Support the bringing back of Cafe Corner and Market Street

[iKonoKlasT]

Hello guys,

You have certainly read about the launch of Lego Cuusoo. The website offers us the opportunity to see old sets back to the stores.

Help us get the two first modular buildings back by supporting those entries:

http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/1097

http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/1098

Thank you

[L@go]

I hate to be a killjoy here, but I really can't see this ever working out. For one thing, you'll need 10,000 - ten thousand - Cuusoo users signing up for it, and you have to take into consideration that there are probably quite a lot of Lego fans (like myself) who don't want TLG to bring it back, because they already own it and like the exclusivity. And then you need to read the rules of Cuusoo carefully - they state that if you get 10,000 supporters, they will consider re-releasing the set. So you'll need 10,000 supporters just to make them consider it. I'm sorry, but it won't happen.

But if it ever does, I'll be tipping my hat to your persistence.

EDIT: Spelling. Turns out this is a difficult language.

Edited October 7, 2011 by L@go

[Yucca Patrol]

We just started building the modulars, and as much as we wish we could get a Green Grocer or other discontinued set without paying 3x or more for it, we are just as happy to build what is available and look forward to building new sets as they appear. Like the previous poster, I rather like the idea that a couple years from now my pet shop and fire brigade will be highly desirable exclusive items that can only be had from people who get more enjoyment from $$$$ than from LEGO.

[Juppy]

Woah. That's pretty darn selfish

[Yucca Patrol]

I didn't mean to sound selfish, especially as I believe that jacking up the price of discontinued sets is a very distasteful and selfish practice and I could care less that a set I buy today might be worth more in the future. More than anything, I take somewhat of a Buddhist approach with such things as I simply accept things as they are and do my best not to let greed and desire control my thoughts (something hard to do when all you think about is LEGO).

TLG is going to keep on making great modular buildings and my life will not be incomplete if I am missing a couple of them that I missed out on on the past. I'd much rather have 3 future sets than pay three times the original price for a single discontinued set. I'd also rather TLG put their limited resources into producing new sets than bringing back old ones.

If you really want one of these discontinued sets and are willing to do it, go out right now and buy two or three extra Fire Brigades as it appears that the last production run has been finished. Save them for a year or two, sell them for an outrageous price and then give your profit to someone who will sell you your desired set for an equally outrageous price.

[MAH4546]

I didn't mean to sound selfish, especially as I believe that jacking up the price of discontinued sets is a very distasteful and selfish practice and I could care less that a set I buy today might be worth more in the future. More than anything, I take somewhat of a Buddhist approach with such things as I simply accept things as they are and do my best not to let greed and desire control my thoughts (something hard to do when all you think about is LEGO).

Distasteful and selfish? Really?

When you resell your house, be sure to charge exactly what you paid for it. It would be just so selfish of you to charge the market price.

Edited October 7, 2011 by MAH4546

[Pingles]

I think I'd rather see Lego release a mediocre "new" product rather than re-release a great "retired" product.

Each release is a step into the future. Just look at the designs of those 1990's sets that, at the time, were considered "great" and you realize we are taking baby steps each release towards more and more remarkable products.

But good luck on your endeavor.

[medib]

Instead of re-releasing the old sets, I would prefer if Lego enlarged the pallett on Design-by-Me and Online Pick-a-brick

so that models like the cafe corner and market street would really be buildable completely despite the cost. Especially

market street which was originally a factory set anyways.

Just my 2 cents.

Ben

[lorax]

I am an optimist, so I have voted.

(In Australia, many of the modular were hard to get and almost twice the price as in the US (when our $ was on parity), that changing is something I am less optimistic about).

[harmacy]

Instead of re-releasing the old sets, I would prefer if Lego enlarged the pallett on Design-by-Me and Online Pick-a-brick

so that models like the cafe corner and market street would really be buildable completely despite the cost. Especially

market street which was originally a factory set anyways.

Just my 2 cents.

