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In lugnet.lego.announce, Brad Justus writes:
> Greetings! After a somewhat longer-than-intended absence, I’m back, and with
> good news: LEGO Direct is pleased to announce that bulk sales from LEGO start
> today, June 14.
Let me be the very first on LUGNET to say, thank you very much!
I just visited the Lego Direct web page, and you're off to a good start. There
are some elements that I can order right away. I'm looking forward to seeing
the broader selection of parts and colors as the service matures. As you
expand, please don't forget that 1 X 1, 1 X 2, and 1 X 3 bricks (and plates, and
tiles) are also useful!
Best wishes,
John J. Ladasky Jr., Ph.D.
Department of Structural Biology
Stanford University Medical Center
Stanford, CA 94305
Secretary, Californians for Renewable Energy <http://www.calfree.com>
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I wrote:
> Let me be the very first on LUGNET to say, thank you very much!
Shucks. By the time I had finished visiting Lego Direct writing my reply, and
collecting my jaw from the floor, three other people had already posted ahead of
me!
And hey, it looks like we've already managed to overload TLG's server once in
our zeal! It's going to be a busy day on LUGNET!
--
John J. Ladasky Jr., Ph.D.
Department of Structural Biology
Stanford University Medical Center
Stanford, CA 94305
Secretary, Californians for Renewable Energy <http://www.calfree.com>
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"John J. Ladasky Jr." wrote:
> I just visited the Lego Direct web page, and you're off to a good start. There
> are some elements that I can order right away. I'm looking forward to seeing
> the broader selection of parts and colors as the service matures. As you
> expand, please don't forget that 1 X 1, 1 X 2, and 1 X 3 bricks (and plates, and
> tiles) are also useful!
I would argue that the LARGEST and SMALLEST bricks/tiles/plates are more useful - we
can get the "standard" sizes in sets and tubs/buckets in decent amounts, but the
very large and very small are scarce.
The very large are useful for large structures without having to stack multiple
layers of plates.
The very small are useful for details.
But it was a VERY nice start - I'll have enough trees for my train layout soon ;-)
I just ordered $200 worth of stuff. A very small order (especially for me), but
it's just a start to my orders, as they add more parts, I'll spend more (LOOK OUT if
they ever offer garage doors in multiple colors!).
It would be very nice if they offered TRUE train windows and glass, though <hint,
hint>. Both 1x4x3 AND 1x2x3.
--
Tom Stangl
***http://www.vfaq.com/
***DSM Visual FAQ home
***http://ba.dsm.org/
***SF Bay Area DSMs
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Tom Stangl writes:
> I would argue that the LARGEST and SMALLEST bricks/tiles/plates are more • useful - we
> can get the "standard" sizes in sets and tubs/buckets in decent amounts, but • the
> very large and very small are scarce.
As excited as I am about this new service, I'm a little disappointed in the
per piece cost of these elements. Granted, it's nice to be able to order the
specialized pieces and rarer colors in bulk, but the cost for basic elements
seems much higher than when purchased in buckets. For example, if the "bulk"
costs of the white pieces (with substitutions as in 2 1x2s equal 1 1x4) in the
1200 piece anniversary bucket are totaled, I come up with more than $20 or
more than the non-discounted cost of the entire bucket including all other
colors.
Let's look at some of the economics. LEGO Direct is shortening the supply
chain by removing the retailers from the equation. Distribution costs are
passed on to the consumer in terms of shipping charges. Per piece costs
increase. --> More profit for TLC, less for the piece-auctioneers.
Somehow I was still holding on to the hope that some of the cost savings would
be passed on to the AFOLs who then can promote our hobby through awe-inspiring
MOCs to an ever widening group of KABOBs and other AFOLs. I was mistaken.
Granted, most of us will end up ordering lots of specialized elements that
simply aren't available in any other way. But we will certainly not be able
to afford as many pieces, or consequently as much building and creativity, if
these prices are an indication of future piece roll-outs.
