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Comment by owenversteeg | Hacker News Reader

As for the set (and the LEGO economics that HN loves), 201 pieces for €14.99 is 7.45 eurocents per piece, which is lower than the average price per piece for all sets (around 11 cents per piece) but around the average price for this style of sets (which is around 6/7 cents per piece.) However, unlike most Bricks and More sets, this one includes two minifigures and some nifty window/door pieces.

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I think the main issue with Brick sets is supply. My step-mum ran a toy store a few years ago, and Lego wouldn't sell her sets of bricks unless she bought several hundred pounds worth of the themed sets.

For some reason I feel really saddened by that. The management at Lego are the custodians of a significant cultural artifact. Really seems like they've lost their way.

LEGO went through a period of financial difficulty around the turn of the century. The pivot to more themed and licensed brand sets is one of the things credited to turning around the company. They still sell the basic stuff but they can’t survive on that alone.

I imagine video games have eaten up a lot of the market for traditional toys like Lego.

Probably, but Lego does have their own video games that do pretty well, and probably motivate some people to buy the real thing.

Helps that the Lego video games are all surprisingly very good - far better than the standard for most cash grab themed games

I can say exactly why I feel saddened by that. I miss the Lego that did things like this. http://www.whatitisisbeautiful.com/1981-lego-ad

In the US Lego won't supply toy shops that don't commit to $15,000 of orders annually.

That's what distributors are for?

I'm curious if that varies by region. I've seen stores that basically only sell the creative sets. Just not in the USA.

I love your math! My website [0] does literally only this calculation. I’m super excited about this collaboration between LEGO and IKEA.

[0] https://unitprice.org/lego

You can buy used sets on ebay even cheaper. They usually sell them by the kilo.

Without the guarantee that they are authentic LEGO. I find that the off-brand "compatible" pieces to be of significantly worse quality.

100% agree. A few have slipped into our collection, and they are very noticeable.

Buying the Creative sets [0] are a fairly cheap way to get brand new official Lego and build out your collection. 4 cents a piece isn’t too bad!

[0] https://unitprice.org/lego/sets/creative

Absolutely. You can also find great deals at thrift stores. But there’s nothing like having your kid open up a brand new set of Legos.

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