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[DonShula]

I think part of the price problem is the modern american sales mode that became a trend worldwide. It says that a product must have only a limit shelf time (due to too many products to be available) so it must go on sales/clearance soon. Part of the sales would be at product launch to entusiasts/fans/buyers that don't care at let's say 30% profit. Soon the product must go on sale to give up its shelf space, and the profits are quite lower. Rarely a product has long legs ans stay in retail for a long time. Lego must have a business plan to consider all sales (a peak at a high profit and a fair ammount at discount) and get its revenue from the average results. The problem is that you cannot lower your price to have a reasonable profit and price point at launch, because people will always wair for the clearance sales. The sale model does not allow a product to stay long in retail and have a lower price due to long legs sales.

I do wonder, though, how they manage to keep that profit margin in the competitive American retail landscape. They get almost an entire aisle at most Walmarts, and Walmart is notorious for driving down prices on their suppliers. I guess we do see a handful of sets discounted from the moment the product is stocked, but Lego hasn't been affected in the way that other companies have. Being a global brand probably helps a lot.

Then you have Toys R Us doing the opposite and marking Lego UP. But they have way more shelf space and keeps sets much longer than other stores,

 

[GAMEPROFF]

I think a set like the recent A-Wing or the AT-ST should not more then 35€

 

[otapnam]

The sets are almost always 20% off here and there. It follows American discounting models here at least - it allows the consumer to feel like they get a deal. To complain about the full price sometimes is to be ignorant of the system.

While the sets have gotten more expensive, we can't expect everything to stay at the same prices forever. I think it's a sign of current society that feels they deserve things.

Lego could definitely trim their lineup though and focus on some of the better series and ideas.

Again, i threw out the idea of a subscription model. It would be interesting if they did a survey for their customers to see what they could work on.

 

[LordOfLore]

People are seriously arguing that Ninjago City is a basic City set that shouldn't cost more than $50. The fuck.

 

[DBT85]

Yodel are fucking shit. "sorry we missed you we left a card". No card, no visit at all. No death star, no trooper/speeder, no posters. Grrrrrr.

Conveniently, it was pissing down at the time they said they missed me.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Wait, this Yoda set is based on some Clone Wars episode with Liam Neeson?

I was wondering why the heck R2 was suddenly a part of Yoda's ship, I thought this set was from the end of Episode 3, just with R2 thrown in.

So uhh... how does it make any sense that R2 has been to Degobah before and on this magical quest of immortality with Yoda and Liam Neeson? And R2 never mentions to Luke "beep boop, I've been here before, beep beep" on their semi-long flight to Degobah in Luke's ship where R2 has a text console to directly chat with Luke.

The episode looks pretty cool though, I should check it out. It always amazes me the movie actors that the Star Wars TV shows can bring back when they want.

 

[parrotbeak]

Sorry all, that thread got me frazzled and I'm already on edge from this damn hurricane. A mod jumping in starting to defend that shit really put me over the edge. I'm just getting off GAF for my nerves sake till after all this shit passes. Going to build OFS and try to work on my Halloween stuff. Any other Lego GAFfers in the path of this shit stay safe and good luck. See all you lovely people on the other side.

Good luck, Ponn. Better just to stay out of that hurricane of a thread.

I think a set like the recent A-Wing or the AT-ST should not more then 35€

There are definitely sets that I think are overpriced and I won't buy, but that actually helps reign in my purchases. If every awesome set were a good deal, for one the bar would be moved and we'd still look at the cheaper sets and think all sets should have the cheaper price/piece ratio, and I'd have less space cuz I'd buy more sets.

It bugs me a lot that people don't consider "Design" as a valid idea, or consider that it's worth time and money.

They put so much design into it that playing with modern Lego cripples imagination. They should just get rid of the designers, dump a bunch of 2x8 bricks into a bucket, and drop the price to $1/lb. Also I hope everyone tips their Lego store employee.

 

[Chiaroscuro]

They put so much design into it that playing with modern Lego cripples imagination. They should just get rid of the designers, dump a bunch of 2x8 bricks into a bucket, and drop the price to $1/lb. Also I hope everyone tips their Lego store employee.

