xwingyoda Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 What do you mean snefroe1 by regional? Europe, US, Asia... This kind of make sense due to market differences, but it will be kind of weird if the US have "better" themes than the europeans (and vice versa). Vickings vs Dinos, no questions, but after????????? I sense we could gain money on ebay :-D :P Quote
Jipay Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 they ARE selling the Legoland themeparks Muahahahah ! I doubt they will drop the only post that increased in 2003 :-D Quote
snefroe Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 i think they're refering to continents. they've set up "countrymanagers" whose job it is to link the company with the different markets. i know there is a countrymanager for belgium and luxemburg. i guess they will advice the designers on what the local market wants. i guess most important countries will get such a countrymanager. there also seems to be a new marketing director for the lowlands and Skandinavia, also based in Belgium. it seems to me that tlc is breaking down her pyramidal structure into a structure with a larger number of more or less independent working continantal/regional headquarters. it seems that certain themes will, in time, be only produced and distributed in specified continents... your view on "better themes" is quite right, however, i think tlc will try to use s&h to supply the other continents as well, depending on demand But don't shoot me if all these theories turn out to be crap. TLC is facing quite a few challenges right now and might decide to adapt to new situations. by the way, a major consultant wrote an entire report on TLC, her strategies, decisions,... It costs about 395 euro, i think. so feel free to buy it. ... or you can just buy lego instead :P Quote
snefroe Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 yes jipay, they ARE in the process of selling Billund as well. in fact, there are a few candidates. one of the reasons might be that they need the money badly, and they wouldn't be stuck in Billund, which is quite in the middle of nowhere, you know... The family is aware of the social concequences and brand if they're selling, but it's better to sell a profitable asset than one that is in shambles... Quote
xwingyoda Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 What about country managers? I know in France there's a manager France and the same for most countries. But how is the decision process done? Is there like a kind of vote between all the european managers to see what sets do come out... (with the final decision made by Denmark?). Well lets all hope the financial report for 2004 will not be bad (or too bad!!). I guess, after its released, we're going to have a clearer view of what the future holds! Keep your fingers crossed ;) Quote
snefroe Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 i believe they're counting a break even, this year or the next. they're also hoping for a better turnover this year, and it seems they're confident. let's hope for the best. :) Quote
xwingyoda Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 Lets hope this year so they might renew the SW licence ;) Quote
jonfett Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 I think it has been confirmed already that the Star Wars Lego will end in 2007, I dout they will want to renew it as there won't be many sets to release and no movies to tie in with. Also, TLC has said that they will not have any more movie licenses. Jon. Quote
egoing Posted March 6, 2005 Author Posted March 6, 2005 I think it has been confirmed already that the Star Wars Lego will end in 2007, I dout they will want to renew it as there won't be many sets to release and no movies to tie in with. Also, TLC has said that they will not have any more movie licenses.Jon. There will be a SW tv series, i'm not saying base a theme on that but star wars will not be done as far as exsposure goes. Quote
The Middleman Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 I hate this whole regional thing, it'll totally split up the community. Not to mention, prices skyrocketing on eBay and Bricklink for regional sets. BAD IDEA. Quote
xwingyoda Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 Jon: SW has been around nearly 30 years, that's something so basically who cares if there are SW sets without any movies!! So TLC should keep this license and dump the others (too bad though!!). Bloody Jay is right: I don't see where we are going with that regional BS. It could really annoy (I'm being polite here :-D ) lego fans from all the different zones. I love this theme but g I can't get here (yippyyyyyyyy) Quote
MattZitron Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 Jon: SW has been around nearly 30 years, that's something so basically who cares if there are SW sets without any movies!!So TLC should keep this license and dump the others (too bad though!!). Spidey's been around 40 years. Doesn't really mean much. But that's stood the test of time. Quote
xwingyoda Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 True!!! Thanks to the movies, kids in Europe "rediscover" great heros from Marvel!!! You're right, longevity doesn't mean anything at all in terms of TLC marketing strategies >:( Too bad!!!!! Quote
Jipay Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 I think it has been confirmed already that the Star Wars Lego will end in 2007, I dout they will want to renew it as there won't be many sets to release and no movies to tie in with. Also, TLC has said that they will not have any more movie licenses.Jon. There will be a SW tv series, i'm not saying base a theme on that but star wars will not be done as far as exsposure goes. All the news you are spredding are based on assumptions... Especially the star wars series, it has never been confirmed by Lucas so far. He said he thought about making one. We will ask confirmations of all what you say about lego because at least half of the stuff you say are completly the opposite of what we know, and we have quite good sources. |:| Quote
