2006 Sets all gone?

[Mandalorian Candidat]

Does anyone remember that email sent out by Lego a while back mentioning that there could be a shortage of sets around Christmastime? There was talk that this was only referring to the European market and not the US, but I'm not so sure now. I went to TRU last week a couple of times and they are out of all the SW Lego sets except for the UCS AT-ST, the Clone Turbo Tank, and a few of the Slave 1s (this was Monday morning and continued through Sat during the BOGO 50% sale). Checking Amazon.com, TRU.com, and WM.com, many of those sets are also marked as sold out. Lego S@H is the same except for some of the 2007s.

Has anybody else seen this? I've been putting off getting the Jabba Barge and Slave 1 hoping for a really good sale or clearance and now it seems to be too late. Hopefully there'll be a restock but who knows.

[Kidhuman]

I havent seen any of the 06 sets sans the Barge and ISD. All others have been gone for some time now.

[JediTricks]

TRU stores short on '06 sets because they had that BOGO sale (buy one, get one half off, specifically) which likely was intended to make room for the '07 sets hitting stores soon. Targets still have some '06s, and I think Kmarts might too, but consider that these sets are either 6 months old or even a year old, it's not surprising that the sets aren't found in greater quantities. Your best bet to getting the ISD and Sail Barge on super sale will be Target's January clearance extraveganza, but it only works great if you put in the legwork, and that means having the time, the ability to travel from store to store, and several stores in the area to check every Friday. I suspect the Slave I will sell through on clearance too fast to find, but you never know.

[Mandalorian Candidat]

...and several stores in the area to check every Friday.

Are you implying that Target marks their stuff for clearance (or even changes the clearance %-off) on Fridays? I didn't realize they had a set day for doing that. If so, that's good news.

[JediTricks]

I think that's what I was told, Fridays are the markdown days... oh dear, I just realized, WM is Fridays, Target's toy dept clearances are on Wednesdays.

[JON9000]

TRU stores short on '06 sets because they had that BOGO sale (buy one, get one half off, specifically)

That's what did it around here. One day they were all over the place, next day, the shelves were bare and have been ever since.

[Ji'dai]

Nearly all the '06 sets are difficult to find locally. The Star Destroyer and Sail Barge are completely sold out, but are still on order. Even LEGO Shop@Home has them listed on backorder until mid-February for the Barge and mid-March for the ISD. That special edition X-Wing with Wedge is on backorder until next June!

[Mandalorian Candidat]

The only local store I haven't checked lately is Shopko. I've been dropping hints to my wife lately to get me the Jabba Barge for XMas and they're just MIA now. I'm just hoping they'll get restocked at retail so I won't end up paying more in the aftermarket.

[Ji'dai]

I'm hoping the Sail Barge or Star Destroyer will be restocked before christmas since both are on my list

I do wonder whether retail stores will restock these large sets when they do their mid-winter resets next year. Many stores downsize their LEGO section until the holiday reset in late summer-early fall. If they do restock, here's hoping they go on clearance in January! I remember seeing the ESB Falcon on clearance for $50 after christmas a couple years ago.

But I'm sure the Barge and ISD will available from both TRU stores and Shop@Home through at least next year.

[JediTricks]

I suspect Target and TRU will both restock the ISD and Sail Barge next year if LEGO continues to ship them. They've been moving around here, slowly but steadily for the price.