75192 - UCS: Millennium Falcon 2017

[flynnibus]

1 hour ago, Val-E said:

Better make it quick, 6 months is all they get in the job these days.

uhh... The true prior CEO was there for 12+ years.  The last CFO was there for 4 years (who also moved onto a larger role at Lego Foundation afterwards).  The main shakeup was just this year when Badda was moved out quicker than expected.. which lead to the new leadership team in place now.  And that was almost an 'interim CEO' all along.

Lego's struggles in the US with the market lagging vs prior growth has been going on for nearly 2 years now.

 

[flynnibus]

1 hour ago, Ed Mack said:

All I have to do is look at every front window display of the LEGO store and the new 75192 and its "floor space" to realize who LEGO is targeting.   

On a side note...Invite me to the dinner with the new CFO...I will educate both of you as to what the LEGO fan wants.

I believe I already used the term 'showcase' product previously in this thread.  Chevy also puts the Corvette out in front of their dealerships... that doesn't make it the bread and butter of the business.  They are the 'weenie' products placed there to grab eyes and attention.  One display out of how many in the store again??

[Ed Mack]

I believe I already used the term 'showcase' product previously in this thread.  Chevy also puts the Corvette out in front of their dealerships... that doesn't make it the bread and butter of the business.  They are the 'weenie' products placed there to grab eyes and attention.  One display out of how many in the store again??

Never said it was bread and butter. What's in the front window? Duplo? What's the first set you see entering the store? A 100 piece set? Add up the square feet of the displays and you will see that sets designed for adults and advanced builders take up a large and most important portion of store real estate.

I just want to know what set she displays on her desk . 

Nothing LEGO related most likely. Probably never built a set.

[Ed Mack]

Or get educated. 

There are many things in the world I don't know, but what makes a successful LEGO set is not one of them.

[flynnibus]

3 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

Nothing LEGO related most likely. Probably never built a set.

She's all about finance - not product direction/passion.  She was brought in as CFO in my prior company as well.  Not uncommon at all in COO or CFO roles as their jobs are about managing the back-office efficiency and things typically away from the product itself.... minus being a roadblock/gate to investing in new directions, or scrutinizing a segment as not making "enough" to be worthy of the business' time.

 

4 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

Never said it was bread and butter. What's in the front window? Duplo?

but you did claim it was responsible for the up and down of the company.  If it were so critical to the success, you'd see it taking up a lot more of the store shelves.

[exciter1]

2 hours ago, Bold-Arrow said:

Some of us get paid ... in likes 

[Ed Mack]

They do tend to take themselves a bit ToO seriously here at times.

Some people like to come in here and try to impress us with their infinite experience and knowledge. My limited intellectual capacity cannot comprehend such matters.

[emonster]

Mine changed to "backordered" 

[CM4Sci]

Anyone here in Minnesota? Any one of you one of the 9 that got the Falcon?

[boliramirez]

16 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

Some people like to come in here and try to impress us with their infinite experience and knowledge. My limited intellectual capacity cannot comprehend such matters.

yeah, it gets boring when they try too hard to make their point..... 

[Migration]

There are many things in the world I don't know, but what makes a successful LEGO set is not one of them.

While I'd assume you've got a fair handle on what items are purchased through aff links and what items are entered into brickfolios (by those that keep them up to date) that info hardly translates into actual sales data.

[inversion]

1 hour ago, Ed Mack said:

Never said it was bread and butter. What's in the front window? Duplo? What's the first set you see entering the store? A 100 piece set? Add up the square feet of the displays and you will see that sets designed for adults and advanced builders take up a large and most important portion of store real estate.

The store displays play an interesting function for LEGO. Their presence is largely disproportional compared to the core audience of kids, and while their primary function in most cases is not promoting their own sales, it is still an important factor. Actually, my company did research on this, and it can be mainly attributed to the following:

1. Draws attention of adults, even if not being AFOLs. As a result, their patience to enter and spend time in a toy store is increased, which adds to the likelihood of a successful sale.
2. Parents seeing that complex adult targeted offerings are available, the toy is considered to be more mature than the competitors. This creates the perception that it helps more to develop the kids. These days this is a very important selling point.
3. Sets goals to the kids. It shows that there will be more and better when they grow, and kids always want to play with stuff that adults use. Once kids know that adults also play LEGO, the desirability is increased, so they can be perceived more mature among their peers.
4. Relatively cheap and easy to change decoration for the company.
5. Displays promote impulse buying. To be an impulse buyer you need cash, and who has cash? Adults. An adult impulse buying a T1 or a falcon is much more likely than a kid doing that with a police station.

