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Dear All:
First, I'd like to thank Suzanne and Todd for creating the new
lugnet.lego group and associated subgroups. I hope that this will make
it easier for everyone to find and read communications between The LEGO
Company and our enthusiasts -- particularly as we intend these
communications to be increasingly frequent in the months and years
ahead.
Second, I'd like to thank all of you for being so patient during these
last couple of months. We know that it must be difficult to believe
that there is a light at the end of the tunnel (such light being lit by
my first communication in December) and then to be frustrated that it
seems to draw no nearer. And we realize that though it may seem as if
there have been many words and few actions, we can assure you that we
have not been idle - but we needed to ensure that all the correct pieces
were in place before beginning actively our interactions with you. These
pieces are now largely where they ought to be and, consequently, we are
ready to begin putting the rubber to the road (or the brick to
baseplate, as it were).
I and other representatives of The LEGO Company will now be
participating in LUGNET on the order of once a week or so. We'll be
happy to answer questions - and we'll be asking some of you as well.
Please understand, however, that we can't address such juicy (yet taboo)
topics as upcoming but thus far undisclosed products and other such
"confidential" areas. We will however, be pleased to engage in dialogue
with you about your passion for the Brick, and to welcome your
suggestions for how we may offer better service and products to you, our
consumers. (I'll be looking for you in lugnet.lego.direct.)
And to that end: I am pleased to be able now to disclose some details of
our bulk buying program. We anticipate offering purchases of bulk
elements within 90 days (finishing touches now being applied to our
manufacturing and fulfillment capabilities for this). Here are the
highlights:
· Initial availability will be in North America, but Europe will follow
soon after.
· When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
(e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
elements.
· Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
the first available elements will be published in early May.
· There will be a mimimum order quantity, probably around 50 or 100
(depending on the size of the element).
· As the new e-commerce portion of LEGO.com will not be available until
much later this year, purchases will be made through Shop At Home - that
is, by placing your orders via telephone. (IMPORTANT: Please do not call
SAH now - we'll let you know when the bulk service goes live.) In
Europe, we are creating a new toll-free number for direct purchases.
· It is our intent going forward to make a certain number of basic
elements (perhaps a couple hundred or so) available year-round.
· In addition to this evergreen group, we are creating a system that
will allow us to offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual
elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
At the end of the month, we will tally the orders for each element, run
our production against demand and then ship to you. In order to
cost-justify production (changing the molds, running the machines for a
certain period of time), we will require a minimum aggregate order (i.e.
from all consumers) for each element, or we will not be able to produce
that element. The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
commit to the minimum aggregate purchase). We hope to begin this service
late this year or early in 2001.
That's the news for now - we hope it is welcome. And we look forward to
bringing you much more of it in the months and years ahead.
Play Well.
-- Brad
Brad Justus
Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct
legodirect@lego.com
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Message has 25 Replies:
 | | Re: the latest news
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| (...) What about other countries, like Japan, Austrailia, and other places with large LEGO fan communities? (...) I can't wait! (24 years ago, 16-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: the latest news
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| Excellent news! I do hope that in the near future we will be able to purchase some landscaping items, like fences, flowers, and trees. I'm also happy to hear you might offer discontinued pieces. Cypress trees anyone? Thanks for the update! (24 years ago, 16-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct) !
| | | Re: the latest news
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| I know we're not supposed to flood this group with a lot of 'thank yous' and 'me too's, but I sure am excited about this news, and I'm sure that everyone else is as well! Thanks! I do have one question: (...) How do these two points relate to each (...) (24 years ago, 16-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: the latest news
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| (...) Do you have rough pricing? Eg for a 2x4 red brick? Will pricing involve a sliding scale? Eg, if there are any economies of scale for shipping out 1000 same-type elements to one person, rather than shipping 100 same-type elements to 10 people.. (...) (24 years ago, 16-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct) !
| | | Re: the latest news
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| In lugnet.lego, Brad Justus writes: First, things really seem to be comming along but I do have a couple of questions. (See Below) (...) I really don't think you need to apologize. You said we would have ordering by the end of the summer or there (...) (24 years ago, 16-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct) !
| | | Re: the latest news
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| <rearranged and snipped liberally> (...) Wow. It is welcome. You mention our patience in waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel. By taking the time to update us like this, you shorten the tunnel a bit and I'm sure that we all appreciate it (...) (24 years ago, 16-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct) !
