I’ve always had this hunch – that LEGO Ideas no longer seems like an accessible, and affordable theme.
LEGO Ideas is one of my favourite LEGO themes, and a theme that I’ve always felt a strong affinity to because of how it works. Regular LEGO builders submit designs to the LEGO Ideas website, and regular fans like you and I vote on our favourite designs.
Fan-submitted designs who achieve 10,000 votes then go into a review round, where the LEGO Ideas team deliberate and select one (or sometimes more) projects that will eventually be turned into a LEGO set.
The theme has spawned many greats, from the Ghostbusters Ecto-1, to the NASA Apollo 11 Saturn V rocket to the immaculate Pirates of Barracuda Bay to last year’s Medieval Blacksmith which took out the Best Set of 2021 reader vote.
The LEGO Ideas theme has pedigree, and pound for pound, is responsible for some of LEGO’s greatest hits that have profoundly impacted the kinds of sets LEGO has produced. But in the last 3 years, LEGO Ideas sets have become bigger, and more expensive, which makes me quite uncomfortable, as they seem to now largely price out builders on a budget.
This realisation really hit me when I reviewed the upcoming 21335 Motorised Lighthouse, which for all intents and purposes, is a really fantastic set, but with a huge price tag.
In this post, we’ll go through the following:
- Charting how big and pricey LEGO Ideas sets have gotten
- When did LEGO Ideas sets get big and expensive?
- Where did all the affordable LEGO Ideas sets go?
- Is this a good or bad thing?
Charting how big and pricey LEGO Ideas sets have gotten
If there are questions to answer, the first place to start is with data. I pulled LEGO Ideas sets (minus the Shinkai Submarine and Hayabusa) beginning with 21102 Minecraft Micro World from 2012, all the way up to the newest release, 21336 The Office which comes out in October 2022.
As a long-time LEGO fan and observer, pricing and set size can sometimes get muddled by the passage of time. It’s funny how our brain works, especially when we expect to pay 2013 prices in 2022 because we were so used to it then.
The first graph decisively answered my question – that sets were indeed becoming bigger, which is quite clear when you look at the trendline.
There are a few very notable outliers – usually one or two very large LEGO Ideas sets each year that go way above their peers, but for the most part, LEGO Ideas sets are getting bigger on average.
As you can expect, with pricing, the trend as you would imagine follows the number of pieces graph quite closely.
All prices referenced are in USD ($), and reflect current pricing which has taken into
And here’s what happens when you overlay both price and piece count, and as you can see, they both track very well, but there are 2 notable outliers, one which I’ve never noticed which is Home Alone seems to be quite underpriced for a set of its size (just shy of 4,000 pieces).
The one I expected is 21335 Motorised Lighthouse, which has a very expensive pricetag because of the Powered Up elements included.
That said, price per piece is just a general guide of value, and there are other factors involved such as minifigures, size of the elements, volume of LEGO etc.
In short yes, LEGO Ideas are becoming bigger and more expensive.
When did LEGO Ideas sets get big and expensive?
LEGO Ideas sets being expensive and big wasn’t always the case – I know because I was a fan of the theme from early on, as the introduction of Cuusoo (what the theme was called before Ideas) coincided with my exit from my Dark Ages.
For the longest time, LEGO Ideas sets were on the smaller side, which is why 21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V made such an immediate impact at launch. At 1969 pieces, it was the largest LEGO Ideas set yet, and that year also introduced the 21310 Old Fishing Store which broke the 2,000-piece limit.
To better illustrate the passage of time, here’s a colour coded version of the Price and Piece chart, with each year having its own unique colour.
This was an especially helpful exercise because I was able to pinpoint the year it all changed – 2020.
When it launched in February 2020, the International Space Station was the last time a retail LEGO Ideas set came in at below 1,000 pieces, and to me, this represents a huge shift upwards in terms of size and complexity of LEGO Ideas sets.
2020 is also when LEGO began seriously courting adults, and began slowly transitioning sets outside of Star Wars into the now ubiquitous black LEGO for Adults box.
