The Entertainer founder warns of Christmas LEGO supply shortage

The founder of The Entertainer says the LEGO Group is facing supply issues heading into the Christmas shopping season.

Gary Grant told the Mirror that the LEGO Group has cut back his November order by a whopping 60%. “I would be surprised if I get more than that in December,” he said. “LEGO is having a problem in terms of supply. If you are planning on getting a LEGO set for Christmas, do not leave it until December.”

The news won’t come as a huge surprise to anyone who’s tried ordering from LEGO.com in recent weeks. More often than not, the message appended to product pages for popular sets has been ‘backorders accepted’, ‘temporarily out of stock’ or even ‘sold out’.

Sets like 75192 Millennium Falcon, 75280 501st Legion Clone Troopers and 21323 Grand Piano have been particularly difficult to come by directly from LEGO.com. But now it sounds like the same will be true of high street stores, too – at least in the UK.

According to the Mirror, the LEGO Group is struggling to cope with demand. When the first lockdown hit earlier this year, the brand surged in popularity as people sought an activity to do at home. At the same time, the company’s Mexico factory was forced to close its doors, compounding the issue. The result was a knock-on effect that’s apparently still being felt in the run-up to Christmas.

The LEGO Group told the Mirror that it’s operating its open factories around the clock to try to meet demand. But if Grant’s comments are anything to go by, don’t expect to do much of your LEGO shopping on the high street this year. That’s if non-essential retail is even allowed to reopen in December, of course – at the moment, the majority of the UK high street is closed to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead, your best option might be heading straight to the source. LEGO.com may be experiencing its own stock issues, but there are still plenty of sets available to buy. For the cream of the crop, check out Brick Fanatics’ Top 20 LEGO Sets List. And if the set you’re looking for is out of stock, sign up to Brick Fanatics’ Stock Alerts to be notified as soon as it’s available again.

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