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Is the thing with the CMF packaging a real problem or is it just a thing to complain about Like do we have any data to back this up?
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Oct 14, 2023 02:26
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I don't have anything besides anecdotal evidence, but I've seen a few posts on reddit of people annoyed that the minifigs are either locked behind glass, which means an employee has to show up, grab one from the case, and they don't even get to try to pick one, or that they've gone to the Lego aisle and all the minifig boxes have been ripped open so someone could see which one is inside. I don't buy the minifigs but I think the concept of the blind bags/boxes is stupid. It seems like it's a cop out way to not have to do any market analysis on the individual figures, just on the series overall. They just make a certain amount of each one and send them out there and it's sucks to suck to consumers who spend money and get something that they don't want, or keep getting something that they don't want. The popularity of a specific minifig doesn't matter, as long as people keep buying that series. Lego never needs to adjust production to meet demand, they just keep making the series until sales slow down enough that they have to move on. I assume at some point stores have to complain about it. They either have to spend money on protected shelves and then waste employee resources on retrieving them, or deal with damaged and unsold merchandise. Just sell them like hot wheels, label what each one is on the box. Sure, some won't sell very well, so the store will return them and Lego will have to adjust their production. It's one thing to have some one off mystery packs, a bunch of toys do that. It's entirely another to force consumers to buy random stuff just because doing it the other way would make you put in some effort.
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Oct 14, 2023 02:50
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Yeah I guess I get that there’s a lot of anecdotes out there I’m interested in what the stores are telling Lego, I would have thought people who want specific ones or a whole series would just buy them from eBay or order a whole box and parcel them out or whatever Like I don’t know who is going into the store mad that they can’t feel up the foil and opening the boxes, who is that person?
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Oct 14, 2023 02:58
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Honestly just seems like they made them act like trading cards which I assume have similar problems of people having a real incentive to just open packs in the store.
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Oct 14, 2023 03:06
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Dogen posted:Like I don’t know who is going into the store mad that they can’t feel up the foil and opening the boxes, who is that person? A large portion of the buying market, myself included. Not mad per se, but miffed and declining to buy any boxes until they change it. I don't think there's any series that i wanted every figure. Lego knows their sales numbers, but they'll never tell. You can call it anecdotal but the massive number of pictures, articles, and posts about these cmf boxes in particular should tell you this is a real problem for them. I don't think they need the store to send them a memo for them to get the message. People use trading cards as a counter argument a lot but it's apples to oranges. You get multiple cards in a pack. You can get a couple duplicates and still get a gem. You also can't feel then to distinguish what's inside like you previously could, IF you choose to. I just liked having the choice.
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Oct 14, 2023 04:02
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They could sell them in clear bags if that was the intent. What's the benefit of this "I'm not touching you" game where you can feel them out in an opaque bag?
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Oct 14, 2023 04:11
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Lego did NOT like you having that choice, apparently.
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Oct 14, 2023 04:11
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Cojawfee posted:I don't have anything besides anecdotal evidence, but I've seen a few posts on reddit of people annoyed that the minifigs are either locked behind glass, which means an employee has to show up, grab one from the case, and they don't even get to try to pick one, or that they've gone to the Lego aisle and all the minifig boxes have been ripped open so someone could see which one is inside. i'm almost surprised that it hasn't run afoul of the EU gambling laws. it should be getting flagged for the same poo poo that lootcrates were
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Oct 14, 2023 04:40
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smackfu posted:Honestly just seems like they made them act like trading cards which I assume have similar problems of people having a real incentive to just open packs in the store. Trading card shops almost always keep packs behind glass or the counter, in my experience having worked at one in high school. Places that aren't explicitly trading card shops that feel the need to sell them usually buy the version that's a blister pack (which require supervision but somewhat less), put them in plastic cases that need to be opened at the register, or again behind glass. This means retailers have to be super-selective about what they stock since the available space is limited and costly to expand and the product itself requires employee labor and/or attention. Some retailers may do it, others may eat the theft/damage costs, but others will stop carrying the product, or only order the sets their buyers believe will move well, fracturing availability. On top of that, national and international retailers are not dumb. If Lego asks to put CMFs behind glass at Target, Target will glance to other, similar products they already carry like blind-bag Megablock characters, Beyblades, Littlest Pet Shop, Vinyl collectables, etc. and realize that bearing the cost for Lego might mean those companies will ask for the same treatment (justifiably) and they'll need to deal with that too. Can they? Absolutely. Will they? That's the question. Not saying it won't happen, but the calculus involved is loving complicated.
