Subject:
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Bulk brick sales and Making Silver Bricks
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Wed, 26 May 1999 23:44:02 GMT
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Viewed:
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718 times
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I just spoke with one of the supervisors from Lego CA. Here is a bit of bad
news for those who want Lego to sell bulk bricks ar do ANYTHING that will
increase their sales. They are at maximum production. From a management
standpoint, this means that the only places they will want to expand is in
sets that have a higher profit margin. This is closely tied to the price per
piece ratio, but not exactly. A set that is $.17 per piece does not
necessarily make more than one that is $.15 per piece, as the production costs
are different.
What is does mean is that items with a low return on investment are going to
be cut first. I think that means we can kiss the 1200 piece brick tub
goodbye. At less than 1.7 cents per brick retail, it would most likely be the
lowest return they have. I thought they wouldn't get rid of such a good
seller, but they will drop production of it to keep putting out SW and
Mindstorms sets. I had 30 of them on order for over a month at Toys R Us and
they couldn't get them. Finally, I bought 14 at another store. (For $15 each,
I couldn't pass that up!) I also nticed that they do sit on the shelves a
long time, so maybe I am the only one buying them. They have 7 of the
anniversary ones left (weren't there when I bought the 3033s).
If they truly are at peak capacity, which is almost certain with the SW sales
and trimming 1000 jobs and closing a production facility, it would be hard to
even wish for bulk sales, let alone believe that they will come out. I fear
that Town Jr. may be the most profitable sets. That may be why we now see
Space Jr. and Train Jr. Even technic seems to be sliding this year. We may
be left with only model team, Mindstorms and Star Wars. Let us all pray that
when the 3 years of TLG/Lucus are up, they resign to go for longer.
On a side note, I am currently investigating chroming plastic. Most places
can only chrome metal, as they dip metal into very hot liquid chrome. Not too
good for ABS plastic. My search has yielded 2 companies that can do it. The
procedure is called Vacuum Metalizing and there is is one in Los Angeles and
another in Taiwan. Their main job is dealing with automotive and motorcycle
parts. I am sending samples to the one in LA. Unfortunately, I was quoted
approximately $4 per brick, so this is not really the way to go, but if you
are crazy and desperate enough... This will at least let us know if we can
coat our bricks and still have them work as LEGO or if the coating changes the
dimensions too much.
It takes 14 days to do and I still have to ship out the sample. I think that
by the time they come back, I will be on my honeymoon, so I will know when I
get back (end of June). Whatever the results, I will post them here.
Mike
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Message has 4 Replies:
 | | Re: Bulk brick sales and Making Silver Bricks
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| (...) too (...) The (...) and (...) motorcycle (...) the (...) that (...) I (...) Mike: They have been chroming plastic on automobiles for more than 25 years! Chroming does not always mean "hot" liquid: It is a process where an item is given a (...) (25 years ago, 27-May-99, to lugnet.general)
| | | Re: Bulk brick sales and Making Silver Bricks
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| In lugnet.general, Mike Poindexter writes: <SNIP!> (...) Try this (URL) is the company I am currently contracted to. We do a lot of thin film coatings on a variety of materials. I would recommend that you contact the sales department, since I am in (...) (25 years ago, 27-May-99, to lugnet.general)
| | | Re: Bulk brick sales and Making Silver Bricks
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| (...) On a similar note it seems that the LEGO operations in the US could be brought into closer line with the rest of the world as part of TLG's "Fitness Program". This could mean that "US only" promotions and sets may become few and far between. (...) (25 years ago, 5-Jun-99, to lugnet.general)
| | | Re: Bulk brick sales and Making Silver Bricks
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| I had a minifig vacuum metalized over a year ago. Unfortunately, I forgot to send a helmet and visor :( The person who did it said they wouldn't do another, too much work. I had to scrape the chrome off of spots to get the minifig back together. It (...) (25 years ago, 11-Jun-99, to lugnet.general)
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