that brickset keeps promoting this and defending this set...

Some extra balls would be useful as always losing my table football balls, although there are plenty of heads to kick around that would not look good for PR.

@Slave2lego said:
"I do think people expecting a proper table football experience from 21337 are missing the point a bit, even our beloved LEGO bricks have limitations"

Then what is the point of the set? It’s a very bad display set too.

And expensive…

@garethsmith72 said:
" @MegaBlocks said:
"Lego starting to realise that high social media tweets/reposts does not equal sales. A lot of people on social media stating how they loved the set and would buy it, clearly didn't buy it.

Lego seem to be having a problem with scale this year particularly when trying to fit around a concept, this set is too small, Hulkbuster too odd (and now building the Eiffel Tower, too big!).

I'm not sure who (if anyone) does the market research for Lego, but when your fans can see something is not going to sell, but you the company can't..."

Called giving LAN frew copies so they pump out all the social media stuff..LAN has been doing this a lot just look at some of the more popular YouTubers. Similar issues with my other hobby Homebrew lots of unboxing reviews saying how grate ask for an in use review or post brew and zero response as it's either not been used or poor."

Everything is great when its given you for free.

Ever wondered why no one tests the limited edition Bricklink sets (you would have to pay) or alternate brands (you would lose LEGO sponsorship) ?

Hulkbuster in 3, 2, 1…

@Ridgeheart said:
"Now reprint the minifigures with "One Love"-armbands, and I'm in."

Ah, yes… the topic the players cared so much about. Unless it impacted their ability to win a game.

An unfortunate vibe that I get is that a lot of people WANTED this set to fail because of the whole “diversity” angle with the minifigs. A number of AFOLs also seem to have an issue with sets made to appeal to “normies,” as though attracting more people to the hobby is somehow a BAD thing.

Not saying people can’t have genuine issues with the price or set playability/appearance/reason for existing. But some real weird attitudes have been on display since it was revealed. Some seem to be relishing this set’s failure due to their own hangups.

Emperor's New Clothes kicking in.

@WemWem said:
"An unfortunate vibe that I get is that a lot of people WANTED this set to fail because of the whole “diversity” angle with the minifigs. A number of AFOLs also seem to have an issue with sets made to appeal to “normies,” as though attracting more people to the hobby is somehow a BAD thing.

Not saying people can’t have genuine issues with the price or set playability/appearance/reason for existing. But some real weird attitudes have been on display since it was revealed. Some seem to be relishing this set’s failure due to their own hangups."

So far, you're the only one who's brought that up, so I think it speaks more about you.

No idea how Brickset can put a positive spin on this set. I saw it on display in Bristol Lego store and it’s tiny. That Lego was asking for £220 is a travesty.

I could get behind a more dedicated football game set, something more like a Lego version of subbuteo.

I suspect this is selling pretty much as Lego anticipated. High price during the run up to the World Cup to cover costs. More reasonable price afterwards to make a steady profit for the usual year or so lifespan.

I do think comparisons to the real thing are a bit daft though. It's appeal is the fact that something has been made out of Lego that most don't expect to be, and even manages some degree of functionally, like a lot of the higher priced Lego sets.

Die-cast cars, silk flowers, and dolls houses can be bought much more cheaply and accurately modeled than the Lego equivalents, and for those who see that as important, this type of model is obviously not for them. But trying to work out why one person likes a set that another person doesn't really is pretty futile. People on forums/comment sections do seem to have huge problems appreciating that different things appeal to different people.

Don't like it - don't buy it. Doesn't mean it shouldn't have been made.

I would prefer to buy the Home Alone house or the lighthouse with similar sort of price tag as display. This one no way you can consider is a fun playset, too tiny and over priced, even with the discount.

@WemWem said:
"An unfortunate vibe that I get is that a lot of people WANTED this set to fail because of the whole “diversity” angle with the minifigs. A number of AFOLs also seem to have an issue with sets made to appeal to “normies,” as though attracting more people to the hobby is somehow a BAD thing.
"

Is there a diversity angle to this set? I honestly didn't realise that...
Attracting more people to the hobby is not going to work with a set like this. Football tables of this size will always be a gimmick, even when they're built with Lego. This set pretends to be a football table. It does a horrible job, even as a gimmick. You'd probably play with it for ten minutes when you built it and then give up. For display it sucks and for other play value then it was intended for it also sucks.

