why are the 2009 sets preview deleted ?

[shimon]

I saw some photos in brickshelf and then they're removed

here i didnt see 1 everything is deleted, why????

Edited August 24, 2008 by shimon

[Pencoin]

First grammer: "i saw some photos in brickshelf and then they're removed

here i didnt see 1 all deleted why????"

Correct way: "I saw some photos in Brickshelf, and then they're removed.

Here I didn't see one deleted why?

It was because these were leaked and TLC didn't want people to see them. So TLC will have asked the person to take them down, luckily there all over the internet now.

[iamded]

Correct way: "I saw some photos in Brickshelf, and then they're removed.

Here I didn't see one deleted why?"

Actually, it would be, "Here I didn't see one deleted, why?" You missed the all important comma.

Anyway, Pencoin's right. They're supposed to be kept hidden so Megabloks and other clone brands don't see them and get any ideas, as they're able to produce sets quicker than groups like TLC due to the lower quality. But we normally do get our share of sneak-peaks far before the release date of the set, that's one of the wonders of Eurobricks.

~Peace

[JopieK]

No offense, but most of the sets are standard enough so that MegaBlocks could have also invent those sets themselves, couldn't they? And I'm afraid parents/grandparents/whatever don't really care they just have subjective factors to decide on what set to buy.

- We don't like space, so why did we get space sets quite often

- My cousin had the 7735 but got 9V tracks since his parents didn't understand the differents

- ...

Edited August 22, 2008 by JopieK

[Mirandir]

No offense, but most of the sets are standard enough so that MegaBlocks could have also invent those sets themselves, couldn't they? And I'm afraid parents/grandparents/whatever don't really care they just have subjective factors to decide on what set to buy.

- We don't like space, so why did we get space sets quite often

- My cousin had the 7735 but got 9V tracks since his parents didn't understand the differents

- ...

LEGO has a history of being extremly secretive about things. Even though it's getting better and better. I see two reasons why Lego wish to keep the coming sets a secret for as long as possible.

1.) Clone brands will see what LEGO is planning to release and may have time to counter it with own, similar, sets.

2.) I also believe that LEGO might fear that when the new cool stuff is shown it will have an effect on the sales of the current sets. New sets are always more appealing to buy than older ones. So seeing the new cool stuff people will save their money to buy the news as they are released in January (December it seems if you live in the US).

[meschepers]

Pardon me fore being picking you out on this, Pencoin, but if you are going to correct a person's grammar you might make sure you are using the right form of a word. The one you are looking for here is "...they are all over the internet now" or "...they're all over the internet now."

Normally I don't pick on grammar on an international forum where some people do not speak English as a first language but, since you made the point of correcting someone I'll correct you.

And to stay relevant, the set pics are being removed for all of the reasons stated above. But, think about this: LEGO pulls the pics and set lists and now everyone is talking about them. That means that no one is talking about rival bricks and things of the ilk. This should end well for TLC.

Edited August 22, 2008 by meschepers

[snefroe]

honestly, in this case, it's a question of marketing. 6 months before the release is just too short for pirates to copy sets into details.

what they did is this:

the informed the customers what's coming in 2009. they got every one really exciteted about 2009 and about lego. they even told the community their biggest secret for next year: the return of pirates. What better advertising can you get then entire internet communities discussing the brand new sets? at the same time, the excitement will boost current sales, cos people are talking about lego right now, so they wanna play with lego right now too, and they wanna buy lego at this very moment as well. Customers will also fear that certain sets won't be around any more next year, so announcing the arrival of new sets also means "make sure you buy the 2008 stuff this year, cos we've got looooots of other stuff planned next year... and it works!!

on the other hand, they can't afford those pics to stay on for the next couple of months. People would get tired of looking at them, by the time the sets are available, most people would have MOCed copies already. Now people know what's coming, but they're not really sure what's coming... memories will fade and they'll be all excited yet again the moment the official catalog comes out...

[Captain Green Hair]

honestly, in this case, it's a question of marketing. 6 months before the release is just too short for pirates to copy sets into details.

what they did is this:

the informed the customers what's coming in 2009. they got every one really exciteted about 2009 and about lego. they even told the community their biggest secret for next year: the return of pirates. What better advertising can you get then entire internet communities discussing the brand new sets? at the same time, the excitement will boost current sales, cos people are talking about lego right now, so they wanna play with lego right now too, and they wanna buy lego at this very moment as well. Customers will also fear that certain sets won't be around any more next year, so announcing the arrival of new sets also means "make sure you buy the 2008 stuff this year, cos we've got looooots of other stuff planned next year... and it works!!

on the other hand, they can't afford those pics to stay on for the next couple of months. People would get tired of looking at them, by the time the sets are available, most people would have MOCed copies already. Now people know what's coming, but they're not really sure what's coming... memories will fade and they'll be all excited yet again the moment the official catalog comes out...

Exactly my thoughts, there is no bad employee who did this, it's all marketing.

[Sir Dano]

memories will fade and they'll be all excited yet again the moment the official catalog comes out...

Unless you were smart enough to save the pics.

[Tenorikuma]

I think it's half corporate culture — Lego likes being secretive and revealing sets only when they're ready to sell them, because that's just how they are — and half a marketing decision, because they don't want people to put off purchases until next year.

I don't think clone brands are the issue — the Asian cloners won't get their info from blurry photos on the Internet, they undoubtedly already have real copies of the retail catalog in their hands.

[CP5670]

As described earlier, it's pretty clear why TLG wants to keep the new sets under wraps. They want to make their marketing splash at whatever time suits them. What I find harder to understand is why so many people agree to TLG's demands. Unless an NDA has been signed by the uploader, they have no legal authority to take down any pictures. Leaked prerelease information like this is common in many other markets (computer hardware, for example) and I usually don't see the companies doing anything about it, simply because they can't.

