Ed Mack Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) TLG will surely consider hurting resellers with unpredictable decisions (even more then in the past) - the infamous "chaos" Ed startet talking about last year. However, I don't think they will focus on this in a way that really hurts their sales on the other hand, making them lose profit unnecessarily. Retiring 3 (at least moderately popular) modulars at the same time should in fact hurt them as much as the resellers (and also irritate regular customers, which TLG has always been trying to avoid). This is why I don't believe that this is really happening. Even more so since Kwik-E-Mart, a new train and a new architcture set are also in there. Making the early retirement rumors even less probable imo.As I have said many times, there are other reasons why certain sets are retired and sales are not always part of them. If a set is not profitable to produce and sell, maybe that is the driving factor of retiring sets. LEGO knows the bottom line as to which themes and sets are more profitable than others. We really have no idea. Also, where a set is sold in the world also plays a huge role in retirement. Edited July 22, 2015 by Ed Mack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FILAS Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Sold out does not mean retired... Look at what happened to the Pet Shop modular a few months ago... I don´t believe it´s a glitch either, but it´s most probably a temporary "out of stock" situation. Maybe some "chinese investors" wanted to invest in something else after selling their gold . TGL might not be able to deal with some temporary peak in demand and hence you see some sets sold out, to avoid more demand. I seriously doubt they would want to retire some of those sets now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM123 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I can confirm from a reliable source that: PS - new production run under way. PR - new production run under way. DS - gone for good. I guess there's no surprises here.Is that source a Lego employee? I was told the same thing.. DS is sold out and never coming back, and they said that the warehouse in Europe is empty and waiting for a new run with respect to the modulars. How is this possible? Only one thing: All the stock of the three modulars is being shipped to the US probably. Furthermore, there was according to brickset also a 200+ stock on DS, where did that go? Also US?I really think Lego employees had a briefing about 'what to tell to panic customers / resellers today'.. some BS story. I don't think anything is coming back. it's simply no coincidence and they are trying to tell you a BS story about an empty warehouse and new production runs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerG Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) Kwik-E-Mart is definitely the one that doesn't make sense especially as it's supposed to become non Lego exclusive in Germany soon. Toys r us Germany advertises on it's site that it will be available from August on.As for the others: Anything is possible.But while we are on hearsay stories from Lego employees: Visited 4 Lego stores yesterday as I had to drive half-way through the country and employees in every single one told me that DS is not done yet but PS and ToO are out. Edited July 22, 2015 by TigerG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tractorboy Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Is that source a Lego employee? I was told the same thing.. DS is sold out and never coming back, and they said that the warehouse in Europe is empty and waiting for a new run with respect to the modulars. How is this possible? Only one thing: All the stock of the three modulars is being shipped to the US probably. Furthermore, there was according to brickset also a 200+ stock on DS, where did that go? Also US?I really think Lego employees had a briefing about 'what to tell to panic customers / resellers today'.. some bullshit story. I don't think anything is coming back. it's simply no coincidence and they are trying to tell you a bullshit story about an empty warehouse and new production runs. I think some of them are sure to come back. It wouldn't be very good CS if Lego were deliberately lying to people that sets are coming back if they knew they weren't.I don't think it's a coincidence either, but I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for all this. Just on a side note...if Lego were doing a bit of re-organising with regards stock or their online system, July would be the time to do it as it's a relatively quiet time of the year sales wise (I would think). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLKC Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Kwik-E-Mart is definitely the one that doesn't make sense especially as it's supposed to become non Lego exclusive in Germany soon. Toys r us Germany advertises on it's site that it will be available from August on.As for the others: Anything is possible.But while we are on hearsay stories from Lego employees: Visited 4 Lego stores yesterday as I had to drive half-way through the country and employees in every single one told me that DS is not done yet but PS and ToO are out.Germany advertises on it's site that it will be available from August on. -> Where? