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Why are Bionicle G2 sets so expensive?


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I've been prowling eBay, Bricklink, and Amazon for Bionicle G2. Obviously, I'm gonna give a pass to Amazon considering everything there is overpriced.

However, G2 on eBay and Bricklink have seemed to increase tenfold ever since I last checked on them a few years ago. Why? If G2 was a true flop with few people buying it, why would it sell for so much on the aftermarket? G1 sells for relatively cheap, and that line and in an extent it's parts have been gone for almost a decade by now. 

 

 

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I noticed the same, it seems odd to me that the much hated on G2 is so pricy.

Going back through old Catalogs i thought maybe i should get myself Tahu Uniter of Fire, which i considered quite pricy with its 19,99€ back then but...grafik.png.df3faac408933804598bb7db0bcac971.pngwhoa thats a lot

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It sells for so much because it was a flop. The sets, particularly the 2016 sets, weren't on shelves too long and weren't purchased by that many people, so there just aren't that many out there to be sold (making them a rarity and driving up the price now that they're no longer available). The final wave is especially rare, since in the US it was TRU exclusive - even Lego stores didn't carry it.

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11 hours ago, TuragaNuva said:

It sells for so much because it was a flop. The sets, particularly the 2016 sets, weren't on shelves too long and weren't purchased by that many people, so there just aren't that many out there to be sold (making them a rarity and driving up the price now that they're no longer available). The final wave is especially rare, since in the US it was TRU exclusive - even Lego stores didn't carry it.

Exactly. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have bought up the 2016 wave then and there. But because it flopped, fewer people have it to resale, thus driving up the value. Not to mention that "rare failed Lego theme" can have a ring to it that can draw in some collectors. 

Compare that to 2001, where most sets can be found easily for cheap used; because 2001 was so successful and huge a lot of people have them and are willing to resale.

52641688958_d61c0bc049_w(1).jpg.c0871df0de376218d7ca2bc4f409e17d.jpg

All aboard the hype train!

 

 

 

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41 minutes ago, Iron_Man5 said:

It's a pity, I really wanted to collect the G2 Tahu and his protector/creature as to complete my Tahu collection, but as of right now, they're *way* to expensive for my wallet right now... :(

Same, I really wanted to collect G2 back in 2015 but I could only afford one Toa and one Protector

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On 7/11/2020 at 6:38 PM, Iron_Man5 said:

It's a pity, I really wanted to collect the G2 Tahu and his protector/creature as to complete my Tahu collection, but as of right now, they're *way* to expensive for my wallet right now... :(

I recently found one for just 10€ on Ebay kleinanzeigen, guess i was lucky
The best option seems to be to get them in a bigger collection of parts/figures or in places like the facebook marketplace

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The best option is to keep an eye on Bricklink, eBay, thrift stores and Facebook Marketplace for the occasional deal. I have recently ordered five G2 sets I found near or below MSRP from a seller near me on Facebook Marketplace. Mind you his listing was up for all of 45 minutes before I stepped in and snapped it up, so be aware that any G2 set can and likely will be quickly grabbed up as soon as a Bionicle fan spots it at a good price. Bricklink  and eBay can be trickier to find good prices on, since so many of the sets are already so expensive there its unlikely that anyone will lower their prices, and even if they did lower their prices you can bet they will again be gobbled up quickly. Another option, check used Lego stores like Bricks and Minifigures and dig through used parts bins, its likely that many G2 sets were sold "disassembled" in bulk to the store, and you can find many of the pieces needed loose in the bulk bins and if you can manage to find all the parts you can piece it together at home for a fraction of the cost. 

52641688958_d61c0bc049_w(1).jpg.c0871df0de376218d7ca2bc4f409e17d.jpg

All aboard the hype train!

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Xboxtravis said:

The best option is to keep an eye on Bricklink, eBay, thrift stores and Facebook Marketplace for the occasional deal. I have recently ordered five G2 sets I found near or below MSRP from a seller near me on Facebook Marketplace. Mind you his listing was up for all of 45 minutes before I stepped in and snapped it up, so be aware that any G2 set can and likely will be quickly grabbed up as soon as a Bionicle fan spots it at a good price. Bricklink  and eBay can be trickier to find good prices on, since so many of the sets are already so expensive there its unlikely that anyone will lower their prices, and even if they did lower their prices you can bet they will again be gobbled up quickly. Another option, check used Lego stores like Bricks and Minifigures and dig through used parts bins, its likely that many G2 sets were sold "disassembled" in bulk to the store, and you can find many of the pieces needed loose in the bulk bins and if you can manage to find all the parts you can piece it together at home for a fraction of the cost. 

I think Bricklink and brick and mortar Lego stores are the best option. A lot of the sellers on eBay and Facebook Marketplace are usually just selling stuff they found from their kids or stuff they found. They (sometimes) aren't very experienced in pricing sets and will usually charge you a lot of money for somewhat minuscule sets. G1 sets on eBay and FM are alright, they sell for usually around 1.5x their MSRP, but G2 is a whole 'nother story. Last month, I got a sealed Skull Slicer off Bricklink for $8 and current listings for G2 on Bricklink look a lot lower than they do on eBay.

However, I do agree with you that sets do get gobbled up fast. A few weeks ago, I saw a listing (bid) on eBay for a parts lot, and in the picture, you could clearly make out a Tahu Uniter, Ketar, and a headless Pohatu Uniter. People jumped on that bid and it sold for around $40 IIRC.

I'm not very experienced on thrift stores, but I assume that you could probably pick up some G1 sets, but probably not G2, since they're relatively new and people might still want them.  

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35 minutes ago, BonkleFanatic said:

Yeah, it's pretty sad how now one of the only ways to get cheap G2 is to buy the knockoffs.

I actually decided to try and order one from aliexpress, we´ll see if/when it arrives.
Seeing that Lego sells neither replacement parts nor the sets anymore, i thought i´d test it to see how it compares to the original ones i bought back in 2016.
Still it´s a shame that these knockoffs are like exact copies of Legos sets but still get sold everywhere...

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4 hours ago, robotfan said:

I actually decided to try and order one from aliexpress, we´ll see if/when it arrives.
Seeing that Lego sells neither replacement parts nor the sets anymore, i thought i´d test it to see how it compares to the original ones i bought back in 2016.
Still it´s a shame that these knockoffs are like exact copies of Legos sets but still get sold everywhere...

I bought one of them from Aliexpress and I got it about a month ago. It's honestly a pretty good copy, but there's obviously problems. The trans pieces were slightly less glossy than the originals, the bone and shell pieces were extremely tight or really loose, the pins and pin-holes weren't molded very well and had problems connecting, and some pieces were very sharp. However, for the price you'd pay for a knockoff vs an actual set, it's worth it.

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