| |
Hey all,
Got a lovely selection of holiday loot thanks to my sweetie-pie, and after
building the sets I have some impressions. The sets are:
Mars Mission # 7695 MX-11 Astro Fighter
Town City # 7991 Recycle Truck
SpongeBob Squarepants # 3830 Bikini Bottom Express
Mars Mission # 7693 ETX Alien Strike
Before I get specific about the sets, I first have to say that this can be a
difficult time to be an older Lego fan. When I first built these sets I was so
upset over a variety of things that I thought I’d better wait a day or two to
post and I’m glad I did! Even though I have a strong appreciation for the
company’s history and hopes for its future, there are so many changes happening
now that it’s often hard to take them all in, and often harder to accept them.
So if I come off like a slice of bitter, old Grinch, guilty as charged!
In choosing these sets, the addition of a large selection of orange pieces to my
collection was the primary motivator. However, I was disappointed to discover
that the bright, candy-colored orange (which I’d noticed in the first run of
SpongeBob sets), is here to stay. I wish I could be enthused about it, but I
just don’t like it. The bricks have a translucent quality to them which just
makes them look very toy-ish and candy-like. I greatly preferred the previous
orange, which while not as bright in color, was deep, rich and very opaque. It
looks more solid and to my eyes conveys a more realistic appearance.
You can see an example pic here with the new orange in the front:
Thankfully, there’s not much of the older orange in my collection, so this will
be an easier change to accommodate.
My second critique has already been discussed ad nauseum, but I find it vexing
that the instruction booklets still have not been corrected so that black, dark
gray and gray are easier to distinguish. Black bricks with white outlines
worked beautifully for years, and I’d like to think that it would be a fairly
simple process to alter the virtual palette of the instruction layout program so
that this issue could be fixed. I had to check the instructions against the
parts on several occasions because I could not tell the difference (something
I’ve never had to do before).
Finally, the usage of CG imagery for the box art has created more opportunities
for the product to be misrepresented. I have details on that in the section for
the Bikini Bottom Express.
#7695 MX-11 Astro Fighter
I was mainly interested in this set for the trans-orange cockpit piece and the
new white wing plates. It goes together easily and quickly and makes a nice
little swooshable ship. Everyone already agrees that the alien/martian figure
is poorly designed, but I’m sure someone will figure out an interesting way to
use them at some point.
If all the human pilots of the Mars Mission line steer their ships by telepathy
while in hypersleep, then that should be made clear somehow. Otherwise, their
apparent ability to control their ships without instrumentation is a little
too fantastical, especially since their heads are not even oriented forward so
that they can see where they’re going! It seems that nearly every ship in the
theme has this arrangement, and it just nags at me. Yes, it’s a space fantasy
line, but most fantasy greatly benefits from real-world concepts to lend a sense
of plausibility.
#7991 Recycle Truck
This is an excellent set! It builds well and has a very solid feel and
appearance. The way the dumper functions along with the opening rear door is
quite nice, as is the addition of the articulated garbage can. My only critique
would be that the color of the yellow warning lights gets lost when placed over
orange bricks. There was also an error in the bags so that I received three 1x2
white bricks with the side clip and only one plain 1x2 brick, whereas I was
supposed to have two of each. Not a problem as far as this set is concerned,
but I hope this does not occur elsewhere.
#3830 Bikini Bottom Express
I was a very big SpongeBob fan until the fourth season, and was eagerly looking
forward to more sets from the show. However, the bus is a disappointment for a
number of reasons, partially due to the usage of CG imagery as I mentioned
above.
First, the trans-clear 1x2x2 thin-walls with portholes on them (first seen in
the Santa Fe engine) do not match the color of the orange bricks and the paint
is not applied heavily enough to make the orange areas opaque. What makes this
so irritating to me is that both the box cover and instruction booklet cover art
depict an exact match in color. It’s not until you open the booklet to the
pages where those pieces are in place on the model do they actually show that
the colors are different. In the instruction booklet, the color of orange on
the porthole pieces looks closer to the new light brown.
Here’s a picture of the cover and instruction art:
and here’s a picture of the actual model:
A very significant difference in my opinion!