You do get a lot of nice minifig heads and hair, (and the joy of building it perhaps) but that's not worth the astronomical price for a set that sucks at what it pretends to be.

@pawelg said:
"The same 'success' story as Queer Eye or Seinfeld. The sets nobody asked for."

Surely not *literally* nobody? I’m pretty sure at least ten thousand people asked for Seinfeld. :p

As for this, it certainly is an early and substantial discount, but do we know for sure that it’s a clearance? How do we know it won’t go back to full price in a month or whatever? Unlike some other sets currently on sale, it’s not tagged “Retiring Soon”…

Just sell the figs separately for like 20 bucks.

@sjr60 said:
"I suspect this is selling pretty much as Lego anticipated. High price during the run up to the World Cup to cover costs. More reasonable price afterwards to make a steady profit for the usual year or so lifespan.

I do think comparisons to the real thing are a bit daft though. It's appeal is the fact that something has been made out of Lego that most don't expect to be, and even manages some degree of functionally, like a lot of the higher priced Lego sets.

Die-cast cars, silk flowers, and dolls houses can be bought much more cheaply and accurately modeled than the Lego equivalents, and for those who see that as important, this type of model is obviously not for them. But trying to work out why one person likes a set that another person doesn't really is pretty futile. People on forums/comment sections do seem to have huge problems appreciating that different things appeal to different people.

Don't like it - don't buy it. Doesn't mean it shouldn't have been made."

The reason that this is getting compared to a real table is because this set costs just as much, if not more, than said real table. It is also far worse at being a good foosball table for the same price.

With die-cast cars and lego cars, you can play with both of those just as well or just display it. Who buys a foosball table just to display it?

Still far too expensive and unattractive even at 175 Euros for me. Saw it last week on display at our local LEGO store for the first time, and my golly, it's even smaller than I thought. Plus I have enough minifigs already so that aspect of the set (and price) does nothing for me.
I'm not saying the set shouldn't have been made, but it shouldn't have been made the way it was. Just my two cents though. Ymmv.

I feel bad for the kid that designed it. His hard work and vision is in the bargain bin with the Queer Eye set

@sjr60 said:
"Die-cast cars, silk flowers, and dolls houses can be bought much more cheaply and accurately modeled than the Lego equivalents, and for those who see that as important, this type of model is obviously not for them. But trying to work out why one person likes a set that another person doesn't really is pretty futile. People on forums/comment sections do seem to have huge problems appreciating that different things appeal to different people.

Don't like it - don't buy it. Doesn't mean it shouldn't have been made."

This is the behavior I'd expect from everyone. If you can't justify a purchase, for whatever reason, then move on. Continuing to berate the product seems pointless.

I'm starting to wonder if this is a tactic Lego is trying out. Price large sets too high and then offer discounts a few months after release bringing the price down to a more realistic level.

@WemWem said:
"I know LEGO sets prices before designing the set, and price points are very hard to change after the fact. Maybe they need to have some sort of "value audit" after a set is designed to see if the original price point still makes sense for the final design."
Exactly this.

I just can't wrap my head around why Lego works this way. I mean, for a theme like City it totally makes sense to have sets at a wide range of price points, so there I can understand. But for a theme like Ideas, it's all about making some often quite unusual idea work in Lego. Which requires a bit of flexibility in both ways.

In this case it turned out necessary to downsize the thing, which I can totally understand. But to compensate for that with a lot of useless fluff just didn't work here. I still feel the reactions to this set would have been so much more positive if it had included just 10 plain minifigs, without all of the extra parts and the dugout, at a price of, say, €160. Still not cheap, but within reason. And with a bit of discount (and better availability) I could actually see it sell quite well. Hey, I might even be tempted to buy it!

Instead we got a set that even at this substantial discount feels overpriced. Yes, you get all of the extra stuff, but for most people who just wants a Lego football table that just doesn't add any value.

My fiance bought the set for my birthday on VIP weekend since I love foosball.

I was really looking forward to the set when it was chosen for Ideas, but severely disappointed to see it turned into an overpriced, glorified minifig battle pack. It was something I was probably not going to buy for myself, so I do really appreciate her getting it for me.

