Deal Guide: Insiders Weekend 2023
I love this time of year. My birthday is in late November (usually same week as Thanksgiving) and there is always so much going on. Aside from Turkey Day, football at its peak, and the jump-off to the Christmas season, we get the always bonkers Black Friday season. Say what you want about the quality year-over-year, but there is always opportunity for LEGO fans to find savings and deals.
This year, LEGO.com and retail stores have marked the always anticipated Insiders Weekend (previously VIP Weekend) for 11/18-11/19 as well as Black Friday and Cyber Monday events the following week on 11/24 and 11/27, respectively. For LEGO content creators this is always a highly publicized time of year, especially with those sharing the leaks of deals to come. Although we do tend to get good information from these leaks, I always like to wait for official material from LEGO so I know exactly what to expect and plan my purchases as efficiently as possible.
Here on the blog I will be percolating all the information and writing a distinct guide for each event - Insiders Weekend, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday - not only to help me collect my thoughts and plan, but maybe to help some of you as well!
DISCLAIMER: I realize other retailers such as Amazon, Target, Walmart, Kohl’s, etc. also offer LEGO deals during this time. This next series of blogs focuses on direct LEGO deals - I do plan to highlight my top deal picks from other retailers separately.
Insiders Weekend 2023
Sat. 11/18 - Sun. 11/19
Discounts and Insider Point Multipliers (2x, 3x, and 4x)
As has been typical with similar events in the last few years, LEGO is offering discounts on select sets ranging from 15% - 25% off listed retail price. For Insiders Weekend we have a slate of 11 sets selected including Assembly Square (10255), Medieval Blacksmith (21325), Ford Mustang (10265), NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander (10266), Winnie the Pooh (21326), UCS Republic Gunship (75309), UCS Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder (75341), NINJAGO City Gardens (71741), Eiffel Tower (10307), The Little Mermaid Royal Clamshell (43225), and Captain America’s Shield (76262).
Next, as Insiders Weekend suggests, it is focused on the LEGO Insiders reward program and exclusive to members of that program. I say exclusive, but it’s so easy to sign up for the rewards program. Along with discounts and other special rewards offered in the rewards center, the main draw of Insiders Weekend is 2x Insiders Points on ALL purchases during the weekend of 11/18 - 11/19. Beginning 11/17, LEGO is also offering 3x and 4x Insiders Points on selected sets
Here’s what you have to be aware of - these set discounts are available starting 11/17, but Insiders Weekend is from 11/18 - 11/19. So, if you want to maximize both the discounts and event perks you will need to wait until 11/18.
I’m sure this is by LEGO’s design for various reasons, including to drive traffic to the site ahead of Insiders Weekend as well as increase Insiders membership. However, don’t allow this 1 day delay persuade or pressure you in pulling the trigger too early. Whether you care or not about Insiders Points you have to be a LEGO Insider in order to access the discounts so might as well take advantage of the 2x points for Insiders Weekend. Also, I don’t think there is any worry of the discounted sets selling out and becoming unavailable prior to Insiders Weekend kicking off - LEGO typically chooses these sets for discounts due to surplus inventory or lower sales (with the exception of the UCS Republic Gunship that is currently Out of Stock online).
With the above said, here are important notes if you are looking to maximize your purchases for 11/17 and Insiders Weekend:
You HAVE to be a member of the LEGO Insiders program in order to take advantage of any of the perks or deals discussed here. Be sure to sign up ahead of time here.
The dollar discounts for each of the selected sets do NOT automatically apply in your cart or at checkout. You will need to ‘redeem’ in the Insiders Reward center for the individual set discount, which will provide you with a code needed to apply at checkout.
Again, discounts on selected sets are available beginning 11/17, but 2x Insiders Points for Insiders Weekend only apply 11/18 - 11/19.
In form with the theme of my content, I did the math for your so you didn’t have to! Here are all the selected sets with their respective discounts along with what to expect from 2x Insiders Points for Insiders Weekend.
Discounted Sets and 2x Insiders Points
In addition, as mentioned above, LEGO is offering selected sets to earn 3x and 4x Insiders Points beginning 11/17 through 11/27:
Sets Earning 3x Insiders Points
Sets Earning 4x Insiders Points
Gift With Purchases (GWPs)
Aside from the deals, discounts, and opportunities for more Insiders Points, the biggest draw for any LEGO fan in the know are Gift With Purchases (GWPs). VIP Weekend (not sure if I will ever get used to Insiders) is notorious for multiple, stacking GWPs that add that much more excitement to your holiday haul! Here are the GWPs available 11/18 - 11/19:
Creator Winter Holiday Train Polybag
Availability: In-Store ONLY
Spending Threshold: $40
Eligible Purchases: City, DUPLO, Friends, DREAMZzz, Harry Potter, NINJAGO
Value: ~$4.99
There’s not much to say or highlight with this one. This particular polybag was available last year as well. Although this makes a good stocking stuffer with nice colorful pieces, this is not a needle-mover to drive me to a physical store to ensure I can get this along with the subsequent GWPs I can get with online purchases.
