Browsing LEGO's Least Expensive Sets -- How little is there these days?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ก.ย. 2024
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RIP $5 mini boxes. Heros of my childhood 😭
I remember them very well too. These got basically substituted by polybags after the turn of the millennium. So, in a way, they still exist. They have only.... "evolved".
@@subraxas Turn of the millennium? You're off by about a decade dude. Polybags started replacing those small boxes after 2010.
tbf, $5 from your childhood are now $20, thanks inflation 👍
Honestly, the speed champions is definitely the best example of inflation of prices of lego. Started at $20, and now $27 for the same product
Sets definitely became more complex. It still seems like a fair price to me psychologically, as long as the design stays fresh and improves.
@@FlymanMSmaybe the better solution would be to split the theme into two: one is simpler, cheaper, another is more detailed, collectible. Similar to creator theme
I'd disagree the sets are more realistic I would imagine more pieces and I believe more printed pieces. Plus cost of production must be going up as well.
Actually. Speed Champions started at $15 for the 6 wide models
I'm pretty sure the original 6 wide started at $15 per car
Thanks for making this video! There is so much media focus on the "flagship" sets these days; everybody's talking about the latest $500 set, but the great, more affordable products that Lego still makes often fall under the radar.
Yea, it’s not surprising though. After all the big sets are really impressive. The average city/ friends sets don’t get talked about as much purely because more people can afford them.
If anything I think LEGO has more sets available than they did 20 years ago. They seem to get about the same amount of space in the store but there's way more online that you won't see unless you look.
I think it seems like there's fewer small sets because there's so many really huge ones now. I don't think they've reduced the number of small sets at all though, between star wars, marvel, bat man, mario, city and ninjago there's probably 20 sets under $30. Compared to the 50 odd sets over $200 it might not seem like as much, but compared to the range of sets 20 years ago I think it's quite a bit more choice.
We salute the $5 pricetag, gone but not forgotten.
"SideTRACKed" 😂😂😂
I saw that little glance at the camera, Jang!
9:12 When I first saw the Heartlake City Cafe, I was blown away. It looks AMAZING for $30, with a nice exterior and *strong* interior. Friends gets so much love and it shows it!
That $10 Ninjago set is crazy
Great video JANG, and an important subject to cover! To me, it feels like there's mercifully more sets in the £10-£40 range than there were say 5 years ago, particularly in themes like City where there was a worrying trend towards being overpriced. Which is great! I love small sets, they're what Lego is all about. However, there's still a lack of products in the £40-70 range, which used to be the high end but is now in the middle - all the big stuff is £100+. So it feels like there's cheap sets, SUPER expensive sets, and then not much in the middle - or not as much as there was before, anyway. The biggest sets in any given theme are definitely getting more and more ridiculously expensive
I don't feel like Lego doesn't make cheap sets anymore. They do and especially for kids.
I feel like they don't really make enough cheap sets for adults in certain themes the way they used to. Like when I got into Lego again as an adult, the first two sets that appealed to me were the Cuusoo/Ideas BTTF and Ghostbusters sets. They were £35 and £45. Nowadays, you almost never get Ideas sets in that price range. We got Tales of the Space Age and then before that it's been like 6 years since our last sub-£50 set. A £60 Ideas set sounds good to me as someone who's been buying Lego sets as an adult for 10 years now. To a newcomer coming back into the hobby, it's a lot and they need more cheaper sets aimed at adults. The botanicals and Speed Champions are great for this. Creator 3in1 is amazing for newcomers
Definitely agree, as well as the cost, people don't have space for these huge sets! Would love to see more small diorama for $30-$60
The BTTF and Ghostbusters sets were never intended purely for adults unlike their newer big sets. I agree Speed Champions and the Botanical collections are great for older fans who don’t have a budget that goes as far as the UCS Star Wars ships like the Falcon.
