The Pick A Brick at LEGO Shop at Home has increased its parts selection from 1000 to 1496. On the other side of the coin, prices for these parts have increased by up to 300%. Is this all a joke? For once I hope not, but see for yourself.
The Pick A Brick at LEGO Shop at Home has increased its parts selection from 1000 to 1496. On the other side of the coin, prices for these parts have increased by up to 300%. Is this all a joke? For once I hope not, but see for yourself.
that is weird. 1×2 black brick is now $0.28, but a 2×2 black brick is still $0.10, which makes no sense at all. it seems that they’ve picked bricks randomly and increased their price.
Hmm…methinks it’s a screw up.
I have to say, that does seem somewhat broken.
And like half the images don’t work for me (especially on the new things)
Hopefully the prices are largely mistakes…
Otherwise bricklink will find itself confronted with a much larger base by getting all the PaB buyers…
1.00 for one cherry.
egads
It’s not a joke. When LEGO added more pieces last year for the Space Justice sets the 13 and 39 cent black “glass” doors went up to $1.59!!! I was waiting to buy some pieces because I new they were adding new ones. Didn’t order because they got rid of the female faces and the prices went up 1200% on things.
This has GOT TO BE a JOKE! I order like 2, large, custom sets per month. I tried to order a set and it was like $600 bucks! It was just $190 two days ago. There’s NO WAY I can support this. I emailed Lego today, I pray that it is a mistake…
LEGO doesn’t joke around with pricing. Although the timing (April Fool’s Day) is unfortunate, I strongly suspect this is either a mistake or is indeed the new pricing system for Pick-a-Brick.
i was real happy when i noticed that the pick a brick count was 1496 instead of 1000, kept refreshing the pages in multiple browsers on mac/ pc to see if the new images would show up, and then i was floored by the inconsistent price increases
placed a PaB order a few days ago, of course i forgot to add a few pieces, went back 4/1/09 to place a new order was happy then became sad…
couldn’t afford to place a new order (right then)
What burns my, umm, bricks is that they don’t add parts as much as shuffle them. Dark Red Bricks are gone, it seems. So too are the varying flex-tubes.
AND, there’s no efficient means by which to find out what piece in a model is not allowing you to upload to the store. I had a $85 model I had been waiting on buying, but now I can’t even check the markup b/c I don’t know which element is holding me back!
I’ve used Lego’s Pick-a-Brick and Factory services a few times (and they managed to leave bricks out in one of my Factory orders, boo).
But now I’ve just started using BrickLink, and I’m totally hooked!!
Q: Compared to Bricklink, with gazzillions of brick choices at fair market prices goverened by the good old laws of supply and demand – what possible advantange does Lego PAB offer? I cannot think of one. Especially now. Anybody? Just curious…
@Ochre Jelly: LDD did have the advantage of being one source, in that you could design, build and order with one billing, one shipping fee and one store, instead of sourcing parts piecemeal from multiple bricklink stores with multiple shipping fees.
Of course, if the price is leaping, and TLG offers no means by which to fix old model files, they’ve lost one customer right here. I’ll just wait until the parts make it to my local LEGO store and pack a cup at $.025 per piece.
You know LEGO will send you quality pieces rather quickly and you can do all the shopping in one store fro ma company you trust.
Anyone notice that one of the bricks is “butt” for 25 cents? I’d love to know what that is. haha
If these prices are a mistake then LEGO somehow managed to destroy their best newish service in a day!
I would be more surprised if they did not raise the price on everything else. One thing to consider is that not only is the economy collapsing globally, but regardless of relative oil prices, plastics rarely go down in price – they adjust it as oil goes up and usually keep it at the inflated prices. The prices we are seeing now could well be translated from the period when the oil shot up and the bricks made then are just getting to us now.
Though I have to admit, on my end, outside PAB and bricklink, I have found a cheap source of legos. With the economy floundering, many childcare facilities (children’s hospitals, schools, et cetera) are closing. Those, combined with the yard sales, have been providing me with legos on average of of about $5 per 1.5 cubic feet of loose legos. Sure, I am not getting my choice, but I am seeing insane bulk as people clear away their children’s hope and enjoyment to survive.