Ben

LIKE!

[Andy D]

I just added my support for both projects.

I came late to the party and I would really like both of these sets.

I built an "almost" Cafe Corner from parts, but I would like the real thing.

We need more support and more optimistic folks to get the ground.

Andy D

[Vindicare]

Distasteful and selfish? Really?

When you resell your house, be sure to charge exactly what you paid for it. It would be just so selfish of you to charge the market price.

That was a really bad analogy... Compare collectibles to collectibles. Besides, you'd be lucky to get market value on your house now-a-days(US, anyways). Whereas the two aforementioned sets are triple what they originally went for.

I say no to this endeavor, as well.

[Siegfried]

From what I've heard (from Jamie ) it's not possible because the corner door is an out of production piece....

[Yucca Patrol]

Here's a perfect example why i think it is absolutely wrong for adults to hoard a children's toy with the intention of selling it at a huge markup once it is discontinued.

Today, when I went to my local LEGO store to buy my Fire Brigade, I was told that there were only 3 left and that they would not be getting any more. The good capitalist in me thought "I should buy them all and then sell them at Christmas time when demand is high for this newly discontinued item." I stuck with my original plan to buy one and only one for myself, took one down off the shelf, and headed to the pick a brick wall.

While I was carefully packing my cup of loose pieces, a mother and her approximately 10 year old son came into the store. I was the only other customer in the store and heard everything this excited child said. Apparently fire trucks and firemen are his favorite and he wants to be a fireman when he grows up. With delight, he exclaimed that he couldn't believe that this day was finally here after spending the past 6 months saving his allowance and doing odd jobs for his family and neighbors in order to save up for the biggest and best fire station LEGO ever made. He literally had his piggy bank with him and he and the sales associate counted out a huge pile of loose coins in addition to a giant grubby roll of single dollar bills he had saved. His mother told him how proud she was of him and that this is the sort of reward that comes from hard work and dedication to a goal.

Imagine what the scene might have been like if the sales associate had told the little boy, "I'm sorry but we only had three of them left today and that gentleman over there greedily over-packing his pick a brick cup bought every single one of them to sell for three times the price on ebay."

Although I knew this already, my experience today clearly demonstrated that too many adults get caught up in the collector's fever and forget that we are playing with children's toys that are actually made for children. Hoarding rare, soon to be discontinued sets for speculation purposes is basically guaranteed to cause children to be disappointed and saddened somewhere down the line. I like $$$$ as much as the next guy, but I don't need it so much that I am willing to indirectly cause harm to children to get it.

I know that my bleeding heart is not typical, and that there is actually nothing wrong with buying something in order to later sell it at a profit, as that is the basis of capitalism that I believe in, but I simply love LEGO too much to have my love for it have any chance of causing any child to be disappointed.

So I've changed my mind and will support the return of the modular sets simply to give children a second chance to get them and to devalue the sets that adult LEGO hoarders have stashed away.

Now how about adding the Green Grocer to Cuusoo too? Our family wants that even more than these two!

Edited October 8, 2011 by Yucca Patrol

[Locutis]

Here's a perfect example why i think it is absolutely wrong for adults to hoard a children's toy with the intention of selling it at a huge markup once it is discontinued.

Today, when I went to my local LEGO store to buy my Fire Brigade, I was told that there were only 3 left and that they would not be getting any more. The good capitalist in me thought "I should buy them all and then sell them at Christmas time when demand is high for this newly discontinued item." I stuck with my original plan to buy one and only one for myself, took one down off the shelf, and headed to the pick a brick wall.

While I was carefully packing my cup of loose pieces, a mother and her approximately 10 year old son came into the store. I was the only other customer in the store and heard everything this excited child said. Apparently fire trucks and firemen are his favorite and he wants to be a fireman when he grows up. With delight, he exclaimed that he couldn't believe that this day was finally here after spending the past 6 months saving his allowance and doing odd jobs for his family and neighbors in order to save up for the biggest and best fire station LEGO ever made. He literally had his piggy bank with him and he and the sales associate counted out a huge pile of loose coins in addition to a giant grubby roll of single dollar bills he had saved. His mother told him how proud she was of him and that this is the sort of reward that comes from hard work and dedication to a goal.

