What next for Pick-a-brick

[shimon]

id like more technic parts and

an option to move our models via beams to that lots of functions will be avaliable

[Klaus-Dieter]

Many more civilian minifig torsos and more minifig accessory is needed!

And some more interior to be aible to build a complete house and some more car pieces would be great to have, too, in order to build a complete car like the lovely small one in 7747!

So I would like to see following new additions to PaB:

-brown, white and black horse

-brown and black saddle (for the horses)

-black bicycle (as for me every color but not pink or red!!!)

-female torsos

-black suit with black cravat torso (like the bus driver in 7641)

-dark grey with black lines suit torso (like the conductor in the big minifigure collection)

-medieval torsos

-medieval "caps" (like the blacksmith and the old man in 10193)

-fruit tree

-black or white non-transparent door

-cashpoint

-sausage and ham

-pizza

-car doors

-car ground plate

-blue and grey kids trousers

-skateboard

-black and blue car pieces (to be aible to build a little civilian car in blue or black)

-computer with key pad

-regular (not ancient) letter (like the ones in the Post Van set)

-all pieces you need to build the big fruit tree in 10193 and the big conifer in 10199

-skis and ski sticks

-snowboard

-iced-lolly

-black and brown hat

-pieces to build small and big ships

-bigger round piece(s) (e. g. to built a 6x6 stuck big reservoir)

-big round flat 6x6 plate (e. g. to built a 6x6 stuck big reservoir)

-tools

-1x1x1 round yellow transparent

-2x2x1 white transparent (like in the classic street lights)

-all pieces you need to build the street lights in 7641

-shoulder bag

Thanks for reading.

Klaus-Dieter

Edited July 18, 2009 by Klaus-Dieter

[legoindy01]

Minifig and set pieces from licensed themes like star wars or indiana jones. and more suit minifig pieces.

[Perterz]

Hi all,

Thank you for your interest in the subject but I think some of you got this wrong. It is not practically possible to tell TLG which parts in particular you'd like to see. I mean those parts you have listed includes pretty much every single part. TLG wants to know what categories you'd be interested. Bricks, plates, figure parts, train parts, castle parts, plants, tiles, windows/doors, wheels etc... It will help us more if just list main categories. There is no way for us to sum up individual pieces, it's an endless list and I don't think TLG would have the time to study all of those :) Thanks..

Cagri

Like this I would say Minifigure parts and Castle parts..

[blueandwhite]

Hi all,

Thank you for your interest in the subject but I think some of you got this wrong. It is not practically possible to tell TLG which parts in particular you'd like to see. I mean those parts you have listed includes pretty much every single part. TLG wants to know what categories you'd be interested. Bricks, plates, figure parts, train parts, castle parts, plants, tiles, windows/doors, wheels etc... It will help us more if just list main categories. There is no way for us to sum up individual pieces, it's an endless list and I don't think TLG would have the time to study all of those :) Thanks..

Cagri

Minifig parts (Castle in particular) and accessories.

Rationale:

Simply put; this is an area where LEGO could truly edge out Bricklink. While bricklink store owners part-out sets, minifigs on Bricklink usually carry an obscene premium. Popular old torsos like the BF torso go for $1.00+, while some torsos sell for $3.00 or more. It's a market which LEGO can easily undercut the aftermarket competition. Considering that LEGO has been offering classic figure packs, why not throw up excess elements directly onto Bricklink? Black Falcons and "bluecoat" pirate figs are highly covetted. Moreover, LEGO can easily run parts and accessories in colours not readily available through sets. Hairpieces and other minifig accessories are desireable across themes and people seem more willing to pay higher prices for them. I'd love to see a variety of hairpieces offered in tan and other colours not typically found in sets.

[madoka]

Asked through Steve by D2C(Direct to Consumer Merchandising Team). The PAB is still based on availability and that they can only get what they can get.

And it´s the on-line one, not the ones found in the parks!

We are in the process of updating the PAB assortment for next year. We would like to get some input from the community on what they would consider an optimal assortment in terms of percentages by element type (ex. 20% plates, 40% bricks, 5 % wheels, 10% door & Windows etc.) Is this something that you would like to ask the community about and get back to me with input so we could influence the assortment where possible?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but . . .