The $20 range has some of my favorite sets of late. My son loves the "burger car" truck they came out with, it was a really cute build.
I miss more of those small 10-15 USD Technic sets. They have historically been pretty perfect in size and complexity for kids. Not too big or complex for them to get frustrated, but still clever enough to demonstrate some gears and such mechanisms.
I usually pick up a bunch of those sets whenever there is a sale because they are so great for all those kid's birthdays we always forget about.
It's strange because some of these sets are really great, and still feel like neat prices. I'm just a little bit disappointed that licensed themes don't do as many *small* sets with like one or two minifigs and a small build anymore. I think that's why I quite like the Speed Champions sets, but still they're getting a lot pricier these days too.
The problem at least locally is that the shelfs at the physical retailers are all filled with these large high price sets that sit around for years
As a kid growing up in the late 2000s to mid 2010s, the 10-30$ range sets were the place to go for me. Sets like the Swarm Interceptor from Galaxy Squad and Infearno Interception from Ultra Agents as well as some of the sets from Chima, Ninjago and Nexo Knights that came out during that timespan were honestly amazing.
Nowadays, child me would probably enjoy Dreamz the most (unlicensed stuff generally was more enjoyable and affordable to me), I think the amount of low price sets available in that theme is still pretty fair. They might not provide as much bang per buck any more as they would have 10-15 years ago but I think that's in no small part due to inflation, so I'm kind of willing to look past that.
I’m glad you agree that Minecraft does very well by its prices. It’s among the few themes left I still buy now because they fill out their price ranges very well. The ~$20 sets have incredible value - and no stickers in any set!
I like how this range is the pick it up as a birthday gift or part of a birthday gift price range.
Honestly, I feel that LEGO makes so many total sets that their lower price selections are still pretty abundant.
Yeah, they've got like hundreds and hundreds of products on the market at any point in time.
Just last month (July) there was a video here, on YT, that showcased all 70+ new sets that TLG are to release at once in this August. I mean, it is only one single wave of theirs and yet it consists of staggering (more than) SEVENTY friggin' sets!!!!!!! Like what the heck?!!! 😲
I really enjoy your perspective on price and value. It's healthy and a nice contrast to many others who get carried away with hype.
Please continue to remind us about the affiliate links. Even as a long time fan of these reviews I sometimes forget
I find that the march/January waves are primarily cheaper set whilst the summer waves are the more expensive sets so there is some balance. You can see this in themes like harry potter and star wars
Aye!
Yup. I’m pretty sure it’s always been like this, for the most part.
Man that music in the background makes this such a nice and relaxing watch. I’d hope you continue to use it!
i feel like mincraft and city are their two lines that have the best deals out of all the themes. city has no licensing but a lot of the time has big pieces for helicopters and boats and stuff so evens out, and then minectaft has the licensing, but they come with so many figures it's worth it
I think *the* shift that happened with Lego was that if you wanted toys, all Lego lines used to be treated equal, now they are not. Some of the lincensed stuff is heavily skewed towards the adult market and even if it's playsets, not 18+ stuff, they're kinda banking on your nostalgia if you're buying it as a parent.
And you can feel it from this breakdown, look: Star Wars Lego? Oh yeah, you used to play with that as a kid, your children will love it - buy it for them no matter the cost! Minecraft? Where would you take the time to play Minecraft yourself? There's no attachment we can expect there. Here, buy some cheap sets for your brats.
Launch & Load Seaport, released in 1991, cost $90 for 1080 pieces (at the time, it was the largest town set ever released), and came with 7 minifigures. That’s $207 in today’s money.
Compare that to Seaside Harbor with Cargo Ship, that comes with 1226 pieces and 8 minifigures for $109.99.
Not too shabby, if you ask me.
And the quality has also increased dramatically. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE old (pre-2005) Lego sets but I can't pretend like they didn't have some quality issues back then.