Imagine what the scene might have been like if the sales associate had told the little boy, "I'm sorry but we only had three of them left today and that gentleman over there greedily over-packing his pick a brick cup bought every single one of them to sell for three times the price on ebay."

Although I knew this already, my experience today clearly demonstrated that too many adults get caught up in the collector's fever and forget that we are playing with children's toys that are actually made for children. Hoarding rare, soon to be discontinued sets for speculation purposes is basically guaranteed to cause children to be disappointed and saddened somewhere down the line. I like $$$$ as much as the next guy, but I don't need it so much that I am willing to indirectly cause harm to children to get it.

I know that my bleeding heart is not typical, and that there is actually nothing wrong with buying something in order to later sell it at a profit, as that is the basis of capitalism that I believe in, but I simply love LEGO too much to have my love for it have any chance of causing any child to be disappointed.

So I've changed my mind and will support the return of the modular sets simply to give children a second chance to get them and to devalue the sets that adult LEGO hoarders have stashed away.

Now how about adding the Green Grocer to Cuusoo too? Our family wants that even more than these two!

What a wonderful story.

However, I put away sets for resale once they are discontinued, but I have one slight difference from what your plan was. I buy them when they are launched, not just as they are discontinuing. To me, there's absolutely nothing wrong with buying some sets while they are still in normal production (or a couple of months after launch) to put away. It hurts absolutely nobody this way. Lego just makes more of them.

In fact, I plan to sell my sets for less than what most gougers will charge, but more than I paid. Hopefully they end up going to a family who missed out buying the last ones just as they were discontinued.

Locutis

[Yucca Patrol]

That sounds like a very reasonable and thoughtful way to do it, Locutis.

You are definitely right that buying them early just gives LEGO more sales and more opportunity to make more of them for everyone. It is possible to enjoy capitalism this way.

I approve

Edited October 8, 2011 by Yucca Patrol

[Andy D]

Here's a perfect example why i think it is absolutely wrong for adults to hoard a children's toy with the intention of selling it at a huge markup once it is discontinued.

Today, when I went to my local LEGO store to buy my Fire Brigade, I was told that there were only 3 left and that they would not be getting any more. The good capitalist in me thought "I should buy them all and then sell them at Christmas time when demand is high for this newly discontinued item." I stuck with my original plan to buy one and only one for myself, took one down off the shelf, and headed to the pick a brick wall.

While I was carefully packing my cup of loose pieces, a mother and her approximately 10 year old son came into the store. I was the only other customer in the store and heard everything this excited child said. Apparently fire trucks and firemen are his favorite and he wants to be a fireman when he grows up. With delight, he exclaimed that he couldn't believe that this day was finally here after spending the past 6 months saving his allowance and doing odd jobs for his family and neighbors in order to save up for the biggest and best fire station LEGO ever made. He literally had his piggy bank with him and he and the sales associate counted out a huge pile of loose coins in addition to a giant grubby roll of single dollar bills he had saved. His mother told him how proud she was of him and that this is the sort of reward that comes from hard work and dedication to a goal.

Imagine what the scene might have been like if the sales associate had told the little boy, "I'm sorry but we only had three of them left today and that gentleman over there greedily over-packing his pick a brick cup bought every single one of them to sell for three times the price on ebay."

Although I knew this already, my experience today clearly demonstrated that too many adults get caught up in the collector's fever and forget that we are playing with children's toys that are actually made for children. Hoarding rare, soon to be discontinued sets for speculation purposes is basically guaranteed to cause children to be disappointed and saddened somewhere down the line. I like $$$$ as much as the next guy, but I don't need it so much that I am willing to indirectly cause harm to children to get it.