Notice that Steve never mentioned mini-figs in his original question about element type distribution. This may have been deliberate. I asked a LLC manager once why they did not have any minifig parts. She told me that they've been begging for them, but that the Lego company refuses to sell mini-fig parts to them. I would assume it's because doing so might decrease set sales. This does explain why Lego is selective about what mini-fig parts they do make available. For example, it costs them the same to make a minifig, yet they don't make minifigs from popular lines like Castle and Pirate available for cheap. But they do make mini-figs from unpopular lines available (mostly Town). And, they know enough to charge a premium for the popular mini-figs in the Vintage Collections.

As much as I would LOVE for a source of cheap mini-fig parts and accessories, I fear it won't ever happen.

[-JD-]

Wider range of Minifigure parts (differing themes)

More food

More printed tiles and slopes

More variety in the themes (i.e: not just City and Castle)

More utensils

More animals (cows, horses, parrots etc)

And some SW pieces that are not resticted by lisenscing.

Edited July 18, 2009 by Jammiedodger714

[Klaus-Dieter]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but . . .

Notice that Steve never mentioned mini-figs in his original question about element type distribution. This may have been deliberate. I asked a LLC manager once why they did not have any minifig parts. She told me that they've been begging for them, but that the Lego company refuses to sell mini-fig parts to them. I would assume it's because doing so might decrease set sales. This does explain why Lego is selective about what mini-fig parts they do make available. For example, it costs them the same to make a minifig, yet they don't make minifigs from popular lines like Castle and Pirate available for cheap. But they do make mini-figs from unpopular lines available (mostly Town). And, they know enough to charge a premium for the popular mini-figs in the Vintage Collections.

As much as I would LOVE for a source of cheap mini-fig parts and accessories, I fear it won't ever happen.

Two objections about that, madoka:

1.

Town/City is one of the four most popluar lines (Bionicle (don't ask me why ), City, SW, and Technic)and not one of the unpopular lines!

2.

Only very few people can afford to buy five or more exemplars of every set - and the minifigs included in sets are nearly always much too less when you want to build up a huge and realistic layout like many of us AFOLs want to. So people buy minifigs seperately - independant from whether TLG sells them via PaB or some private people via some online shops. If TLG doesn't sell more different civilian minifigure parts via PaB people will buy these via Ebay (like me), BL or other online shops which sell Lego and so TLG would loose a lot of profit. These are the facts.

Klaus-Dieter

Edited July 18, 2009 by Klaus-Dieter

[blueandwhite]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but . . .

Notice that Steve never mentioned mini-figs in his original question about element type distribution. This may have been deliberate. I asked a LLC manager once why they did not have any minifig parts. She told me that they've been begging for them, but that the Lego company refuses to sell mini-fig parts to them. I would assume it's because doing so might decrease set sales. This does explain why Lego is selective about what mini-fig parts they do make available. For example, it costs them the same to make a minifig, yet they don't make minifigs from popular lines like Castle and Pirate available for cheap. But they do make mini-figs from unpopular lines available (mostly Town). And, they know enough to charge a premium for the popular mini-figs in the Vintage Collections.

As much as I would LOVE for a source of cheap mini-fig parts and accessories, I fear it won't ever happen.

Actually, the original post simply asked for the type of element distribution people would like to see. Fortunately, the last time I checked, minfigs and minifig accessories are treated as parts on the pick-a-brick system. While I very much doubt LEGO will take note of specific requests (for parts of any kind), it's probably still not a bad idea to voice one's opinion. I still think a wider range of minifig parts probably appeals to more fans than anything else.

Also, since when was the town line unpopular? With the possible exception of Star Wars, I've always understood that the town line was the most popular of LEGO's themes.

[The Brick Rat]

1)The new parts (and old parts in new colors) that are part of the new LEGO games line.

2)More doors and windows.

3)A full selection of roof bricks (especially 45 degree slopes) in colors other than red and black.

[civilians_in_space]

They need to have some of those 4x4x6 1/4 cylinder (ex. Spongebob rocket ride walls)

i need about a billion for a star ship MOC!

[madoka]

So people buy minifigs seperately - independant from whether TLG sells them via PaB or some private people via some online shops. If TLG doesn't sell more different civilian minifigure parts via PaB people will buy these via Ebay (like me), BL or other online shops which sell Lego and so TLG would loose a lot of profit. These are the facts.