"Fair" well,
Andreas Stabno
http://www.megsinet.net/~stabno/SimiLego.htm
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To All,
> In lugnet.lego.direct, Tom Stangl writes:
> > I would argue that the LARGEST and SMALLEST bricks/tiles/plates are more • useful - we
> > can get the "standard" sizes in sets and tubs/buckets in decent amounts, • but
> the
> > very large and very small are scarce.
>
> As excited as I am about this new service, I'm a little disappointed in • the
> per piece cost of these elements. Granted, it's nice to be able to order • the
> specialized pieces and rarer colors in bulk, but the cost for basic • elements
> seems much higher than when purchased in buckets. For example, if the • "bulk"
> costs of the white pieces (with substitutions as in 2 1x2s equal 1 1x4) in • the
> 1200 piece anniversary bucket are totaled, I come up with more than $20 or
> more than the non-discounted cost of the entire bucket including all other
> colors.
Well, economics considered, some of the prices were pretty reasonable. They
need to make a profit. They need to change their production facilities in
order to make this happen. There are a lot of economic reasons in terms of
production here, and the end result is pretty good. If any people were
expecting 0.01 to 0.02 cent parts, I think that is a little "cheap". I am
quite happy with the prices, and I hope they keep those around that.
Scott S.
--
Systems Administrator-Affiliated Engineers -> http://www.aeieng.com
LEGO Page -> http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Station/3372/legoindex.html
It's Almost Here! ->The Sanburn Systems Company
http://www.sanburnsystems.com
>
> Let's look at some of the economics. LEGO Direct is shortening the supply
> chain by removing the retailers from the equation. Distribution costs are
> passed on to the consumer in terms of shipping charges. Per piece costs
> increase. --> More profit for TLC, less for the piece-auctioneers.
>
> Somehow I was still holding on to the hope that some of the cost savings • would
> be passed on to the AFOLs who then can promote our hobby through • awe-inspiring
> MOCs to an ever widening group of KABOBs and other AFOLs. I was mistaken.
>
> Granted, most of us will end up ordering lots of specialized elements that
> simply aren't available in any other way. But we will certainly not be • able
> to afford as many pieces, or consequently as much building and creativity, • if
> these prices are an indication of future piece roll-outs.
>
> "Fair" well,
>
> Andreas Stabno
> http://www.megsinet.net/~stabno/SimiLego.htm
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Andreas Stabno wrote:
<snipped discussion of prices>
>
> Granted, most of us will end up ordering lots of specialized elements that
> simply aren't available in any other way. But we will certainly not be able
> to afford as many pieces, or consequently as much building and creativity, if
> these prices are an indication of future piece roll-outs.
I think that our orders will speak for themselves. I don't see LDirect
selling very many sets of red bricks at those prices, not when they're
cheaper in bucket sets. Perhaps not even white or black.
So, one of two things will likely happen:
1) LDirect will recognize this facts and drop the price a penny or two,
or
2) They will stop offering pieces which we can get through other means,
and strengthen their offerings of hard-to-get pieces.
Either is fine with me :)
I realize that when buying buckets you get a range of colours and piece
sizes, and you face the challenge of sorting, but my recollection of
microeconomics is that people will move to a cheaper substitute if they
can, and for many builders, buckets are an acceptable substitute. You
can't *always* substitute 4 1x2s for a 1x8, but you frequently can...
For the record, at the Canadian TRU sale, we can get the 1200 piece 3033
bucket for 19.99, or 1.66 cents per piece. And that's in Canadian$$...
about 1.1 cents US. According to my piece count, the average brick in
this set is about 3.7 studs; there's something like 4400 studs worth of
brick in the bucket.
Compare to 6.3 cents US for a 4-stud 2x2. 1.2 cents or so in the
bucket. I'm assuming that shipping charges cancel the PST I'm not
paying on the mail order stuff.
Granted only 1/5 of the pieces are each of the 4 major colours, but even
so... if I have 5,000 spare yellow bricks lying around, I *will* find
something (large and yellow, presumably) to build out of them. :)
So I guess we'll see in the next few months whether we continue to get
offerings of easy-to-find bricks, or whether the colours and piece
choices become more esoteric...
At any rate, I've already voted with *my* credit card - for gray bricks,
plates, and windows!
Jeff Elliott
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