I know that my bleeding heart is not typical, and that there is actually nothing wrong with buying something in order to later sell it at a profit, as that is the basis of capitalism that I believe in, but I simply love LEGO too much to have my love for it have any chance of causing any child to be disappointed.

So I've changed my mind and will support the return of the modular sets simply to give children a second chance to get them and to devalue the sets that adult LEGO hoarders have stashed away.

Now how about adding the Green Grocer to Cuusoo too? Our family wants that even more than these two!

Bravo! Bravo!

I believe the owners of the original sets are forgetting something. If TLG re-releases these sets, the owners of the originals will still have the original, first-edition set the re-release does not change that. This is still an exclusivity they are hunting for. It is rather like a first edition book as compared to a later edition. So, the owners of the first edition sets still have their exclusivity, and the rest of us get a chance to have a re-release of a classic set.

I am not so much interested in the exclusivity of any LEGO set, there are just some sets that I really like for their artistic value to me. As an adult, I look at LEGO as an art form, and I don't care if I have the original or a copy.

Just MHO, YMMV

Andy D

[Algernon]

Well, I guess I can see both sides of the issue here. On one hand, I enjoy romanticizing LEGO sets as objects that bring joy to children, and I like the idea of just keeping one in-demand set for myself to enjoy along with the thousands of other collectors (children or otherwise). On the other hand, they are really just plastic toys like any other, and the concepts are market value do apply. LEGO itself is definitely more concerned with profits than the joy of children's toys - it's just that in LEGO's case, the two are directly related.

I'm actually in the middle of a similar decision. I just bought the 7066 Earth Defense HQ for a fantastic discount price, and I'm waiting for it in the mail. The trouble is, I can't decide if I want to sell it back for the original price and turn a profit, or just keep the set and enjoy it. As a poorly financed college student, the idea of making any money at all is hugely appealing. On the other hand, I really do like 7066 and I am sorely tempted to just build it (which would dramatically reduce its market value for the next three years). I'm not sure yet what I'll wind up doing.

Relating that to this, I'd recommend that you just wait for the next modern classic to come out. LEGO's had quite a few of those in recent years, so it won't be too long before an even better set comes out to spark your interest.

And just to be realistic, you're never going to get 10,000 people to sign that.

[L@go]

And just to be realistic, you're never going to get 10,000 people to sign that.

Yep, that's what I'm saying.

Just to get this straight: I didn't buy my Café Corner or Market Street (or any other Lego set I own) to resell it and make money. I've bought every set (bar one single exception) because I wanted to build it and enjoy the experience, and I've done just that. In Norway, there are no Lego stores, and Shop@Home arrived only a couple of years ago, so I was just lucky I managed to get those sets before the prices got ridiculous. But now that they are, I thoroughly love looking at them knowing that not everybody owns them. Is that so wrong?

[F0NIX]

I have all the module house sets. Bought them after they where released. Some of them I have multiple of. But I never intend to sell any of them.

Still I think it is too early to re-release the Cafe Corner and Market Street. In 4-5 years maybe. And I'm also afraid that a too early re-release will dampen the sales of a new designed modular house, and then give TLC an opportunity to stop making more of them :(

[skaako]

I am an optimist, so I have voted.

(In Australia, many of the modular were hard to get and almost twice the price as in the US (when our $ was on parity), that changing is something I am less optimistic about).

That's the same here in New Zealand.. about twice the price and then get stung with $80 for shipping.

Bravo! Bravo!

I believe the owners of the original sets are forgetting something. If TLG re-releases these sets, the owners of the originals will still have the original, first-edition set the re-release does not change that. This is still an exclusivity they are hunting for. It is rather like a first edition book as compared to a later edition. So, the owners of the first edition sets still have their exclusivity, and the rest of us get a chance to have a re-release of a classic set.

I am not so much interested in the exclusivity of any LEGO set, there are just some sets that I really like for their artistic value to me. As an adult, I look at LEGO as an art form, and I don't care if I have the original or a copy.

