Subject:
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Re: the problem with retail sales of trains is this...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Mon, 22 Jul 2002 14:43:56 GMT
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Viewed:
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965 times
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> All you can get (at least here in .au) is the large, expensive 4561 (here
> in .au, its not usually on sale but even at some of the sale prices US
> people talk about, its still expensive compared to e.g. a hogwards castle,
> republic gunship or most other large sets).
I have to agree on this point. Not only that, in Australia very few
stockists actually have lego trains. Even the current Australian catalog
shows very little. This lack not only kills the current market but also
potentially destroys any future market of sales since quite simply the sets
will not sell unless people can see them in shops.
> Parents look at it and see how expensive it is and thing "I cant afford
> this" (the only reason I got my 4561 was because it was on clearence)
I also got one on sale through the internet.
> The right way to sell trains is to move to selling individual bits.
> For example, you could buy an engine and some track now then later go back
> and buy a motor and regulator for the engine, perhaps some rolling stock or
> mabie some accessories.
In the old days of the 12volt range trains we had just that. There was the
"Push along" train series (unmotorised), 4.5volt battery operated sets and
the 12 volt transformer operated sets. All were inter compatable and could
be upgraded and downgraded to the other configurations as the use wished.
Today only one configuration is offered the 9v system (I'm ignoring Hogwarts
Express!)
Likewise during those days, a good range of accessories were available,
remote points, lights, crossings, container loaders, goods loaders etc it
was normal to have all of these accessories available in the retail shops.
Today many of these type of accessories are obsolete and more importantly
those that are not obsolete are not available in most retailers.
My opinion is this, I think the entry cost with sets like 4564 is just too
high for most parents. This same set could be sold without the electric
moptor and transformer for considerably less and supply supply lots of scope
for play. Since today only one type of track is available I would leave the
electric track in as it would be able to be used later.
Then an optional upgrade "electrification box" could be sold as an accessory
which would contain a transformer and electric motor for the unmotorised trains.
In this way little Jonny can gat a complete train set for Christmas and then
later for his birthday upgrade it to an electric version.
In my view this latter system also offers Lego with more opportunity to
improve the basic models. I personally don't need more transformers, but I
would happily pay more for for a better basic train design than 4561.
For the enthusiast these problems are less obvious since Shop at Home offers
customised sets and accessories. And thay can be bought on more basic
configurations such as with the Santa Fe, although it got expensive by the
time I added the optional motor and lights.
The problem in Australia is Shop at Home is horrendously expensive for small
orders due to postage costs. It is viable if you're going to spend
A$1,000.00 or more at a time, but who has parents that generous.
In conclusion I also would like to see cheaper simpler starter sets with
upgrades available. And more importantly lets see them on the retailers
shelves or else there will be no new generation of Lego train users which
may ultimately speel the death the Lego Trains as whole.
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | the problem with retail sales of trains is this...
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| All you can get (at least here in .au) is the large, expensive 4561 (here in .au, its not usually on sale but even at some of the sale prices US people talk about, its still expensive compared to e.g. a hogwards castle, republic gunship or most (...) (22 years ago, 21-Jul-02, to lugnet.trains)
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