TLG acquires Bricklink

[AllanSmith]

12 hours ago, Masked Mini said:

Modified Parts: All parts listed in your store must be genuine LEGO parts in their original, unmodified condition. Custom printed, engraved, chromed, or painted parts are not permitted.

Sad to see that we can no longer get custom chromed parts :(

Edited December 14, 2019 by AllanSmith

[coinoperator]

Time for a new Brickmarket.
Goodbye bricklink, you just sold your soul.

[Dhivael]

Wow, I stand corrected. That changed fast. I’m extraordinarily disappointed with TLGs decision here. I understand their lawyers shutting down other IPs, but going that far on customized bricks or prints seems unnecessary and antithetical to the community.

[The Brick Boss]

@Dhivael Lego has become a dictatorship. ???

[TeriXeri]

I am not surprised at all to see only non-custom LEGO parts allowed, and I personally have no issues with that.

I think doing it this way, by blocking ALL of it, is better then allowing certain parts, yet blocking others, there was a lot of feedback from purists over Brickarms back in the day which already showed a divide.

I personally would not buy custom parts/prints etc anyway so it doesn't affect me, but I can see people who are affected having to move to some other place instead.

But I can certainly feel sympathy for the people who used to buy custom stuff on there.

It's not like the Custom Market would be dead.

Edited December 14, 2019 by TeriXeri

[Lego David]

Another interesting change is that apparently, the Bricklink website will use cookies from now on...

[OneMoreRobot]

6 hours ago, pooda said:

@Dhivael Lego has become a dictatorship. ???

More like megalomaniacal bullies, this could be a turning point for their fortunes   

Edited December 14, 2019 by OneMoreRobot

[The Brick Boss]

Just now, OneMoreRobot said:

More like megalomaniacal bullies, this could be a turning point for their fortunes   

DISNEY: Great news everyone! We're buying Lego! 

[dr_spock]

 

25 minutes ago, pooda said:

DISNEY: Great news everyone! We're buying Lego! 

May eventually have to apply for permission first with Disney before you MOC anything they owned.

http://disneypermissions.force.com/WelcomeIntakePage

 

[The Brick Boss]

1 hour ago, dr_spock said:

May eventually have to apply for permission first with Disney before you MOC anything they owned.

Yeah. That's sad. 

Edited December 14, 2019 by pooda

[Robert8]

Well, this went down fast. 

[Toastie]

https://www.songtexte.com/songtext/madonna/material-girl-3d6953f.html

(Boy or girl or in between doesn't matter)

Please tell me that you did see this coming. What else? A very big company buys a comparably negligible company. Value-wise that is. Competition-wise it sucked a little - as the little one was doing nasty things. 

What on earth would be an alternative? Telling people that up to now, making stuff not approved by Big Brother was bad, but now, as Big Brother has acquired the place selling that bad stuff, selling it is not bad anymore? Really???

This is the most logical thing to unfold. And it will continue for sure - in the end everything will be as Big Brother wants it to be. He paid for it!

Best
Thorsten

[Saberwing40k]

Gad, I thought Lego was above this kind of corporate megablocks. I guess not. "We won't change anything", they said. It was a lie. It was all a lie. I kind of hate the conflict of interests, and sadly, there seems to be little we can do about it, besides jump ship. What's next, Lego buying fan forums? Price regulations on how much you can charge? I also hate the previous owners of Bricklink for throwing their fans under the bus. They could have said no. But, they don't care, they made their money.

I'm really sad, because Brickowl tends to be more expensive.

[Toastie]

17 minutes ago, Saberwing40k said:

What's next, Lego buying fan forums? Price regulations on how much you can charge?

Why not? It will be evaluated and then people in charge will decide on it. For the perspective of reinforcing the market position. This is what the free market is about.