The real problem is just the fact that families have less disposable income now. That $90 Lego set would often be perfect for a Christmas gift at the time, now many families do not have $207 to slap down for each child at Christmas or a birthday.
Thank you for the detailed breakdown and insight!
@27:42 I think Jang's brain broke for a second trying to comprehend :P
Controversial opinion: LEGO is just as good now, or better, than it has ever been. They still do the classic boxes, and the cheap sets. They just do a lot more other things now that get a lot more hype and steal the attention. When I take my nostalgia glasses off, I can't honestly say that there has been a better decade to be a LEGO fan.
And then you look at the Lego System Freestyle bucket with baseplates and minifigures, and then at the Classic box, and this is just… no. And you understand that you’re not nostalgic, but that you would have never became addicted to Lego if you were a child right now, playing with the current market selection.
Pretty much this, a lot of the big highly detailed sets clearly aimed at adults get a lot of attention like the UCS Falcon etc but generally they still offer a wide variety of stuff for kids.
Mostly agree, though some of the print quality needs to be improved at the prices most are paying,
I would agree, I have three boys, only one of them really enjoys Lego. I think that as it’s always been, not everyone enjoys them, and even more so now, most kids play a lot of games and use electronics. More competition for kids time.
For sure, one of the secrets to the great success of Lego is the wide variety of products offered… from the cheap $5 poly bag sets to the very expensive $200 (and up) options.
Something that compares, in terms of the very wide coverage & variety/pricing is browsing through the video games, like Nintendo Switch games, for example.
As an AFOL, I like browsing my local Target or Wal-mart just to see the expansive variety, and also to check out what’s on clearance - that brings many sets back down to reality, in my world.
The Lego system and build experience is fantastic too, not to mention the cultural relevance and wholesomeness that the sets offer through the wide diversity of themes offered (like Disney, etc), But at the end of the day, it’s the wide coverage and options that makes Lego very special.
Sometimes I think I’d like to see far fewer options, and a lot more focus on the quality of the smaller set of options (a.k.a. quality over quantity), but that doesn’t make sense for Lego as a successful business. As shown here, the low-end options are currently in a very good place… better than I expected to see.
I think the pendulum will swing back to what we saw in the past, with less super high end stuff, but I could be wrong (*economic changes are very difficult to foresee).
That said, Lego can continue with this current strategy/path for the time being because of the tremendous variety and accessibility, much like breakfast cereals! I’m always amazed at that aisle in the store ;-)
This was a great video idea!
Its interesting to look at such a widely debated topic from such an angle!
Honestly, when thinking about the sets from my childhood, vs whats available now, its hard to feel like children today are being deprived of good sets at a low price, even if the more expensive sets get all the attention
Great idea for a video, Jang! It's interesting to see them targeting AFOL's more...
Thanks for all the great work that you put into your videos!
Wessssssst what the hecccck?! Too gosh dang generous, seriously. Thank you so much for this incredible kindness.
It’s such a shame. Expensive and large sets used to be such a rarity and were reserved for only the best themes and sets. Now there are far too many and it’s just the standard format. Their inventory and selection is so saturated and narrow. Personally for me the worst case is the Technic line; there’s an overwhelming majority of car sets. Which are lovely and not bad sets by themselves, but to me Technic is about function. Those sets are a pain to build sometimes with all the pins and bars, but it’s offset by the satisfaction of seeing it all in motion! Using the techniques just for decoration and lacking any features just takes away from what Technic is in essence. I truly hope LEGO starts to diversify their themes and products and have more price ranges, there’s a lot that can be sold under $50 and still be more than just a toy set. The recent Mack LR Electric Garbage Truck set is a great example of that.
I never really realized the price range for minecraft which explains why I enjoy buying them because there are more options but the stuff that is new is definitely inflated even for minecraft. I was absolutely blown away by the great range city had. When they first introduced those road plates nobody really wanted to get those sets because the roadplates inflated the price and now here i am just waiting for the city space sets to go on sale and build them like how I loved city so much as a kid.