These are the bestselling Lego sets in my country. The outsold the others by 10 to 1, at biggest retail chains, online stores and even small toy stores (a friend of mine owns one):

 

[ghostmind]

Sorry all, that thread got me frazzled and I'm already on edge from this damn hurricane. A mod jumping in starting to defend that shit really put me over the edge. I'm just getting off GAF for my nerves sake till after all this shit passes. Going to build OFS and try to work on my Halloween stuff. Any other Lego GAFfers in the path of this shit stay safe and good luck. See all you lovely people on the other side.

In the midst of the discussions, I missed the most important point.

Stay safe Ponn, and any other LEGO-GAF'ers in the path of this storm.

 

[parrotbeak]

These are the bestselling Lego sets in my country. The outsold the others by 10 to 1, at biggest retail chains, online stores and even small toy stores (a friend of mine owns one):

If I only bought one set that would probably be it. There really are sets for a wide range of audiences, from families who will have one set for the kids to play with once in a while, to collectors who turn their homes into Lego displays.

 

[Chiaroscuro]

If I only bought one set that would probably be it. There really are sets for a wide range of audiences, from families who will have one set for the kids to play with once in a while, to collectors who turn their homes into Lego displays.

The point is: there is something for everyone. Those sets offer cheap bricks, little design (the sugestions included) and a lot of playability. I, in the other hand, prefer other types of builds and those bricks do not fit my ideas.

But if you like apples, you don't need to urge that all oranges should desapear. Others may like oranges not apples.

People in that thread seems to be so closed mind that they cannot think the idea people may have different tastes and different ideas.

 

[iosefe]

i wish i stocked up on lego sets to build while waiting for irma to pass

 

[BentBricks]

I think Lego could cut prices a little by having a bit less detail and "rounding down" on their prices. A 550 piece set is usually $60 instead of $50. For example, if they cut out ~60 pieces from the Jokers Low Rider set, it could theoretically be $30 instead of $50 since its now 380 pieces.

LEGO profit margin is around 30%. A company needs to have some profit to stay in business, innovate, grow, and cover for bad years. There is little motivation to cut prices which directly impact profits if sales are great and there is no competition. Here in the U.S. Mega Construx is the only competition worth mentioning. As the past few years has shown, Mega only has a tiny % of the construction block pie. Kre-o is essentially dead, but can come back anytime as they don't manufacture the blocks themselves (Oxford does).

C3, BEST-LOCK, IONIX, MCFARLANE, and LITE BRIX combined probably get about 1% of the pie (wild ass guess).


I'm curious how well other legit clone brands in other countries are doing and if there is any chance they could make it to the U.S.
I think these the the biggest legit ones outside of America.
COBI (Poland)
OXFORD (South Korea)

Will mention Enlighten and Sluban as they have moved towards more legit products and not doing knockoffs. Not sure if the "original" sets they make are 100% patent free parts though.

Checking out Enlighten's 2017 catalog, it looks like they may not copy entire sets, but a lot of the themes and color schemes look like they were "inspired" by LEGO sets. They do have original sets though that look pretty cool. There are a lot of cool original minifigs and accessories.
http://www.enlighten-brick.com/new enlighten catalogue.pdf

Until LEGO feels some pressure from competition, I don't expect LEGO sacrifice profit margins. I also don't want LEGO to sacrifice quality to lower prices. The QC definitely showed as they expanded their operations to factories in other countries. Seems like they are getting it under control though.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

You know what, fuck it. That other thread is both annoying the shit out of me and lighting a fire under my ass. We need a new MOC contest, and I know just the sets to use.

https://shop.lego.com/en-US/search/creativity box

Either the blue, green, orange, or red Creativity boxes. They are only $5 each, so nobody would complain about it being too expensive. And look, there are no instructions saying I can only use this piece this way!

 

[Crispy75]

You know what, fuck it. That other thread is both annoying the shit out of me and lighting a fire under my ass. We need a new MOC contest, and I know just the sets to use.

https://shop.lego.com/en-US/search/creativity box

Either the blue, green, orange, or red Creativity boxes. They are only $5 each, so nobody would complain about it being too expensive. And look, there are no instructions saying I can only use this piece this way!

You have my sword

 

[mrklaw]

You know what, fuck it. That other thread is both annoying the shit out of me and lighting a fire under my ass. We need a new MOC contest, and I know just the sets to use.

https://shop.lego.com/en-US/search/creativity box

Either the blue, green, orange, or red Creativity boxes. They are only $5 each, so nobody would complain about it being too expensive. And look, there are no instructions saying I can only use this piece this way!

