TLG acquires Bricklink

[icm]

The thing that really gets me about it is when they say they have no plans to change anything, while in the same breath announcing a change that bans an entire category of wares from the platform.  It's that immediate juxtaposition that makes fears of wholesale changes for the worse credible, though not yet necessarily probable.  How can I believe them when they say there won't be changes to the way Bricklink operates, when they announce a non-trivial change the moment they announce the purchase?  How can I then believe anything else they say in the press release, when one part of it brazenly puts the lie to another part?

Edited November 26, 2019 by icm

[Asajki]

Everyone else: It’s the end times

me: I’m actually really happy and excited! No seriously, a company has owned bricklink for years so it’s nothing new 

[leafan]

11 minutes ago, OwenMistika said:

Everyone else: It’s the end times

me: I’m actually really happy and excited! No seriously, a company has owned bricklink for years so it’s nothing new 

That company had a vested interest in making the website functional and not upsetting sellers or buyers.

TLG on the otherhand, as others have mentioned, may have a clash of interest when it comes to certain items being sold on the site; as well as numerous other things that would seem to go against the model that Lego has adopted up until now.

[Trekkie99]

Worst case scenario, if Lego screws it up, people will move to a new platform...I'd assume.

 

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, AmperZand said:

LEGO has already said that Brickarms etc will no longer be sold on BL. Obviously, there will be a transition period, but I expect it won’t be long.

 

[Captain Dee]

20 minutes ago, OwenMistika said:

Everyone else: It’s the end times

me: I’m actually really happy and excited! No seriously, a company has owned bricklink for years so it’s nothing new 

Well, life goes on regardless. Building is for me just a hobby.

But there's a monumental difference between "a company" and "The Lego Group." Oops, I did it wrong. (Stupid me.) "The LEGO Group (C) (R) TM 2019" Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I feel better already...

[Trekkie99]

4 hours ago, Grover said:

My other question is what's going to happen to licensed parts on the secondary market?  TLG tries not to sell licensed parts on B&P now.  If they own BL and have an agreement with the IP company to avoid selling their licensed parts, could this mean the end of SW and other licensed parts (printed or not) on BL?  It could be that these parts are banned in this manner.

Yeah. This. Yikes.

[Captain Dee]

Surely they are smart enough to realize that would just drive buyers and sellers elsewhere, beyond their control? Right? Or do I overestimate their intellect?

I'm not really into licensed themes, but for anyone who is, this would be major...

[bonox]

Wonder if the BL colours will get renamed....

[RoxYourBlox]

I'm hoping that this announcement hints at a LDD2, or an update to Stud.io to make it operate more like LDD.

[Artanis I]

Holy shit, Batman!

There are many possible implications here. I think everyone has covered all of the points by now.

[msk6003]

I find rumor TLG will remove all custom part in bricklink. Is this true?

[Aerolight]

the lego group would get far more of a return from selling pieces direct to customers than the small kickbacks from resellers (5% and 50% (approx.) respectively). Lego have run special batches to keep up with large unsponsored projects before (although anything Lego is technically advertising) so lego have the capability just up until now they lacked enough meaningful data to start more than specific runs of pieces for specific customers. Although there would be money to be made on any piece that floats over regular mark-up (train wheels are a good example) it not worth the time for lego unless they can balance the stocks of many pieces. just look at how many pieces float MAGNATUDES under lego's price I cant think there will be a major removal of functionality from bricklink but the addition of new features, bricks  and pieces integration, full in window purchasing and an overall higher amount of branding/advertising is highly lightly. Lego has been trying to cater to the needs of afols for years now this is just the continuation/culmination of their efforts.. but maybe lego is as blind as some us think and only harm will be done. "__________" ITS THE COMPANY THE AFOL  community is calling the second coming of the BRICKLINK, you cant defeat it! 

[anothergol]

4 hours ago, astral brick said:

- For Customers: data analysis? 

- For Sellers: fees?

- For Mocers: copyright and censorship?

But you already get data analysis made public, with BL providing (very) detailed data on all purchases, min/average/max buy prices, parts in people's wish lists..
Personally, I WANT Lego to process that data, I want them to understand which parts are wanted in which colors, & start producing them, whether it's for their own shop or distributed to sellers around the globe.

And I don't think they're there for the fees, for them it must be pocket money. They're more there for control.
 

As for MOCers, I don't think has ever been any relevant for MOCs. Their system of buying MOCs from sellers is a bit pointless. For MOCs there's Rebrickable (where there is no censorship but MOCers have already been forced to change their titles to reduce copyright issues).

 

1 hour ago, RoxYourBlox said:

I'm hoping that this announcement hints at a LDD2, or an update to Stud.io to make it operate more like LDD.

We should gather to tell them about that. For me what's missing is mainly moving & centering the camera, it's the thing you do the most & it's painful in Studio, way too fast & not through right-clicking. LDD got it perfect.

