Subject:
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Re: Extinct Castle pieces (Re: July surprise for castle fans!)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.castle
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Date:
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Sat, 26 May 2001 13:45:31 GMT
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Viewed:
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1538 times
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In lugnet.castle, Frank Filz writes:
> David Eaton wrote:
> >
> > Huh... I guess I was never told that this was "top secret" information
> > or anything, and I'm not even sure it's true, but what I had heard
> > was that the molds are destroyed if they're not going to be used--
> > And from what it sounded like the molds were pretty well disposed of.
> I think they only destroy molds which are no longer useable. Remember,
> we just had a re-introduction of a part not seen in ages, the Yellow
> Castle bib style armor (in the Women's Soccer Team).
A lot of discussion here seems to be centered around if Lego still has molds
for certain parts. Even if they do not have all of the molds they need,
creating more is just one of the costs of producing Lego elements. TLC seems
to bear the cost of producing new molds for new elements every year. To me,
worrying about mold availability is only one issue.
I am not an authority on injection molding or what it takes to produce a
finished Lego product, but my guess is that LOGISITICS would be a large cost
factor in re-producing old Lego sets. What I mean by logistics is this:
To produce any given Lego set, a very specific parts mix must be configured;
and then calculations on how many of each element would be needed for a molding
batch run against standing warehouse inventory of that part. Plus all other
factors in producing the appropriate elements in appropriate quantities.
Also, since packing Lego sets is nearly fully automated, the automation
processes all need to be programmed in order for the logistics of physically
packaging a Lego set can be done correctly.
In addition to these and other logistical concerns, packaging and
building instructions need to be re-developed as well. And unless the firms
that print instructions and box panels have complete archives of Lego items
they have produced, those items may need to be created again.
These items WILL have to be created again if the re-release contains any
variations from the original set. The older the set, the greater the
probability that variations will have to be made.
As long as people are speculating on what costs are involved to re-produce old
Lego sets, don't forget about other costs besides the molds. Even if the molds
are the most costly factor, they are not the only factor.
__Kevin Salm__
....Lego enthusiast for over 20 years....
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