Free choice - let people choose their preferred colour?

 

[PhoncipleBone]

That I am wondering about. Free choice would make it easier if you have a store that only has one color. But using a $5 set and nothing else should prove a point.

I am going to check the grocery stores in town to see if they carry it, just to make sure it is as easy as possible to find so there isn't as much complaining.

 

[DBT85]

That I am wondering about. Free choice would make it easier if you have a store that only has one color. But using a $5 set and nothing else should prove a point.

I am going to check the grocery stores in town to see if they carry it, just to make sure it is as easy as possible to find so there isn't as much complaining.

They are all on Amazon in the UK at least.

 

[otapnam]

Wait, this Yoda set is based on some Clone Wars episode with Liam Neeson?

I was wondering why the heck R2 was suddenly a part of Yoda's ship, I thought this set was from the end of Episode 3, just with R2 thrown in.

So uhh... how does it make any sense that R2 has been to Degobah before and on this magical quest of immortality with Yoda and Liam Neeson? And R2 never mentions to Luke "beep boop, I've been here before, beep beep" on their semi-long flight to Degobah in Luke's ship where R2 has a text console to directly chat with Luke.

The episode looks pretty cool though, I should check it out. It always amazes me the movie actors that the Star Wars TV shows can bring back when they want.

Lol. I ordered it just so i can get a yoda n r2. I plan on getting the current 100$ falcon to help round out my sw collection and wanted to make sure i had the sw family covered

 

[Chiaroscuro]

Will mention Enlighten and Sluban as they have moved towards more legit products and not doing knockoffs. Not sure if the "original" sets they make are 100% patent free parts though.

Checking out Enlighten's 2017 catalog, it looks like they may not copy entire sets, but a lot of the themes and color schemes look like they were "inspired" by LEGO sets. They do have original sets though that look pretty cool. There are a lot of cool original minifigs and accessories.
http://www.enlighten-brick.com/new enlighten catalogue.pdf.

Enlighten (and other Chinese companies) business model is still shaddy since they don't 100% respect patents, plus their quality of bricks are not that great, and those designs have little to no research, builds have problems, are not stable, etc. But I agree that they are moving forward and may one day represent a real competition to Lego.

 

[Vyer]

LEGO is popular and not cheap. For some people on GAF that is like catnip for shitposting and hating. And facts, research and experience just get in the way of that.

 

[whatsinaname]

Man, this Millennium Falcon City set is $800. Why is it so expensive.

 

[DBT85]

Lol

 

[EvilRedEye]

When I've seen those creativity boxes locally, they've tended stock certain ones rather than the entire range. Free choice seems fine to me, tbh.

 

[papluh]

Promobricks has UCS MF teaser - shows sticker sheet and inside of the box

Spoiler

containing internal boxes

Nothing substantial.
https://www.promobricks.de/lego-star-war-ucs-millennium-falcon-75192-ausgepackt/41677


BTW LEGO needs to make such dragon on skates as Enlighten did (page 9 )
And those mechas made out of 3 in 1 sets. But yes it is a strange mix of LEGO inspired stuff and stuff that i have not (yet) seen
But still lot of the parts are copied from LEGO and minidolls and such will still be protected...

 

[Plum]

That thread is tiring. I mean, Lego can improve in some areas, but to blindly say "lower price now pls" is ignoring so much and suggesting so little.

What I'd do if I were making decisions at TLG:
- Invest in simple themes such as Western, Space, Castles, etc; maybe bring back the "System" branding for them to get dem nostalgia dollars
- Lower the amount of $150+ sets released each year to around 2 or 3 as, even for who they're aimed at, it can get overwhelming
- Ring Reggie, licence some Nintendo franchises, proceed to make bank

 

[GoodCoffeeJoey]

Where was this?

Lego shop. PS was 20% off, in addition to double VIP and the other Black Friday promos.

 

[Master Yoshi]

That thread is tiring. I mean, Lego can improve in some areas, but to blindly say "lower price now pls" is ignoring so much and suggesting so little.

