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LEGO BLACK FRIDAY 2024: Expectations

LEGO BLACK FRIDAY 2024

Thanksgiving, a time for family fun and, of course, huge savings because Black Friday and Cyber Monday are on the way. So if you’re planning on getting another LEGO set, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are your chance to save huge. Today we are talking about what you should be expecting from Black Friday and Cyber Monday from LEGO, and if you stay to the end of this video, I will be telling you all the places you should be shopping at as well as what sets you should be checking out and looking for a good discount. For those who don’t know me, my name is Isaiah Barlow, and this is my LEGO room, my internet diary of all things LEGO, from opinions, reviews, and things like this where I’m just talking about the discounts to come.

If you grew up like me, Black Friday used to be this thing where on Thanksgiving Day, you would go out, wait in line, and you would get like 70% off of this crazy item you were waiting for, and you would go home and be like, “I finally did it, I’ve been wanting this all year and I got it at a great discount.” But today, Black Friday is not really the same; it’s more like a Black Friday week, and it’s all online. So there’s no waiting in lines, which kind of takes away the experience a little bit. But also, I’ve realized the sales have kind of gone down a little bit. It doesn’t seem like the discount is 70% off; it’s more like 30–40%, which is still really good, but you know, it kind of went down a little bit and it could be a little upsetting because it feels like the experience is not the same.

So even though we might not have the exact type of sale that we used to have, we’re still getting sales, and let me tell you something: LEGO is considered a toy, and toys always go on sale on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. So let’s get into what to expect from Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024 for LEGO. When I was doing research for this video, I noticed the similarity of LEGO sets that were on sale on Black Friday. I was looking at places like blackfriday.com or old Black Friday magazines I could find on the internet, and what I realized is there are common trends in LEGO sets that are on sale and LEGO sets that are not on sale on Black Friday.

What to Expect from LEGO Black Friday

The first thing to expect is that there are certain theme sets that will be on sale. The themes I was looking at were LEGO Star Wars, DC, Marvel, Harry Potter, Disney, and the list goes on, but those are kind of the main ones I saw that were going on sale. These themes are going on sale because they are very popular, especially LEGO Star Wars, which is the largest and most popular theme from LEGO. So expect things like LEGO Star Wars, Marvel, Disney, and possibly Harry Potter to go on sale on Black Friday. Now, it doesn’t mean that no other set themes will be on sale; it just means that these themes, particularly, I noticed, were on sale. Also, a reminder that it doesn’t mean every LEGO Star Wars set or every LEGO Marvel set will be on sale; it just means that maybe a select few will be discounted.

Another thing I want you guys to expect is bigger sets will have a bigger discount, and smaller sets will have a smaller discount. Of course, LEGO wants to make sure they get their money’s worth; they don’t want to give a 40–50% discount on a $20 set as it might not make sense for them, but they’re probably going to give those discounts to bigger sets, I would probably say over $100. So expect to see those 40% off on $100 and more. This is just a guesstimation; it’s not necessarily a rule, but keep an eye out for that.

And last but not least for our expectations, don’t expect any new sets to be discounted. By new sets, I mean anything that came out in the last 6 months—just don’t expect them to be discounted. LEGO’s probably going to want to get their money’s worth. If they are discounted, hooray, go out there and get it, but I don’t expect new sets like the LEGO Zelda set or maybe the Jabba’s Hut or even the new X-Men mansion to be discounted. I really only expect things from last year and before to be discounted, not things from 6 months ago or more recent. So just keep that in mind.

We should expect to see 20–40% discounts on discounted sets. We should also expect to see bigger sets receiving a bigger discount, and smaller sets receiving a smaller discount. We should not expect new sets to be discounted too much. We should also expect to see a sale throughout the entire week, not just on Thanksgiving or Black Friday or Cyber Monday. We should also expect to see discounts on themes like LEGO Star Wars, Disney, Marvel, DC, Harry Potter, and other very popular sets.

