Why is LEGO so hesitant about bringing back classic themes?

[Asajki]

They’ll bring them back this decade 

I’m almost 100% on that!

They’ll have a couple of waves in a year, like they did last decade, they aren’t evergreen but they come around once in a while 

[The Brick Boss]

6 hours ago, Vindicare said:

Sometimes our wants simply don’t line up, for whatever reason, with the company. 

Ok! What do you mean by that? Sorry I come across as irritated, but considering that Lego's goal first and foremost should be to make sets that are tasteful and pleasing to customers, that does make Lego sound like a greed machine. Given how people act here, it sounds like a lot of people support their greed. Making money should be their last goal. 

[MAB]

7 hours ago, Vindicare said:

I couldn’t even tell you for sure if they sell Playmobil.

I'm in the UK. Quite a few stores near me try to sell Playmobil :-), I don't know how much they succeed.  Especially after the movie bombed, there was loads of Playmobil Movie stuff sitting at 50% off, even in a store that rarely discounts anything.

[Maple]

You people are unreal.

I have never seen Playmobile in a Walmart, I've only seen them at Target during Easter and Christmas. So then I checked Walmart.com and see if any stores around me sold Playmobile, they don't. Maybe it's a northeast USA thing. 

The USA is the number 1 market to LEGO, with China probably now second, and Germany third. But I love the fact that you admit in German LEGO is first, BECAUSE THEY MAKE WHAT SELLS.

And Brandon Pea you are incredibly naive. How does LEGO make the most money possible? By making toys people want to buy. That's it. LEGO isn't making you because you love them, they make them to take your money. If everyone stopped buying LEGO they would stop making LEGO. It's really that simple.

[TeriXeri]

26 minutes ago, Maple said:

I have never seen Playmobile in a Walmart, I've only seen them at Target during Easter and Christmas. So then I checked Walmart.com and see if any stores around me sold Playmobile, they don't. Maybe it's a northeast USA thing. 

I think regional differences certainly can be taken into account, and I just don't mean on a country scale, even on a city scale it seems to vary.

In my case, I just can't claim that LEGO CMF sell good or bad just because I literally never ever see them being sold here, Polybags are rarely seen as well.

We don't have Walmart/Target type stores here.

We had some Toy Shops nearby but a lot of them closed in the last 5 years, either due to downscaling or closing entirely.

Internet shopping is rapidly growing.

Edited March 2, 2020 by TeriXeri

[The Brick Boss]

@Maple Were you not listening? I said...making money should be the last thing on their mind. 

Of course you'll make money because nothing is free. But if your running a company thats for a fandom and by a fandom (or a family in Lego's case), then the former is just my belief. 

8 minutes ago, TeriXeri said:

In my case, I just can't claim that LEGO CMF sell good or bad just because I literally never ever see them being sold here, Polybags are rarely seen as well.

See what I meant on that other post? You can't just push something out there and make it dominate and deem it your best seller. Of course it is if you push it out there like that. 

[TeriXeri]

13 minutes ago, Brandon Pea said:

See what I meant on that other post? You can't just push something out there and make it dominate and deem it your best seller. Of course it is if you push it out there like that. 

I understand, I see claims on themes not selling just based on regional shops a lot.

And I just don't think that can be used as a fact for an entire country or worldwide.

Edited March 2, 2020 by TeriXeri

[Toastie]

14 minutes ago, TeriXeri said:

We don't have Walmart/Target type stores here.

 

20 minutes ago, Maple said:

I have never seen Playmobile in a Walmart, I've only seen them at Target during Easter and Christmas.

Know what? They don't even have stores in Bangladesh, nor on the South Pole, and so on. I believe someone not seeing something in some place is not necessarily the best reference to assess what market share they have or how they are doing. In the town I am living, there is no store with LEGO or Playmobil on the shelves. Conclusion: Both companies are going down. Or have already died ...

Let's take the revenue of both:

Playmobil: https://company.playmobil.com/Company/en-US/brandstatter-group-facts-and-figures 680 Mio Euro;
TLG: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lego_Group 3400 Mio Euro

That makes a factor of 5. Plus the strongly regional character.

Both are doing fine - slight dips here and there but that's it for the moment.

Best'
Thorsten

[TeriXeri]

6 minutes ago, Toastie said:

 I believe someone not seeing something in some place is not necessarily the best reference to assess what market share they have or how they are doing. In the town I am living, there is no store with LEGO or Playmobil on the shelves. 

Exactly.

Especially in a time where Internet shopping is rapidly growing (and many physical stores are actually closing).

Edited March 2, 2020 by TeriXeri

[Medzomorak]

Just now, Toastie said:

Playmobil: https://company.playmobil.com/Company/en-US/brandstatter-group-facts-and-figures 680 Mio Euro;
TLG: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lego_Group 3400 Mio Euro

Playmobil is doing interestingly well considering it is truly just some static, plastic kid's toy.

[TeriXeri]

15 minutes ago, Medzomorak said:

Playmobil is doing interestingly well considering it is truly just some static, plastic kid's toy.

It is really interesting , the fact some type of sets haven't changed much and still being sold for 30+ years, including Animals, Knights and Pirates

[The Brick Boss]

Toys R Us was the major toy store in the US. Toys R Us is dead and that's where I used to buy my Lego from.  

[Mylenium]

54 minutes ago, Toastie said:

Playmobil: https://company.playmobil.com/Company/en-US/brandstatter-group-facts-and-figures 680 Mio Euro;
TLG: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lego_Group 3400 Mio Euro

Both are doing fine - slight dips here and there but that's it for the moment.

