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Monthly Mini Model Build (MMMB) Program Is Ending
DadsAFOL
USAMember Posts: 613
in Collecting
Sad news to report, but the LBR monthly in-store build for kids is coming to an end with the December 2014 gingerbread house as the grand finale. Apparently the program became a victim of its own success, drawing crowds of hundreds of kids to stores that only hold about 50 people at a time. I imagine that this isn't the shopping experience that LBR is trying to promote, and I wouldn't be surprised if people (especially us here in America) over the 6 years began to treat it as an entitlement - showing up every month to get the freebie and never spending a dollar in the store. So the MMMB program is being phased out. Rumor is that 2015 will bring something more "activity-based" for kids, most likely available for an extended period to spread out the crowds. I think we will see details emerge by the beginning of December when the January calendar is published.
The first store mini build in December 2008 was a very simple snowman #MMMB001 that only had 11 pieces. Seems no one managed a scan of the official instructions, but there is a recreation here if you want to build your own. There have been 81 models over the 6 years, with an occasional double month and a couple of months where Europe and North America had different models in a given month. You can view the Brickset MMMB category to see them all.
The first store mini build in December 2008 was a very simple snowman #MMMB001 that only had 11 pieces. Seems no one managed a scan of the official instructions, but there is a recreation here if you want to build your own. There have been 81 models over the 6 years, with an occasional double month and a couple of months where Europe and North America had different models in a given month. You can view the Brickset MMMB category to see them all.
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Comments
I can only speak for the Leeds store but it never felt rammed and because of the brilliant staff it was always very much an event. A decision made by the number crunchers most likely because unless they are all lying to me the troops on the ground really enjoyed it.
I hope whatever replaces it here in Germany is just as fun for the kids but not as crazy. ; )
Could they keep on making them and just sell one set each month like a regular stocked item in the stores and online for 5US each? That way there would not be a huge resellers' opportunity and those of us who adore these sets could more easily get them. No reason to make them a freebie; just make them more accessible. We all need little gift or party favor sets at one time or another, and these are flat out wonderful and have made many depressed folks smile. Especially our non-AFOL friends.
@cheshirecat: I don't think that you meant to denigrate or knock these sets, but it could be interpreted that way. If they sometimes are traded to folks who want them more, what is wrong with that? Just about every set is traded, and we all like different sets. I am sure that there are some of them that you have built and probably display somewhere? Which one was your favorite? Granted a few of them were not that exciting, but that were still very cool little builds, and lots of families loved this event.
I also wonder if there is a labelling problem again (like grab bags but not quite as extreme). As each one would need certification that it could be sold as a toy.
And it was offered in a short window of time for a couple hours for just one day. If they just had these as sealed polys available for say, $4, to everyone (with limits) that would have solved the issue, rather than canceling the whole thing.
Honestly, I am not surprised these are gone, but I am more cynical. I see their reason as yet another way to remove discounts and freebies and reseller avenues. They have been circling their wagons since late last summer and removing any and everything that looks remotely like I a discount. Honestly, I speculate whatever in store activity they replace it with will be lame and not worth the gas to go. We hit the mini-builds a few times a year. One of my favs was last year's turkey.
Overall, though, the result of all these removal of items, is that I am buying far fewer sets than past years and being very choosy.
Plus I know regular shoppers would find it too crazy to even go into the store if they saw that many kids running around unattended. Not all families are like that, but I've seen some nightmares there.
It sucks for those that truly enjoyed the builds w/ their kids and what not, but that small % of people isn't enough to keep this up.
CCC, yes, I can also state many of the same points you made... as said, that was my cynical response, so my focus was on that. ;-) I presume here are many reasons they are stopping it, but I honestly would not be surprised that some are due to the elements I mentioned.
Yes, their overall sales are up, so really they do not need the promos. The reality is they are out of the recession that hit, so moved away from discounts, BUT they are doing it more excessively than many companies have. At the point they have been successful with that, but the other high end toy company I follow did raise the prices excessively in an area or two and seems to have gotten hit by that.
It was getting increasingly chaotic month by month though. The shop would be packed to the rafters and the staff, understandably, stressed.
Shame to see it go though.
Eh. Would a company really want to have less people buying, even if production capacity can't meet demand?
I really do think this has far more to do with
(a) being out of the recession, which caused all retailers to back off large discounts
(b) that they can command the price they are charging. There is no reasons for them to have discounts to entice consumers, because they have the consumers at this point
(c) tightening loopholes and coupons that can make the sets cheaper than they want sold or that can be exploited by resellers. They have been in a serious mode of tightening all loopholes and discounts since last August, and I don't think that is simply due to supply in most cases. For example, in the case of Barnes and Noble, the coupon already removed exclusives. What Lego was left to buy? It was mainly sets that did not have a run on them, and that would not create a demand issue, because the sets are very much available at others stores.
The issue comes in with sets that are in demand, which are really just the new sets, and a simple exclusion on such sets would work just as easily if the issue was one of supply.
Who knows what activity they have planned to replace it? Obviously it wouldn't be good if they just didn't do anything, but it sounds like something will replace it.
I wonder how long the printed versions of the Club magazines have got left.
I was wondering who buys the keychains as they seem to stay at the cashier for a long time. If one could overcome the legal obstacles if any, could it work to put a new monthly build polybag in the keychain holder and see how it does? Would parents buy it for their kids and would adults buy it for fun? Who knows.
I can't get excited about keychains because they make we wish that I could buy that minifig without a hole in the head and after being ruined by being a keychain. Any ideas on this?
I can safely say that the Monthly Mini Build events will continue to be held on the first Tuesday of every month as usual! To create a more “premium experience,” as it was told by a close source, and to keep the crowds manageable, the Mini Builds will NOT be advertised on future LEGO Store Calendars, website, or on the door decal.
http://www.thebrickfan.com/will-the-lego-monthly-mini-builds-be-continuing-in-2015/
http://www.thebrickfan.com/new-lego-monthly-mini-build-program-changes/