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerG Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) Here:http://www.toysrus.de/family/index.jsp?categoryId=30581501 ... They actually have decorated the whole background of the Lego Simpsons part of the web shop with the Kwik and on the upper left hand side of the page it says: "Ab August hier erhältlich" (Tranlation: Available here from August on) Edited July 22, 2015 by TigerG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLKC Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 ah nice now i know where the 4000 piece are going to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ciglione Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Could there be some issue with the production? I mean... maybe there were some mistakes made in the production or packing of these sets and now they have to check the boxes for completeness? Anyone here who has had issues with missing pieces in the PS, PC or PR? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_m Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I have had one piece missing in PS (2x4 plate) and also one in PR (1x2 brick). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wceagles Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Here:http://www.toysrus.de/family/index.jsp?categoryId=30581501 ... They actually have decorated the whole background of the Lego Simpsons part of the web shop with the Kwik and on the upper left hand side of the page it says: "Ab August hier erhältlich" (Tranlation: Available here from August on)rumors in Australia are also that Kwik e-mart will hit retail (Myer and Toyworld) in August and Pet Shop (next shipment) in November Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ciglione Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) As I have said many times, there are other reasons why certain sets are retired and sales are not always part of them. If a set is not profitable to produce and sell, maybe that is the driving factor of retiring sets. LEGO knows the bottom line as to which themes and sets are more profitable than others. We really have no idea. Also, where a set is sold in the world also plays a huge role in retirement.Yes, there can be multiple reasons for Lego to retire a set early.However, I believe it was you Ed, who already warned us for the coming "chaos" last year. So I must presume you had some pre-knowledge some strange things were about to happen. If so, this is not something that came fallen from the sky. It is some kind of new policy. So it is planned to happen this way. I also have the feeling. Not sure. That there are way more sets currently available than for example last year. This also forces Lego to make tough choices and retire sets faster.Now it is up to us to analyse these occurences and find out what this new policy is. Edited July 22, 2015 by Ciglione Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Brickowski Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 As I have said many times, there are other reasons why certain sets are retired and sales are not always part of them. If a set is not profitable to produce and sell, maybe that is the driving factor of retiring sets. LEGO knows the bottom line as to which themes and sets are more profitable than others. We really have no idea. Also, where a set is sold in the world also plays a huge role in retirement.Ed, I understand what you say, but what I don't get is this: If TLG retires a set early mostly because it is not profitbale to produce - then why did they release (and produce) it AT ALL in the first place? In this case they knew beforehand what production would cost, so why take the risk of it being a poor seller so they would have to retire it early instead of taking the "normal" risk of a new set that can be produced at regular cost? As for the modulars, there is no license involved, so no "need" to produce (with) "non-profitable" sets/parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerG Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 And don't forget that there is a ton of new sets about to hit the stores soon - I totally agree that they have to retire quite a few things to make room for the new and to free production capacities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tractorboy Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Yes, there can be multiple reasons for Lego to retire a set early.However, I believe it was you Ed, who already warned us for the coming "chaos" last year. So I must presume you had some pre-knowledge some strange things were about to happen. If so, this is not something that came fallen from the sky. It is some kind of new policy. So it is planned to happen this way. I also have the feeling. Not sure. That there are way more sets currently available than for example last year. This also forces Lego to make tough choices and retire sets faster.Now it is up to us to analyse these occurences and find out what this new policy is.Maybe we will start to see 'temporary retirements'? Like a set being temporarily taken out of production for a few months, while production focuses on other sets. Maybe they wanted to free up some production capacity in order to focus on the next SW line for example? All speculation of course, I'm not that clued in to how they manage their production capacity. