Subject:
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Re: Where'd they hide the RIS?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Thu, 22 Feb 2001 03:42:54 GMT
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Viewed:
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692 times
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The new Pitsco DACTA catalog still has the same Mindstorm stuff - updated.
The Mars exploration package now has the Lego Digital Camera instead of the
old Logitech one. The new CAD program from Autodesk ships March 1,
replacing the old one. So, I don't see any real change in the Pitsco DACTA
catalog - maybe you're confusing the DACTA catalog (shipped a month or more
ago) with the new Pitsco catalog - the one WITHOUT the DACTA line. THAT
JUST shipped. Pitsco has two separate catalogs - one featuring DACTA and
the other without it.
As far as the new Lego catalog - RIS is still on backorder with Lego. Why
advertise what's not available. The Mindstorm line got a huge amount of
press around the holidays - Forbes had a write-up on the DDK and more than a
few articles focused on the RIS and RDS kits. One would suspect that the
Holiday rush ran down the retail stocks. So, if you're Lego, do you focus on
restocking 1.5 or producing 2.0 kits. I see some real dilemmas here - you
don't want to restock too many 1.5's if 2.0 is coming soon, but if 2.0 isn't
ready, you don't want empty shelves until then. If you have a substantial
lead time to produce RIS kits, this could cause real headaches. (Speaking
of which - when IS the expected release date? Anyone know?) I wouldn't be
too worried about Mindstorms being dumped ( at least not yet). TLC seems to
be making a big deal about "interactivity" and such as the
future....Mindstorms has gotten quite a bit of positive press and there
seems to be a huge amount of educational and adult interest.
Even if the line is not the most profitable, I would think it has the
"prestige" level (association with MIT, educational uses, etc.) that make it
worth keeping. I do suspect that the mass marketing approach through TRU
and such is WRONG for the Mindstorm line, leading to alot of shelf worn
product, unstocked product and lost sales and bewildered potential customers
but that is my opinion. I think they'd do much better following the
Rokenbok approach and staying with higher end - Zainy Brainy and independent
stores, maybe even the computer chains. Only problem with that approach is
that in too many areas, there just aren't any places like that. Walmart and
TRU are the only choices in too many places, and neither are ideal for
selling such an involved product.
As Lego seems to be promoting the new Alpha Team stuff in the latest
catalog, along with the new train stuff and bulk sales (brown now...) I
think RIS was just left on the back burner for this version of the catalog.
Again, why advertise it if it's not available? It does seem that TLC did
sell alot of the RIS and RDS systems over the holidays - leading to alot of
stock-outs. I'm actually curious if the sales for those sets met or
exceeded TLC's projections.
The DDK and Droid Development seemed destined for dogdom as they really are
much too limited in capability and overpriced compared to the RDS or RIS.
Frankly, the RDS seems to be a product that COULD really take off with
better support - think easy downloadable programming (with the IR tower) as
a reasonably priced add-on kit.
I think TLC is also getting killed by the HUGE variation in prices on the
Droid kits. I've seen $109, $99, $59 and $49 at TRU and other places while
SAH was selling them at $39. With Target (?) dumping them at $25.......why
even think about paying $99 for a DDK? Wait and the price goes down to a
reasonable level (eToys was selling them for $40, and the Vision Command for
as low as $24). When you compare RIS at $199 to the DDK at $99, or even
the RDS at $149 or $99, why bother with the DDK or Droid kits? The price
points aren't logical or related to value at present. I don't think you
want to call too much attention to THAT at the moment either.
Anyway, JMO
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Where'd they hide the RIS?
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| (...) Is there a significant difference between the Lego and Logitech cameras? Also, I wasn't aware that Lego had a CAD program for sale. Can you give me more information? Matthias Jetleb VA3-MWJ (24 years ago, 23-Feb-01, to lugnet.robotics)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | RE: Where'd they hide the RIS?
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| Huh? I got one of those a few weeks ago, and it is full of Mindstorms and Robolab products. Jim, are you sure you got the Lego Dacta catalog? Pitsco has multiple catalogs! (...) ... (...) (24 years ago, 22-Feb-01, to lugnet.robotics)
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