Where to shop LEGO Black Friday Deals

Now that we’ve gone over expectations, let’s talk about some of the places to find these discounted sets. Of course, the number one place we’re all going to be looking at is lego.com. That’s probably going to have the best rates and discounts when it comes to LEGO sets. However, there are other choices. If you shop on lego.com and you have their rewards program, you will get rewards for buying LEGO sets from them, and I believe you can exchange the rewards for discounts in the future, like $20 to $100 off. Shopping at LEGO does benefit, so if you want to shop at LEGO, please do. They might be doing free shipping that day or maybe some type of other promotion, but shopping at LEGO really does help.

You don’t have to shop at LEGO, and there are other places with discounts. The first place to look at is amazon.com. We all know Amazon, the drop-shipping company that sells everything, and as we know, their Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals will probably be out of this world. They might provide a better discount than LEGO, but have the same expectations for Amazon as we discussed in our expectations portion. You should also expect two-day shipping, but there could be delays due to high volume, so it might take 3, 4, or 5 days instead of 2. But their discount might be better than lego.com, so keep that in mind.

Another place to check is Walmart or Target. These superstores will probably have some great deals when it comes to LEGO sets, and you can shop in-store or online. Target, in particular, might be a good place to shop because they often offer incentives like gift cards for spending a certain amount of money. For example, if you spend $200, you might get $20 in gift cards, which can be used for other purchases. Walmart also offers great deals, so it’s worth checking them out.

Lastly, Best Buy is a sleeper. Best Buy doesn’t have a huge LEGO collection, but they do have some sets, and their online selection is bigger. If you’re looking for a set on sale and it’s not in-store at your local Target or Walmart, or Amazon is slow, Best Buy might be the place for you.

Possible Discounted Sets

Since you’ve made it this far, let’s talk about sets I think will be on sale. These are not guaranteed to be on sale, but these are the ones I expect to be discounted. Starting with LEGO Star Wars, I think both R2-D2 sets will be on sale, and I also think the smaller LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon and the Razor Crest will be discounted. I think these will go on sale because they’ve had enough shelf life.

Shifting over to LEGO Marvel, I think the Daily Bugle, the Avengers Tower, and any gauntlet or shield sets will be on sale. The Avengers Tower has been out for a while, and the hype around Avengers and Marvel has died down recently, so I think it’s going to be discounted. I also think the Daily Bugle will see a discount because it’s been around for a while.

Lastly, for LEGO Technic cars, I predict that the Ferrari Daytona, the LEGO Lamborghini, and the BMW M1000RR will be on sale. These sets have had enough shelf life, and since they are at a high price point, I think they might see a discount.

Conclusion

I really do hope all this information about LEGO and Black Friday and Cyber Monday helps you make an educated and financially responsible choice on those days. You don’t have to wait till Black Friday to get started, but it’s always good to get a discount. Let me know in the comments if you’re looking to buy on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, and also let me know what LEGO set you’re working on right now or planning to buy.


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Parenting and Education

Best LEGO Sets for Adults

The Best Collection for Adults

If you’re an adult and you’re looking to jump into the hobby of LEGO, I know it could be a little overwhelming. There are so many sets and themes out there that everybody is telling you to go buy or which ones to invest in, but I want to invite you guys to a newer set theme that is so enjoyable, visually appealing, and you can always appreciate. I, of course, am referring to the art that is the LEGO Botanical Collection. This theme is so beautiful, it’s visually stunning, fairly priced, and it’s always easy to build in my humble opinion. It’s great for beginners, and you will never feel like you’re being overwhelmed with a hard set.

So today we will be reviewing the LEGO Botanical Collection, and if you stay to the end of this video, I will be providing you guys with a couple of sets that I would recommend to help you get started in LEGO. For those who don’t know me, my name is Isaiah Barlow, this is my LEGO room, and this is my internet diary of all things LEGO, from opinions, reviews, and things like this.

