Subject:
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Re: PROPOSAL for new track (was Re: New Lego Track!
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains, lugnet.loc.au
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Date:
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Wed, 18 May 2005 12:47:13 GMT
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Viewed:
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2580 times
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In lugnet.trains, Gary Quinlan wrote:
>
>
> Here in Australia we probably have a unique case in that you can't easily
> purchase many lego Trains items from many retailers. TLG is a franchise here and
> mainly operates with the larger retailers like Kmart. Their after volumes sales
> only with limited shelf space. (Megablocks has similar shelf space in some
> stores) We have lots of HP, bionocle, Star Wars, etc, etc, but not much in
> trains. As an example last year in 2004 in Brisbane (population 2 million)
> straight track was put on the shelves in Jan 2004 and was sold out in Feb 2004,
> it was not restocked until Jan 2005. I don't know how many people asked us at
> the Brisbane Model Train Show in May 2004 if we had straight track for sale, I
> only wish we did, as we would on made a handsome profit, the few boxes we had
> sold in the first few hours and were sold for 20% more that the Shop@Home price.
> (we probably could of sold them for more but felt too guilty about it)
>
> So maybe I was a bit sensitive and a bit too quickly disappointed. Here in
> Australia the situation is obviously different to that in the US. I was assuming
> Lugnet was a thermometer to a Lego Train question, I was probabaly looking in
> the wrong place. (It should be that Lugnet is not a thermometer but a thermostat
> but alas this is not so) There seems to be a differing opinion to what is posted
> in Lugnet and what is said on the street. (or at the Model Train Shows I
> attended to be more accurate).
>
> So Larry we seem to agree on some issues but not all, and that's probably a good
> thing. Thanks for this reply as it has eased my agnst and (as can be seen from
> this post) not left me lurking in the shadows. But I still think that Lego
> should produce a different radius curved track and their fools not to do so!
> and I know I speak for many who can't, don't and won't post on lugnet.
>
> Gary
> Member #162
>
> PS Is there any third party out there somewhere who is able to produce lego
> track if lego won't?
Australia is definitely not the unique case, but more likely the typical case.
In the US, most consumers can only buy Lego trains online or from S@H. During
the holiday shopping season, TRU may carry trains, but other than that, trains
are non-existent on retail shelves in the US.
In the US at model train shows, what I typically hear is first, that nobody knew
that Lego made trains (no questions about 12V to 9V conversions: 12V was never
introduced in the US). Second, the interest is pretty high. Third, the entry
cost is rather high for a model train. Nevertheless, if a vendor at a train
show started selling Lego trains, I imagine that they'd sell quite well (our
train club doesn't sell, mainly because we don't want to go through the hassle
of becoming a vendor).
I'll agree that the interest in Lego trains is an unknown quantity, mainly
because the vast majority of consumers don't KNOW about Lego trains. How can
you have an interest in something you have no idea exists? So to increase the
train line choices (accessories, more types of track, more car offerings), the
market has to be increased. And TLG either isn't interested or doesn't know how
to do this. I'm hoping that TLG is interested, and that once they are earning a
profit again, they'll make a significant push (personally, I think 2005 has the
potential to be a good year for TLG, due to the SW movie).
Also, remember that our view of the market is rather skewed; we see a lot of
people who are interested in trains, but if you add all the interested attendees
of train shows throughout the world, I think it'd be only 1 or 2 million at
best. That's still a rather small market for TLG to pander to, considering that
the market for SW Lego is probably around 20 or 30 million in the US alone.
The views posted on Lugnet are different than what you hear at a train show not
because the desires are different, but because the views have been tempered with
knowledge of the business reality of the toy industry. Maybe if TLG starts
viewing the Lego train line not as a toy, but as a hobby, then the market for
trains could grow. But that would take a visionary marketer, and currently, TLG
is focused on making a profit again, not on taking visionary risks.
So what you're hearing on Lugnet are realistic views, meaning that yes, we'd
like to see more variety in track, more rolling stock, rail accessories; but we
know that trains are an extremely small segment of their market, and until TLG's
financial outlook changes for the better, trains will remain so (hopefully,
though, trains are a profitable line).
In the meantime, it's still good to have these conversations online. They do
get read by a few Lego employees, and they do get passed along to the
higher-ups. They may die there, but persistance is key. One of these days, the
timing will be right, and progress will be made.
John
P.S. When I first read the original subject, I thought that Lego track had
finally been found in the new greys. So, to be honest, I was actually relieved
to find out that wasn't the case. Phew!
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