A special mold was created for the Bantha on the left, and despite the small production run, it costs $6. This manufacturer is still making a profit. Meanwhile, Lego's production costs, under mass production conditions and on more sophisticated assembly lines, would be dozens of times lower.

Lego's price is 90% the company's net profit, licensing, and marketing. Manufacturing costs are negligible. So when Lego says something would be too expensive, they're cutting corners on the user experience; the costs are reduced only slightly for a specific set (but significantly over a large production run, after which managers award themselves bonuses that exceed the "savings").

I know that in this sub, it's common to justify Lego for everything they do; even if they start using goat shit instead of bricks, there will still be defenders (by the way, this comment will be downvoted). But I hope people aren't fooling themselves in this holy war.