What I'd do if I were making decisions at TLG:
- Invest in simple themes such as Western, Space, Castles, etc; maybe bring back the "System" branding for them to get dem nostalgia dollars
- Lower the amount of $150+ sets released each year to around 2 or 3 as, even for who they're aimed at, it can get overwhelming
- Ring Reggie, licence some Nintendo franchises, proceed to make bank

Collectable minifigures. Every fucking popular thing ever. Video game characters such as Mario, Zelda, Minecraft and Sonic, Lord of the Rings characters, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel, Disney, DC, retro shit like Ghostbusters, He Man, Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers. Wild Animals and fantasy creatures. Star Wars creatures, big figs from everything from Bowser to Donkey Kong to Thanos.

If they lose too much money on CMF series due to theft, release more figures in smaller sets. For example, a Dewback patrol set with 2 Dewbacks and Sandtroopers, or all members of the fellowship of the Ring on a rocky terrain brick built display!

I think a huge turnoff as a Lego fan who makes seldom purchases is how the most sought after characters are in the most expensive sets, and, as an example, the Guardians of the Galaxy, five characters, are split into 2-3 separate sets to ensure you must spend over $75-$100 to have a complete set of minifigures.

 

[Plum]

Collectable minifigures. Every fucking popular thing ever. Video game characters such as Mario, Zelda, Minecraft and Sonic, Lord of the Rings characters, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel, Disney, DC, retro shit like Ghostbusters, He Man, Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers. Wild Animals and fantasy creatures. Star Wars creatures, big figs from everything from Bowser to Donkey Kong to Thanos.

If they lose too much money on CMF series due to theft, release more figures in smaller sets. For example, a Dewback patrol set with 2 Dewbacks and Sandtroopers, or all members of the fellowship of the Ring on a rocky terrain brick built display!

I think a huge turnoff as a Lego fan who makes seldom purchases is how the most sought after characters are in the most expensive sets, and, as an example, the Guardians of the Galaxy, five characters, are split into 2-3 separate sets to ensure you must spend over $75-$100 to have a complete set of minifigures.

All really good ideas. I'm not into the collecting minifigures side of things but I can imagine it must be frustrating. I'd also add making Comic Con exclusives available to all after one year, locking some characters forever behind such a massive wall is really bad imo.

 

[SiegfriedFM]

On another note, I was invited over to a friend to hang out with their three-year-old (I've given him some Lego when my friend has been visiting). Since I don't have kids, it's fun to see another perspective. He had a rainbow house (of course) built on a plate, with a boat anchored (on studs) nearby, and 1x1 transparent bricks inside that were flowers, and there was a fire engine with three towers that made the main hose shoot better, and everything loose that had wheels could also fly. And all this was random bricks, while he had semi-torn down trucks and stuff in a box, with a Friends puppy and the Banshee CMF living in the house.

That's why Lego is awesome.

 

[Haines]

Went into work today.

Showed a picture of my half done lego beetle when we talking about the new vw bus coming in 2022

He told me he just spent 300 on a chinese knockoff of the falcon. "Same shit just doesnt say lego on it"

Ugh.

Ill just stick with lego.

 

[GAMEPROFF]

There was a Lepin Star Wars UCS Knockoff Review on Bricklink, can someone drop the link to that one in there?

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Holy crap Mega Block directions and bag organization is awful

This Gyarados is going to take awhile...

 

[GreatEdmondo]

I'm looking for feedback on these designs before I try to build them in real life, first for a custom BrickHeadz model:
(LDD and Stud.io don't have the BrickHeadz eyes available)

It's supposed to be the current Dark Magician design. I'm not too sure about the head, mainly the hat and the gap in order to allow the shoulder pads to exist.

The other is a psuedo-BrickHeadz, Not a BrickHeadz, but something that wouldn't look out of place next to one.

This one is supposed to be the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. I'm mostly happy with this one, but I'm not sure whether it would look like a companion to the Dark Magician.

EDIT: added reference images.

 

[papluh]

On another note, I was invited over to a friend to hang out with their three-year-old (I've given him some Lego when my friend has been visiting). Since I don't have kids, it's fun to see another perspective. He had a rainbow house (of course) built on a plate, with a boat anchored (on studs) nearby, and 1x1 transparent bricks inside that were flowers, and there was a fire engine with three towers that made the main hose shoot better, and everything loose that had wheels could also fly. And all this was random bricks, while he had semi-torn down trucks and stuff in a box, with a Friends puppy and the Banshee CMF living in the house.

