So, I found out via the grapevine and Toys ‘R’ Us Malaysia’s Facebook page that a mysterious new Lego store was opening in Bangsar Village 2 this week so I HAD to check it out. I had a fortuitous early end to my work day and managed to scoot off to Bangsar to see what it was all about. Details were scant on TRU’s Facebook page. Could it be that we’re finally getting a proper Lego store (not even close) or would there be some cool sets that would be exclusive to it? Cheaper prices? Nope. Not even close.
Edit: Apparently, they’ve corrected the pricing for the Seaside House and reverted back to its RRP.
Oh, by the way, they also had the new Summer sets (Friends, City (Mining) and Star Wars, Ninjago) which was cool. Except for the prices *shudder*
The new Toys ‘R’ Us Lego store can be found on Level 2, Bangsar Village II. Apparently, according to my friend Timothy, it’s only a temporary store and will last only 2 months. He speculates that it’s to test the local market to see if it would be receptive to a proper Lego store. Oh well. I guess we gotta wait till September to see what Legoland offers, cause this one is pretty pointless for serious Lego buyers.
(pardon the grainy pictures, I only had my cell phone with me at the time)
To cut to the chase, it’s simply an empty shop lot Toys ‘R’ Us leased dedicated exclusively to Lego products. That’s it. Still the same disgusting prices that we Malaysians are forced to endure when purchasing Lego.
It’s actually a pretty decent shop. It’s nice walking into a shop that has shelves stacked to the brim with Lego boxes. The displays are alright too. Gotta say, the customer service was fantastic. The Toys ‘R’ Us staff on hand were very friendly and helpful
They had a Friends display, showing off a mixture of the older Friends sets from earlier this year (Olivia’s House and City Park Cafe) alongside the newer Summer Friends sets. I was a little perplexed as to why the largest set Summer Riding Camp (which weighs in at 1112 pieces making it the largest Friends set) was omitted from the display. My guess is that they wanted to save some money and not relegate a huge set for display purposes. Who knows. Not bad anyway, I’m a huge fan of the Friends theme and it was nice to see most of the new sets built up.
They also had an exhibit featuring the immaculate VW T1 Camper Van alongside a modular building – The Pet Shop. I guess this exhibit is meant to appeal to the AFOLs and more serious adult builders.
Right at the left side of the store’s entrance, they have a spectacular display of the new Mining sets out for all to see. They have some lazily put together shrubs and a cliff to make it look less bare.
Here’s a blurry closeup of the sets. Boys are going to LOVE the Mining theme. It doesn’t yell MUST-BUY to me, but I gotta admit that The Mine looked pretty darn impressive. A younger me who was obsessed with heavy construction equipment would’ve been ecstatic about it.
A pleasant surprise was seeing quite a number of Lego accessories and gear for sale. The ice trays particular stood out for me and at RM 30 a pop (which is still quite pricey IMO) they were kinda tempting. I may come back for them.
Here’s a look at the other paraphernalia on sale. The Lego containers were pretty tempting as well.
Another pleasant surprise was seeing the Alien Conquest, Pharaoh’s Quest, Pirates of the Carribean and new Firemen ‘battle packs’ on sale. They came in at RM50 each, which is pretty alright, since they retail for US$15 in the states. The Alien Conquest ones were especially tempting.
They also had keychains on sale near the counter for RM20 each. I can see this being popular as impulse gift buys. The Superman keychain is a pretty good deal, imho.
Speaking of the counter, it was decked out with a panoramic scene of a Lego city. Very classy and nice. One of my favourite things about the store.
Okay, the coolest sets on sale were actually placed in a very unstrategic location, tucked into a nook on the left of the store as you enter. They had exclusives such as the Death Star, VW Van, Winter Post Office and the Pet Shop which was nice. It was nice to see the Death Star being on sale in some place other than Brickboy. The Death Star had a RM 2,000 price tag on it, which is frankly ridiculous. I can buy one online at 25% LESS. That’s almost RM500 cheaper.