Edited November 27, 2019 by anothergol

[mlawren]

Virtually everyone relies on Bricklink, from sellers, buyers, to businesses that make custom models. So the company should seriously understand the magnitude of who Bricklink serves. Everybody making their own projects, trying to source new and used parts, Bricklink is the most quintessential resource for all brick-building activity. 

If anything seriously goes pear-shaped, I would imagine there would be groundswell support to reach out to everyone involved with Bricklink, reaching out to Dan's mother, all staff members of Bricklink who could then recreate Bricklink into a new marketplace. This would be a scenario that the corporate office starts to interfere or significantly change the way Bricklink operates, which has always been between the individual seller and the individual buyer.

But we'll have to wait and see for the next year or two to see what kind of involvement this acquisition will achieve. 

After all, how much do the official sets really cater for the demographic of this forum and many others? It's really the "mature" sets - Star Wars, etc - right?

Edited November 27, 2019 by mlawren

[Shiva]

11 hours ago, leafan said:

I think that the updated Terms & Conditions will be an interesting read.

Things to think about:

• They now have access to any personal details and communications that you've entered into Bricklink.
• Do they technically own any moc designs created in their studio?

Guess why I have used LDD and not jumped on the Studio train? Altho, I can not find Studio's end user agreement or similar anymore? Maybe it was with v1 of it?

Would it have been better if Lepin, Lupin or similar would have bought Bricklink?

I'm neutral to slightly optimistic about this.

If LEGO is against chromed bricks, as some say, why are those still operating thru Bricklink?

Realistic weapons, didn't even know that Bricklink has those sellers.

Buyers banned from B&P or S@H, could it be due to a few buyers buying so much that it affects other users? You want to buy part xxx, but it is sold out on LEGO. Then you find part xxx from 1 or 2 BL/Ebay etc sellers, but they cost 10x more than from LEGO.

Bricklink good case scenario, it works as it does now. Win for LEGO, Win for Bricklink.

Worst case? LEGO shut downs Bricklink. But that would be a Lose, Lose scenario. Especially for LEGO. Meanwhile the sellers could go to Brick Owl, for example. Or create a new store.

[icm]

8 hours ago, Grover said:

My other question is what's going to happen to licensed parts on the secondary market?  TLG tries not to sell licensed parts on B&P now.  If they own BL and have an agreement with the IP company to avoid selling their licensed parts, could this mean the end of SW and other licensed parts (printed or not) on BL?  It could be that these parts are banned in this manner.

Let's hope not.  That would be the end of what was one of the pillars of the early online AFOL community, back when the world was young and FBTB and Brickshelf were brand new and the place to go for online Lego: Star Wars builds.  As for building an alternative secondary marketplace (ie making BrickOwl "the new Bricklink") - that's possible, but it would take a lot of time and effort, and there could be a lot of damage done to the hobby in the meantime.

Edited November 27, 2019 by icm

[bricksboy]

If LEGO group do anything bad to bricklink and piss me off, then after that don't ask me why I buy Lepin :(

[Ngoc Nguyen]

What do we do when the 1st market acquire the 2nd market?

We go to the 3rd market!

[Axelford]

Wow, only just heard the news, man this makes me nervous combined with legos weird licences and sets for 2020 etc. Although I reckon nothing will change in brick link for a good year or so.

[zephyr1934]

My BL store has a new banner, "For each custom rod I sell it helps Lego sell about 250 bricks and it helps make one AFOL happy"

I hope they have a pathway for custom parts to be reviewed and potentially accepted for listing. If not, my rods will find a new home elsewhere on the internet.

[Lego David]

Maybe from now on you would be required to log into Bricklink useing your LEGO ID account, similar to how you log in on LEGO ideas.

[Didumos69]

43 minutes ago, Ngoc Nguyen said:

We go to the 3rd market!

You mean China? 

[Ngoc Nguyen]

2 minutes ago, Didumos69 said:

You mean China? 

Watch you words, purists will come to you!

[Gray Gear]

The 3rd market is not that big tho 

There are very few good stores that sell seperate bricks on Aliexpress, and a lot of bad ones. Ordering at Bricks&Pieces or Bricklink becomes unavoidable at some point. Damn.

I read about a Bricklink like Service called GoBricks, the difference being that the Manufacturer is the only seller. But the site is only available in chinese rn.

If this post is like off limits or something, feel free to delete it.

[astral brick]

5 hours ago, anothergol said:

Personally, I WANT Lego to process that data, I want them to understand which parts are wanted in which colors, & start producing them,

I think you are very naif

5 hours ago, anothergol said:

As for MOCers, I don't think has ever been any relevant for MOCs. Their system of buying MOCs from sellers is a bit pointless.

I disagree, I think that when Bricklink started to support the design and then the sale of mocs it was the point of no return.