That's why Lego is awesome.

Exactly.
As RLUG we get some loose pieces from LEGO. What I understood it is recycled stuff, leftovers from storage boxes that are not needed anymore on packaging line, parts from damaged boxes, etc. Sometimes you get like hundred pink plates 2x10, doors of just one orientation, some arches, plastic wheels,... we just look at it and think trash or internal support.
We have play tables that go to events and we dump those parts there.
One would be really surprised how kids go to these tables and do not care what color or type the parts are. If they connect, they use what they can. At the end of day when you need to throw all creations back into the brick pool, one can get seriously surprised.

 

[chaosblade]

I'm looking for feedback on these designs before I try to build them in real life, first for a custom BrickHeadz model:
(LDD and Stud.io don't have the BrickHeadz eyes available)

It's supposed to be the current Dark Magician design. I'm not too sure about the head, mainly the hat and the gap in order to allow the shoulder pads to exist.

The other is a psuedo-BrickHeadz, Not a BrickHeadz, but something that wouldn't look out of place next to one.

This one is supposed to be the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. I'm mostly happy with this one, but I'm not sure whether it would look like a companion to the Dark Magician.

Blue eyes needs blue eyes instead of black and it would be fine.

Not terribly familiar with Yugioh (played the PS4 game a little but otherwise haven't touched it in a decade) so I don't know the current Dark Magician design, but without looking it up I wouldn't have recognized it.

 

[ghostmind]

I'm looking for feedback on these designs before I try to build them in real life, first for a custom BrickHeadz model:
(LDD and Stud.io don't have the BrickHeadz eyes available)

It's supposed to be the current Dark Magician design. I'm not too sure about the head, mainly the hat and the gap in order to allow the shoulder pads to exist.

The other is a psuedo-BrickHeadz, Not a BrickHeadz, but something that wouldn't look out of place next to one.

This one is supposed to be the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. I'm mostly happy with this one, but I'm not sure whether it would look like a companion to the Dark Magician.

I'm not familiar with the source material, so I had to look it up.

The Dark Magician is cute, but I agree the shaping of the hat is off. I can't really see the gap for the shoulder pads, but if you had a bright light behind it, i think it would be far more noticeable. So try to keep it dark, or find another way to make the shoulder pads work.

The dragon is great!

 

[GreatEdmondo]

Blue eyes needs blue eyes instead of black and it would be fine.

Not terribly familiar with Yugioh (played the PS4 game a little but otherwise haven't touched it in a decade) so I don't know the current Dark Magician design, but I wouldn't have recognized it.

It has black eyes as they're supposed to be the BrickHeadz eyes, it's just that they aren't available in LDD or Stud.io.

 

[Haloid1177]

Finished building BB8 today. Kinda repetitive, but damn if it didn’t come together into something amazing. Gotta finish Old Fishing Store next and then my backlog is caught up for the Falcon.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Just finished watching some episodes of the Clone Wars from this Yoda set. The episodes are very good. I take it back, that the idea that Yoda and R2 went on a fun little trip to Dagobah, was a stupid idea. It was like a Yoda mini-series. You also get to see Yoda fight without a lightsaber, and a peak at what Yoda might have looked like had he turned to the Dark Side.

Not really related to Lego, just me being curious why R2 was included in a seemingly random Yoda ship set.

 

[MiniBossman]

Wow just finished reading the Lego is overpriced thread. Wow. That was a crap show.

 

[Boogalogist]

On another note, I was invited over to a friend to hang out with their three-year-old (I've given him some Lego when my friend has been visiting). Since I don't have kids, it's fun to see another perspective. He had a rainbow house (of course) built on a plate, with a boat anchored (on studs) nearby, and 1x1 transparent bricks inside that were flowers, and there was a fire engine with three towers that made the main hose shoot better, and everything loose that had wheels could also fly. And all this was random bricks, while he had semi-torn down trucks and stuff in a box, with a Friends puppy and the Banshee CMF living in the house.

That's why Lego is awesome.

I'd love to see a pic of this!

 

[Haines]

Wow just finished reading the Lego is overpriced thread. Wow. That was a crap show.

I didnt read it but thats exactly why i avoided it for years.

Look at lego. Look at price. NOPE.

Most people look at it as a toy, once you see a 100 dollar price tag, it better be a god damn amazing toy.

