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In lugnet.trains, Marc Nelson Jr. wrote:
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In lugnet.trains, Jeff Stembel wrote:
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In lugnet.announce.iltco, Mike Walsh wrote:
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LEGO has provided ILTCO with early pictures and set information for the new
10170 TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Cair. Vist http://www.iltco.org for more
details and pictures.
Mike
PS: LEGOFan is also previewing this set at: http://www.legofan.org
FUT: lugnet.trains
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I’m pretty disappointed with those containers. I’d have expected them to
use the recessed doors they’ve used in the past. I do like that the cars
are built up, though, rather than single pieces.
Jeff
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I wouldn’t be buying this set anyway, but I’m really getting tired of TLC’s
excuses to AFOLs. “New molds cost too much” was the old refrain, but now it’s
“an inability to produce new colors of those parts in our current financial
state”.
Where does TLC come up with the money to mold new pieces like
this,
this, and
this? And let’s not
even talk about the money spent to introduce a whole new set of colors. It
would be a lot more honest if they just said “Some of you suckers will buy
anything, so why make the effort”.
Marc Nelson Jr.
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It’s not the upfront money, it’s the projected sales that determine whether a
new mold is produced. Trains, while popular among AFOLs, just don’t sell well
among Lego’s target market. I imagine that the projected sales for 10170 is at
most half a million units, probably much lower. Sales for Alpha Team sets are
probably well over 10 million units, and thus enough revenue will come in to
cover the cost of a new mold and the production of several million parts in the
new mold.
Pieces like the boat mold, well, I think that the Jack Stone police boat did
surprisingly well for them, and they decided to make another floating boat to
continue in their success. And the speedboat IS distributed at TRU, making
increased sales more likely. The speedboat is probably selling better than
trains, just because it is available at TRU (sigh). It would be nice to see
trains distributed at TRU, like they used to, even if just for the holiday
season (when the vast majority of train sales occur).
That last SNOT piece is generic enough that I think we’ll see it again in other
sets.
Let’s face it; the AFOL market is still not large enough to justify the costs of
a new mold. The only way we can get a new mold is to show that the part would
be useful in their main themes, or that they would sell a huge quantity of that
part in a short time frame. As for new colors, I think Lego is realizing that
adding new colors is a drain on their revenue; that’s probably the reason why
they are slowly phasing out uncommon colors. Or so they say; Alpha Team
introduced yet another color (trans-orange) and Knight’s Kingdom introduced
“royal purple” for just a small handful of parts. I’m not yet convinced of that
statement; evidence is contrary, the color explosion doesn’t seem over yet.
Maybe when TLG gets back in the black, then the discussion can be reopened, and
TLG will be willing to risk a percentage of their profits on AFOL oriented parts
and sets, but for now, a new mold requires a minimum number of parts to be made
with that mold, and most AFOL oriented sets don’t meet that criterion. I know,
it bites. But I’d rather have TLG short-change AFOLs now than risk Lego being
gone by the time I have kids.
Cross posting to market.theory since the discussion turned that way.
John
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: 10170 TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Car Preview
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| (...) I wouldn't be buying this set anyway, but I'm really getting tired of TLC's excuses to AFOLs. "New molds cost too much" was the old refrain, but now it's "an inability to produce new colors of those parts in our current financial state". Where (...) (20 years ago, 2-May-05, to lugnet.trains, FTX)
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