Re-release of first modular buildings

[Vee]

I know there is no way to know what Lego is going to do and I know that chances of it happening are slim at best but as I am seeing a few, well a couple, of Lego sets being re-released, like the Death Star and the Winter Village Toy Shop, both re-released recently although slightly different from their originals, I was wondering if Lego would ever re-release one of the three first modular buildings, Cafe Corner, Market Street or Green Grocer. I guess they will never do it, it would make the parallel/secondary market mad at them. But I have hope, one day it may happen. Lego is a mean company...

[Sammael]

Highly, highly unlinkely, because they retired several important part molds that were used in those modulars, such as 5-bricks-tall doors, and they have no intention of recreating those parts because they do not fit the current design patterns. Jamie reiterated this at the Skaerbaek Fan Weekend a month ago. Of course, they could still do it... but it's that same chance as the monorail. 

[Vee]

Interesting. I never thought about looking at it this way, the parts. But then I also noticed that it is not uncommon, rather actually common, that Lego uses at least one never-before-released part in new sets, usually a part that exists but with a color that never existed before but also sometimes parts that never existed. I don't know how difficult and costly it may be to reuse a part that was "retired" but it should not be worse than releasing a brand new never before released part.

The thing is that I believe there is a more than big enough amount of Lego fans that would buy those modulars because they became too famous and that Lego would never lose money, on the opposite, they would make more money in each of those sets if they were re-released than probably they make with new smaller sets that they keep flooding us with. These modular buildings are premium sets, they are expensive, they never get discounted, which means they give Lego high profits.

Also, they don't need to re-release them exactly as they were, they could well adapt them to current molds and they would still look just as nice. They could release improved versions of them, buildings that look similar but have better interior and small adaptations for missing parts that they don't want to bring back from retirement.

[Dan-147]

LEGO doesn't care if the secondary market is mad or not.  They don't make any more money on the sets once they reach the secondary market.  Anyway, the volume of sets on the secondary market is pretty insignificant when compared with how many sets LEGO produces every year.

As for re-releasing a (possibly modified) early modular, I doubt very strongly that it will happen.  From what I've heard from LEGO designers, there are a limited number of different sets released each year.  It doesn't make sense to re-release an older set that regular buyers (like me) already have and will pass on rather than release a completely new set that everyone (including me) will feel compelled to buy.  Case in point, last year was the first year I didn't  buy the Winter Village Toy Shop since I already had the original one.  From what I read on the forums, I wasn't the only one.  I'm sure that this did not go unnoticed at LEGO management.  The feeling I got was that they had originally planned to end Winter Village that year but they changed their mind too late to come up with an original set.  They figured that it was better to re-release Toy Shop than not have any set at all last year.  

In the early 2000's LEGO did try to re-release older sets (Metroliner, Blacksmith shop to name a few).  From what information I could get, sales were disappointing.  I did buy the Metroliner (I couldn't afford it when it was originally released) and passed on the Blacksmith shop since I already had it.  I'm sure a lot of train fans who had the original Metroliner passed on the re-release.  

Dan-147

[koalayummies]

5 hours ago, Vee said:

 it would make the parallel/secondary market mad at them. 

Don't see any problem with that, in fact that would be excellent. Make it take even more time or indefinitely for them to earn a return. A lot of the scalpers (which is a polite term for them) buy as many as they possibly can while others can't even get one set as they're saving or waiting for them to return to in-stock. Their greed is nauseating. Would be great to see a return of them including Town Hall.

Lego was meant to be built not an unscrupulous stock market. 

[Agent 86]

I'd buy a re-released Cafe Corner, Market Street and Green Grocer. Especially if the first two were updated with interiors. I'd be happy if they had to use substituted parts (to replace those which are no longer in production) and if they were released in new colours (e.g. the Green Grocer in sand blue as opposed to sand green. But, I don't see it happening.

[Sven F]

I think the large market potential you see is heavily influenced by our afol biased sorroundings.  As much as i love and appreciate those models, I think green grocer and cafe corner would be major downgrades in regards to the broad intended audience modular buildings target today. 

The elements wouldn't be much of an issue,  as most of the updated molds work even better (except the hinged skis).  Lego sets have come a long way since 2007 and I think your best chance is to build it from loose parts and hope some of the rarer pieces are rereleased in another set.

[nikhkin]

I think sets from series such as the Modulars and Winter Village are the most likely to have a successful re-release. These are ongoing themes that people may have missed out on the early sets. I would definitely pick up Cafe Corner if it became available again, although I'd only be interested in Market Street for the sake of completion (the design itself doesn't interest me). 

I don't think it's particularly likely to happen, but if the re-release of the Winter Toy Shop sold well then it is possible.

I think the main incentive for Lego would be to try and reduce the success of a certain Chinese company. 

[snaillad]

I think this topic comes up with every release of a new modular and sometimes in between. I think people just have to accept some sets may not be re-released despite their issues and concerns about secondary market prices.