The second CG issue (that you can also see in the first picture) is that the bus
driver figure is pictured sitting right in front of the wheel of the bus.
However, when you build the model you will discover that this is physically
impossible due to a red 1x6 arch that spans in front of the windshield. It was
very easy for me to substitute two 1x2 inverse-slopes in orange to solve this
problem while not compromising structural integrity or function. Why they
thought the arch was a better choice is beyond me. SpongeBob is the only figure
in the set that can actually sit and hold the wheel, and we all know that’s a
recipe for disaster! The bus driver mini-fig is probably my favorite of all the
SpongeBob mini-figs, he even has a little fin on the back of his head and his
expression is perfect!
The bus stop sign and the ticket vending machine are very nice stand-alone
units, which is nice to see as I had misgivings about such items in other
Spongebob sets.
#7693 ETX Alien Strike
I chose this set mainly for the orange cockpit, lime green, and the four new ¼
circle black saucer sections. The drill vehicle is quite rudimentary and I
really don’t care for it. I don’t think that the stickers do much to dress it
up. I hadn’t noticed before that the green alien/martian is virtually impaled
through the chest by a white rod while in its little container, which struck me
as a little macabre as it suggests that the creature has been more than
temporarily imprisoned.
The alien ship is a terrific idea, but not well executed at all IMHO. The wings
are supposed to click-hinge open and closed for attack mode, but the hinges are
VERY loose and floppy. Even my wife thought it was poor design. This is not
the first time that I’ve found certain click-hinge pieces to be far too loose to
be functional. I hope that this is just due to variances in the molding
process. They really should have doubled up on the hinges to make the joint
stronger.
Also the alien/martian pilot just about falls out of the cockpit if you turn the
ship upside down because he/she/it cannot be attached. Finally, what’s the deal
with the four blue Technic half axle/half friction pins on the underside? Are
they supposed to mesh with some other set item?
Finally, the stickers in this set really felt like an attempt to add visual
interest to otherwise “meh” vehicle designs. I will often build sets without
stickers as a way of judging the quality of the initial design, and this set
definitely fell short for me.
Well, that’s that. I hope that the company’s re-organization efforts are
fruitful that these times are just the bumps and stumbles that come from new
beginnings.
|
|
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In lugnet.reviews, David Simmons wrote:
| |
Hey all,
Got a lovely selection of holiday loot thanks to my sweetie-pie, and after
building the sets I have some impressions. The sets are:
Mars Mission # 7695 MX-11 Astro Fighter
Town City # 7991 Recycle Truck
SpongeBob Squarepants # 3830 Bikini Bottom Express
Mars Mission # 7693 ETX Alien Strike
|
::snip::
You raise an interesting point about the box art on the Bikini Bottom Express:
at what point can it be considered false advertising, since the included model
so obviously deviates from that pictured? On boxes of cereal, for example,
manufacturers always put a disclaimer to the effect of “Product enlarged to show
texture”; has LEGO reached the point of needing to include a disclaimer stating,
“Product rendered with CGI to cover flaws of actual model” ? Of course, most of
us would simply prefer that the model match the box art as closely as possible.
But at a minimum, perhaps LEGO needs to state that the box art is an artistic
representation of the actual product.
Incidentally, I used those same windows on a caboose of mine:
The orange panel windows it uses are from an earlier Sponge Bob set, and the
color discrepancy was still an issue then, although this latest set really
highlights it.
-Jordan Schwarz
|
|
| |
In lugnet.reviews, Jordan Schwarz wrote:
| |
You raise an interesting point about the box art on the Bikini Bottom
Express: at what point can it be considered false advertising, since the
included model so obviously deviates from that pictured? On boxes of cereal,
for example, manufacturers always put a disclaimer to the effect of “Product
enlarged to show texture”; has LEGO reached the point of needing to include a
disclaimer stating, “Product rendered with CGI to cover flaws of actual
model” ? Of course, most of us would simply prefer that the model match the
box art as closely as possible. But at a minimum, perhaps LEGO needs to state
that the box art is an artistic representation of the actual product.
|
Indeed, they do! I raised this issue in a previous post when commenting on this
set which I’d purchased:
http://www.peeron.com/inv/sets/4939-1?showpic=6782
In the picture, the front wheels are shown turned to the left, which is
physically impossible as they are fixed on the model. I really hope that these
kind of “exaggerations” are simple errors and not overt attempts to misrepresent
the product.
| |
Incidentally, I used those same windows on a caboose of mine:
|
Your design does help them to blend in better. However, we really should not
have to worry about compensating for this kind of thing!
| |
The orange panel windows it uses are from an earlier Sponge Bob set, and the
color discrepancy was still an issue then, although this latest set really
highlights it.
