It's good to show kids that actual people design these works of art. I think they forget that. Do you have a question for him like.. was your mom mad at you when you gave up on being a lawyer to make stuff with LEGOs?If you have been involved in the LEGO hobby for some time you are well aware of how important it is to have a LEGO shopping strategy. LEGO is not cheap, and both the LEGO Company as well as retailers are taking advantage of the popularity of the brand by keeping prices as high as they can. This is an unfortunate occurrence, especially in the current economy. Ultimately the strategy may backfire both for LEGO and retailers, but that is another topic, and whatever they do, we can still develop our own LEGO shopping strategies to get the best deals. One of the places people often shop for LEGO is Toys’R’Us. It is pretty much the only toy-shop chain left in the USA, and people naturally think of visiting them first when shopping for LEGO or other toys. One thing they are often not aware of however is how much Toys’R’Us jacks up prices on LEGO sets (and probably everything else too). A
$5-$10-$20 mark-up from regular retail price is very common. Worse is when Toys’R’Us advertises sales around holidays. You will see 40% Off and BOGO 50% (Buy-One-Get-One-50%-Off) sales on LEGO advertised on the Toys’R’Us website and at their retail stores. However that 40% or 50% off is NOT what you think it is! In fact you often end up worse then buying the same LEGO set at an Official LEGO Store, or some generic retailer like Wal-Mart. I will show you how Toys’R’Us is cooking the numbers and what you really end up with when you bite the hook on a Toys’R’Us LEGO sale. Eye-opening, isn’t it? The point is that if you want to get LEGO for the best prices, you really have to do your math. LEGO shopping could actually be quite fun if you take finding the best prices as a challenge. And it doesn’t have to be a long and tedious endeavor. Just have the latest LEGO Catalog or visit the Online LEGO Shop to check regular retail prices (I like the Catalog because I can take it with me to the store I’m planning to shop at). T
hen have a calculator handy to decode all the pricing voodoo retailers use to lure us into buying from them. 🙄 Again, the most notorious offender is Toys’R’Us. Other retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, Barnes & Noble and of course Official LEGO Stores almost always use the regular retail price, and when they have LEGO sales they to be decent, even excellent (like the 50% off regular retail price on some of the best LEGO sets at Wal-Mart last December). They may not sounds as fancy as Toys’R’Us as BOGO smoke-and-mirrors LEGO sales, but you don’t have to do complex calculations just to figure out if you are actually getting a deal. Also, Jason’s point about the LEGO VIP program is enlightening. If you are close to a LEGO store, or if you shop at the Online LEGO Shop, make sure you take advantage of this program. Especially when you can combine it with LEGO’s free shipping and double VIP point offers (like currently), you can really get an excellent deal as these offers are stackable. I
also like Jason’s strategy of going right back to the store and getting a free set with the just acquired VIP points. How is that for an instant saving? 😉 So what do you think? Did you learn something from the video? Have you ever fallen for the Toys’R’Us advertisements? Do you have your own LEGO shopping tips you would like to share? What is your shopping strategy for this holiday season? Feel free to discuss in the comment section below! 🙂You may also like to check out the LEGO Shopping Tips section for more LEGO shopping ideas and strategies or select from the following posts: Lego Boost is going to turn all your Lego toys into programmable robots CES is full of robots, but Lego robots... well, that doesn't happen every year.Educational codable robot toys have been a mega-trend in kid tech over the last year, from Jimu to Cozmo. Lego has had its own Mindstorm educational robotics kit for years, but its pieces come from the older-skewed Technics sets, as opposed to the piles of multicolored bricks everyone's basements are full of.
Lego Boost is the idea that Lego was overdue to debut. It's a set of motors and programmable bricks that can work with existing Lego kits and turn them into motorized or motion-sensitive toys. And the app can record voice effects... so, yes, you can make your robot Lego-cat speak.The $160 set, coming in the second half of 2017, comes with instructions to build five different things out of the box: "Vernie the Robot, Frankie the Cat, the Guitar 4000, the Multi-Tool Rover 4 (M.T.R.4), and the Autobuilder." After that, any existing Legos can be glommed onto new creations, according to Lego: "a walking base for making animals like a dragon or a pony, a driving base for building vehicles like a dune buggy or rover, and an entrance base so that children can make their own castle, fort, or even a futuristic space station." The kit is targeted at kids 7 and older.A companion Android and iOS app will handle the programming parts, using what Lego claims are basic coding instructions. Similar ideas live in most toy robot kits made over the last couple of years.
