Subject:
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Goodbye Guarded Inn -- Hello LEGO DIRECT?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.theory
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Date:
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Sat, 22 Jan 2000 23:10:52 GMT
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Viewed:
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511 times
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I was a frequent browser of the free auction site, Guarded Inn. Now its going
away. Its sad that it didn't appeal to more sellers, and more particularly to
people selling more varied and interesting things that I might have actually
bid on -- although I think I did make two purchases there while it was up.
Theory as to why this happened: eBay provides a higher profit margin than what
was obtainable at Gaurded Inn -- even though it is sucker money! When I
didn't know where to look for Lego info, eBay was easily accessible and sold
OLD Lego. The prices I paid and that seemed justifiable at the time were
based largely upon ignorance -- I didn’t even know about Shop@Home (see
http://www.lugnet.com/market/auction/?n=4034 for more on the plight of the
Shop@Home ignorant). I guess from a sellers perspective: why not maximize
one's profits? Still, its sad that ultimately the prices paid on eBay are
often absurd and that the sellers know they are gathering up sucker money.
I will still occasionally pay the crazy price, but only if the item seems rare
or if I REALLY need it for some reason -- usually a project oriented issue.
Which brings us to the promise of LEGO DIRECT...
We need LEGO DIRECT right away, and for it to be a big and all-embracing
effort on LEGO's part toward fulfilling the needs and desires of the Lego
collector/AFOL. Allowing the shameful prices paid for sets on eBay is
something I blame on LEGO -- which is absolutely empowered to make this a more
affordable hobby and bring back the pure joy of building and playing instead of
having to also worry about the money spent in pursuit of the elusive but
perhaps needed parts and sets.
Many have complained that re-releasing old sets and rare parts from highly
collected sets would reduce the collector value of such sets. Well, Boo hoo!
Responding to this I would point to the comic book market: there isn't a
publisher of comics that wouldn't reissue a book if they thought there was
sufficient demand to realize a profit -- collectors and speculators be
damned. And unlike Lego, authenticating the age of a comic book is often a
fairly straight forward matter. Proving the authenticity of a Lego set is not
at all the same thing -- the elements may have a part number but surely not a
date. Take the Guarded Inn as an example. Okay fine, those red tudor corners
might have to be part of the original set - but what about those grey bricks,
that black gable, etc? There might be five or six parts that would have to be
from the original set and that's all. And this is supposed to be $300 plus
worth of Lego??? Wouldn't everyone prefer a $10 accessory pack of those same
parts instead? Take the Maiden's Cart for example. It more or less comes
down to just the white hat!!! And I am hoping that Lego will be issuing the
maiden hat in many colors in the near future, since we now have a black one
for the 2000 castle sets. Lego collecting up to the present and the prices
paid will hopefully become a curiously weird blip in the history of toy
collecting -- something stupid people did when they thought they could
authenticate plastic bits with no date on them.
Almost makes the tulip and beanie baby crazes seem rational...
Sorry, but worrying about collector value is just nonsense when it comes to
Lego and confuses the issues for those of us who just want to build. If you
collect and speculate on the value of Lego, my advice is for you to go bother
some other field of toy collecting where matters of authenticity are a little
more clear cut.
This touches on something I have long suspected of rare Lego sets, especially
those sold without their instructions or boxes -- that they are completed with
all new bricks! What then justifies the prices paid? Madness.
I have long appreciated Mike Stanley’s site and generosity, even though it
seems to have come to nothing. Maybe the Guarded Inn free auction site can
return as an AFOL cooperative venture if we end up having to sort and piece
out bulk ordered items ourselves. I can't of course speak for Mike, but its
just a thought. And it would be a nice way to memorialize his generosity
should the need for such a service arise.
-- Richard (I got your snake oil right here, Baby!)
P.S. Now don’t you eBay sellers get all in an uproar – but you do know how it
works though, right? And I realize that many of you are putting time and
effort into supporting your Lego habits – a hobby for which I share your
enthusiasm. My comments are more market directed than moralizing...not being
a better buyer at times implicates me in the same madness over on eBay. And I
still buy eBay stuff right up to the time of this writing...so save your venom
and leave the whining to me – the Lego Curmudgeon.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Goodbye Guarded Inn -- Hello LEGO DIRECT?
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| I think that we are missing some of the other differences between the two sites when all that is mentioned is the price the seller eventually gets. I started out using eBay, and when Mike introduced Guarded-Inn I was happy to have a free site to go (...) (25 years ago, 24-Jan-00, to lugnet.market.theory)
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