17 minutes ago, Saberwing40k said:

I also hate the previous owners of Bricklink for throwing their fans under the bus. They could have said no. But, they don't care, they made their money

Of course, they did make their money. I would not hate them for that. Maybe they needed money. Maybe they just wanted money. In the beginning it was all love and that - but when it comes to revenue things tend to change. Plus, they may have built on this business. Love - sure. But nothing to eat - no. One absolutely valid business model, fully supported by so many "in the free market believing countries", particularly the US (been at least there, have accompanied such a process), is: Have a cool idea. Apply for government funds to push that idea into the market. Have an exit plan to be acquired by a big company. In between, give as much return to the folks giving you that money.

We all love LEGO and believe in the brick. Fine - this is how this entire community interacts. Folks making the brick and alternatives run a business. They my very well believe in the brick as well - but from an entirely different perspective.

Making money and depending on it is a true game changer.

Best
Thorsten

 

Edited December 14, 2019 by Toastie

[jonwil]

LEGO wanting to keep things it didn't make (BrickArms, 3D printed parts, counterfeit stuff etc) or modified versions of things it did make (custom printing on genuine LEGO bricks, chromed parts etc) off BrickLink absolutely makes sense and I for one don't have a problem with it.

LEGO not allowing things that violate 3rd party copyright/trademarks to be sold as custom sets (MOC shop etc) also makes sense and I have no problem with that either.

I wonder how this new rule about not selling parts that have been modified will apply for pneumatic tube? Many pneumatic sets came with long lengths of pneumatic tube and directed you to cut the tube yourself via the instructions.

It will also be interesting to see how they handle things that were produced and never officially released but got out there anyway (e.g. the the first version of the Vegas Skyline set, the gold propeller element from that set, the red Darth Vader helmet etc).

Or things officially released but only internally or to partners (e.g. the xmas x-wing, the Ramboll oil platform, the various sets based on LEGO buildings or the Q elements made just for the parks and things and not put into a set)

 

[freakwave]

9 hours ago, pooda said:

@Dhivael Lego has become a dictatorship. ???

Well, I would not call corporations democracies anyway...

Bricklink should be owned by a trust, or by its users

 

[The Brick Boss]

Just now, freakwave said:

Well, I would not call corporations democracies anyway...

I certainly wouldn't call it a republic. 

Sorry! Republican for life!

[Clone OPatra]

11 hours ago, TeriXeri said:

I am not surprised at all to see only non-custom LEGO parts allowed, and I personally have no issues with that.

...

It's not like the Custom Market would be dead.

I agree with you. Bricklink's primary purpose was/is as a second-hand  marketplace for LEGO and LEGO-produced material (like instruction booklets, sticker sheets, etc.). Custom and customised stuff isn't Bricklink's core. The manufacturers of third-party stuff can carry on selling their products on their own sites or wherever else they sold them, while people who sold third-party parts second-hand on Bricklink will have to move elsewhere, unfortunately for the small number of them.

The real test will be if LEGO curtails people's ability to sell any sort of official LEGO product, such as banning the sale of Star Wars or Marvel minifigures, for example. If that happens, the writing will be truly and finally on the wall for Bricklink.

[hjxbf]

You kind of get the feeling that this rather surprising ownership change wasn't entirely voluntary on the previous owners' part.

TLG seems to have had their lawyers drum up a series of demands which the site has been presented with to comply with, or else be shut down. The "sale" being suggested as a remedying "Alternative B", which was the only way for the previous owners NOT to be bankrupted by legal trouble.

Classic hostile takeover.

Shame that one of the few remaining toy and game companies which used to care more about fun and innovation has done a Disney and gone down the corporate legal toilet. May actually well be a consequence of relying increasingly heavily on IP from such infested companies, which force their collaborators to adhere to the same standards as themselves...

This might never have happened if TLG stuck with generic or own IP.

Together with the price increases for sets, as well as quality issues being widespread, I find it increasingly difficult to be motivated to keep LEGO as a hobby, my primary one for 25 years.

