Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

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The-Daryl
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Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by The-Daryl » Thu Dec 13, 2012 5:32 pm

I was trying to get this set for the holiday. In the U.S., it's a Target exclusive, so only 2 places to get it that arean't aftermarket/resellers.

S@H has been "sold out" about 2 weeks (at least), with no "expected in stock date x/x/x". And all my local Targets have also been OOS (I check daily online w/ "Find in Store" button). Today when I went to check, at Target.com it not only says not available online, but also not sold in stores...

I had heard that MF was ending next year, so I was just wondering if some sets end earlier than expected, or if this is just a back in a couple weeks/months sort of thing.

Thanks in advance for any information :)

EDIT: Sorry, posted this in wrong forum, if a mod could move it when they get a chance. Apologies for the trouble.

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by SpaceViking » Thu Dec 13, 2012 7:06 pm

I fear that it is done. I got my copy at Target a few weeks ago, during one of the sales, and it was listed as NCF (no carry forward), which is the signal that it wont be stocked in-store again. One never knows, though.

I'm curious if its the whole line that's on the way out, or if there is a second wave planned.

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by The-Daryl » Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:03 pm

Thanks, SpaceViking. I wish I would have known they were NCF a few weeks ago (they had stacks of them at several local Targets) - I prioritized higher priced sets until holiday shopping was mostly done, thinking I would have a few months to get the mid-priced ones - Now it looks like this IS a higher priced set in aftermarket, haha. Oh well, live and learn I guess. Maybe they'll come back in stock online at some point.

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by lemus » Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:29 pm

I had only 2 from target. One that I parted out for minifigures and one that I put sealed in my BL store, I listed it long time ago with minimal profit since I did not think it was going to do so well, the price guide did not seem very good at that time. My surprise yesterday morning was that somebody bought it and when I checked the price guide, I was the cheapest one by far. The set is already in a USPS truck somewhere on its way to California. I checked target and S@H just to find the same results as you guys.
I guess I could have made more profit on it if I had been more attentive to the price guide and probably I should not have parted out the other one either, but Oh well you can't always win. And I did not lose money either so overall happy :-)

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by SpaceViking » Fri Dec 14, 2012 6:55 am

lemus wrote:I had only 2 from target. One that I parted out for minifigures and one that I put sealed in my BL store, I listed it long time ago with minimal profit since I did not think it was going to do so well, the price guide did not seem very good at that time. My surprise yesterday morning was that somebody bought it and when I checked the price guide, I was the cheapest one by far. The set is already in a USPS truck somewhere on its way to California. I checked target and S@H just to find the same results as you guys.
I guess I could have made more profit on it if I had been more attentive to the price guide and probably I should not have parted out the other one either, but Oh well you can't always win. And I did not lose money either so overall happy :-)
I know how you feel. When I first came out of my dark age, thanks to my son getting into LEGO for the first time, a similar thing happened to me with the Agents Volcano Base (8673). Picked up two at a TRU BOGO50 sale, and sold the second set right after Christmas, for cheap.

Even these days, I'm regularly surprised at both how fast some sets sell out, and afterwards, how much some people are willing to pay for out-of-print sets.

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by Thundarr » Fri Dec 14, 2012 4:52 pm

Yes its done. Its been discontinued in the Target computer. I just got off the phone with them. All other Monster Fighters sets are listed as "Active" in the Target computer. Had it been less popular, I suspect it would have been placed on clearance like the SW Naboo Fighter and City Bank Transfer exclusives. The Zombies is completely sold out in all 15+ Targets in my area. In fact some stores showed negative 1 quanity. Its a cool set - I wish I would have picked up a few more during the sale a few weeks ago (didn't have enough cash), but at least I got 1 for $25. Better check your stores quick folks, if you want one.

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by The-Daryl » Fri Dec 14, 2012 5:19 pm

Yep. Just spoke with a manager this afternoon. The set is discontinued in the Target system... I tried calling LEGO customer service to ask if it was discontinued there as well and was told (with no air of confidence and many apologies) that it didn't have a back in stock date because they were busy trying to make more :???:

Anyways good luck to any and all looking on having some locally. Prices seem about 150%+ and up from retail in the aftermarket.

(Still kicking myself that I didn't pick up one 2 weeks ago :sad: )

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by Marcus70 » Sat Dec 15, 2012 10:48 pm

How about the MF Vampire Castle (9468)?
S&H, Target, Walmart, TRU and Amazon are all sold-out online. I only just see a few remaining in stores, I wonder if they have already stopped production on this set.

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by SpaceViking » Sun Dec 16, 2012 8:43 am

Marcus70 wrote:How about the MF Vampire Castle (9468)?
S&H, Target, Walmart, TRU and Amazon are all sold-out online. I only just see a few remaining in stores, I wonder if they have already stopped production on this set.
Looks like the castle OOS is just temporary. Entertainment Earth is taking pre-orders for it.
http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodi ... ber=LG9468" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by vynsane » Sun Dec 16, 2012 8:50 am

The-Daryl wrote:I tried calling LEGO customer service to ask if it was discontinued there as well and was told (with no air of confidence and many apologies) that it didn't have a back in stock date because they were busy trying to make more
Now THAT's interesting - not that it's officially discontinued by LEGO, just discontinued by Target. So the possibility remains that we'll see it pop back up at LEGO stores and online. Glad to hear, as I thought I had missed out.
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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by legohunter » Sun Dec 16, 2012 9:24 am

vynsane wrote:So the possibility remains that we'll see it pop back up at LEGO stores and online.
I could not find this product from lego shope@home anymore. It should be discontinued/EOL so that it has been pulled out from the page instead of showing OOS. In fact, I did not have a high expectation this set will show up at the shelf again.