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Oct 14, 2023 05:22
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https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/mega-pokmon-fuecoco-building-toy-kit-poseable-action-figure-with-pok-ball-19-pieces-multi/6000205896647 Almost bought this little guy yesterday
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Oct 14, 2023 05:26
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I’m also not against the people who care about this I’m just genuinely curious don’t want to make anyone feel defensive I think Lego might never say any figures but it’s the kind of thing you might see in a leaked report from a retailer
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Oct 14, 2023 05:33
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HootTheOwl posted:https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/mega-pokmon-fuecoco-building-toy-kit-poseable-action-figure-with-pok-ball-19-pieces-multi/ I've really liked the ones I've gotten. All I have right now is a Bidoof with 3 legs, because I let the niblings take them if they want them. PS, I think that link let's us see what store you have set as "your store". I'm not sure how to stop it and it got all hosed up when I tried. Walmart, the enemy of privacy. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you shop in Ontario  E: Supposedly the current series of CMFs are hard to find in a lot of places. If retailers are not ordering them we'll know because the packaging will change right quick. If they had already ordered them and are sending them back, any number of retail peons will know and it will leak. If Lego is having production issues relating to the packaging they'll likely say it and apologize, as they have in the past. We'll know soon. Shit Fuckasaurus fucked around with this message at 05:39 on Oct 14, 2023 |
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Oct 14, 2023 05:33
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It’s interesting in that video they say they can’t change packaging until after 3 more series, but like what do you do if retailers just don’t order it
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Oct 14, 2023 05:40
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Dogen posted:It’s interesting in that video they say they can’t change packaging until after 3 more series, but like what do you do if retailers just don’t order it What does that even mean? Is that the break even point for the new machinery they bought?
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Oct 14, 2023 06:01
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Cojawfee posted:What does that even mean? Is that the break even point for the new machinery they bought? It almost certainly means the package designs have already been approved by all parties and sent to the printer. They need to make hundreds of thousands and get them into store backrooms prior to launch, and that process takes time. As for what you do if retailers don't order it, you call the IP holders and attempt to negotiate a change (likely eating a huge loss from having to rush the printing and packing if they agree), give the retailers a steep discount on the product and potentially offer buybacks for unsold/loss product, or you take it on the nose and deal with the blowback from retailers and the IP holders (so probably Nintendo and Disney) and the damage to your reputation that results from the decreased sales and unmet expectations. Maybe you even reissue later in the unfucked (or less hosed) packaging.
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Oct 14, 2023 08:37
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poo poo Fuckasaurus posted:PS, I think that link let's us see what store you have set as "your store". I'm not sure how to stop it and it got all hosed up when I tried. Walmart, the enemy of privacy. But thanks for looking out for me, it wouldn't have been the first time someone accidentally dozed themselves in this thread
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Oct 14, 2023 09:39
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AreWeDrunkYet posted:They could sell them in clear bags if that was the intent. What's the benefit of this "I'm not touching you" game where you can feel them out in an opaque bag? I think it’s for kids who want a small toy and the parents don’t want to spend forever with the kids deciding which of the 20 they get. They get a marvel or a star wars or a generic lego fig that goes with their other sets and there’s some excitement in the opening. They were never interested in feeling out the bags. It would be really interesting to know how much of the cmf sales are going to kids versus collectors. All we see is hugely biased by who’s going to be on reddit.
