Subject:
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Letter (was 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 20:13:33 GMT
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Viewed:
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1982 times
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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, and think what we do is neat.
In fact,
one of their attorneys has said that he refers friends and
colleagues our
site when they ask about buying quantities of specific elements.
---------------------------Julie
(1)...and the rest....MAxx, JABA & eBay(2).
(2) Which has been down all day. UGH! I've got a heap-O-Lego ready to be
posted!
Thomas Main wrote:
>
> 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 is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Bulk Ordering - Secrets Revealed.
|
| Gary, I think this letter is excellent. I have a few suggestions for minor chenges you might consider: Gary Istok wrote: <snip> (...) The internet was in existence 12 years ago, although not the www. How about saying something like, "Thanks to the (...) (25 years ago, 6-Aug-99, to lugnet.general)
|
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