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Subject: 
Re: Help needed: my custom beards
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, lugnet.parts.custom, lugnet.build.minifigs
Date: 
Sun, 19 Sep 2004 09:31:53 GMT
Viewed: 
12302 times
  
In lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, Larry Pieniazek wrote:
   In lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, Darrell Urbien wrote:

   I can’t imagine how many beards you have to sell to pay for an injection mold! Is there really that much of a market for custom parts? Please (anyone) inform me - I’d really like to know!

Big Ben Bricks LLC seems to have done well enough with their first wheel product to introduce additional ones. (uninformed speculation as to how they are doing financially, not my business)

Little Armory seems to be doing VERY well with their line of custom weaponry/armor, they keep introducing new stuff all the time. (again, uniformed speculation, etc)

I think there’s a viable market for certain sorts of parts.

Hi Darrell,

I suppose you already know that the cost of a metallic mould can vary depending on the complexity of the shape of the objects, but at the very least it’ll still put you back by a few thousands US$, right? Well, anyway, I won’t tell you how much I spent on producing my last batch of weapons (not that it’s a business secret or anything, it’s just that I don’t want to receive a bunch of emails afterwards saying ‘you overpaid’; or that ‘I can help you for half that amount scam!’; etc. You can email me if you really want to know); I can tell you, however, that I did manage to break even. It wasn’t by much, but it nonetheless is a nice feeling to know that people not only approve of what you’ve made, but that they actually approve of it to the extent that they want to incorporate what you’ve created into their hobby. So this time around I’m making beards and stuffs to satisfy my ego more than my wallet, and I hope that you guys will continue to support me.

I did learn a few things though. First is to not become too snobby and be always willing to listen to other people’s input and ideas. After all, it is their hobby as much as yours, and just because you know how to sculpt doesn’t mean you know more about ‘their’ hobbies than they do, right? So if you’re interested in becoming the next Ben or Blasterman I’d recommend giving people plenty of time to review your items and give their inputs accordingly. I don’t know about Ben (not a big train fan, I’m afraid); but Jeff always previews his stuffs months ahead of their actual release, and I really think this is an important process regarding any types of productions. Secondly, don’t compromise on qualities. The majority of us prefer Lego to Megabloks not because Lego is more creative with their designs and sets (at least I don’t think so), but because their bricks & accessories are of better qualities than the rest. Like Larry, I have no idea how well Ben & Jeff are doing with their items (much better than me, I’m sure), but the fact that they’re still producing stuffs means that fans will support you if you’ve made something that they thing are good enough to be incorporated into their construction bricks universe. These, of course, are just my opinions, but I hope they’ll be at least somewhat useful to people who’re interested in producing their own stuffs, because I for one would really like to see how other people’s imagination can continue to enrichen our construction toys universe.

Red Bean



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: Help needed: my custom beards
 
Hi Isaac, I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my question! (...) Well, at the risk of being "one of those people", I'll start by saying there are lots of injection molding houses that will bid on work online (assuming you had CAD files of (...) (20 years ago, 20-Sep-04, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, lugnet.parts.custom, lugnet.build.minifigs, FTX)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Help needed: my custom beards
 
(...) Big Ben Bricks LLC seems to have done well enough with their first wheel product to introduce additional ones. (uninformed speculation as to how they are doing financially, not my business) Little Armory seems to be doing VERY well with their (...) (20 years ago, 18-Sep-04, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, lugnet.parts.custom, lugnet.build.minifigs, FTX)

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