While we really don’t know the pricing scheme as of now, I have an idea why there is disparate pricing. And it aint good news.
If you look in the current spring LEGO catalog, you will see that there is a promo for online PAB. It has examples of some bricks that are available, including pricing. My theory is that the low-priced bricks on PAB are low only because they are advertised in this catalog at those prices. Once LEGO moves onto the next catalog, up go the rest of the prices.
You can see the catalog online here:
http://shop.lego.com/ByCatalog/onlinecat.aspx?c=33
see p 23.
Perhaps retail store PAB is next for a price increase? I recently got a large cup mostly-filled with 600 1×4 brown tiles from a brick wall. At current online PAB prices, that’s $222 worth of brown tiles for $15. I don’t think TLG will sit still with that disparity. If you buy at mall-store PAB, you might want to make a visit before a possible price increase there.
Wow. With this new pricing, it makes Star Wars set like the Dropship seem right on the nose for cost. *sigh*
PaB prices are ridiculously inflated and no longer a half decent value when compared to in store PaB cups or Bricklink. PaB online is a complete rip off.
Now what am I going to spend my $5 LEGO.com coupons from my Brickmaster subscription on?
Me? I coudn’t care less.
If it means I get my hobbit army, then so be it.
First that flat-fee shipping, now this. Hello, Bricklink.
Hmm, glad I put my latest order in on March 31st. Looks like there will be fewer hardwood and tile floors for me in my LEGO buildings . . . especially with the price increase for 1×2 tiles. But at least I got the herringbone pattern installed on the second floor of the Green Grocer and the parque installed in the inn in Medieval Market.
I found the culprit elements in my model. 1 x 2 grille tile, silver and 2 x 4 plate, orange. I can understand removing the tile, but why decrease orange’s already meager plate offerings.
So, then to add insult to injury, once I repaired the model and uploaded it: nearly $230 for what two days ago cost $85. Looks like I need to take a parts inventory and price this baby out on Bricklink.
I started pricing out my Lego Factory model on Bricklink last night and it was very time consuming. Is there an easier way to find bricks besides Peeron?
Man, I hope this price increase is a glitch, this TAX is really going to cure my Lego Obsession. With the extra money, I guess now I’ll actually have to start a family…
Any theories on how this will drive Bricklink prices?
My guess is no change due to competition inside of BL.
LEGO in it’s catalogs used to brag about how you could get a couple minifigures for $1.07, now what are they going to do? The cheapest is $2.80! Others will cost close to $4, in which universe outside of Star wars do minifigures cost $4?! I understand rising the price, the red cherry used to cost 13 cents, then 26 cents, but a dollar?!?! That will look great in the LEGO Catalogs! The blonde minifigure hair used to be 8 or 10 cents, now 40 cents, that’s not a 300% increase, that’s a 400% to 500% increase!
I just called shop at home, it sounds like they are in a panic (I was apparently not the first to complain). The update on the new pieces may have caused a glitch in the U.S. market prices on PAB. The operator says they have contacted Denmark to see if the prices are accurate. I told her I had to cancel my orders, she said to call back tomorrow to see if the prices are true or not.
This is a huge kick to the pills for hobbyists.
I had been working on a number of townhouse designs in Lego Digital Designer, each which cost about $175 CDN. It was a bit expensive, I thought, but still affordable. Now the same models cost $350 CDN. That’s DOUBLE. That’s INSANE.
I can see increasing the price by a cent or two per piece, but increases of 200%- 500%? That defies all logic. And if this comment thread is any indication, Lego is about to lose loads of business from its best customers.
Just so you chaps know, we’ve got the same problem on the UK site! Please PLEASE let it be a glitch…
I agree with Chrism, there is no other category of buyers that spend as much money on specific parts [even on PaB and LDD] as the FOL Online Community does. I also think Fred nailed it. I don’t think this should affect Bricklink too much, the competitive market should keeps the prices down. And if they do that, the different stores should get increased amounts of buyers.
Occasionally there is a part on PaB that is not in many sets, so the price is actually cheaper than Bricklink. But generally speaking, online PaB is the most cost-inefficient way to buy LEGO there is, even BEFORE these price increases.