What is the Botanical Collection

All right, y’all, so I’m super excited to get into this video with you guys today. The LEGO Botanical Collection is so underrated in my opinion, and not many people are really jumping into it like they should, but it is so fun to do, it’s cheap, it’s visually appealing, and everybody always enjoys it. Now, the LEGO Botanical Collection is not that old; it has only been around since 2021 and started off with the LEGO Flower Bouquet and also the LEGO Bonsai Tree. This is like one of the most coveted ones that everybody talks about right here, and of course, I’ve done various reels on this bonsai tree. But these are the very beginners, the predecessors, the originators of the LEGO Botanical Collection because they mean so much to a lot of people, and they were just fun to do, and they’re not that hard. And that kind of goes to the theme of this video: these sets are easy to do, they’re pretty, they’re visually appealing, and they’re good for adults. You don’t have to feel like you’re a child. I don’t think LEGO is for children at all; I think it’s for everybody. However, some people might feel that way, and you might feel a little more adult-like if you’re doing a LEGO Chrysanthemum or a bonsai tree or even like this orchid set right here.

Pricing

But let’s talk about the most important thing about all this: pricing. All of us are on a budget. I know when it comes to getting your LEGO Christmas list together, it seems like there’s just not enough money in the world. But let me tell you this right now: the LEGO Botanical Collection is affordable. It has always been affordable, and that’s one of my favorite things about this theme of sets. Most of the sets are going to run you between $15 and $100, probably max. Of course, there’s a new botanical garden set that came out for $329, but that to me is like the exception, not necessarily the rule. But these other sets that are $15—you can get daffodils, I think it’s a lotus flower, some roses—so you’re not going to feel like you’re buying some, I guess, trash set that’s only $15. You get a pretty decent little set that you can maybe display or put around your house if you really like to have flowers in your home and you don’t want them dying all the time. This is a cool way to show off art while it’s still being something you did as a hobby.

So, remind you, these sets right here will not break the bank. I think the chrysanthemum is about $35 or so. I believe the bonsai tree is about $40—it might be on sale. Let’s check in the description box below. And then, of course, the orchid—there’s a reason why these aren’t made yet, y’all. It’s not just in the box for no reason. I know it’s been in the box for a while. I have something special I’m doing particularly, but at the end of the day, these sets are not that expensive. I think the orchid was about $70 or $69. This is probably the more expensive end of it, but like I said, you can get this beautiful chrysanthemum for like $35, and there’s like a cherry blossom too for the same price. So you don’t have to break the bank, y’all.

Great Gift for Anybody

Also, the LEGO Botanical Collection is one of the best gifts you can give to a partner or someone you’re in a relationship with because they are just so easy to do, and they’re really beautiful. An example of this is my girlfriend; I actually made her the rose bouquet flower set. I don’t believe the orchid set has it, but on the box of the rose set, you can write “to” and “from” for your significant other, and it’s just really a pretty touch. So, these are also good sets for relationships and for a partner, maybe a loved one that you want to give something to but don’t necessarily know how. These sets really mean something. Another example of this is my grandmother; she sadly passed away, but she was a big lover of flowers, and I never knew what sets of flowers she always loved. But one thing I do know is had I given her something like this, she would have really, really appreciated it, and that’s something that I know for myself—and my mom likes stuff like this too. So I know when I’m building different sets like this, maybe I want to build it for them and not just myself. So, you can just build it, give it to them, and they really, really enjoy it.

But let’s say you’re not going for anything sentimental. Let’s say you’re just trying to have an art piece on your desk that people can talk about. Well, you don’t have to just get the bonsai tree; you can also get something like the succulent set. There are two different succulent sets or something like a Christmas wreath. I think they recently just did a poinsettia—boy, do not get me. Okay, so I don’t know how to say this word, but it starts with the “P.” But I’m just going to put it here so y’all know what set I’m talking about. It looks like this. But sets like that are just more festive for the holidays if you get a wreath or that one. But at the end of the day, you do not have to be limited to just flowers, you know, or like pretty flower sets. You can get any other type of set that is just as beautiful and that you’re going to enjoy. But remember, buying LEGO is about what you like, and at this point, I feel like the Botanical Collection has a set for everybody. So, you don’t have to be limited to just maybe a chrysanthemum or an orchid.