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Oct 14, 2023 11:07
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I'm among those that strongly dislikes these changes. With previous series, my partner and I would look through the CMF wave, pick out the ones that we wanted, and go to Target or whatever and feel 'em out. We're quite good at it. In fact, sometimes we'd take requests from other folks in our LUG and feel out the ones they wanted, too. With the new system, we will simply not buy any at retail. If there's one I REALLY want, I'll source it on BrickLink at some point, but yeah this is 100% a dealbreaker for me buying CMFs from a store. No interest in predatory gacha bullshit for a product like this. edit: Also, anecdotally, there was SO much demand for these to be sorted and labeled that both of the two nearest LEGO stores to me simply felt out and labeled the CMF bags so buyers would know which one they're getting. To be clear, this practice was so popular with customers, that at one of the two stores, buying a blind one wasn't even an option because they had EVERY single bag sorted and labeled. That said, this was a LEGO store and not at the checkout aisle of a grocery store, so demographic is an important consideration for why they did it this way at a place where more dedicated enthusiasts would shop. Carbohydrates fucked around with this message at 13:11 on Oct 14, 2023 |
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Oct 14, 2023 13:07
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Seems like they could just put some otherwise nonsensical code on the back in small print to satisfy the collectors
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Oct 14, 2023 13:46
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issuing correction on a previous post of mine, regarding the "CMFs arent action figures so Lego can sell them" lawyers. you do not, under any circumstances, "gotta hand it to them"
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Oct 14, 2023 14:19
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I stopped buying the CMFs a while ago. I was never good at feeling the bags, and generally by the time I got to any store near enough to have them I didn't have the patience to figure it out. On top of that, hearing that Lego was making specific figures rare by short-changing the boxes just pissed me off. Like a full box has space for what, 3 full sets plus a duplicate or two? But then they took out a couple from the full sets to make them rare? gently caress that.
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Oct 14, 2023 14:26
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the marvel CMFs were the first where I really tried to get them all and eventually had to order 3 from a shop and I gotta say I kind of enjoyed the surprise from random picks.
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Oct 14, 2023 14:43
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I always thought that the chase and the surprise and the artificial rarity (it all is artificial), and the "blind" part of the blind bag was the whole point of the model.
mutata fucked around with this message at 15:17 on Oct 14, 2023 |
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Oct 14, 2023 15:06
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The blind nature of them never bothered me so much, but I'm not a huge completionist or anything. I have, in the past, bought extras of certain ones I really like from Bricklink and once I bought the whole set of a series because I liked them all. The boxes bother me less than the price, which I feel is on the cusp of what I'm willing to pay for a single figure. I also vastly prefer the non licensed ones and would love them to experiment more along the lines of themed series (like Halloween one or the costume set one). If they ever manage to find a way to do Star Wars ones it'd bankrupt me though.
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Oct 14, 2023 15:57
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I bet there are still ways to pick them out. If you put a heat source behind the box and use FLIR camera some of the elements should pop out. I would also guess there's a minor weight difference between the figures unless lego intentionally offsets that with the packaging.
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Oct 14, 2023 16:06
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AreWeDrunkYet posted:I bet there are still ways to pick them out. If you put a heat source behind the box and use FLIR camera some of the elements should pop out. I would also guess there's a minor weight difference between the figures unless lego intentionally offsets that with the packaging. Excuse me, you can't operate an xray machine in the toy aisle.
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Oct 14, 2023 16:17
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AreWeDrunkYet posted:I bet there are still ways to pick them out. If you put a heat source behind the box and use FLIR camera some of the elements should pop out. I would also guess there's a minor weight difference between the figures unless lego intentionally offsets that with the packaging. We used to make fun of Reddit for doing both of those things. Oh how the turn tables.