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ciglione Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Maybe we will start to see 'temporary retirements'? Like a set being temporarily taken out of production for a few months, while production focuses on other sets. Maybe they wanted to free up some production capacity in order to focus on the next SW line for example? All speculation of course, I'm not that clued in to how they manage their production capacity.Yeah... Kwik E-Mart would be a perfect example. They have produced a big batch these so now they can concentrate on other sets. I think they want to avoid having to do a blow-out sale of sets like happened recently. So they produce as they go based on demand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyman Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 interestingly the EU stock inventory feed for the "sold out" modular has vanished....But still on Brickset database.Ed - have you removed these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asharerin Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Whether it is a glitch or not, my question to everyone is why are three of the Modulars on the SOLD OUT list and hundreds of other sets are not? There has to be some reason for these sets to have triggered the "glitch." I don't think it is a glitch, just a temporary wait for the new production runs with the new boxart. Yeah... Kwik E-Mart would be a perfect example. They have produced a big batch these so now they can concentrate on other sets. I think they want to avoid having to do a blow-out sale of sets like happened recently. So they produce as they go based on demand. Makes sense to me. They completely misjudged demand for the Simpsons House and retailers have a glut of those worldwide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inversion Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Maybe we will start to see 'temporary retirements'? Like a set being temporarily taken out of production for a few months, while production focuses on other sets. Maybe they wanted to free up some production capacity in order to focus on the next SW line for example? All speculation of course, I'm not that clued in to how they manage their production capacity.This is actually very likely. Since LEGO misjudged demand for some exclusives and probably it costs a lot of storage space etc. they might use a pre-order system instead. For exclusives it makes much sense, however it has the risk of reducing demand. Lots of people don't like waiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wceagles Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 interestingly the EU stock inventory feed for the "sold out" modular has vanished....But still on Brickset database.Ed - have you removed these?Brickset database still shows yesterday's dataset..EU stock inventory feed is more up to date by a few hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_m Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I have called Customer Support (EU region) and the lady there told me that "Sold Out" for exclusives (10218, 10232, 10243, 10188, 71016) is a glitch and these sets are still in stock.I am convinced that this is the truth as she is the one that has always provided me with the accurate information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay4e Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I have called Customer Support (EU region) and the lady there told me that "Sold Out" for exclusives (10218, 10232, 10243, 10188, 71016) is a glitch and these sets are still in stock.I am convinced that this is the truth as she is the one that has always provided me with the accurate information.brickset api seems to support this also. they are not showing these as sold out in EU, and I am assuming that check ran overnight. just to note that 10188 is showing as sold out in US and CA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostDad Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Is it not possible that some 'sold out' sets are coming back, and others are not? Also, why use that status at all (rather than 'TooS' or 'out of stock, will ship whenever') if Lego knows they have a new production run underway? They've done this with PS and SH in the US, for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Briggs Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Ed, I understand what you say, but what I don't get is this: If TLG retires a set early mostly because it is not profitbale to produce - then why did they release (and produce) it AT ALL in the first place? In this case they knew beforehand what production would cost, so why take the risk of it being a poor seller so they would have to retire it early instead of taking the "normal" risk of a new set that can be produced at regular cost? As for the modulars, there is no license involved, so no "need" to produce (with) "non-profitable" sets/parts.Yes, TLG does know how much the production of a set will cost beforehand but only for a certain amount of units produced. If they're producing less units of a set than estimated, then each unit will be more expensive to produce as the share of fixed costs (designing the set, creation of set specific moulds etc.) is higher in relation to the share of variable costs. In case they're producing more units of a set than planned, and are able to sell them, then each unit will obviously be cheaper to produce as the share of fixed costs decreases.Even when a set is still profitable to produce, there will almost always be a set that's more profitable. Then, TLG has to decide how many of these sets they want to have available at the same time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GiliusThunderhead Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I have called Customer Support (EU region) and the lady there told me that "Sold Out" for exclusives (10218, 10232, 10243, 10188, 71016) is a glitch and these sets are still in stock.I am convinced that this is the truth as she is the one that has always provided me with the accurate information.If it is just a glitch then not sure why it hasn't been fixed by now.In reality I'd be surprised if they were all done or could this be the start of skynet taking over??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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