Lego Requests

[Moebius118]

While people are still talking about the whole Shell thing, I vote to have more Octan sets . I mean come on, how about releasing that gas station we have been seeing pop up at fairs for some time.

[Superkalle]

If as a mod you still want me to take the shell question off I will

No, no worries. It was more a personal opinion being expressed

[SMC]

No, no worries. It was more a personal opinion being expressed

That's how I took it thanks but as there was 2 mods saying thought I should at least ask

[L@go]

I guess L@go, MstrOfPppts, Off the wall andAnio are fairly selfish not wanting the sdcc type figs to be available to everybody.

Well, I was going to cast a vote because I had an opinion, but I guess it was too much to expect that it would be possible to vote for that option without making somebody who disagrees strongly feel like attacking my opinion. Without having a clue as to why that was my opinion. Why am I not surprised?

I like the SDCC exclusives. And any other exclusives LEGO can come up with. Some of them I couldn't care less about, others I'd really, really like to own, but I probably never will. It doesn't make me angry at LEGO, it doesn't make me want to make a poll, write a letter or try to whip up a storm on every fansite I'm registered to. As a LEGO builder and collector, I find it intriguing that not every set and every minifig is easy to acquire. Sure, there are holes in my collection, but it means that if I am ever able to fill one of those holes, it will be much more satisfying. The rarest LEGO items I own are also some of the items I cherish the most - mainly because they're beautiful, but also because they're rare. What's the fun in collecting if everything is easy to get hold of? I don't understand that mindset. And I don't think that necessarily means there's something wrong with me.

I also feel a bit annoyed with how the people who don't like the whole SDCC thing seem to think that the whole AFOL community agrees with them. The poll in this very topic indicates that only about 2/3 of the people who read this post do - and let's face it, the people who actually cares enough about this issue to bother to vote, are more likely to be people who agree than people who disagree, so I don't think the number is even that big. I might be wrong. But I do get a bit tired by the whole "If I can't get that, then nobody should get it."

There. That's my opinion. I know most of you probably don't agree with me, but how this point of view makes me selfish, I can't really see.

[Off the wall]

L@go

Far too logical of a comment to be on an Internet website. :-)

I agree.

[Xenomurphy]

...

I like the SDCC exclusives. And any other exclusives LEGO can come up with. Some of them I couldn't care less about, others I'd really, really like to own, but I probably never will. It doesn't make me angry at LEGO, it doesn't make me want to make a poll, write a letter or try to whip up a storm on every fansite I'm registered to. As a LEGO builder and collector, I find it intriguing that not every set and every minifig is easy to acquire. Sure, there are holes in my collection, but it means that if I am ever able to fill one of those holes, it will be much more satisfying. The rarest LEGO items I own are also some of the items I cherish the most - mainly because they're beautiful, but also because they're rare. What's the fun in collecting if everything is easy to get hold of? I don't understand that mindset. And I don't think that necessarily means there's something wrong with me.

...

You've got some convincing arguments and I even agree to most of them.

To make it fun, collecting shouldn't be easy, that's right, but it should be realistically possible. A price of $400 for a little ABS fig is in my opinion bare every commensurability. I'd gladly pay a price of even $100 for a minifig which is very rare, even though this is also a very high price. But $400 (or, like last year, in Azog's case, $1,000) is too much even for a hard working man with no other costly hobbies.

And this is not just about collecting. LEGO is a building toy. I love building and sharing MOCs and it saddens me that (especially in the case of superheroes) I can't build all the MOCs I'd like to, only because I can't afford to buy the minifigs.

If SDCC minifigs are just variants of already existing minifigs (like Spider-Man for example) it is still okay, since I can use one of the regular Spidey figs (though, as a collector, I'd still like to have the exclusive, hehehe).

But exclusive figs like Bizarro of the Collector for example are in my opinion not really fair.

I'd prefer that TLG produces little exclusive sets without exclusive minifigs as giveaways or not to limit the exclusives to such a low number like 1,000 pieces worldwide.

[Legogal]

L@go,

Me, too! I agree with you. There usually us a sound reason for TLG to offer an exclusive to a particular group of people. And no one can expect to collect every one of these exclusives. Certainly folks paying for an Insider Tour should receive a set limited to the members of their group.

I hope that they will keep offering a small opening day set that reflects something special about the location of the new store, and not just three so so little minifigs. It would be nice if they continued to sell these sets for six months in the store they where they were introduced so that more folks shopping there get the chance to acquire one, but not everyone needs every set. Thus if the limited edition was sold or given away in larger quantities than 300 or even 3000, this would be fine with with me.

Likewise, if the company decides to give each employee a special gift set each year, that us fine with me. Maybe they could offer the public a slightly different version of the employee gift set so that we get a chance to buy a similar set.

