Seriously $400 Lego set for an 8 year old?

janie1234

janie1234

Cathlete
So my son couldn't stop talking about his friend who's mom bought him a $400 Lego Death Star set. http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=10188
Seriously? . . . . .I guess if you have complete and utter disposable income but how the heck do you beat that for the kids next birthday? Iphone? A car? Vacation home???? A home visit from Mark Hammil and Carrie Fisher??? Holy moly it would have to be a cold day in hell before I would buy that for my kid even if I had disposable income. I might spend $300 on a bike with gears for my kid, . . . .or maybe even a guitar or muscial instrument? , . . . .food and water for a small impoverished city maybe. I know I'm being a total snot rag for even caring about it but I know I can't be the only one out there that thinks that is excessive.
 
My son would wet himself with excitement if he got that - he's been asking for it for years now (he's 10). I was seriously contemplating getting it for Xmas as his big gift, but just couldn't do it.

It depends on the kid though - if I felt flush, I really would get it for my son. He would LOVE LOVE LOVE it and it would provide him with a LONG time of fun putting it together. You don't always have to "one up" gifts every year/season. At least with DS, he would know that this was a huge purchase and he'd be grateful - not expect something equal or better the next year.

But, this is coming from someone who got both kids an iTouch last year, so take it for what it's worth. :)
 
I know, it's sticker shock.:) I never spent that much on one lego set, but I remember spending what I thought was a lot of money. Legos were a favorite toy in my house. I don't know how much money I have invested in Legos, but I know it's more than $400. I do not feel I wasted money. Now that my boys are grown men, I have all their legos boxed sitting in storage waiting for my grandchildren to enjoy. I can dream can't I?!:D

BTW, I bought my youngest son an ipone for his 21st birthday last Month. So yeah, an iphone is next! LOL
 
It does seem kind of pricey but I like the fact that it is a creative toy offering hours of enjoyment. I'd rather have that for my kid then an expensive video game which I think is not so creative. I don't have young children so I may be wrong about video games but I just feel that kids spend too much time playing with them and don't really play with things that stimulate creative juices.
 
Well I don't have kids so my opinion doesn't really count. My first reaction was that any parent would be crazy to spend that much on some Legos but after reading other parents' posts it didn't seem so insane. After clicking on the link I thought - "I hope DH never sees this 'cause he'll want one!"
 
Wow!!!! That looks like fun stuffs!!!! The most I've ever spent on LEGOS was just over $200 and that was a castle that was discontinued and imported from the UK for DH. That was probably 9 or 10 yrs ago. He built it, and DS has built it as well. LEGOS has always been expensive, those that are tied to another franchise, even more so. However, they last forever, are dang near unbreakable, provide hours of fun, and never go out of style. All that being said, I probably wouldn't spend $400 on a set, but that does look really fun, so if I had it and was in a splurge-y generous mood, I might. Maybe not a birthday, but perhaps Christmas, as the big gift. Parents drop $300-$400 on video game systems for their kids, so I'm not sure what the difference is. LEGOS are just hunks of plastic, which can make it more difficult to spend that kind of cash, I suppose. Also, keep in mind, while LEGOS don't widely vary in price from store to store, they are always more expensive at the LEGO store, especially the big ones. But they do have some neat-o ones you can't get anywhere else.

To each his own, I guess.

Nan
 
It's crazy. My nine yr old son loves the Star Wars Lego sets. He needs a job if he wants to get the Deathstar. :)
The thing that kills me is after we get one of these monstrosities together, it seems I spend most of my time putting it back together after he tries to play with it and pieces keep falling off. Ugh!!! Makes me want to superglue it together.
 
Seriously, a $400 lego set? I would never buy that. I have 2 girls who are not into legos but I would never spend that much on one gift for them.
 
