General Discussion : 2589


General / 2589

Re: TLG investigation —Todd Lehman

(...) What would it take for them to police/enforce such a requirement? (...) What if someone wanted to buy 500 gray 2x4 bricks and there was a minimum purchase requirement of 10,000? --Todd (26 years ago, 15-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: TLG investigation —Mark Tarrabain

(...) Well, for one thing, memberships would only be available to individuals, not corporations. Although this wouldn't necessarily stop a person from doing this altogether, it would put a cap on the amount of profit that they would be allowed to (...) (26 years ago, 15-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: TLG investigation —Todd Lehman

(...) How far does that go toward stopping an individual from buying $25,000 in bulk bricks and reselling these to a local toystore for $25,250? (The profit is only $250 on the transaction. Not bad for about 1 hour of work. :-) Any restriction (...) (26 years ago, 15-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: TLG investigation —Mark Tarrabain

(...) That's only 1% profit. Who's going to bother spending that kind of money to make so little? Further, I would never suggest that TLG charge club members prices that are below what retailers could get their stuff for. I, for one, would be quite (...) (26 years ago, 15-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Profit dynamics of bulk purchases —Todd Lehman

(...) Think. Toystore writes $25,250 cashier's check to individual. Individual deposits check and writes new cashier's check to LSI for $25,000. LSI delivers bulk elements to individual. Individual delivers bulk elements to toystore. In other words, (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Profit dynamics of bulk purchases —Scott Edward Sanburn

Todd & All; Excellent discussion regarding bulk brick sales. In certain political circles, I know if say corporation A gives 10 people $1,000 each to give to a candidate that supports them, while the maximum contribution is $1,000, it is illegal and (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Profit dynamics of bulk purchases —Mark Tarrabain

(...) Todd, I think you and I are just going to have to agree to disagree on this. I don't think that TLG would have any motivation to sell to individuals in the bulk amounts that you are suggesting, but if you think otherwise, well, hey... maybe (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Profit dynamics of bulk purchases —Todd Lehman

(...) Sorry :) (...) Ok. No problem, no grudges. (...) No, I don't necessarily disagree with that...(and I probably don't want to be making guesses as to what motivates TLG :) My major disagreement was with the assertion that it would be possible to (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Profit dynamics of bulk purchases —Jesse Long

Todd Lehman wrote in message ... (...) this. (...) Just because you two agree to disagree doesn't mean one of you isn't wrong. Not that I'm going to tell you which one it is (if either). Jesse ___...___ Jesse The Jolly Jingoist Looking for answers? (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Profit dynamics of bulk purchases —Matthew Bates

I really don't see what all this fuss is about, toy stores aren't interested in selling bulk bricks. You used to be able to buy bulk bricks (supplementary packs I think they were called) in UK toy shops but not any more, there isn't enough demand. (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Profit dynamics of bulk purchases —Mike Walsh

Matthew Bates wrote in message ... (...) interested (...) (supplementary (...) isn't (...) I was in Sweden back in December and in a couple of the stores I went into they had parts packs for slopes, doors and windows, and wheels. They were (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Low Corner Slopes in Roof Parts Packs? —Gary R. Istok

(...) the same question that I'll ask... 3x3 corner slopes!!!! In a Swedish parts packs? I'm assuming that we are talking low slopes in RED, right? And not any other color, right? If that is the case, are these only in the Swedish sets? Or how (...) (26 years ago, 18-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Low Corner Slopes in Roof Parts Packs? —Mike Walsh

Gary Istok wrote in message <36CC3E8C.74BB5646@u...ch.edu>... (...) asking (...) parts (...) They were in a box, not a bag like the US parts packs. If you look on the LEGO web site in the European catalog the box looked like the one shown for set (...) (26 years ago, 18-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Low Corner Slopes in Roof Parts Packs? —Robert Farver

(...) Which would be: (URL) must admit I'm mildly interested. I'd be more interested if they were blue, and much more interested if they were black. As it is, I have tons of low slope red and I'm not sure the expense of getting European parts packs (...) (26 years ago, 18-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Low Corner Slopes in Roof Parts Packs? —Mike Walsh

Rob Farver wrote in message <36cca02d.3189366@lu...et.com>... (...) on (...) blue, (...) would (...) off (...) That is indeed the box I was refering to. As I recall, the box had four corner pieces in it. Mike (26 years ago, 19-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Low Corner Slopes in Roof Parts Packs? —Jasper Janssen