It seems that there are several options that can lessen the blow of releasing a very small number of an exclusive set. But there will always be a need for LEGO to issue a small number exclusive set to a particular group of people, and we should not get so upset when this happens. Most companies do this to reward specific groups of people for a specific reason.

[The Chosen Minifigure]

Should lego bing back classic castle?

Should The Simpsons line continue?

Should lego continue to make non-generic CMF themes?

I can't wait to see the opinions on the Simpsons Question!

[L@go]

You've got some convincing arguments and I even agree to most of them.

I'm glad I made sense. My main point, though, was just to inform people reading this thread that there's more than one possible view on this. The original poster writes in this topic that "This "Exclusive" system is really making your fans feel "Excluded"." I disagree with that. It makes some fans feel that way, sure, but it doesn't make "your fans", as in all LEGO fans, feel that way. I'm absolutely convinced that if you asked the majority of LEGO fans about this, the people who felt "Excluded" would be in the minority. I think that the people with my view, who actually like the exclusives, would probably be an even smaller group. But the vast majority would say they didn't care.

And this is not just about collecting. LEGO is a building toy. I love building and sharing MOCs and it saddens me that (especially in the case of superheroes) I can't build all the MOCs I'd like to, only because I can't afford to buy the minifigs.

I don't understand how this stops you from building the MOCs you'd like to build. It's how you feel, and while you are 100% entitled to feel this way, it doesn't make sense to me. If I wanted to build a MOC and there was a particular figure that I didn't have, I wouldn't care if the reason that figure was unobtainable was a) that it didn't exist or b) that it was super-rare and I just couldn't get hold of it - I'd just try to make one. I'd put together different elements to create something close to what I wanted. Or maybe even try to make a decal, or pay somebody to make me a decal that made it better.

We obviously don't agree on everything here. But as I said, my point was to show that there's more than one valid standpoint.

[williejm]

L@go

Far too logical of a comment to be on an Internet website. :-)

I agree.

seconded.

[ummester]

It would be interesting to add 'Should TLG make a modern war themed line' to the list SMC. That is another long running debate and the numbers either way do interest me.

Edited July 22, 2014 by ummester

[Off the wall]

How about 'should lego do everything that I want them to do at a price I can afford even if they lose money?

Edited July 22, 2014 by Off the wall

[Xenomurphy]

How about 'should lego do everything that I want them to do at a price I can afford even if they lose money?

That is a brilliant idea.

[ummester]

The beauty of topics - and when on a LEGO forum, LEGO is a topic to be discussed by all and not a corporate entity to be ran by the business owners, is that everyone has different opinions on them. I find polls interesting because they show the spread of opinions on topics, the patterns in groups and that kind of thing.

As LEGO builders, we probably all like to group things, including human opinion :D

Edited July 22, 2014 by ummester

[SMC]

It would be interesting to add 'Should TLG make a modern war themed line' to the list SMC. That is another long running debate and the numbers either way do interest me.

Thanks added, I have read that one but forgot about it

We have had bring back classic castle a few times now but are you asking for a real classic yellow castle or just a new castle line?

Castle is an evergreen theme so it will be back at some point infact its not really gone away

and I can understand why super heroes fans don't like exclusives, look how many there have been and if you don't use the after market which lego is meant to hate then there is no way at all to get them, there are hard to get figs like the 2 in the new tumbler, these will cost an army a lego on ebay and bricklink but there is no loud outcry about the fact they have to pay $200 for a very important fig because at least if they really want it they can get it without giving a scalper hundreds

[TheLegoDr]

I'm torn on the exclusive figure topic. It makes sense to have some rarer/exclusive things in existence, just to keep the spirit of collecting alive. But having multiple figures at unattainable prices can be absurd.

I am going to make the argument fully knowing it isn't the same due to smaller production batches of Con figures. But LEGO does giveaway promotions all of the time on S@H, and not everyone gets those figures. Think about it. You have to spend $75 to get a "free" figure. How is that different than spending $75 on an exclusive figure? I realize you get LEGO sets AND the figure at that price. But it's the same concept in my eyes. I wanted a Darth Revan figure, but money was tight so I didn't pick one up. Now I'd have to spend upwards of $30 probably to pick him up. I realize $30 is better than $300+, but my mind shows a greater comparison to them than I've seen mentioned on here.

[SMC]

I'm torn on the exclusive figure topic. It makes sense to have some rarer/exclusive things in existence, just to keep the spirit of collecting alive. But having multiple figures at unattainable prices can be absurd.

