Are Lego train sets still avail anywhere?!?

Donna in BC · Post by **Donna in BC** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 8:38 am

Greetings fellow lego enthusiasts,

My 6 yr old son is asking for a lego train this year. I can't find them anywhere! I remember one model where the train was fairly small and compact and very modern, came with tracks and such a couple years ago at Toys R Us.

Are any train sets still avail? All I've found is the Thomas Duplo sets which are too young for him.

Thanks if you can help!

Donna
graphicimpact@shaw.ca

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 8:50 am

Ooops! I saw there was a separate post for this kind of info. I've just registered and will post there too. But I STILL would appreciate any tips.

I also noticed the Harry Potter train may be avail in Costco...

Donna

Post by **Andrew** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 5:01 pm

hello Donna, you can still get the green and white passengertrain at toys r us, but it only comes with a circle of track.You might find some other lego train sets and some accessories at Toy Traders in langley,their number is in the book.Have fun looking! -Andrew

Post by **Frank** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 3:01 pm

I know Christmas was two days ago, but if you haven't got a
train yet...
I saw a couple different sets in Bears Toy Store in West Van today.
http://www.bearstoystore.com/
I think it was these two, but I don't remember for sure:
http://www.peeron.com/inv/sets/4511-1
http://www.peeron.com/inv/sets/4512-1

Post by **DeGobbi** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 5:32 pm

do you remember what they where charging for them?

Post by **Frank** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 8:14 pm

Nope, but this isn't a store where you typically find any deals.
Consider the neighborhood it's in.

The do have a decent selection of the pricier sets though.
They had the Star Destroyer! I remember that price: $400.
You could call and ask for prices. They're quite helpful.

Post by **Frank** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 1:07 pm

I posted this a few days ago but I guess it was eaten by the
big server crash.
So I was back at Bears (my girlfriend makes me walk the West Van
seawall with her - I drag her into the toy store

) and this time
tried to remember prices. From memory only:

$137 http://www.peeron.com/inv/sets/4511-1
$200 http://www.peeron.com/inv/sets/4512-1
$200 http://www.peeron.com/inv/sets/10132-1

Pretty awful! I saw one of each. BTW, they don't have a
Star Destroyer anymore. The call of the classic gray was
too strong - I took it home.

I'm not the first VLCer with one, am I?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 9:28 am

It might be a good idea to wait till Sept.

Post by **TFM** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:18 am

Anonymous wrote:It might be a good idea to wait till Sept.

Notice the rails are all plastic, no metal.

But the motor in the picture is metal.

It all looks like dark Bley!

PS, I have a classic Star Destroyer. So does Gumby.

Post by **Frank** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:37 am

So how do you control the train? Bluetooth?

ps. Cool! If we ever do another window display we can have
a fleet of Star Destroyers.

Post by **chump** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 4:52 pm

Last I saw there was one still at Kaboodles on Granville Island. Mind you that was before Christmas, so it may be gone. Once a year around Thanksgiving they have a 25 off everything sale, so you might want a heads up if it's still there next year.

Post by **chump** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 11:46 am

Frank wrote: BTW, they don't have a
Star Destroyer anymore. The call of the classic gray was
too strong - I took it home.

Beware the newer 10030 ISDs are in new grey now.

Post by **Gumby** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 2:13 pm

TFM wrote:PS, I have a classic Star Destroyer. So does Gumby.

Haha key word being classic...

Post by **Frank** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 4:38 pm

chump wrote: Beware the newer 10030 ISDs are in new grey now.

Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!?
It's about four weeks now I've had it, so returning could be dicey.
And tomorrow I go away for a week, which doesn't help.
Box was still sealed - I'm reluctant to open it since I made a
promise not to until I get a job. In fact it was still wrapped
with bags taped on since it wouldn't go inside any bag.
I painstakingly peel the tape which wants to pull the picture
off the box, in case I want to try returning it. The date on the
box is 2002 but that doesn't reassure me much.
I do a good 30 minutes of intense web searching to see if there's
any way to check without opening the box. I don't find a single
first hand account of a new gray ISD. The closest was one guy
saying that one type of part in his set was new gray. I wouldn't
put much stock in that either except I think something like that
happened to me recently.
Still worried I slit the seals and open the box. Inside are four of
those damn glued boxes. Oh well, no going back now. I try to
slit one open without tearing the paper but that's pretty well
impossible. I dump out a few plastic bags of beams and plates.
(First set I've seen with only one or two part types per bag!)
The dark gray is pretty easy to check, but I always have trouble
spotting new light gray, sometimes even when it's right beside
a classic piece. There's no way I can tell looking through a
plastic bag. I make a tiny slit (still thinking about returning)
and slip out a light gray beam. It looks good.
You can bet I'll be checking each piece carefully when I start
building, but based on what I've seen first hand and on the web
I suspect the new gray ISD is a myth, a vicious rumor.
Anyone care to disagree?

Post by **chump** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 4:43 pm

I believe I read it on bricklink forums. I imagine the stock at that store is pretty old though. I can't imagine them ordering it in again.

Post by **J1A3L5** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 6:34 pm

Hi and congrats on getting the ISD. It's a great set, though it can have internal problems if on display too long...

About the old/new grey issue. I do know reliably that people have discovered the odd new grey piece in, but that the bulk of the set was old grey. This was about a year ago, so things could have changed. I may be wrong, but I recall that someone discovered new coloured bracket pieces in a set.

If you get new grey parts, I'd complain to LEGO. After all, they did promise that pre-colour-change sets would remain old colours forever.

-John "J1A3L5"

Post by **chump** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 10:27 pm

Here is the relevant thread from bricklink.

http://www.bricklink.com/messageThread. ... nID=127598

And some more about the colour change in Jake's Blog.

http://www.bricksonthebrain.com/blog/in ... mentID=226

Although, as said before, I'm sure this doesn't apply to the set you have. I imagine most small stores would have bought at the initial run and have not restocked. It most likely applies to new sets bought through S@H.

Post by **Frank** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 3:42 pm

Thanks for digging that up, chump. It's good to have more
information. This is heartening:

"...sets that have significant amounts of grey, like the SW and KK line, won't see substitutions at all."

Absolutely correct.

Posted by: Jake

Since I saw bags full of old dark grey, I can probably
stop losing sleep. Probably the worst I'll have to deal with is a few
accidental new greys.
It's also good to know I probably wasn't dreaming when I
saw a mix of old and new gray in a set I opened recently.
It was one type of part in both shades, which isn't supposed
to happen - a production screw up I guess.
I don't know where this store got their sets. I know they haven't
been there for years or I would have seen them. I think I heard
the owner say he got several last October and this was the last
to sell.

Post by **Gumby** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 7:12 pm

Hi Frank,

The store you bought your ISD from doesn't sound like one that sells $400 LEGO sets on a regular basis. Therefore it would be safe to assume that their stock is old. Since the copyright date on your box is 2002, the pieces were probably manufactured around that time, BEFORE the colour change.

As an example, I've seen 500 pc buckets, some with 2003 and others with 2004. I would feel confident in getting old colours for the 2003 bucket, and expect new colours in the 2004 one.

With that said, since the 10030 seems to be a good seller for LEGO, chances are they made a second production run. Unfortunately, this second run is most likely to include bleys.

Hope that helps,