(...) Maybe they were old parts packs? I have one or two roof parts packs from before my Dark Ages, and I happen to have 8 or so, I think, 3 * 3 low corner slopes (in red). Not the reverse slopes, unfortunately :) Jasper (26 years ago, 19-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Low Corner Slopes in Roof Parts Packs? —Gary R. Istok

(...) It's too bad that TLG doesn't make a 1x2 low slope (half pyramid) roof peak piece that would be used in conjunction with these low sloped corner bricks, like they do with the regular sloped bricks. Is that a possibility, or would there (...) (26 years ago, 22-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Low Corner Slopes in Roof Parts Packs? —Jasper Janssen

On Mon, 22 Feb 1999 16:57:49 GMT, Gary Istok <gistok@umich.edu> wrote: <3*3 low slopes> (...) Good question... looking at my 2*4 low slope peaks, I have a feeling you may indeed be right about too little clearance :( You could use regular (medium (...) (26 years ago, 24-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Low Corner Slopes in Roof Parts Packs? —James Brown

(...) Hmm - It *should* be possible - unless I'm horribly mistaken (won't know for sure until I get home and do some comparisons), the area for a single stud on a pyramid roof peak should be the same as the area for a stud in the "corner" of a (...) (26 years ago, 24-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Low Corner Slopes in Roof Parts Packs? —Gary R. Istok

(...) James, if you want a low-slope gable connector, then I'd want (most assuredly Rob Farver too) a low-slope INSIDE CORNER 3x3 brick, which also doesn't exist, because that is the piece that would give a low-slope gable connector a reason to (...) (26 years ago, 24-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Low Corner Slopes in Roof Parts Packs? —Mark Koesel

(...) It was always my understanding that the reason that roof pieces have a lip (i.e. the small vertical edge before the slope starts) was to provide a standard way, independent of slope angle, to keep the interior side of the slope from "crashing (...) (26 years ago, 24-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Low Corner Slopes in Roof Parts Packs? —James Brown

(...) ^^^...^^^ (...) Rob (...) because (...) exist (...) Yup, I said that first, I just neglected to use accepted terminology :) I'm not sure that the concave (or inside corner, if you prefer) would give enough area to attach to a stud at the (...) (26 years ago, 24-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Low Corner Slopes in Roof Parts Packs? —Robert Farver

(...) by adding a 1x3 slope to each side) it would increase attachable area, and stabilize the piece. This could also be done with the medium slope (increase to 3x3 with 1x2 slope area added to each side.) Of course, If they went and did all of the (...) (26 years ago, 24-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Steep Corner Slopes. —Gary R. Istok

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Now that we've analyzed the Low Corner Slopes, how about Steep Corner Slopes. Granted Steep Slopes don't come in Service Packs (too bad), and are therefore much much scarcer (...) (26 years ago, 25-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Steep Corner Slopes. —James Brown

(...) Yup! I was/am working on a keep that has one side going down into water, and the steep slopes work great as a flared base, except that it looks kinda funny where it meets in the corner. :-( How am I ever going to realize (one of) my dreams - (...) (26 years ago, 25-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Steep Corner Slopes. —Jasper Janssen

(...) De Haar? The Dutch castle? Wow.. You must be the first non-Dutch person I've heard of that knows it exists... Jasper (26 years ago, 26-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Low Corner Slopes in Roof Parts Packs? —Larry Pieniazek

<36D449DD.58F405FA@umich.edu> <F7oAsz.C6z@lugnet.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit (...) I'll just use logic. Consider the convex... if it works, then the concave has to as well, as the edges must be (...) (26 years ago, 24-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Profit dynamics of bulk purchases —Steve Bliss

(...) Minifigs. And their accessories. Stores would stock these, I'll bet. We haven't had a minifig set for Space in quite awhile. Steve (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Profit dynamics of bulk purchases —Jesse Long

Steve Bliss wrote in message <36c9baa1.4738502@lu...et.com>... (...) Probably because they're not putting out any mini-fig sets that can't be composed of primary characters that everyone already has. Jesse ___...___ Jesse The Jolly Jingoist Looking (...) (26 years ago, 17-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Profit dynamics of bulk purchases —Mark de Kock

