Subject:
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Re: Meta-Legends?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.theory
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Date:
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Tue, 26 Nov 2002 01:30:24 GMT
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Viewed:
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1535 times
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In lugnet.market.theory, Paul Hanson writes:
> In lugnet.market.theory, Allan Bedford writes:
> >
> > Paul, I will give this one an 'A' for originality and innovation. But I
> > have to disagree that it would make for a good practical solution. Here's
> > my reasoning:
>
> I never said that my idea was a practical one :-)
And I wasn't trying to be hyper-critical about it not being practical, just
trying to provide some constructive feedback. :)
> It's just a
> not-very-well-thought-out idea based on the realization that some of the
> gigantic new <sets> have more pieces individually than some of the beloved
> <themes> of old.
Actually, I wouldn't say it's not well-thought-out. I would say it's a
solid core idea that would someday need refinement to bring it to fruition.
> > 1) Some folks may only be interested in one or two particular sets from the
> > entire series. If released individually, they might buy multiple copies of
> > them. However, released collectively they might decide not to buy as much
> > or perhaps pass altogether. End result could be lost sales.
>
> I agree 100%. As I said, not-very-well-thought-out.
Don't be so critical of your own idea. ;)
> > 2) I don't think that the production, warehousing, shipping etc. of the
> > Legends line is likely to be swamping the company's resources.
> Perhaps not, but LD has said that one of the reasons for the limited bulk
> selection is that they can't have too many items in inventory at any given >time.
Don't even get me started on that. :)
Take a look at the Shop At Home website. They're running a counter there
that shows you how many bricks they've sold since the beginning of November.
And they stress that "Piece count reflects individual pieces sold and not
complete sets." The count is currently past 42 million bricks. Perhaps
they should give up sets altogether and just sell bulk bricks. Where there
is money to be made, there is a way to produce, store and ship product. I
think it's time to find a way to keep more bulk bricks in inventory and
crank up these numbers even more.
*** In the time it's taken me to put together this response, the counter on
the Shop At Home website has gone up by almost 10,000 pieces. Surely
there's a way to capitalize even more full on that demand?
> Releasing Legends is probably more complicated than any of us realize.
More complicated for LEGO Direct, yes. Perhaps not so much so if the guys
in the ivory tower in Denmark would get their heads out of the sand. When
someone tells me that these sets are difficult to produce (by the company as
a whole) I have to ask the question, "how on earth did they get produced in
the first place?" Wasn't the technology _less_ sophisticated when some of
these sets were first released?
> > 3) While some folks might relish the massive sets like the Star Destroyer,
> > I worry that 'quality' adult-oriented sets are already too big and too
> > expensive.
> I agree here too. Actually, I don't own any of the Sculpture or UCS sets
> because they're too big & expensive. Take the ISD for example - perhaps 1/3
> of the parts are of interest to me (I buy sets mainly for parts). That means
> that about $200 of the $300 price is going toward parts that I don't really
> need. If the set were smaller and lower-priced, the purchase would be much
> more easily justified.
Bingo! My theory is that smaller sets, that at least give the appearance of
better value, can potentially mean greater overall sell-through. You just
end up buying more of them over the long haul. At least I do. I buy more
$20 and $30 sets than anything much more expensive; that's just the way I
shop. Of course, we always have to remind ourselves that adults aren't
really the target market for the company as a whole. I continue to see LEGO
Direct as the only arm of the company that is using modern marketing, design
and sales techniques. It's the rest of the company the worries me.
> Another reason I don't care for these big sets is that they offer no
> playability.
Another excellent point!
Think of how much fun it is to zoom a Tie Fighter or Y-Wing around the room.
Can you do that with a 3 foot long Star Destroyer?
Is it possible for them to release a smaller scale Star Destroyer? I'm
honestly not sure. Can you get the shape and some detailing into a model
that's 1/3 the length (and thus the price)?
> I agree that not all old sets should be Legends. But no matter how the
> Legends are released, there will always be those who are disappointed. My
> proposal could make it a <bit> easier: can't decide which Blacktron set
> should be released? Heck, release 'em all!
Isn't that like saying, "I can't decide who to marry, so I'll just marry
them both." Or something like that. ;)
> > Again, I like the original thinking behind your idea... perhaps it could be
> > employed to some degree. For example, what about simply producing the sets
> > as individual packages, but offering the lot of them at a discount; as they
> > do now with something like the Famous Planes series. Which, by the way, is
> > overdue for an addition to the line.
>
> This would be ideal, but I think it's not too likely. Legend releases will
> be few and far between - which is perhaps as it should be.
Here I disagree. I think the success of these sets speaks for itself. I
think it's time to dig into the catalog and pull out some oldie goldies.
The music and film business does this all the time. Reissued CD's.
Rereleased movies. Bonus tracks. Extra features. And you know what?
People buy them over and again. I know people who own 3 and 4 copies of
'The Wall' by Pink Floyd. Or a copy of Jaws on video, laserdisc and DVD.
People will buy things they've bought before, or better yet, things they
never had a chance to buy in the first place. Legends are an underexploited
idea at this stage.
> Thanks for taking the time to reply - Paul
It's one of my favorite subjects. It would have been difficult for me _not_
to reply. :)
All the best!
Allan B.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Meta-Legends?
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| (...) Hey, that's why I tossed the idea out in the first place. I appreciate the criticism - not that anything is likely to come of it, but it's still a fun exercise. (...) Indeed! Lego Direct is doing some very cool stuff, but they seem to be (...) (22 years ago, 27-Nov-02, to lugnet.market.theory)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Meta-Legends?
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| (...) I never said that my idea was a practical one :-) It's just a not-very-well-thought-out idea based on the realization that some of the gigantic new <sets> have more pieces individually than some of the beloved <themes> of old. (...) I agree (...) (22 years ago, 26-Nov-02, to lugnet.market.theory)
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