“Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” plays on the TV. One thousand Lego bricks lay on the coffee table ready to be transformed into an AT-TE Walker. For the next two hours, I have no worries in life.
For me and many other Lego enthusiasts, Lego sets offer a chance to relax and put together a masterpiece. Whether you’re building the Hogwarts Castle, a Mustang or even a bouquet, the Lego Group provides a wide variety of themed building opportunities for everyone.
However, despite its wide reach, the company has slowly begun to lose touch with its consumer base.
In recent years, the Lego Group has continually raised prices, which has priced out fans of the company, including myself.
Since I got back into the hobby, my senior year of high school, I have mostly gravitated toward Star Wars and Harry Potter sets; but over the past year, I’ve found my Lego purchases slow to a halt because of the outrageous prices.
Whether you judge a set’s value based on the price per piece or a combination of the build and mini-figures, the cost is getting too high to remain an avid fan.
Take, for example, one of the newest sets that came out of the January wave of Lego Star Wars sets – Ahsoka’s Jedi Interceptor. This was the first time we have gotten this particular design from the later seasons of the Clone Wars TV show. I was thrilled to get a new Ahsoka minifigure to go along with a solid build.
My excitement quickly died down once the set hit shelves with a $45 price tag.
The set has 290 pieces and comes with three minifigures. Sets of this size and minifigure count normally range from $25-35. $45 for this set is crazy, especially when you compare it to sets from just a few years ago.
Anakin’s Jedi Interceptor was a set that retired in 2021 and is the same type of ship within the Star Wars universe, just in a different color. The set had a total of 248 pieces with two minifigures and cost just $25.
Adding 42 pieces and one minifigure should not balloon the new set to an outrageous $45 price tag.
The problem is not just with the Star Wars theme. Marvel, Harry Potter and DC sets are guilty of these pricings as well.
One of the newest sets from Marvel, Spider-Verse: Miles Morales vs. The Spot, is priced at $49.99 and has 375 pieces. The set is very small and the minifigures are not that special, making the $50 price tag laughable.
A common theme between these sets’ high prices derives from them being licensed themes.
To maintain the rights to making sets from Star Wars, Lego has to pay licensing fees to Disney and Lucasfilm. The same goes for Lego-producing sets from other franchises.
Another reason for these insane prices is that Lego is not immune to shifts in the global economy. Rises in materials, labor and transportation have played a role in the recent price hike.
I understand that inflation is real, but it does not only affect the companies that make products. Changes to the economy affect their consumer base’s ability to buy the products.
It is especially interesting that Lego “needs” to raise already high prices when they have a monopoly on the toy market. The Lego Group overtook Mattel to become the largest toy company in 2015 and has only grown higher since. The brand’s value in 2022 got up to $6 billion.
As a lifetime Lego fan, it is anger-inducing to look directly at Lego’s website for their reasoning on the prices.
The Lego customer service website states that the prices depend on the number of pieces, the amount of new molds required as well as licensing.
With that idea in mind, it’s a slap in the face from a multi-billion dollar company to say that their prices are justified when they cut corners.
Going back to the $45 Ahsoka set, there were not any new molds needed, being that they already have a specific Ahsoka headpiece mold. Lego has made the specific head mold for an Ahsoka set they released in 2023.
On top of that, the price per piece justification falls flat being that sets of this size are normally way cheaper.
Despite these shortcomings of the company, I continue to be a fan of Lego.
It isn’t all bad as I have found certain ways to get around the lofty price.
One way I found to mitigate some of the costs is to wait for sales. Around the holidays or after a couple of months of a new set hitting shelves, the prices usually come down to a more purchasable price. Although I miss out on the exciting opportunity to get the newest sets on release day, I do eventually get to buy the set I want.
Another useful tip I’ve learned is to wait for special days on the Lego website. For instance, every year in May, Lego does deals on Star Wars sets to go along with the ‘May the Fourth’ celebration. A 20% discount as well as a gift with purchase can help justify the order.
At the end of the day, it seems that more and more hobbies have become too expensive for fans to handle, and prices continue to rise making it harder and harder for fans to remain active.