-Jordan Schwarz
|
Here’s hoping this problem is fixed in the future!
Dave S.
|
|
| |
In lugnet.reviews, Jordan Schwarz wrote:
| |
In lugnet.reviews, David Simmons wrote:
| |
Hey all,
Got a lovely selection of holiday loot thanks to my sweetie-pie, and after
building the sets I have some impressions. The sets are:
Mars Mission # 7695 MX-11 Astro Fighter
Town City # 7991 Recycle Truck
SpongeBob Squarepants # 3830 Bikini Bottom Express
Mars Mission # 7693 ETX Alien Strike
|
::snip::
You raise an interesting point about the box art on the Bikini Bottom
Express: at what point can it be considered false advertising, since the
included model so obviously deviates from that pictured? On boxes of cereal,
for example, manufacturers always put a disclaimer to the effect of “Product
enlarged to show texture”; has LEGO reached the point of needing to include a
disclaimer stating, “Product rendered with CGI to cover flaws of actual
model” ? Of course, most of us would simply prefer that the model match the
box art as closely as possible. But at a minimum, perhaps LEGO needs to state
that the box art is an artistic representation of the actual product.
Incidentally, I used those same windows on a caboose of mine:
The orange panel windows it uses are from an earlier Sponge Bob set, and the
color discrepancy was still an issue then, although this latest set really
highlights it.
-Jordan Schwarz
|
One issue may be the application of orange paint on a different material. We
all know LEGO elements are made of ABS. However, windows are not made of ABS,
they are made of polycarbonate(PC). As PC and ABS are different materials,
application of color may have discrepancies (kinda like when you apply paint
over a white primer, it’s got a different look when you apply it over a darker
color primer.
I would say there was a good chance this was considered, but when the parts were
painted, it didn’t look exactly right. I speculate that changing the color to
be more accurate would push delivery of the sets until after Christmas season.
Given the amount of business that is done in the last six weeks of the year, a
business decision probably needed to be made. So, should money be made on the
Spongebob sets at Christmas, or not? From a business standpoint--I would have
made the decision to proceed with the current production.
|
|
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> One issue may be the application of orange paint on a different material. We
> all know LEGO elements are made of ABS. However, windows are not made of ABS,
> they are made of polycarbonate(PC). As PC and ABS are different materials,
The same "color issue" is visible on the grey (and presumably red although
I dont own any of those) porthole pieces from the Santa Fe Super Chief set.
|
|
| |
| |
You raise an interesting point about the box art on the Bikini Bottom
Express: at what point can it be considered false advertising, since the
included model so obviously deviates from that pictured? On boxes of cereal,
for example, manufacturers always put a disclaimer to the effect of “Product
enlarged to show texture”; has LEGO reached the point of needing to include a
disclaimer stating, “Product rendered with CGI to cover flaws of actual
model” ? Of course, most of us would simply prefer that the model match the
box art as closely as possible. But at a minimum, perhaps LEGO needs to state
that the box art is an artistic representation of the actual product.
Incidentally, I used those same windows on a caboose of mine:
The orange panel windows it uses are from an earlier Sponge Bob set, and the
color discrepancy was still an issue then, although this latest set really
highlights it.
-Jordan Schwarz
|
Perhaps it is due to Flextronics not having the quality control that Lego did.
Why they moved production to Juarez Mexico is beyond me. Perhaps very cheap
labor, less than $2.00 an hour might be the reason. Shades of overseas clothing
sweat houses.
