Subject:
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Re: Star Wars a loss for Lego?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.starwars
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Date:
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Wed, 2 Feb 2000 20:39:57 GMT
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Viewed:
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1733 times
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Hm, I would really get an official statement on this. Maybe only some of the
Star Wars stuff is selling badly. AFAIK, the Star Wars Classic Sets released
in early 99 were flying of the shelves and TLG had serious problem to
deliver the sets to all shops. A lot more sets were sold than expected! Some
information TV-Shows said this was the best sold StarWars toy ever and the
most succesful LEGO theme for years. I think it was totally different for
Episode 1. First, all the points that Matthew mentions are correct, I was
fed up with this new movie, most AFOLs did not even like the new sets that
much, they prefered buying old classic SW sets, especially the X-Wing. Kids
in Toys'R'us stores standing right in front of all sets were not able to
identify which sets actually are Episode 1 and which are Classic. They
finally wanted the speeder bikes and the X-Wing, nothing else! Let's hope
TLG will find out why some of the stuff is selling bad, but in general it's
a great theme - I don't think they'll discontinue the Falcon and I don't
think they'll ever juniorize the theme as much as they did with Town. The
new Collectors Theme can only mean one thing*: LEGO knows those Classic sets
sold great for adult fans, so they want to bring out more sets for adults.
The Star Wars Droids from Technic also represent this idea, although they
are based on Episode 1 - but they are not at all juniorized.
Bye, Christian.
*invasion in my budget - for the real Star Wars maniacs.
Matthew Wilkins <mwilkins@nospam.nai.com> schrieb in im Newsbeitrag:
Fp9yE0.1Io@lugnet.com...
> In lugnet.starwars, John Green writes:
> > My boss's former boss plays golf with a Lego executive and found out that • Lego
> > has actually lost money on the Star Wars sets. Though the Star Wars sets • have
> > been some of the most successful Lego sets ever, expectations for them • were
> > even higher. Just like the Star Wars books from DK, Lego made more • product
> than
> > outlets have bought.
> >
> > I didn't find out what exactly this might mean. Hopefully, no sets have • been
> > cancelled (the Falcon and the others we know about are coming out - I'm • talking
> > about sets we DIDN'T know about), and Lego will still develop new sets, • just
> > this time they won't make too much of each set.
> >
> > Just thought people might like to know this, especially since executives
> > sometimes don't know how to interpret info like this. We can only hope • they
> > don't decide to juniorize the sets, thinking that was why they didn't • live up
> > to expectatio
>
> I can't say that this comes as any sort of a surprise. I'm sure all the • North
> American LUGnuts (probably the Europeans, too, but I can't vouch for them)
> remember the hoopty-doo over the release of The Phantom Menace (TPM); • Lucas
> and Company tried to whip an already-overhyped phenomenon into a five-ring
> media circus. I would not be very surprised to find out that earnings for
> Episode I merchandising were much lower than expected across the board, • and I
> attribute this to three factors:
>
> 1. Overblown expectations of the motion picture. TPM was easily the equal • of
> any of the first three movies; it was _not_ any better, nor (in my purely
> abstract opinion) is it any worse than Episodes IV through VI.
>
> 2. Near-saturation of target markets prior to release of merchandise. Any
> major metropolitan market in the US had at least one toy store which had a
> decent selection of SW merchandise prior to the release of The Phantom • Menace.
> In addition, the Internet threw open the doors to traders and collectors
> looking for hard-to-find Star Wars merchandise.
>
> 3. Over-advertising. As we all remember, last spring and summer you • couldn't
> swing a block of cheese over your head without hitting someone talking • about
> TPM or Star Wars in general. With three different fast-food merchandisers • in
> the US, and numerous local conventions and festivals, there was no • escaping
> the Lucasfilm/Fox advertising juggernaut.
>
> I think that Lucas, LEGO and the lot would have been better off, at least
> financially, in staggering the merchandising contracts so as not to push • away
> more customers than they attracted.
>
> My US$.02
>
> -The Cheese
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Star Wars a loss for Lego?
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| (...) I have to agree with Christian on this one. Although I have no facts to justify it I think the Classics sets probably sold extremely well and that is why LEGO had such a hard time keeping up. I would not be supprised if the EP1 stuff did not (...) (25 years ago, 3-Feb-00, to lugnet.starwars)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Star Wars a loss for Lego?
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| (...) than (...) talking (...) I can't say that this comes as any sort of a surprise. I'm sure all the North American LUGnuts (probably the Europeans, too, but I can't vouch for them) remember the hoopty-doo over the release of The Phantom Menace (...) (25 years ago, 1-Feb-00, to lugnet.starwars)
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