Holiday Cookie Stamps & Mug Set
Availability: Online ONLY
Spending Threshold: $65
Eligible Purchases: City, DUPLO, Friends, DREAMZzz, Harry Potter, NINJAGO
Value: $9.99
This one definitely intrigues me more than the polybag and, look, it’s for online purchases! I have an ungodly amount of mugs in all shapes and sizes so a LEGO holiday mug would be awesome. The cookie stamps even seem like a fun utility to add to the rest of my LEGO home products and certainly present the opportunity for a fun holiday activity.
CREATOR Winter Market Stall (40602)
Availability: In-Store/Online
Spending Threshold: $170
Eligible Purchases: ALL
Value: $19.99
Pieces: 271
Minifigures: 2
For the last two years I have looked forward to and collected these Christmas/Winter inspired GWPs. Although I would’ve preferred another Santa/Elf inspired vignette or structure from the previous years, this is a great value with a pretty substantial and detailed build with unique and diversely colored parts. Not to mention, the snowman side build is awesome and you get two minifigures with great sweater torso print to help populate your Winter Village or even your LEGO City. The spending threshold seems high but I personally feel it is fair and in-line with what is expected. This is definitely a target for me, especially if I can pull off multiple purchases that qualify and can MOC out a whole market with multiple stalls.
Majisto’s Magical Workshop (40601)
Availability: In-Store/Online
Spending Threshold: $250
Eligible Purchases: ALL
Value: $29.99
Pieces: 365
Minifigures: 2
I was born in the mid-90’s and did actually own some classic Castle sets as a younger child. I definitely do not have as much of a nostalgia connection to the original theme, but I can appreciate what LEGO is doing to pay homage to this beloved theme. As a follow-up to the 40567 - Castle Hideout from last year, this is another reimagining 30 years removed from the original set of the same name (6048) being released as a GWP. What surprised me is that there’s already two largely negative reviews on this sets listing on LEGO.com complaining about the usual topics (price threshold, stickers vs prints, accuracy to original). To me, the price threshold is, again, to be expected for the size of this gift, and to be quite honest the crux of most these arguments relating to GWPs is this - I would rather get a free GWP instead of nothing and LEGO certainly doesn’t have to go out of their way to offer these. Stepping down from my soap box, I will certainly try to get at least one copy of this set to go along with my Forest Hideout, 10305 - Lion Knights’ Castle, and the rumored new Castle remakes to come in the next couple years.
Insiders Rewards Starting 11/18
I will touch on these briefly. The rewards center for Insiders has had some notable redeemable collectibles and sets in recent memory. Of course, this is also where you can redeem points for dollar-off discounts (which is the majority of my rewards redemptions) and sometimes LEGO even runs specials to redeem less points for their discounts, making your points go even further. On the flip side, a lot of rewards such as coloring sheets and apparel items are geared towards children. This is understandable of course, but for our purposes here we are looking to maximize the benefits of Insiders Weekend. Here are the Insiders Rewards starting 11/18:
1,000,000 Insiders Points Sweepstakes - $7,600+ Reward Value, Redeem 1 entry for free per day from 11/18 - 11/27
Sweepstakes Entries to win selected Insiders Rewards - 25 Points per entry from 11/18 - 11/23
Buildable Tape Player Set - Redeem 2,400 Points (~$18.50 Value), while supplies last
Holiday Tin Ornament - Redeem 1,800 Points (~$13.85 Value), while supplies last
3 Vintage LEGO Space Blue Prints Digital Downloads - Redeem 50 Points each (150 Points for all 3)
Reward Center Sale - Redeem 50% fewer Points for popular Rewards from 11/18 - 11/27 *Keep an eye out for reduced Dollar-Off Discount redemptions
Although these current Rewards are not unique to Insiders Weekend, they are still going and worth the entry!
Win a signed copy of the 76269 - LEGO Marvel Avengers Tower ($499.99, releasing 11/24) OR one of 30 LEGO e-Gift Cards - Free, single entry, ends 11/29
Win Your Holiday Wish List - Follow the entry to the linked LEGO digital holiday catalogue, build your wish list up to a $1000 value and email it to the same email used for your Insiders account. Free, single entry, ends 11/20
My Angle
If you’re anything like me, you have and want too many LEGOs. When sales events like this come around it can be exciting and daunting to figure out the best combinations of sets from your wish list back log. Speaking of, I do recommend either maintaining or building wish lists within your Insiders accounts to help you keep track of sets you want to target. It certainly helped me with purchase possibilities below.
Without further ado, here are the purchases I’m personally planning. I will certainly not be able to to make all of these purchases, but I will keep all of these possibilities on the table for Insiders Weekend as well as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I will be sure to share my actual haul after these events of passed.