LEGO Botanical Collection Recommendations

The Bonsai Tree

Okay, because you made it this far, I said I was going to give you guys some recommendations of my top three LEGO Botanical Collection sets. So the very first one I want to recommend is, of course, the bonsai tree right here. Now, I’ve got to check on the pricing—it’s going to be down in the description below—but it should not be over $50 from my understanding. Amazon probably has a little bit of a deal, or check the LEGO website, but I’m pretty sure Amazon might have the best deal for you, and you get it in two days. I say the bonsai tree is my first recommendation because it is really just a work of art, and it’s interchangeable. You can change out those leaves for pink leaves—such a cool touch, such an interesting set, and all the leaves are like little frogs too. Some of them are little frogs, so such a great little touch to an awesome, awesome set. Love the bonsai tree. Honestly, the bonsai tree is hands down one of my favorite sets of all time.

LEGO Succulent Set

Since I haven’t built the Orchid set yet, I don’t want to recommend it to you guys just yet, even though I think it looks really beautiful. What I do want to recommend to you guys is the succulent set. The reason why is because everybody likes a good set of succulents. I’m a very summer, earthy, kind of rustic guy, and I like a lot of warm tones in general, even in my videos and things like that. Because of that, I really enjoy the succulent set. I think it looks really good and enjoyable, and I think anybody who sees it on your desk will be interested. I really enjoy the LEGO succulent set.

LEGO Chrysanthemum Set

And of course, last but not least, the LEGO Chrysanthemum. Here’s the thing: I’ve said the word so many times it’s hard to make sure I’m saying it right—chrysanthemum! But this set, the reason why I’m going to recommend it, is because, one, it’s a little bit of a newer set they just came out with, and they did a great job. You can build the pot for yourself. It’s visually appealing and enjoyable. The orange and red from these little banana pieces are so interesting. I did a whole reel about this. This set is just beautiful eye candy, and people will ask you, “Is that a piece of art? Is that real?” When you get closer, you realize, “Oh wait, it’s just art, it’s just a LEGO set,” but it’s awesome. It’s only $35, and I’ll make sure I leave a link for purchase! This set definitely bumps up on my list because of how cheap it is, how easy it is to build, and the instructions weren’t hard. It was just a one-two-three process, and you’re done. I really, really enjoy this set.

Conclusion

And there you have it, y’all. That’s the reason why you should pick up the LEGO Botanical Collection sets. They’re just so wonderful to do, and so fun. Let me know if you guys have picked up any of these in the last several months or days. Also, let me know if you’ve seen the botanical garden set coming out for $329—super excited for that. I probably won’t be picking it up because I have other sets I want to buy, which you guys probably know I’m going to do and review. But let me know if you’ve picked that one up and how you feel about it. Make sure to leave all this down in the comment section below.


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Why LEGO is Expensive

As a lover of LEGO, there are two things that I’ve realized as I’ve gotten older. Number one, my parents buying my sets versus me buying my sets are two different things. Number two, there has been a giant price boom in terms of LEGO, which has deterred a lot of people from jumping into the hobby. Today, we will be discussing why LEGO has become so expensive in the last several years and what we as a community can do about it. And if you stay tuned to this video, I will be providing some resources on how you can better afford LEGO for as cheap as possible. For those who don’t know me, my name is Isaiah Barlow, and this is my LEGO room, my internet diary of all things LEGO, from opinions to LEGO reviews and sets. If you like this type of content, please like, comment, and subscribe, and hit the bell notification for all my new videos.

Reality of LEGO Prices

A comment I almost always get is: “How can I find a good LEGO set for cheap?” Right now, that has two parts: good and cheap. Good can be variable—I might think something is good, and you might not think it’s good, so it depends on your taste, and I always start there: What do you like in terms of your regular daily life? You like cars, Star Wars, etc. So “good” can be really interchangeable, but one thing we can all agree on is the word “cheap.” Now, cheap right now for LEGO can be really hard to find. A good set that I would consider is pretty much challenging, but if you enjoy it, it’s going to run you between $50 and $100, and that’s not that bad of pricing if you want one set a year. Most people who want to jump into this hobby want between one and three sets a month, and not all of those sets are going to be between $50 and $100. That’s just wishful thinking. Some might be $150 to $200, maybe $250. So at this point, that is not cheap at all, and that leads us into our topic of the day: Why are LEGO sets so expensive now?

