VIP access to Exclusives

[gomek]

Hi,

I have been a VIP member for quite some time, and beyond getting the $5 credit for every hundred spend (which is appreciated), I have never gotten any exclusive offers.

What I have unfortunately seen in the past year is a bunch of exclusive figures given out to non-Lego fans (retailers, Comic con attendees, etc) who then turn around and sell them to fans like myself at exorbitant mark-ups. $150 for Green Lantern, $700 for an Ironman/Captain America set, and so on.

I would really urge you to talk someone at Lego into offering these items at a reasonable price (maybe $10?) to your loyal fans and VIP members so we don't have to get fleeced on ebay just to get these figures.

Thanks,
-cg

[Mister Ed]

I'm with you, though I have my doubts that anybody able to make such a decision from LEGO reads this forum.

As I said elsewhere, I've never quite understood the rationale for convention exclusives (I'm talking real exclusives, not the same thing sold elsewhere with different packaging- I don't understand those much more, but they seem like less of a lost opportunity for the company that makes them). It seems like many of these things would make a bunch more money for the company if allowed to reach a wider audience, and "increasing booth traffic" in the form of a bunch of people stuck in a line to get the exclusive doesn't seem all that worthwhile to me. I'm probably missing some benefit to the company, but I can't figure out what it is, exactly.

[crazybirdman]

There are tons of benefits. There's the people that will complain, or won't come by your booth at all unless you have some type of exclusive. And that makes sense, why waste your time buying something you can get anywhere, to some people, the point of conventions are the exclusives.
It also gets people talking about your product. If there was a superboy figure in a LEGO set, people may get excited, but if it was an exclusive and the biggest comic book convention of the year, that gets people talking.
There's also no guarantee that an exclusive will be popular. There have been plenty of exclusives (convention & retailer) that have not sold out, and had to be clearance priced later.

And if i remember correctly, there have been two sets that only VIP members could buy. I thought they were underwhelming, but they do exist.

[Mister Ed]

There are tons of benefits. There's the people that will complain, or won't come by your booth at all unless you have some type of exclusive.

But are those the type of people that are really likely to benefit you by coming by your booth? And just standing in a line? Maybe they are, I guess. I figure people that won't come by your booth unless you have an exclusive probably aren't all that interested in your product in the first place, though.

And that makes sense, why waste your time buying something you can get anywhere, to some people, the point of conventions are the exclusives.

That reasoning ONLY makes sense if your whole point (or at least the MAIN point) in coming to the convention is to buy exclusives. If you come to the convention because, oh I don't know, you actually have an INTEREST in the stuff being covered there, then you'll go by the booths because you WANT to see what they're showing, not just to see if you can stand in line and buy something rare. If that's the only reason you drop by, I'm not sure how much benefit the company is getting by having you there. They could SELL product elsewhere, and sell more of it, too.

It also gets people talking about your product. If there was a superboy figure in a LEGO set, people may get excited, but if it was an exclusive and the biggest comic book convention of the year, that gets people talking.

Not seeing the benefit, if the "talking" is in the form of, "Gee, wish they would have put that in a set I can BUY. That sucks." I can't imagine they get a lot of people saying, "WOW, there was a really cool fig offered exclusive at SDCC that I have no chance of ever getting. That makes me want to go out and buy one of the 15 sets with regular, old Batman figs in them!" I can tell you that their exclusive treatment of GL at the last con didn't prompt me, a big GL fan, to buy any of the rest of their DC Heroes line. Why would it? To date the only one I've bought I would have bought anyway, because of what it HAD IN IT, not what they made sure I couldn't get at some convention. I just don't get the benefits of "getting people talking" about a product that you aren't willing to sell them...

[gomek]

Not seeing the benefit, if the "talking" is in the form of, "Gee, wish they would have put that in a set I can BUY. That sucks." I can't imagine they get a lot of people saying, "WOW, there was a really cool fig offered exclusive at SDCC that I have no chance of ever getting. That makes me want to go out and buy one of the 15 sets with regular, old Batman figs in them!" I can tell you that their exclusive treatment of GL at the last con didn't prompt me, a big GL fan, to buy any of the rest of their DC Heroes line. Why would it? To date the only one I've bought I would have bought anyway, because of what it HAD IN IT, not what they made sure I couldn't get at some convention. I just don't get the benefits of "getting people talking" about a product that you aren't willing to sell them..

This.

And, and of course I'm four times as mad at Lego after the for new San Diego exclusives. They could have put all four in a thirty dollar set with any crappy car or truck and I would have been ecstatic.

Anyway, hoping that someone at Lego can ladder this message up, or at least hoping to add to a ground swell of collectors are pretty sick of this type of "promotion"

edit:- And certainly if any of the Lego ambassadors are reading this, I would love to have them pass along the general discontent with the practice.. Thanks

[Robzula]

Haven't they done exclusives in the past where the only exclusivity is the packaging? What happened to those? I feel they made a really nice middling ground, though I'm sure they wouldn't draw in as many non-LEGO fans... although honestly, as was said above, what does drawing them in so they can snatch up the figs to sell or keep for the sole fact that they're exclusive (and NOT because it's LEGO) do to benefit the company?

[DarthBuilder]

Dont get me wrong, I enjoy getting some $$$ rewards from being a VIP MEMBER $5 here $10 there. It's free money but I am dissapointed that there is a serious lack of anything truly exclusive. I agree totally with the above issues discussing exclusives at large conventions but at minimum why can't a "VIP" have an opportunity to buy an exclusive or at least be entered for random drawings. Something. I would buy a new set from Shop@Home if offered availability 48 hours ahead of release date. How about free shipping? Something to that affect. Sadly all I get from time to time is a survey from LEGO asking to take part in a survey about a recent in store purchase. That email is filled with broken links! If I can't even recieve an email with proper web links that go to something else other than a "Page Not Found" how can I expect anything more. I enjoy LEGO, I enjoy my collection, just looking forward to a little something extra for once.

[SirBasilAshton]

Dont get me wrong, I enjoy getting some $$$ rewards from being a VIP MEMBER $5 here $10 there. It's free money but I am dissapointed that there is a serious lack of anything truly exclusive. I agree totally with the above issues discussing exclusives at large conventions but at minimum why can't a "VIP" have an opportunity to buy an exclusive or at least be entered for random drawings. Something. I would buy a new set from Shop@Home if offered availability 48 hours ahead of release date. How about free shipping? Something to that affect...

I would be perfectly fine if LEGO would do a random drawing for convention exclusives. I'm already spending an arm and a leg getting those exclusives in the aftermarket. It would be nice to have a chance to get one at a reasonable price.