Final days for 40580 Blacktron Cruiser
Posted by CapnRex101,
The availability of 40580 Blacktron Cruiser from LEGO.com is nearing its end, coming tomorrow on the 14th of January.
Despite the high spend threshold of £170, $190 or €190, the model is impressive and a fantastic companion to 10497 Galaxy Explorer, which our review discusses.
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38 comments on this article
Long gone are the days of GWP going out of stock within hours. I suppose the high spend threshold has a part to play.
Glad I got one with my first lego store visit of the year. I'm currently waiting for the next GWP (the bunny?) so I can order my CNY sets.
Might be going to my local LEGO store tomorrow.
Wonder if they will still have stock.
@bnic99 said:
"Might be going to my local LEGO store tomorrow.
Wonder if they will still have stock.
"
They had plenty yesterday in the Bristol store but you can always give them a call to check.
I ordered on day 1 and am STILL waiting for delivery (will supposedly arrive in the next 4 hours). Seems like DPD kept it lying around for 9 days. Contacted LEGO customer service 2 days ago about the issue and, suddenly, things are moving! But man, I really could do without all that fuss...
I'd love this ship, but I'm not spending 190 bucks on something else for it.
Here in Japan was gone in the first 72 hours... :(
Here in Poland this set is easily obtainable on secondary market. Currently lowest prices start at ~36 euro. That's not a high markup compared to official rrp of 30 euro.
@jkb said:
"I ordered on day 1 and am STILL waiting for delivery (will supposedly arrive in the next 4 hours). Seems like DPD kept it lying around for 9 days. Contacted LEGO customer service 2 days ago about the issue and, suddenly, things are moving! But man, I really could do without all that fuss..."
I had a very similar experience. I put my order in on Day 1 within 20 minutes of the new sets going on sale. I am still waiting for the SW battlepack, the birdhouse, and the otter battlepack. The rest of my order arrived a couple days ago.
I went to my local store today. There was only one Blacktron GWP left.
@Darth_TNT said: "I'd love this ship, but I'm not spending 190 bucks on something else for it."
I understand your frustration at the high threshold. Yet, to me, this ship is worth around $38. So, I just regard it as a 20% off sale on the items I already wanted. That's a pretty good deal on just-released sets.
I'd rather have cool GWPs that make me want to buy rather than filler that I don't really want. BTW, not sure how I feel about the upcoming house of the world. Kinda feels closer to cheap filler.
@Sarria said:
" @bnic99 said:
"Might be going to my local LEGO store tomorrow.
Wonder if they will still have stock.
"
They had plenty yesterday in the Bristol store but you can always give them a call to check."
Good to know, thanks.
The other question is how much I want it.
Planning to get the Galaxy Explorer at some point soon (and maybe the LOTR brickheads), but that leaves me short of the target threshold. And not sure what else I want to get up to it. And don't particularly like the idea of getting things I don't want.
I really wanted to get it and buy the Great Wave, so it (with other sets) would have been great, but Great Wave has been out of stock and not even pre-order which is super disappointing. Especially if Great Wave will be avail for preorder from Jan 15..
"Planning to get the Galaxy Explorer at some point soon"
just get two
@marengho said:
"
"Planning to get the Galaxy Explorer at some point soon"
just get two
"
Yes, it can be one's solution. I find at least one of the alternative builds much appealing. Planning doing that eventually (already have one). People, keep in mind, as advertised, the set retires at the end of the year.
Maybe people know this already, but I contacted support because the set I ordered was back ordered in order to make sure my GWP (and VIP pack, not that that was nearly as important) would be held in reserve for when my item came back into stock. Glad I did, because it turns out they will not hold a GWP in reserve, nor will they ship it ahead by itself. You risk losing it if they run out before your order comes into stock.
Support chat was super helpful, though, and allowed me to add an item to the order--I added a $6 Mario character pack. So now my $6 mario set is shipping with my BT cruiser and whatever the little VIP pack was... and whenever the item I originally ordered comes into stock, it'll ship then.
@bnic99 said:
" @Sarria said:
" @bnic99 said:
"Might be going to my local LEGO store tomorrow.
Wonder if they will still have stock.
"
They had plenty yesterday in the Bristol store but you can always give them a call to check."
Good to know, thanks.
The other question is how much I want it.
Planning to get the Galaxy Explorer at some point soon (and maybe the LOTR brickheads), but that leaves me short of the target threshold. And not sure what else I want to get up to it. And don't particularly like the idea of getting things I don't want."
No worries. As some others have said, you can buy it separately on ebay for about £30 plus delivery although I've seen it cheaper if you buy locally in Gumtree or FB Marketplace. If you want the Galaxy Explorer, then Smyths had it on offer before Christmas, so there is a chance it will be on offer again before it retires this year.
I brick-linked one to avoid the threshold. Ended up paying €45 with shipping included.
Worth it?
I just got the Galaxy Explorer and got the Blacktron as well, because I preordered the new botanical sets at the same time, it took me over the threshold.
The sets I want are out of stock and I wont buy some other stuff just to get this jaw dropping retro-set.
@ra226 said:
"Maybe people know this already, but I contacted support because the set I ordered was back ordered in order to make sure my GWP (and VIP pack, not that that was nearly as important) would be held in reserve for when my item came back into stock. Glad I did, because it turns out they will not hold a GWP in reserve, nor will they ship it ahead by itself. You risk losing it if they run out before your order comes into stock.
Support chat was super helpful, though, and allowed me to add an item to the order--I added a $6 Mario character pack. So now my $6 mario set is shipping with my BT cruiser and whatever the little VIP pack was... and whenever the item I originally ordered comes into stock, it'll ship then."