The Problem of Resellers

I do want to leave a link to the Business Insider small resellers documentary on why LEGO sets are so expensive. It’s about 20-plus minutes long, a really good video that dives into a lot of reasons why LEGO is more expensive right now. But one issue that I don’t think it touched on deep enough was the issue of resellers. Now, if you don’t understand the concept of resellers, it’s just people who want to buy something at retail and then sell it for a higher price at a later date. If I’m being honest, I don’t have very many issues with resellers. I think it’s okay and pretty smart to maybe buy an extra set or two to hold on to for the future, to maybe make a profit, especially if you think that set is timeless. It might be an item that’s a luxury later on and maybe hard to find. I don’t think it’s a wrong thing to resell. I wanted to be very clear on that. However, not every reseller is the same and does not operate with a sense of integrity. Right now, we live in a social media era where hustler culture and side income are things to promote, and one of those main side incomes is reselling hobbies or knickknacks like LEGO itself.

Now, it’s one thing when there’s one person who’s a LEGO lover, maybe collecting a lot of sets, that ends up selling them off at a later date or holds them for themselves because they actually love the community. But some of these resellers are people who don’t love LEGO at all, don’t have a care for LEGO, and they just buy up a lot of the inventory to sell at a later date. This can be due to them having more capital in their pocket so they can buy a thousand-plus sets at one time and control the market of how many people can actually get a set for retail. Of course, one of the main problems is they don’t have an interest in LEGO. They’re not buying it because they love the craft or the community; they’re just buying it to make a quick buck off people like us. But now we have to pay about $50 to $100 over the retail price, and that’s just not fair. This, in turn, can discourage us as people from wanting to save for or buy a set when we can’t find it in store, can’t find it on LEGO.com, and the only place we can find it is maybe on StockX or another reselling site like eBay, where it’s super expensive for a set that should have been a different price because somebody bought it all up.

BrickLink and Verified LEGO Vendors

Now, this isn’t supposed to be a morbid video. There is a solution, and this is a free resource—you don’t have to pay anything to have this resource. It’s available to you today, and I personally use it to price out and find the right set price for myself when it comes to sets I can’t find on a regular LEGO site or maybe on Amazon, etc. I’m, of course, referring to BrickLink.com. BrickLink.com is a LEGO vendor online site that has a lot of retired sets or sets that you can’t find for great prices. If I’m not mistaken, don’t quote me if I’m wrong, I believe it is an official LEGO vendor. As I was writing this video out, it did sound like a sponsored ad, but I want to let you guys know I am not sponsored by BrickLink at all. I would love for them to sponsor me, but I’m not sponsored by them. This is something I regularly use, I love it, and I would love to share it with you guys. BrickLink has thousands of sellers on their website with different prices for each set you might be looking for. They pretty much have every LEGO set you can find, and if you’re looking for a set that you cannot find online right now and you see it on eBay for maybe a crazy price or StockX or wherever these reseller sites are, go to BrickLink first. You can check on the website the price and the average of how much it’s selling for and then make a smart business decision for yourself on how much money you want to spend.

One of the best things about BrickLink is that there are thousands of sellers selling new, used, unopened, sealed, like-it-was-factory-made-right-out-of-Target sets for a great price, and you don’t have to worry about the hustle and bustle of is it a good seller, is it bad, fake, whatever. All BrickLink does is authorize LEGO sellers. But I would also just use it to compare prices. If you see something on Amazon or eBay that somebody’s reselling for, you can really compare the price on BrickLink to what’s being sold on Amazon and then, like I said, make a smart business decision for yourself on how much money you’re actually spending on a set that might be retired or you can’t find right now. Most people are looking in the wrong places to find LEGO sets, and this is one of the most trusted sites and online vendors you can find for a LEGO set you’re trying to get for a great price.