Now, I get little touchy when it comes to Lego pricing in Malaysia. Why? Because it’s OBSCENELY overpriced. Obscene. Now RRP for Lego in Malaysia is almost comparable to Australia (Australia’s slightly lower) but I absolutely cannot STAND the fact that we almost never get sales here. I mean, what the hell is up with that. It’s already cheaper and more efficient to buy Lego online either from private or online retailers, get it shipped here and have it cost drastically lower than the prices in Toy Stores here. Yes, that’s sometimes with priority shipping, so I get it within 2 working days. I really hope parents stumble upon my blog as they Google “where to buy Lego in Malaysia” to educate them a little better about NOT buying from shops like Toys ‘R’ Us and send a message to ALJ (that’s Lego’s distributors in Malaysia) that it is absolutely NOT OKAY to gouge prices like that.
Now this… this really made my blood boil. I really hope this wasn’t a price error (all the pricetags in the store were consistent. WTF. RM349 for the Seaside House? Get the cuss out of here. I got mine on sale in Australia for AU$35. That’s RM105ish! Three times the price I could get somewhere else is INSANE. Even the US RRP is US$50. Come on man, charging almost 2 and a half times is just dumb. By the way, I’ve seen this selling for RM229 or RM249 (my memory’s fuzzy) if I recall correctly at other Toys ‘R’ Us stores. Is this a deliberate pricing tactic to take advantage of the more affluent Bangsar expat crowd? That’s just UNETHICAL.
By the way, here’s Jabba’s Palace for RM819. The US RRP is… US$120. Even in Australia, it retails for AU$200, but was available at AU$170 since it’s the Australian Toy Sale. That’s just wrong man, that they use a simple > 2x the US price for prices here. The bigger the set, the more money you lose because of this simple and impractical solution to pricing.
Well.. I could go on and on and on and on about the sheer unfairness and grotesque pricing techniques in Malaysia, but I’ll stop here. AFOLs, especially serious ones are wise and learned enough to know how to source for cheaper Lego overseas. There is this thing called the internet and AFOL communities online where information on how to obtain decently priced Lego is freely and readily available.
Now this isn’t a rant at Lego. I love the brand too much to bear any ill will towards it. It is a rant at the local distributor, ALJ who prices them in such a way. I love Lego. I wish everyone could afford to buy the Lego sets they want, provided they’re available at decent prices.
Now I can kind of understand Australian and European pricing – you gotta factor in minimum wage, logistics, warehousing and all the other stuff into it, because they’re first world countries and standards are set that way. Malaysian retail workers get paid pittance, logistics is cheap… so there’s really no justification for charging us more than our Western counterparts. Slightly above, I can understand and I would pay if it was worth it. But… more than twice the price?
Oh and before I close off, what the flying cuss is it with Malaysian retailers not discounting their toys? Australian Lego is fairly expensive but thanks to the abundance of sales and deals throughout the year, buying Lego there is actually feasible sometimes. Not having regular toy sales and discounting new-ish products is just a bizarre business decision.
What’s the solution? Same as the trade of endangered animals. When the buying stops, the price gouging can too. Parents who buy Lego (which is why I make it a point to educate young parent friends of mine who are intending on buying Lego on the ridiculous pricing here) need to wisen up and stop purchasing Lego at these insane prices, opt to ship it in via online means and send a strong message to the local distributor here that IT IS NOT COOL TO OVERCHARGE for something that is meant to bring joy, creativity and happiness to kids.
Well, that’s that. Just had to get that off my chest. Most of it was probably triggered the ridiculous pricing for the Seaside House.
Hey jay! I was ordering individual pieces from the lego website and realised that they only ship to America and Europe. Just wondering if it was possible to buy individual parts from the lego store too.
Hey Aaron, they do ship individual parts to Australia. Here’s the link for the Pick A Brick section: http://shop.lego.com/en-AU/Pick-A-Brick-ByTheme
Where you buy the lego product online? Which online lego store is the best?
