Subject:
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Re: The Official "Issues List"
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.ambassadors
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Date:
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Tue, 31 Jul 2007 23:47:06 GMT
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Viewed:
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14871 times
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In lugnet.ambassadors, Scott Wardlaw wrote:
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Nelson / Richie,
Thanks again for posting this list, and for your diligent work as LEGO
Ambassadors. (I hope that you get paid for it)
I think I also need to say that I am appalled by 9V Trains not being on the
original list. Are you guys representing the interest of the entire
community or just hoping to avoid what is becoming known as the largest
mistake TLG has made?
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I think I am missing something here... this “becoming known as the largest
mistake TLG has made”? I think you mean not saving 9V trains - but it isn’t
actually made yet. And people would argue that the colour change was, or the
introduction of studless technic, or the discontinuation of pirates and so on.
Well, maybe not the pirates thing.
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That aside, I want to bring up what matters most in a business: money. LEGO
is already loosing it to competitors of such. The lack of 9V Train sets and
AFOL directed Town sets is being fulfilled on eBay and other sites as we
speak. Custom sets made by community members (including myself) have brought
prices at least as high as $355 for a single 9V Train Locomotive without any
motors. AFOL directed buildings, such as name branded restaurants with fully
finished interiors, have sold for at least as much as $270 for a 500 piece
building on a 16x32 stud baseplate.
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How many $270/500 piece sets have been sold? My guess is that the numbers are
infintesimally small compared to what LEGO sells. What’s your margin on such a
set?
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There is a definite gap in the money willing to be spent on 9V Train sets and
the production of these sets. If a real company, such as MegaBlocks, were to
start producing sets to fill this gap, TLG would probably take a serious
blow.
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And the very fact that MegaBlocks hasn’t should make you wonder about the
potential profitability. (Sure, they couldn’t produce the same elements, but
producing track and motors which are compatible could be done.)
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Thanks to LEGO Train Clubs for their inspiration, LEGO fans want their own
train layouts.
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No. Some LEGO fans want their own layouts. It’s an important distinction.
(Incidentally, not everyone would agree that Train Clubs are the inspiration for
fans wanting layouts - I recall reading somewhere that the popularity of LEGO
trains was due to the availability of custom sets, for instance.)
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I grew up with Technic, but I have personally spent at least
four thousand dollars over the last year; all because I came across the
website of a LTC. It will take several more years, and several $$$, for my
train layout to be completed. I’d love for that money to go directly to TLG,
but they don’t have many sets that will go in my layout.
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Now, how many people are there like you? If that can be quantified, and that
number is large enough, then I’m convinced that LEGO will act appropriately.
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I want to laugh sometimes when I see yet another fire station come out. If I
just bought sets from TLG, I would have like 7 fire stations in my town. I’d
also have to buy two of them to assemble a building with four walls.
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But oddly, LEGO sell tens of thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of those fire
station sets every year.
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Lastly, I want to address another concern. There are only so many ways to
build a model of a train, car, or whatever. Does TLG ever worry that a new
design will be the same as a set that a community member has already built?
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I would think so. Is this a concern you would like included on the issues list?
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Sorry for any negative comments. Like many others, I think I feel very
strongly about this. I do want to say thank you again for taking on this
role and for being open to the community’s ideas and comments.
Thank you so much,
Scott
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Cheers
Richie Dulin
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: The Official "Issues List"
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| Nelson / Richie, Thanks again for posting this list, and for your diligent work as LEGO Ambassadors. (I hope that you get paid for it) I think I also need to say that I am appalled by 9V Trains not being on the original list. Are you guys (...) (17 years ago, 31-Jul-07, to lugnet.ambassadors, FTX)
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