But I am furious on behalf of my fiance for such a discount SO soon after introduction.

I had a very stressful time trying to contact LEGO via chat thanks to several bugs with the chatbot.

They replied this morning offering a mere $10 in VIP points.

Not even to mention the set was missing a large piece, which is crazy because this is my 2nd large set in a row to be missing a piece. (I've only had 3 missing pieces ever over my past ~8 years and 350 sets.)

@WemWem said:
"An unfortunate vibe that I get is that a lot of people WANTED this set to fail because of the whole “diversity” angle with the minifigs. A number of AFOLs also seem to have an issue with sets made to appeal to “normies,” as though attracting more people to the hobby is somehow a BAD thing."
The problem imho is that LEGO tried to combine two things in this set that on their own would have been successful, but not in combination.

The price of the set is massively higher than it needed to be, mainly because it includes all those minifig parts.
Had those minifig parts been released as a separate parts pack, lots of people would have jumped at the opportunity to buy it.

Had the football table been released with just the necessary figures, preferably even without printed faces at all (like most table football games I know have) , or just generic smiley faces, the price could have come down considerably. Also the pieces for the separate minifig stand could have been omitted.
This would have left more budget for a more substantial football table.

I don't think anyone wants the set to fail because of issues they might have with the diversity aspect.

It's simply annoyance about the fact that the table itself could have been better, and cheaper, had those minifig parts been released as a separate set.

@Banners said:
"It's too soon and poorly-timed for such a significant discount. If I'd bought one at full price intending it to be given as a Xmas present, I'd be livid."

Anyone foolish enough to buy this set at full price has only themselves to blame. In a time of $4+ gallons of gas, with food prices soaring, I don't understand how anyone can show that much lack of self-restraint and buy THIS SET at full price. (I can't justify buying it at 1/3 off with all the compromises they needed to make, but that's neither here nor there). Lego seems to be capitalizing on FOMO, and I wonder if the majority of people who did buy this set at full price are they people who just HAD to have it on Day 1.

What's the phrase? " A fool and his money are soon parted"? Something like that?

LEGO has hit some huge home runs ( Saturn V, Fishing Store, Barracuda Bay) with the IDEAS sets, and had some strikeouts, like this.

I commend them for being willing to try stuff, and I hope that things like this don't make them abandon the concept.

@Darth_Dee said:
"The price to piece ratio on sale is outstanding. This is now worth it to buy as a parts pack."

exactly! Lego got me again :D I added football table plus 2 brickheadz (40% sale) to reach 200 CHF threshold. Got blanket (easily worth 15 chf), fun pack add on (10chf), santa set (20chf), Christmas train (5 chf?) plus 2x VIP points giving me total easily like 55% discount on football table!

So the moral of this story is - never buy big sets day 1

@sjr60 said:
" This is the behavior I'd expect from everyone. If you can't justify a purchase, for whatever reason, then move on. Continuing to berate the product seems pointless.
It would be nice, but sadly that's not the way of the comment section cesspool of negativity!"

I'm not sure why comments sections should only allow sanctioned praise of sets. The negativity around previous sets forced Lego to reduce the price before release. Negativity can effect change.

Perhaps Lego make mistakes because they surround themselves with yes men?

Ideas sets generate the most negativity because people vote for the original design, and in this instance Lego changed it completely and charged way too much for it.

What I find odd is the people who still want to defend a set that now even Lego are admitting was too expensive.

@pawelg said:
"The same 'success' story as Queer Eye or Seinfeld. The sets nobody asked for. The same will happen with Eiffel tower."
Seinfeld? I freaking love that set. I mean it’s Seinfeld! One of the best tv series ever!
And i love that Eiffel Tower as well. I don’t have the money for it otherwise i would buy it.

If you bought this set in the last few weeks, still have the receipt, and have not opened the set, RETURN IT NOW! ...and then go buy the discounted version.

Let me know when it is $75 and then we can talk.

I was in the Dublin LEGO store this afternoon, the ‘greeter’ was ‘playing’ with this set (on her own), an obvious attempt to drum up interest. Not sure it worked, not on me anyway. :)

The Eiffel Tower on the other hand, lots of interest in that, it is amazing, but when you see the size you realise how difficult it would be to display in most homes.

