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I always find these types of comments fascinating. It could be that LEGO
has changed quite a bit since I was a Model Builder for them. (Well it’s
changed a lot in that most of the shop I was part of was moved off shore.)
One of the common misconceptions that occurred was that as a model shop we
had this fantastic inventory system and could get any brick we wanted in any
color in any quantity. Fact of the matter was that we rarely had a complete
selection of even the most current elements. I find that I have a more
complete assortment of bricks in Conan’s basement then I did in the model
shop. What the model shop had in quantity was basic bricks and plates. If
we needed a supply of roof bricks, we’d have to order them. If we were
lucky, they might be in inventory at the plant down the road. If they were
not, we’d look overseas to their inventories. If it wasn’t there, we’d
frequently redesign the model. That is how expensive it was for a Lego
department to order a molding run done. We’d do it occasionally. It
usually meant that we would have boxes and boxes and boxes of that
particular element for months since the minimum production runs were always
greater then the number we needed.
If you consider it was tough for a model shop with 15-25 full time model
builders to justify a production run, imagine how difficult it is for a Lego
Direct sales forecaster. My gut assumption of how the bulk ordering works
is that Lego Direct begs, borrows, and steals some extra time on a
production run of an element to place in their inventory. If Lego ran the
gray roof bricks two years ago to handle supply for the next five years,
then Lego Direct would be out of luck until they ran those elements again.
No matter what your demand looked like for bulk ordering, I doubt you’d be
able to justify the run on the element. The cost on a special production
run to meet that demand would mean the cost would be higher than you would
be willing to pay.
As Lego must have certainly increased their capacity in the eight years
since I left the model shop, I’m sure finding unusual elements for model
building is even more difficult. Frankly, based on my experience in the
Model Shop, I didn’t think Lego would ever be able to pull off bulk
ordering. (Larry will vouch for me, when he was here back in 99,98? I
frequently told him I didn’t think it would ever happen.) You may be
disappointed in Lego Direct’s offerings, frankly I’m amazed they’ve been
able to do what they have considering the amount of work that would be
necessary to make their business work.
This is my “Cool Lego Site of the Week” for end of ’96 into the beginning
of ’97. I haven’t touched it for quite some time.
http://www.onemadogre.com/em/default.htm It details the model building
experience I had.
Thanks -
-John 3
In lugnet.trains, Lawrence Wilkes writes:
>
> "Jason J Railton" <j.j.railton@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
> news:H07n5n.Fn6@lugnet.com...
> > In lugnet.trains, Tom Stangl writes:
> > > Well, they've been CAST in dark grey, just not for public
> > > consumption. Someone posted a MOC from Europe a copule weeks back,
> > > using the dark grey low slopes gotten from a Red Letter day at Legoland,
> > > from what I can remember.
> > >
> > > Personally, I think they should get working on superlow, low, medium,
> > > and high slopes in ALL shades of grey and black, with as many transition
> > > bricks as possible, so we can really get going on roof designs for
> > > buildings.
> >
> > That was me, with my version of the Oakham, Rutland (UK) signal box:
> > http://homepage.ntlworld.com/j.j.railton/specials/greensig.jpg
> > I've just about acquired enough dark grey concaves to put proper gables
> > above the windows of this station too:
> > http://homepage.ntlworld.com/j.j.railton/iscc1/004.jpg
> >
> > But it's insane how hard it is to get the bricks! The opinions pages on • the
> > Lego site are full of comments of people wanting a decent supply of roof
> > bricks in realistic colours, but so far - zip.
> >
> > If anyone reads that opinions page, where are the roof bricks? Where are
> > the steam engine drivers? People in the UK are paying big wads of cash • for
> > tours of Legoland largely to get their hands on a few rare bricks!
>
> I have come to the conclusion that Lego, and/or specifically Lego Direct,
> have little interest in increasing the variety of bulk bricks on offer.
>
> They have been on sale for a long time now, during which period it has
> hardly changed. Yet during that time, they clearly have been producing vast
> quantities of all manner of shapes and sizes of bricks which could just as
> easily be diverted to bulk supply as any other brick. If they can put black
> bricks in a packet, why not grey ones if they are also producing them? If
> they can put one type of window in a packet, why not another? There are lots
> of windows they are producing in bulk at present - but none are available as
> bulk.
>
> And it is not a website issue, that has to be trivial - adding another item
> in the ecommerce database.
>
> I can only come to the conclusion that some bright marketing guy has decided
> that those people who might be inclined to buy bulk bricks, (i.e serious
> enthusiasts) are already willing to buy multiple sets to get hold of the
> bulk they need, thus providing much more revenue to Lego than they would if
> they only bought the specific brick in bulk.
>
> I don't play that game - so consequently I dont buy anything from Lego.
>
> Despite several ascertains that the range would increase it never has. They
> have again recently said it will be increased soon. I am not holding my
> breath, and certainly not expecting too much if it is.
>
> Lawrence
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Now what?
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| "John Kelly 3" <jkelly3@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:H07sxL.5wA@lugnet.com... (...) any (...) complete (...) If (...) were (...) always (...) The inventory you had available to you in the model shop is nothing to do with the inventory of parts (...) (22 years ago, 2-Aug-02, to lugnet.trains, lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: Now what?
|
| (...) Perhaps it is, but they made 'recently?' a whole lot of new models for the LEGOLAND GERMANY park, so, i guess they run a whole lot more bricks than they used for the models they build. I visited LEGOLAND WINDSOR too in the opening year and (...) (22 years ago, 2-Aug-02, to lugnet.trains, lugnet.lego.direct)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Now what?
|
| "Jason J Railton" <j.j.railton@ntlworld.com> wrote in message news:H07n5n.Fn6@lugnet.com... (...) the (...) for (...) I have come to the conclusion that Lego, and/or specifically Lego Direct, have little interest in increasing the variety of bulk (...) (22 years ago, 2-Aug-02, to lugnet.trains, lugnet.lego.direct)
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