In this day and age, when a product never gets an official launch, it may still be available elsewhere. Maybe it’s because the item/s are a limited-run free giveaway to a select few. The LEGO employee Christmas gift-sets spring to mind. Maybe the product launch was cancelled for certain production issues. That won’t stop said items from landing elsewhere, like eBay, where they fetch high online prices. As it turns out, that just happened to a certain seasonal holiday LEGO GWP supposed to run this December. Brick Fanatics has it that Mr. and Mrs. Claus’ Living Room (40489) is worth double-digit dollars in online aftermarket.
Believe it or not, the aforementioned Mr. and Mrs. Claus’ Living Room GWP (40489) is now around $735 on eBay. The online listing of this unreleased set has been flooded with bids. All identities are protected by eBay due to the item being privately listed. If this keeps up, this unfortunate GWP could become one of the priciest LEGO sets yet auctioned in that platform.
The official LEGO statement cancelling Mr. and Mrs. Claus’ Living Room (40489) only stated quality issues as reason. Brick Fanatics theorizes that the “quality issue” might be the Santa minifig. Not only is he carrying a “Naughty List,” his facial expression also seems sour. Santa carried a “Nice List” on Santa’s Sleigh (40499), possibly making this GWP complementary. Whatever the reason, 40489 never went active this December. LEGO reran Santa’s Front Yard (40484) GWP instead.