Check the box next time you buy a Lego. “Components made in Denmark, Austria,
Hungary, Mexico and the Czech Republic” John P
|
|
| |
In lugnet.reviews, John Patterson wrote:
| |
| |
You raise an interesting point about the box art on the Bikini Bottom
Express: at what point can it be considered false advertising, since the
included model so obviously deviates from that pictured? On boxes of
cereal, for example, manufacturers always put a disclaimer to the effect of
“Product enlarged to show texture”; has LEGO reached the point of needing to
include a disclaimer stating, “Product rendered with CGI to cover flaws of
actual model” ? Of course, most of us would simply prefer that the model
match the box art as closely as possible. But at a minimum, perhaps LEGO
needs to state that the box art is an artistic representation of the actual
product.
Incidentally, I used those same windows on a caboose of mine:
The orange panel windows it uses are from an earlier Sponge Bob set, and the
color discrepancy was still an issue then, although this latest set really
highlights it.
-Jordan Schwarz
|
Perhaps it is due to Flextronics not having the quality control that Lego
did. Why they moved production to Juarez Mexico is beyond me.
|
(Note that I don’t know, and that I’m not wearing my Ambassador’s hat here). I
would guess that costs are a major consideration, and that the NAFTA has had a
bearing on this - keep in mind that the USA is LEGO’s biggest market.
| |
Perhaps very cheap labor, less than $2.00 an hour might be the reason.
|
Well, labour costs would have a bearing, no doubt. But less than $2 an hour? Who
knows? Don’t forget that cost is not necessarily an indicator of quality. I’ve
seen a lot of shoddy work done in a number of fields for a lot more than $2 an
hour.
| |
Shades of overseas clothing sweat houses.
|
This I doubt. Unless LEGO are assembling sets by hand.
| |
Check the box next time you buy a Lego. “Components made in Denmark,
Austria, Hungary, Mexico and the Czech Republic” John P
|
Excellent. An internationally produced product for an international market.
Cheers
Richie Dulin
|
|
| |
In lugnet.reviews, Richie Dulin wrote:
| |
(Note that I don’t know, and that I’m not wearing my Ambassador’s hat
here). I would guess that costs are a major consideration, and that the NAFTA
has had a bearing on this - keep in mind that the USA is LEGO’s biggest
market.
|
The USA is the largest market only in the sense that we barely buy more total
product than Germany since the debut of the LEGO Star Wars line. Germany still
has the highest per-capita sales by a massive margin, and the EU (which was
comparably sized to the US before they started inducting ex-Communist nations)
blows us away in terms of total combined sales.
|
|
| |
In lugnet.reviews, Richie Dulin wrote:
| |
In lugnet.reviews, John Patterson wrote:
| |
| |
You raise an interesting point about the box art on the Bikini Bottom
Express: at what point can it be considered false advertising, since the
included model so obviously deviates from that pictured? On boxes of
cereal, for example, manufacturers always put a disclaimer to the effect of
“Product enlarged to show texture”; has LEGO reached the point of needing
to include a disclaimer stating, “Product rendered with CGI to cover flaws
of actual model” ? Of course, most of us would simply prefer that the
model match the box art as closely as possible. But at a minimum, perhaps
LEGO needs to state that the box art is an artistic representation of the
actual product.
Incidentally, I used those same windows on a caboose of mine:
The orange panel windows it uses are from an earlier Sponge Bob set, and
the color discrepancy was still an issue then, although this latest set
really highlights it.
-Jordan Schwarz
|
Perhaps it is due to Flextronics not having the quality control that Lego
did. Why they moved production to Juarez Mexico is beyond me.
|
(Note that I don’t know, and that I’m not wearing my Ambassador’s hat
here). I would guess that costs are a major consideration, and that the NAFTA
has had a bearing on this - keep in mind that the USA is LEGO’s biggest
market.
| |
Perhaps very cheap labor, less than $2.00 an hour might be the reason.
|
Well, labour costs would have a bearing, no doubt. But less than $2 an hour?
Who knows? Don’t forget that cost is not necessarily an indicator of quality.
I’ve seen a lot of shoddy work done in a number of fields for a lot more
than $2 an hour.
| |
Shades of overseas clothing sweat houses.
|
This I doubt. Unless LEGO are assembling sets by hand.
| |
Check the box next time you buy a Lego. “Components made in Denmark,
Austria, Hungary, Mexico and the Czech Republic” John P
|
Excellent. An internationally produced product for an international market.
