Subject:
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announcing the "My Own Creation" series
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.lego.direct
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Date:
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Fri, 14 Dec 2001 23:24:05 GMT
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Highlighted:
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(OK, not really an announcement, as the word is already out.... once again I
am left in awe of the speed with which news travels*. But humor me for a
moment.)
LEGO Direct is extremely pleased to announce the launch of the "My Own
Creation" series, which features original designs by LEGO enthusiasts. The
first set to be released in the MOC series is the Blacksmith Shop with an
original design by Dan Siskind. (We have tried to remain as faithful as
possible to the original design; minor alterations have been made to allow
for element availability issues and to improve "buildability.")
The Blacksmith Shop is, to our knowledge, the first LEGO set ever released
by LEGO that was *not* designed in-house by our designers. If anything,
we're more excited about this series than anything LEGO Direct has offered
to date -- the MOC sets really show off what *anyone* can do with LEGO if he
(or she) puts his (or her) imagination to work. And isn't that the truest
expression of the LEGO brand? LEGO is all about what *you* can imagine and
create -- and not necessarily what our designers can dream up. We know that
you and other enthusiasts (of all ages, because believe me, kids are doing
some amazing stuff too!) have built some incredible creations; we want to
help share that creativity with as many other LEGO enthusiasts as we can --
because by sharing, we share what makes LEGO great. So that's why we
launched the MOC series.
Obviously, the biggest question on everyone's mind is how the designs for
the series are (or will be) selected. Let me state up front that we will
*not* accept unsolicited designs (this isn't anything new -- we've never
accepted such submissions). We're proactively selecting the designs that we
will use. (As Dan noted in his post, we contacted him.) So please, please,
please, don't send us pictures or boxes full of your creations unless we ask
you for them -- for legal reasons, we must return unsolicited design
contributions to you. (You can imagine that I've got the company attorneys
nervous enough just licensing outside designs to begin with!)
Members of our team do look constantly at what's being created by you (we
peruse Brickshelf, the Guild of Bricksmiths sites, personal home pages; we
keep an eye out at various events, LEGO Club, and LUG gatherings; we get
recommendations from other enthusiasts -- and that's just a little of what
we do). We know there are thousands of great creations out there -- but
we're just getting started with this, so give us some time. We will probably
take many different paths with the selection process: we may have a contest
around a specific theme; we may select an existing design; we may commission
an entirely new design. Anything is possible. And yes, we are compensating
the creators for their designs (in order for us to produce a set as an
"official" LEGO set, we must own all rights to the design).
We hope to make the MOC series an ongoing one, but -- as with so many of the
initiatives we have launched in the last year (sculptures, trains, Legends)
-- we've never done anything like this before, so we'll have to see what
happens once this hits the market. (I'm not particularly worried, though;
let's just say that there's absolutely no question anymore about whether the
sculptures, trains, and Legends were good ideas! I see no reason that the
MOC series will not perform equally well.) We'll be giving this product lots
of support -- it's on the back cover of the January 2002 LEGO Shop At Home
catalog (due in a couple of weeks), and we'll be giving it prominent play on
LEGO.com as well.
(You may ask -- at least I know Allan Bedford will! -- why we aren't posting
this announcement on LEGO.com. The answer is that traditionally, we
"prelaunch" many of our themes for the next year in mid- to late December
--for example, the new Alpha Team, Soccer, and Racers sets are in the online
shop right now; Harry Potter and Star Wars are coming next week. But
*marketing* of the new products doesn't actually take place until the New
Year begins. We want to keep our marketing focus on the current year's
products through Christmas, and then turn to the new themes. But that
doesn't mean that we can't sneak some products out early....)
The Blacksmith Shop will be sold exclusively through LEGO Shop At Home in all
LEGO Shop At Home markets. It is available for preorder on LEGO.com now --
it is listed under "Hard to Find" in the Shop At Home Exclusives category,
but we will soon be adding it to the Castle category as well. The price is
$39.99 in the US, and will be equivalently priced in other markets. It will
be shipping in late January.
(I'll post in the next few days regarding some other issues raised recently
here. We're not ignoring anything anyone has said, but please bear in mind
that this is absolutely our craziest time of the year so it's more difficult
to get the time to respond than usual. Thanks in advance for your patience.)
As always, Play Well. Best wishes for a happy holiday from all of us at
LEGO. And may Santa leave many bricks beneath your tree.
Best Regards,
-- Brad
* I mean, really! I don't think the item had been up for more than 15
minutes in the shop when the first post appeared. And I thought you guys
never went to LEGO.com....
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Message has 10 Replies:
 | | Re: announcing the "My Own Creation" series
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| Just plain great! This IS the way to go. My only dislike is that this set will not be sold on stores - it could be a "bait" for the kids, making their interest in LEGO grow again to pre '96 levels. Why not try stores, call it a "test" or so... I am (...) (22 years ago, 14-Dec-01, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: announcing the "My Own Creation" series
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| (...) You can imagine how hard it was for us not to share this news outside the Guild - It's great that TLC has finally announced it. I just stopped by LUGNet to see what more had been said about the Blacksmith Shop and the most recent posted (...) (22 years ago, 15-Dec-01, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: announcing the "My Own Creation" series
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| (...) Allan Bedford Disclaimer: Due to the significantly positive nature of this announcement, my response will be all thumbs up. Constructive criticism will wait for further follow-ups. ;) (...) A big step for LEGO Direct, a giant leap for the LEGO (...) (22 years ago, 15-Dec-01, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: announcing the "My Own Creation" series
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| lol, I went there not even 10 mins before it showed up! I loged on at my mom's to see is #3033 was available online. Then went to my dad's house (took me 2 mins), logged on & ran across a post on Brickbay, about this... Then i looked & there it was! (...) (22 years ago, 15-Dec-01, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: announcing the "My Own Creation" series
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| (...) This is the best anouncement I have seen from LD. This will make everyone happy (even the lunatic fringe that didn't want re-issued sets.) I will definately be ordering two of those after Christmas. (And I am mostly a space builder!) (...) (...) (22 years ago, 15-Dec-01, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: announcing the "My Own Creation" series
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| This is awesome! I saw "the other" post last night, and I must have said "That is so freaking cool!" about 15 times. My poor girlfriend is sick of hearing the phrase "only $40" now I think. Too bad I have to wait till after Christmas to order (...) (22 years ago, 15-Dec-01, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: announcing the "My Own Creation" series
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| Brad: You haven't asked for suggestions but I think a REALLY obvious suggestion would be the Spamcake Diner as the next in line for this MOC series. Frankly, I'd be surprised and disappointed if it weren't already in the works... Besides being a (...) (22 years ago, 15-Dec-01, to lugnet.lego.direct)
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