Just MHO, YMMV

Andy D

That's very true.. Even if TLG re-released them in a brown paper bag without instructions i would still jump at the chance to get hold of a Cafe Corner

Edited October 8, 2011 by skaako

[Derfel Cadarn]

These were both great sets. I can remember seeing Cafe Corner for the first time and thinking 'wow, Lego are really on to something with this'. I was late too buy it however, I heard it was about to be discontinued and so rushed out to my nearest Lego store and bought 2, as they were going for 80 pounds. I then managed to pick up a 3rd which was in their sale section after xmas, must have been a leftover one found in a clearout of their back store room. This was for sale for 65 pounds along with a giant Lego Castle chess set in the nice 'Book effect' box, this was also 65 pounds. Obviously I would have been mad not too buy them, so I did. The Cafe Corner proved to be an excellent set and great source of parts, I used two of the sets for parts and the 3rd is still boxed and unopened as I plan to give it to my son when he gets a bit older. Its a classic, BUT I feel it is too soon to bring it back. It hasn't been that long since its exit and like others have said, there are many more new exciting sets to come. Every new modular building always comes with a nice colour scheme in rarer colours. If they were to bring back any modular building in the future im sure it would be this one, as it was the first and a already a classic set. But in the mean time I could think of lots of other older sets that I would rather see come back before Cafe Corner. Im sure if you have a real good search you could find one going for a reasonable price, it does happen! I might even be tempted to sell my unopened set if you pay me 1000 pounds

[Locutis]

Some people forget that resellers buy these sets while they are in production, thus supporting Lego, the TLG company, and these as a popular item. I imagine many thousands are sold out of each issue of these modulars just to speculators, sales which wouldn't take place if there was no secondary market after discontinuing.

If you look at this BrickLink Seller , they have over 100 of these sets. They don't appear to have bought them just recently to speculate and take away from kids buying them. On the contrary, there are numerous sellers like this one who buy these sets like me, during issue.

Now, suppose this is discontinued today, a lot of the sets would start disappearing (being purchased) off BrickLink, most likely from the lowest priced going up to higher priced sets. As each set disappears, a new low price is set. Let's say this seller divides their inventory into 20 groups of 5, and prices them in staged amounts separated by $20 each group. As these sell and disappear off of BrickLink, the theoretical price a person will pay increases. Thus, it is actually customers themselves by creating the purchasing demand that actually set the price on the item, not the seller. If this set is priced in $20 stages, and the first 25 sell within 5 days, and then it slows down, you can see where the market feels the price should be.

The only reason you see Cafe Corner sets priced at $1,000 and such is not truly because everyone will pay $1,000 for a set. On the contrary, only a very select few out of thousands of customers would pay this extraordinary price. TLG could never "make money" by re-issuing these past sets and selling them for a higher than original issue price. Many customers of a product barely buy the product for the price it is issued for. I've mentioned it before, but I'll say it again here: I work for a reseller of collectibles that sells brand new products at the same price as the manufacturer. The manufacturer has a monopoly, and the items are unique to that manufacturer. Collectors who want these items can't go to another manufacturer, similar to Lego. This manufacturer also sells directly to the public. They set maximums on items that they sell, and once they reach that maximum, they are sold out. Items that are highly desirable start to raise in price in the aftermarket (like through my company) solely because of increased demand. Instead of us selling 5 or 10 of something per day, we sell 20 in one hour. Obviously we have something good here, and so we start raising the price in increments to slow it down back to the normal 5-10 per day sales rate, as an example. Sometimes the price increase over a week or a month causes the item to be valued at 3 times its issue price.

