Subject:
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Re: Bulk Ordering - Secrets Revealed.
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Thu, 5 Aug 1999 16:24:13 GMT
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Viewed:
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1676 times
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Amen, Gary! I was typing almost the same thing, but somehow, you make it sound
more profound!
Scott Sanburn
Gary Istok wrote:
>
> Sanjay,
>
> Thanks for the info. New Zealand is not the only country that had a (soon to be
> discontinued?) bulk order policy, but (and this is rare for me) I kept silent.
>
> As someone who has NEVER had a bulk order completed (everything in my collection
> comes from sets and parts packs), I know that a lot of the AFOL's in the USA are
> envious as well as angry. Here in the USA, it really sucks. That may explain
> why it has been 12 years since I have had any contacted with TLG/USA.
>
> Hmmm, 12 years is long enough (for a self imposed exile). It's time to "man the
> barracades" and write some letters to Enfield and Billund. Maybe some media
> attention first. (My first contact from TLG was because they saw me complaining
> in a newspaper about LEGO policy back in 1985). How does this sound "LEGO Group
> Ignores Its Largest Customers".
>
> Hey Sanjay, thanks for getting me all fired up!!
>
> Gary Istok
>
> Sanjay D'Souza wrote:
>
> > With the closing of LEGO New Zealand now is a good a time as any to reveal
> > the opportunity I had to order LEGO pieces in bulk through LEGO NZ. I'm
> > pretty certain that there are others out there who through good fortune are
> > likewise able to order in bulk but no doubt prefer to remain anonymous for
> > the time being.
> >
> > -------SO HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN?--------
> >
> > It began when I was hunting down a discontinued set for a friend overseas.
> > I had no luck in finding the set locally but I managed to get the phone
> > number of the LEGO rep who serviced the local area. We hooked up for lunch
> > during which time I mentioned that I was on the lookout for a large number
> > of LEGO trees for a Town project I was working on. Immediately he was on
> > his cell phone to the spare parts manager (spm) at LEGO NZ.
> >
> > The spm wasn't there at the time so the rep gave me a phone number to
> > contact. A couple of days later I gave the spm a ring and the rest as they
> > say is history.
> >
> > I couldn't believe my luck when during my first conversation with the spm he
> > said I was able to order any part I wanted. My first order comprised of
> > trees and parts for lamp posts. A relatively small and very modest order
> > but I didn't really want to push my luck at that time.
> >
> > Gradually my orders became bigger as my Town project became larger. An
> > example of this was the 4600 blue 2x2 tiles I was able to order. (This will
> > feature in the harbour part of the city). I was also able to repay a couple
> > of debts to friends overseas who had helped me greatly in my LEGO dealings.
> > I stress though that I made no money what so ever at any point. There was
> > never any intention to make a profit out of this.
> >
> > My final order was made at a time when I knew that LEGO NZ was going to
> > close down. It was tough deciding what to order but in part much of the
> > order decided itself. I still needed parts to complete my town so ordering
> > pieces for those projects was reasonably straightforward but then came time
> > to future proof my collection. In the end I decided to order multiples of
> > plates and bricks of every size and colour. Not to mention tiles, roof
> > pieces, windows, doors. hinges, macroni's, letter boxes, and so on.
> >
> > -------SO HOW DID IT ALL WORK?----------
> >
> > Ordering was a very time consuming process for both the spm and myself. It
> > would begin by me deciding what pieces I wanted to order. I'd then scour
> > the net for the correct part picture (to this end Auczilla and the LCad
> > image repositories were invaluable). Next I'd draw up a listing in MS Word
> > format with part picture, colour required and spaces for the spm to fill in
> > the code and price.
> >
> > This list would be printed out and sent to the spm who would use the list to
> > obtain the piece codes if available and price. He'd then send it back to
> > me.
> >
> > I'd then drawn up a second list and on it put the part pic, code, quantity
> > required and send it back to the spm. He'd then raise an order with Model
> > Production in Denmark. All orders were shipped via sea because the cost of
> > air freight for the larger orders would have been prohibitive.
> >
> > Occasionaly the spm would send me photocopies of pages from the Official
> > Spare Parts Catalogue to aid my selection of a particular piece.
> > Alternatively he would sometimes send samples which I would be allowed to
> > keep.
> >
> > I must admit that during this time I'd monitor various parts auctions with
> > some amusement. Here was I able to order pieces at ridiculous prices while
> > others had to fight it out for certain pieces. Keep in mind though I'm not
> > attempting in any way to devalue the worth of these auctions as they play a
> > vital role in the online LEGO community. It just seemed amusing to me that
> > people were prepared to pay large amounts of money for pieces that I could
> > buy for just a few cents.
> >
> > --------SO WHAT WERE SOME OF THE PROBLEMS?----------
> >
> > Unfortunately there were some anomalies in piece availablitiy. For
> > instance tan slopes that feature in current adventurer sets weren't able to
> > be ordered nor were the white "cargo doors" on the current Space Port space
> > shuttles. Only transparent green was available. On the other hand all the
> > main colours of macroni's were able to be ordered except black even though
> > very few colours of that piece appear in current sets.
> >
> > This year TLG moved to seven digit numbering for piece codes in response to
> > the greater number of parts now available. Previously there had been a six
> > digit code for each piece. The first four digits were the unique part
> > identifier and the last two were the colour identifer. This year that's
> > changed to a 5 digit number for the piece identifier.
> >
> > Names of colours often caused a few headaches. For instance the tan
> > coloured pieces that feature in the adventurers sets are known as Brick
> > Yellow, while the brown pieces featured in many of the western sets are
> > known as Earth Ora.
> >
> > Terminology for certain pieces was also "interesting" to say the least. The
> > LEGO cone tree is known as "Spruce H64", while the piece often used as a
> > rubbish bin top is known as "Parabola o16". The official name of macroni's
> > is "curved brick 2 knobs" aka "quarter circle brick".
> >
> > Many of the orders came in very large and heavy boxes. As I purchased more
> > LEGO pieces the space to store them became increasingly rare.
> >
> > -------SO WHERE TO NOW?---------
> >
> > I've basically got the pieces I need to complete my town project. The only
> > problem will be finding the time to assemble it. The largest part will be
> > assembling the harbour which is where the blue and grey tiles, plates,
> > fences, lampposts etc come in. With 1000 Spruce H64's now added to my
> > collection I've got enough trees to develop the suburban area of the city to
> > my liking.
> >
> > Having been able to order lamp posts, window's flowers, fishing rods, fences
> > and so on it will mean I'll be able to add details to the city that would
> > not have been possible on a scale such as the one I'm planning
> >
> > Finally thanks to the spm and the people who worked at LEGO NZ. Without
> > their help none of what I'm planning to achieve would have been possible. I
> > was fortunate enough to take a "tour" of LEGO NZ back in Feburary when I was
> > in Auckland and meet some of the people who worked there. I wish them all
> > the best in their future endeavours
> >
> > Sanjay
> > --
> > LEGO Stadium @ Http://Homepages.ihug.co.nz/~jsds
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Bulk Ordering - Secrets Revealed.
|
| Sanjay, Thanks for the info. New Zealand is not the only country that had a (soon to be discontinued?) bulk order policy, but (and this is rare for me) I kept silent. As someone who has NEVER had a bulk order completed (everything in my collection (...) (25 years ago, 5-Aug-99, to lugnet.general)
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