UPDATE (9/26/08): You can order your copy of the set by following the directions in How to get your 7979 Castle Advent Calendar, currently at the top of the front page.
A couple weeks ago we found out that 7979 Castle Advent Calendar would likely not be available in some of the markets where LEGO is normally available, including the US and Canada.
Today, I’m pleased to report that a very limited number of this set will be made available starting Friday, September 26 at noon Eastern Daylight Time (9:00 AM Pacific).
The set will not be made available to the general public through the LEGO Shop online, so you’ll need a special code from us. With that code, you’ll be able to call the LEGO Shop at Home service, give them the code, and order up to two (2) sets per household.
Note: If for some reason Brothers-Brick.com isn’t available for you around noon EDT tomorrow, the code will also be made available through the LEGO Ambassadors representing the various LEGO fan communities, including Classic-Castle.com.
This is great news for the LEGO fan community here in North America, and demonstrates the power of coming together behind a common cause and the persistence of our advocates on the LEGO Community Team.
Please check back again tomorrow at noon Eastern (9:00 AM Pacific) for the code you’ll need when calling LEGO Shop at Home.
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School sucks.
Calling it now: Brother’s Brick goes down at noon.
@Zepher: So does being at work, or in Australia.
Unfortunately, that’s the way the cookie crumbles. :(
@ry: Let’s hope not! (But thus the backup plan.)
what price will it be?
@donney – I believe it will be 30 USD
@ Andrew: Just jokes, not wishing the worst on you.
Sweet! I have a half day tomorrow! I’m so getting this!
This is great. LEGO at least is going half way to help us, but its not so great for me, who is working at 12pm. But never-the-less, kudos to LEGO.
Darn, damned school. :(
So much for keeping this a secret from the general public.
Awesome!
^ Readers of The Brothers Brick are just as much members of the LEGO fan community as Classic Castle members are. If this is communicated through the Ambassadors to LEGO fan communities, that, by definition, must include TBB readers. That’s the only way this is fair.
So, is it available online or only by phone? Your post first says, “through the LEGO Shop online” but then says, “the code you’ll need when calling LEGO Shop at Home.” Just thought I’d better check now.
I really only want the three new minifigs so this may even be worth it if it’s going to be limited quantities. Not many BL sellers will have them so at $10 a fig plus a bunch of neat parts=worth buying.
@Ted: “The set will not be made available to the general public through the LEGO Shop online…. You’ll be able to call…” ;-)
We’ll be sure to include the phone number when we post about this tomorrow.
Phenomenal, now can you make them release the Premium Collector’s Guide here? :P
@Andrew: Except not all readers of TBB are AFOLs. This would have been much better served announced on the different community websites individually instead of announced here. What if Gizmodo picks this up, or any of the other non-AFOL blogs?
Ai yi yi!
It is up on the Australian site now. My order is in.
@Sava:
I use TBB as my main AFOL source. There’s no way to keep an annoucement like this quiet unless you’re going an email-only route. Personally I’m glad they posted the info here, otherwise I would have missed out on the offer…and I definitely qualify as an AFOL. This is a LEGO blog aimed at the LEGO community – it seems sad that you’d rather not have information posted here just because it’s…..popular.
This is stupid, just extremely stupid.
Why can’t they just ship over some shipments to the stores? I’m not wasting $6 more to get this damn thing to ship. This is a joke. Screw you LEGO, this isn’t a fix at all.
Wow, some people are simply NEVER satisfied.
@David:
Assuming you want one, go buy yours from a European retailer then.
My wife says I can only order it if I wait for each day in Advent and use the calendar :) (If I agree maybe I can get by with ordering 2)
how much is limited?
how long will it last?
will it be avalible at 4:00 pm eastern?
some one tell me something!!
hallelujah475@yahoo.com
@SIDNEY
No one knows answers to any of those questions. I get the feeling it will not be around till 4pm, mostly because everyone and their dog wants one.
Thanks for sharing TBB, I visit your site everyday and I’m glad you’re sharing, I don’t know what makes the other commenters think that everyone else visiting this site doesn’t deserve a chance to order this set, and what makes anyone think that the people visitng gizmodo, a gadget site would want to order this set?
@David – You are such a ray of sunshine.
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Seems like Lego is testing the waters for more exclusive offers. If they find that offering a set in a narrow window to AFOLs pays off, perhaps they’ll begin to consider more massclusive offerings like other design led toys purchased by adults (Kubricks, urban vinyl etc). I wonder what such a model would look like working with a company that also does very large volume for other products.
As an AFOL who lurks everywhere and uses TBB as, as someone else also indicated, my primary Lego source, I appreciate the nod to some of us who mightn’t get this information otherwise.
As it stands, it was–at very least–a “bold” move for Lego to not distribute the set in North America as it was. This “limited distribution” still isn’t a complete fix, as I’m sure there are a lot of kids out there that won’t have access to this set, just because they’re not ‘Net savvy or already involved in some predominantly AFOL community. For those kids, it almost seems fair to at least keep that code up someplace that not only the fan community trusts and turns to, but that some enterprising parent might find (or even already follow), to give some special child an extra surprise for the holiday season.
And, no disrespect to the AFOL community, by any means, but Lego is still a toy; to clamor over keeping a set “exclusive” to only adult fans seems to stab at the heart at what Lego is all about. I may only be a lurker at best–and thus, my words mightn’t bear that much weight–but if running the risk of exposing this information to a few “ebay opportunists” allows just a few kids to even experience a rare set such as this, then so be it. As it is, they’re the ones paying for Lego’s marketing decision, when they should be (if you’ll forgive the turn of phrase) playing for it.
So thanks again, Andrew and co., for opening this up a little more (and, of course, to all the Ambassadors who helped make this possible in the first place). In no uncertain terms, it’s appreciated…
@gazakull:
There are LEGO fans who occasionally blog about LEGO there.
@Timothy:
I don’t think this would hit gizmodo, or that the amount of Lego fans there would mess this up for everyone. To lego, shame on you for not making the most bad ass Advent calender ever available to the public in the US, we have to be a significant customer base, why not release this set everywhere?
@ Andrew: Your wording, though now understandable, was ambiguous. If you say, ““The set will not be made available to the general public through the LEGO Shop online” that implies it WILL be available to code holders online. ;) Perhaps it would have been better to leave out any mention of “online” at all since that is NOT a venue through which it will be available. :) Wait… why am I trying to prevent confusion? All you casual fans, you can order through the website. :O
please tel me the code!!!!!!!!!
In case anyone’s looking here for the code, see http://www.brothers-brick.com/2008/09/26/how-to-get-your-7979-castle-advent-calendar-news/ instead.
^ Thanks Bill. I was on a bus while that post published itself, so I couldn’t edit this one or leave a comment until now.
with kind of paiment do they ask for?
If they didn’t bring this set to the US, what other awesome sets am I missing out on?
I just bought mine today (Tuesday 9/30/08) because I didn’t hear about it till now and there was no problem ordering. But I wouldn’t wait too much longer.
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