4 ms·

There was a time when Lego did everything (I have some board games and they are fun!) and it ended almost in a bankruptcy: https://www.businessinsider.com/how-l

by lnsru 5y ago

There was a time when Lego did everything (I have some board games and they are fun!) and it ended almost in a bankruptcy: https://www.businessinsider.com/how-lego-made-a-huge-turnaround-2014-2 https://www.businessinsider.com/how-lego-made-a-huge-turnaro... However the landscape today is much different: Lego pricing is just wow, the sets are way too expensive. Lego has serious competition: Cada and Mould King offers very nice original and affordable sets. So if Lego loses the focus again it can be worse than last time going near bankrupt. As having hundreds Lego sets at home I will not buy any other gadgets with their merchandising.

ChuckNorris89 5y ago
>However the landscape today is much different: Lego pricing is just wow, the sets are way too expensive. The high pricing is part of the brand image as well. It gives buyers the feeling their buying something premium that could also be an investment, more of a collector's item instead of just a toy, similar to a Rolex watch, which could appreciate in value over time and maybe sell it later for more than they originally paid.
- j7ake 5y ago
  Interesting, is there a market for second hand Lego sets ?
  - the-dude 5y ago
    There is people making a living from said second hand market.
  - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
    Hell yeah. Some rare older sets that aren't sold anymore can go several times their original price, especially in mint condition. I guess Lego saw the huge markups on the second hand market and thought they were selling themselves short and so decided to capitalized on it themselves instead of the sellers, by raising prices and focusing more on limited edition sets with various IP branding partnerships, turning what was once a kid's toy into a collector's item or even a potential investment opportunity. It's just corporations being corporations.
- libertine 5y ago
  >buying something premium that could also be an investment, more of a collector's item Am I the only one getting fed up with this mentality? What's the point buying toys and not use them? How are you supposed to create memories and have fun if you are buying to bank on it later? Because the logic will be: if a big part sees this as an easy flip, then no one uses it, enjoys it, has fun and creates memories with it, and down the line you'll have less people to sell this to. There are two groups of collectibles at the moment imo - highly speculative ones, where every one thinks they will get rich from hoarding and flipping shit, and true collectibles that were played with and have a solid fan base, where people used the products and have an emotional attachment to the brand. They are rare because people played with them (broke parts, lost others, trashed them), and very few people chose to not use the sets (most of them out of love for the brand, not to flip it down the line - and they were kids, not adults). If a big part is seeing this as investment vehicles, then they aren't rare - they are just perceived to be rare. If kids aren't building memories around it today, how will they crave it down the line when they're grown ups? Anyway, Lego is banking on it alright! Good on them.
  - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
    >How are you supposed to create memories and have fun if you are buying to bank on it later? I don't think the Lego corporation cares about what people do with their Lego sets, as long as people keep buying more sets and at higher prices. Same how Nvidia doesn't care that their GPUs end up in the hands of miners and scalpers, instead of gamers to enjoy, create memories and have fun. All corporations have the same purpose, to generate value for their shareholders, using whichever way generates more revenue.
    - libertine 5y ago
      I disagree, I do think they care about what people do with their Legos, to the point of having the whole etiquette around how to properly use Lego parts. But to the point of caring if people are actually building their limited edition sets? After the purchase people are free to do what ever they want with it, and like I said, they are making bank on it. If they wanted to throw panic they just had to re-release limited edition sets. >Same how Nvidia doesn't care that their GPUs end up in the hands of miners and scalpers, instead of gamers to enjoy, create memories and have fun. And that's the fuel of change, AMD could have been capturing gamers but they're too focused on CPUs. But Intel got a taste of what it feels like not caring about consumers. Maximizing shareholder value is a short term strategy for B2C, usually doesn't go well. Shareholder value is a consequence from generating value to consumers, not the other way around.
the_mitsuhiko 5y ago
> Lego pricing is just wow, the sets are way too expensive How do you measure that? I'm sure there are some overpriced sets but overall the set prices don't seem particularly excessive to me. > Lego has serious competition: Cada and Mould King They might be fun for adults, but they are absolutely awful for children. Even as an adult I just despise Mould King in particular. The building instructions are non creative, the designs are largely stolen and you're almost guaranteed missing pieces.
- whynotmaybe 5y ago
  Never heard of mould king before so I went to their website and the first thing you see is a "space wars" millenium falcon or some "lieboherr" excavator. Seems like they copy whatever they want with some slight modification and brand it as "original".
  - the_mitsuhiko 5y ago
    They also made a (bad) typewriter after lego released the lego ideas typewriter.
  - tome 5y ago
    What on earth is this? https://www.mouldking.com/faq/ https://www.mouldking.com/faq/ I see > What Shipping Methods Are Available? > Ex Portland Pitchfork irure mustache. Neutra fap before they sold out literally. Aliquip ugh bicycle rights actually mlkshk, seitan squid craft beer tempor. Is everyone else seeing that, or is there some content blocker I've forgotten to disable?
    - claviska 5y ago
      > Thundercats swag 8-bit photo booth. Plaid letterpress leggings craft beer meh ethical Pinterest. Twee chia photo booth readymade food truck, hoodie roof party swag keytar PBR DIY. Cray ugh 3 wolf moon fap, fashion axe irony butcher cornhole typewriter chambray VHS banjo street art. They had me at “Thundercat swag” but lost me at “3 wolf moon fap.”
    - 5y ago
chaostheory 5y ago
So mega bloks isn’t much of a competitor?
Fatnino 5y ago
The price of a Lego set has been around 10 cents a piece for a very very long time. Sometimes you can find cheaper if it's just a bucket of bricks instead of a set with instructions, sometimes you find more expensive when a set includes difficult to manufacture parts, or electronics. There are also a few sets that are targeted at grownups, like giant starwars ships, and those will sometimes (rarely) rip you off for no good reason. But the 10c/piece rule of thumb is very easy to check.