The first LEGO Ideas set to make the switch was 21323 Grand Piano, and thanks to the pandemic-induced lockdowns, LEGO’s ramping up of adult-targeted sets was simply perfect timing.
Similarly, when you look at price, the ISS was the last time LEGO sold an Ideas set for under US$70.
When you take the median number of pieces of a LEGO Ideas set, or the median price of a LEGO Ideas set in any given year, the steep jump in piece-count AND price from 2020 becomes even more apparent.
Price is the big one for me – before, you could easily pick up a LEGO Ideas set for less than US$100, with plenty of change leftover, but from 2020 onwards, when the typical price of a LEGO Ideas set becomes US$150… you suddenly realise that this once beloved theme full of unexpected Ideas and concepts is now exclusively targeting deep-pocketed AFOLs.
But these deep-pocketed AFOLs keep buying these larger, more expensive LEGO Ideas sets, and some of these sets has seen LEGO bring their A-game to the table, so can you really blame this marriage of convenience?
Where did all the affordable LEGO Ideas sets go?
I miss small, affordable and accessible LEGO Ideas sets. I’m almost nostalgic for this era where you could expect to pay about US$50 for a LEGO Ideas set and still walk away with a novel experience.
The obvious answer is that they’ve been turned into GWPs like the Space Rocket Ride, Sailboat Adventures or Vintage Car, but that isn’t entirely accurate as these fan-submitted designs were part of LEGO Ideas contests, and didn’t exactly go through the 10,000 vote review process.
Looking at previous review results… might clue you in on the answer. It doesn’t seem like there are many small submissions that make it to 10,000 votes. In the most recent review results where Hocus Pocus was selected, the smallest set was Terrariums, and it had 2,000 pieces although most are 1×1 studs used for the soil.
Minor correction: Stargate was the smallest set, at only 850 pieces.
Because of LEGO Ideas’ democratic platform, it becomes a self-fulfilling cycle, where fans end up submitting bigger and more elaborate ideas because the typically gain the most attention, and are awe-inspiring which are almost requirements for gaining enough public support.
It could also be that the success of sets like Barracuda Bay, Saturn V, Tree House and more have also encouraged builders to go bigger, and even if they don’t make it through a Review cycle, they could gain a second lease of life in the Bricklink Designer Program.
Looking at the upcoming slate of Ideas sets which include Hocus Pocus, Viking Village, A-Frame Cabin and BTS, I don’t think this trend is going anywhere.
And maybe, just maybe the paradigm has shifted as LEGO continues its relentless pursuit of AFOL money. The perception of what is a small set could ultimately be shifting, and what LEGO considers small could be in the 1,000-piece range for LEGO Ideas.
Is this a good or bad thing?
I don’t think there’s a definitive answer here.
LEGO Ideas has been one of the most consistently impressive themes because of the large body of ideas it can draw inspiration from, and LEGO fans just can’t seem to get enough of these ambitiously large sets.
When sets like the Tree House, Home Alone, Pirates of Barracuda Bay, Saturn V rocket, Vincent Van Gogh are among your best sellers, it sends very strong signals to the LEGO Ideas team that fans want bigger, and more complex sets, and that appetite is not being satiated.
Because of the unique nature of the LEGO Ideas platform, which yields a ton of data about consumer trends, and desires to LEGO, it could be a good thing that not only are fans expressing strong intent with how they vote, but they also demonstrate strong commercial demand for bigger and more expensive LEGO Ideas sets.
The downside of course is that when the median price of a LEGO Ideas set is US$150, and there are now about 6-7 LEGO Ideas sets in a year, that begins to add up really quickly.
LEGO Ideas is one of the shining beacons of LEGO’s portfolio, and I think it’s a great disservice to LEGO fans if sets that are selected become increasingly out of reach.
Obviously, still having relatively small sets like 21331 Sonic the Hedgehog Green Hill Zone is a great thing, but my hope is that we’ll see LEGO (and fan designers!), make efforts to greenlight smaller models and builds to ensure some accessibility.
LEGO Ideas works because fans vote, and fans buy, and so this trend could ultimately be what we all secretly want.
What do you think of the LEGO Ideas sets becoming bigger and more expensive? Is this a positive or negative?
