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In lugnet.storage, Bryan Wong wrote:
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In lugnet.storage, Scott Lyttle wrote:
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Since this product is made from pine, I’d dare say there is no particle board
present. (Most of those bookshelves from Wal-Mart are made of particle
board...Particle board is an awful material to build with--even MDF would be
preferred over particle board.. and MDF is basically sawdust and glue!)
So, you’re probably getting a pretty decent quality product with those
containers. I, for one, will not be buying them, simply because I’ve got a
really nice table saw in my garage to use for another of my hobbies. I’m
currently in the process of using my saw to make storage shelves in my own
LEGO room, and it’s building my skillset on the saw at the same time.
Yes, some will probably be sold by those who “must have it at any price”, but
if the quality of that furniture will be anything like the 3-sided play
table, it should hold up very well. For some reason, I think the furniture
is not shipped assembled, so assembly is required.
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Yeah, the website says that the LEGO furniture is made from pine and MDF.
Also says that the item will come mostly unassembled - much easier to ship
that way I guess. Besides, being a construction toy company, I’d expect most
LEGO products to require assembly!
-Bryan
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**snickers**
Bryan, you beat me to the funniest part of this whole thread. “Some assembly
required...!” Yeah, right.
Still wouldn’t buy it at those prices for kids. I’d get it for myself, and have
fun with it...if I had the bucks. But between getting new LEGO, and buying
bricks off of Bricklink--does that sound familiar?
Play Well and Prosper,
Matthew
“The Brick Detetctive”
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In lugnet.storage, Scott Lyttle wrote:
> Since this product is made from pine, I'd dare say there is no particle board
> present. (Most of those bookshelves from Wal-Mart are made of particle
> board...Particle board is an awful material to build with--even MDF would be
> preferred over particle board.. and MDF is basically sawdust and glue!)
>
> So, you're probably getting a pretty decent quality product with those
> containers. I, for one, will not be buying them, simply because I've got a
> really nice table saw in my garage to use for another of my hobbies. I'm
> currently in the process of using my saw to make storage shelves in my own LEGO
> room, and it's building my skillset on the saw at the same time.
>
> Yes, some will probably be sold by those who "must have it at any price", but if
> the quality of that furniture will be anything like the 3-sided play table, it
> should hold up very well. For some reason, I think the furniture is not shipped
> assembled, so assembly is required.
Yeah, the website says that the LEGO furniture is made from pine and MDF. Also
says that the item will come mostly unassembled - much easier to ship that way I
guess. Besides, being a construction toy company, I'd expect most LEGO products
to require assembly!
-Bryan
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In lugnet.storage, John Patterson wrote:
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My guess is that they were made in China and cost Lego about a dollar each.
Tack on another dollar for shipping to the distrabution center.
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This guess seems out of whack. Lego has pretty thin price margins comparatively
(just ask merchandisers what the ‘at cost’ price is for Lego to get an idea). I
don’t see why Lego would be jacking up the price for these storage bins but NOT
for everything else. Besides, whenever they try to market things in the USA, the
price margins are razor thin compared to everywhere else-- why should we expect
these to be any different?
But even moreso-- what do you think most US citizens would be willing to pay for
them? If they were for sale at $40 per shelf, they’d be selling like iPods to
teenagers. They’d move thousands of them REALLY quickly, because they LOOK
fantastic, they’re versatile, and they’d be affordable. If Lego’s cost were even
$20 per, they’d be making a KILLING at $40 per unit, selling them by the
proverbial barrelful. But at $100+, they’ll sell FAR fewer, and make way less
money (assuming the same $20 baseline cost for Lego).
Personally, I think these look like (and are priced like) high quality shelves,
and I’d be proud to have some. I don’t think I’d keep my Lego in them (because
it’s just inefficient for AFOL sized collections), but they look perfect to go
in (say) the front hall as a place to store shoes or boots, or in some other
room as a cute storage system. I also think they’d work well for schools, day
care centers, etc-- anywhere where there’s a chunk of Lego for kids to play with
that needs a sturdy storage system.
DaveE
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In lugnet.storage, Brian Kendig wrote:
> Anyone see the new "LEGO Furniture" items being sold now in the online catalog?
>
> A storage box in red, yellow, blue, or green, slightly larger than two feet deep
> by 1.5 feet wide by one foot high... for a hundred twenty dollars!!
>
> And a stacking bin in green or red, one foot tall by one foot deep by three feet
> high - for a HUNDRED FIFTY dollars!!
>
> I could understand these at a tenth of the price; I might buy storage boxes for
> $12 each and stacking bins for $15 each - but am I the only one who thinks that
> the LEGO prices for these are *insane*?!
>
> And, there's a table that's 2' by 4' by a foot and a half high - for two hundred
> dollars!! I could make something like that out of less than ten dollars of
> wood... it doesn't even have baseplates on its surface!
Well, from what I understand, the materials are made of pine (softwood...As an
amateur woodworker, I like hardwoods much better), and I agree, the prices are a
bit high, but there's still probably a bit of cost there. Wood is not cheap,
even in bulk, factor in shipping, warehousing and labor (if made in China, labor
is probably quite small, relatively speaking). I'd say for that 150 dollar
price tag, you're probably looking around 40-50 dollars material and shipping
cost--remember, oil is going up, and China is now a major consumer of oil, given
their current economic boom.
Since this product is made from pine, I'd dare say there is no particle board
present. (Most of those bookshelves from Wal-Mart are made of particle
board...Particle board is an awful material to build with--even MDF would be
preferred over particle board.. and MDF is basically sawdust and glue!)
So, you're probably getting a pretty decent quality product with those
containers. I, for one, will not be buying them, simply because I've got a
really nice table saw in my garage to use for another of my hobbies. I'm
currently in the process of using my saw to make storage shelves in my own LEGO
room, and it's building my skillset on the saw at the same time.
Yes, some will probably be sold by those who "must have it at any price", but if
the quality of that furniture will be anything like the 3-sided play table, it
should hold up very well. For some reason, I think the furniture is not shipped
assembled, so assembly is required.
Scott
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In lugnet.storage, John Patterson wrote:
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They are in the new catalog. My guess is that they were made in China and
cost Lego about a dollar each. Tack on another dollar for shipping to the
distrabution center.
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Yeah, not buying that guesstimate, on either count. Wood in large volume is a
lot more expensive than a small amount of plastic, and for shipping purposes,
those will either eat up a huge amount of volume (if they’re preassembled), or
weigh an ungodly amount (if they’re flat-boxed kits) and still take up a large
volume. Either way, they will not ship anywhere near as economically as small
boxes of plastic toys. Also, consider warehousing costs, which will again be
much higher based on volume (and order-picking might be similarly affected by
both weight and volume).
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Give it time, they probably bought thousands and when they get stuck with
them, as with Galidor, the price will drop very very low.
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I’m sure they don’t expect this to sell like hotcakes, so they probably ordered
in fairly low volume. There will be enough moderately wealthy families out
there who’ll think this is worth buying for them to move their stock. When I
was in high school, I spent a few years working for a boat-builder, and he used
to make rocking-boats that a local store would sell for ~$150. This was over 15
years ago, we lived in a resort town of ~6000 residents, and those rocking-boats
would still sell as fast as he could make them.
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