I don’t want to say it too loudly, but I think the fourth quarter 2020/Christmas holiday shopping period has finally worn off. LEGO Shop @ Home is once again building up inventory and things aren’t listed as backordered or out of stock as much. A lot of sets are available again with a few exceptions (like the 2021 modular building). It’s good to have things in stock again and to not go to the site and see everything gone.

Looking back, we had some interesting times. A factory closure, plus a pandemic with people at home, plus online re-sellers, plus the normal buyers all added up to some insane buying. In that time if you read the forums and comments in LEGO AFOL media, you saw a lot of negativism from fans related to the Gift with Purchase sets. It was rightfully so for some items, but not for all in my opinion.

#40448-1: Vintage Car helped drive some of the negativism. It arrived at the start of 2021 and lasted just a few days. It was supposed to be out for about 10 days, but didn’t make it that long. Fans were disappointed the fan created item didn’t last. Now you can get it on Bricklink for around $20 and Amazon.com around $30.

#30628-1: The Monster Book of Monsters was initially a Barnes & Noble exclusive set in the US. Resellers gobbled them up in the hopes of turning a profit. Then it went live on LEGO Shop @ Home and it went away after a day or two. Then it came back… after starting on 1 Jan 2021, it now says it will be available through 14 March 2021. So maybe the initial feelings of distraught in the community were too early…

Then there was #40416-1: Ice Skating Rink which was available in December 2020. In the US, you had to purchase $150 or more of products which became a challenge as everything was sold out. I placed an order in December that ended up not making it to its final destination. LEGO Customer Service was awesome and they are re-sending the order… and it includes this gift with purchase set. So it leads me to believe LEGO has more of these available. Perhaps we will see this set pop up again.

The last one I’ll mention is available at the time of this post. #40450-1: Amelia Earhart Tribute is the name and number. It started on 6 March and is scheduled to end on 14 March. You have to purchase over $100 of items in the US to qualify. I saw some speculation that LEGO would run out of stock fast, but it doesn’t appear to have happened. We’ll see what happens as the promotion ends, but it looks like the concerns about gift with purchases and their quantities available may have been resolved since the Vintage Car set was released at the beginning of the year.

What are your thoughts? Is the Christmas LEGO frenzy over? Are we back to normal times where you don’t have to worry about panic buying sets since they may go out of stock never to return again?

Happy building!