I think that the Ideas marble maze is a brilliant set. For one it’s playable. Second, it was affordable. Third, it was actual size. Fourth, it was better than any wood marble maze because it was completely customizable and therefore it was really an infinite amount of mazes. Lego took a real world item and actually made it better.

Now foosball is a bit different, there was never any chance of making an actual sized table. But that shouldn’t matter, it’s rare that anything Lego is actual size. The fact is it could have still been fun to play, and I know it has to be 18+, but really this is a set that should have been targeted at kids. A real foosball table is stagnant, but this one you can change the colors of, you could make the players Jedi vs Sith, you can add obstacles to the table… There was so much potential if Lego just allowed this set to be Lego, and maybe it would have cost $50. But they opted instead to make it a display piece, when in reality it is just a box with knobs. A set that was indestructible, rather than one you could easily repair if something were to fall off. And even if you could buy an actual foosball table, it would be just as difficult to fit into your house as a 5 foot Eiffel Tower, this would be small enough for your kids to keep in their room without having to cover it with a mattress at night.

The failure here is that Lego needs to escape this 18+ marketing. Suggested age should relate to level of difficulty as it always had in the past. Lego needs to realize that while some sets may only be for adults, the vast majority of the sets adults purchase are actually designed for kids. When you have a brilliant idea like a foosball table, don’t be so rigid with who the theme should cater to, instead figure out who the set should cater to. After all, a theme can cover a large variety of ages, just look at Star Wars.

P.S., my son thinks that the Saturn V is the coolest set and he is able to swoosh it around the house.

@pawelg said:
"The same 'success' story as Queer Eye or Seinfeld. The sets nobody asked for. The same will happen with Eiffel tower."

At least 10000 people asked for Seinfeld. Myself included. And I bought this set shortly after release. Seinfeld is a classic, established as a part of the television history. I know it wasn't as popular in Poland but still, ignorance is nothing to be proud of.

I expect more of this. Too many sets, too expensive and some very poor sets.

Hmmm, interesting. I've been arguing Lego's 18+ sets have been becoming too expensive and all the American capitalists* on the forum were ranting "BuT SoMeOnE WiLl BuY iT" "LeGo KnOwS BeSt" "DoN't bE SeLfIsH"
Yes, some people did buy this set. But not enough. There were people who liked the set and wanted to buy it, but couldn't, because it was terrible value. That is a FACT.

And in regards to the 18+ line as a whole, it isn't just the Foosball table that's overpriced, it's almost all of the recent 18+ sets.
Most have been roughly $500 or more on a single set! How Lego got $469.99 out of Motorised Lighthouse I really don't know, while for sets like Hogwarts Express and the Eiffel Tower, there is no justifiable reason why they needed to be that big (and therefore expensive).

It's okay having higher end products, but this is a pattern whereby almost all adult oriented sets are super expensive, yet really aren't worth their listed price (as demonstrated by this official discount).

I would also mention, again, that the world is going through a recession. True, there are always rich people who can afford anything, but for a toy company like Lego, it does not make logical sense to suddenly turn Creator Expert into a Gucci line of sets that very few people can afford. After all, the Lion Knight's Castle for example, although a number of people did fork out the money, would have sold heaps more sets if it had been even just a little cheaper.

*(By American capitalists I refer to adherents of a certain type of extreme capitalism, which is more or less screw the workers, consumers and environment, charge whatever price you want no matter how ridiculous even to just get that one extra cent of profit. It's an economic worldview by no means limited to the United States and I do not direct that comment specifically towards inhabitants of the U.S)

It’s still too expensive

@sjr60 said:
" @MegaBlocks said:
"due to the criticism around its pricing."
Says who?
"

https://brickset.com/article/66189/75313-at-at-price-reduced-[uk]

It would have been a lot better if it didn't have all the extra minifigures. I get that Lego was trying to promote inclusivity, but isn't that why minifigs are yellow?

As for the set itself, it's not meant to be a full fledged, 4 person foosball game. It's a novelty. A curiosity. A cute little knick knack.

Would have been better with Blacktron minifigures, anyways.