The LEPIN "LEGO" for non sensitive types

The LEPIN "LEGO" for non sensitive types

Author
Discussion

robemcdonald

8,716 posts

195 months

Friday 21st October 2016
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I can't quite believe how many have bought the UCS falcon. I know PH is only a small snapshot, but can't help but wonder how this all is affecting the price of the original.

BaronVonVaderham

2,316 posts

146 months

Friday 21st October 2016
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It was originally £350ish wasn't it?

I hope this has killed the ridiculous 2nd hand prices that some sad hoarding gits are trying to ask for the original.

Won't be long before the fake one is out of production and the price for the knock off version starts rising rolleyes


anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 21st October 2016
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I was thinking that. Tempted to buy half a dozen and loft them.

russy01

4,693 posts

180 months

Friday 21st October 2016
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I hope it does kill the price of the collectors sets as its all getting rather stupid! We run a pretty big operation with LEGO, its a lot of work for a tight margin! We've often said that we'd be better off closing our doors and locking the warehouse up for 10years...on our return in 2026 the stock appreciation would probs be more than our profit from said sales over 10years!

We obviously get a lot of collectors buying from us and some of them like to boast about how much stock they have, I hope they know what they are doing, as they have serious amounts of £££ tied up...

ukaskew

10,642 posts

220 months

Friday 21st October 2016
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russy01 said:
I hope it does kill the price of the collectors sets as its all getting rather stupid! We run a pretty big operation with LEGO, its a lot of work for a tight margin! We've often said that we'd be better off closing our doors and locking the warehouse up for 10years...on our return in 2026 the stock appreciation would probs be more than our profit from said sales over 10years!

We obviously get a lot of collectors buying from us and some of them like to boast about how much stock they have, I hope they know what they are doing, as they have serious amounts of £££ tied up...
Short of Lego going back into production on many of these things I can't see many of these sets dipping below their original RRP. It also seems fairly easy to gauge what will appreciate, the only risk is waiting to see if it does get discontinued (and presumably there is a limit on how many sets Lego can produce at one time, so everything will be discontinued eventually).

That said, if all the modular buildings were still available I'd start on them now, but because I know several are utterly unobtainable I haven't bought a single one.

34723

11 posts

89 months

Friday 21st October 2016
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Has anyone inventoried their mf sets yet? Many parts missing?

Stig

11,817 posts

283 months

Friday 21st October 2016
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russy01 said:
I hope it does kill the price of the collectors sets as its all getting rather stupid! We run a pretty big operation with LEGO, its a lot of work for a tight margin! We've often said that we'd be better off closing our doors and locking the warehouse up for 10years...on our return in 2026 the stock appreciation would probs be more than our profit from said sales over 10years!

We obviously get a lot of collectors buying from us and some of them like to boast about how much stock they have, I hope they know what they are doing, as they have serious amounts of £££ tied up...
I am limiting my Lepin sets to those that are out of production and now command stupid money. I kicked myself for not buying the SSD and also R2D2 as they are now far too much money. At least I now have the SSD (and UCS Falcon was a bonus... og, and the Imperial Star Destroyer 05027 is on its way wink )

I never set out to be a collector, but I do seem to have a loft full of sets, but most haven't really appreciated much (yet). But that's another appeal of Lepin, they don't cost much, will never increase in value so no sense in not building them!

The rest are on hold until I have space to display them (lots of improvement works at home). Some I'll just move on or keep for my boys.

Either way, it puts into perspective what a huge money making machine Lego is given the cost of materials (excepting IP for original designs etc.)

SDK

866 posts

252 months

Friday 21st October 2016
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JerseyS2000 said:
Has anyone ordered the Shield helicarrier?

it can be ordered for about £60, compared to £250 for the real one

any recommended sellers, if so?

cheers

ben
I've just ordered the Helicarrier - my 5 year old is seriously into Marvel stuff. After seeing the Lego Helicarrier online he built his own version out of Lego boxes. I'll sort the pieces and it should keep him busy in the run up to Xmas smile

I got it from DollHouseBuilder for about £72 delivered (simple box)

andy kirby

64 posts

187 months

Friday 21st October 2016
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So after much money spent like many others I'm looking at saving some money via aliexpress. Would people order at once or a few seperate transactions. looking at taj mahal. Cinderellas castle. Corner cafe & market place

D-Angle

4,467 posts

241 months

Friday 21st October 2016
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andy kirby said:
So after much money spent like many others I'm looking at saving some money via aliexpress. Would people order at once or a few seperate transactions. looking at taj mahal. Cinderellas castle. Corner cafe & market place
I would think the larger the package, the more interest from Customs, so I would order individually, also orders in boxes seem to be getting stung for more duty than packages without a box. A lot of the descriptions on Aliexpress will tell you if it's boxed or not.