This especially seems like folly right now as they are promoting PaB as a source for the pieces you need to complete their Easter-themed models.
Has to be a glitch. There is no way they would do something that is going to drive so much business away from their site and back onto Bricklink.
no way…
It’s looking bleak. It’s April 2 and the prices still has not gone down…
VarietyAlleyCat —
It seems unlikely that this was some colossal mistake across multiple countries. I expect if it were, we’d have heard from a spokesperson by now asking for our patience while the errors are corrected.
There are only two things that can affect the company’s new pricing. The first is to complain. Politely, but firmly. Lodge a complaint at lego.com. Or call Lego Shop at Home and express your disappointment. And encourage anyone you know who might be affected by these price changes to register a complaint as well.
The second thing is to vote with your dollars. Just don’t buy anything via Pick-a-Brick or Lego Digital Designer. (The new pricing is so crazy, that’s guaranteed to happen anyways.)
This turn of events is incredibly disappointing, so make sure you let Lego know how you feel.
I wouldn’t bother calling the poor people in Enfield CT, if calling from NA, because no one ever tells them anything anyways.
it is a easter/april promo, people buy lots of customs during this time, so just wait till like may, and it will be lowered to the original
Dear Gavin
Thank you for your email from 04/02/09 regarding LEGO® Digital Designer.
The new palate of bricks for LEGO® Digital Designer was made available yesterday. The LEGO company is aware of the price increase issue and is in the process of reviewing it. We should have more information regarding this by the end of the day tomorrow.
Please do not hesitate to contact Customer Service at 1-800-835-4386 (from within the US or Canada) or 1-860-763-4011 (from outside the US or Canada), between 8:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. EST Monday –Friday and 10:00a.m. – 6:00 p.m. EST Saturday and Sunday for more information. One of our representatives will be happy to assist you.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience you have experienced.
“The LEGO company is aware of the price increase issue and is in the process of reviewing it.” – So it’s a mistake then?
Me and my colleage-AFOL’s have about 4 models pending that were around 100 Euros each, which we thought was already a bit expensive. The big plus about PAB and LDD is not having to
– Make an inventory of bricks needed
– Browse through Bricklink for over 4 hours, placing order with 7 different suppliers
Although this is very upsetting to me, I will not believe it until all the pictures work. It could be that they are still doing updates. The message above the PAB list still talks about Mid-March deliveries. I shall cross my fingers, because Herman is right, PAB was a one stop shop, even if a little more pricey.
^ I’m glad PaB has worked well for you in the past, but almost every time I am about to buy bricks on BL, I check PaB, just in case. Never once have they had all the parts I needed, OR been cheaper for the whole order. (Occasionally, PaB prices are lower for less common parts/colors. But those few instances never compensate for the generally higher prices)
Mostly I buy minifigure parts for customizing, and $0.53 is a great price for a blank black torso. Also, I can order hundreds of minifigure parts from one place, whereas Bricklink stores usually have a quarter of the parts I want.
If you are only talking bricks only, then Bricklink is the place to go, but Bricklink stores always overprice minifigure parts, especially the ones that are available from LEGO.com.
I worry that these new prices will drive minifigure part prices everywhere out of my price range and make it much harder to sell custom minifigures for good prices, which is how I afford my LEGO addiction.
I definatly use bricklink for rare pieces but for the most part PAB is my one stop shop. I’ve ordered from them on average 2 times a month because I can quickly source the pieces for my MOCs. The price is high on PAB but only about 15 to 20% more than if I sourced fom Bricklink. Factor in shipping from several bricklink sources add time doing piece inventory and bricklink is not as optimal.
I MOC more because of PAB so If PAB raises prices my Lego MOC days are over…
These are the prices live with it. Never in the history of LEGO have they increased prices on a 1000 things by a “mistake”.
PaB online was really great way to get some smaller parts like apples and such, and an awesome way to get things for minifigures. Plus they had the lamps for 25 cents each, and that was a steal. They are now $1.25.
Maybe LEGO is trying to get LESS people to use the service so they can claim it didn’t work and shut the place down.