Even now that im into it, every set has been a solid deal in my eyes. Wont touch retail price.




Finished the Beetle tonight. Amazing build. Thing looks incredible when done. The stickers are kind of a joke, but they give you some extras so that nice. It needs them, so it is what it is.

Very excited for the Van, but that could be a while before some nice bonuses get added to orders,

 

[Ryuuroden]

Don't know in US but here the customers aren't allowed to enter the mall before the stores open. Of course the mall staff is there earlier to do all the stuff but you can't enter the mall.

Depends on if the mall is an open air mall or the store is in a enclosed mall. My store is in an open air mall. Im still debating how soon to show up in the morning or just order online. I kinda want to experience getting it at the mall day 1 because I rarely do that sort of thing. I used to only show up day one for the modular releases. Everything else I usually order online or just wait a bit. I posted my two extra town halls on Craigslist and let go, yesterday.

Sort of related:

Large sets I still need to get:
-10253 Big Ben
-10257 Carousel (inkling in receiving it as a gift
-10258 London Bus (very low on my want list)
-70620 Ninjago City
-71040 Disney Castle (pretty sure I'm receiving it as a gift)
-75144 Snowspeeder

I'm in surprisingly better shape than I thought I was although once I add in the 5 architecture sets, 4 ninjago movie sets, 7 dimensions sets, 5 star wars sets, winter village set and 5 speed champion sets I want, my costs go up. I can probably live without the architecture sets and speed champion sets and I hope to get the dimensions sets on clearance and the rest for at least 20% off on Amazon. I am trying to cut spending to primarily just exclusives and star wars but ninjago makes it really hard. They better not release another ip with its aesthetic.

 

[BentBricks]

I made it through most of that layoff thread. Sure, there are some fools in there that don't understand the price of R&D. GAF is full of people who spew drive-by hot takes without any consideration for discussion.

But others in that thread do have a point without actually realizing it. The "rent is too damn high" mentality for Lego is not accidental. Prices are above what some rational people want to pay, and that's OK. But with Lego having 30% profit margin, you know what? There is a little bit of room for prices to come down. That may do something to raise the perception of the brand in the eyes of these lost customers. Maybe Lego has done the math and lowering prices to gain goodwill isn't worth it to them. That's OK too.

But I as a fan am open to the idea that I probably pay more for some of this stuff than I should, and I am allowed to vote with my wallet. Heck, I often do - I've used Lego's recent trend of flooding retail to my advantage and waited for some nice clearance prices. I'm open to the idea that Lego has identified THAT as one of its problems and the workforce reduction will result in fewer sets. I guess we'll see.

Until competition increases and/or demand decreases for LEGO, LEGO can continue to keep the prices that give them ~30% profit margin. If I owned a business, I'd want my profits to be maximized.

I do wonder, though, how they manage to keep that profit margin in the competitive American retail landscape. They get almost an entire aisle at most Walmarts, and Walmart is notorious for driving down prices on their suppliers. I guess we do see a handful of sets discounted from the moment the product is stocked, but Lego hasn't been affected in the way that other companies have. Being a global brand probably helps a lot.

Then you have Toys R Us doing the opposite and marking Lego UP. But they have way more shelf space and keeps sets much longer than other stores,

I think part of the price problem is the modern american sales mode that became a trend worldwide. It says that a product must have only a limit shelf time (due to too many products to be available) so it must go on sales/clearance soon. Part of the sales would be at product launch to entusiasts/fans/buyers that don't care at let's say 30% profit. Soon the product must go on sale to give up its shelf space, and the profits are quite lower. Rarely a product has long legs ans stay in retail for a long time. Lego must have a business plan to consider all sales (a peak at a high profit and a fair ammount at discount) and get its revenue from the average results. The problem is that you cannot lower your price to have a reasonable profit and price point at launch, because people will always wair for the clearance sales. The sale model does not allow a product to stay long in retail and have a lower price due to long legs sales.

As I understand, retail stores pay a negotiated price for LEGO sets. I believe most retail stores work this way. That is where the profit margin for LEGO is. Retail stores then markup the prices above what they pay. This is where the MSRP price comes into play.
Clearance and sales from non-LEGO retail stores do not cut into LEGO profits. It cuts into the retail store profits. That is my understanding, which may be incorrect.

