Advice on Publishing Premium MOCs?

[Gray Gear]

3 hours ago, Mechbuilds said:

Only way to achieve high sales on rebrickable is either to make the most amazing moc ever that surpasses everything made in there or lower the price to less than 10€ and accumulate more sales. 
People want things cheap. Pretty much 5€ is a price that sells more. over 10€ and the sales slow down.. over 15€ and you get occasional 1-2 sales per year. 

Overall I agree, but it still depends on the MOC. A MOC can be great, and the price can be cheap, but if not many people are interested in the build itself sales will still be poor. Lamborghinis will sell better than citroens for example 

Edited August 18, 2021 by Gray Gear

[amorti]

6 minutes ago, ScT said:

@amorti I'm really liking the changes to the photos and the description, very nice, even with the "potato" camera, the build pictures look great anyway!

The new rendering with multiple colours was well executed too.

 Not sure the price drop was needed - but then again i'm in Norway, and your instructions cost as much as some candy bars here, so...
  

Thanks for the feedback that led to those changes, and the kind words.

About the price drop, I still think it's worth a fiver, but maybe I can look at cranking it up again after a few more people built it and left nice feedbacks on the comments page.

I did sell one more copy at 3€ through linking it at "Lego Technic & Creator Mocs & More" on FB, so you could argue he'd have paid a fiver, or maybe only bought it as it was 3€, who knows :D

4 minutes ago, Gray Gear said:

if not many people are interested in the build

I think it's going to be the struggle for me.

Piterx and I love motorcycles and Lego, so it's natural to build bikes out of Lego.

Everybody on Rebrickable loves Lego, but only a minority also cares about bikes. However Lego continues making bikes as official sets, so it must be some overlap there :)

Edited August 18, 2021 by amorti

[JaBaCaDaBra]

Why is there a wheel hanging on the steer?

[amorti]

46 minutes ago, JaBaCaDaBra said:

Why is there a wheel hanging on the steer?

It's a headlight (obvs )

There's not a lot of other ways to build a headlight that I could see. I wanted a big round headlight as it's like my first bike, a Honda CB-1. It had to be level to the ground, not follow to the headstock angle (which would be a lot easier), so that meant putting a mounting part to get that angle. Anything I tried with dish parts looked like it was hanging way in front of the frame, whereas the wheel extends back over the mounting point and just about touches the frame at the bottom.

That being said, I am interested in any ideas you may have. While the bike is entirely made of Technic parts for stability reasons, there are certainly system parts I am not aware of, and attaching parts here using a pin with bar is pretty solid.

Edited August 18, 2021 by amorti

[Mr Jos]

I just wanted to add in that sales are hard to get without continuous advertising. But then I just logged in to rebrickable again and saw I sold another 6DoF MOC. I didn't post it anywhere in the last months, 292views this month, but it uses loads of mindstorms items so not for every MOC builder. When I posted the model I expected 1-2sales in like 5years time because of the item list, but nearly not enough fingers to count the sales now. I only would have liked if people who bought my MOC's would leave a comment/review, as this does help potential new buyers. I can see this at the more known sellers, they have many comments with people showing their result, this does help people decide to buy or not in my opinion. This MOC took me over 6months to get working, and still no other people (other then those having bought my instructions that come with the code) have been able to make the same, as the programming is the hardest part here. If I would sell it for the program (time put in) I should ask like 50€, but I sell it complete with instructions for 9,99€. No one I know did make the robot itselve, but everyone just used my programs to learn from it. I even helped a guy on the other side of the world on Messenger for few weeks to modify my program to work with his robot, using robot inventor instead of 2x EV3.

Yesterday the alternate to the new set 42128, the first that was on rebrickable also sold, but no people yet with a comment that they did build it. (I did lower the price to 7,99€ few days ago). On a side note, if anyone wants to buy the forklift instructions to try them out, put a review (Just a post in my topic about the forklift is enough, if it's not good you can post aswell!) and comment a finished photo on Rebrickable you can send me a PM (Personal Message) to not spam this post [I will send to first few a 75% reduction code to review]

[Gumalca]

1 hour ago, Mr Jos said:

Yesterday the alternate to the new set 42128, the first that was on rebrickable also sold

I think you will sell many for of this one. It's a good looking alternate for a popular set. But since it's a popular set I also expect to see a lot more alternates from other designers for it. Competition will be hard.

