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Comments
@jamie - thanks for responding to this discussion. It's nice to hear an insiders view.
For me, the modulars are the ultimate in LEGO sets, and by far my favorites. If I had to limit myself to a set a year, it would be the modulars. Thank you for helping to bring this wonderful line to us! I look forward to future sets, whatever they may be! :o)
Now can the Admins put Jamie's response in a perm thread for anyone else that brings this up in the future? :-)
@jamie (or anyone who might know) Excuse my ignorance, but what has happened to some of these molds that they no longer exist?
Thanks for contributing to the discussion Jamie :-)
Some of them, however, just never get re-used. I think there was an example that someone high-up gave (maybe Jorgen?) where LEGO was at one time producing about 6 different wheels with peg-holes, and at least 6 corresponding tires to go with them. So some of them were discontinued in order to save money-- IE, if you use the most versatile 2 types of wheels with peg-holes, you don't have to use the other 4, and that's 4 fewer part runs you have to make (switching molds and colors takes time, which equals money), and 4 fewer storage bins to keep.
Others are discontinued if there's a problem with the mold. For instance, LEGO stopped manufacturing elements with exposed magnets, thanks to safety concerns. The old molds may still have worked just fine, but LEGO needed to switch to something new very quickly to ensure product standards.
And still others are discontinued because they're too expensive (although this generally has to do with more complex parts). Things like chrome parts, or parts with embedded metal or electronics can be pretty pricey. One of the factors contributing to the end of 9v train track was the cost to manufacture the 9v tracks, which had to go through a special process of adhering the metal tracks (especially difficult in point connections).
DaveE
Can I bring up monorail? I think this is still on-topic enough as we're talking about general rereleases and discontinuations in most of the latter part of this thread.
They're still very popular, but I understand they're 'off limits' for rereleases because the technology can't be recreated cost-effectively. Surely though, this is not rocket science, it's just a simple motor with a metal cog and battery attached, it can't be hard to source these cost-effectively, or adapt it to a technology which can. Or is the technology reason (which people often give) incorrect- is the purely down to low projected sales?
(for what it's worth, I'd be in favour of new monorail designs as well as improvements to the technology, rather than a re-release)
http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/3869/why-no-more-monorail#Item_1
I also could not see this happening, I can see both the for and nee for both, but the nee makes more sense! When I first saw pics of CC in february 2007, I knew Lego had just created one of the best series ever conceived and that it would be very popular with the AFOL community, I remember buying this set on March 11th in 2007 and it was the only set I ever bought the day it came out! I also remember that there was a young boy age 11 at the Lego store asking his mother to buy the set for him, She was worried that the set would be to difficult for him to build, but since her husband also liked lego that the hard parts would not be to difficult for him with his fathers help, I learned later that the family has bought every modular ever since, and still has them build. so obviously a lot of young people have bought the set as well. Sure it is sad that CC and GG are not available any more but what would happen in 2 to 3 years for the people then who want FB, GE, PS, TH and what ever comes there after, would you want a rerelease of the other Modulars as well? No! So its good to know that TLG will not give this a second thought, and for the people who want to make there collection complete you will probably get those rare pieces eventually just keep looking! Good Luck!
Looking forward to the next Modular, Dang another year to wait :(
I guess there are very different attitudes towards Lego. Mainly depending on whether you enjoy playing with it or are in it to make money. I have a reasonable, but by no means large, collection. Their value to me is not really what sets I have, it is what models I can build with them. I rarely build the official models any more. I normally build them once, then break them up and build something of my own. I find it much more satisfying to look at something I have designed and built, rather than looking at someone else's creation. Which I guess is why I buy more through bricklink than I do through Lego. In that sense, thank Lego Group for common parts that people sell off cheap after breaking up sets with a single rare piece in.
Your argument that you'd prefer your collection to be "worth little" doesn't make sense since value accrues on almost anything over time. People who bought the Cafe Corner when it came out paid less than people who bought any other modular since (I don't count the Market Street). The value rose higher than the other modulars over time. That's the case with most anything, Lego or not. Something with a value which doesn't rise over time is referred to as junk.
They are not "valued", but I personally think they are pretty cool, my son is having a blast with them.
Cafe Corner is "valued", based on the amount of time people spend talking about it, but I wonder if it was only worth $100 today as a retired set, would anyone care or talk about it?
Human nature is a funny thing, it doesn't always follow logic or a straight line.
Just food for thought...
So Lego would have to return to old colors, plus make new molds, just for PAB.
I highly doubt that is going to happen. :)
Although more seriously, I wonder why they don't keep molds. No doubt they break on usage, but even so.
Here's a comparison:
So, no, I could care less.
Although, you probably couldn't care less about me pointing this out to you. =)
Didn't buy the Grand Emporium, Fire Station, or the Town Hall- didn't like the size and colours used in them. Have yet to put together the Pet Shop.
I've been a fan all of my life but with the giant-ification of Lego sets that basically don't fit in with my sets from the past, and the sky-rocketting prices, I've been less and less excited than I have been in previous times.
It would be both fantastic and a travesty if they did, as I still need Market Place and Green Grocer. But if they did re-release them, my heart would sink when I consider how much I paid for Cafe Corner :-/
They can of course remake the molds, the only reason they don't reissue them is because they'll get more sales making something new. Look at Palace Cinema, would we all prefer a reissue of Cafe Corner if that meant we didn't get PC? Of course not...
CC only makes sense if they do it in addition to PC and make it a [email protected] exclusive, perhaps limited edition for just 6 months.
But it isn't likely to happen.