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I'm not surprised. Most luxury items in the $1000+ price range (such as laptops, bicycles) have unique serial numbers to discourage theft. Lego sells in the sam

I'm not surprised. Most luxury items in the $1000+ price range (such as laptops, bicycles) have unique serial numbers to discourage theft. Lego sells in the same price range but with no security features at all. I think the adjacent discussion is much more interesting: What does it say about our society that a touring bicycle with 10 years of warranty has the same price as 400g of plastic with a Star Wars license?

mewpmewp2 2y ago
That people are fans of certain creations for which they are willing to dish out a lot for to stimulate their imagination and have fun constructing what they are fans of?
- Sirizarry 2y ago
  More specifically, peoples purchases are not governed by any economic logic but instead their emotions and companies know and will exploit this. I don’t care what the tolerance is on a Lego piece if I’m going to pay the price of a new computer for some shaped plastic it better be able to do my taxes at least
Ferret7446 2y ago
I'm not a bicycle expert, but I suspect the tolerances on bicycles can't compare to Legos. You can find knockoff "Legos" for much cheaper, but the quality isn't there, and they just don't work as well if they don't match the strict tolerances. Like, are all of the parts on a bicycle within 0.01mm tolerance? I highly doubt it.
- jv95 2y ago
  Im not sure if you follow the „knockoff“ legos, but the quality is very close for several brands. I own several 5000+ piece sets and while there is the occasional mold issue, you get plenty of replacement parts, pay a third for it and don’t have to deal with all the random colors that Lego includes in the unseen parts of the builds. They are usually tighter compared to Legos, but since I don’t intend to take these sets apart often that’s not an issue. Also some of these sets are official as well. Like the Cada AMG One with the license from Mercedes and Michelin, which is miles ahead in feature/price compared to LEGO technic offers.
  - Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y ago
    I mean, you just described a straight downgrade over lego. I understand it suits your specific need, but it's not lego. It was intended to be taken apart
- sottol 2y ago
  > I think the adjacent discussion is much more interesting: What does it say about our society that `s/a touring bicycle with 10 years of warranty/an engine block/` has the same price as 400g of plastic with a Star Wars license? That's also about the price of a Ford 4-cyl shortblock [1] for $1050 - first large high-precision, mass-manufactured part I could think of. Plus it's solid metal :) [1] https://parts.ford.com/shop/en/us/engine/other-engine-parts/engine-short-block-20l-p-cp9z6009a https://parts.ford.com/shop/en/us/engine/other-engine-parts/...
  - dingnuts 2y ago
    Sure but aren't Legos sort of a mass production nightmare (compared to an auto part) due to the enormous variety of bricks, all the combinations for different sets? and then there's IP licensing for many sets. I'm not buying a Star Wars branded short block for my truck but there's a Rivendell set in my living room, and the IP is why I wanted that set and I'm sure that's true for many of the branded kits
timbo1642 2y ago
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mewpmewp2 2y ago

That people are fans of certain creations for which they are willing to dish out a lot for to stimulate their imagination and have fun constructing what they are fans of?

Sirizarry 2y ago
More specifically, peoples purchases are not governed by any economic logic but instead their emotions and companies know and will exploit this. I don’t care what the tolerance is on a Lego piece if I’m going to pay the price of a new computer for some shaped plastic it better be able to do my taxes at least

Ferret7446 2y ago

I'm not a bicycle expert, but I suspect the tolerances on bicycles can't compare to Legos. You can find knockoff "Legos" for much cheaper, but the quality isn't there, and they just don't work as well if they don't match the strict tolerances. Like, are all of the parts on a bicycle within 0.01mm tolerance? I highly doubt it.

jv95 2y ago
Im not sure if you follow the „knockoff“ legos, but the quality is very close for several brands. I own several 5000+ piece sets and while there is the occasional mold issue, you get plenty of replacement parts, pay a third for it and don’t have to deal with all the random colors that Lego includes in the unseen parts of the builds. They are usually tighter compared to Legos, but since I don’t intend to take these sets apart often that’s not an issue. Also some of these sets are official as well. Like the Cada AMG One with the license from Mercedes and Michelin, which is miles ahead in feature/price compared to LEGO technic offers.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y ago
  I mean, you just described a straight downgrade over lego. I understand it suits your specific need, but it's not lego. It was intended to be taken apart
sottol 2y ago
> I think the adjacent discussion is much more interesting: What does it say about our society that `s/a touring bicycle with 10 years of warranty/an engine block/` has the same price as 400g of plastic with a Star Wars license? That's also about the price of a Ford 4-cyl shortblock [1] for $1050 - first large high-precision, mass-manufactured part I could think of. Plus it's solid metal :) [1] https://parts.ford.com/shop/en/us/engine/other-engine-parts/engine-short-block-20l-p-cp9z6009a https://parts.ford.com/shop/en/us/engine/other-engine-parts/...
- dingnuts 2y ago
  Sure but aren't Legos sort of a mass production nightmare (compared to an auto part) due to the enormous variety of bricks, all the combinations for different sets? and then there's IP licensing for many sets. I'm not buying a Star Wars branded short block for my truck but there's a Rivendell set in my living room, and the IP is why I wanted that set and I'm sure that's true for many of the branded kits

timbo1642 2y ago

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