[9v system]

no custom parts: rip chrome block city :(

[Robert8]

4 hours ago, Clone OPatra said:

The real test will be if LEGO curtails people's ability to sell any sort of official LEGO product, such as banning the sale of Star Wars or Marvel minifigures, for example. If that happens, the writing will be truly and finally on the wall for Bricklink.

I've been thinking about Marvel and SW because of the licensing. We know that they can't sell Marvel or SW minifigures alone, because that would be an action figure. Now that TLG owns bricklink, on a way they would be getting money out of selling Marvel or SW figures, right? Doesn't that violet the licensing rule?

[howitzer]

9 hours ago, jonwil said:

<snip>

I wonder how this new rule about not selling parts that have been modified will apply for pneumatic tube? Many pneumatic sets came with long lengths of pneumatic tube and directed you to cut the tube yourself via the instructions.

<snip>

Pneumatic hose is problematic for MOCs needing it, whether for aesthetic or functional purpose. Same goes for strings, rubber bands etc. TLG really should start selling an official version of pneumatic hose and string by the meter as a replacement part, instead of just pre-cut lengths, and various sizes of rubber bands too. Or at least continue to allow third party replacements in BL.

[Lego David]

11 hours ago, Saberwing40k said:

What's next, Lego buying fan forums?

I don't know about fan forums, but I can certainly see them go after sites like Brickset next.

[JanetVanD]

10 hours ago, jonwil said:

LEGO wanting to keep things it didn't make (BrickArms, 3D printed parts, counterfeit stuff etc) or modified versions of things it did make (custom printing on genuine LEGO bricks, chromed parts etc) off BrickLink absolutely makes sense and I for one don't have a problem with it.

LEGO not allowing things that violate 3rd party copyright/trademarks to be sold as custom sets (MOC shop etc) also makes sense and I have no problem with that either.

I wonder how this new rule about not selling parts that have been modified will apply for pneumatic tube? Many pneumatic sets came with long lengths of pneumatic tube and directed you to cut the tube yourself via the instructions.

It will also be interesting to see how they handle things that were produced and never officially released but got out there anyway (e.g. the the first version of the Vegas Skyline set, the gold propeller element from that set, the red Darth Vader helmet etc).

Or things officially released but only internally or to partners (e.g. the xmas x-wing, the Ramboll oil platform, the various sets based on LEGO buildings or the Q elements made just for the parks and things and not put into a set)

 

This is one of the more sensible views. 

I've read the full T&Cs on the BL site and don't see anything unreasonable. 

No non-LEGO stuff makes sense; BL was always about being a marketplace for genuine LEGO in the first place. No infringement of IP rights makes sense too. How many of us would like our work ripped off and/or appropriated for profit without our permission? Well, in a fair society, the same protections should be in place for all without prejudice, big companies and little guys alike. 

It's amazing how many people are acting as if TLG is some evil, faceless giant, out to destroy fandom. In actual fact, TLG does more to encourage and reach out to fandom than any other company I can think of. 

Some have even referred to TLG as a shareholder-driven multinational without even bothering to check facts.... it's actually family-owned by direct descendants of the founder. 

And yes, of course a lot of TLG's decisions are about profit. The company has to survive in a competitive, ever-changing environment and they have thousands of employees whose jobs matter. What's wrong with being concerned about profit? How many of us go to work all day and don't expect to get paid for it? Of course it's not good to always put profit first; that's why many of us do volunteer work and why TLG has established LEGO Charity, LEGO Foundation, etc. 

LEGO is, after all, a toy and a luxury item, (not essential like food or medicine) and TLG's acquisition of BL won't be robbing anyone of anything or denying anyone if anything they cannot get easily enough elsewhere if they really want it. So please, let's put this in its proper perspective. 

 

[The Brick Boss]

@JanetVanD Everything that you're saying is basically what I've been trying to say. I mean..... people had to have known that it would happen someday. I don't even use Bricklink though so it doesn't affect me. 

I'm impressed by your intelligence. I'm giving you a follow.