LEGO prices on the rise…

Someone has been playing with Wingardium Leviosa – and sent LEGO prices floating up. This is not surprising as prices are going up on pretty much everything else, including plastic, energy and shipping which will affect LEGO’s costs. Luckily, the impact on Harry Potter sets seems limited so far. This is what we know…

Today, LEGO has announced that some of its products – according to Jay’s Brick Blog about 25% of the sets available – will see a price increase in August/September. It is bad news as licensed sets like those in the Harry Potter theme are already very expensive.

I’ve looked around and found a preliminary list on Stonewars indicating the price increase in Euros for most themes. I’d expect a similar magnitude of price increases outside EU. I should emphasise that this is not an official list, and there could be more sets affected – and price changes could differ. But it gives an indication of what to expect.

According to the list, the affected LEGO Harry Potter sets are:

• 75968 – 4 Privet Drive (from €69.99 to €79.99 – a 14% increase)
• 76388 – Hogsmeade Village Visit (from €79.99 to €89.99 – a 13% increase)
• 76389 – Chamber of Secrets (from €139.99 to €149.99 – a 7% increase)
• 76399 – Hogwarts Magical Trunk (from €59.99 to €64.99 – an 8% increase)
• 76402 – Hogwarts Dumbledore’s Office (from €79.99 to €89.99 – a 13% increase)

The Privet Drive set came out in 2020 and the two next sets on the list in 2021. The last two sets are from this year – Hogwarts Dumbledore’s Office from the June wave, which hasn’t even been released in all countries yet.

In my reviews of some of the sets coming out this June (see Reviews page), I have noted prices are higher than equivalent sets released last year – up to 25%, which seems to indicate that the price increases has been built into the retail pricing in most new sets. It is therefore surprising to see Dumbledore’s office on the list.

Here is the official Statement from LEGO on the price updates:

The current global economic challenges of increased raw material and operating costs are impacting many businesses.

Putting consumers first is at the heart of what we do as a company, and for some time, we have absorbed these costs to keep pricing stable. However, as these costs have continued to rapidly rise, we have taken the decision to increase the price on some of our sets. This increase will come into effect in August and September.

The increase will differ depending on the set and prices will change on around a quarter of the portfolio. On some sets we will not alter price, on others there will be a single digit increase and on larger, more complex sets the percentage increase will be higher.

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If you are after any of those sets listed, it might be a good idea to buy them ahead of August if you can. I will provide further information as it becomes available.

Till then, Build the Magic!