Your videos are wonderful and very pleasant to watch / listen to. I like the LEGO City models. They are varied and cheerful and just look like plain fun. I'm 67 and am once again enjoying building LEGO models. Best wishes. (Liked and Subscriber)
Thank you for making this video! You are and have been for a long time simply the best in the realm of LEGO TH-cam. And I've been around for quite a while (still remember your first city in your old house!).
Please keep up the good work for all of us!
Whether you feel priced out I think depends on your taste and experience. Lego has plenty of accessible themes, but people who only care about or are exposed primarily to expensive sets are only going to see expensive sets. That's to say this video is valuable.
The $10 City vehicles still seem like some of the best value sets at that price tier. A few stinkers here and there, obviously, but mostly they are nice and chunky, look good, almost always roll & swoosh well, and have a minifigure.
And I'm surprised that BrickHeadz are still being produced. Yeesh.
edit: Kapp'n's Island Boat Tour would be a good set if it didn't have a $5 premium for the Marshall Tax. :)
And Julian needs a 2nd figure, even if goes up to $16.99. 41110 and 10748 also have a single minidoll (though also had some animals as well), comparing similar set themes (both smaller birthday party sets)
Not at all surprised that City is still feasting in the $20 and under range.
Honestly this video was so good, I would love if you did this ever couple years. It was as very interesting to see how unlicensed themes such as ninjago and city had a plethora of smaller more affordable sets when other unlicensed themes such as monkey kid (kind of to be expected) and dreamzzz had fewer smaller sets
Take a shot everytime Jang clicks 'newest'
But fr this was a really nice perspective to get. It's nice to see there are an ok amount of cheaper sets. Could be more but not nearly as bad as I thought.
The price increases for Speed Champions has been the biggest disappointment. A 40% increase in just under two years is RIDICULOUS.
I think its impressive how GOOD the cheaper sets look nowadays. Especially in City and speed champions. Remember 6-wide cars? Looking back I cant believe I thought those looked good. Yes theres more, high priced sets being released today, but Legos demographic is getting older, so they need sets for adults and kids.
I think Lego is in a weird spot right now, at least for me. I can, and have, taken into account inflation, licenses fees, and Lego just being expensive to begin with in general. That being said, I am having a harder and harder time doing that as time goes on. I believe that a lot (not all but a lot) of their stuff has truly become unacceptably too expensive. I mean we are seeing dreams come true left and right with the return of lord of the rings and the introduction of transformers but at such a cost that some people simply will never buy them. They are leaving huge fans of these properties that have average paying jobs and other financial responsibilities to worry about in the dust. Like seriously, you could either buy the upcoming Zelda set, or a Nintendo switch. They're literally the same price. Don't even get me started on star wars, the pirate snub for $35 (obscure characters, small ship, $35), and the new sarlacc pit and skiff for $80 (issue self explanatory). I can't be the only one feeling like this, and they are a multi billion dollar corporation, they don't need our benefit of the doubt.
I still feel like compared to every other $10-20 set, everything branded “4+” is overpriced. Every theme they make those sets for, there’s a cheaper option that gives better builds or value
Thanks for the video, Jang!
Very pleasantly surpised with the nice range of sets available for the CITY line at a low price point. but the movement towards expensive adult-targeted sets has become all too evident and I really hope LEGO changes their trajectory in the future and rediscovers their original focus, inspiring kids, with more intro-friendly prices, playability features, and imaginative concepts.
The general discussion over lego prices goes like this in my experience:
"Lego doesn't make any cheaper sets for kids anymore! It's all adult collector stuff!"
*shows them a ton of smaller sets for under $20*
"No! Those sets are tiny and only for kids!"
Hilarious and perfekt explanation
Thanks for making the video!
3:30 "City good deals", you are literally seeing only vehicles ... no buildings that would be a bargain.