[Joebot]

LEGO has a history of being extremly secretive about things. Even though it's getting better and better. I see two reasons why Lego wish to keep the coming sets a secret for as long as possible.

1.) Clone brands will see what LEGO is planning to release and may have time to counter it with own, similar, sets.

2.) I also believe that LEGO might fear that when the new cool stuff is shown it will have an effect on the sales of the current sets. New sets are always more appealing to buy than older ones. So seeing the new cool stuff people will save their money to buy the news as they are released in January (December it seems if you live in the US).

I've always heard that issue with the clone brands copying TLC, but I never really bought it. It takes a long time to design products like this. TLC has a two-year development life cycle. Even cheap clones have to get through design, manufacturing, etc.

But the second reason you listed makes some sense. There is definitely a "Cult of the New" with the Lego fan community. As soon as new stuff is released, the old stuff falls by the wayside.

Overall though, TLC needs to get with the times. They still haven't figured out that when they publish these retail catalogs, they'll be widely available on the Internet within a few days. That's just the way it is now, and trying to fight against it with "cease and desist" letters is hopelessly futile. The Internet doesn't work like that. TLC would do well to find a way to use the Internet to their advantage. If they want to control the way their products are announced, then find a better way to do it. Maybe post teaser pictures on their website, one set a day, for a period of a few weeks. Come on, we'd be there every freakin' day, hitting Refresh to see what the next new set is!! Think of the website hits and the free buzz they'd be generating.

TLC is a lot like Apple sometimes. Apple is notoriously secretive with their products, and they insist on controlling the product release (usually with big splashy keynote speech from Steve Jobs). Apple has mastered this bit of showmanship. TLC is sadly about 20 years out of date.

[Mirandir]

I've always heard that issue with the clone brands copying TLC, but I never really bought it. It takes a long time to design products like this. TLC has a two-year development life cycle. Even cheap clones have to get through design, manufacturing, etc.

Not if Lego has made most of the job for them. They can take "inspiration" from LEGO and make their own versions. Read: Rip-off the designs with smaller alterations. And most clones already have pieces that are close to identical to LEGO's. It's only next years new pieces that can be hard to rip-off in just a few months.

But the second reason you listed makes some sense. There is definitely a "Cult of the New" with the Lego fan community. As soon as new stuff is released, the old stuff falls by the wayside.

Overall though, TLC needs to get with the times. They still haven't figured out that when they publish these retail catalogs, they'll be widely available on the Internet within a few days. That's just the way it is now, and trying to fight against it with "cease and desist" letters is hopelessly futile. The Internet doesn't work like that. TLC would do well to find a way to use the Internet to their advantage. If they want to control the way their products are announced, then find a better way to do it. Maybe post teaser pictures on their website, one set a day, for a period of a few weeks. Come on, we'd be there every freakin' day, hitting Refresh to see what the next new set is!! Think of the website hits and the free buzz they'd be generating.

TLC is a lot like Apple sometimes. Apple is notoriously secretive with their products, and they insist on controlling the product release (usually with big splashy keynote speech from Steve Jobs). Apple has mastered this bit of showmanship. TLC is sadly about 20 years out of date.

Yeah. As soon as the original source is closed down you can bet there are soon at least ten new folders with the leaked content up on brickshelf and/or flickr no more than an hour later. As soon as the pictures hit Brickshelf or flickr it's to late to stop them from spreading.

/Johan

[giorgio]

The people copying Lego products are not stupid. Il the images of the new products have leaked to Internet they have seen them and copy them as a lot of us did.

Also, as professionnals they can have access to the Lego trade catalog without much difficultiesvia their contcats among trade and retailers.

So I don't belive at alle that TLC asked to remove the preview because of competitors but much more, as it was said before, for marketing reasons.

[5150 Lego]

If TLC was smart, they'd read the message boards about there new sets, and then moddify them based on what we do and don't like. As far as trying to keep them a secert,...... well,..... Sorry, thats just no going to happen. Send out a catolog with all the new stuff, and its going to get out one way or another. Once it doesn, thats it.

[maiq the liar]

mega bloks could have your router tapped so that when you view the list, they can copy+paste the sets into Fakerohard phrase (a MSword imitator)

[Trionx]

Those of you who think that this is a conspiracy, might want to look at Greg Farshtey's (Who works for Lego) post about the leaked pics.

[Joebot]

Those of you who think that this is a conspiracy, might want to look at Greg Farshtey's (Who works for Lego) post about the leaked pics.

Thanks for the link, that was an interesting read. Greg is basically stating all the common theories as to why TLC doesn't want pictures leaked this far in advance, so really nothing new there, but it was still interesting to get some semi-official confirmation.

I don't think anyone is really disputing TLC's reasoning. What frustrates me are their methods. Locking down fan sites, and sending "cease and desist" letters simply doesn't work anymore. Retail catalogs are going to get leaked on the Internet. That's just how it is, despite the retailers signing confidentiality agreements. Somebody is going to have a buddy who has access to one of these catalogs. That's all it takes for these pictures to spread around the entire world within minutes. TLC can't stop it.

So, they need to change their business and marketing practices, and try to take advantage of this, rather than hopelessly and futilely fight against it. They need to use all the excitement and interest generated by these pictures to build buzz for the upcoming products. It's free publicity, and we're doing all the promotional work for them! All they're doing is alienating their hardcore fans with their ham-fisted attempts to control leaks. As much as I love their products, TLC as a company is aggravating sometimes. They are really entrenched in their old ways of doing business, and it's hard for them to change.