We discovered the imitation Lego sets when traveling in Vietnam and my kids didn’t care/notice the difference (I think they tend to stick a bit more/harder to get apart if needed) - after that trip I started buying some sets off Ali Express and it was sooo much cheaper (though there can be long shipping) - I want to say they were 60-80% cheaper vs lego store
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I like Lego’s as a gift bc it’s def good for development etc. If you’re gonna buy Chinese plastic at least it can be something that teaches them some skill
stepping on legis at night is another story though! Especially if they get you right in the arch
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Even gitmo didn’t use such barbarity as torture! 
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We have started doing “no gifts at all” bday parties.
Cuts down # of gifts received considerably doesn’t eliminate it but cuts it down alot.
I want to teach my kids that gifts are not to be expected as they grow up…
They’re not entitled to receive anything…will have to earn it.
I know i am in a minority here generally speaking.
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Oh yeah! Absolutely!
Well, the cousins came out later that summer, and we did play ‘Cowboys and Indians’ and shot each other…those BB’s sting like hell. Got chewed out again for that too…maybe the ‘toy’ was the problem?? Logic says yes, but I wouldn’t change a thing. We weren’t riddled with anxiety about everything hurting or killing us back then.
First off, 100 guests for a 2yo b-day party is sort of “insanity”… you have too many friends/relatives. 
Secondly, could you have requested bonds (or bitcoin hehe) instead of toys?
3rd… first world problems… we are certainly lucky to be able to give our kids stuff they don’t need. But I get it… my kids got new cars for their first car (although that’s partly to blame on the insane used car prices).
And back on topic.
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I agree entirely. Semi-related, my wife and I have a folder of these old series EE bonds. We cash in a few each year as they hit maturity. We have started only cashing them in in suburban Boston by my parents. Trying to cash them in NoVa is always a diaster with no one at the bank knowing what they are. Citi’s client base here must not be prime savings bond demographic.
Quick shout out to Lego for actually building a big factory in Virginia. Starting in 2025, most American Legos will be made outside Richmond.
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Should qualify for tax credits then.
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For them, not us. 
Off the market again.
Not sure if sold or not.
My brother is there now 
he’s loving it
I’ve noticed quite a few more F150s coming in to inventory on Autotrader. Hopefully that will bring some nice discounts soon on the higher trim levels.
4x4 sr5 4Runners 3k off
Yeah we going 
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Am I thinking about this right that in reality we won’t get anywhere near pre-covid pricing/deals due to higher interest rates?(unless you are paying cash)
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Prob not bc there simply won’t be a ton of supply that needs to be moved. Getting to pre covid would require economy to just implode frankly
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The answer to this question has several variables that all intertwined:
With most manufacturers indicating that they are going to produce the amount to meet demand and either reduce or eliminate the incentives that were inducing
higher demand would be one indicator that pre-covid pricing isn’t coming back soon. Should “market share” become what all the cool kids are chasing again, then maybe we see a return to pre-covid deals.
Interest rates being higher mean that the captives have more of a runway to increase margin off financing activities while they may incentivize rates on certain models to increase demand I wouldn’t count on it across the board or for desirable models.
The supply chain will still need to work itself out fully before any of the manufacturers should they choose to really ramp up production.
I am sure most manufacturers have a 3" binder from a consulting group sitting on a bookcase somewhere that lays out all the different scenarios including internal Financial Planning & Analysis group scenarios run on Excel.
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The thing is that there’s not much demand either. Pre- Covid the economy was strong and the stock market was making new highs every day. I could argue that cars with normal production should have better discounts in this declining economy. If we are not there yet we seem to be headed in that direction.
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