Frankly, I don't think Lego cares about any lost profit from BL. In fact, I think they DO care very much to see that the prices of discountinued Lego rise in the aftermarket.

Of course we are going to disagree on this. But, tell you what. Next year, let's see if they do include any of these very desireable mini-fig pieces in PAB. If they start including whole turkeys, shakos, rare shields, Black Falcon torsos, Armada Helmets, or any other high-value item, then you were right. If all you see are the same assortment of town items that have been there for years and nobody is buying, then I was right. The only castle torso they put up, sold out. Did they see that there was a great demand for castle and add other castle torsos? No. Did they even ever bother to replace it? No. Every once in a while Lego does ask it's fan base for what it wants in PAB. And so far, they've continued to disappoint. I certainly do hope they surprise me, but I doubt it.

[MdrnMrvls]

Please more Technic Link treads and gears.

[WesternOutlaw]

Train parts needed. The selection is grim. -Single pieces of track, train doors, windows, bogies, buffers, plates, and perhaps even offering some of the classic 12V parts would be awesome (like old train engine plates).

[jonwil]

Definitely my #1 wish for PaB is more minifigs and minifig accessories.

Even the City Minifig pack and the impulse sets aren't a good solution to get more figs because you end up with a lot of extras besides the figs (park bench, road signs, fire hydrant, traffic light, BBQ stand, cement mixer, dumpster, street sweeper, kayak etc)

I suspect there is some business reason behind the lack of figs on PaB to do with things like the cost of making figs (I dont know where it was said but someone from TLG or acting on behalf of TLG said that the printed minifig torso is one of the most expensive parts they make)

[skelltor]

clone minis and more wepons

[PMJ]

More torsos than just city.

[drdavewatford]

I'm generally comfortable with the current allocation of basic bricks vs. plates vs. windows etc., but I do have a couple of requests :

1. Roof pieces (45 degrees and 33 degress) in more colours, including the convex corner pieces and the double slopes that fit on the top of the roof. At the moment I can only make a roof in red or black at 45 degrees if I want all the features such as attic pieces etc.

2. A greater selection of pieces in some of the more 'realistic colours' such as dark brown, dark tan and dark red. I ended up having to change colour details on a recent factory purchase many times because the pieces were not available in my chosen colours.

3. A greater selection of doors, and to a lesser extent windows - there's current too little choice, so all buildings end up sharing too many features. An old fashioned 'wood-effect' door (especially with an arch at the top) would be wonderful for old-style buildings !

Thanks TLG for asking our opinion and listening to us !

Dr. D.

[Kanal-K1]

I would like to have more parts in following categories :

Minifig accessories (utensil, weapon)

Minifigs (pirates, castle, not only the common types like now)

Food

Decorated elements (tiles, slopes)

I am not sure, how expensive it would be, however, I would really like to see some elements in special colours. If they are not used in sets yet, maybe for PB only? (yellow apple etc.)

[Rook]

Assuming 100% equals all of the new pieces for next year here's my "two cents" on new pieces for available on PaB.

15% plates

10% bricks

10% door & windows

15% transparent pieces

20% minifig accessories (weapons, etc.)

5% animals (horses, cows, pigs, etc.)

5% wheels

15% minifig pieces

5% misc.

[Oky]

Obviously, it would be great if there were more minfig pieces, no matter from what theme. And getting the already existing pieces in more colors would be great as well. I for one would love dark grey cheese grater pieces to be available. And some more Technic stuff like gears, beams, and axle connectors.

[user]

What piece I would want more than anything in PAB reddish brown mountain pieces those would be perfect for MODing the volcano base! I'd buy a few every time I went to the LEGO store!

[Randamatrix]

While I'm very happy with the current PAB selection, I, like TheBrickster, would like to see more train parts. Along with more train parts I would like to see a slight drop in price for the current train parts, as $19.50 for 2 bogie plates, 4 wheels, and 2 buffers makes it hard to make rolling stock without going to Bricklink.

Edited July 25, 2009 by Randamatrix

[Ecto]

Cheese slopes in "exotic" colors (green, pink(?), tan, dark tan, etc.). Technic axle-pins in Black.

[Athos]

Some of these would be really nice. Especially in black...

Steve