snefroe

so you can check what i'm saying: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,20...57384_1,00.html http://www.nieuwsblad.be/Article/Detail.as...icleID=GCQCRTCR both have, by the way been confirmed by other journalists as well...

As Jake said, tlc did take a long time to decide to produce themes for different regions. however, i think tlc will make all sets/themes available for everyone through s&h in time if it's profitable (so if there's enough demand). so the best thing the AFOL-community can do is to commununicate with tlc and see if they can organise a distribution so every one can at least buy the things they want, even though only via s&h i simply don't know who that tlc contact can be. Jake's function towards us is entirely unclear to me, let alone his position compared to that of Jan Beyer and there are probably others as well... i think we still don't have one spokesperson whom we can talk to. i think that in the eyes of tlc, we're just not important enough, we're a bonus for their regular themes, but that's it. so if we disagree with their policies, than that's too bad for us... Perhaps the ambassadors might have a role in this as well. what's worse is that we don't really know the entire story about these strategic decisions, nor behind the ambassador program. i think tlc confirmed that the vikings will only be released in Europe but they never really told us why, and that is frustrating...

i believe they're counting a break even, this year or the next. they're also hoping for a better turnover this year, and it seems they're confident. let's hope for the best. :)

yes jipay, they ARE in the process of selling Billund as well. in fact, there are a few candidates. one of the reasons might be that they need the money badly, and they wouldn't be stuck in Billund, which is quite in the middle of nowhere, you know... The family is aware of the social concequences and brand if they're selling, but it's better to sell a profitable asset than one that is in shambles...

i think they're refering to continents. they've set up "countrymanagers" whose job it is to link the company with the different markets. i know there is a countrymanager for belgium and luxemburg. i guess they will advice the designers on what the local market wants. i guess most important countries will get such a countrymanager. there also seems to be a new marketing director for the lowlands and Skandinavia, also based in Belgium. it seems to me that tlc is breaking down her pyramidal structure into a structure with a larger number of more or less independent working continantal/regional headquarters. it seems that certain themes will, in time, be only produced and distributed in specified continents... your view on "better themes" is quite right, however, i think tlc will try to use s&h to supply the other continents as well, depending on demand But don't shoot me if all these theories turn out to be crap. TLC is facing quite a few challenges right now and might decide to adapt to new situations. by the way, a major consultant wrote an entire report on TLC, her strategies, decisions,... It costs about 395 euro, i think. so feel free to buy it. ... or you can just buy lego instead :P

i think people still understemate the bad situation tlc is in. they ARE dropping exotic themes, they ARE streamlining their entire production. they ARE selling the Legoland themeparks. they ARE restyling some of the old productlines like Duplo. They ARE restructuring the company. because of that tlc sets are 20% cheaper than 20 years ago. all the decisions tlc is taking right now are basically focused on the question "how can we improve our financial position?" It's not a coincidence that they're rereleasing old sets that have hardly been changed or releasing combination of sets like the one with the starfighters and vulture droids (economies of scale: the more you produce the same unit, the lower the costs). what i do know about these licences is that they are expensive for tlc. even though they had a huge bonus with the sw-licence (the fact that we, AFOLs joined in), the other licences don't seem to be as succesful over the years. At some point tlc has got to ask herself "is it all worth this?". in case of sw, Yes, for know. but let's face it, sw is a hype, right know, Everybody is waiting for that last film. After that, sw will be old news again. i hope that jipay is right, and people will be buying lego in the future even though sw is gone, or even with sw... i disagree, but i'm hoping he's right right now, the major hit for tlc is the fire theme and duplo... so they might easily decide to loose the sw licence all the same... and what if mega-blocks get a sw-licence after 2007? what will be left to produce? A third version of the x-wing, snowspeeder, slave 1, falcon? it's also not clear how to see these licences in face of the restructuring of tlc. themes are no longer designed just in Billund. Regional headquarters are being developped and in time they will become responsable for the creation of themes for their own regions. we're already seeing that with the vikings and dinos. a licence for the entire group might become quite difficult to organise in such a structure...

well i'd like to see a large space theme (12-20 sets a year, like sw), with at least half of those of 500 pieces, large and small, without junorised pieces/sets, intelligently built :oo :oo :oo but i think you're missing the point. 'cause, a good theme will not be enough to keep all of the sw fans. you need this recruiting element of sw. A millenium falcon is not just attractive because it's a well designed space set, no it's THE Millenium falcon. that is, in my view, the chalenge for tlc. for instance, the fbtb site is largely built around the sw theme/sets of lego. without new sw-sets, that might fall apart, therefore, that community might dissolve,...

