What_does_the_future_hold

I can't help but think is Lego finaly giving the finger to the "investor" or "reselling market" with their issuing of Azog at Comic-Con. I'm mean unless the packaging alone shows up on Ebay for $1000 I'd say they new all along that they would be watching for fun to see how crazy people got with it knowing that they were going to issue it all along.

You're welcome and yeah, I also ordered a nice slug of BTTF from amazon on pre-order. :)

That's great to hear. It does however follow their M.O. for banning so it could've gone either way.

Yes I have and short of being completely dishonest they still cancel orders. I won't go so far as being dishonest with names and such so I can't say if that would work.

Yep. Hate to be the bearer of bad news but that's what happened/happens to me now that I'm banned. No email, and almost instant cancellation of the order.

While there's potentially some validity to the comments of who and where to seek advice, I would have to slightly disagree (and of course possibly face being ignored) because compared to an analogy of poker I think someone new to the Lego game who isn't on a "particular" level could still ad value although I will admit that it's still not as likely as people who've worked at a high level for longer. But I'm also never closed minded enough to admit that someone else no matter their age or experience couldn't come up with a better mousetrap for me to try. But that's just coming from an over 40 year old who's been around a while. That being said, I think the biggest problem is very few people are willing to talk about what they really buy and sell in terms of dollars. Maybe because they aren't reporting the income, maybe because they aren't wanting to tip their hand, maybe they think people will call B.S. on them, or maybe because they just don't feel like sharing. No matter what the reason, I would say that it's nearly impossible to say what "your level" or anyone elses is so how do we evaluate who's "worth" talking to at your level? If we went by certain people's Brickfolio, then they only have $17k in product to sell, or for that matter I have $0, when in fact I may have moved nearly $1mil in product by the end of the year so does that make my opinions, experience, and information any more or less valuable than anyone elses? I guess that depends on who's reading it and what they are looking to learn or gain. And does that make me a big fish, little fish, or a whale; does it give me the right to only talk to a certain sub-set of people? I have no idea and honestly don't care because I'll listen to anything once and discard what doesn't work for me. Bottom line is there will always be some component of a swinging di

So glad we're back on topic. So yes in and of itself the LEGO Shop at Home ban could be seen as laughable, irrelevant, or a non-issue to many people. And granted in the grand sceme of things I would agree since even for me what I buy (or now I should say bought) there is a fraction. But it's a fraction of a lot which still makes it a decent amount and yes to the points above it's usually on items that are exclusive to LEGO Shop at Home. From a paranoid standpoint it's easy to say that Lego instituted limits and the big boxes followed, now Lego bans some people, and potentially the big boxes follow (i.e. Target's latest efforts). It's a natural progression in most people's minds. Will it happen everywhere, I doubt it but it reminds me of the old adage that goes something like this... "Put a mouse in a pot of boiling water, the mouse will do everything in it's power to survive, but place that same mouse in tap water and slowly raise the temperature and the mouse will simply accept it's fate and die without a struggle." I had written Ed and Jeff about this topic before it even posted because I refuse to the later of the two mice. While I agree with some of the other posters in stating that I'm not in the business of creating my own competition (and yes I see the irony here), I do feel that as a group we have more to lose or gain than any one individual and if bringing this topic to the front inspires many an impassioned responses that we have at least put it in everyone's mind that no matter to what degree this ban affects you, it DOES affect you and that requires action of some kind. What that action is will obvioulsy depend on what you do and how you do it but even the most cocky of resellers who claim they never bother with LEGO Shop at Home will still feel that tiny ripple wash up on their shore at some point.

Wow. It sums up their side. Sums up our side. I say we close the thread!

I would I would agree with you BUT, you can in fact buy a set and compete tomorrow and here's how and why they care. Say I go buy a Wolverine Chopper set for $20 from LEGO Shop at Home or the Lego store. Then I go home and crack it open, build the figs, build the helicopter and then list each individual minifig on Ebay as well as the copter. Now there's going to be some kid or adult out there who ONLY cares about the Deadpool and doesn't want to buy the set just to get it so they'll pay me $10 for it, and so on with the other parts of the set until I've made $35 on it AND I've kept Lego from selling 5 of those sets because someone got each piece they wanted without having to buy the whole set. Make sense???