xwingyoda Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 So Jipay, what do we know (for sure) so far? I am a little confused with all those assumptions *wacko* Quote
Jipay Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 Facts : - The Legoland parc theme are really profitable. In 2003 they were positive. - The factory in Asia was closed and all the stuff made tere were moved to billund (quite weird if you decided to sell billund) - George Lucas said he was thinking about making a star wars TV serie, but never confirmed after. he also said he wanted to male something about the ancient Roma In any case be sure we will ask TLC about confirmation but those alarmist thoughts saying TLC is gonna get rid of all its business are pretty funny IMO Quote
jonfett Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 Jon: SW has been around nearly 30 years, that's something so basically who cares if there are SW sets without any movies!!So TLC should keep this license and dump the others (too bad though!!). I never said people won't buy the SW sets, but if they are released at the same time as a movie (Episode III) then they will sell alot better.. so it is more profitable for TLC. Imagine they released some LOTR sets next year, they would probably not sell as well as they would have done when there was a LOTR-hype the last few years. So from TLC's point of view, it would not be very good to carry on selling SW sets at a time when there are no more movies. Jon. Quote
Jipay Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 Yes that was one of their problem with the licences : the sales dropped when the movies were not out anymore, which is quite embarrassing when your product's lifetime is supposely 6 months to one year :| Quote
snefroe Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 As Jake said, tlc did take a long time to decide to produce themes for different regions. however, i think tlc will make all sets/themes available for everyone through s&h in time if it's profitable (so if there's enough demand). so the best thing the AFOL-community can do is to commununicate with tlc and see if they can organise a distribution so every one can at least buy the things they want, even though only via s&h i simply don't know who that tlc contact can be. Jake's function towards us is entirely unclear to me, let alone his position compared to that of Jan Beyer and there are probably others as well... i think we still don't have one spokesperson whom we can talk to. i think that in the eyes of tlc, we're just not important enough, we're a bonus for their regular themes, but that's it. so if we disagree with their policies, than that's too bad for us... Perhaps the ambassadors might have a role in this as well. what's worse is that we don't really know the entire story about these strategic decisions, nor behind the ambassador program. i think tlc confirmed that the vikings will only be released in Europe but they never really told us why, and that is frustrating... Quote
xwingyoda Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 At the time of the movies, there is momentum, that's for sure (especially for eps I, II & III). But after that, there will still be momentum when the DVD of ROTS comes out, then when they will make the first trilogy with the same packaging as the OT... Unfortunatly, Lucas won't do ep 7->9 (too bad because the stories are really interesting!!!). Quote
Jipay Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 Well he said HE won't do ep 7 to 9. But I think it's just because Timoty Zahn wrotte the best script possible and that nobody can't beat him, even george :-D Quote
xwingyoda Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 Well he said HE won't do ep 7 to 9. But I think it's just because Timoty Zahn wrotte the best script possible and that nobody can't beat him, even george :-D Dear Old George did a great job at the time, but he really scewed the OT (even worse than the 1997 edition!!!) So if someone else do the movies, that's oK :-D (as long as we have the movies)!! Quote
snefroe Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 so you can check what i'm saying: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,20...57384_1,00.html http://www.nieuwsblad.be/Article/Detail.as...icleID=GCQCRTCR both have, by the way been confirmed by other journalists as well... Quote
Jipay Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 The first article is in english, but the second... the first said basically nothing : lego was in financial touble, 2004 was better than 2003 and boo boo the problems are coming from video games. I don't see the point. It's old news, everybody here could have writtent the same stuff, maybe even better. On a side note, trusting journalists is always a bit erm... you know... Quote
snefroe Posted March 6, 2005 Posted March 6, 2005 the first is in dutch and confirms what i've said... it dates from 26/02/05 . that's pretty recent for me... about legoland... no one is going to confirm this obviously... that doesn't mean they aren't looking around... "the times" is, by the way, a respectable source... other respectable journalists (Paul D'hoore,...) said the same thing... sure you can ask Jake about this but you know what the answer is going to be, don't you? you're also taking this out of context. i was stating that tlc is going through a lot of structural changes, because of financial troubles. consequently, their decisions on what, where and how to sell will very much depend on that new position. I'm just giving you my view on why vikings will be released in Europe and not in the US. I also indicated that it's a theory, and told you NOT to accept it as the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. however, if i went way too far with this, than i sincerely apolagize... >-| Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.