Full Disclosure. Ever since I was a little boy, I have enjoyed building lego. I wanted to experience that feeling again as a present to myself for my 50th birthday.
I have had my eye on a couple of kits for many years. I know what you are thinking. He must want a Star Wars kit. Who doesn't want an Imperial Star Destroyer or the Millenium Falcon? I do, and maybe someday I will get those, but US $700 no. I have always had my eye on the James Bond DB5 and the Birds kit. I was surprised to find that they are on the endagered kit list.
I went straight to Lego to get the James Bond DB5 Kit. I wish you luck trying to find one now, but I got one and could not wait to start it, so I did. Welcome to the pandemic.
Lego retired the Birds kit. That made it extremely hard to find. It is one thing when they are just out of stock, they always come back, but once a kit is retired, that's it. They become hard to find, or worse, extremely expensive. I finally found it on an online toy store for the original price, but even that became a rollercoaster of emotion. The website showed three available. I went all the way through the process of purchasing it, and then I noticed they took my money out of my account. That is always a good sign. It usually means the shipping notice is soon to follow.
That is not what happened. What happened was five days later, I see the money refunded into my account. No update email; they just gave me my money back. Sucks, but I waited patiently for the update email telling me I had lost the item. It was two days after the refund that the company once again took out the money from my account. Then a shipping email came. After two more weird shipping delays, I was having doubts about whether I would ever get the damn thing.
Yesterday, as I was finishing up the James Bond DB5 kit, I heard the ring at the front door. It was the birds kit. A little worse for wear on the outside, but still intact with lego stickers holding everything tightly closed. I am a little melancholy that this delivery will be the last of my pandemic 50th birthday presents. Now all I have left to do is have a party. jk! :-)