Hey Chia Chun, if I’m buying online, I usually use Amazon or Barnes and Noble. These days, I mostly try to buy locally as much as possible as the price difference isn’t that huge when you factor in things like the fluctuating exchange rate and shipping.
hi, am looking to get Star Wars death star,,,, how best to get one without overpricing
Hi Rani, at this moment you could maybe check out stores like Impulse or Box of Bricks? They might have stock.
ill try.. ill invite you if i manage to open my shop. lol.
btw who is AJL/ALJ?
with this overprice lego in malaysia, im thinking to open one lego shop and sell it with reasonable price. how can i contact lego distrubutor? or im thinking to get it direct but i dont know from where.. hmm i guess maybe just buy from us lorhh.. lol
Hey Izzat, you can definitely try but I doubt you could change much about the price, since you’re required to sell at a recommended retail price. That’s why most stores that get official stock from LEGO all have the same price. You can definitely import from the US but then your margins would be quite small. It’s really tricky but lately, there’s been quite a number of sales so it’s not all too bad.
I bought the complete collection of the Pirates ot Caribbean a few years back from the US. I was very happy to save that few hundred RM until I received a love letter from Pos Malaysia saying I need to pay customs taxes of about RM300 before the item will be released:O
Ahh the joy of paying tax:P
u got lego 8070 supercar?????
if have how much price……
Hi Sei Riang
Sorry but I don’t really sell LEGO so I’m afraid I can’t help you there.
hmm..I want to buy the minifigs. You know,the minifigs that we build ourselves.
Hi there
Would love to help recommend some sets but I’ll need you to be a little more specific. Which kind of minifigs are you after?
hi,
i am looking for NinjaGo’s part no of 4618880. do u have it?
Hi, I don’t sell spare parts but if you’re looking to purchase individual parts, I recommend checking our http://www.bricklink.com. You can buy almost any Lego part there.
hello, is there any oxford (korean lego’s) seller or on toy stores in Malaysia. if so, where i could find it, especially in KL and Melaka region. i’m from indonesia . maybe you can e-mail me. thanks
Hey Patrick
Sorry but I’m not very well versed with Oxford. Maybe try the Lowyat forums?
Can’t agree more with you. Any online Lego store that you would recommend? coz TRU is too much overpriced. Even during promotion period, couldn’t find a decent Lego which is supposed to have promotional price.
I’m not too sure since I’ve been away from Malaysia for quite awhile already. I did hear that Toys R Us has been having some great sales lately. At least better than usual
I cant find your where to buy lego in malaysia entry.. can give me a link.
I so agree on the ridiculous prices espcially on sets thats difficult to come by in malaysia.. sucks big time..
Hi there. I don’t actually have a where to buy Lego in Malaysia entry, that’s why you couldn’t find it.
I heard prices back in Malaysia are coming down slowly, so that might be a good thing. Also, it’s nearing Christmas so there should be the annual Toys R Us sale in Bangsar around this time.
Thanks Jay.
Selling it now at rm200.
Haha…
Trying on eBay bidding starting at rm170.
Looks very competitive.
Hi Jay, interesting read, though entry is a bit dated.
But you were right for ppl who google ‘where to buy lego in Malaysia’ !!
Anyway, my friends and I just started hook on Lego big time!
Confession here first… We work in Singapore!
Getting good deals to beat the overpriced TRU crap is everyone’s motto. But to see parents just simply buy for their kids is horrific at times.
Lately, I took a peep in M’sia market for lego.
OMG! Daylight robbery.
Told my brother about it and he flipped!
So, for the first time, I just created an eBay M’sia acct to maybe sell some of my sets.
Test water only as I have no clue how to sell in M’sia. Perhaps you could share?
Eg: 9492 TIE Fighter how much do you think ppl would pay for it?. Saw in eBay M’sia and lelong.com selling rm260-280. So, I put rm250 include shipping. Is that ok?
End of the day, just think lego fans can buy cheaper and more options.
Cheers.
Hey Ming, glad you found this entry! Yeah, Lego prices are terrible in Malaysia, I heard at least in Singapore you get occasional sales but we almost never get that in Malaysia. As for selling in Malaysia, I haven’t been selling in a long long time so I wouldn’t be very much help to you. I’d recommend checking out the Lowyat forums as there are quite a large number of buyers there. RM250 for the Tie Fighter is an okay price I think, I used to sell them for RM225 each, but that’s cause I wanted to move sets fast.