We can debate what is this or that (but for the record I agree that there is no difference between investor or reseller) but here's the bottom line for Lego. Sure the "reseller" will affect current market with current product. But the "investor" actually has the same or more chance of affecting Lego because of the fact they are supposedly ONLY selling retired sets and here's why. In the here and now market, the reseller actually has to work harder and faces more competition not only from Lego but all the other big box stores and other resellers and they're all fighting for the same dollar because the customer can go a million places and find it. In those situations Lego's odds are better because they have the inventory and pricing to sway a customer their way and/or they at least move a current unit because it went to a retailer where it was sold. The way I see it, the investor stands more chance of hurting them because now a customer may be making a choice not between pricing or loyalty to a store but between the old version or the new version of set and that means NONE of the stores that offer the current set stand a chance if that customer decides to go with the older set. In this scenario, Lego loses out completely because it hasn't been able to sell anything through it's curent channels.

It was explained to me that their computer system had now been updated to flag (in addition to having a clipboard with local names on it) what they called

One of the things I do know that is Lego always shoots a couple warning shots before blacklisting the account. I would say I got maybe 2-3 emails over a couple month period and despite modifying my orders even to the point of only ordering one item per order I was formally blacklisted in May. Good times.... Oh and did I mention I was also told that I no longer have the ability to access any of my VIP dollars? Yep, they're history. Glad I used most of them before I was banned from the store. All in all I only lost about $25 but had I not used them it would've been hundreds.

I hope the "paid site / free site" topic doesn't hijack what is a very critical topic. That being said, I hate the idea. If we only look to those at or above our level how will we ever learn from those with fresh ideas who are new to the game? If someone want to have their own reindeer games go start your own site and I'm sure you'll attract those who share your sentiment. Ed and Jeff clearly don't feel that's how they want this site to work so we just have to accept there will be plenty of noobs to match with the pros. This is a community that has fought itself for too long and it's because of that behavior that we don't have a voice. Ed and Jeff give us that voice more than any other site. Sure I subscribe to FTBT, ToysNBricks, HothBricks, etc but those are far more on the fan side of the spectrum. I was on board with Jeff and Ed from day one because they get "us". They understand business and the business of Lego reselling. Now any of you that honestly think you're not one of the hated resellers because you call yourself an investor is dillusional. We're not welcome either way. It's all business one way or another and whether there's people like me who pay taxes on it and have a corporation to do it through or some stay at home dad who's staying just under the IRS limit for reportable income it doesn't matter. We all do the same thing; we look for deals, we buy them up, and we wait until they appreciate before selling. So if one group here thinks they're better than the other please take a step back and look at what we need to do as a collective group to make things better for everyone. Pointing fingers doesn't help. I can take responsiblity for the holes I put in a stores shelf, can you?

I have sent Ed and Jeff a picture of the paper handed to me as well as some other information and opinions. I suck at posting photos on message boards but if Ed could post it I have no problem with that. I am a fairly active member of this site but have no interest using my normal username to discuss this for any number of reasons. I suppose every store will choose to enforce these directives as they see fit but I can assure you I was told it was 1) a company directive 2) a non-negotiable for the managers/employees to enforce, and 3)not going away anytime soon. So as I see it, old guard managers may still favor the dollars that their favored resellers bring them but with more of them heading out the door the new company men won't have those allegiences.

To everyone who thinks your local Lego store is a safe haven I have news for you. LEGO is now blacklisting customers at store level. Some if not all of the stores have now been given a physical list on a clipboard (as well as the registers now flagging you) of people who are now receiving those same "email pink slips" and are being asked to never shop in the store again. We've seen it happen right in front of us to another reseller (it was a little sad and embarassing to watch) just this week and thankfully the manager came and told us in person before we got to the register since he knows us.