i was thinking about exploring the licence idea as well in my last post. because the question what to do after Star wars, how to keep all the fans that came back to lego thanks to the star wars licence, is probably the most difficult to answer by tlc. if i'm correct, tlc has a SW-licence unitll 2007. i think the hype will be over by then. tlc should have something to replace that. and it might be wise to have something by the end of 2006, meaning they should be thinking about it already. the same with the Harry Potter line. i don't know when that licence will be ended, but the line is already losing popularity... i guess, tlc should try and set up new strong themes of their own, indepent from Lucasfilms or others. that way, they will always be in control of their own products. with the sw-licence for instance, they're stuck with unattractive release dates,... sure they can keep licences,... do you have suggestions that might be as succesful as sw?

according to the Lego representatives in Belgium, tlc is going to limit the themes, limit the exotic component of themes (adventures,...) and has concluded that the traditional brick is back again... so dumping the spider-man theme is perfectly within their new strategy... besides, i don't think that the spider man licence has been very succesful...

perhaps there are people who are willing to trade certain units of this set... I mean a starfighter in exchange for two vulture droids,...

i also can't see any point to this. we all agree that lego is, give and take, a better product than the others. so there is no real discussion, is there? in fact, there's so little debate that we're even asking the question why we're having a debate at all... Eventually, by lack of substance you end up bashing another company, people and products and I can't really see the use in that. and it's not a good thing for the image of Eurobricks either... I think the essence about a forum here is that we're all open to what every individual thinks and says, without lowering ourselves to insults, bashing,... only then a site like this can work. let's close it down, folks...

i'm also very much tempted by the idea of an entire squadron of starfighters. i can see it already: a line up of 6 starfighters on one side and another six on the opposite side, and in the middle a group of starfighter pilots, preparing the mission :oo

just to be sure: the eurobrick event (the establishment of SG-based base) is at Billund, at the hotel, during the eurobrick trip between July 29th - 31st? is that right? ... or am i losing it? this is an important matter, since the trip depends on the price tag.

what irritates me about the other brands is that they basically stole someone else's idea. even though the quality might not be the same, sizes and shapes of the parts are more or less the same, and it seems to me that they never bothered very much on making sure that people can see the difference between their own stuff and the original... :(

adding this station is just selling trick. tlc knows that many fans already have this set and won't buy a second one just to get these minifigs, so they ad a little extra, probably with parts that are in overstock. let's face it, this set, and probably the other remakes as well, is a cheap way to improve tlc's financial balance. I wish there was a brilliant, breath taking explenation for this that would impress all of you, but... no... it's just a selling argument. :P

Paris and Germany... oh yes, i believe apo had AT TE in Aachen as well... perhaps i'll pick that up in the process... :P don't you just love this face :P :P :P :P :P :P :P

|-/ :() *sing* one of our old toy shops is recently replaced by an Intertoys shop! it's still closed, tho...

this is another TLC conspiracy, if you're asking me... they probably thought "how can we really annoy these belgians and germans"... >:(

what do you mean "i went to buy". i haven't seen ANY in any shop. they're simply not available except for the s&h... :()

and is there a time-frame for this release? or is it way too early for that?

yeah, i was also in the proces of counting the prices of all the sets seperately... in any case, my wallet is in big trouble... :()

any guess on the price? a fleet of starfighters would be great! so i can finally transfer my old fleet of x-wings to my reserve squadrons!

why do you think there is no UN-theme... why do you think kids would customise UN tanks into real tanks.... right! because it is boring! *sing*

lego adds appear more or less on a regular basis in Flanders. I mean, once a year or so... Most around christmas... they don't repeat them very well, though, so i can't remember any of them very well. there was one with the former police theme, bionicle. i remember an old castle add as well. according to the people of Lego, they're going to do more of these adds...

my guess is: because mega blocks and others don't carry the lego legacy. they're a new breed of construction toys, based in a modern society that is very familiar with violence; they don't claim to be the protector of certain moral values, as TLC has always done. they don't "feel" they have to protect children against the violence in the world. TLC does... there's also a market that demands militairy units. tlc refuses to fill the gap, so newcomers will. it seems to me that tlc thinks that "conflict" is a natural thing, but "violence" isn't. so they're accepting the concept of "conflict", all their themes are conflict-based, but they ignore "violence". according to Jake, violence means blowing people's head off, blood spilling all over the place, bodyparts flying around,... and according to Jake (and in extension TLC), lego should stay away from this as far as possible... and because guns lead to violence... in my view, violence is an instrument that can be used in a conflict. if you use it wisely, it might influence the conflict in a positive way. violence and conflict are therefor linked to each other. tlc doesn't see it that way...