Hi Jay,
Would like to know if the shop in Bangsar is still open? i plan to get the ice cube tray for a Lego fan’s birthday. saw it on ebay for 14 aud. and shipping takes too long.
Kindly advise if there are other places in Malaysia which i can get one ASAP.
Thanks!
Amanda
hey there, I’m not living in Malaysia anymore so I cannot tell you for certain. Other places you can find the ice cube tray is possibly the One Utama Toys ‘R’ Us. There’s quite a large lego display there and I’ve seen Lego accessories sold there before. Hope this helps!
can i get u full address, 2molo i wan to visit..tq
Hi Jay Ong,
I intend to buy Lego sets online. In particular I am looking at the Lego Ninjago set series. Will appreciate it every much if you or anyone else for that matter can recommend to me any legitimate,
reliable and decently priced Lego product websites that you know of. My name is Tong Sin Mee and I am quite new to Lego products which I am trying to buy for my grandson. I am staying in Kuala Lumpur and can be reach at sinmee70@gmail.com. Thanks.
hai there…i cant believe that i can find your blog…i wanna ask if the shop at bangsar still open or close already…actually i need an advice from you.. i need to built an oil plan in two weeks for my new project…so its hard to find oil plan model.can you advice me what should i do?thank you.
regards,
siti.
Hi Siti
The shop in Bangsar should still be open. As with your oil plan, can you perhaps show me a picture of what you intend to build? Do you plan on constructing it using Lego?
hi, do u have LEGO 853340 Bride and Groom Decoration Set??
Hi
You can get them from the Legoland Big Shop. Outside of there… I’m not sure if you can get them at other retail stores in Malaysia. You might want to try Ebay?
Here in the Philippines, Lego is also pretty damn expensive. The prices here are usually double than what they pay in America. Also, when they go on sale (which is rare), they only give 10% discount. I think the only good thing about buying Lego here in the country is the minifigures because almost all retailers, including Toys R US, usually tell people what’s inside each bag. Anyways, love you blog!
Thanks for reading!
Hello there, any news on RRP of Lego in Legoland Malaysia?
Hey there, the Lego pricing at Legoland is pretty similar to Malaysian retail prices. The only benefit is that you get access to certain Lego store exclusives, like Brick Calendars and stuff.
anyone can get vw camper van with cheap price?malaysia prive too expensive
Hey there, sorry, outside of Brickboy and the Lego Bangsar store… don’t think you can get the campervan cheap in Malaysia.
I’m glad I found your blog. Didn’t know that Lego price in Malaysia is more expensive compared to other countries. Thank you!
Read the rest of comments n thought id chip in on the scene:
– there is actually a yearly warehouse sale but its not highly publicized. Hang around forums to get info.
– BV2 has had lego sale/exhibit every end of year for awhile but only selected items.
– best bet for deals is still online. I go with amazon, best u have lobang for US address who can bulk mail ur stuff.
– if interested in oxford get kreo transformers: they use kreo parts. Minifigs are shitty but the bricks themselves are almost on par with lego (i’d put it at 70-80% close if forced to quantify).
– york house at BSC also have sale but controlled by distributor.
Hah! I feel your pain. I’ll support local retail for lower end stuff but definitely go online for the big ticket items: the savings is just too substantial to ignore. The BV store teased me with the death star set but i resorted to amazon and saved a bunch (review at my blog). But we do get lotsa cool lego events at BV thx to the stores presence. Nice blog btw, U can look me up on twitter too: kaeae
Hey, i just googled exactly what you said lolz ‘Where to buy lego in Malaysia’. I was wondering if you have any recommendations of where to get Lego besides Toysrus? I just got a set from the shop at The Gardens and i have to say its expensive. Sorry for the noob questions, kinda new to this 🙂 Cheers and thanks in advance!
You can search the Lowyat.net forums. Lots of Lego sellers there that have pretty good prices for Lego.