3-in-1 sets seem to have a relatively long life
One that gets me is the fact that some of the big big sets nowadays have little to no figures in them
Thanks for doing this one, love the idea!
It's so bizzare to me that the "4+" sets wind up being so expensive relative to other Lego in the same range.
bigger pieces is why. Compare 60435 to 77047 (both $20 sets released this year).
It feels counter-intuitive on the surface. But they do often use a lot of large more specialized parts (and some are set-exclusive), which are more expensive to manufacture and that puts the prices of these sets up.
There's one 4+ set from lego star wars that is like €55 if I remember. Like, wth, NO kid or parent is getting that
I mean you will still spend a considerable fortune until you burnt through all small sets under 30 bucks. I'd say that the "average price" is considerably higher than it used to be, of course inflated by the big sets. And it will also be mostly adults who want more low priced sets but are only interested in the high end sets. Basicly they want the high priced sets being only 10 bucks. 😀
11:11 Have these up on my wall right now, super happy with them. Keep forgetting it was an ideas set.
I love listening to these videos in the background, you really do have a very soothing voice
minecraft is seriously such a great theme, pricing and variety are spectacular! its also one of the few themes that consistantly has color in it (cough cough star wars cough cough)
"ignoring the decapitated head over there" 😂
Good idea for a video!
this is now the video i will use to consider what small gifts to give my friends
that batman and joker pursuit 4+ set is wild. That looks like it should be $6.99- $10 max
Interesting video. Good to see that ther's still some cheap sets on the market. But I kinda miss the 'good ol days' when there were lots and lots of for €3-€10 The range between polybag and €10 sets.
Also, I laughed a little each time you clicked "Newest sets" intead of Cheapest sets :p
Overall, definitely impressed with their overall availability. But yeah, it's really theme dependent
Lots of good play value sets at a reasonable price.
I would say that Lego has always been expensive.
Appreciate it, Jang.
Lego Technic need more non-licenced sets like back in the days.
Could it be because most of the cheaper sets are released at other parts of the year, like Winter/Spring?
Hey Jang! I am glad you are doing ok, I used to watch your old rc videos and now I found you haha. Keep up the beautiful vids ❤
Interesting video. My son is 5 and he is spoiled to have many of the low to mid range Star wars sets including the micros, yodas, obi wans, Luke's x wing, and for both of us the millennium falcon. He loves building them and playing with just the bricks and making his own little creations. For me, while expensive the many benefits of Lego are definitely worth it.
It makes me sad that they’re more focussed on expensive sets these days. Even Ninjago, besides 1 set, all of the sets are over $100. All the good minifigures are only put into high end sets unlike back in the day.
5:30 , that giraffe 3 in 1 is really easy to find elsewhere for like £30 or just slightly over. Which is an amazing deal! I think when making these videos it should also be considered where else you can buy Lego sets because often the deals can be amazing even if it’s not on the lego site itself
Where would that be? It's 60 everywhere I've seen
@@mg1254-e7p I got it for 35 on Amazon, it was 37 before. I only found this out because I was on holiday in Spain and a random shop was selling it for the same price
The most expensive part about lego:
Buying a house with a room big enough to display them in!
Its not just pricing people out, their quality has gone down in several places. Even you Jang have commented on it.
The little extra bit of flash on every piece now it seems from the mold. Having to hide it if you can ny which way you face the piece.
I am sad about the state of lego super heroes. I get that batman and spider man are the big sellers but they still, at the time, managed to work some other things into their budget
Lego needs to bump their prices down 10-15 percent
I feel like the big strain is that going down the LEGO aisle is like: Licensed sets which have been steadily going up and are more targeted at adults or else you better like City, Friends, or Ninjago. I swear when I was a kid there was so many different original themes that had variable prices that people could get into LEGO with.
Exoforce, Mars Mission, Castle, Dino Attack, Aquaraiders, Vikings, Power Miners, Atlantis, etc. Now I swear all I see are something for collectors or something for toddlers.