In case you missed it, check out some of my recent LEGO Ideas reviews! I have the Jazz Quartet review coming up soon, so keep an eye out for it!
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I agree and in general Lego has gotten ridiculously expensive!
i have only bought 1 ideas set, tron. there were several others i would have had they not been out of my price range at the time.
i think you hit it spot on that the big ones sell out so fast that it weighs the business case to bigger and bigger when there is an opportunity to revist the themes of old for smaller “less profitable” more in reach of the less focused.
for example, the below sets on brick link studio, i have bought with easy buy for less than $80 each(after saving to my wish list and changing the color to more accessible colors)
https://www.bricklink.com/v3/studio/design.page?idModel=132533
this was a great build
https://www.bricklink.com/v3/studio/design.page?idModel=258265
an absolutely amazing build and it looks great in any heroic pose
https://www.bricklink.com/v3/studio/public_gallery.page?idUser=2511720
this person is absolutely the bomb i bought and made 2 robot girls (white and azure, yellow and black) and another just bought and one mini skyfighter in shipped status. this and mini colbalt got me hooked on the studio.
i have 2 or three more in the whish list, and depending on the rarity of the pieces used you can get ~100 lot sets for $25 – $60… all that to say, there are VERY GOOD things that can be done on the cheap end.
Wow those mechs are sick!
I also imagine the margins are much larger on bigger sets, especially since there’s more “volume” of bricks, and with LEGO being so great at manufacturing, their “cost per element” must be astronomically low, so more pieces = more profit.
It’s marketing not paying attention.
Instead of a free for all like the system is now that only self perpetuates tha problem of slowly killing their market, the team needs to think hard and long on where they want to go from here.
My suggestion is to break down the submissions into categories thus maintaining price points in the market, else someone else will fill the gap.
Looking at smaller sets, a 800 pc or less category would give the smaller sets a more level playing field and a chance to shine on their own without being overshadowed by the high parts count detaied masterpieces. The exact number limits I leave to the number crunchers to determine as that is something marketing would know better than anyone else.
i totally agree not only are lego ideas getting pricey i moticed all kits are creeping into deep pocket country and alot are not worth it i build alot
Welcome to LEGO’s adult-targeting strategy. They can get away with it because we keep buying big sets.
And can you blame us when the big sets are so cool?
I have noticed this trend as well and have come to realize that I am guilty of being part of this. When trying to predict which ideas will become sets, I think “why are they all so enormous and complicated” or “they need to pick a smaller one this time because so many big ones have been chosen.” However, I just looked at all the Ideas sets I have bought (11) and I spent $405 US on the first six and $890 on the last five with the most expensive of those first six (Saturn V) being the same price as the least expensive of the last five (Sesame Street). With the lighthouse coming out now, I wish I had gotten the fishing store, but at the time I thought $150 was way too high and now it seems like that is on the low end of prices for Ideas sets. And none of this includes what I’ve committed to sets in the BrickLink designer program.
It’s the classic chicken or the egg problem! And ultimately, LEGO is just reorientating their portfolio to what customers signal that they want, with their votes, and what they’re buying.
Bricklink Designer Program actually had some really good budget sets like the Kakapo, Pursuit of Flight etc. I really would’ve liked those to be more accessible.
This was really informative, thank you! I’ve always loved the Ideas sets and I personally like them larger because I find so much more detail and they remind me of larger Creator Expert sets. I do think they should keep creating small Ideas sets too, though. Maybe have different requirements for them or separate the smaller sets? I do agree that most people just vote for the bigger, more impressive sets and the smaller ones need more attention.
Glad you found this insightful! This definitely struck a chord with a lot of people (it’s one of my most-read articles of 2022), and so I hope LEGO takes note of fan sentiment here.
The voting public may have something to do with this trend because the larger showier sets are more likely to attract the votes. Licensing where relevant also adds to the price.
I have thought for a long time that there should be 2 categories of Ideas sets, one for 1000 (or maybe 1500) pieces and less and another for larger sets. Votes would be cast accordingly.
Yeah I like that. Either that or dedicated review rounds just for smaller sets. Kinda like what they do with the GWP contests/challenges.
