SuvieD Posted June 10, 2005 Posted June 10, 2005 I based the price on the PaB in LEGOLAND Germany. They sell minifigs with a torso w/head, a set of legs and a headgear piece for one Euro. I know they also do this in LEGOLAND California for $1. You also have the option of getting them 5 for $4. I seriously doubt LEGO takes a loss on this price. Minifig bulk packs at $4.25-$6, which were loaded with accessories, also averaged at $1-$1.75 per figure w/accessory(ies). Having worked with pricing in retail I also know that wholesale a set like this only cost $3-$4. Retail stores and distributors are making money off these, LEGO we can assume is also. So, I doubt they took a loss on these either. LEGO is a big business. It can control costs better than we think, they admit that the last few years they have made some rather poor choices which increased cost beyond what they could make. Too many colors, too many new molds, too much fluff all added to poor cost control which resulted in spending more than LEGO could make in the same time. Even if it is bulk and is a reduced price, why would they charge so much if they just wanted it sold. I was not about to pay that much for figs I didn't want, but if they were just like the rest of PaB I would have gotten a bag full of them and a bag full of horses which the sold at 1.50 Euro. My line of thinking is based on educated guesses not random thoughts. I really wish we could know what it really costs for LEGO to make each piece. Perhaps if LEGO introduces an online sub-site like Bricklink we can see what the price they need to make money from a part. So there! Quote
Governor Mister Phes Posted June 10, 2005 Author Governor Posted June 10, 2005 An official LEGO sub site like Brick Link would be great! Then I could see how much I was saving! Quote
snefroe Posted June 10, 2005 Posted June 10, 2005 I based the price on the PaB in LEGOLAND Germany. They sell minifigs with a torso w/head, a set of legs and a headgear piece for one Euro. I know they also do this in LEGOLAND California for $1. You also have the option of getting them 5 for $4. I seriously doubt LEGO takes a loss on this price. Even if it is bulk and is a reduced price, why would they charge so much if they just wanted it sold. I was not about to pay that much for figs I didn't want, but if they were just like the rest of PaB I would have gotten a bag full of them and a bag full of horses which the sold at 1.50 Euro. My line of thinking is based on educated guesses not random thoughts. I really wish we could know what it really costs for LEGO to make each piece. Perhaps if LEGO introduces an online sub-site like Bricklink we can see what the price they need to make money from a part. So there! well if they're making a profit on these 1 Quote
Governor Mister Phes Posted June 10, 2005 Author Governor Posted June 10, 2005 we don't know at all why lego is selling exactly the same products for 1 Quote
SuvieD Posted June 10, 2005 Posted June 10, 2005 Lego knows full well what sells sets. They have been doing this for many years now and one of the logics behind the number of figures in sets is based on cost. Another common reason is the fact that they want you to buy each set. Such as in Harry Potter sets. They don't have all the main characters (except for Harry) in many of the sets. They want you to buy each set to get a complete series of figs. Of course they are making a profit. In the last year LEGOLAND parks actually made money instead of losing it. Why is this do you think? What has happened in the last year that has helped make that difference? If you think like I do then you will tend to believe it is the PaB. Millions of pieces that they could do very little with suddenly have not only a use but are bringing in money. By the time figures or even parts of figures get to PaB they are already paid for through the sets they come from. Like this, if Lego needs to sell 10,000 of a certain set to make X amount of profit, and the machines make 15,000 of a certain figure (5000 extra in case the set sells really well and they need to make more of it) to be in the set at one time as to save on costs and switching colors but the set sells only so-so and they make the profit needed for this set, then the extra figs are worthless to Lego. Until now. With PaB those already paid for figures are now at 1 whatever, 5000 more whatevers in Lego's pocket. These parts and figures may in fact be pure profit. Now I know it cost something in the first place to make these parts but they would have needed to make them anyway. It is just now they have a way to sell what they didn't use and make lots of extra money doing it. It is like farmers who have vegetables they can't sell because part of it had a bug or got stepped on or something. Before these were tossed to animals or into a compost, but now they have machines that shave bad parts off, chop up the veges and sell them in bags frozen. No more wasted veges! Lego got smart and did this also. Last year Lego made spring cleaning bonus boxes to be sold with other bulk sets. These went flying off the self faster than any bulk tubs Lego has ever sold. Lego only had to box up parts they couldn't use and strap them to another set. It made Lego lots of money. They got rid of lots of junk they couldn't use. Pure profit. If you are really getting free Lego, why aren't you sharing? We all want some free Lego too. Quote