You are correct about the American retail stores wanting new LEGO products on a regular basis. I recall a LEGO article or video I saw that talked about why they have to put out X amount of sets year at certain times of the year. People waiting for sales is already calculated into the prices of all merchandise in retail stores. Markup is quite high from what retail stores pay to balance out items that end up going on sale or clearance.

 

[BentBricks]

So glad this LEGO Ideas project made 10k votes.
It may not be a huge seller, but I think it is a great representation of what can be made with LEGO that won't be found in standard LEGO sets.
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/cfaf7a52-02a4-4dc0-8ec3-6b94d7c36069

EDIT: It was a collaboration project with Grant Davis (Grant_Davis_) and Jason Allemann (JKBrickworks). Not just JK Brickworks.

[
Pop-Up Book by JK Brickworks, on Flickr


Check out JK Brickworks flickr page. JK Brickworks has made some amazing mechanical moving MOCs. I just checked the page and he's create two new ones. Running horse and Santa and sleigh.

Oh man, I forgot about these that he made. I think they are based on wooden toys that worked with gravity.

Gravity Powered Walking Animals by JK Brickworks, on Flickr

 

[mrklaw]

Depends on if the mall is an open air mall or the store is in a enclosed mall. My store is in an open air mall. Im still debating how soon to show up in the morning or just order online. I kinda want to experience getting it at the mall day 1 because I rarely do that sort of thing. I used to only show up day one for the modular releases. Everything else I usually order online or just wait a bit. I posted my two extra town halls on Craigslist and let go, yesterday.

Sort of related:

Large sets I still need to get:
-10253 Big Ben
-10257 Carousel (inkling in receiving it as a gift
-10258 London Bus (very low on my want list)
-70620 Ninjago City
-71040 Disney Castle (pretty sure I'm receiving it as a gift)
-75144 Snowspeeder

I'm in surprisingly better shape than I thought I was although once I add in the 5 architecture sets, 4 ninjago movie sets, 7 dimensions sets, 5 star wars sets, winter village set and 5 speed champion sets I want, my costs go up. I can probably live without the architecture sets and speed champion sets and I hope to get the dimensions sets on clearance and the rest for at least 20% off on Amazon. I am trying to cut spending to primarily just exclusives and star wars but ninjago makes it really hard. They better not release another ip with its aesthetic.

I almost feel obliged to buy Big Ben - have the smaller version which I moddd, and have tower bridge which is one of my favourites. But something about it isn’t gelling with me and I don’t know what. Maybe the sheer size and knowledge I couldn’t display it without breaking down my SW stuff.

Imperial shuttle + MF or tower bridge + Big Ben. That 'or' is painful.

Still on the fence about MF but might buy and leave unopened for a while as I contemplate it. I'm relying on someone coming up with a solid stand to hold it in a 'steep bank' position for display. Even with a narrow focus (MF, Imperial Shuttle, X-wing, TIE fighter - core OT ships) that’s still a lot of room.

 

[DBT85]

Time to begin. 1106 pieces #MixTheBags

 

[_Rob_]

Time to begin. 1106 pieces #MixTheBags

I was just sick in my mouth a little... you monster.

 

[DonShula]

As I understand, retail stores pay a negotiated price for LEGO sets. I believe most retail stores work this way. That is where the profit margin for LEGO is. Retail stores then markup the prices above what they pay. This is where the MSRP price comes into play.
Clearance and sales from non-LEGO retail stores do not cut into LEGO profits. It cuts into the retail store profits. That is my understanding, which may be incorrect.

You are correct about the American retail stores wanting new LEGO products on a regular basis. I recall a LEGO article or video I saw that talked about why they have to put out X amount of sets year at certain times of the year. People waiting for sales is already calculated into the prices of all merchandise in retail stores. Markup is quite high from what retail stores pay to balance out items that end up going on sale or clearance.

The bold is true, but how much of that stuff ends up sold as clearance will dictate what the store decides to carry from the next Lego product line. One of my Walmarts ended up eating at least nine Scuttlers at $30 each (or less). Markup may be high, but it's not THAT high. That certainly has an impact on the chain's purchasing plans when Lego comes along with a similar set in the future.

I don't expect retail chains are happy to have some of the large Nexo and Ninjago sets languish on shelves for months only to clearance them out. If I'm buying for one of those chains, I'm asking for more known IP, or less product altogether.