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 19:21:25 GMT
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Viewed:
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8724 times
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In lugnet.trains, Marc Nelson Jr. wrote:
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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...
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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. You can’t totally seperate corporate policy from those who actually
develop said policy. In this case, as I mentioned on my blog, I was where the
buck stopped on this issue.
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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.
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I guess this is all in how you look at things...
You say it’s disheartening that AFOLs are getting the short end of the stick.
But in reality, a big reason (of several reasons) that the parts palette now has
a better process for expansion and the de-juniorizing (in “non-Junior” products)
that’s happened in the past few years can be traced directly back to AFOLs.
You’re upset that AFOL products, so to speak, don’t get the same focus on new
molds that other products get. In truth, there are actually no “AFOL products”
in our assortment. Sure, there are products that better keep in mind the AFOL
needs/desires more than others. But there is not one product (yet) that was
created solely for AFOLs. Every train we’ve ever produced through S@H was
created to appeal and sell to both kids and adults... and that’s what happens.
Trains do NOT sell only to AFOLs. Even the ISD wasn’t targeted to AFOLs alone.
There were a great many Star Wars fan (non-AFOL) buyers of that product, as well
as kids who might build along with parents, or older kids capable of building a
model like that.
In general, the real issue here, at its core is whether the parts palette
overall is AFOL friendly. Looking at the changes in the overall part system
since the launch of the designer sets especially, I’m not sure you can argue
that they’re not. There is starting to be more and more parts that work
together, or “complete the system”, so to speak. If you look at many of the new
parts coming out in new sets, you’ll notice that there are less and less
“specific” parts, and actually a lot of really useful pieces (like the 1x1
slopes).
You say I only had “three bad choices”... but considering the financial issues
involved with making new production runs, what would you have suggested as a
fourth option?
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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?
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Then you’d be talking about parts and production decisions that go into EVERY
set we’re producing at the moment. This isn’t specific to S@H exclusives.
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- Are S@H exclusives actually less profitable?
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Not necessarily, I’m just saying that you were drawing conclusions based on a
total lack of facts. Sometimes yes, that’s true, sometimes, no it’s not. Depends
on the product. Also depends on the overall sales too. We’ve had a number of S@H
exclusives not do so well. Doesn’t matter what the profit margin is
individually, if we end up with a ton of extra sets we can’t sell, or have to
sell at a discount.
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- Have the previous S@H exclusives (i.e. 10000-series) sets been unsuccessful?
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Most have been successful, some haven’t.
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- Is 10170 not aimed at AFOLs?
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No. It’s aimed at S@H buyers... a large majority of which are non-AFOLs.
Certainly AFOLs were kept in mind (TTX licensing, old school cargo logo, overall
set design), but the set was designed to appeal to a large audience.
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As always, thanks for your communication on this issue. And please don’t take
criticism of TLC policies so personally.
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I’m trying not to, really. But you always seem to take the worst possible view
of the activities of the group I’m associated with... that group includes me. I
have a lot of negativity coming my way every day, which is fine... that’s the
job. But after working my tail off to sell in, provide design input, finalize
licensing, etc. on a new set where the AFOL was kept top of mind at all times,
only to hear that we should have said: “Some of you suckers will buy anything,
so why make the effort”... it’s hard NOT to take it personally. I was personally
involved after all. The “they” you refer to includes me.
Anyway, it’s likely that until I’m able to figure out a way for you to shadow me
one day, that you’ll never believe any of this, but it’s true. One of these days
I’ll finally do something that’ll make you believe it! :)
Jake
---
Jake McKee
Community Liaison
LEGO Community Team
http://www.bricksonthebrain.com/blog
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: 10170 TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Car Preview
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| (...) This was something that caught me off-guard at Celebration III in Indy. Certainly 99.9% of the folks there were Star Wars fans, yet the LEGO booth was hopping, selling product like crazy. The ISD sold out - they were taking orders to be (...) (20 years ago, 2-May-05, to lugnet.trains, FTX)
| | | Re: 10170 TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Car Preview
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| Thanks Jake! This is a great looking set, especially needed for a Monday. And this, after finding out there is now a discount on bulk track purchases in one of the online catalogs! And, yes, I am willing to be counted as a sucker. Considering all (...) (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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| (...) 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 (...) (20 years ago, 2-May-05, to lugnet.trains, FTX)
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