For your other mocs I don't know. But if you only expect less than 10 sales in 5 years time, then why don't you make it free? This is so little money, that can't make a difference in your bank account. For me it's more important to make people happy, and it makes me also happy to get feedback and photos from them.

[Glaysche]

31 minutes ago, Gumalca said:

For your other mocs I don't know. But if you only expect less than 10 sales in 5 years time, then why don't you make it free? This is so little money, that can't make a difference in your bank account. For me it's more important to make people happy, and it makes me also happy to get feedback and photos from them.

Yeah, it's a similar deal for me.  My MOCs are both esoteric and expensive.  I choose to make them free on Rebrickable because I would rather see more people getting value from my work than a few dollars in my bank account.  This is truly just a hobby for me.  If I tried to make it a business, I think it would be less fun.  That being said, I have no problem with people charging for MOCs.  I have purchased a couple myself.

[Mr Jos]

45 minutes ago, Gumalca said:

I think you will sell many for of this one. It's a good looking alternate for a popular set. But since it's a popular set I also expect to see a lot more alternates from other designers for it. Competition will be hard.

For your other mocs I don't know. But if you only expect less than 10 sales in 5 years time, then why don't you make it free? This is so little money, that can't make a difference in your bank account. For me it's more important to make people happy, and it makes me also happy to get feedback and photos from them.

About 42128 MOC's, very popular; Yes. Many 42128 Alternate MOC's (on Rebrickable); Not with pneumatics. Certainly complex builds I don't see happening. You're restricted with hose lengths, amount of T-pieces, and near impossible to draw the hoses in Studio, so certainly not for every designer. They might be able to create a MOC but not (easy) the instructions. The ones seen so far all left out the pneumatics (for one reason or another, the huuuge pump).

About my other MOC's, most of them require 500-1000€ of Lego parts, I don't put a high price tag on instructions (max 9,99€), but just enough to earn a bit to be able to tell the wife how I can buy the new parts again. They are all designs with many months work in them for perfecting the programs/3D Model. I then certainly prefer to have buyers that know what they are buying as they pay for it and did research and know how hard it is to make these. Most people buying my 6DOF have already a history trying themselve to make a 6DOF. Those people will have it easyer to understand the working, and what it's supposed to do. People just getting my MOC for free without any knowledge will have a hard time understanding the 100s of lines of code. Same for my pin sorter, depending on your color sensor you might have to adjust the parameters a little bit, but it's also the first MOC I see( instructions being made for) that sorts all Technic pins.

Edited August 18, 2021 by Mr Jos

[T Lego]

@amorti

First I think for us hobbyist the main priority is having fun with our bricks and the amounts of views, likes and comments is not something to loose sleep over IMO. Of course it can add a lot joy to the sharing part of the hobby. In fact I can confirm myself that publishing something that goes viral is highly satisfying and does motivate me to greater efforts for my future MOCs. Like I said however, it’s more important to build something you really want/need rather than what others enthusiasts would like to see. The 1:8 scaled technic cars and B models of technic and creator expert sets are the most popular amongst the rebrickable users and obviously your published MOC does not fall into that category and therefore the statistics can not be compared. Moreover it requires a great ''wow factor'' and your submitted motorcycle probably won’t trigger that effect on most people, even though it’s a fantastic creation.  After that, the quality of the presentation and details such as the price don’t really matter. Of course one must take decent pictures and write a clear description but it’s hard to mess this up. I hope this answers your questions.

Edited August 18, 2021 by T Lego

[Mechbuilds]

On 8/18/2021 at 12:20 PM, amorti said:

Humbly, this model does blow away the competition, within the admittedly very small field of remote control Lego motorcycles.

I mean functionally yes. It performs better than the competition. But visually it doesn't look that good. 
If it was visually amazing AND performs amazing then yeah. 

Sadly how the steering is built, it's impossible to make it visually pleasing. 

[amorti]

6 hours ago, Mechbuilds said:

I mean functionally yes. It performs better than the competition. But visually it doesn't look that good. 

Sadly how the steering is built, it's impossible to make it visually pleasing. 

There's two things to consider on looks.

First is that the battery (or a weight brick) needs to slide left to right. This means you can't build a fully faired Lego RC bike. But is that so bad? The Ducati is the first one Lego did, we were happy with naked bikes until then.

Second is that you will crash this thing. It can do something like 25km/h, and the steering does not react instantly. You can't be adding system bricks for looks, or panels held on by luck and goodwill. Well, you can, but you'll be looking for them often.