How to Afford LEGO Sets

Now, let’s say that you found the set you want. You went on BrickLink, you compared the prices, but you still do not have the money for the set right now. You’re probably itching to buy that set but just don’t have it at the current moment. I get it. A lot of you guys might be a little bit younger. You might not have exactly the full job that you want right now, or maybe not all the income you want right now. With that being said, let me give you guys three little easy tips on how I used to save for something in high school called sneakers. Before I started this channel, I actually had a sneaker channel called Isaiah BTV, previously called Common Hype Beast, and I went to college, so I wasn’t able to really keep up with the YouTube scene when it came to my sneaker stuff. But when I was in high school starting the channel, I had to learn how to afford shoes better. I was working at Chick-fil-A, just a small little job. I was getting about $400 to $600 every two weeks, so I wasn’t really making the most money, but I was still able to buy as many shoes as I could, and these are three steps I did to do that, and you can do the same with your LEGO sets.

So the first thing you really want to do is scout out what set is coming out in the next month or two, or maybe three months, that you want to purchase. The reason you’re doing this is because you want to figure out how much that set actually is. Most LEGO sets take a minute to retire, so sometimes the LEGO set you’re looking for that’s on the market right now is not going to retire anytime soon, so you can start saving money. But if it’s a LEGO set that has not come out yet, you have a little bit of time to save your money, so that way on the day of release, you’re able to go purchase that set and not feel like you’re breaking the bank. What I would do is go online, check out the LEGO sets coming out in the next several months or maybe the next month to figure out what sets you’re looking for and what the retail price will be, and write that down and keep it in mind because you’re going to need to know that for the next step.

The next thing you want to do is save for that LEGO set. What I used to do for my sneakers is I would be on sneaker news, figuring out what date certain shoes were coming out, and from that point on, I would know exactly what I needed to save and how much I needed to save. This is very easy to do because I figured out how much the sneaker was when it was coming out, gave myself enough time so I could save up money for that set without breaking the bank. That way, I could keep more money in my checks, have a little bit saved for what I wanted, and buy the pair of sneakers I wanted. You can do the exact same thing with your LEGO sets. Figure out how much that retail price is going to be, give yourself some time to save for it. Don’t find a set that’s coming out in November when you might not have the money already for it right then, but find a set that’s coming out maybe in January or February that you’re going to be interested in buying. Then say, let me save a little money here and there for my LEGO budget, so that when the set comes out, I’m there and ready on the LEGO site to purchase it, and I’m not feeling like I’m breaking the bank because I already saved for it and was ready for it.

The third and final step I want to give you guys is if a set is just too expensive for you to buy right now, or the next two or six months, and it just doesn’t make any financial sense for you to buy that set, my last and final tip is to go find an alternative set. Right now, LEGO is doing something that I’ve really enjoyed, which is they’re making smaller-scale sets of bigger sets that are very iconic and coveted. An example of this is the Millennium Falcon. The Millennium Falcon sits at about $850—a very hefty price—and to be honest with you, after taxes, you’re almost looking at $1,000 for a LEGO set that you might not finish in a week or two, or maybe three. What LEGO has done now, which I really appreciate, is they’ve created smaller-scale sets that people can enjoy, put on their nightstand, and just have as a display piece for much cheaper. There are two smaller Millennium Falcon sets: one’s like 20 bucks, and the other one’s like $85. Both are great sets, both look amazing, and you don’t have to necessarily break the bank to buy those sets. There’s also an R2-D2 set that’s the anniversary edition that’s like $240, but they made another R2-D2 set that’s only $100. You’re saving $140, and that’s a big difference when it comes to saving your money. The point is, you don’t have to buy the full, big set for you to be satisfied. You can get a different set for much cheaper and actually enjoy it and display it. I’m not sure if you guys have seen how big the Millennium Falcon is, but it’s very big. You need like an area to display that, and most people might not have that area.

Conclusion

LEGO is one of the greatest hobbies and communities I’ve ever been in in my entire life. I always enjoy being part of the LEGO community, and that community should not be hindered by prices and resellers trying to make a quick buck who don’t enjoy the community themselves. Hopefully today, these resources and tips I’ve given you might help you budget your way into buying a set you want or finding it for a better price than the resellers online. I love this LEGO community and I would love for you guys to be in this community with me. Let me know in the comment section below what LEGO set you guys will be purchasing next.


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