^I highly doubt they are looking for an excuse to shut it down, since they’ve stopped producing seasonal models and started providing instructions for models whose parts can be sourced from PaB.
This is how companies lose credibility. How can you charge me $4.30 for a minifigure with hair and one accessory when the pirate impulse sets have more than three times the pieces plus packaging costs for only $3.49? If LEGO insists that their product is designed for children, then they should never do this. This is a response to the AFOL community and their perception that we will do anything for our bricks. No parent would allow a child to spend $50 for a car and some minifigures they designed in LDD, would they?
If you are angry, please call…Lego USA is getting a lot of feedback from PAB customers and is taking a survey whenever we call regarding PAB prices…
1-800-835-4386
Over on the BL forum, someone copied an email from LEGO explaining that there are errors in the current prices, and they will be fixed. From the language used, it seems there will be a price increase, just not the one we now see on PAB.
http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=353077
I had an PAB bag ready for ordering in my basket. Just wanted to go through it the next day before placing the order, but overnight my bag had disapeared from the basket.
Seeing the added items with the increased prices I thought these prices were a glitch.
I emailed LEGO UK and got this reply:
“Our Pick A Brick site has been updated recently with many new pieces to aquire. However, it is true that our pieces have increased slightly in cost and I am sorry for this inconvenience. ”
Slightly??
The spring catalog was out of date 3 days after delivery, but all the PAB items shown in the catalog have been changed back to the old prices.
What will happen to in store PAB?
Expect a florid increase in trade on BL, ebay etc.
Well, the images of the new products are now loading – but no price change yet! As for the pieces, someone earlier in the thread mentioned hobbits, and there are indeed two lots of short legs among the new items, as well as a colourful torso which has a medieval peasant look to it. There are a few welcome additions, eg battleaxes and spears – but they have got rid of the knight torsos, as well as the black and grey armour, which really doesn’t make sense. If you want brown flying helmets with goggles, though, you’re in luck. And lightsabers…
surprised at what the mysterious “butt” piece turned out to be…
‘Minifig Accessory Torch’ (3959)
http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/3959
who comes up with the official name for LEGO pieces?
prefer peeron’s naming
The pictures being added is proof that LEGO meant the prices all along.
It’s a shame, they added ice cream, a piece I love, and finally some kid feet, bit I’m not paying 85 cents and a dollar for them. Plus they brought back the female head, which is nice, but not 50 cent nice.
I love how a brown dog cost $1.95, if an Impulse set cost $3.50, then how the hell can just the dog be $2?
Quite a shame, a lot of nice new pieces, and the torsos are awesome, but $2.50?! I could have bought the Post Office car for $8, and just the torso is $2.50?
Insane LEGO, you lost a lot of customers this week.
i hope that lego fixes the price discrepancy between PaB and individual sets by lowering PaB prices instead of raising individual set prices
but…
to be fair, i’ve saved some of my lego boxes from > 30 years ago, some have the original sticker prices (my parents didn’t remove them) and really, lego set pricing is STILL comparable to over 30 years ago! amazing!
set 952 (1977) 315 pieces = $26.96 (toysrus)
set 956 (1977) 590 pieces = $35.87 (toysrus)
set 950 (1978) 210 pieces = $19.?? (toysrus)
and joy that lego brings is still priceless
I am no longer optimistic that there will be any price adjustment.
It’s been almost a week since the updates were made to Pick A Brick and Lego Digital Designer, and there has been no change at all.
After submitting a complaint about the ridiculous price increases, many of us received a form letter response that stated:
“As we have added these new choices, we have also taken our first-ever price increase in select Pick A Brick elements. During the process of putting these prices in our systems, we found that several items had been mispriced. Please accept our apology for this confusion. We are working to correct this unfortunate mistake.”
Well, a friend of mine who submitted a complaint two days after I did just received this message:
“In order to continue to improve the Pick A Brick service we offer, we carried out the first ever review of our prices since the Pick A Brick service became available.”
It makes no mention of pricing errors or impending corrections. Lego, I’m guessing, has decided to ride out the negative press and see how sales pan out over the long term.
They won’t get another cent from me.
