Big Cam Posted April 3, 2009 I saw this in my recent LEGO magazine as well, it's now online oly as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Green Brick Giant Posted April 3, 2009 This has happened before. There used to be a woman's head and that was taken down, and there were doors for 13 and 39 cents USD and it went up to $1.54. However in what universe does LEGO think people will spend $4-$5 on a non Star wars minifigure? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eilif Posted April 3, 2009 I'm just curious if you have some stats or a press release to back up your assertion. If so, please post a link! I'd really like to read that. Thanks! I don't have any hard stats, but I know a few things 1) Individual LEGO brand stores measure their monthly sales in the MILLIONS. 2) Most of the middle-class-and-up families that I meet at NILTC shows who are very into LEGO don't know that bricklink or PAB online exist. 3) LEGO's income for 2006 was $1,406,248,034 USD 3) Right now, Bricklink only has a total of 86,916,792 items (pieces, sets, figs, etc) for sale. Of course new items are being added every day, and sold everyday, and there are some higher ticket items (sets, figs, etc) for sale. However, if we assume that every one of those items sells over the course of the year, and we assume an extremely generous average price of one dollar per item, Bricklink sales would still be only be the equivalent of 6% of LEGO's total sales. In reality, total BL sales are probably much lower. I've never seen LEGO's stats on PAB or Bricklink sales numbers, but the evidence I have seen, leads me to agree with the assertion that PAB and Bricklink are a tiny fraction of total LEGO sales. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mrchris Posted April 3, 2009 (edited) Its not a mistake based on the email i just got from them Thank you for your email from 01/04/09 regarding the prices of LEGO® Pick a Brick.The main reason for the price increase is the fact that over 1000 new PAB elements have now been published on the website and are now available to purchase. However, there are so many improvements that it's worth it! - Biggest, most comprehensive assortment ever - More colours - Most recent doors and windows are now available in PAB and MOD - More longer beams to enable larger constructions - More accessories (such as head dresses) - More minifigures including girls and short legs - More cool tires and rims I hope you like our new assortment. If you have any more comments or suggestions please do not hesitate to contact us again as we love having feedback from our valued customers. grrr im angry it really doesnt justify the price increase to any reason discussed here so its just pure greed and taking advantage of us Can you imagine any 'real' shop saying to its customers 'hey we just doubled what we stock so enjoy our doubled prices' Edited April 3, 2009 by mrchris Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Johnnhiszippy3 Posted April 3, 2009 mrchris - maybe they should let us chose if we want "double the pieces for double the price" or "half the pieces for half the price", if this is the case...ha! Here's Lego's response to my complaint (quite a bit different from yours!) In regards to your LEGO Digital Designer (LDD) pricing concerns, prices of parts for Pick A Brick and LDD have become aligned. In the past, like elements sometimes had different prices (ex. a yellow 2x4 brick could cost more than a red 2x4 brick). Like elements now cost the same. Due to this change, some parts now cost more and some cost less. We are sorry the new palette does not support the models you have created. The new palette now has 1481 elements in the assortment. The assortment is the same for Pick A Brick and My Own Design. Some features of the new assortment include: § Biggest, most comprehensive assortment ever! § 25 colors! § More doors and windows! § Longer beams to enable larger constructions! § More accessories! § More mini-figs including a girl and child (short legs)! § More cool tires and rims! We hope you can create with this new palette as well. Also, if you "check price" on your previously created models, and click "read more" the program will show you which bricks are no longer available and you can substitute them for current palette elements by downloading your model and replacing them. and, their solution to fixing models that don't work ONLY works if it's been uploaded to their website, NOT if it's saved on your computer (like mine are) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skinny Boy Posted April 3, 2009 Well, this is exceptionally bad news for me, as it was recently discovered/compiled, that Ireland has no PAB's! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eric Kingsley Posted April 3, 2009 Not much LEGO does gets me riled up but this is bordering on Criminal. The excuses so far are lame, Eric Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peppermint_M Posted April 3, 2009 I guess I am going to be buying sets instead of PAB... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Erdbeereis Posted April 3, 2009 If this is true, what utter crap. I mean, $1.00 for a measly cherry is blasphemy. I definitely will not be buying anything from PAB if this is indeed true, I'll take Bricklink any day. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peppermint_M Posted April 3, 2009 No one will be dumb enough to use it anymore. Not one person in the world. Then Lego will have to sort it out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eilif Posted April 3, 2009 Just got finished sending LEGO a complaint email. I recomend that everyone else do the same. Even if I just get the same not-answering-my-question form email that we saw here, I thought it was important for them to know that they would be loosing my loose brick business, and that I would no longer be recommending PAB online to the dozens (perhaps hundreds) of parents I speak to each year at LEGO train shows. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
I Scream Clone Posted April 3, 2009 I've never seen LEGO's stats on PAB or Bricklink sales numbers, but the evidence I have seen, leads me to agree with the assertion that PAB and Bricklink are a tiny fraction of total LEGO sales. I have noticed that PAB is consistently in the top 5 for Aussie orders, however this is only S@H vs the whole import market of Australia, which would easily eclipse anything on S@H. I can't see it being a large part of the profits for TLC. On another note, I decided to order these, off BL instead of PAB and saved about $50 dollars, before the prices wnet up, so why bother with PAB anyway now Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darth_Legois Posted April 3, 2009 No one will be dumb enough to use it anymore. Not one person in the world.Then Lego will have to sort it out. Im sure there are some dumb people, Not necessarily "dumb" but who only just found it and don't know any better. I've never use PAB/LDD mainly because of the shipping price to Aus. I always order what I need from BL. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