Now, it has happened that this manufacturer decided to re-issue a very popular, sold out, raised in price numerous amounts, product a year later. However, they see the aftermarket price increased on it after they sold out, and they decide they want to capitalize on this and grab some of that profit, too. Sales on this unit are much much less in demand than the first, and instead of selling out within weeks of issue, it takes months. The aftermarket after sellout on this re-issue is very soft, and the increase in price is only 5% above issue price solely for aggravation. The following year, the manufacturer sees this as something they could sell again, and issues them yet again. This time they do not sell out, and aftermarket crashes on them (ie: they suck).

In this scenario, the second issue of the product was popular, but people were like "yeah, whatever, it's not the first issue". The first issue product saw even higher demand, and prices went even higher after the second and third re-issues, because people wanted the first issue.

I believe this would also happen with the Cafe Corner. If TLG decided they wanted to re-issue this set, they would put it in a box declaring it as a re-issue. It wouldn't be the same box. As well, they would most likely decide (because they are a profit-making company) that they should capitalize on some of the aftermarket profits from the first issue (large companies don't get this philosophy and understand it fully), and instead of being $149.95 maybe they would try and charge $249.95. This would shut-out a lot of buyers who barely even buy the modulars for $149.95. Add to that the fact that it wouldn't be the first issue, and you would still see original Cafe Corner sets selling for the price they are. And they do sell, but in very small quantities, and only to those buyers who have the funds to actually own every original modular in factory sealed boxes are the ones buying these $1,000 sets. I know I wouldn't even attempt to buy one for $1,000.

I think a good example of this re-issue would be the Maersk Ship set. TLG would have a lot of data to pour over in regards to demand and how much they made selling these sets. A very similar forumla could be applied to the Cafe Corner and Market Street to determine it's saleability in the market through a re-issue. I believe only TLG would have the data and information necessary to determine the validity of their reissue. It should be up to TLG to make the determination on this, not us buyers.

Instead, we should be looking at whether we ourselves would buy one. If you would, then vote and support the product. That is the purpose of the CUUSOO site. TLG wants to know if you would buy one. Not whether you would buy 10 of them to resell at a high price and make a profit. Whether you would want to own one.

I voted that I would want one. Not because I want to profit on reselling them. I have a Cafe Corner that I bought just after it was discontinued, and it has no box. I have a Market Street that I assembled, but it's not a true 100% set (I've substituted, and have a thread on here discussing the options). My son is now into modulars a bit as well. I have a Green Grocer new in box, and all of the others one built, and some new in box. I plan on possibly saving one of each new in box for him to get and build. I would not even imagine trying to get him a Market Street or Cafe Corner at the extraordinarily high prices they currently command, I myself wouldn't buy one at those prices, let alone one for him. I would, however, buy him a re-issue just so he would have a building like mine. This is why I voted.

I hope I didn't make anyone fall asleep or be annoyed by my post. I know it was long, but I had a lot to say!

Locutis

Edited October 8, 2011 by Locutis

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

I can see why many people would love to own these beautiful sets which got a very limited release, but I would rather have other older sets revisited than these sets. These are much more recent than many classic sets that I would like to se re-released, as some trains and maybe even something like 6399. Besides, I think we would all be happier if Lego released more modular sets rather than just re-releasing their designs. But, of course, I still understand the position of all of you.

[weelean]

Frankly, I gave 2 votes to Cafe Corner and Market Street although I suggested re-releasing 6399 Airport Shuttle.

I understood that a lot of LEGO fans are very disappointed on the price in Bricklink, Amazon and eBay.

However, both of sets were released in few years ago.

The demand of Cafe Corner and Market Street is so higher. I believe the main reason is because the modular set model is still going on. If they are re-released in next year, the new collectors may raise same request again after 5 or 10 years.

At this moment, I don't think Cafe Corner is coming back. However, the similar concept of design is coming back after Town Hall. I hope LEGO provides the required parts of Cafe Corner in Pick a Brick and selling instruction book.

Do you think LEGO may sell Cafe Corner, Market Street and Green Grocery together?

Although the price is expensive, it "might be available" in LEGOLAND theme park in future. Hehehe.... Of course, it is a limited edition.

Edited October 8, 2011 by weelean