Hi Jay, so glad i stumbled upon your page. The Lego prices here is more obscene than porn… But, i was so desperate that I’m actually considering the Modular buildings (pet shop, town hall, etc) but when I check at Toys R Us today, it was 799MYR and 899MYR respectively. May I know where else I could buy the Modular buildings for a cheaper price and if it’s through online shops, which ones are the most dependable and ships for free? TQ so much!!!
Hi Michelle, thanks for dropping by! I don’t really dabble in Modulars, so I don’t know too much about pricing but I’m pretty sure you could try Amazon.fr for some of them. Shipping is pretty affordable and reliable, having purchased other sets. For example, you could pick up the Pet Shop for RM640, and it’ll arrive in under a week via express post from Amazon.fr.
You could also try individual sellers at http://www.bricklink.com and try to score some used sets, but shipping might be expensive. Let me know if you’ve got any other questions!
Hi Jay, Thank you for the info, will surely check them out. Beginning to think that Lego is an expensive hobby… 🙂
It is, sorts costly, haha. But it’s very rewarding 🙂
LEGO is indeed expensive but if you are diligent, you can get them at cheaper prices. There’s no one quick way to do this, but a combination of watching out for local sales, check local forums for people wanting to part with their sets, international online sales like amazon, ebay, sometimes obscure sites, bricklink, or getting sets from another country where LEGO is cheaper like US, South Korea. If you can afford to spend a lot in one shot, get them all from overseas and ship them one time, that’s the best bang for your buck way. Remember, you can easily sell LEGO, unlike any other toy, even if it’s used or played with for a few years it still can be sold easily, most of the time with profit as well. I don’t worry too much about the prices, I just get them and enjoy the hobby, knowing very well whatever I’m getting now, will worth more in the future 😉
Hey Ken, thanks for your thoughts! Local sales are sparse and yup, forums are quite a decent way to score a bargain, as is buying overseas. But the question remains, why do we need to resort to these measures? The Lego Grey Market is convenient and affordable, but I really would want the simplicity of going into a store and getting a set, without having to navigate the internet, or worry about whether the sets I order online have reached me safely or that a seller is reputable.
Too much of a hassle, in my honest opinion.
You can just convert it to English version on top right corner. I have only been to HK once since i started to play Lego so not familiar but find their prices slightly cheaper than us. However the modular buildings in this online store are quite attractive. Btw, good review on the Team GB minifigs.
Hahaha! I laughed at the price of the seaside house. I live in Australia and Kmart was selling it for $35Aud (normally retails $59) during the toy sales, I literally raced out the door to catch a bus to my local KMart. We are lucky that toys in Australia are relatively cheap but full priced lego here is still quite expensive and not every lego set gets marked down heavily. When you open the big box you will find that you are paying for a lot of Danish air. lego parts only fill 1/3 of the box. We also don’t have anything close to a legoland, only large retailers like Kmart, Target sell a varied range of lego but stock is limited to what young boys like ie. Ninjango or Star Wars. I’ve never seen any modular sets and creator buildings are also quite hard to come buy.
Hey Ivy
The Seaside House was a really great buy for me too at 35 AUD. Couldn’t believe my luck. You should also check out Big W if it’s convenient, their prices are usually pretty decent and they have regular clearances, but then again, K Mart has always been my favourite place to buy Lego.
For Modulars… if I’m not wrong, are exclusive to David Jones – they currently have 25% off Lego if I recall correctly.
You should also check out http://www.shopforme.com.au/, they’re a pretty decent online retailer. They’ve got all the modulars there and they’re currently 20% off!
Hi Jay,
Have u tried AA Place http://www.aaplace.hk from HK? For the latest 3 modular buildings: Town Hall HK1999, Pet Shop HK1499 and Grand Emporium HK1499. But not sure about the shipping cost.
Oh cool. I checked out the site but couldn’t understand most of it since it was in Chinese. Are you familiar with Lego shopping in Hong Kong? Any good retail stores to buy from if I ever go there?
well…fancy meeting u here bro!!!! so…how was the store actually? Any Imperial Flagships around??? Where do you online order your sets from??? I have tried both Amazon France and Barnes & Noble …those are the only sites I know that ship to Malaysia at reasonable fee… any other sites u can recommend???