andy kirby

64 posts

187 months

Friday 21st October 2016
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Yep did see the options for plan boxes or no boxes & price difference also. Will go with 2 separate orders then. Cheers


D-Angle said:
andy kirby said:
So after much money spent like many others I'm looking at saving some money via aliexpress. Would people order at once or a few seperate transactions. looking at taj mahal. Cinderellas castle. Corner cafe & market place
I would think the larger the package, the more interest from Customs, so I would order individually, also orders in boxes seem to be getting stung for more duty than packages without a box. A lot of the descriptions on Aliexpress will tell you if it's boxed or not.

ukaskew

10,642 posts

220 months

Saturday 22nd October 2016
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Stig said:
Either way, it puts into perspective what a huge money making machine Lego is given the cost of materials (excepting IP for original designs etc.)
I was thinking about this, I imagine licensing is a huge cost, then you have designers and all the things that go into running a big legit company (customer service, returns etc) which Lepin can minimise drastically.

I would also guess that last 5% of quality you get with Lego is quite a big step. There are quite a few knock-offs, brick systems that have nowhere near the consistency of fit and finish of Lego, which by and large Lego have absolutely nailed.

Murph7355

37,651 posts

255 months

Saturday 22nd October 2016
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ukaskew said:
...you have designers ...

I would also guess that last 5% of quality you get with Lego is quite a big step. There are quite a few knock-offs, brick systems that have nowhere near the consistency of fit and finish of Lego, which by and large Lego have absolutely nailed.
I've been playing around with Digital Designer for the last month or two (for a Christmas present for my 4yr old) and the design side shouldn't be underestimated.

It's easy to make something that looks broadly right. But for a toy for a kid to play with it's more difficult. What looks right can often disintegrate very easily (IME!). Even more so if you want to try and do it using sensible amounts of bricks.

Nickyboy

6,700 posts

233 months

Saturday 22nd October 2016
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D-Angle said:
I would think the larger the package, the more interest from Customs, so I would order individually, also orders in boxes seem to be getting stung for more duty than packages without a box. A lot of the descriptions on Aliexpress will tell you if it's boxed or not.
Customs don't see the package, all they see is the paperwork provided by the shipper.

You really think they look at the tens of thousands of packages coming through every day?

The only time they'll look at a package is if they pick it for a random check when they'll open it and check the goods tally with the documentation.

Nickyboy

6,700 posts

233 months

Saturday 22nd October 2016
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ukaskew said:
I would also guess that last 5% of quality you get with Lego is quite a big step. There are quite a few knock-offs, brick systems that have nowhere near the consistency of fit and finish of Lego, which by and large Lego have absolutely nailed.
I'm 95% through the build of my Ghostbusters Firehouse, I have to say the quality is 99% of that of Lego. The injection moulding marks are slightly more pronounced but unseen once the pieces are put together, i've had a couple of deformed pieces, but 2 pieces out of 4500 or so isn't really a problem. The clutch of the bricks is also spot on, no worries about anything coming apart.

Fatsterjack

181 posts

176 months

Saturday 22nd October 2016
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Just finished the 'Monster Warrior' haunted house. First Lepin build.

I'd echo the comments made above about quality, it's pretty good. I had one slightly distorted piece, no pieces missing. The fit is generally very good, only parts of obvious lesser quality are some of the mini figure mouldings.


anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 22nd October 2016
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My MF was labelled as a "construction toy sample" and the label gave the value as $15, hence the minimal customs charge... Gotta love them crafty Chinese!

Nickyboy

6,700 posts

233 months

Saturday 22nd October 2016
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Just finished my Firehouse biggrin

Very impressed with the quality and the fit of parts. My only concern and it is a small one was that the base plates were slightly warped but it wasn't so obvious once the thing was built up. Also the parts bags were hilarious, no order whatsoever but i guess that adds to the fun although spending 10 mins trying to find one piece gets annoying after a while.

So to the pics



You can see the warpage here









Just placed an order for 3 of the street buildings, fk knows where i'm going to put them laugh

34723

11 posts

89 months

Sunday 23rd October 2016
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Nickyboy said:
Just finished my Firehouse biggrin
Did ecto1 come with it, or is that Lego?

Lurking Lawyer

4,534 posts

224 months

Sunday 23rd October 2016
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Ecto 1 is a separate set - it doesn't come with the Fire House but it's built to the same scale.