Agreed, this has all been planned. I just read an article about the new CEO of LEGO, who apparently has changed the focus of the company from creating wonderful toys for kids to a money making machine. This is obviously his opening gambit, and they are now waiting to see what move the public makes next.
How could a company in this global economy think that 300% raises in price is going to help the company or the public. As I have said before, this is truly sad and insulting.
I agree that the price reduction outlook is now grim. To me, this means two things:
1) if you want any of the artificially-low priced items on PAB, buy them now. They are listed in the current LEGO catalog I linked to above and include 2×2 tiles. Those tiles are now 8c, but when LEGO goes to the next catalog, what will they rise to? The 1×1 and 1×2 tiles are now 17c and 19c respectively. 25c? 30c? Get ’em now at 8c if you want them.
2) how long until mall-store PAB adjusts? A big cup will be what…$35? I suggest making that mall store visit soon.
I don’t like this any more than you do, I’m just trying to be practical.
I just sent the company a complaint e-mail asking them to take a second look regarding that unfair decision, not like it’s going to do anything, but at least it will compile with the other unsatisfied and angry emails about the dramatic price change!
I wonder if this price stunt will affect the PAB business negatively in the long run, especially considering the economic crises we’re going through!
GOOD NEWS!!!!
A friend of mine sent in a second complaint (a reply the the form letter he received) and just received this message:
—
Thanks for getting in touch with us.
I’m sorry to hear that you are disappointed in our service and we totally agree with the exorbitant price increase of the bricks online.
Since we had indeed a lot of complaints from customers like yourselves, LEGO® company has decided to decrease the price of the bricks. From this week on, the new lower prices will come available. There still will be a slightly increase compared to the original price, but this will be only 25%.
Also, I would like to inform on the fact that we have added a lot of new bricks within our LD Designer programm. We had to erase 110 elements from the palette, but have added a staggering 594 new ones to make our assortment more interesting!
Thanks again for getting in touch.
—
This is excellent news. Hopefully, the new prices will come online soon!
True to form, the price for one of my designer townhouse models has dropped from $346 CDN to $220 CDN.
Hooray!
Wow! Glad to be wrong about this.
Congratulations to all who honored their craft! Remarkable what the AFOL’s can do! Now, I must quickly advance to LDD and hoard as many doors and walls before the Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene runs dry…
Wow, I’m very impressed that they’ve listened to my and your complaints in a timely manner, and I’ve already checked the assortment and the prizes are much more reasonable now!
And here is what they’ve e-mailed me today:
“Thank you for your email and interest in LEGO® Pick A Brick and LEGO Digital Designer.
We have recently made several changes to our Pick A Brick selection which include:
500 new elements
The biggest and most comprehensive assortment ever
More colors
Most recent doors and windows
More longer beams to enable larger construction
More accessories, such as head dresses
More mini-figures including girls and children
More cool tires and rims
As we have added these new choices, we have also taken our first-ever price increase in select Pick A Brick elements. During the process of putting these prices in our systems, we found that several items had been mis-priced. Please accept our apology for this confusion. We are working to correct this unfortunate mistake.
Thank you for your ongoing interest in the LEGO Company and our products.”
Thank you LEGO for listening to your avid customers…
Interestingly, I just received a more terse statement:
Dear LEGO® fan,
Based on all the feedback over the past week regarding our new Pick A Brick elements and pricing we will reduce the pricing on LEGO Pick A Brick elements.
There were good reasons behind our decision to raise prices of this relatively operationally complex Pick A Brick service. However, over the last week we have realized, thanks to you, that it was unacceptable to raise the prices so steeply without notice. We have acted quickly and have taken the decision to reduce the pricing on LEGO Pick A Brick elements. The prices cannot return to the original 2008 level but please be assured that all elements are still very reasonably priced. We are pleased to now offer you the biggest, most comprehensive assortment ever including:
More colors
Most recent doors and windows are now available
More longer beams to enable larger constructions
More accessories (such as hair and hats)
More mini-figs (now with girl and child-short legs)
More cool tires and rims
We hope to welcome you back to Pick A Brick soon.
Your LEGO Team
thanks so much to everyone who complained