Lego's advantage is, clearly, that you could potentially make a dancing dinosaur, a DIY Batmobile or a robotic Star Wars base. Or something of the sort.The Lego Boost comes with three Boost bricks that do most of the robotic heavy lifting, including a tilt sensor, a color and distance sensor and a motor. The set also comes with 843 pieces and a special playmate that the robots can move on.Stay tuned for hands-on impressions at CES, but this sounds like the Lego holiday gift to beat all Lego gifts. The connected home experience you didn't know you wanted Everything you need in a phone, except the headphone jack Apple iPad Pro (9.7-inch) The best iPad ever can't quite kill your laptop -- yet Visit manufacturer site for details. Scott Stein is a senior editor covering iOS and laptop reviews, mobile computing, video games, and tech culture. , Men's Journal, and Maxim, and regularly appears on TV and radio talking tech trends.All DealsDealNews Blog Roundups Never Miss A Deal!
Subscribe to the get daily email updates of the hottest deals, chosen by our experts. Get for the hottest deals chosen by our readers and our expert editorial staff. Thank You for Subscribing! Can't get enough deals? Subscribe to our personalized emails for even more of the deals you're interested in. Subscribe to Men's Clothing newsletter Subscribe to Women's Clothing newsletter Subscribe to Electronics newsletter Subscribe to Home & Garden newsletter Thank You For Joining DealNews! You will receive your first newsletter in less than 24 hours. Cyber Week Toy Deals: This LEGO-Style Holiday Wreath Is Only $5 Cyber Week toy sales are a prime opportunity to snag gifts for kids of all ages. In our roundup of the best toy deals, we've highlighted the items that are sure to suit nearly any personality. We'll be updating this page with new offers as we find them, so be sure to check back often. Build On Brick Holiday Wreath Shipping: Free shipping via code "CYBER16US"
With this wreath, the little ones can help decorate and you'll enjoy a little geek chic this holiday season! It comes with the "greenery" and "bow," and you provide the rest — it's compatible with LEGO, PixelBlocks, Mega Bloks, Kre-O, and K'Nex bricks. And at $5, it's $7 below last year's Cyber Monday mention and the cheapest we've seen. LEGO Architecture United States Capitol Building Kit Store: Barnes & Noble Price: $69.97 in cart EXPIRED Some kids enjoy building ninja shrines, and some enjoy building eerily accurate models of the US capital building. Supporting your future politician or architect is easy after an in-cart discount that drops this LEGO set to $70 — an $18 savings. Billed as "meticulously detailed," this 1,032-piece set features a removable dome for access to the famous National Statuary Hall. Play-Doh 60th Anniversary 60-Pack This Play-Doh 60-pack is the ultimate Play-Doh set. With 60 different resealable, airtight cans in a variety of colors, the only thing holding your little ones back will be their imagination.
It's even cheaper now than it was on Black Friday, as well as being at the lowest price we've seen. Sphero SPRK+ App-Enabled Robot Price: $77.32 via code "BNCYBER16" EXPIRED Perfect for older kids, the Sphero SPRK+ App-Enabled Robot makes it easy to learn programming and complete tasks such as navigating a maze, programming a painting, mimicking the solar system, and much more. It features a UV coated polycarbonate shell, 100-foot wireless range via Bluetooth, and max speed of 4.5 mph. An inductive charging base and USB charging cable are included. Air Hogs Helix Sentinel 720p Video Drone See the world from above with the live-stream capabilities of this Air Hogs Helix Sentinel drone! Fly indoors and outdoors, and even record the footage directly to your smartphone. The drone features height lock stabilization, a wide-angle lens camera, 720p WiFi streaming, a 4GB microSD card, smartphone-compatible controller and goggles, and intelligent obstacle avoidance. It uses four AA batteries (not included).