I guess my Cabin in the Woods idea would be too big, but an Evil Dead cabin could be a cheap set….
A diorama-style build could easily be a “cheap” set!
My husband and I have two kids and a very modest income with a small Lego budget and small house to boot. We started doing $20-$30 kits in 2019. By late 2020 we saved and acquired some of the largest kits. They were fun but soo expensive and really too large for our house. When Lego started putting out more and more I had to call it quits and felt a little robbed of fun. I’m in agreement that smaller ones under $120 would be nice every once in a while.
This is especially important now with the cost of living going up all over the world!
I love legos and I use them for my therapy. I try to incorporate them into my dollhouse that I have. But I am in a extremely small income and can’t afford to get legos so I have to get knockoffs. There has to be a way to get these loved and medically needed lego sets out there for those of us that need them
Wish you can get this help Kristine o/
Used LEGO is an excellent way to still partake in the hobby on a budget. I buy a ton of used LEGO, and have found Facebook marketplace very good for it.
I tend to only collect the pop culture Ideas sets. But yeah…I have noticed they’re getting bigger and more pricey. While I love the Home Alone set, I don’t collect playsets of that nature so I didn’t get it. The only thing that Lego has done with the Ideas line that I didn’t at all like was the almost immediate reissue of the Saturn V set. I get why they did it as it was a very popular set, but I feel like there should have been changes made to the set to distinguish it from the original more, not just change the set number.
The reissued Saturn V was interesting, I think it was necessary because resellers were having a field day when it retired. It’s such a good set, and one of LEGO’s best of all time, so can’t blame them for a quick and easy re-issue to keep the set in circulation.
The reissue is a good thing.
They should have done that with a few other sets as well to nip the problem in the bud.
The problem?
Resellers and commercial investors.
That pair have destroyed other collectables in the past with booming prices until they divest and kill the hobby market. They did it to sports cards, stamps … you can still get 60 70 Era at less than face value … comic books …. memorabilia… the list goes on.
Anyone who buys a set for the look at what I got and you can’t have one nya nya nyas , is not someone who actually cares about the hobby.
Just a quick note: my original Stargate project was also part of the review process that gave us Hocus Pocus, and it’s got fewer than 900 pieces.
Small proposals are out these, although I agree they’re few and far between these days.
Thanks, that’s been fixed. Great submission, and amazing that you got it so small. Shame it didn’t pass, although good luck with your other projects!
To be honest, I have a big income and could easily buy anything I wanted from LEGO. I have acquired many sets over the last 10 years. But the prices are just too high to not feel foolish now days. My only purchases this year are the bricklink designer sets as an investment to sell quickly and the Office. I felt better about my LEGO hobby purchases previously, and I suspect I’m in the middle of the AFOL target for LEGO that drove the growth and expansion. But in the past 12 months, it’s seemed like poor decision making to purchase, especially in a down market where things like the S&P500 have been super undervalued and a great deal for the long run. I suspect other high income folks are feeling the same and will start to stunt this major growth spurt as they spend their money elsewhere after filling up their homes with LEGO. After all, where are we going to put all these large sets? Even in a large house, I’m out of space and can’t see putting more $400 toys in my attic.
That’s the problem with the Bricklink Designer Program having a production limit. It attracts “investors” at the expense of fans.
Yup, space is a huge consideration – a problem that smaller sets fix! I get irrationally happy when I build a small set, because I can easily integrate it, as opposed to a large set, which will always sit somewhere awkward before I figure out where to put it.
Living in a country, Spain, without a Lego tradition, it’s very difficult to obtain great discount’s, even Amazon.es does not offer the same promotions that other regions in Europe. You must dig a lot to find interesting prices or buy internationally and dela with taxes and shipment costs
This, together with the price increase means that I have to mange my Lego budget with great care. And the current policy of bigger, more expensive, more sets per year it’s starting to discourage me from Lego
Honestly, I agree it is a very expensive theme. I do like a mix of expensive large sets and smaller non expensive sets, and I think they need to better that balance with their releases.
