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As a Senior Engineering Analyst, I understand facts, figures, and numbers. If a
department reports low sales on something, that may indicate that a product of
that department should be cut in order for the company as a whole to be
profitable. However, a good Analyst knows that numbers don't tell you
everything.
In the case of 9V Trains, the numbers indicate that sales have been down for
years. The reason why hasn't been a lack of interest from customers though. It
is due to lack of new product releases, lack of public availability, and lack of
advertisement.
In comparison, the Firefighter product line has numbers indicating that sales
are up, but how many of us have purchased the new fire station every year?
Sales are good for this product line for the same reasons that 9V is down. The
fire fighter line gets new products each year in several price ranges. It also
gets the best store availability and good advertising.
The numbers alone don't mean anything, but if numbers are what TLG cares about
try these numbers:
LUGNET Trains is the third most posted to theme: (over 31,000 posts)
The 9V Train theme has the largest number of fan organizations (at least 21
officially recognized worldwide)
Browsing through Brickshelf, 9V Train fans seem to be one of the biggest
purchasers of LEGO (sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars per club)
It is the only theme (to my knowledge) that has a website dedicated to its own
preservation (the one and only)
The Train theme now has its own online magazine (one of a very few)
No other theme, has brought together as many people (though Space, Robotics, and
Castle are very high)
The bottom line is that numbers don't mean anything without the details
surrounding them. We can probably all agree that a company must design new
products that customers want, advertise those products, and make them available
in order to sell them.
What I can't understand is why TLG would stop designing new 9V sets, not put
them in stores, and then wonder why they are not selling?
Please, will someone say that TLG will re-evaluate their research for facts and
figures that were not seen before?
Most sincerely,
Scott Wardlaw
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The simple fact is that no matter what products are on the shelf or how
good (or crap) the design is, trains that get their power from the track
(ala 9V) will ALWAYS be more expensive than a matching train that takes
battery power (rechargeable or throwaway). TLC has said as much many times.
No matter how many people would buy a 9V train set, there will always be
more people who would buy the battery train (because its cheaper and/or has
more parts for the same cost)
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In lugnet.lego, Jonathan Wilson wrote:
> The simple fact is that no matter what products are on the shelf or how
> good (or crap) the design is, trains that get their power from the track
> (ala 9V) will ALWAYS be more expensive than a matching train that takes
> battery power (rechargeable or throwaway). TLC has said as much many times.
> No matter how many people would buy a 9V train set, there will always be
> more people who would buy the battery train (because its cheaper and/or has
> more parts for the same cost)
Also, Add Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) rules that anything using
AC power means minimum age 7 on the box, and with Duplo going around age 5, that
means a gap in trains from age 5 to 7. The new battery train has a lower age
range of 6 years old on the box.
A lot of engineers buy LEGO product, but not everyone who buys LEGO product is
an engineer. Thus, a lot of moms buying products for their children will not
check on what is going to be a better system, due to their own background. (I
know of a mother that purchases a lot of LEGO trains for her daughter, and the
mother is an electrical engineer...guess what type of trains she's buying for
her daughter? yep... 9V, and they even got a hobby train to expand her trains).
Scott
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In lugnet.lego, Scott Wardlaw wrote:
> No other theme, has brought together as many people (though Space, Robotics,
> and Castle are very high)
*coughBIONICLEcough* Ok, granted, it rarely involves face-to-face interaction
on the same level as more AFOL-friendly themes, but it still counts.
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