Cheers
Richie Dulin
|
I live in El Paso and that is the wage in Juarez, or less. I would doubt that
it is too international. Nothing is made in the US, Germany, England, New
Zealand, or Australia. Though some things are made in China. I would say that
the international part is where the wages are the lowest and government help to
industry. This all started with the new CFO. They might sell internationally,
but they sure do not produce internationally. Sell where the market can affort
to pay, produce where the market can get very cheap labor. Economic
internationalism. I just finished building 4996 and there is a difference in the
quality of the bricks. Some of the slopes, 2x2 were textured and some were not
2x8, 2x4. Looked kind of funny when the roof was finished. Also, to save money
and up the piece count they do not put the train wheels together anymore or the
turntables. When I built the Holiday (Christmas) Train I first wondered what
the metal parts were for. Also I am finding the piece count going up, as is the
prices, but far more “little” parts in each set. Some of what they do is not
necessary. Lots and lots of 1x1 round plates, and other short plates where a
long one would have held better. Also columns that are made of 1x1 bricks that
are 5 tall. Why not a 1x5 brick? More pieces in the box? I understand why
some people only collect the older sets now. Also there are fewer smaller sets
for the family that cannot afford the larger ones. I often thought that it was
nice for lego to do the small sets so most kids could have some legos. Other
than an rare town set there are the mini’s and the little cars. I guess what I
am trying to say is that Lego got cheap and penny pinching. Before they were
concerned with quality. This is but my opinion, Lego is going in the wrong
direction and violating the policy that the founder instilled into the family
business. But I guess business is business. John P
|
|
| |
In lugnet.reviews, John Patterson wrote:
| |
In lugnet.reviews, Richie Dulin wrote:
| |
In lugnet.reviews, John Patterson wrote:
| |
Perhaps it is due to Flextronics not having the quality control that Lego
did. Why they moved production to Juarez Mexico is beyond me.
|
(Note that I don’t know, and that I’m not wearing my Ambassador’s hat
here). I would guess that costs are a major consideration, and that the
NAFTA has had a bearing on this - keep in mind that the USA is LEGO’s
biggest market.
| |
Perhaps very cheap labor, less than $2.00 an hour might be the reason.
|
Well, labour costs would have a bearing, no doubt. But less than $2 an hour?
Who knows? Don’t forget that cost is not necessarily an indicator of
quality. I’ve seen a lot of shoddy work done in a number of fields for a
lot more than $2 an hour.
| |
Shades of overseas clothing sweat houses.
|
This I doubt. Unless LEGO are assembling sets by hand.
| |
Check the box next time you buy a Lego. “Components made in Denmark,
Austria, Hungary, Mexico and the Czech Republic” John P
|
Excellent. An internationally produced product for an international market.
Cheers
Richie Dulin
|
I live in El Paso and that is the wage in Juarez, or less. I would doubt
that it is too international. Nothing is made in the US, Germany, England,
New Zealand, or Australia. Though some things are made in China. I would
say that the international part is where the wages are the lowest and
government help to industry. This all started with the new CFO. They might
sell internationally, but they sure do not produce internationally.
|
Well, they do... you provided a list above - “Components made in Denmark,
Austria, Hungary, Mexico and the Czech Republic”. Now, I’m guessing that the
first two (at least) are not really cheap labour markets - but I could be wrong.
| |
Sell
where the market can affort to pay, produce where the market can get very
cheap labor. Economic internationalism. I just finished building 4996 and
there is a difference in the quality of the bricks. Some of the slopes, 2x2
were textured and some were not 2x8, 2x4. Looked kind of funny when the roof
was finished. Also, to save money and up the piece count they do not put the
train wheels together anymore or the turntables.
|
Well, markets outside North America don’t generally get piece counts on boxes,
so upping the piece count may have a lesser significance than you suppose. But
given that they are not assembling these components, one has to wonder what
they are doing with all this cheap labour you say they are using.
| |
When I built the Holiday
(Christmas) Train I first wondered what the metal parts were for. Also I am
finding the piece count going up, as is the prices, but far more “little”
parts in each set. Some of what they do is not necessary. Lots and lots of
1x1 round plates, and other short plates where a long one would have held
better. Also columns that are made of 1x1 bricks that are 5 tall. Why not a
1x5 brick? More pieces in the box?
|
Possibly, I guess.
