Yes, they have kept up with inflation, and that is the problem. Manufactured goods like Lego bricks should fall in price through innovation in processes, scale, etc. What does raise higher than the average inflation should be be labor-intensive products/services. In other words, it feels much stranger today how expensive Legos are compared to 47 years ago.

I have the re-release secondhand unopened and I think I paid about that much, so even in a collector's market, not terrible at all. An expensive toy to be sure but a deeply satisfying experience if you like that kind of thing.

Wow, childhood memory unlocked. I had set 497. And, yes, it was a very expensive toy in its day.

Yes! We were never bougie enough to get Lego, I played with Sears bricks growing up.

It has almost 4 times the number of pieces, but is only about 50% longer and wider - there's just way more smaller pieces. Price per piece is very misleading when comparing older and newer sets. The newer ones have more details, look slicker, but have a lot less "meat". Which is not that great for creative play.

I remember the Lego 404 set being $40 in 1980. I actually can’t believe my Mom bought it for me.

Thanks for this reminder about the cost variable.

There are so many better alternatives these days it’s mostly fanboys and people who don’t care who are still buying original Lego.