I was upset I haven't yet got a copy of it. I have never heard a high demand lego set only having a lifetime of 3-5 months. What's wrong with this set that makes TLG pulled it off from production line? This set was awesome except for the hammer vehicle.

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by The-Daryl » Sun Dec 16, 2012 11:46 am

Legohunter - You can still find it on the page (even the .ca) by looking up "9465"... Here's the U.S. link:

http://shop.lego.com/en-US/The-Zombies-9465

I can't imagine why a set would live such a short time :(

Isn't the Orc Forge also a Target exclusive? They still have those in stock/carried... Did those come out a lot later?

And Vynsane - notice I said with "no air of confidence" - She was very friendly, and apologetic, but she didn't really seem to know anything other than what the computer was telling her; that it had no in stock date, but was still in the computer basically. I actually keep meaning to just write an email, and see if I can get a more definitive response.

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by dulait » Sun Dec 16, 2012 12:10 pm

legohunter wrote:
vynsane wrote:So the possibility remains that we'll see it pop back up at LEGO stores and online.
I could not find this product from lego shope@home anymore. It should be discontinued/EOL so that it has been pulled out from the page instead of showing OOS. In fact, I did not have a high expectation this set will show up at the shelf again.

I was upset I haven't yet got a copy of it. I have never heard a high demand lego set only having a lifetime of 3-5 months. What's wrong with this set that makes TLG pulled it off from production line? This set was awesome except for the hammer vehicle.
I believe if there are high demands, LEGO will put them back on their lines just for another run or two. As someone already mentioned, being sold out but as long as it is not retired, there is still a chance LEGO will make more in the future as long as there are demands for it, for example just look at Minecraft.

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by legohunter » Sun Dec 16, 2012 12:13 pm

The-Daryl wrote:Legohunter - You can still find it on the page (even the .ca) by looking up "9465"... Here's the U.S. link:

http://shop.lego.com/en-US/The-Zombies-9465

I can't imagine why a set would live such a short time :(
It did not show up when I clicked to the "monster fighters" theme tab.

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by The-Daryl » Sun Dec 16, 2012 12:19 pm

Ah, I usually just use the set numbers instead of overall theme buttons, so hadn't even noticed. But clicking that, it doesn't appear. That doesn't bode well :(

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by Brickmythic » Sun Dec 16, 2012 3:23 pm

"Not only is Zombies sold out and EOL, but the entire Monster Fighters line is going to be EOL shortly.

In the most recent and last Monster Fighters comic included in TLG flyers/ads/magazines the Monster Fighter story is concluded with the moonstones being gathered which summoned the Galaxy Squad bug aliens. This product theme and story is the Monster Fighters replacement.

The Haunted House will be available for an extended period while the theme will not. As well as the Exclusive Halloween minifigure set that includes the popular brown suit zombie, ghost and witch.

I suspect the Vampire Castle will be one of the most difficult Lego Castles to obtain.

Global retailers/corporate agenda essentially wanted more Superheroes, media driven stronger themes to take up their shelf space.

Zombies and Castle were only strong selling sets in the theme which wasn't enough to appease retailers.
The fact Zombies was an exclusive didn't settle well with 'other interests', all retailers wanted Zombies on their shelf and that just can't happen right now.

So in a nutshell its better to just move on."


thats basically what I've heard from a few reliable sources.

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by unclephn » Sun Dec 16, 2012 11:23 pm

I managed to snag one from S@H back in October just before the double VIP points promo. I was worried about not being able to pick one up before it was discontinued, so I kept checking its availability. It finally came up as 'expected ship date November 22', so I raced to my local store for 'shop & ship' (to save on shipping!). As luck would have it, the set arrived two weeks earlier than expected!

Moral of the story: Don't wait until the absolute last minute to pick up a set!

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by The-Daryl » Mon Dec 17, 2012 12:54 am

The moral is don't wait until the absolute last minute on something that is a few months old? lol...

So what is the moral about how to guess when it's before the last minute? :p

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by Brickmythic » Mon Dec 17, 2012 2:15 am

The-Daryl wrote:The moral is don't wait until the absolute last minute on something that is a few months old? lol...

So what is the moral about how to guess when it's before the last minute? :p

hehe Monster fighters has been on shelves since early April of 2012 around here. maybe even earlier.

that gives it a year which is the norm for non licensed themes from time to time. (assuming sets will still be floating on shelves till April ish)

Even licensed sets such as Black Pearl sometimes go EOL after hardly a year. Queens Anne Revenge and the rest of the pirates theme was in production roughly 6 months longer than Black Pearl yet the Black Pearl was one of the first to sell out.

The Black Pearl was only on the market for a year and 2 months! One of the most iconic ships in pop culture media and art!

hmm maybe it has something to do with 'evil' themed sets. haha

One can never really tell. all we can do is speculate but I'd wager Monster Fighters to be completely gone by June rotation cycle other than Haunted House.

I could totally see Lego selling Zombies from Shop at Home.

good to see Entertainment Earth taking preorders for Vampyre Castle. thought i missed that one!

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Re: Monster Fighters The Zombies done?

Post by legohunter » Mon Dec 17, 2012 10:53 am

unclephn wrote:
Moral of the story: Don't wait until the absolute last minute to pick up a set!
How am I supposed to expect this zombie set only last 3-5 months?
Brickmythic wrote:
hehe Monster fighters has been on shelves since early April of 2012 around here. maybe even earlier.
But not 9465 Zombie set. I found this on the shelves not until Summer. It wasn't unreasonable to wait a little for better deal.

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