Purchase Combo 1
I’ve had my eye on the 21335 - Motorized Lighthouse since its release, but of course I’m excited for the new modular 10326 - Natural History Museum. I’d like to pick up at least 1 of these during Insiders Weekend, but if I do pull the trigger on both I will do separate purchases to double up on the GWPs. Either purchase will result in:
Cost: $299.99 + Tax (Free Shipping)
2x Insiders Points - 3,900 Points ($30 Rewards Value)
40602 - Creator Winter Market GWP
40601 - Majisto’s Magical Workshop GWP
Purchase Combo 2
I missed my opportunity back in 2019 to get NINJAGO City and NINJAGO City Docks before they retired and I have regretted it since. I was able to get 71741 - NINJAGO City Gardens on release in 2021 and I absolutely intend on getting 71799 - NINJAGO City Markets before I miss it. Although this is my least likely Insiders Weekend purchase, this set alone is eligible for all GWPs (besides the in-store only polybag). Also, 2x Insiders Points on a nearly $400 set would certainly be a good setup to redeem discounts in preparation of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Buying this single set would result in:
Cost: $369.99 + Tax (Free Shipping)
2x Insiders Points - 4,810 Points ($37 Rewards Value)
Holiday Cookie Stamps and Mug Set
40602 - Creator Winter Market GWP
40601 - Majisto’s Magical Workshop GWP
Purchase Combo 3
This one may seem like an odd combo, but hear me out. I’ve been able to get the 21322 - Pirates of Barracuda Bay and 10305 - Lion Knights’ Castle classic reboot sets, so I absolutely want to get my hands on 10320 - Eldorado Fortress. However, that alone does not meet the threshold for the Majisto GWP or qualifies for the Cookie Stamp and Mug Set. To round out the purchase and get both, I would either add 76403 - The Ministry of Magic which is currently 30% off ($69.99) or 41757 - Botanical Garden. I do not own a single Friends set in my collection but I was absolutely blown away with the build and part usage in this set. Despite the minidolls, I think this would integrate perfectly in my plans for a LEGO City. Assuming I leaned Botanical Gardens, this purchase would yield:
Cost: $294.98 + Tax (Free Shipping)
2x Insiders Points - 3,834 Points (~$29.50 Rewards Value)
Holiday Cookie Stamps and Mug Set
40602 - Creator Winter Market GWP
40601 - Majisto’s Magical Workshop GWP
Purchase Combo 4
Out of all the selected sets with an available discount, the one that jumped out to me was the modular installment from 2017 - 10255 Assembly Square. I’m not sure if I remember hearing rumors this was soon-to-retire, but we have to assume normal retail life will soon expire on this one. In fact, 10260 - Downtown Diner (2018) and 10264 - Corner Garage (2019) that released after this one have already retired. Plus, 20% off of a Modular Building set is about the best you can do buying new from LEGO. Similar to Combo 3, I would need to round out the purchase with $65 spent from City, DUPLO, Friends, DREAMZzz, Harry Potter, or NINJAGO in order to meet the threshold for Majisto and qualify for the Cookie Stamps and Mug Set at the same time. For this combo, however, I’m assuming I picked 76403 - The Ministry of Magic over 41757 - Botanical Garden, which would mean:
$60 Off Discount Code for 10255 - Assembly Square redeemed in the Rewards Center
Cost: $309.98 + Tax (Free Shipping)
2x Insiders Points - 4,030 Points ($31 Rewards Value)
Holiday Cookie Stamps and Mug Set
40602 - Creator Winter Market GWP
40601 - Majisto’s Magical Workshop GWP
Purchase Combo 5
There are some intriguing sets in 3x and 4x Points. If I had to choose my most likely purchase from this subset it would definitely be 60336 - Freight Train. One of my earliest sets (that I still have stashed away) was 4561 - Railway Express WITH the transformer and speed regulator. I love that set and I know it’s a slippery slope if I get back into LEGO Trains but this deal might help push me over that edge. I would bulk up the purchase and reach all thresholds by adding 60397 - Monster Truck Race and 60362 - Car Wash. As a side note, I always keep 60205 - Tracks, 60238 - Switch Tracks, 60304 - Road Plates, and 11024 - Gray Baseplate in my wish list in case I need to add cheaper sets to purchases for various reasons. The depicted City combo would result in:
Cost: $262.97 + Tax (Free Shipping)
Insiders Points - 5,200 (4x on 60336) + 818 (2x on the rest) = 6,018 Points (~$46.30 Rewards Value)
Holiday Cookie Stamps and Mug Set
40602 - Creator Winter Market GWP
40601 - Majisto’s Magical Workshop GWP
In writing this entry I never thought I would get to the end either but here we are! I hope this helps as a guide and gives the information you need to rock Insiders Weekend. As mentioned above, I will cover both the Black Friday and Cyber Monday LEGO events as well. As we move through these events, let me know your thoughts and how you fared - I will be sure to share my haul. Anything in particular you want me to cover? Leave a comment and let me know!
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