I think as long as ONE of your ordered sets is in stock AND your total order is above the GWP £s threshold, your GWP order will be allocated and will ship. I ordered 2 sets to hit the GWP value threshold - one of which is still on backorder. But my second set is being delivered today, together with the Cruiser and parts pack.
The hideous large stickers on this thing made it easy to save 190$.
It's really surprising that the Santa's workshop was gone within 24 hours of release in the UK (even thought the advert lasted two days longer - I wonder if that constitutes false advertisement), but the Blacktron would last the week. Suppose everyone was caught by the Christmas fever but not so much by classic space nostalgia?
So what happens to GWPs that don’t get “sold?” Because at this rate Lego’ll be sitting on some Blacktron Cruisers once this window is over.
@WemWem said:
"So what happens to GWPs that don’t get “sold?” Because at this rate Lego’ll be sitting on some Blacktron Cruisers once this window is over."
They'd probably be re-released at some point down the line, as part of another wave of promos.
@Samurai_BriX said:
" @WemWem said:
"So what happens to GWPs that don’t get “sold?” Because at this rate Lego’ll be sitting on some Blacktron Cruisers once this window is over."
They'd probably be re-released at some point down the line, as part of another wave of promos."
In the past, some have been sold as regular sets (often polybag or seasonal sets), some turn up on VIP store and others seem to vanish.
@chaosderek said:
"I brick-linked one to avoid the threshold. Ended up paying €45 with shipping included.
Worth it?"
That's a way to do it. The main issue with it would be the missing sticker sheet (I know, I know, everyone hates stickers - me included - but for this set, they are kind of needed).
For some reason, I believe this will be available again later. If they are still available, that means they made plenty and they went for a 'too high threshold'. A bit like the 'ice rink' Christmas promotion 1or 2 years back.
Wal-Mart in America is still showing Galaxy Explorers 25% off. I didn’t follow the link to see if it’s still valid, but it might be worth checking out if you don’t already have a fleet.
Galaxy Explorer at $100 is as already a great value. At $75 it’s practically a steal.
@chaosderek said:
"I brick-linked one to avoid the threshold. Ended up paying €45 with shipping included.
Worth it?"
It would appear not, as an official set can be bought for less and that includes the box, instructions and stickers.
I suppose I should be happy with the 2 I was able to get, and if it were not for the HIGH spend threshold to get them then I would have 2 more. While I understand the marketing behind it, the decision NOT to offer the lil Blacktron Cruiser at retail is just abominable.
I'll be glad to see the back of the Blacktron GWP. Still waiting for something to go with the Jazz Club. Hopefully there'll also be a higher threshold GWP to go with the VIP pack and Rabbit next week.
@jkb said:
"I ordered on day 1 and am STILL waiting for delivery (will supposedly arrive in the next 4 hours). Seems like DPD kept it lying around for 9 days. Contacted LEGO customer service 2 days ago about the issue and, suddenly, things are moving! But man, I really could do without all that fuss..."
I've had issues with DPD. They haven't sent notification emails for my last 5 orders. One of them, I was out the house due to not knowing they would deliver, and they left it by the front door in the pouring rain. Luckily, it was still there 5 hrs later.
Sad that this thing gets retired on 14 Jan and the A-Frame doesn't arrive until 1 Feb
@chris38911 said:
"
I think as long as ONE of your ordered sets is in stock AND your total order is above the GWP £s threshold, your GWP order will be allocated and will ship. I ordered 2 sets to hit the GWP value threshold - one of which is still on backorder. But my second set is being delivered today, together with the Cruiser and parts pack.
"
That is what the rep confirmed to me, yes. If one item is in stock, you're good. But if none are, you should add something that is.
@WemWem said:
"So what happens to GWPs that don’t get “sold?” Because at this rate Lego’ll be sitting on some Blacktron Cruisers once this window is over."
The hideout got reused in europe as GWP in august last year.
10313 Wildflower Bouquet and 10314 Dried Flower Centrepiece are now available for pre-order in the United States, so those can count toward getting this Blacktron promo.
@peterlmorris said:
"Wal-Mart in America is still showing Galaxy Explorers 25% off... at $100 is as already a great value. At $75 it’s practically a steal. "
Even better was right before Thanksgiving when Walmart had it for $50 and there was a $10 online coupon AND a 10% cashback offer. My wife and I each placed and order, so we got two for $78.60 total, including tax.
I'm wondering when this promo will be able to be purchased in-stores. I don't plan on spending $190 on Lego this year (though I will later this year), so I wonder if I can just buy this at Lego stores. I'll be going by one in a few days, I will have to check when I do.
@chris38911:
Yes, anything that’s “in stock” will ship immediately. Any preorders should ship on the advertised release date. Any backordered sets, best they can do is give an estimated ship date. But as long as one box is set to ship right away, even if it’s coming from a different warehouse, it seems to trigger GWPs and VIP Rewards getting processed at the same time.
@Samurai_BriX:
“While supplies last” is a catch-all CYA, as long as they can show they had a reasonably large supply available. If they advertised this GWP, but only produced half a dozen copies worldwide, it’d be an open and shut bait-and-switch lawsuit in the making. But they can probably provide quantities produced for other GWPs, and how long stock lasted vs advertised promo periods, and how that compares to this GWP, and if they can show there was a massive run on new orders, it demonstrates that they legitimately underestimated demand, based on historical data.
@Doctor_Hugh:
And don’t forget the exclusive minifig with print on the back of the torso.
Can’t wait for the same thing to happen to the new Bionicle promo
It wasn't sold out in europa
Time will tell if they sell it or draw us in by using it again as a GWP