I been having a discussion with other Halo fans/collectors about the UNSC Mantis set from MEGA BLOKS since the story broke. The following are my thoughts on what pricing could/should be for this set.

I use the 10 cents per piece formula when considering price. Mega is still pretty close to that for the most part. In fact in some cases even less.

They are becoming more popular, not just with Halo, but with WoW (World of Warcraft) and then there are the upcoming licensed lines of Barbie and Skylanders. They haven’t quite hit the right supply vs. demand set, to raise prices a lot. That has a to do with retailers and their buying habits, as well as consumer buying habits.

Still, when in comparison to “that other building blocks” company, Mega is still less expensive and in my opinion are better. If anything I always point back to the minifigures. By far, Mega is the best in building blocks category.

As for the extra stuff in this set like the docking station it’s a way to help flesh out a set that might seem not as exciting otherwise.

Since the price hasn’t been announced I made a guess based on the piece count. The piece count for the set is 443. Hmm, so I guess we should ask the question of ourselves; What do you think the UNSC Mantis set is worth paying for (as shown)? and what is the most you’d be willing to pay for it?

Personally, I think it’s worth $35 due to the number of small pieces and not very many unique pieces (as far as I can tell). Since the joint system is new, Mega has to account for that. However, I suspect they will find a way to use those again in other sets. I’d pay another $5 for the set though because it’s just that cool. If it’s more than that, I’ll still get one, but multiple purchases will have to wait for sales.

Somehow though, I think this particular set will sell very well though.

Again, I’ll state, I think this set is amazing. I’d like to have at minimum 2 if not up to 4 of this set. Price will affect my decision to buy multiples immediately or wait for sales.

What do you folks think? How much do you think it’s worth? What would you be willing to pay for it? Will you consider multiple purchases of this set? Will you factor in retail price if considering multiple purchases?

-Sal