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Oct 14, 2023 16:19
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Bringing my scanning tunneling electron microscope to the Toys R Us to make sure I go home with a Goofy Gobbler and not a Pizza Placard
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Oct 14, 2023 16:19
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gently caress blind bags. I will laugh and make fun of anyone who posts pictures of destroyed/damaged/opened CMF boxes with captions like "People are so disgusting!  " or pictures of CMFs in anti-theft devices with captions like "This is why we can't have nice things  " I hope this poo poo is massive headache for both Lego and Retailers until they do something less sleazy.
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Oct 14, 2023 16:36
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I got one of these a few years back and it's more than paid for itself just from finding drafts. I'm not going to bring it to the toy aisle because lol at the idea, but a thermal camera is not a huge piece of specialized equipment anymore.
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Oct 14, 2023 16:41
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That is a $200 smartphone accessory. You are suggesting the possibility of buying a $200 smartphone accessory to see what's inside a $5 toy box. What if they just fixed the packaging?
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Oct 14, 2023 17:03
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AreWeDrunkYet posted:I got one of these a few years back and it's more than paid for itself just from finding drafts. I'm not going to bring it to the toy aisle because lol at the idea, but a thermal camera is not a huge piece of specialized equipment anymore. what is a draft
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Oct 14, 2023 17:06
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Sunk Dunk posted:what is a draft Guessing he means air currents and such.
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Oct 14, 2023 17:12
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poo poo Fuckasaurus posted:That is a $200 smartphone accessory. You are suggesting the possibility of buying a $200 smartphone accessory to see what's inside a $5 toy box. If you already own one like a lot of people paying for utilities do and care which minifig is in the box, sure why not? Habibi posted:Guessing he means air currents and such. Right, stopping heat leaks to improve HVAC efficiency.
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Oct 14, 2023 17:17
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drat I was hoping drafts were some kind of treasure I wasn’t aware of
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Oct 14, 2023 17:23
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Blind boxes combine my love of capitalism and gambling into one unresistable package. I'm glad we legally sell these things to children!
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Oct 14, 2023 17:33
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AreWeDrunkYet posted:If you already own one like a lot of people paying for utilities do and care which minifig is in the box, sure why not? Honestly thought you meant MTG drafts and was wondering how thermal cameras distinguished between different cards.
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Oct 14, 2023 17:40
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Carbohydrates posted:With the new system, we will simply not buy any at retail. If there's one I REALLY want, I'll source it on BrickLink at some point, but yeah this is 100% a dealbreaker for me buying CMFs from a store. No interest in predatory gacha bullshit for a product like this. There's a Bricks and Minifigs store near me that I go to occasionally. They were selling the current marvel wave open for $6 each. I'd gladly pay an extra buck to know what I'm getting. Dunno if any of the other stores do that. Here's their website if you want to see if there is a store close to you. https://bricksandminifigs.com/
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Oct 14, 2023 17:56
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It seems like Lego could strike a good balance by offering three CMF products:
That would probably eliminate the need for the insane blind bag packaging entirely.
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Oct 14, 2023 18:28
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Destroyenator posted:I think it’s for kids who want a small toy and the parents don’t want to spend forever with the kids deciding which of the 20 they get. They get a marvel or a star wars or a generic lego fig that goes with their other sets and there’s some excitement in the opening. They were never interested in feeling out the bags. For real. I feel like putting myself in the shoes of a kid/parent this is kind of a good change? You could practically guarantee all the desirable figures had been swiped with the previous bag type, whereas now, kinda sucks retailers put them behind glass and stuff, but there's a chance to actually get something interesting. Yeah we see lots of complaining on Reddit but that's an AFOL forum so you're obviously gonna be getting that since this hits AFOLs. I definitely don't think some fun randomness is scummy. I don't mean to shame anyone and I also have a $350 plastic star wars toy sitting behind me on the shelf so... but I'm kinda bewildered by the hostility here surrounding this. I always just got the series minifigs I wanted off ebay; there was usually like, a mild markup, but not a significant one. I suppose it's possible the ebay sellers went to the stores to feel the bags up in lieu of me but I figured they just bought the boxes with loads of 'em.
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Oct 14, 2023 18:33
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