I am going to make the argument fully knowing it isn't the same due to smaller production batches of Con figures. But LEGO does giveaway promotions all of the time on S@H, and not everyone gets those figures. Think about it. You have to spend $75 to get a "free" figure. How is that different than spending $75 on an exclusive figure? I realize you get LEGO sets AND the figure at that price. But it's the same concept in my eyes. I wanted a Darth Revan figure, but money was tight so I didn't pick one up. Now I'd have to spend upwards of $30 probably to pick him up. I realize $30 is better than $300+, but my mind shows a greater comparison to them than I've seen mentioned on here.

but at least most people can get them direct from lego at the time, I have got a few of the super heroes ones for £7.50 so nothing like sdcc

[Off the wall]

That is a brilliant idea.

Thanks, I try.

[merman]

Can I add two other questions/polls, both about boxes:

1. Make all boxes as easy to fold as the exlusives. With seals of course to prevent people from stealing in shops

2. After the reducing of the box sizes, it is still not enough in my opinion. I want less Billund air, which is also good for the environment (transport, storage, etc.).

[fossil1999]

As only partly a joke, what about adding a "Should Lego bring MM back" OR "Do you like MM" question? As a MM fan, I would like to know once and for all the ratio of people hating MM to people liking/loving MM.

On topic.

This poll was a brillant idea, and so far it has shown some appealing stats. I see that few people want LEGO to make a military theme, which confirmed what I expected (personally, I agree with the people who said no).

It is also rather funny to see the results of the "Should LEGO cut ties with shell" question. Most voters said "No strong opinion", less said "No", and even less said "Yes". The overall length of the bars (at the time of writing), resembles the side of a pyramid.

Edited July 23, 2014 by fossil1999

[lifeinplastic]

I also wonder a question about the return of Adventurers (now Indiana Jones has finished) and Western would also be appropriate?

[Lyichir]

I voted:

No on stopping exclusives. AFOLs can whine all they want, but the amount of press Lego is getting for these proves their marketing power. And many of the figs released as exclusives (lookin' at you, Zur-En-Arrh Batman) are figs that would likely never get produced otherwise.

No strong opinion on bringing back Classic Space. I love sets like the Exo-Suit and Benny's Spaceship. I also love sets in themes like Space Police III, Alien Conquest, and Galaxy Squad. If Lego thinks they can make more money from a Classic Space revival than from a new space theme, they should go for it, but if not they'll probably release something no less awesome.

Continue LOTR? Yes. I don't think they've exhausted the line's potential subjects yet, but I do think the clock is ticking and that both LOTR and The Hobbit will be on their way out after the third Hobbit movie's hype has waned. Better that Lego capitalize on that hype to launch more LOTR sets while they have the chance than miss that chance entirely.

Bring back Vikings? No strong opinion. Again, I liked the Vikings theme, but recent castle themes have been good too. Lego has better knowledge of whether that decision might be wise than I ever will.

Cut ties with Shell? No strong opinion. Lego should definitely do cost-benefit analyses of that relationship but ultimately I think it'd wind up in Shell's favor in the near future.

Military theme? No. There's plenty of evidence that depicting modern war in sets would be problematic in many markets, and since Lego can get away with most of the trappings of the past century's wars in fantasy contexts, I see no point in doing a realistic take on the subject.

[Dewey Cheatum 1011 Western]

They should bring back the western theme

[Krulis]

I voted to stop Comic Con exclusives. But better way would be to stop making popular and important characters avaible only that way (Green Arrow, Shazam, Collector) ando one of two things:

-Azog type preview fig

-Black suit Superman type unimportant variant of existing character

As for the rest of questions only 2 that I have a strong opinion on are:

-More LOTR -yes

-Cutting ties with Shell - very strong No. For two reasons

1) I remember how happy I was when as a kid I got small sets that were given at shell gas stations as promotions. It just brings good memories.

2) I consider Greenpeace a terrorist organisation and last thing such big company as Lego should do is to do what those nutjobs want.

[Anio]

I guess L@go, MstrOfPppts, Off the wall and Anio are fairly selfish not wanting the sdcc type figs to be available to everybody.

I am not selfish at all. I have a lot of Lego but very few minifigures (20, maybe), and I do not plan to buy any of these "collector" minifig at anytime. Having a minigif collection that very few people have is NOT AT ALL what I am aiming at.

I just find it hilarious that some people are willing to waste hundreds €/$ to buy a collector item that everyone would not care about or consider it plain ugly if it was not a collector item.

Here are 2 examples from the last years :

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/564946_393055367430089_645954893_n.jpg

http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/4320747554517546655d2368c8c.jpg

Another example : some people bought this Azog at crazy prices (500 or 600 €/$ maybe) : http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=comcon031-1

And then, it was available in that set http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=79014-1 so everyone can get the minifig for more or less 10$/€. haha.