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Allan Bedford wrote:
> > On the other hand, I suspect these kits will be one of the most frequent
> > sources of sets to find their way into the My Own Creations line.
>
> I have to hope this won't be the case. For only one reason really; these
> kits tend to gravitate towards existing themes and styles already offered by
> LEGO. I'd really like to see LEGO Direct step out and find some kits that
> don't fit into the pigeon holes the rest of the company already confines
> itself to.
>
> How do you do this? More sculptures. More non-minifig scale models.
> Technic-styled models. The list goes on. So long as it's not a train or
> castle set. These two themes have already been too heavily favored by LEGO
> Direct.
I agree that it would be nice to see a variety of sets. I think however
that you will continue to see a heavy weighting in favor of town, train,
and castle. Why? Because I think the bulk of LEGO sales are in these
categories (though space is up there also). Technic and sculptures have
a smaller market.
It would be nice if they took this as an opportunity to explore themes
which have not been explored yet. How about Romans or Greeks?
> > One
> > reason is the quality of the set.
>
> Agreed. But other builders have come up with things that are of an equally
> high quality but haven't gone to the trouble to 'mass' produce it.
A factor strongly in favor of commercializing an existing kit is that
the instructions have already been developed (though no doubt LEGO
Direct will alter the instructions to better fit their standards).
> > The My Own Creation series will be
> > a win win for everyone since LEGO's ability to market to a much wider
> > audience than GoB
>
> GoB? Qu'est-ce que c'est?
Guild of Bricksmiths.
> > can reach and the ability to acquire the parts at cost
> > should allow them to offer the designer more than they could ever hope
> > to see from selling the sets themselves. They probably won't sell as
> > many copies of the Blacksmith Shop as the Guarded Inn,
>
> I don't know. It is certainly a more fully realized building and looks much
> better designed that the 'fabled' Guarded Inn.
Oh no doubt. I can think of two reasons immediately which will reduce
volumes:
- it isn't a classic set everyone's heard of (not to belittle the
quality of the set)
- it costs more
> > but I could see
> > them selling something like 1/3 to 1/2 as many pretty easily (and at
> > less than 10 cents a brick assuming the price and piece count is
> > correct, we will be buying many of them to part out - in fact, it's kind
> > of amusing that a set developed from parting out official sets is one of
> > the best candidates for parting out itself -
>
> Is it just me, or is there something out of whack with this sort of
> thinking? If this really is a strong reason that people would want to buy
> this set, then the company needs to look at bulk parts in a brighter light
> than ever before.
No question, what is the value of bulk which the per part cost is
comparable to the cost of parts from a set? My point is that at less
than 10 cents a part, and the fact that this set is composed of many
basic bricks, and other good parts, makes it a desirable set for parting
out. That doesn't mean that I won't build one copy of the Blacksmith
Shop to keep.
> > I'm suspecting part of the
> > price break hints at the real costs of developing a set
>
> If development costs were really reflected in the cost of a LEGO set, then
> the Jack Stone Police Headquarters would cost $1.99... tax included.
While you may not find Jack Stone to your liking, I assure you there's
plenty of development cost. I also didn't say that the development cost
was the majority of the retail price of a set (the majority of the
retail price of a set is added on after the set is sealed into a box in
the way of LEGO's profit, shipping and handling costs, marketing costs,
fulfillment costs, and retail markup). On the other hand, for a lower
volume item like a S@H exclusive, the development cost must be amortized
over fewer copies of the set.
> > [it's reasonable
> > to pay an untested designer less than one which has a lot of history,
> > even if the reality is the skill is the same]).
>
> It would seem to me that this sort of deal is fairly new for the company.
> It's much more likely that the regular in-house designers/developers/master
> builders are salaried. This new My Own Creation deal is something that
> likely saw the designer offered a fee to purchase all production and
> marketing rights to this set. This sort of payment (in my mind) would be
> based entirely on the set and not on the designer at all.
I'm sure the designers are salaried, though they may have incentive pay.
But no matter whether they are salaried or paid by the job, the cost of
their employment (and all the various related support) still must be
factored into the cost of a kit (actually, this is one area where they
can save by picking up fan creations even if they pay the designer
comparably, they don't have to pay for an office for the fan designer,
don't have to buy him a new PC, etc. etc. etc.).
Frank
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: "MOC" Blacksmith Shop on lego.com
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| (...) Perhaps a valid point. However, it can be argued that virtually anything can be a big seller if the kids want to buy it. Perfect example... Bionicle. It's neither Town nor Train, but it's flying off the shelves right now. Parents where I work (...) (23 years ago, 17-Dec-01, to lugnet.market.theory)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: "MOC" Blacksmith Shop on lego.com
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| (...) It does indeed sound like a lot of work. (...) I wonder if some other 'guild' will attempt to fill this marketing void? Why not offer just high quality step-by-step instructions for models you can build with parts you already have? (...) Based (...) (23 years ago, 17-Dec-01, to lugnet.market.theory, lugnet.general)
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