(...) Nah, it's probably because TLG changes the complete Space-line every (1-2)year! So they would have to change this minifigset also. But the older minifigsets were kept around for a lot more years. Ergo: in the new setup (every year completely (...) (26 years ago, 17-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Profit dynamics of bulk purchases —Todd Lehman

(...) Hee hee... Well, look at the types of packs that were being sold -- brightly colored roof bricks and rectangular bricks and small plates and trees and windows, among other things. Great stuff, I don't mean to insult it, but it's no where near (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: Profit dynamics of bulk purchases —Richard Dee

On Tue, 16 Feb 1999 15:57:35 GMT, Matthew Bates uttered the following profundities... (...) Let us not forget the closure of the Brazilian factory! Even though Brazilian production would increase the distribution cost, it could presumably be started (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: TLG investigation —Larry Pieniazek

(...) I will. If you can point me to a scheme that is legal, and guaranteed to return 250 an hour for a capital investment of only 25,000 I am THERE. Only takes 100 hours to double your money at that rate. Lots of arbitrageurs make a nice living on (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: TLG investigation —Mark Tarrabain

(...) But there's a federally imposed limit on the amount that you can make per year before you have to A> declare the income, and B> either have a business license or be on a payroll. This limit is not really that much per year (only about six (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: TLG investigation —Larry Pieniazek

I'm not sure what your comment about taxes has to do with my comment about arbitrage. If I can get 1% an hour consistently, I will declare the income and pay the taxes. Gladly. (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: TLG investigation —Mark Tarrabain

(...) Ah, but as soon as you do that, you are making purchases on behalf of your company, and they are no longer private purchases. I was originally suggesting that TLG restrict membership of the club to private individuals only, and not allow (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: TLG investigation —Kevin Wilson

(...) 1. Having a business license does not mean being a company. You can carry on business as a sole proprietor, under your own name or a business name. 2. If you carried on business under your own name, there's no way Lego would know whether you (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Look, Larry, Todd, et al (was Re: TLG investigation and dynamics of bulk purchases) —Mark Tarrabain

</rant on> You know, I don't even care about bulk brick packages from TLG personally. A greater variety of service packs would be more than adequate as far as I'm concerned. Look, even if TLG had only the barest discount off of what you would pay (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general, lugnet.off-topic.debate)

Re: Look, Larry, Todd, et al (was Re: TLG investigation and dynamics of bulk purchases) —Jesse Long

Mark Tarrabain wrote in message <36C9B1D0.24C107D8@l....bc.ca>... (...) with a LEGO club (...) which can't (...) I think anything that furthers understanding (if only of people's positions) is good, even if the remaining 99% of the population has no (...) (26 years ago, 17-Feb-99, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

Re: Look, Larry, Todd, et al (was Re: TLG investigation and dynamics of bulk purchases) —Larry Pieniazek

Jesse said: (...) Agreed. The only point I was making in presenting counter arguments is that if there is a way to make easy money, sooner or later someone will find it. It doesn't matter whether you think it's moral or ethical or not. It doesn't (...) (26 years ago, 17-Feb-99, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

Re: TLG investigation —Jasper Janssen

(...) And why would having a few thousand of, say, any particular part stop the sale of sets? Anyway, if sets generally have costs /part of $.10-$.20, Why not make the bulk ordering service at $.25/piece, for the medium-hard-to-get pieces, $.50-$1 (...) (26 years ago, 15-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: TLG investigation —Jim Wissner

(...) I think the point here is largely mute, since (call me cynical) even if TLG beefs up its offering of parts for club members, it seems to me very unlikely that they would make available each piece currently in production. So it simply wouldn't (...) (26 years ago, 15-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Bulk purchases —Todd Lehman

(...) It wouldn't (and that wasn't the implication). The question was a rhetorical one, in response to Mark Tarrabain's comment "Further, there could be little incentive for a person to purchase from any individuals who were to try this because they (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: TLG investigation —David Till

(...) Exactly, bulk parts are unlikely to be economically viable for TLG, especially if they were cheaper than sets on a per piece basis. Bulk parts should demand a premium which those building huge models (castles) would be willing to pay in order (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)

Re: TLG investigation —Steve Scott

Jasper Janssen wrote in message <36c8a217.6212706@lu...et.com>... (...) Because presently, if you want a thousand of a particular piece the only way to get them is to buy umteen sets (4x2 bricks etc excluded). Donning my devil's advocate hat again (...) (26 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.general)