AFOL Basic Brick Set

[distortme]

I recently bought a Basic Set when it was on sale and thought how good it would be if they did AFOL-style boxes like this.

I'm thinking 300 / 600 / 1000 bricks in tan, reddish brown, dark red and light and dark bley, even white and black.

I'd definitely grab a few as we have no Lego stores in Australia therefore no PAB opportunities.

Even though they wouldn't be a massive seller due to smaller audience I'm sure they'd have their place. I guess it might throw a spanner into the secondary market though with Bricklink or big sets with lots of tan or brown dropping in value.

And maybe a S@H or independents exclusive?

Interested in what you think. And then hope Lego are watching

[The Blue Brick]

I would die for box of just tan.

[brickmack]

That would be wonderful. I think lego actually could make some money on this, AFOLs are around 20% of the market I think now, and there are probably a lot of kids that would buy such a set (of course, most of them would probably be close to being AFOLs themselves, but who cares? And since some of those colors are kinda rare, there would probably be AFOLs build several duplicates of it to sell on BL and such.

[Modulex Guy]

What I was thinking about for this topic would be something along this line, why not just make a basic brick box, but instead of the primary colors, it is all the other colors, a box for earth tones, dark brick box, box for greys, etc.

[mikey]

I doubt this is going to happen soon. I don't know the full details as I was well in my Dark Age, but early this century Lego gave away good bricks in the good colours, in relatively cheap 'Parts Packs'.

But thankfully they are now in good profit and are sticking to making money, rather than giving away bricks. Whilst selling 'Parts Packs' could yield a return, they will get bigger profit by selling good sets. It has to be remembered that Lego essentially have a monopoly. I am not interested in MegaBlocks or Cobi, I want to buy Lego Bricks.

I might sound cynical, although I would argue I'm being realistic. But we end up with the parts we need through BrickLink anyway. Obviously we pay more than we need to (the cost of sets plus the added markup of a secondary supplier). But given that Lego exist to make money, this is the best strategy for them.

[Gryphon Ink]

It has to be remembered that Lego essentially have a monopoly. I am not interested in MegaBlocks or Cobi, I want to buy Lego Bricks.

This is sort of tangential to the main discussion, but TLG has not had a monopoly since the courts allowed other companies to use the basic brick design. All they have is strong brand recognition and customer loyalty, which are upheld by quality control and by not tampering too much with their core values - the ban against producing blatantly violent sets is part of their efforts in this area. You may not be interested in other building block brands, but plenty of other people are, especially when the other companies get hot licenses like MB's Halo theme or the Kre-o Transformers.

[TanTile]

I will have to agree with distortme, An AFOL box of bricks is a fantastic idea.

With no real access to bulk LEGO/Brand Store other then the primary colors here in Australia and in many other country's that are not UK, USA, Germany, Canada and Denmark, we need the chance to get some sweet rare colors that only PAB walls offer.

I'm sure that most of our New Zealand brothers will chime in, as will the rest of the Asian and European country's that don't get it as good as the above 5 country's.

I hope LEGO are reading this, not only would the AFOL love it but I think the kids would like to get variety in colors as well, if not them the parents would enjoy a change in colors, i know i would as a parent

[AussieJimbo]

I would definitely buy this if it was available.

Needs to be priced fairly though (ie close to US RRP not 50-100% more) or I will only buy when on special or import from foreign stores.

:classic:

[lightningtiger]

Ah, tan, sand blue, sand green.....plates and bricks....oh, what about tiles ?

Dream On everyone, it would be nice....especially in Oz where we have no PAB walls (well I do shop at Toy Corner )

Brick On !

[HighFlyer]

AFOLs are around 20% of the market I think now

Actually having seen the MegaFactories: LEGO episode I think it's around 30 - 40 % now.

Yes this is a great idea, there should be 3 of these sets:

-Earth colours (blue, green, brown, a variety of shades of course )

-Black and white

-A selection of bley, tan, reddish brown, etc.