Governor Mister Phes Posted June 11, 2005 Author Governor Posted June 11, 2005 Lego knows full well what sells sets. They have been doing this for many years now and one of the logics behind the number of figures in sets is based on cost. Another common reason is the fact that they want you to buy each set. Such as in Harry Potter sets. They don't have all the main characters (except for Harry) in many of the sets. They want you to buy each set to get a complete series of figs. Here in the 21st century there's such a thing called eBay and BrickLink where it is no longer a requirement for people to buy all the sets if they want a certain mini-figures. As time goes on more and more people are going to become aware of this and trade over these services. So in 10 years time, the kiddie wants a particular figure so mummy and daddy go look for it on a network like BrickLink instead of buying the set. That might sound like an AFOL thing at the moment, but in 10-15 years time with the way computer technology has been integrated into society, it could well possibly become a reality! People will have literally grown up with the Internet by then. Or there might even be a new technology for selling LEGO pieces from home... Point is: From what I've read in this thred LEGO might need to restructure the way its makes profit from the individual pieces, otherwise technology and public awareness is going to sting them later on... Quote
snefroe Posted June 11, 2005 Posted June 11, 2005 Lego knows full well what sells sets. They have been doing this for many years now and one of the logics behind the number of figures in sets is based on cost. Another common reason is the fact that they want you to buy each set. Such as in Harry Potter sets. They don't have all the main characters (except for Harry) in many of the sets. They want you to buy each set to get a complete series of figs.Of course they are making a profit. In the last year LEGOLAND parks actually made money instead of losing it. Why is this do you think? What has happened in the last year that has helped make that difference? If you think like I do then you will tend to believe it is the PaB. Millions of pieces that they could do very little with suddenly have not only a use but are bringing in money. By the time figures or even parts of figures get to PaB they are already paid for through the sets they come from. Like this, if Lego needs to sell 10,000 of a certain set to make X amount of profit, and the machines make 15,000 of a certain figure (5000 extra in case the set sells really well and they need to make more of it) to be in the set at one time as to save on costs and switching colors but the set sells only so-so and they make the profit needed for this set, then the extra figs are worthless to Lego. Until now. With PaB those already paid for figures are now at 1 whatever, 5000 more whatevers in Lego's pocket. These parts and figures may in fact be pure profit. Now I know it cost something in the first place to make these parts but they would have needed to make them anyway. It is just now they have a way to sell what they didn't use and make lots of extra money doing it. It is like farmers who have vegetables they can't sell because part of it had a bug or got stepped on or something. Before these were tossed to animals or into a compost, but now they have machines that shave bad parts off, chop up the veges and sell them in bags frozen. No more wasted veges! Lego got smart and did this also. Last year Lego made spring cleaning bonus boxes to be sold with other bulk sets. These went flying off the self faster than any bulk tubs Lego has ever sold. Lego only had to box up parts they couldn't use and strap them to another set. It made Lego lots of money. They got rid of lots of junk they couldn't use. Pure profit. If you are really getting free Lego, why aren't you sharing? We all want some free Lego too. it seems you're just proving my point: they don't produce army building sets because they're too expensive to produce. the fact that they're releasing certain characters only for one set is not particularly relevant here. there is no Luke skywalker or Harry Potter in a classic castle set anyway, just knights and soldiers. the only reason i can think of why they're not producing these minifig sets is because the production of minifigs is too expensive and can't be compensated