| | | Re: the latest news
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| (...) Will other countries folow after europe and america are set up? (Australia for example) (...) Which colors will you be offering? Grey bricks for one would be a hit with castle fans. (...) Will this list include slope bricks? (...) Does this (...) (24 years ago, 16-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: the latest news
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| (...) One thing that will probobly happen is that you will get several people, who all want 20 casle helments of one type, and get the whole lot putting in an order for 100 or so then distributing them. (24 years ago, 17-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: the latest news
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| (...) What will be the availability, if any, of getting some of these elements with specific printed images on them (e.g. various minifig parts, slopes, bricks, and tiles)? It seems to me (but I'm no expert) that there should only be a small (...) (24 years ago, 17-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct) !
| | | To Brad Justus
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| Thanks Brad, I dint hear it yet from my Dutch / European contact but I trust Ill hear it after all. Greetings and keep building Nico Hoogerbrug Secretary of De Bouwsteen (24 years ago, 17-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | To Brad Justus
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| Thanks Brad, I dint hear it yet from my Dutch / European contact but I trust Ill hear it after all. Greetings and keep building Nico Hoogerbrug Secretary of De Bouwsteen Netherlands (24 years ago, 17-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | To Brad Justus
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| Thanks Brad, I dint hear it yet from my Dutch / European contact but I trust Ill hear it after all. Greetings and keep building Nico Hoogerbrug Secretary of De Bouwsteen Netherlands (24 years ago, 17-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: the latest news
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| Firstly, Having been punished by the rating system I apologise for the waste of space and hope this post helps clarify the points I (and others) wished to make in order to help you (The LEGO company) offer me (a customer) better services and (...) (24 years ago, 17-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: the latest news
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| (...) [snip] (...) [snip] (...) Brad this is very good news. However, I must state my pessimism of LEGO Directs success if the choice for initial elements is bricks. Bricks are very easily obtained in basic buckets. The current market is saturated (...) (24 years ago, 17-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Club orders... thoughts
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| With the number of LEGO clubs forming I believe that the target number for a min order can easily be hit. Elements could then be distributed within the group, thus insulating TLG from smaller orders. This also is, in a minor way, a forcing function (...) (24 years ago, 17-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: the latest news
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| (...) Will you offer superceded parts such as 12V conductor rails which require metals parts. (...) What about parts which have had their moulds modified such as the 12V grey plastic rail which used to have holes for the sleepers (ties) but these (...) (24 years ago, 17-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: the latest news
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| Brad, Please consider bulk sales of replacement parts that were introduced to replace parts that broke easily in the past. Examples include: The 12 tooth bevel gear that replaced the 14 tooth easily breakable thin bevel gear. The multicolor (...) (24 years ago, 17-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: the latest news
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| (...) If we counted an "element" as a single piece in a single color, then the brick-only tubs alone would contain 66 different elements: 1x1, 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x6, and 2x8 bricks, in black, red, yellow, green, blue, and (...) (24 years ago, 17-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: the latest news
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| I bet if we made a fuss, we could get any element in any color, ie bright green bricks, clear arches, trans red plates... I havent been able to think of anything but this since I heard the news. It would be so cool to get anything in any color, even (...) (24 years ago, 18-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: the latest news
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| Hi Brad, and thanks. I do have one serious question for you about Bulk Sales. Have the classic LEGO window/door molds (known as #214 1-10 in the old 50's and 60's catalogs) been destroyed? Or are they still available for use? I know that #214/6 (2x2 (...) (24 years ago, 18-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct) !
| | | Re: the latest news
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| Brad Justus wrote: snip... (...) Just to clarify if I have this right, LD will require that say 10K of a certain brick must be ordered from al combine buyers, but an individual buyer may order as few as 50-100? Please don't tell me I'm confused. :) (...) (24 years ago, 21-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: the latest news
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| Wow, just think of the possibilities!!! I don't think I can say much more than anyone else has said, but this is great!! I hope the setup and operation of Lego Direct goes smoothly. Wilson (24 years ago, 22-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: the latest news
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| Brad Justus wrote in message ... (...) This is super! As mentioned in previous responses, price estimates would be the cherry on this cake! I shall begin gathering my pennies... and hundred dollar bills <g> (24 years ago, 25-Apr-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: the latest news
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| So what's the latest news? Brad's post is almost a month old, with no new posts, even though "I and other representatives of The LEGO Company will now be participating in LUGNET on the order of once a week or so." I know you're busy getting LD off (...) (24 years ago, 11-May-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | What are LD's "40 basic elements"?
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| Dear Mr. Justus: Thanks once again to you, and to TLG, for opening a line of communication with your customers via LUGNET. As you are no doubt aware, you have many anxious fans waiting to find out more about the Lego Direct bulk ordering service. (...) (24 years ago, 1-Jun-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
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