I have a friend whose son, now 15 years old, has been investing in Legos for years. He has a room (yes, a whole room) just for his Legos. He buys bags of Legos by the pound on eBay. He and his mom even went to a weekend Lego convention in DC. I'm sure $400 for Legos wouldn't even make him blink.
 
double t said:
Makes me want to superglue it together.
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My SIL use to super glue the sets together for her son. I don't know, I think that kind of ruins the point. I know you're suppose to put them together a certain way, but it's also fun to create your own stuff too. :cool:
 
buffettgirl said:
I have a friend whose son, now 15 years old, has been investing in Legos for years. He has a room (yes, a whole room) just for his Legos. He buys bags of Legos by the pound on eBay. He and his mom even went to a weekend Lego convention in DC. I'm sure $400 for Legos wouldn't even make him blink.
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Oh wow, I'll bet his room is really fun to look at!:cool:
 
fit44 said:
I know, it's sticker shock.:) I never spent that much on one lego set, but I remember spending what I thought was a lot of money. Legos were a favorite toy in my house. I don't know how much money I have invested in Legos, but I know it's more than $400. I do not feel I wasted money. Now that my boys are grown men, I have all their legos boxed sitting in storage waiting for my grandchildren to enjoy. I can dream can't I?!:D

BTW, I bought my youngest son an ipone for his 21st birthday last Month. So yeah, an iphone is next! LOL
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I did not get an iphone for my 22 year old, but one that is a smart phone and thought it was a splurge. He loves it.

I probably have 2000 dollars worth of legos stored away. It was the only thing I could not part with when my son moved out. I love legos, and so did my kids, and we have such a huge collection I will just keep them for grandkids some day. Back years ago you used to be able to just buy a bucket of them, not the huge models they have today. I like that better.
 
janie1234 said:
So my son couldn't stop talking about his friend who's mom bought him a $400 Lego Death Star set. http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=10188
Seriously? . . . . .I guess if you have complete and utter disposable income but how the heck do you beat that for the kids next birthday? Iphone? A car? Vacation home???? A home visit from Mark Hammil and Carrie Fisher??? Holy moly it would have to be a cold day in hell before I would buy that for my kid even if I had disposable income. I might spend $300 on a bike with gears for my kid, . . . .or maybe even a guitar or muscial instrument? , . . . .food and water for a small impoverished city maybe. I know I'm being a total snot rag for even caring about it but I know I can't be the only one out there that thinks that is excessive.
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LEGOS today are not the legos of yesterday. LEGOS are big in education - they teach fine motor skills, math skills etc - do a search on lego leagues and competitions. Winning one of these is very prestigious and believe it or not looks good on college applications - schools have clubs that gear kids up for going to these competitions - okay I know he is 8 - but if he is really into legos and capable of building this set, and it can be afforded then why not. Maybe a parent sits down and helps him, what an amazing opportunity to spend time with your child doing something positive. A video game console costs $300 plus the cost of games and memory cards and extra controllers. I would have loved if my 15 year old son had gotten into legos - but his was very short lived. And yes, the big sets come with instructions on how to build it, but from that the kids that are really good will use this info to "build" their own designs. Why do we rush to judge what any parent is willing to do for their child. Now if the set was bought to keep ahead of the Jones, well........... that's still their right. You can't control what others do for their kids, only the way you raise your own.
 
janie1234 said:
So my son couldn't stop talking about his friend who's mom bought him a $400 Lego Death Star set. http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=10188
Seriously? . . . . .I guess if you have complete and utter disposable income but how the heck do you beat that for the kids next birthday? Iphone? A car? Vacation home???? A home visit from Mark Hammil and Carrie Fisher??? Holy moly it would have to be a cold day in hell before I would buy that for my kid even if I had disposable income. I might spend $300 on a bike with gears for my kid, . . . .or maybe even a guitar or muscial instrument? , . . . .food and water for a small impoverished city maybe. I know I'm being a total snot rag for even caring about it but I know I can't be the only one out there that thinks that is excessive.
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Janie:

I agree with you. A $400 set is too much for a 8 year old. If he was older and helped paid for it himself, that would be a different story.

