The price-per-piece controversy is an interesting one, but remember (as others point out) averages are AVERAGES. A BURP isn’t the same as a 1×1 tile, but we’re not pricing per-piece; we’re pricing on average.

That said, if you actually do the math, the cost of manufacturing per se has stayed almost exactly the same in the past twenty years (since I started paying attention to the set prices as a kid). The US set prices have stayed nearly identical with the US dollar’s inflation rate. The margin for error, in every comparison I’ve made, has always seemed to be a matter of rounding up or down to the nearest dollar (usually an amount divisible by ten, but including more and more 5s these days).

When I used to work at a Lego Store, I would get a lot of customers who would comment on how Lego has raised the price. I’d go through a thirty-second explanation and they’d feel a lot better about spending the money. Most people don’t notice inflation unless it’s pointed out to them; when it is, it gets pretty obvious. (In fact, when I talk about inflation, I use either Lego sets or printed novels to show the rate, since both wind up with the same math.)

Yes, the cost of fuel and raw petroleum have gone up, but unless I’ve screwed up on the math, it’s mostly inflation. (The fuel costs themselves are mostly inflation; the variances on fuel being directly attributed to political instability and/or policy, but with long-term trends driven by inflation.) And of course the licensed sets have to have a little extra.

So I actually look at it as a $.12/part price range these days, since we’ve had a rather large jump in inflation recently, both in Europe and in the US. In a couple years, maybe three, I might have to go up to $.15.

I wonder how pick-a-brick fits into this.

Online, PAB parts are priced per-piece. But in the store they are priced by volume. I’m sure this has to do with the time/effort it takes LEGO to stock and sell each part, and also consumer-friendliness.

But PAB at the store could easily be sold by weight without really affecting the check-out process, so there must be a reason.

(all that said, you can throw the $0.10 out the window when it comes to small sets with a high minifig to ‘brick’ ratio, such as the SW battle packs and even something like the “Uruk Hai Attack” set. Maybe there should be a formula like subtracting $2-$3 per fig from the MSRP and then performing the price/part qty analysis…)

Good discussion, guys/gals :)

Note that the first photo you have of the set is reversed, the door should be on the right. (see the roof-off pic and Bofur’s torso printing to confirm). Speaking of Bofur, your naming left-right of the minifigs is also off.

RE: 10cents/piece magic ratio.

Yes, prices have gone up for raw materials, but has LEGO not improved its efficiency enough to offset this? Also $.10/piece is interesting in that it ignores the actual weight of each piece, so a 1×1 tile is “valued” the same as a BURP. It is an interesting contrast to how the value of each piece to an AFOL is not indexed to the amount of plastic in it, either.

In addition to those points, we’re not even getting into the value of a new piece related to cost of molds and design time and changes to the production line and warehouse system to accomodate it.

Again, the value of a new piece to AFOLs is also not directly linked to the cost to LEGO of making that new piece. Should a set using no new molds or colors be cheaper than a set that does? And I’m not even getting into licensing costs for this set in particular.

I’d love to see an article regarding this. I recall one of the designer videos where a LEGO employee talked about making a mold for a new train nose, and the difference between a new part vs. brick-built techniques that would require more individual pieces, although ones already in inventory.

(Another rant: Isn’t part of the joy of opening a new LEGO set finding out what new parts it has for yourself? Apparently not. Heh heh…)

P.S. Oh my gosh, Dano lives!

My only complaint with the set is, oddly enough, Bombur’s headpiece. I’m torn on the belly. It’s gives a wonderful degree of character to the minifig, but it also greatly limits its use outside the set. So, torn. But I figure, if my biggest complaint with the set is an awesome piece, it’s a pretty good day.