This video proudly belongs to the 'Hall of Jang'. 😀
This is such a cool video, and I would totally appreciate some follow-ups to this. Maybe some discussion and comparison of the best value sets for each theme under a certain price points.
There are so many hi end expensive LEGO sets because right now people born in 70's and 80's are the most active "force" of the market. For many of them [including myslef] LEGO was important part of childhood.
It’s painful how they have so many high priced sets and yet they so often don’t have good quality prints or stickers.
That’s why I love City!
Lego is no different than any other product, you get what you pay for, thankfully the quality is consistent
I feel like there used to be more smaller technic sets? Like I remember there being a ton polybag and small boxes. Are all those gone now? Will more come?
They must keep producing the quality cheap sets to introduce new fans to the product. Very shortsighted to focus just on high end stuff.
Nice to see you addressing this in a video jang.
Just found this page! Watched every single one of your ultimate RC videos. Always wondered what happened.. glad your doing well
thank you. When I was a kid, I only could afford those very small sets. Still buy a modern small set every now and then, to remember the feelind. Small box, but I added some Lego to my bricks collection!
Ignoring price, sets in general are bigger, and therefore more expensive. The 2007 City Fire Station was just 600 pieces.
August 1st was a big refresh Lego needed
2:55 - 3:00 that music cue was perfect
Spending $500 all at once on a single set is just too much for people, reasonable people or not reasonable people.
With smaller and cheaper, but high value, sets people will easily spend way more than $500 on LEGO over time.
Great video Jang!
Great video. Thanks for being such a great channel.
Another problem with the low end price range is that the sets in stores aren’t on the shelves at the same time. One $10 set will replace another $10 on the shelf so kids have less options available in store than what’s online.
Great vid brotha, love the content
I'm still surprised deep sea creatures, aka amazing shark 3 in 1, is still kicking. Hasn't that been out since 2019?
Thanks for keeping this important part of the market in mind.
Surely there must be more options for cheap sets in the IP lines than mechs and motorbikes (and I say this as the proud owner of Luke's X-Wing mech)
Fact is when my nephew wants a cool set for his birthday my only option is usually to team up with another family member cause a good, fun, under 20 dollar set with lots of play value is difficult to find sometimes
Quite an informative review! Thanks Jang for a different sort of observation video. I don't think my budget agrees with many of the new releases. Normally, I'd be excited, but when we know the sheer volume of sets released and how soon they will be marked down, I just don't see the incentive. I may go for the Speed Champ Ferrari, but beyond that, it's a lot of meh.
Dang. Good to see some balance. But i do have a core memory of going to toys r us with my mom and being told that a playset was too expensive for 40 dollars. I eventually got it for my birthday. It was a big fortress of solitude from superman, with 2 figures and a ton of play features. It would probably sell for 70 bucks today
I have been watching your vids since 2013 and I still love them,keep up the great work 😁👍
Must admit, I felt the same way. There's just enough stuff on the low end to keep me satisfied, but more and more of the exciting new releases are pushed to the higher price range. I assumed this was because LEGO wizened up to the fact that a lot of adult fans are into this hobby, so they started charging them adult prices. I feel like there's a much more distinct divide between a "play" and "display" set than ever before, even within the same theme. What you say about less and less kids getting physical toys is probably a big contributor too, and kinda sad to be honest. I've seen my niece-in-law bury her face in the smart phone she has been given, going from one shady looking game/chatbot to another...
A big reason for me getting hooked on LEGO as a kid was due to LEGO Island the video game. Is LEGO making phone games to try and hook kids? I'm not talking about AR stuff that require you to already have bought the set, just straight up games that immerse kids with the stories or characters of a given theme. I guess they try to do that through shows these days?
Ninjago's low priced offerings are very strong! My kids have bought several of them this season and I bought Cole's Earth Mech to play along with them.