copperwonder Posted April 3, 2009 OK, it has to be a glitch, I just got my Spring 2009 Catalog, the Pick A Brick has prices for 8 items. I listed the item then checked LDD, on average the items are off 280%. example: the 2 x 2 Brick listed in Spring Catalog is $.10 USD, in LDD it is $.29, the 2x2x2 Seat is $.15 in Catalog on LDD it is $.40, the 2x2 flat tile is $.08 on LDD it is $.35 (that's a 430% increase!) so I am betting: Glitch. So to be sure take the model you made and divide the price by 280% and that should be about the actual cost. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Apache Posted April 3, 2009 (edited) HERE's MY LLR (LEGO LETTER RESPONSE) Thank you for your email and interest in LEGO® Pick A Brick and LEGO Digital Designer. We have recently made several changes to our Pick A Brick selection which include: 500 new elements The biggest and most comprehensive assortment ever More colors Most recent doors and windows More longer beams to enable larger construction More accessories, such as head dresses More mini-figures including girls and children More cool tires and rims As we have added these new choices, we have also taken our first-ever price increase in select Pick A Brick elements. During the process of putting these prices in our systems, we found that several items had been mispriced. Please accept our apology for this confusion. We are working to correct this unfortunate mistake. Thank you for your ongoing interest in the LEGO Company and our products. Stephanie LEGO Direct Consumer Services If you wish to reply to this message, use the "Reply" button on your e-mail program. Please do not make any changes to the subject line, as this may lead to a long delay in responding to you. We would like to invite you to tell us about your online experience with our Customer Service site. The following link will take you to a short survey that will provide us with information on what you thought about our service. We would love to hear from you! http://www.lego.com/eng/service/ContactUsSurvey.asp If you wish to e-mail us again on another matter, please use our webform here - http://www.lego.com/service/contactus.asp Dear LEGO, I am appalled at the recent price HIKE in the online Pick A Brick section. I have placed a few orders using the online Pick A Brick system and have been truly satisfied with the selection and prices. I told friends who were savy Brick L SEVERAL ITEMS HAVE BEEN MISPRICED??? Maybe----------Mike is Right------- I will see if -----TLC ----adjusts the "SEVERAL ITEMS" prices----before----I go off---- the deepend Edited April 3, 2009 by Apache Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CopMike Posted April 3, 2009 Thanks for posting this, would be great if it´s just a glitch! SEVERAL ITEMS HAVE BEEN MISPRICED??? Maybe your getting lots of emails after you tried to shaft the loyal LEGO fans who spend our hard earned dollars on your product even during times of poverty and realize that your not going to sell one DAMN thing off PAB if you don't fix this. I better see more than several items back down to earthly prices or I'm done with LEGOWow, keep your cool and wait it out - no need for harch words !CopMike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Apache Posted April 3, 2009 (edited) Thanks for posting this, would be great if it´s just a glitch!Wow, keep your cool and wait it out - no need for harch words ! CopMike Yeah Mike, I admit, I'm a little peeved. I guess when I finally saved a little bit of coin to order some legs, torsos and hair pieces and then to be SHOCKED like I was.... I just don't think it's right. The Rich get Richer and the poor get poorer If this is for real than it might be the motivation I needed to go back to the dark ages. I will have alot of LEGO for sale. LEGS will only be .75 USD Edited April 3, 2009 by Apache Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
legotrainfan Posted April 4, 2009 (edited) If some of you want to boycott PaB because of the price increase, then do so if you feel this is the best way to go. I myself just phoned the customer service to order some bricks yesterday. (Don't know if that also counts as PaB in the statistics.) But TLC has still some elements that I would have to buy from several bricklink sellers, which means I'd have to pay a lot of shipping costs. My order at TLC includes the windscreen of the car in set 1380 and a train plate 6x24 in old dark grey (Yes, they still have old dark grey train plates!). And these are elements that are difficult to find in one single bricklink shop. Especially the train plate is pretty dear on bricklink! Anyway, I hope the employee of TLC who answered that mail saying that there was a mistake with pricing is right. Edited April 4, 2009 by legotrainfan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peppermint_M Posted April 4, 2009 A mistake? Phew I was all set to give up on LDD because it turned from a maybe buy my MOC to a never get it ever and just use real lego instead of digital scenario. Lets see if they can fix it soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Green Brick Giant Posted April 5, 2009 As we have added these new choices, we have also taken our first-ever price increase in select Pick A Brick elements. That's alie, they increased the prices of pieces after they made the Factory Space sets were released. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hunterx Posted April 5, 2009 i know that this sucks a lot, but the only cool minifig part is the new classic space print from the agents robot set. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pesgores Posted April 6, 2009 It is still the same. Anyone got an update from TLC? A real one? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barry Posted April 6, 2009 surely bricklink was always much cheaper, I made an order in Feb from pick-a-brick, before i found out about bricklink, and have always thought that I could have got double the bricks if i had known about brinklink at the start? barry over and out! 10-4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
legotrainfan Posted April 6, 2009 (edited) surely bricklink was always much cheaper, I made an order in Feb from pick-a-brick, before i found out about bricklink, and have always thought that I could have got double the bricks if i had known about brinklink at the start? Depends on the elements you purchase. Train plates are still cheaper at PaB or if you phone the customer service of TLC compared to the same elements from bricklink. The same is true for other train parts. So despite the price increase, PaB and the customer service remain an option to bricklink for me though it - as I've said - depends on the bricks you need. Edited April 6, 2009 by legotrainfan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
