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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Fri, 6 Aug 1999 19:53:29 GMT
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Viewed:
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1998 times
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Gary,
I think this letter is excellent. I have a few suggestions for minor
chenges you might consider:
Gary Istok wrote:
<snip>
> Dear Mr. Eio,
>
> It has been 12 years since I have written you. Since that time my love for Lego
> has not diminished, nor has my desire for acquiring additional sets and parts.
>
> The major difference now is that I now find I am no longer alone in my
> collecting zeal. Thanks to the internet (not in existence 12 years ago), I now
> am in contact with hundreds and thousands of others who love Lego as much as I
> do.
The internet was in existence 12 years ago, although not the www. How
about saying something like, "Thanks to the growth of the Lego-related
internet communities...." or something like that?
>
> Unfortunately, not much has changed (besides your product line) in the last 12
> years. Your company still doesn't seem to want to bother with large private
> collectors. The bulk sales policy, discontinued in the US back in 1987, is
> still discontinued. That is very unfortunate. There are many, many collectors
> who would like to be able to build larger and larger structures, but due to the
> limitations of your sets and buckets, are unable to do so.
>
> Have you ever looked into Lego Collectors Websites? If not, there are some
> stunning websites out there. There are many creative people throughout the
> world who would be well qualified to work in you Lego Model Shops. If you
> haven't seen any, here is a super list of Lego websites to browse:
>
> (include the Lugnet (Michael Dorneich) list of Lego websites)
Personally, I think this list is too large to include as part of the
letter. I like you letter because it is relatively short and
to-the-point. I think this list would dilute it too much. You might
just mention the web address of this list instead of actually including
it in the letter.
>
> There are also many Lego Train clubs that have come into existence (thanks to
> the internet) located in Seattle (Pacific Northwest Lego Train Club), San
> Francisco (Bay Area Lego Train Club) and Minneapolis/St. Paul (Greater Midwest
> Lego Train Club). These clubs set up their layouts at public (as well as
> private) gatherings. It is interesting to note that this is free publicity for
> your company.
>
> Unfortunately, these train clubs, as well as the individual collectors, are
> ignored by your company.
>
> Here we are, all Lego Ambassadors, providing free publicity in many instances,
> being shown on TV, newspapers, magazines and even books.
>
> And yet your company chooses to ignore us. All of consumer affairs is geared to
> children. There is no company policy (as far as any of us online Lego
> collectors can tell) geared to us Adult Fans Of Lego (AFOLs as we call
> ourselves). We are simply ignored. Yes, whenever we contact a representative
> of your company, they are always friendly to us, But that is the extent of it.
>
> Your company should be providing free promotional banners and signage for the
> train clubs to promote your company. I have assembled a collection of nearly
> 1/2 million Lego parts. I have done Lego displays in toy store windows, at
> public fairs, historic mansions, and even in the Danish consulate in Detroit.
> Yet I don't have any Lego banners or signs to show. There is so much that we
> AFOLs can do to promote your product (without compensation). And yet, you
> choose to ignore us.
Are promotional banners really what you're after with this letter. What
if Lego starts doing those and thinks it has done enough to appease us?
I would leave this out unless it's really important to you.
>
> Probably the saddest part of this is the bulk order policy. When the collection
> size of AFOLs reaches a certain point, some additional pieces always seem to be
> needed. Your service packs address a part of that problem. But service pack
> selection today is but a fraction of what it was in the 1960's. I counted 138
> different service packs available in the 1963 catalog. That is a vastly more
> than what is available today.
>
> I still have the letter from your Consumer Affairs Service Manager stating the
> labor intensive process of bulk orders. This whole process was doomed to
> failure by utilizing manual counting of parts. It would appear that if the
> Model Shops were to use this method, there wouldn't be a lot of Lego models
> produced.
>
> Recently it was learned that Australia and New Zealand still had bulk orders
> available up until this year. This fact, spread across the internet, has made
> for some very, very angry large collectors in the USA and elsewhere. There are
> many collectors that spend thousands, sometimes even tens of thousands of
> dollars on Lego each year. To know that the bulk order policy was a "locally"
> determined process that Lego USA chose not to continue, makes them even angrier.
I would leave out the preceeding paragraph as well. We don't want to
appear to be a bunch of angry zealots - even if this is the case ;)
> Perhaps a Bulk Order policy on the scale of Shop-At-Home is not an exceptable
> alternative. Maybe something on a highly limited scale would be acceptable.
> Say allowing the Lego Community (i.e. the LEGO online newsgroup community) to
> purchase 100,000 pieces of one specific item a few times a year. That way it
> would streamline the paperwork required by your company, and we (Lego community)
> could prepay and distribute the parts. And no one is asking for any handouts
> here. We want to pay for our Lego. Just give us the opportunity.
>
> But to do absolutely nothing, which seems to be the pattern that we Lego
> collectors have seen from the Lego Group in the past, makes for a pretty sad
> situation.
>
> I hope there is something that your company can do to improve the very poor
> morale of your best Lego customers.
>
> Thank you for your time,
>
> Gary Istok
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
--
Thomas Main
main@appstate.edu
http://members.xoom.com/brickenplate/index.html
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Letter (was Re: Bulk Ordering - Secrets Revealed.)
|
| The popularity of AucZILLA (1) could be also be mentioned. Although, LEGO already is aware of that. The following is part of the FAQ of AucZILLA: Q: Aren't you worried that LEGO might find out what you're doing? A: No, not at all. They already know, (...) (25 years ago, 6-Aug-99, to lugnet.general)
| | | Re: Bulk Ordering - Secrets Revealed.
|
| (...) You may also want to mention CLSOTW Past Picks as a great place to start looking for cool (duh!) LEGO-related sites. --Bram Bram Lambrecht / o o \ BramL@juno.com ---...---oooo-----(_...o---...--- WWW: (URL) (25 years ago, 6-Aug-99, to lugnet.general)
|
Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Bulk Ordering - Secrets Revealed.
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| Folks, Please! Rather than have a pissing match, and engaging in "ad hominem" attacks, let's reflect on this situation. I reread Sanjay's original message, and yeah, you could read it several ways. Larry, however has spent a considerable sum of (...) (25 years ago, 6-Aug-99, to lugnet.general)
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