This all sounds mumbo jumbo, but the underlying, often subconscious, psychological influences play a very large role in product sales. LEGO is no different.

[house72]

4 hours ago, Bold-Arrow said:

I just want to know what set she displays on her desk . 

Desk??  I want to know what' sets on the credenza..    

[cladner]

my order switched to BACKORDERED from WAITING FOR NEW STOCK.  hopefully that's a good thing.

[ISO8T0]

Wow. The title of this thread sure needs to change.

@Cladner not sure there is any difference between the two.
Technically they mean the same thing.

[Floriano]

26 minutes ago, pstebbing said:

Wow. The title of this thread sure needs to change.

@Cladner not sure there is any difference between the two.
Technically they mean the same thing.

Yesterday, a CS rep said that with backorder status they can already try to fetch an estimated delivery date...

[firstofminifigs]

Another thing to consider regarding in store shipments when they do arrive (this according to Lego store employee) is that the employees weren't allowed to purchase any of the original release stock. There may be a good number of employees making that purchase when the second shipment comes.

Also, the ideal black VIP benefit for me would be access to a Han Solo: A Star Wars Story expansion pack with young Han Solo and pieces for any mods to the Falcon that may be present in the new movie.

[Brikkyy13]

5 minutes ago, firstofminifigs said:

Also, the ideal black VIP benefit for me would be access to a Han Solo: A Star Wars Story expansion pack with young Han Solo and pieces for any mods to the Falcon that may be present in the new movie.

If they did that, I don't think even I would be able to resist selling that one off. However, I doubt that this is what we'll get. I think the most we'll get is the Revan polybag or Escape the Space Slug set.

[citymorgue]

Not sure if you guys have seen this, but I noticed this on the Lego site regarding the special VIP card.

https://shop.lego.com/en-US/Exclusive

[Floriano]

Anybody in the US knows about any store receiving new MF units this week?

[Klownicle]

33 minutes ago, Floriano said:

Anybody in the US knows about any store receiving new MF units this week?

I wouldn't mind hearing some details on this, the Lego news seems to be only about the online store.  I'm about 2hrs from Disney, can't make that trek daily and I doubt their holding these for customers.

[Floriano]

4 minutes ago, Klownicle said:

I wouldn't mind hearing some details on this, the Lego news seems to be only about the online store.  I'm about 2hrs from Disney, can't make that trek daily and I doubt their holding these for customers.

I called Disney Springs store yesterday and the salesmen said they would hold it (I didn't ask for how long...) if they had any. I also asked if there was any plans to receive any more but he just said they would only know when it's already there...

Edited September 19, 2017 by Floriano
typos

[Val-E]

56 minutes ago, citymorgue said:

Not sure if you guys have seen this, but I noticed this on the Lego site regarding the special VIP card.

https://shop.lego.com/en-US/Exclusive

Interesting. But this is a different type of card from the 100 LE ones given out in London that are selling for 1k GBP, right? Those ones were not associated to the normal VIP, were they? I am so confused.

Edited September 19, 2017 by Val-E

[gregpj]

11 minutes ago, Val-E said:

Interesting. But this is a different type of card from the 100 LE ones given out in London that are selling for 1k GBP, right? Those ones were not associated to the normal VIP, were they? I am so confused.

Those 100 are completely different from the VIP card you're supposed to eventually receive. The one you get sent is supposed to have your VIP number printed/embossed/something onto it so I don't think anyone will be selling those.

[Val-E]

2 minutes ago, gregpj said:

Those 100 are completely different from the VIP card you're supposed to eventually receive. The one you get sent is supposed to have your VIP number printed/embossed/something onto it so I don't think anyone will be selling those.

So the 100 London ones are basically useless pieces of high-priced collector memorabilia and it´s the postal copies that are useful for the promos and accumulate VIP points that are worthless? Got it.