Subject:
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Re: Worth the wait? (NO!)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.castle
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Date:
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Mon, 11 Jun 2001 16:11:44 GMT
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Viewed:
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1085 times
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In lugnet.castle, Brian Kasprzyk writes:
> There are 2-3 points of interest with Lego's new actions.
> 1. Re-releasing old sets can be profitable, but to what extent?
There's only one way to find out. This might be more a testing of the
waters on their direction, or perhaps a test of the lego adult fanatic
market, or just simply a way to make some money and make the hardcore happy
- I'm not at all convinced this is because Lego feels it is the most
profitable use of their capital.
> a. People argue that it de-values existing sets.
It isn't marketed as a limited edition collectable, so I don' think people
complainers have much of a leg to stand on. Speculating involves risk.
> b. People argue it gives people a 'second' chance at older sets no longer
> produced. But, if Lego is looking to make a profit, then why only release
> it to S@H? This will inflame places like Ebay who don't have a clue about
> S@H. Collectors will buy them up and throw them on Ebay to turn even more
> profit. You doubt this, think again. Look what happened with the 'supposed
> old stock being found' in Europe of castle accessory sets. I still think
> this was a ploy on Lego's behalf as a 'test the waters' before we fully
> commit to the Legends. Anyway, look at all that stuff that is out on Ebay
> going for big bucks. (Hey, even I bought the rare white dragon plumes from
> someone in Germany). So, to say that this will relieve the market is
> ridiculous.
Marketing a one-shot special rather than an entire line through the retail
route might not be the most cost effective way to go. Remember, they have
cut out the middlemen.
And if people throw the sets at eBay....so?
> c. Collectors will still pay larger amounts for the 'original.'
That's their perogative. The parts will look the same in my parts bin, so I
can't say I'll be one of them.
>
> 2. Is Lego really a collectible antique/secure investment?
> a. Someone mentioned that only in 2 states it could be considered a
> collectible. I agree with this statement. One of the biggest reasons I
> feel it is not a collectible is that I can never go to a flea market or
> antique sale and find any in a consistent manner. (People that have please
> post!) I feel this is because very few sets stay intact including the box,
> which is the only way people can be sure of it's origin. Individual Lego
> pieces have no dates on them! So, you can't guaranty that a piece was
> produced in 1960 or yesterday.
They are just a collection of parts - unless there is some unique part (red
tudor style walls in the case of the Guarded Inn), Lego is simply a poor
collector's medium.
>
> 3. Lego's move to re-release sets in my opinion is a cop-out. Instead of
> producing sets people will like so that they don't lose a profit, they
> release sets that were already popular. (I will qualify this as this, Lego
> started several new ventures, so they may not have lost any money or little
> on the sale of actual Lego sets. I don't need to start another tug-o-war on
> this issue). Don't start on me too, I am glad they did this and will line
> up to, to buy one (all I can afford, though 10 would be more to my liking).
> There have been posts in the past about this very issue. Why doesn't Lego
> just put out sets that were just as high of quality and have the ability to
> be modular? I have been reading more about that in the last few months then
> anything else. Again, I am not condemning Lego, I am not 'against' Lego nor
> do I say that they should not have done this. I am glad they are trying to
> appease the collectors. What I am saying is, "Where's the new sets that make
> us want to buy more!?!" (than one copy) I have 2 boys and I will tell you
> what they like, Adventures. They are modular; they have cool animals, lots
> of mini-figs and some cool parts that allow them to use their imagination.
I don't regard it as a cop-out because I don't see the issues as mutually
exclusive. How does one prevent the other?
>
> Again, I like Lego being innovative, but get real, re-releasing existing
> sets is not innovative, it is not a huge profit making venture (else it
> would be released to mass market) and it is not 'adding' to the
> expandability of my "Castle Kingdom." I can still get this set off of Ebay
> (though I would never pay that price, may find it in a garage sale...) or
> other locations. I can't get new sets though if Lego doesn't create them!
You can get this off eBay but you can only afford one of the new ones? Then
I would argue that you can't get it off eBay (realistically speaking,
despite it's "availablity").
As to huge profit making - little advertising and mechandising costs, pent
up demand, low tooling and design costs, oh, I think they'll make a profit
on this. Huge profit? Probably not, but then, the risk factor is extremely
low.
Not innovative? Not everything has to be innovative - quite honestly, I'm
seeing the same bricks I saw when I was a kid in the 60's. Innovative in
Lego is usually another way of saying "gimmick".
It will add to the expandability of my Castle Kingdom - perhaps I'm not so
jaded as others. :-)
Lego seems to be creating new sets, so I'm not sure how this is harming you.
>
> You can believe if you like that I am saying 'boo-hoo' to this line, but
> it's not true. I just want to see new sets that are cool. Come-on, a cloth
> sheet for the back of a castle surely is not an easily defended stronghold.
> Get back to great designs Lego!
I agree that I would like to see new cool sets. Other than liking the
minifigs, the "Knights Kingdom" line is junk. But you can make this
argument without ever mentioning the re-release of the Guarded Inn.
Bruce
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Worth the wait? (NO!)
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| (...) Thanks for responding! I can clarify this as such: In order to produce a set, they have to schedule it, run it, package it and all the other things that go into it. While this occurs, they can't run 'x' set now. They can only do 1 or the (...) (23 years ago, 11-Jun-01, to lugnet.castle)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Worth the wait? (NO!)
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| (...) Well, I've been on vacation for the last week and was excited to get back to reading some good Castle posts. Instead, I end up spending an hour reading about personal attacks all around. with that being said, I will add my opinion to this long (...) (23 years ago, 10-Jun-01, to lugnet.castle)
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