Subject:
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Re: 10170 TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Car Preview
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Mon, 2 May 2005 17:31:20 GMT
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Viewed:
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8720 times
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In lugnet.trains, Jake McKee wrote:
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In lugnet.trains, Marc Nelson Jr. wrote:
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In lugnet.trains, Jeff Stembel wrote:
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In lugnet.announce.iltco, Mike Walsh wrote:
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LEGO has provided ILTCO with early pictures and set information for the
new 10170 TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Cair. Vist http://www.iltco.org for
more details and pictures.
Mike
PS: LEGOFan is also previewing this set at: http://www.legofan.org
FUT: lugnet.trains
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I’m pretty disappointed with those containers. I’d have expected them to
use the recessed doors they’ve used in the past. I do like that the cars
are built up, though, rather than single pieces.
Jeff
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I wouldn’t be buying this set anyway, but I’m really getting tired of TLC’s
excuses to AFOLs. “New molds cost too much” was the old refrain, but now
it’s “an inability to produce new colors of those parts in our current
financial state”.
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Mark, please please don’t take my desire to break down the wall and share
information with the community as “excuses” or dishonesty.
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Where does TLC come up with the money to mold new pieces like
this,
this, and
this? And let’s
not even talk about the money spent to introduce a whole new set of colors.
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Things aren’t as simple as that. New parts, more than ever before, are
designed in a wholistic mindset. Sure, there are sometimes parts designed
that are specifically for a certain product line, and that line alone. But
new parts have to pass through a series of checks that haven’t existed until
recently. This helps to ensure that even parts like you point out could, at
least in theory be used in multiple ways, and fit into the larger system
overall.
As you can imagine, with the size of the product design staff, we’re not
simply one big team all working on one product line at a time. The design
staff is quite large and works on multiple projects at once. Each is charged
with a differing priority, budget, and thus new part count. It simplifies the
discussion too much to say that because one line gets new parts, another line
should also get an equal number of new parts.
When you’re looking at production runs of 10,000 on S@H exclusive sets,
there’s not as much room or budget to implement new molds as there is on a
production run of 1 million+ sets.
I’m sorry you see the S@H exclusives as us treating the AFOLs poorly. We’ve
never intended that to be reason to introduce these exclusives. Quite the
opposite.
One of the things that made working with Brad so enjoyable was his amazing
focus on trying to prove to the company that new parts aren’t necessarily
needed in order to create cool new sets. The Santa Fe, as I recall him
talking about it, was one of the sets he was most proud of, for exactly this
reason.
In the 5 years he was at the company, he helped to change the mindset about
this, by continually showing what was possible with existing elements over
and over. Personally, I think it worked wonders.
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It would be a lot more honest if they just said “Some of you suckers will
buy anything, so why make the effort”.
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Actually, that’d be a flat out lie. That’s not at all what we’ve said,
thought, or tried.
We’re in an extremely tough financial spot right now. In 2003, we lost more
money than many companies make in a year. We’re on the path to recovery,
certainly, but mainly because we’re taking a hard look at when and where we
need to be spending money. This container story is a great example of one of
those times.
I have no problem with you questioning the decision. But with all due
respect, I do take issue with you questioning my integrity.
Jake
---
Jake McKee
Community Liaison
LEGO Community Team
http://www.bricksonthebrain.com/blog
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Jake, I wish you hadn’t turned this into a personal issue when it is a corporate
policy issue. Do you see the words “Jake McKee” anywhere in my post? Now the
“rally round Jake” LUGNET defense mechanism has been activated, and anything I
say can be written off. But anyway...
I understand that you had to make the best of a bad situation. What bothered me
was the fact that you were only given
three bad choices
to work with. As an AFOL, it’s a little disheartening to see so much money being
spent on new molds and color changes and then being told that including an
EXISTING part in a different color is too expensive.
in the comments on your blog, I made the argument that the better profit margin
of an AFOL-oriented S@H exclusive justifies the expense of the container doors.
You responded:
You’ve made a number of assumption here that aren’t necessarily true:
- Better profit margin overall
- The parts we used are “leftovers”
- S@H exclusives are proven to be successful
- S@H exclusives are AFOL-targeted
Now, by “leftovers”, I meant part/color combinations already in production -
which is apparantly true. Which of my other assumptions are untrue?
- Are S@H exclusives actually less profitable?
- Have the previous S@H exclusives (i.e. 10000-series) sets been unsuccessful?
- Is 10170 not aimed at AFOLs?
As always, thanks for your communication on this issue. And please don’t take
criticism of TLC policies so personally.
Marc Nelson Jr.
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: 10170 TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Car Preview
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| <snip> (...) Marc, I think maybe you need to understand the sheer expense involved in setting up a production line specifically for parts not currently in stock. I know of one example where some basic bricks and plates were needed in a slightly (...) (20 years ago, 2-May-05, to lugnet.trains)
| | | Re: 10170 TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Car Preview
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| (...) Mark, the reason I took this personally is because I was one of the people making this decision. I know it sometimes seems like the LEGO Group is some big, cold, floating entity in the sky, but it's a group of people just like any community. (...) (20 years ago, 2-May-05, to lugnet.trains, FTX)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: 10170 TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Car Preview
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| (...) Mark, please please don't take my desire to break down the wall and share information with the community as "excuses" or dishonesty. (...) Things aren't as simple as that. New parts, more than ever before, are designed in a wholistic mindset. (...) (20 years ago, 2-May-05, to lugnet.trains, FTX)
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