Comic-Con figures confirmed to getting stolen by Scalpers days before

[SMC]

I dont think many of the sdcc fig get to fans without them paying for them, this kind of thing will always lead to people trying to make money off them

[Lyichir]

In response Lego should release the stolen figures soon after the SDCC. That would make all those figures they took almost worthless.

No, that's a TERRIBLE idea. What better way to piss off the legitimate buyers who bought something with the knowledge they couldn't get it anywhere else? Lego would have to cut into their own pockets to produce additional figs and rush to a decision on how to market them and still make a profit, and meanwhile the thief would still have a crock full of stolen minifigs which would suddenly look less obviously suspicious and would still retain some of their value.

[Paul Boratko]

I am not surprised by any of this... These toy companies need to make sure that whomever is handling their products at the Cons is trustworthy... This stuff happens all of the time...

[Faefrost]

My god! How did nobody notice this guy steal 50 Collector figures! I'm mad and slightly jealous.

As someone who has worked a number of big electronics cons for my previous employer, this dude didn't "steal" these. He extorted them out of the Lego marketing and setup team in order to get anything done by convention center staff. Things like to get the booth setup. The booths space cleared of your neighbors crates. The electricians to actually show up (because you are not allowed to plug in your own power cord. Union rules. Failure to follow leads to real life violence.)

In short these were probably bribes. Every single convention marketing team carries extra packs of swag to use to bribe con officials. Convention centers truly are extortion rackets. My old con marketing director would have killed to have a case of these things to grease the wheels. They cost Lego almost nothing. The criminal con center thug can flip it for good return. Whereas my guy was stuck using C notes or my show computers as bribes.

Note how they said that there were 1750 of each minifig handed out. Strange number isn't it? You would expect it to be an even 2000. It actually is 2000. It's just the show lead gets 250 of each set as side for "discretionary marketing purposes". As I said, bribes. If the dude selling these is an actual convention center event coordinator with the power to get things done on the show floor, yeah he could easily be worth 50 figs to the advance setup team.

[agoodfella77]

As someone who has worked a number of big electronics cons for my previous employer, this dude didn't "steal" these. He extorted them out of the Lego marketing and setup team in order to get anything done by convention center staff. Things like to get the booth setup. The booths space cleared of your neighbors crates. The electricians to actually show up (because you are not allowed to plug in your own power cord. Union rules. Failure to follow leads to real life violence.)

In short these were probably bribes. Every single convention marketing team carries extra packs of swag to use to bribe con officials. Convention centers truly are extortion rackets. My old con marketing director would have killed to have a case of these things to grease the wheels. They cost Lego almost nothing. The criminal con center thug can flip it for good return. Whereas my guy was stuck using C notes or my show computers as bribes.

Note how they said that there were 1750 of each minifig handed out. Strange number isn't it? You would expect it to be an even 2000. It actually is 2000. It's just the show lead gets 250 of each set as side for "discretionary marketing purposes". As I said, bribes. If the dude selling these is an actual convention center event coordinator with the power to get things done on the show floor, yeah he could easily be worth 50 figs to the advance setup team.

Not only that, any kind of "promotional" items like this always leads to shenanigans depending on how strong demand is.

A perfect example is Hello Kitty in Asia. I'm not sure how many people are aware, but it's incredibly popular in Asia (particularly in Hong Kong and Singapore). Whenever McDonald's holds these Happy Meal type Hello Kitty promotions -- it's pandemonium. If you just Google "Hello Kitty McDonalds Singapore" there were incidents where there were fist fights breaking out, accusations of McDonald's employees pre-selling these to friends / families, items popping up on eBay even before they were released publicly, items selling for hundreds of dollars (sound familiar)?

It's simple greed. And as long as LEGO continues this system of artificial supply / demand with these SDCC exclusives, the system will be abused, scalpers with seek to turn greed into profit and meanwhile the vast majority of LEGO customers will continue to feel "excluded" by this "exclusive" system.

LEGO please change this broken system. My suggested solutions appear on my Open Letter thread here: http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=98015

Edited July 25, 2014 by agoodfella

[CopMike]

TLG contacted!

[Sam892]

Each year there's a new Scandle involving Comic Con Exclusives.

Last year it was the alleged rigging scandle.

The year before it was how they were given out and how essentially all the Booths, around LaeGO complained about the shear volume of people blocking the area.

And the first year how they were meant to be preview figures but were actually exclusive.

Surely these exclusives aren't worth the hassle for LEGO anymore

[ummester]

It's simple greed. And as long as LEGO continues this system of artificial supply / demand with these SDCC exclusives, the system will be abused, scalpers with seek to turn greed into profit and meanwhile the vast majority of LEGO customers will continue to feel "excluded" by this "exclusive" system.

