LEGO Insiders Weekend is coming up in just a few days. In association with double Insiders points on all purchases, there is also the chance to get up to 3 Exclusive Gifts with Purchase, depending on your spending. But is the promise of double points enough to encourage you to spend big the weekend before the Black Friday Promotion?
I was delighted when the LEGO Group sent over a copy of 40699 Retro Record Player for review: let’s take a look, and see if it brings enough to the table to encourage you to pull the trigger on $US250/$AUD400 in purchases the weekend before some other good looking sets become available?
Let’s take a closer look:
This set has 310 pieces, and a recommended age range of 12+. Not necessarily because it is super complicated, but perhaps because anyone younger is unlikely to have a great ideas as to what a record player might be!
The box is a violety-purplish-pink, in two tones and is labeled a limited edition. There is a picture of the finished model on the front, with the cover open. The rear of the box demonstrates some of the play features of the set, including the set of printed tiles demonstrating musical notes, which sit at the center of the record.
The Elements
Let’s take a look at the elements included, knolled out once again by the Knoller-in-Chief. The set came with 3 numbered bags, as well as a few separate elements.
Amongst the 310 elements are five of the iconic Paradisa transparent arch elements, some 6×12 black , and a variety of light grey plates and tiles, a couple of medium ‘splat gears’ as well as a combination of black bricks, plates and curved slopes. Let’s look at how they come together.
Bag 1:
We start the build off linking the larger plates together, and covering the edges with inverse slopes. while a lot of the build consists of bricks, there are a few tiled areas: one incorporating the turntable elements that will hold the gears, with tiles to ensure smooth running, as well as a couple of smaller tiled regions being hidden for later. I was amused by the ‘jacks’ on the rear panel, representing where cable might plug in to allow speakers or an amplifier to be connected. I presume one is a plug for the power cord. I appreciate the use of the coloured interior bricks, allowing easy alignment of the internal elements.
Bag 2:
The next bag serves to fill in many of the gaps set up in the previous bag – we attach the gears, which articulate with each other; as well as some SNOT elements allowing plates and tiles to sit vertically. While most of the deck is great, there is a black edging, with four tiles to give the impression of buttons: Black, Vibrant Yellow and Vibrant Coral, as well as Medium Azur.
Bag 3:
We move on to construct the hinged lid. Taking advantage of the transparent panels and arched elements, the banel expends over the deck, with the curves coming down flush with the edge, it has been finished with a black trmi, while the with the coloured buttons reflected on the lid. The lid is open at each end. I wonder if the available elements for the lid were key in defining the scale of the final model.
The build is finished off by adding the tone arm – with one of the greatest uses of the generic claw element I have seen for a while. A range of transparent tiles serve as a volume meter, while a printed tile serves as the volume control. Two tiles serve as on/off indicators on the front left.
Bag 4:
We then construct the record: this is a predominantly SNOT construction and a great demonstration of how to create a circle using a mix of curves and straight edged elements
I am particularly fond of the printed tiles around the record’s hub.
The record itself is a little smaller than a compact disc: (I recognise that record players cannot play a CD)
Overall, I Quite enjoyed the build, although the final model was perhaps a little smaller than I imagined it would be, after looking at the packaging. After a spate of vintage builds that were approximately 1:1 in their scaling, this set was a little disappointing. But the other details make it special: the lid support, the detail in the tone arm, and of course, the fact that the disc can be made to spin!
Here is is next to the 31147 Creator 3in1 Retro Camera, one of the better 1:1 scale models for people on a budget.
Should I spend $AUD400/USD250 on Insiders Weekend?
As with many exciting Gifts with Purchase in recent times, I have found the buy in threshold for many desirable GWPs to be increasingly expensive, and this one is no different.
In perspective, the set is listed as having a presumptive value of $AUD44.99/USD29.99 on LEGO.com, although this is a moot point, as the set cannot be purchased directly at this time. BUT If you can limit your spending to $AUD 400, it represents a product with a rebate value of 11%. This value decreases as you increase the final value of the your purchase. BUT DOUBLE INSIDERS POINTS on your purchase means you have 10% of the value of your purchase added to your total for the next time you are seeking to get a discount – so $40 off your next purchase, which might well be on Black Friday.
BUT That’s not all. Because there is also a Creator 3in1 Train model available as a GWP, with an alleged value of $AUD29.99/USD19.99. The Threshold on this set is $AUD280/USD170.
So, lets add this to our Additional value received on our $400AUD purchase:
- 40699 AUD44.99
- 40700 AUD29.99
- Insiders point as discount on a future purchase: $40
Total Value =74.98+40=$AUD114.98 value, if the points are used for discounts, and you sell the GWPs to aid your purchase. At the presumptive values listed on LEGO.com today, this represents an added value of 28.75% to your $400 purchase. Of Course, you could work the system somewhat differently: purchase $400 worth of sets for the purpose of onselling, to allow you to receive the GWP. And you get $114.98 bonus, if you are able to sell off all the sets your bought.
I’ll leave it up to you to decide if this is reasonable value for you. Of course, if you do not have any sets that you are currently looking to buy, you can look at Pick and Build, as well as sets listed as ‘retiring soon’ parts due to retire in early December. It’s also a great chance to pick up those Christmas decorations on your ‘to buy list’ such as Santa’s Post Office, the Christmas Wreath and the Poinsettia
Certainly, you might also find some of the treats in the Rewards Centre appealing. Of course, this reduces potential discounts in the future.
There are a few other special treats available in the Rewards Centre for Insiders Weekend:
In some markets, you are also eligible to win all of the Insiders rewards range, or 1 000 000, that’s one million insiders points (not in Australia, unfortunately)
Overall, I quite like the new record play GWP – it plays on my childhood nostalgia of putting on LPs before going to bed, to say nothing of those teenage years with albums that I suspect my peer group did not tend to listen to. BUT the Threshold is high, needing $AUD400 purchase to trigger this gift with purchase. If you trigger this during the Insiders weekend, you will qualify for at least one other GWP, to say nothing of the equivalent of $40 in discounts on future purchases. Of course, there is then the game of chance you would be playing against the Black Friday sales…will your desired set be available for a discount a week later?
May the odds be ever in your favour!
How will you play the Insiders Weekend/ Gift With Purchase game? leave your comments below.
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Until Next Time,
Play Well!