Unfortunately no Imperial Flagships! As for me, I try to shop using Bricklink stores, since those sites you mention have limited options.
For most of my overseas purchases, I get my friend in the US to help get sets for me too 😛
Imperial flagship was on sale last time in Malaysia. Only Rm700 a piece. I guess now stopped already. Sold out.
Actually, AJL has no say on LEGO prices, it is actually set by TLG itself, so don’t blame AJL. Even if another competitor distributor came about the price will have to be the same, as LEGO are price-controlled products. The only way to get cheaper is to buy online, for sets it’s the US, for bulk parts it’s Eastern Europe. I used to rant about LEGO prices, but now that you can get almost anything online, plus it’s cheaper to buy online even with shipping, I see no point in venting my frustration anymore. Whether eventually Malaysia will get an official LEGO store or not, if prices are the same, we have nothing exclusive that we can’t get elsewhere, and no customer service representation, it doesn’t really change anything
Hey Ken
Agreed, but I believe they do have an option of holding sales. The high prices could be justified by having regular sales. Even if they were 20% or 30% of clearance sales they would make a HUGE difference and I do believe that people would buy Lego if they get discounted.
Well… fingers crossed we’ll get some form of pick-a-brick or build your own minifigure if we ever do get an official Lego Store 🙂
Nah, definitely price tag wrong for set 7346 ( seaside house) I bought last week at mid valley rm229.90, but all bunnys are gone gone gone ! : (
I don’t know, all the Seaside Houses were priced that way. I feel it’s not an error.
I think the price of the beach house is a mistake. I have a MISB beach house and the price is RM 229.90. I do not know what costs RM 349.90 though. Luckily TRU still scan the bar code and not direct key in the price tag (they will still honor the price tag if it is lower, it happened to me before).
The majority of the sets I have I bought from online. All my modulars & Technic flagships are not purchased from retail simply because of the insane mark-up or cannot be found!. The few instances where I did buy from TRU is when:-
1) Ninjago Lightning Dragon set because I heard it was TRU exclusive, only to see it in Brickboy somehow O_O
2) Ninjago Ice dragon set with a few CMF because of 3x points and holiday coupon promo during KLCC branch opening
3) Lighthouse creator set with a few series 7 CMF because of 3x points and holiday coupon promo during Paradigm mall opening
4) 2012 Creator beach house because I have ALOT of coupons from the lighthouse and the 3x points earlier
5) The store and sort head with coupons
6) Loki’s Cosmic Cube escape with some series 7 CMF due to impulse purchase 🙂
I would say the following sets are overpriced:-
1) Ninjago Destiny’s bounty – only 99,000 Korean Won
2) 2011 Police station – RM 350 only when I saw it in Korea early this year
3) Olivia’s house – only 99,000 Korean Won. bought it during CNY in Korea and it even came with a storage container!
4) Brickbeard’s Bounty -About RM 450 last time I saw in New Zealand back in 2009
5) The Castle mill with windmill – About RM 350 only in Korea
Oh, then there are sets which are still missing in action:-
1) Modular Town Hall 10224
2) Sopwith Camel
3) Maersk Train
4) Maersk Ship
5) LOTR sets – god knows how much the mark up will be
Ever wonder why the price is so cheap in Korea? Because in Korea there is a local ‘Lego’ brand called Oxford where the bricks are almost the same quality as Lego. Some of the set designs are also very very good and can put Lego to shame. I seriously do not mind if a distributor attack the Lego market here with Oxford sets. Too bad Hasbro is doing it wrong by pricing their sets more expensive than Lego.
BTW, any Pick-A -Brick? For a ‘Lego Store’ it is extremely shameful to be called a Lego Store if there is no Pick-A-Brick.
Hey man, thanks for your comment! Yeah, hopefully it’s an error, but the other sets they had there also had the same price, so I’m not too sure.
On another note, man I wish I was back in Lego when they had the Ninjago dragons! Totally missed out on them. I only have the Fire Dragon.