Within those restrictions, I think it turned out pretty well. However, I'm definitely open to improvements if you have any

[Mechbuilds]

I agree that it's technically pretty good. But you must agree that considering the sliding weight brick, it can't really have a realistic look to it.. But then again we could pretend it's an E-bike and the square bulky battery is part of the thing. 
What i would work on:
-The front fork. The light could be improved.. Perhaps a mirror added and little details to the grips too. No mudguard over the front tire. 
- Rear axle could use some panels to improve the look.. Perhaps add an exhaust pipe. 
- Foot rests and gear shift levers near them. 
- a seat
- a leg stand. 

There are some tips on how to improve the look.. 
But mechanically speaking it's all there. You even have a working suspension on this thing. 
By looking it's stubby short look, it could be either a cafe racer or a bobber. 

[amorti]

1 hour ago, Mechbuilds said:

I agree that it's technically pretty good. But you must agree that considering the sliding weight brick, it can't really have a realistic look to it.. But then again we could pretend it's an E-bike and the square bulky battery is part of the thing. 
What i would work on:
-The front fork. The light could be improved.. Perhaps a mirror added and little details to the grips too. No mudguard over the front tire. 
- Rear axle could use some panels to improve the look.. Perhaps add an exhaust pipe. 
- Foot rests and gear shift levers near them. 
- a seat
- a leg stand. 

There are some tips on how to improve the look.. 
But mechanically speaking it's all there. You even have a working suspension on this thing. 
By looking it's stubby short look, it could be either a cafe racer or a bobber. 

Funny you mention an ebike. Not giving too much away, but you may like the next bike more.

I'd like a nicer headlight, but it's not easy to make it nicer, while having it point forward not up, and still be strong. I tried for a while IRL and in stud.io, failed, and left it where it is now. Any ideas? I'll happily give it a try and post a render, if nothing else so you see my struggles with it.

I'm not adding deco elements like mirrors and brake levers, but if you build it ofc you're welcome to add those (and go looking when they ping off).

A mudguard isn't possible on this one due to the scale (bear in mind this uses the old 81mm wheels not the newer 94mm wheels). In general it's not easy on Lego bikes due to no suitable attachment on the forks. I have another project from P-Lego which has one though. When I eventually get it finished, the reason it can have a mudguard while this one can't will become clear.

There's no spare pin holes at the bottom to mount a kickstand in a realistic position, hence the simple 5*7 stand. I agree with you though it would look better, and I will have another try.

Footrests - again, nowhere to mount them, plus they would be extra width low down, which reduces ground clearance.

Swingarm stays as it is. It is very sturdy, which is essential for keeping the wheels in line so it doesn't wobble. Anything added would be deco only, but it can't be bigger without reducing ground clearance. Anyway I like it, reminds me of some real ones, for example below, metmachex, cbr600rr4, and others.

Its ethos is to play well, and especially not to grenade when you crash. Greebling isn't compatible with that, so it won't be getting an exhaust from me, although you could always add one.

As for what it could be, I had a gsxr-1100 Streetfighter in mind. Big square frame, short ish high up tail, no mudguard, chunky yet skeletal swingarm... it looks at least a little familiar. Another headlight would probably fit this look better.

 

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by amorti

[amorti]

On 8/18/2021 at 3:01 PM, JaBaCaDaBra said:

Why is there a wheel hanging on the steer?

It still has a wheel at the front,

On 8/19/2021 at 7:33 PM, Mechbuilds said:

- a leg stand

and the stand attaches too far forward and should be taken off before playing... But ... I think it's better now.

Rebrickable will be updated once I shuffle the instructions.

[Mechbuilds]

It looks much better! I would try and fill in the gap between those two large J beams near the rear tyre. 

[amorti]

1 hour ago, Mechbuilds said:

It looks much better!

Thanks :)

 

1 hour ago, Mechbuilds said:

I would try and fill in the gap between those two large J beams near the rear tyre. 

You could start stacking liftarms there, you could put a 5x3 "L" reinforcement in there from top to bottom (but it really doesn't need the strength), you could maybe go the other way and add some deco by putting a 24z gear there and a pulley wheel brake disc on the other side.

However, that's all just adding decoration/weight, and so I think I'll leave that to whoever's building it.

Besides, within the limits of Lego, I don't think it looks out of place. Here's the swingarm from the 2021 CBR600RR for reference:

 

Yes, I'd have preferred a straight beam at the bottom and the "J" beam at the top, but it's not possible as it limits ground clearance when the bike leans.