I agree - but you have to ask yourself where does this greed begin and end? Is it more greedy to want an item like this, produce it, or steal it to sell it?

I don't go for the minifig collection thing, personally, so I guess I can look from the outside a bit. To me a minifig is a bunch of parts, that can be used in LEGO creation.

If collector's didn't pay good $ for collectible items, then thieves couldn't sell them. I'm not justifying the theft, or the deliberate creation of low volume high value items tailored for collection - just noting that the greed is part of all the mindsets involved.

[jodawill]

I don't see why so many people perceive TLG as being greedy for giving away FREE exclusive minifigures. It's just a promotion. They lose money on the deal in hopes that people will stay excited about their products. How is that being greedy?

[tedbeard]

No one is calling TLC greedy. It is the a-holes who steal or cheat the figs and sell them for ridiculous amounts who are greedy.

[fred67]

Like pretty much every other license, TLG can't sell action figures... they can only sell building sets. So no, they can't sell these figures after the fact just to dilute the market. They'd have to package them in a building set... and if they did that, the figures sold at CC would still be "exclusive" just because of the packaging.

This is a no win situation. I don't like if they don't release figures later (at least we're finally get a Green Lantern in a regular set!), as I said before, but I can't begrudge them making exclusives and promotional give aways.

[ummester]

I don't see why so many people perceive TLG as being greedy for giving away FREE exclusive minifigures. It's just a promotion. They lose money on the deal in hopes that people will stay excited about their products. How is that being greedy?

by creating demand, I guess.

Companiles that give you free taste tests of their food aren't doing it because they like giving their product away.

Edited July 26, 2014 by ummester

[rollermonkey]

404 on both original 4chan links.

Maybe something is being done about it.

[Navy Trooper Fenson]

Like pretty much every other license, TLG can't sell action figures...

They can they can they can.

Mega Bloks did it, this action figure distinction is solely for Star Wars, don´t you guys always pretend it´s otherwise for no reason. There are countless manufacturers for figures of these brands and only Star Wars is so anal about it.

And even when Lego would need an extra-license, they could throw in 10 pieces to make a crappy robot, wall or rock and sell it as a polybag just like how they do it now for multiple themes since 2008 (and maybe start selling them wide outside of the USA for once).

and if they did that, the figures sold at CC would still be "exclusive" just because of the packaging.

This is a no win situation.

Yes there is a win, normal people could get the figs cheaper, didn´t you realize that when you typed your sentence? Only the mentally challenged collectors would get the short end of the stick and even then there is a good chance that some of said collectors see the error of their ways and stop giving packaging a worth of 100$.

Edited July 26, 2014 by Navy Trooper Fenson

[Faefrost]

Just to remind everyone. While we go nuts and collectors assign obscene aftermarket value to these things, to Lego this is just convention swag. Marketing materials. Freebies for convention goers.

And here is the other thing about this that we will never know or realize. As marketing materials, there is a good chance that there are other parties involved, who are quite likely kicking in the costs of these things. Notice how all of the give aways at the Comic Con are always licensed? Remember no licensed product gets made or distributed without the IP holders direct approval if not their explicit direction. Marvel and DC (and this year WB) sign off on these, and chances are they pay for them. And Marvel and DC love us with our worked up nerd rage. It stirs chatter. Keeps us reading message boards. Keeps us talking about how much we love and want their characters. They cheaply build desire through frustration.

As far as these slipping out under the wire. Once again these things are practically valueless to TLG. They were cheap to make and chances are somebody else is paying. Spreading a few plastic figs around is far more effective and way cheaper for Lego than the normal business requirement of paying thousands of dollars in bribes to convention staff in order to get their booth set up in time.

Once again, reporting this to Lego or demanding they take action is meaningless. These are not actual product. They are marketing fluff. The actual assessed value that Lego would put on a police report (assuming they were stolen from a booth) is somewhere around $2 per fig max. OMG alert the FBI! From Lego's point of view it's the same as losing a case of t shirts.

[TheLegoDr]

It interesting how little value these are termed in order for legality and whatnot. Look at the freebies they give away during specific months. I think they came those at 9.99 or something in the small print. But they go for lots more in the aftermarket because of us silly fans.

[agoodfella77]

I don't see why so many people perceive TLG as being greedy for giving away FREE exclusive minifigures. It's just a promotion. They lose money on the deal in hopes that people will stay excited about their products. How is that being greedy?

Who said TLG was being greedy? No one. What has been said is that the artificial supply / demand dynamics generated by the SDCC exclusives bring scalpers out of the woodworks -- these are the ones exploiting the system pushing up prices in the secondary market to astronomical levels -- these people are the greedy ones.