But, on a positive note, it could be because that’s exactly the sort of
thing fans have been requesting for years - don’t use a 1x1x5 when 5 1x1 bricks
will do. Have a look back over the years here at LUGNET and you’ll find many
similar requests.
| |
I understand why some people only
collect the older sets now. Also there are fewer smaller sets for the family
that cannot afford the larger ones. I often thought that it was nice for
lego to do the small sets so most kids could have some legos. Other than an
rare town set there are the mini’s and the little cars. I guess what I am
trying to say is that Lego got cheap and penny pinching. Before they were
concerned with quality. This is but my opinion, Lego is going in the wrong
direction and violating the policy that the founder instilled into the family
business. But I guess business is business. John P
|
Cheers
Richie Dulin
(I’ve trimmed .reviews from this post... please consider the FUT if choosing to
reply)
|
|
| |
In lugnet.reviews, John Patterson wrote:
| |
Perhaps it is due to Flextronics not having the quality control that Lego
did. Why they moved production to Juarez Mexico is beyond me. Perhaps very
cheap labor, less than $2.00 an hour might be the reason. Shades of overseas
clothing sweat houses.
Check the box next time you buy a Lego. “Components made in Denmark,
Austria, Hungary, Mexico and the Czech Republic” John P
|
Remember that they were originally planning to move production to China.
Reportedly there were two main considerations with abandoning that idea. The
first was that there was an intense backlash concerning quality issues (which
would only have been heightened given the recent lead scandal). And the second
was that China is nowhere near any of their prime markets. While the US may be
the biggest single consumer-nation, remember that until the advent of LEGO Star
Wars sets in 1999, Germany alone was the top buyer, and they are still unmatched
in terms of per-capita purchasing. Throw in the whole of Europe, and they were
pretty much making parts in the absolute worst part of the world when it came to
transportation logistics. It’s a straight shot from China to the California
coast, so it’s pretty simple for the US to import Chinese products. For Europe,
they’d need to ship them around southern Asia and up through the Suez Canal,
bounce them across the Americas, or send them entirely by land. Now, the Czech
Republic is a growing economy, but it’s still an affordable manufacturing
market, it’s right next door to their primary market (western Europe), and the
quality levels have got to be astronomically higher than what they were dealing
with in China (not to mention the fact that it’s a lot easier to go check up on
things). I’ve yet to hear a single person complain about how the quality is
never going to be the same with production being shifted to the CR.
Now Mexico is typically a gateway economy for the US. Companies who want to
close their US manufacturing plants will shift production there temporarily in
preparation for then moving it on to China (my last landlord got laid off from
Baker Furniture when they consolidated production of $10,000 office desks to
their other plant in a region of the Carolinas that was becoming infamous for
being the last domestic step before many furniture companies opened transitional
plants in Mexico, and then finally moved to China). The thing is, TLG already
had LEGO production set up in China with the Clikits line before they ever set
up shop in Mexio. Now they make nothing there, which suggests that they’re
pulling back from that market entirely, quite possibly permanently.
As for Austria and Hungary, I’d been unaware that they’d started production
there at all until I checked a recent box last month to confirm that they no
longer list China as a country of origin. Hungary I can understand, being that
they’re a recovered ex-Eastern Bloc nation, but Austria?
|
|
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In lugnet.reviews, Scott Lyttle wrote:
| |
One issue may be the application of orange paint on a different material. We
all know LEGO elements are made of ABS. However, windows are not made of
ABS, they are made of polycarbonate(PC).
|
Is it? I knew it couldn’t possibly be ABS (due to the fact that natural ABS has
a translucent milky-beige color, and clear ABS is supposed to be EXPENSIVE),
but I’d always thought it was acrylic due to how easily the transparent parts
used to crack when I was a kid (particularly the 1x1 round plates of which I
have had dozens split open at the base). Maybe it’s something that changed over
the years, though.
| |
As PC and ABS are different materials, application of color may have
discrepancies (kinda like when you apply paint over a white primer, it’s got
a different look when you apply it over a darker color primer.
|
It’s probably a combination of issues:
1. The parts are transparent, so unless they get a fully-opaque undercoat,
colors will be muted. If you recall getting character glasses from fast food
restaurants back when the practice was still common, the inside of every glass
showed white because of the undercoat that was used to help make the brighter
colors pop.