For everytime a new modular is released there are new waves of people who will again take an interest in Lego (Not surprisingly giving how fabulous some of the modulars are). When people new to Lego or those with a rekindled interest discover that Lego has been making these buildings for ten years will inevitably be disappointed to see how much they have missed out on and will probably baulk at secondary market prices. If for example Lego re-released the Cafe corner for say a 2 year production then in another 4-5 years time (providing the modular series is just as popular) there will be another generation of fans taking an interest and will want re-releases of old modulars such as CC and GG. Once you re-release one retired set it sets a benchmark for people to ask when all the others will be re-released.

I would rather TLG's time and production resources is dedicated to making new buildings and sets. With a little modification a similar look can be achieved on making your own CC. For example one fellow EB member - Palixa and the bricks made this excellent modular building very similar to CC which looks to use a lot of currently available parts through PAB and 'bricks and pieces': https://www.flickr.com/photos/palixa_and_the_bricks/26612625556/in/dateposted/

IMO the Parisian restaurant is the best modular currently available and has a lot of interesting techniques and pieces that Cafe corner does not and most of the modulars before it. I say get it before it's gone.

Lets look to the future!

 

[nikhkin]

43 minutes ago, snaillad said:

I would rather TLG's time and production resources is dedicated to making new buildings and sets. 

Same here, although I doubt running production on one additional modular would take up a slot of another set. Especially if it was produced in smaller numbers

13 hours ago, Vee said:

it would make the parallel/secondary market mad at them. 

Nobody cares, Lego least of all. Every sale that goes to the secondary market is one less going to Lego if it were to be re-released.

The only people who would see it as a down side are those trying to profit because the set isn't currently available.

[Sammael]

TLG has a fixed number of parts in production every year (somewhere around 2000, IIRC). Reconfiguring the molding machines to create parts in a different color is not a small task, and reconfiguring them for a completely different mold is a huge deal. This is why every time they want to introduce new parts, they have to retire some parts at the same time.

In order to produce an older modular which contains parts that are not actually in production right now, TLG would have to sacrifice some of the parts they are currently using, which they based the next year's designs on, and which are generally used by more than one set. It's a logistics nightmare which they would not engage in unless they were doing a full size production run. 

TLG has business plans for at least 5 years in advance, and we also know that each theme that isn't a one-wave has 5 years worth of sets designed and prepped. Their production capacities are limited, especially now that they are releasing a thousand different sets per year. If they are to re-release a huge set with a huge number of parts - like one of the modulars - it will require considerable planning, resources, and will be fitted into the schedule like any other set. 

[Cwetqo]

As already mentioned, Modular Buildings designer (and Creator Expert manager) Jamie Berard was asked that same question at Skaerbaek Fan Weekend. He said that it's very unlikely that they would do it, since they would need to significantly change the buildings due to part which are not produced anymore (as Sammael mentioned). He also said that it's different for Star Wars, becuase they are tied to ships which occur in films and it's difficult to come up with new and new versions of the same thing.  He also mentioned last year's christmas set and he said that they got a lot of request for it but he also said that they were have difficulties with availability of designers and that decision was basicly between this and getting nothing.

He also said that TLG realized that modulars are important for them (I guess that means that they bring enough money) and tha they will support them strongly. They will also try to bring us as much interesting elements in popular colours as possible including baseplates in new colours.

[Faefrost]

I would not rule out a re-released, slightly redesigned Cafe Corner as some sort of Anniversary type set at some point. It's extremely iconic, plus it has room for them to modernize somewhat, making a new one distinct. Remember the original used a few now obsolete parts, and had no interior. It's easy to imagine them revisiting that set at some point. Similarly I am sure they will in some way re-issue the Fire Brigade set eventually. I think it stands as the all time best selling Modular and was in many ways the centerpiece of the line. That which formed the crossover from the City crowd to the more adult product lines.

As for the other two old school Modulars? Market Street was a crowd sourced design from a weird line and program. We will never see it's like again. Business complexities alone stemming from its design origins likely preclude it. Green Grocer just doesn't feel like a likely candidate for redo. It's a bit out of scale with the others, and really doesn't offer much that cannot be gotten from a newer building and design. 

[gotoAndLego]

I doubt I’d buy a rereleased Market Street because it isn’t that amazing of a design; to be frank, it looks like a medium level MOC which it actually was.

[koalayummies]

Always be sure to check the date of the topic before posting. There are other more recent topics that this could have been expressed in without pushing members wonderful MOCs aside just to share an opinion that was already established. 

[Wesley D]

I don't expect re-releases of the oldest modulars. The modulars are evolving, ever more new parts are used to enhance their level of detail and looks.

If you want the first ones, just try to build them yourself! I built my version of Café Corner, Market Street and Green Grocer. I had to make some small changes due to parts that aren't available anymore. Now I like them even more than I would if I had bought them new.

Rather than re-releasing I think LEGO should some make parts available again that are needed to reconstruct the older modulars. It would be a great help if the 1x2 brick with groove was available again in sand green and the 1x8x2 arch in earth blue for example.