This will be the same kid who gets a brand new car when he turns 17 - I see it all the time in the town i live in :(
 
twosquared said:
LEGOS today are not the legos of yesterday. LEGOS are big in education - they teach fine motor skills, math skills etc - do a search on lego leagues and competitions. Winning one of these is very prestigious and believe it or not looks good on college applications - schools have clubs that gear kids up for going to these competitions - okay I know he is 8 - but if he is really into legos and capable of building this set, and it can be afforded then why not. Maybe a parent sits down and helps him, what an amazing opportunity to spend time with your child doing something positive. A video game console costs $300 plus the cost of games and memory cards and extra controllers. I would have loved if my 15 year old son had gotten into legos - but his was very short lived. And yes, the big sets come with instructions on how to build it, but from that the kids that are really good will use this info to "build" their own designs. Why do we rush to judge what any parent is willing to do for their child. Now if the set was bought to keep ahead of the Jones, well........... that's still their right. You can't control what others do for their kids, only the way you raise your own.
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My son really loves his Legos - both the sets (with instructions), and just the blocks. He'll often disassemble a set he's had put together for a while and come up with new ideas - new ships, buildings, etc. It's VERY VERY creative. And for little kids, it's really great for fine motor skill development. His preschool teacher encouraged us to get him into Lego's when he was .... 2.5yrs old or so because his finger strength needed some work. They did the trick!

He knows the big kits are expensive and is so very mature about it. It's all good. :)
 
Guilty of Lego over-splurge...

My 12-year-old DS loves, loves, loves Legos. It is all he wants for birthday, Christmas... and he is meticulous about putting them together. So DH buys him these outrageous Lego kits... He assembled a replica of a VW beetle in January (Christmas), and now he's working on a 5,000+ piece replica of the Taj Mahal (birthday).

I roll my eyes and grumble when these things arrive, but my kid loves them and my DH loves buying them. (At least he didn't buy the 8-foot-tall Eiffel Tower!)

To our credit, we never did buy the Death Star, although I've seen it in catalogs. By the way, I think that 8 years old is probably too young to put that thing together. Good luck with that! :eek:
 
jacmar said:
Janie:

I agree with you. A $400 set is too much for a 8 year old. If he was older and helped paid for it himself, that would be a different story.
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Yeah, . . . I understand why there is such a hefty price tag. It has the Star Wars tag on it. Legos are great. Love them. Very educational, . . way better than video games.
Yeah they ARE cool and great, . . . . if my son was older and wanted to wash cars and pay for it himself, . .I'd actually pat him on the back by all means. Both my kids 7 and 9 year old saved up for 8 months by baby sitting the neighbors cat and birthday, Christmas money to buy their puppy. 1 month later the puppy is not so interesting anymore, . . and funny enough my son's friend doesn't even play with his $400 lego set and prefers video games instead.
 
Pearlstrand said:
My 12-year-old DS loves, loves, loves Legos. It is all he wants for birthday, Christmas... and he is meticulous about putting them together. So DH buys him these outrageous Lego kits... He assembled a replica of a VW beetle in January (Christmas), and now he's working on a 5,000+ piece replica of the Taj Mahal (birthday).

I roll my eyes and grumble when these things arrive, but my kid loves them and my DH loves buying them. (At least he didn't buy the 8-foot-tall Eiffel Tower!)

To our credit, we never did buy the Death Star, although I've seen it in catalogs. By the way, I think that 8 years old is probably too young to put that thing together. Good luck with that! :eek:
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Kathryn, . . funny enough I like them more than my son does. I ALWAYS end up putting them together for him. Then they fall apart and he gets frustrated. He does not have the best fine motor skills.
VW beetle sounds soooo neat!!! I actually wanted the Eiffel Tower one :eek: . . . .
 
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