2. The color of the part will affect it as well, like how the old blue computers
were always less vibrantly decorated than their white counterparts, and the
light-grey versions were somewhere in between. Darker colors will cause the
deco to be more muted, just as transparent shades will. Mismatched shades (red
paint on green, blue paint on orange, etc) will have a similar effect because
they don’t reflect the same wavelengths of light.
3. We’re assuming that they actually picked paint colors that were good
matches for the part colors, at least under the circumstances as seen during the
selection process. They could very well have just been the closest available
colors, and if they weren’t a perfect match, they were as good as they were
going to get without having an expensive custom-tinted color mixed up. You can
see the same result with the new corpulantly fleshie minifigs. Satipo from the
Temple Escape set has a patch of bare skin on his torso that looks a much better
match to the NBA fleshtone than the new licensed IP color. It makes him look
like he’s wearing another shirt under his wifebeater.
|
|
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In lugnet.reviews, David Laswell wrote:
| |
In lugnet.reviews, Richie Dulin wrote:
| |
(Note that I don’t know, and that I’m not wearing my Ambassador’s hat
here). I would guess that costs are a major consideration, and that the
NAFTA has had a bearing on this - keep in mind that the USA is LEGO’s
biggest market.
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The USA is the largest market only in the sense that we barely buy more total
product than Germany since the debut of the LEGO Star Wars line.
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Well, yes... that’s why I called it the biggest market.
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Germany
still has the highest per-capita sales by a massive margin, and the EU (which
was comparably sized to the US before they started inducting ex-Communist
nations) blows us away in terms of total combined sales.
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IIRC, LEGO regards the various EU countries as seperate markets. It certainly
has different distribution strategies between them. But I could be wrong.
Cheers
Richie Dulin
(Please consider FUT if replying. Thanks)
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In lugnet.dear-lego, Richie Dulin wrote:
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IIRC, LEGO regards the various EU countries as seperate markets. It certainly
has different distribution strategies between them. But I could be wrong.
Cheers
Richie Dulin
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You are right. For example, S@H doesn’t ship to the Czech Republic. (Is it a
bureaucratical issue? Is it a trade-off for lower taxes?) The prices also differ
among countries.
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In lugnet.dear-lego, Richie Dulin wrote:
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Well, yes... that’s why I called it the biggest market.
IIRC, LEGO regards the various EU countries as seperate markets. It certainly
has different distribution strategies between them. But I could be wrong.
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That’s all true, but the underlying fact is that they still sell more total
volume to the EU than they do to all of North America, and between the US and
Canada there is more geographical area involved. In other words, even though
distribution deals probably end at every national border in Europe, they still
have to ship stuff into the region through the same transit system. In that
sense, China may very well not be the cheapest option for outsourcing. Between
loss of goodwill value (or perceived worth) in the company, and drastically
increased transit costs over anything they’ve ever had to deal with before,
outsourcing to a weaker economy on the fringes of the EU (particularly nations
that are in the EU so as to take advantage of any intra-Union tax breaks)
would leave their goodwill untouched, save them on transit costs, and still
allow them to knock a huge chunk out of their production labor costs (which was
the whole motivation behind looking at China to begin with). Now, as to what
happens with the parts/sets when they arrive at their destination, that’s all a
matter for Marketing and Sales to sort out.
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Purple Dave wrote:
> As for Austria and Hungary, I'd been unaware that they'd started production
> there at all until I checked a recent box last month to confirm that they no
> longer list China as a country of origin. Hungary I can understand, being that
> they're a recovered ex-Eastern Bloc nation, but Austria?
Hungary has Flextronics Duplo operations. Not sure what they make for
System sets.
In the CR - printed parts, manual assembling and packaging
Austria - I'm not 100% sure, but I think they make the plastic cans (and
again, I think this is made by an Austrian company in Czech Republic,
but since 'Made in' has many meanings... <g>)
Regards,
Jindroush
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