You really should look to places like Bricklink to source sets, it would take a whole lot of persuading for me to pay Malaysian RRP prices.
Very interesting insight on the knockoff Korean Legos! Do you have any pictures of these Oxford bricks you can share?
Nah, no pick-a-brick unfortunately. The ‘Lego store’ is just basically a larger TRU Lego section with a few exclusives thrown in. I’m still hoping for Pick-A-Brick to make an appearance at Legoland!
I currently have no Oxford sets yet, since most of my money are used to buy Lego. I have seen the Oxfords sets sold in a shop in Atria before but I do not know where that shop is now since Atria has been demolished. However I have read the reviews online about the Oxford sets and they are very positive.
Sets such as the one here can put the Lego ships to shame: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=61711
I recently bought a Sluban set which is quite ok in my opinion although it is a little on the high side. http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=71701 .
As for the Ninjago dragons, I have bought all 4 of them. But collecting all four of them wasn’t cheap since the red one came with a huge building plus lots of minifigures. Still it was worth every penny to get all of them.
Paanjang,
I think the MISB beach house is definitely pricing error. In essence all LEGO stuff in Malaysia pricing would be the same.
As for the Town Hall, coming soon, sometime about next month, together with R2D2.
p.s. this shops is NOT a real official LEGO Store-lah. It’s something similar to the SG bricksworld. They don’t do pick a brick there too….. Maybe would have in LEGOLand? Keep fingers crosssedddd… 😛
Jay,
As for prices of LEGO products, if one compares against Singapore are pretty much the same. People on the other side of the causeway are complaining some of the sets there more expensive ( Pirates of the carribean, technics for example (8258, 8048) – the flagship sets here very very good price), and people on this side of the causeway are complaining starwars sets more expensive. So, it actually depends on sets here. Some are expensive there, some are expensive here. A closer comparison with european countries like Germany shows the prices are relatively close. Do note the additional duties and cukais on stuff imported here (Sg duty free, i think).
On the question of sales, as in every business, it happens when there is inventory to clear. In the context of Malaysia, they did do a couple of sales last time (I remembered the train sets, huge ones were sold for like 300-400 something, star destroyer sold for rm 350, not to mention an extra juicy technic tow truck selling for a son …etc). So if one compares sales prices vs normal price, well, it’s not quite a fair comparison. At present, there is almost always nothing to clear, hence, no sales.
Cheers,
Tuan
Hey Tuan
Thanks for your thoughts! Gotta disagree with you there on sales – Don’t deny that once converted, our prices are close to those of Germany + Singapore and that’s to be expected but my main beef is that in those countries, regular sales are a normal occurrence so it makes it a lot more feasible to buy Lego.
The practice in pretty much nearly every other country with a robust retail system is that they don’t just discount ‘older’ and ‘meant for clearing’ inventory but they discount the newer sets as well. I had a friend pick up the Quinjet from Singapore for like 400 bucks recently and Germany gets access to competitive pricing on a regular basis. At the time of writing this for example, the new X-Wing 9493 is discounted by 23% for instance.
Although, I gotta say that we do get some form of sales at the end of the year during Christmas for a limited range of sets. Frankly, I think we can do better. Till then, I’ll keep sending my money to overseas sellers.
Thanks for commenting!
How bout their technic collections?
hey man, here’s a snapshot of the Technics they had on sale. Not a huge option, imho. http://imgur.com/OdON3
dislike! wow! i can’t believe how expensive some of those Lego sets were! unbelievable! So sorry about that. Hopefully soon when your local Legoland opens up, you’ll have more reasonable prices. I liked the huge selection of Lego magnets you have at that store, though. I am planning on buying the Toy Story magnets online….they were originally available before 2011 when they started gluing the magnets to the minifigs. I wonder if Lego is still making them currently and now gluing them. I was told that if it says “magnets” in 3 different languages on the front bottom, then they are glued. I can’t really tell from the picture you posted. By chance do you have any knowledge on this?
Ah, I’m not too sure of the magnets and glue thing since I’ve never bought magnets before. I do have several friends that buy magnet sets and soak them in warm water to get the glue off and ‘harvest’ the minifigs!