[mostlytechnic]

You may not be interested in other building block brands, but plenty of other people are, especially when the other companies get hot licenses like MB's Halo theme or the Kre-o Transformers.

Continuing the tangent, but I've been surprised to see that out of all my shopping (I run a BL store, so I buy LOTS of lego in stores) I've yet to see a single person actually look at the Transformers or Halo or Need for Speed sets - only actual Lego. That's been true at ToysRUs (which has a Lego aisle and the others are in a separate aisle) and Target (usually have them on opposites sides of the same aisle, so facing each other, and HUGE displays for the megabloks sets) and Walmart (usually facing each other like Target).

Seems like people really do value the Lego brand and the knockoffs are struggling... I'd be curious to get actual sales numbers to see what's actually selling.

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

Actually having seen the MegaFactories: LEGO episode I think it's around 30 - 40 % now.

So we're taking over? [Evil laugh]

Now speaking seriuosly, I think it's time that Lego begins to consider AFOLs more in its decisions. Many times we see that Lego's decisions are "because their target audience is children". Of course, children still make the greatest part of their consumers, but sometimes I just feel that us AFOLs are forgotten. (Of course, UCS sets are obviously not intended for children, but that's a whole other story).

[Erik Leppen]

Now speaking seriuosly, I think it's time that Lego begins to consider AFOLs more in its decisions.

I think that this is already happening. The UCS series and the exclusives, more recently the modular buildings and Architecture series (especially the non-landmarks), all seem to be targeted at us.

Anyhow. I like the idea of standard parts packs but I think it is not doable. Sure, Lego could offer pre-sorted collections of parts through their website, but toy stores won't be interested in getting them, so this would be limited to web shops.

Years ago by the way Lego used to have supplementary packages for Technic, e.g. one with connectors, one with axles, one with pneumatic parts etc. They could do this with bricks too. However I'd prefer packages of only one color each, including not only bricks but also plates, tiles, slopes and a few special parts like headlight bricks or other SNOT parts. I for one would like dark tan, but I'd also like to have lime.

But one way or the other, I think the audience is too small. Kids won't get it. Parents won't get it for their kids. And AFOLs want full cotnrol over exactly what parts they're getting (hence Bricklink and the like). Most people won't go and buy 500 tan parts if they only need 80.

[SilentMode]

Back when I was building one of the things for my AFOLcon display, I found myself having to purchase of those brick packs just to get a few bricks in a certain colour and size. I would definitely go for boxes of parts (bricks, plates and tiles) in just one colour, especially white and greys because I use a lot of them.

[wokajablocka]

I'd definitely grab a few as we have no Lego stores in Australia therefore no PAB opportunities.

Yeah a Lego shop here in Australian would fix this problem quick and easily. Come on Lego Where is the Aussie Lego shop???

[distortme]

Yeah a Lego shop here in Australian would fix this problem quick and easily. Come on Lego Where is the Aussie Lego shop???

It'd fix it at least for one state :)

[Miss Kyle]

I'd love such a brick set, it would be a great alternative to PAB and the bright colours of the kids' brick boxes. Those are okay, but if you are building on a small vignette scale, as I do, it's not very helpful to have this mass of 2x4, 2x3 etc. pieces. A variety of smaller bricks in "earthy" colours like brown, the tans, sand and dark green, dark red, some greys etc. would be utterly fantastic.

Edited September 22, 2011 by Miss Kyle

[Legoman]

I would be super keen for this. The only problem is how it would actually work out. I can't imagine them being popular enough to be sold on a standard retail level, which would make it an exclusive, Pritty much making no-one better off than we were before anyway. Oh well, It would still be a nice thing to see

[distortme]

I would be super keen for this. The only problem is how it would actually work out. I can't imagine them being popular enough to be sold on a standard retail level, which would make it an exclusive, Pritty much making no-one better off than we were before anyway. Oh well, It would still be a nice thing to see

I'd be thinking Shop@home only. Then no real issue in my opinion for Lego because they control stock levels under their own roof.