by lnsru 5y ago

ChuckNorris89 5y ago

>However the landscape today is much different: Lego pricing is just wow, the sets are way too expensive. The high pricing is part of the brand image as well. It gives buyers the feeling their buying something premium that could also be an investment, more of a collector's item instead of just a toy, similar to a Rolex watch, which could appreciate in value over time and maybe sell it later for more than they originally paid.

j7ake 5y ago
Interesting, is there a market for second hand Lego sets ?
- the-dude 5y ago
  There is people making a living from said second hand market.
- ChuckNorris89 5y ago
  Hell yeah. Some rare older sets that aren't sold anymore can go several times their original price, especially in mint condition. I guess Lego saw the huge markups on the second hand market and thought they were selling themselves short and so decided to capitalized on it themselves instead of the sellers, by raising prices and focusing more on limited edition sets with various IP branding partnerships, turning what was once a kid's toy into a collector's item or even a potential investment opportunity. It's just corporations being corporations.
libertine 5y ago
>buying something premium that could also be an investment, more of a collector's item Am I the only one getting fed up with this mentality? What's the point buying toys and not use them? How are you supposed to create memories and have fun if you are buying to bank on it later? Because the logic will be: if a big part sees this as an easy flip, then no one uses it, enjoys it, has fun and creates memories with it, and down the line you'll have less people to sell this to. There are two groups of collectibles at the moment imo - highly speculative ones, where every one thinks they will get rich from hoarding and flipping shit, and true collectibles that were played with and have a solid fan base, where people used the products and have an emotional attachment to the brand. They are rare because people played with them (broke parts, lost others, trashed them), and very few people chose to not use the sets (most of them out of love for the brand, not to flip it down the line - and they were kids, not adults). If a big part is seeing this as investment vehicles, then they aren't rare - they are just perceived to be rare. If kids aren't building memories around it today, how will they crave it down the line when they're grown ups? Anyway, Lego is banking on it alright! Good on them.
- ChuckNorris89 5y ago
  >How are you supposed to create memories and have fun if you are buying to bank on it later? I don't think the Lego corporation cares about what people do with their Lego sets, as long as people keep buying more sets and at higher prices. Same how Nvidia doesn't care that their GPUs end up in the hands of miners and scalpers, instead of gamers to enjoy, create memories and have fun. All corporations have the same purpose, to generate value for their shareholders, using whichever way generates more revenue.
  - libertine 5y ago
    I disagree, I do think they care about what people do with their Legos, to the point of having the whole etiquette around how to properly use Lego parts. But to the point of caring if people are actually building their limited edition sets? After the purchase people are free to do what ever they want with it, and like I said, they are making bank on it. If they wanted to throw panic they just had to re-release limited edition sets. >Same how Nvidia doesn't care that their GPUs end up in the hands of miners and scalpers, instead of gamers to enjoy, create memories and have fun. And that's the fuel of change, AMD could have been capturing gamers but they're too focused on CPUs. But Intel got a taste of what it feels like not caring about consumers. Maximizing shareholder value is a short term strategy for B2C, usually doesn't go well. Shareholder value is a consequence from generating value to consumers, not the other way around.

the_mitsuhiko 5y ago

> Lego pricing is just wow, the sets are way too expensive How do you measure that? I'm sure there are some overpriced sets but overall the set prices don't seem particularly excessive to me. > Lego has serious competition: Cada and Mould King They might be fun for adults, but they are absolutely awful for children. Even as an adult I just despise Mould King in particular. The building instructions are non creative, the designs are largely stolen and you're almost guaranteed missing pieces.

whynotmaybe 5y ago
Never heard of mould king before so I went to their website and the first thing you see is a "space wars" millenium falcon or some "lieboherr" excavator. Seems like they copy whatever they want with some slight modification and brand it as "original".
- the_mitsuhiko 5y ago
  They also made a (bad) typewriter after lego released the lego ideas typewriter.
- tome 5y ago
  What on earth is this? https://www.mouldking.com/faq/ https://www.mouldking.com/faq/ I see > What Shipping Methods Are Available? > Ex Portland Pitchfork irure mustache. Neutra fap before they sold out literally. Aliquip ugh bicycle rights actually mlkshk, seitan squid craft beer tempor. Is everyone else seeing that, or is there some content blocker I've forgotten to disable?
  - claviska 5y ago
    > Thundercats swag 8-bit photo booth. Plaid letterpress leggings craft beer meh ethical Pinterest. Twee chia photo booth readymade food truck, hoodie roof party swag keytar PBR DIY. Cray ugh 3 wolf moon fap, fashion axe irony butcher cornhole typewriter chambray VHS banjo street art. They had me at “Thundercat swag” but lost me at “3 wolf moon fap.”
  - 5y ago

chaostheory 5y ago

So mega bloks isn’t much of a competitor?

Fatnino 5y ago

The price of a Lego set has been around 10 cents a piece for a very very long time. Sometimes you can find cheaper if it's just a bucket of bricks instead of a set with instructions, sometimes you find more expensive when a set includes difficult to manufacture parts, or electronics. There are also a few sets that are targeted at grownups, like giant starwars ships, and those will sometimes (rarely) rip you off for no good reason. But the 10c/piece rule of thumb is very easy to check.