by the production costs of other parts because there are none. i never said that the legland parks aren't profitable. what makes these parks profitable is not a pab, but the entire merchandising of lego products, like t-shirts, keyrings, sets, cups, ... and the lego experience. it's a family park where people spend an entire day, drinking, spending money, eating,... a ticket isn't really cheap either... further, all themeparks in europe have been in a recession in the last few years. Only last year was a major success again. That's probably just international economics and stuff stepping in. No reason to think that's any different for legoland theme parks... we're obviously living in different worlds; the pab in billund and windsor sells for the most part, traditional bricks and plates, stuff they also sell via the lego shops... i rarely see the real specialised bricks there. i also saw old bionicle parts they were just trying to get rid off... the sets sell very well in the shop, the pab itself is not, as far as i can tell. i was in windsor not even a month ago. the pab was completely empty throughout to day, the lego shop where everything else is sold, was very busy... you're also thinking about costs for a minifig. a minifig (for instance, the blue overall guy) is a collection of parts. consequently, the cost of this blue overall guy is the sum of the production costs of all produced pieces divided by the production number of the minifig; however, blue legs are also used for lots of other minifigs, lowering the production costs for the blue overall guy. in other words, there is no average production cost for "the minifig". all differently produced minifigs have different production costs and i'm quite certain that the knights and soldiers are not among the cheapest figs around. you're making the same mistake with selling sets. some machines produce 15000 pieces an hour, others produce only a few thousand a month depending on the number of sets they're working for. what you get at a pab aren't pieces of sets they did not sell, but extras from production runs of certain parts, that's all... i've never been able to build a complete set based on what i find in pabs... for instance, i have found indian torsos in pabs, but never wigwags (if that's english :P ), indian boats or whatever is in these sets... i've seen wings of airplanes, but never cockpits... you're also talking about damaged products. the stuff in pabs is not damaged at all... the pab boxes in Belgium are not a spectacular success at all. they're giving lego away now, but still the shops can't seem to get rid of them. it is my experience that only adults are pretty much interested in these things, yong children don't show the slightest interest for the pab. in fact, i've known young boys refusing lego bags even tho they had just bought a set. every time i see some one picking bricks, and i'm a very regular customer for these things, it's an adult... i also talked to the lego rep who was behind the pab in Belgium and he said that these parts were overstock. it's either a pab or being destroyed. the reason why TLC is improving her financial situation doesn't have anything to do with the parks or the pabs, it's increased efficiency in production, killing stock,... selling overstock for ridiculous prices or giving it away for free is probably even cheaper than to stock these parts... i have told the forum weeks ago that there was a free pab in Belgium. it's also on Belug.be Quote
Governor Mister Phes Posted June 12, 2005 Author Governor Posted June 12, 2005 all differently produced minifigs have different production costs and i'm quite certain that the knights and soldiers are not among the cheapest figs around. I can't speak so much for knights, but as for the soldiers... They're deffinitely not cheap to buy. However, they're merely an all white mini-figure torso with blue arms. If LEGO didn't feck round with so many colours then they wouldn't have to worry about producing so many different parts for them. Quote
Governor Mister Phes Posted June 12, 2005 Author Governor Posted June 12, 2005 Here is an example of my "not cheap" This is an eBay auction I'm bidding on. I'm winning at the moment but I'll most certainly be outbid by the time the auction finishes in 20 hours (at the time of writing of course). Go here to see the actual auction I think this would actually make a nice set. It comes with a decent amount of troops and a commanding officer (with a different face than usual - I like diversity like that). It also includes some cavalary and artillary which LEGO never explored in the Pirate theme, yet it could have been so easily implemented - as pictured here. And it also appears people will pay good money for it. If only LEGO didn't have such a ridiculous method of pricing their individual pieces.... Quote