The saving grace it has, for me personally, is that there are many sets within the theme in which I simply have no interest. I find this harder for the other three main themes I collect to say no, whereas Ideas is so broad that I don’t feel compelled to have every set, in fact, it’s the opposite, the set has to really appeal for me to be interested.
I think Ideas is eclectic enough to support the varying prices, but I would like to see less sets released from all themes across Lego annually.
With the way the world is going, inflationary/cost of living pressures, I can see LEGO slowly trim down their releases, in the coming years. As they plan sets 2-3 years out, I can see quite a number of things getting cut at this moment, especially if some parts of the world slowly slide into recession.
I noticed that trend too, and it really annoys me.
I love Ideas and yet, the last one I bought was Central Perk.
Some of us are not made of money and have families to feed.
Completely agree. It’s also really important to bring in new fans!
Barracuda Bay was so worth it as a set. I’m glad I went crazy and got 2 for the Shipyard because they took it off the market too quick. Blacksmith is also well worth it. I double sized it into an amazing set piece. I really want a big setup to join a LUG one day for a convention build, and these sets have given me a good start. The real problem is with high rent, food, education, and medical care costs and low wages. I have only been able to afford sets with a second job and I’m lucky to have the ability to even make that choice. Rent, food, and energy hikes are starving the broader economy. That said, there’s value in smaller & midsized sets. Lego has too many sets though, too!
You and I have different definitions of “small”. Going from 9 cents to 11 cents is a 22% increase.
I don’t know why this post shows up here, it’s a reply to a different comment.
We’re really spoilt for choice here, but at the same time, I do wish we had more choice in the budget-friendly/accessible part of the portfolio.
Conversely, I remember in the era of exclusively smaller Ideas sets that it felt like LEGO always passed over the larger ones in the review process because they were too big. I’m glad to see that they will greenlight large ones these days, though I too wish there were some smaller novel sets coming out of this line.
It isn’t totally the fault of the submissions being larger, as sometimes even when a micro build passes review, LEGO upsizes it – see Steamboat Willie and the new lighthouse.
Overall there just isn’t a whole lot of love put into the “small set” category across the board at LEGO.
I remember those times, which is why it was such a surprise (and delight) when things like Saturn V, Tree House and Barracuda Bay got greenlit.
Behind the scenes, LEGO probably realises that commercial demand is there for bigger sets, which would explain why they keep getting selected, and greenlit.
People just keep buying them, so it’s really not LEGO’s fault – they’re just trying to meet consumer expectations and demands.
When I see a new Ideas set looking for supporters, I am initially excited by the potential. Then, I realize that it will likely be out of my price range, so it’s a letdown. The Viking village Target exclusive looks amazing, but I know it will cost too much for me.
I don’t have an expectation that I could (or even would) buy them all, but more things like the Sonic set would be nice for people that don’t want to or can’t spend over $100.
Well we have The Office coming up, which I think is great value for what you get. But yeah, definitely would like to see more restraint, and sub-US$100 sets.
From your comment about price per piece you must have calculated these numbers and found only a smaller increase from 9 cents to 11 cents per piece over time. It would have been useful to present this for the reader as well because, as a rough approximation, it normalizes the data and allows a fair comparison over time and between sets.
Some sets like the ship in the bottle have high piece count but 200 1 by 1 that make up the water should not really count as pieces. When calculating piece price. They skew the price per piece
You and I have different definitions of “small”. Going from 9 cents to 11 cents is a 22% increase.
Part for piece seems to be irrelevant for most sets, as they become more detailed and sophisticated than their earlier much simpler and far uglier counterparts, small pieces are no longer (or I would argue never was) a good indicator of value. Weight would be far better, then perhaps we could have a more informed understanding of price increase.
Also I must say the article on BrickNerd by Dave Schefcik was excellent.
I don’t really give much stock to price per piece. It’s a (sometimes) useful metric, but doesn’t really tell you much about the “worth” of a set, which is why I decided to just hone in on “size” and “price”, because that’s a little easier for people to visualise.
Seems to me that many of the AFOL fan base could be those who are nearing retirement or have older kids or who may be nostalgic and can “finally afford the big sets” as we probably all dreamed of from childhood.
