[NEW STUFF] Promotional Set: Maersk Sealand returns!

[Draykov]

I'm sure some of you remember 10152 Maersk Sealand. Well, in a rare move, it seems LEGO is doing a straight up re-release. Piece count appears to be 990 as opposed to the original 988, but it seems to be almost an exact duplicate. Whung over at Eurobricks strikes again:

[ThinkingImpaired]

OMG!!!! I've been trying to get this set off ebay for the last year.....this is the happiest day of my life!

Any tips on a price? The last one was $75 but with pricing trends I wouldn't be surprised if this is more like $90...

[possum]

Was the first one a limited run? Also, why are some of the older Maersk sets so expensive/rare/sought after?

[Draykov]

Yes, 10152 was only available for a few months, if memory serves, but apparently it was released 3 different times as 10152 between 2004-2006. As for why Maersk sets are so sought after, it's kind of a double whammy:

-They're usually promotional/limited items that are only available for short periods in certain markets.

-To top that off, they also include parts in the trademark "Maersk blue" which are exclusive to Maersk LEGO sets.

[possum]

Thanks for the info. I have a couple friends who work for Maersk and an IT company that services Maersk terminals, it would be a cool set to have when they come over.

[Andi]

oh, again? So much for a strictly limited item.
I could imagine that some ebay sellers are very happy now... not. ;-) ;-)

[Dalek Caan]

I wonder what the two extra peices are...

[Draykov]

Could be something as simple as two 1x2 plates replaced with 4 1x1 plates.

[meeotch]

I bet that it's something like that, but what I'm really interested in knowing is how much a small change like that affect's LEGO's bottom line for this set. It's a true chance for a controlled experiment with LEGO economics.

[Dalek Caan]

Thinking about it though, chance are there should be LESS peices in this re-release - due to lots of new POOP parts (brick with clip rather than 2 1X1 plates and 1 plate with clip, etc...), so now I'm really confused.

Unless of course this box if just a first draft and the piece count is not confirmed.

[Draykov]

Thinking about it though, chance are there should be LESS peices in this re-release - due to lots of new POOP parts (brick with clip rather than 2 1X1 plates and 1 plate with clip, etc...), so now I'm really confused.

Not necessarily. Sometimes, cost efficiency is determined less by piece size and more by what parts are currently being churned out of the production line in a particular color.

[Dalek Caan]

Not necessarily. Sometimes, cost efficiency is determined less by piece size and more by what parts are currently being churned out of the production line in a particular color.

I'm not sure if you understood me, I was talking about piece count rather than price.

[Draykov]

To reiterate...

...there should be LESS peices in this re-release - due to lots of new POOP parts...

You're right, I don't understand you. There's no reason to assume that the parts inventory has been drastically changed from a few years ago.

[Jabba the Taff]

I understood Draykov as saying Lego would include more pieces if was cost effective to do so. Lego would save money on putting in two 1x2 plates instead of one 1x4 plate, if they are already putting in a lot of 1x2 plates but no 1x4 plates.

They did that with the VW Beetle using 2x4 plates, where they could've used 4x4 plates or 6x4 plates.