Norro Posted June 12, 2005 Posted June 12, 2005 it seems you're just proving my point: they don't produce army building sets because they're too expensive to produce. the fact that they're releasing certain characters only for one set is not particularly relevant here. there is no Luke skywalker or Harry Potter in a classic castle set anyway, just knights and soldiers. the only reason i can think of why they're not producing these minifig sets is because the production of minifigs is too expensive and can't be compensated by the production costs of other parts because there are none. Just a thought... It seems lego have been advised to move towards more 'playable' 'hero' figs rather than background town/castle/generic pirates/western soldiers of the old minifig packs... They are focusing on individual figs not mass realism. A minifig pack of the four jelly-beans for example would leave people reluctant to buy the big set for the blue one... Whereas the old mindset just encouraged more buildings to be surrounde with basic figs.... God Bless, Nathan Quote
Governor Mister Phes Posted June 12, 2005 Author Governor Posted June 12, 2005 Do we know what's happening with Vikings? Do they have these "playable hero" characters or is that going back to the traditional generic system? Quote
Governor Mister Phes Posted June 12, 2005 Author Governor Posted June 12, 2005 Here's another eBay auction. It doesn't come with quite as much stuff but its still doing well. However, I find Imperial Guards seem to be in higher demand in Australia as the auctions tend to go off at higher cost. To see the auction page, go to: 9 Imperial Guard Lego Pirate figures - VGC Quote
Norro Posted June 14, 2005 Posted June 14, 2005 Each LEGO minifig has a soul, that has to be it... & TLC does not like to put too many souls in one box... When you take a fig apart which part holds the soul...? God Bless, Nathan Quote
Governor Mister Phes Posted June 24, 2005 Author Governor Posted June 24, 2005 Lets go with the top half! Unless of course you believe a soul exists in the lower regions... Quote
V()()D()() Posted June 24, 2005 Posted June 24, 2005 Lets go with the top half! Unless of course you believe a soul exists in the lower regions... Ummm... Ok....... :D Anyways at the tour I told Lego about our mini-fig problem and compared some old sets with new ones in the archive and they said that they may do something if the megablock'n corprate scum agrees. Quote
Governor Mister Phes Posted June 24, 2005 Author Governor Posted June 24, 2005 What do you mean by " if the megablock'n corprate scum agrees"? You referring to LEGO? What are they agreeing to? Did you demand they put more mini-figures into sets? Quote
V()()D()() Posted June 25, 2005 Posted June 25, 2005 Ummmm...Noooooo :D anyways the corpates are hired by Lego to make sure each set is in a certain price range and if it isn't they usually take out min-figs and unintentionally usually the best part of the set, compair the 2 viking fortresses which one do you like better, the one before corprates (old) or the one after (new) personally I like the old better but who cares this does not matter... Quote
Governor Mister Phes Posted June 29, 2005 Author Governor Posted June 29, 2005 Didn't the original fortress set have mauve log walls? Personally I prefer the brown ones myself. Quote
daz Posted July 4, 2005 Posted July 4, 2005 Ebay auction today here 120 Clone troopers currently at Quote
Governor Mister Phes Posted July 4, 2005 Author Governor Posted July 4, 2005 For someone wishing to build a clone army such a purchase would be a dream come true! However the final price: GBP 375.00 is quite expensive... Quote
AgentA Posted July 7, 2005 Posted July 7, 2005 They should release packs of ten minifigs with accessories for like 5 or somthing dollars. They'd surelly get buyers. I'd buy loads of storm troopers and clones for my star wars army. At least they didn't go cheap on hte battle driods. :| AA Quote
Mr. Lego-builder Posted July 7, 2005 Posted July 7, 2005 I'm sure you already know this, but there will be no Star Wars minifigure packs, that is for sure. LEGO is not allowed to make "sets" like this. Quote
Darth_Ewok Posted July 8, 2005 Posted July 8, 2005 I guess the sould of the fig would only exist when the body was whole. then you can't have headless legless figs dragging their bodies about by their arms. ;) Quote
AgentA Posted July 8, 2005 Posted July 8, 2005 Actually i hadn't heard that. That sucks. Guess it's up to custom clones then or EBay auctions. So is it a licensing thing? Couldn't they try a deal with Lucasfilm? AA Quote
Mr. Lego-builder Posted July 8, 2005 Posted July 8, 2005 Hasbro has that specific license to produce SW figures. TLC doesn't have the lisence to make seperate figures. If LEGO tries to do it, Hasbro will start fighting back. It's not Lucasfilms that is to blame, it is the freaks at Hasbro. Quote
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