I think the trend will continue. LEGO, for all its price, is still worth investing in and building. It’s cheaper than many retirement hobbies after all.
I’m not near retirement, but you’ve described me as an AFOL. I never got big sets as a kid, so I’m more than making up for it in my adulthood…
I agree with your premise. Ballooning prices have forced me to cutback on purchases that I would have otherwise made. When I bought the Saturn V, I thought that it was expensive, but now they seem to be virtually twice that price and that makes it appeal to fewer buyers, I would guess. But LEGO really seems to be focused on AFoL right now and those medium sized sets have been squeezed out. Two of my favourites were the Flintstones and the ISS. The Flintstones was wonderful as I grew up watching the cartoon and it was a fun set to build with numerous Easter eggs.
I am retired and with a mostly fixed income, and buy less LEGO as the cost of the sets is going up faster than inflation. Hopefully smaller Ideas sets make a comeback. I really like Ideas, but the size of the proposed sets does concern me. With price inflation has come a number of parts inflation, both of which are driving up prices. But that does appear to be what the Ideas voters want.
Size is also a factor to me. Not only do we have to contend with “can I afford that”, you also now have to think about whether you have space to build and display it.
Thats a really interesting take on it. Personally, I think Lego Ideas is a bit broken. The threshold to get a submission into the running has been proven to be far too low nowadays as 30+ sets qualify for every quarter. Also, many of the sets that are submitted and, specifically, a lot of the recent winners, are less “Ideas” and more “Efforts”. I’ve said this before on The Brick Fan and I will stand by this for all time: Hocus Pocus and The Flintstones and Viking Village and Blacksmith Shop and, as much as I love Sesame Street, that set, too, are not “Ideas”. That was someone who said, I want minifigs of a particular license or a themed set in minifig scale I can display my existing minifigs in. The Treehouse is a bit of an exception, I think, because it seemed almost incidentally minifig scale, and the Lighthouse wasn’t even submitted in minifig scale, but you look at last round and something amazing like the Motorized Johnny 5 or a few others that were maybe 1:1 scale actual Ideas of how to make neat things out of Lego lost to a brown house. A brown house. With Hocus Pocus minifigs.
My thought is break it into two sub-categories. There’s a Sony Walkman in this round that is freaking incredible. It is not going to win. And, it’s not going to lose to another cool, out-there build. It’s going to lose to a minifig-scale barber shop or an Avatar the Last Airbender set. And, don’t get me wrong; stuff like that is cool. The Viking Village is super cool. But, co.pared to a playable mini-golf course? Nope. Not when the theme is “Ideas”. Not dissing the guy that designed the Viking Village. It shouldn’t have even been in the running. Now, if the theme was “cool new random exclusive Lego x Target set”, sure, it was cool. I just feel like Ideas needs to have an outside the box category and, I don’t know how you’d phrase it, but something thats more in-world for minifigs, licensed or not. Have your Hocus Pocus set, but let it compete with a One Punch Man set and a downtown blow-out salon in one category and have Motorized Johnny 5, Sony Walkman, and stuff like the Sheriff’s Safe and working cuckoo clock in another category altogether. I think that would help divide up the price points a bit, too. Walkman is coming in WAY under the entire town of Springfield from the Simpsons, but people that want that minifig scale stuff get to have that at a price point they’re comfortable with, too.
Wow. Sorry, that was really long.
You brought up some really great points! I hope the Lego people see it.
Yeah, the trend is becoming, just design a really impressive and mind-blowing MOC, and put it on LEGO Ideas. Because it’s so ambitious and awesome looking, it’ll naturally attract more votes.
The thing you mentioned about these sets not being “Ideas” is a feature of the platform, because LEGO need to test commercial viability of sets before they commission a production-run, and that’s where ideas based on pre-existing IP almost always come out tops. Looking at the early sets, which were based on things like Minecraft, Back to the Future, it’s part of the Ideas heritage.
It’s also very democratic, in the case of the Viking Village, so looking at the data, I think LEGO are just giving the majority what they want, which is bigger, and more complex sets, which are, most of the time IP-based. A really fascinating insight into the psychology and behaviour of LEGO fans!