Both are doing even better if you directly compare the regional German sales of LEGO GmbH and Playmobil, which both are somewhere around the 450 million-ish Euro.

Mylenium 

Edited March 2, 2020 by Mylenium
Fixed typos

[Toastie]

Just now, Mylenium said:

if you directly compare the regional German sales of LEGO GmbH and Playmobil

And you can directly gauge that by the length of the box-filled shelves at Galleria, Smyth's, etc. pp.: They are the same - sometimes Playmobil is even more attractively placed. And sometimes LEGO is. Comparing regionally resolved sale numbers with the attractiveness of a product makes sense.

Best
Thorsten

[Mylenium]

1 hour ago, Maple said:

You people are unreal.

Maybe you are? Are you actually reading what everybody is writing?

1 hour ago, Maple said:

Maybe it's a northeast USA thing.

Or maybe it's just a general USA thing? I mean if, as per my previous post in this thread, one the biggest YouTube reviewers struggles to procure his goods within a certain timeframe and radius, then doesn't that mean things can be really terribly bad and the distribution and sales infrastructure kinda sucks? And you hear crazy stuff like this all the time with people driving hundreds of miles to specific Walmart or Target stores just to get a specific set for their day one reviews. This is for all intents and purposes quite insane. Isn't it only natural that smaller brands and in particular not regionally produced brands might suffer even more under such an atrocious system?

Mylenium

Just now, Toastie said:

And you can directly gauge that by the length of the box-filled shelves at Galleria, Smyth's, etc. pp.: They are the same - sometimes Playmobil is even more attractively placed. And sometimes LEGO is. Comparing regionally resolved sale numbers with the attractiveness of a product makes sense.

Correct.

Mylenium

[The Brick Boss]

1 hour ago, Maple said:

You people are unreal.

Ok.....that was kinda rude. 

[Asajki]

This topic is making me cringe!

@Lego David: You don’t even buy Lego anymore! It’ll NEVER be the same as it used to, things change
@Brandon Pea: Lego has to make money! Otherwise they can’t make more Lego! Money is a heavy priority to companies and people in this world!

@Maple: Calm down! Playmobil still exists, and do you have to be so rude? 

[icm]

The Walmart stores in the Mountain West sell Playmobil.

[Darkdragon]

On 2/29/2020 at 9:35 PM, Maple said:

In the USA they aren't even sold in stores anymore

This is false, don't make over-reaching judgements based on what you personally see in your town or are guessing at - for all we know. Playmobile and the other toys mentioned are indeed sold in stores including Target. Maybe not in your town or maybe you have just not seen them on the shelves but let's not mistake perspective for facts.

------

Everyone, there's really no reason for any personal attacks here, just a note to keep that in mind as the topic seems to be going rather downward.

[The Brick Boss]

9 minutes ago, Asajki said:

Lego has to make money! Otherwise they can’t make more Lego! Money is a heavy priority to companies and people in this world!

They are a billionaire corporation as someone pointed out earlier. They've got the money to take a break from the "best sellers" for a wave or two. 

Just now, icm said:

The Walmart stores in the Mountain West sell Playmobil.

So do the Walmarts in Northern Virgina. 

[MAB]

Regarding Schleich toys, do children actually buy / ask for and play with them? I don't think I have ever seen a kid interested in them in stores and if they want farm animals and so on, there are often other brands that give you 10x the amount for the same price although clearly lower quality. The detail and painting quality seems to make them look more like adult display models rather than kids' toys.

[Vindicare]

5 hours ago, Brandon Pea said:

Ok! What do you mean by that? Sorry I come across as irritated, but considering that Lego's goal first and foremost should be to make sets that are tasteful and pleasing to customers, that does make Lego sound like a greed machine. Given how people act here, it sounds like a lot of people support their greed. Making money should be their last goal. 

That thought was mostly towards this topic, Classic themes. I’m on the side of those who would love to see them return, as I have fond memories of all three. When I got back into LEGO in 07, after buying the two Modulars, I went straight to eBay & bought nearly all the Forestmen & Ninja sets. We don’t know why they’ve chosen to not make new iterations of any of those. I’d say they’re doing a great job of making tasteful & pleasing sets. Naturally they’ll appeal to some more than others, as with anything. 

[The Brick Boss]

Just now, Vindicare said:

That thought was mostly towards this topic, Classic themes. I’m on the side of those who would love to see them return, as I have fond memories of all three. When I got back into LEGO in 07, after buying the two Modulars, I went straight to eBay & bought nearly all the Forestmen & Ninja sets. We don’t know why they’ve chosen to not make new iterations of any of those. I’d say they’re doing a great job of making tasteful & pleasing sets. Naturally they’ll appeal to some more than others, as with anything. 

Ok! That's understandable. 

[Toastie]

@MABHere we go again - whether or not someone sees some kid in some store interested or not in Schleich's stuff let's look at the numbers:

https://us.schleich-s.com/en/US/company/facts-and-figures/

185 Mio Euro = 5% of TLG; of these 50% in Germany. Growth is 17%.

Why was Schleich important in the first place? I forgot. But I believe we begin to compare oranges with Corona beer.

BTW my daughters had the whole line of dinosaurs first and then every horse you can think of. And they played endless hours because they watched "Little Foot" and "Bibi und Tina" videos. It is again and again the same ...

Best
Thorsten  

Edited March 2, 2020 by Toastie
twenty or so CR/LF at the end of post ;-)

[Lego David]

Hey guys, we're going kinda off-topic here. We are here to discuss Classic themes and what prevents LEGO from bringing them back, not whether Playmobil sells or not. If you want to talk about Playmobil, there are other places to do so.