Can TLG curtail or significantly reduce this? Absolutely.

[merman]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SDCC-2014-Lego-Exclusive-THE-LEGO-MOVIE-Unikitty-Pre-Sale-RARE-/151366025146?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item233e1e3fba

This is MADNESS and makes me SO angry with TLG...

[ummester]

Seriously - who would pay that much for a crazy looking cat thing? What is that - 14 pieces of plastic. It's not gold.

Don't be angry about it, merman - laugh at it. LEGO is an amazing toy - probably the best toy ever invented - and a great tool for creative expression in it's fans, children and AFOLs alike. If I paid $125 for that zany cat, I wouldn't want to take it out of it's seal - and you gotta ask yourself, what is the point of that??

[merman]

Well it happens I collect these Unikitty's and it bothers me there is no way I can get this one.

The guy selling it does not even have it yet and he will get one for free. It is robbery...

[Anio]

Don't be angry about it, merman - laugh at it. LEGO is an amazing toy - probably the best toy ever invented - and a great tool for creative expression in it's fans, children and AFOLs alike. If I paid $125 for that zany cat, I wouldn't want to take it out of it's seal - and you gotta ask yourself, what is the point of that??

+1

[montgocloud]

I'm not particularly mad at the figure selection For this year's Comic Con. It's only variants and The Collector, who is not really a must have. But what this guy is doing is inexcusable and I hope LEGO at least investigates the matter. I know they have to pick and choose which battles they pursue, but since this is the second year in a row this has happened, I think it warrants a fight.

[obsidianheart]

Just to remind everyone. While we go nuts and collectors assign obscene aftermarket value to these things, to Lego this is just convention swag. Marketing materials. Freebies for convention goers.

And here is the other thing about this that we will never know or realize. As marketing materials, there is a good chance that there are other parties involved, who are quite likely kicking in the costs of these things. Notice how all of the give aways at the Comic Con are always licensed? Remember no licensed product gets made or distributed without the IP holders direct approval if not their explicit direction. Marvel and DC (and this year WB) sign off on these, and chances are they pay for them. And Marvel and DC love us with our worked up nerd rage. It stirs chatter. Keeps us reading message boards. Keeps us talking about how much we love and want their characters. They cheaply build desire through frustration.

As far as these slipping out under the wire. Once again these things are practically valueless to TLG. They were cheap to make and chances are somebody else is paying. Spreading a few plastic figs around is far more effective and way cheaper for Lego than the normal business requirement of paying thousands of dollars in bribes to convention staff in order to get their booth set up in time.

Once again, reporting this to Lego or demanding they take action is meaningless. These are not actual product. They are marketing fluff. The actual assessed value that Lego would put on a police report (assuming they were stolen from a booth) is somewhere around $2 per fig max. OMG alert the FBI! From Lego's point of view it's the same as losing a case of t shirts.

I'm just quoting this because all the subsequent replies make it seem like this post doesn't exist.

[Quisoves Pugnat]

But when you keep Jean Grey, Green Arrow, Bizarro, and the rest out of fans' hands by making them exclusives? You're doing a disservice to the fans and disservice to the characters. Lego needs to more carefully pick its SDCC exclusives and make sure none of them are major characters who haven't been produced in DC/Marvel sets before. A PROPER SDCC "wave" of 4 exclusives would be something more like: White Lantern Batman, Red Son Superman, Iron Man Mark V, and Miles Morales Spider Man. Now that's a wave of variants of characters we already have, but all the variants are still cool and appealing - and would function great as the promos that they are.

But you assume that LEGO releasing these figures precludes any other release of them. From what we've seen, this is not the case. The 2011 Superman, one of the first Comic Con minfigures, is, as far as I can tell, identical to the version released in 6862 in spring of 2012. Those who got the Con figure were simply getting him early. Green Lantern, another Comic Con figure, will appear, albeit not exactly identically, in 2015's 76025. Ditto Azog, who appeared in identical form in 79014 the same year as his Comic Con release.

So there is no precedent for CC figures being necessarily exclusive. If LEGO thinks there is money to be made by mass-marketing a figure, it will do so.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Quisoves Pugnat

[Risgrynsgrot]

You guys that nag about how these terrible people dare to make money on you collectors is hilarious - If you wanna look at the problem, look into a mirror. You are the ones that choose to pay ridicolous prices for some plastic. You don't have any privilegie and does not have to own every single plastic bit LEGO releases

People have made really good points in this thread. How these aren't really LEGO but rather marketing tools. And most will definitively end up in a future set, one way or another. And let's face it, LEGO will keep on releasing these, because the positives heavily outweighs a bunch of people raving over it on the internet.