I don’t think it’s just price that’s a factor, but also perception. Compare Succulents and Orchids – same price. Which feels like better value? The Orchids set, because it has better presence than the Succulents set despite Succulents having more parts. The Orchids set feels like it’s worth more. Then compare to Lloyd’s Legendary Dragon at the same price, which almost feels like a bargain in comparison.
Taking into account perception, many of the Ideas sets don’t feel like they’re worth the asking price. They’re approaching the cost of a midrange phone! At some point, people will ask if this is the best use of their money.
The big fear is that the price stops the Ideas sets selling as well, and the theme could be discontinued.
You’re completely right, although I argue that pound for pound (when compared against sets from other themes), a LEGO Ideas set is always going to be perceived as more unique, novel and impressive.
Lego Ideas is expensive. The only lego ideas i have is the Women Of Nasa i bought in the Seattle Boeing factory in 2019 after it was retired and took it back to Melbourne. Their prices were still the original price and not increased after it was retired.
Love the Women of NASA set!
People need to build more MOCs.
It’s not the same experience. Plus, some people are not creative enough or don’t have time to design MOCs. I fit both of those categories.
I agree, I would love to see smaller ideas sets. However, honestly I like having those larger ideas sets too as there are some absolute gems found within the line (Barracuda Bay, Saturn V and the Treehouse being a few that I own) and I hope that these larger sets don’t go, but I certainly would love to see more small sets, especially licenses we would otherwise never get. However, having massive sets with more obscure concepts is also one of the reasons ideas has become as popular as it is. Great post as always Jay!
Yeah, the big sets are great, and don’t get me wrong, I love them too. I think there can be a balance with both, as evidenced by the Ideas GWPs that get produced. Would be nice to be able to buy them as retail sets.
Could there be a seperate mini-ideas category where one idea is selected beside each larger set?
I would like that. They already do so with the GWP contest/challenges, which do get turned into (albeit non-retail) sets. But yeah, I’d love to see more emphasis on the lower end, because we’re just getting inundated with big, pricey LEGO Ideas sets.
I definitely think the Ideas nomination / selection process needs to be tweaked to enable more sets priced at $100 (AUD) or below to be in contention for production.
Part of that would be clearer guidelines for what Lego will produce. For example, despite Modulars frequently getting 10,000 votes, would Lego ever really make a Modular building as part of the Ideas program? It seems unlikely.
It would be nice to have one round with just smaller sets, or have smaller challenges with piece count limits, to stir up more creativity there. Kinda like the GWP contests/challenges, but for retail sets.
Well we did get a Modular in Marvel, and there’s a few in Bricklink Designer Program… so I’d say it’s kinda already happening.
I don’t think ideas is a theme in the way that city or Star Wars is a theme.
But I agree, Lego prices are getting crazy high.
I’m a city builder, not a collector and certainly not an investor.
I’m not willing to go much over $100 for a toy.
That’s really fair. I think if you would look at other themes, you’d also notice this steep increase of sets at the higher end.
Just gotta be more selective with what and when you buy stuff.
I wish LEGO would slow down, it’s hard to keep up with so many releases. I feel like I tell my husband that I’ve finally purchased everything on my list and then BAM! New sets! Also I’ve either grown very expensive taste or the price tags are just bigger in general. Also sooooo many Minifigure sets come out now. I’ve found myself having to be more careful with my purchase choice seems there are so many options. Please don’t stop writing this BLOG as I’ve realised it’s helped my decision with purchasing my last X amount of sets. Too early in the morning to be counting sets :). Thank you.
Yup! I wrote about this sometime last year, about having to limit themes and be selective with what to buy/collect.
It’s really hard to keep up, and with space running out, it’s no longer feasible to be a completionist.
And yes, that’s why I enjoy writing reviews, to help people make better LEGO buying decisions! Glad you find the reviews helpful!
With inflation everything is expensive now. It’s going to price out most newcomers.
Yeah, I agree. While I do enjoy and love these large elaborate sets, I’ll always advocate for great budget-friendly sets.