UPDATE: The LEGO Creator Expert Detective’s Office (10246) is still available for backorder on December 17 via Amazon, for the same LEGO Store price of $159.99. If you’re wanting to add this to your collection without cashing out additional bucks, then now is the best time to do so.
Early last November, LEGO made a series of announcements that would probably have LEGO collectors and fans rushing in to take action at the last moment. This is the news that a number of LEGO sets have been marked for retirement, which means pretty soon they’re going to run out just everywhere. And this time around, we might be seeing the curtain fall for two of the most loved LEGO modular sets around: the Detective’s Office (10246) and Brick Bank (10251).
Normally, the announcement that a LEGO set is to be retired means that it will eventually be removed from the production line, making it more and more difficult to find in any LEGO brand or certified store, with third-party retailers taking advantage of the situation. While the listings on Shop@Home haven’t been updated as of yet, their availability statuses are either “Sold Out” or “Call to Check Product Availability”.
Indeed, the LEGO Creator Expert Brick Bank (10251) is now gone seemingly everywhere online, meaning, if any remain unsold they’re either unlisted or to be found only on some retail shelves. Now, the Detective’s Office (10246), which was a star last Black Friday, only has one set left available on Amazon.
Both these Creator Expert LEGO sets were part of a series of modular building sets that could be built side by side to create an urban street that’s more detailed than usually seen in LEGO City perhaps. The retirement of these two sets will also mean that their aftermarket prices will certainly balloon as well.