2011 news

 

  • 2011 news

    Posted by Huw, 10 Aug 2010 07:54. Filed under Miscellaneous.

    We're aware that there's news of 2011 sets on other sites, based on the sighting of a retailers' catalogue.

    While we like to read it as much as you do, we know that LEGO do not appreciate it when leaks like this occur so early in the year and are propagated by sites as popular as this. One reason being that it could potentially enable a competitor to bring a similar product to market beforehand. So, for that reason, we won't be reporting on it here, or providing links to it, until much later in the year when it becomes 'common knowledge' and is not based on priveleged information (e.g. the retailers' catalogue), and we'll be deleting comments that mention it, too.

    I appreciate your understanding on this.


    43 comments, latest one posted 33 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
    776 views


 
 

Comments

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 10 Aug 2010 08:05

Ah. That's why my link was deleted. Thanks for the explanation! Sorry for the inconvenience! Oh, just ONE question: What's a "retailers' catalogue"?

Posted by I like Lego in Canada, 10 Aug 2010 08:11

Thanks for letting us know Huw! I won't say anything in the comments next time.

Posted by circoloco in Poland, 10 Aug 2010 08:16

"Retailers" is a brand catalogue for stores and distributors. It is one catologue per year with whole Lego offer. Has a contens like Products Pictures, Date Avaibility, Boxes Dimensions, PCBs Qty., Barcodes, sections planogram and so on. It is not vey useful for customers.

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 10 Aug 2010 08:22

@circoloco: HEY! It IS useful for us! We get to know what's comin'! Anyways, thanks!

Posted by AZFIREWOLF in United States, 10 Aug 2010 08:37

I think it is a great idea to delete the stuff. One you want to be on the nice side of Lego. Let us face it if they wanted to say no to you for anything. Posting future set information is going to really give them a good reason.
Two, who cares if it is useful to us now. It is not like you are going to be able to buy anything yet. You still have to wait. Just wait a little bit longer until Lego releases the pictures or some fan does on Eurobrick,Brickshelf or any of the other sites that are out there.

Huw I give you loads of credit for sticking up for the site and the mission (does the site have a mission) of brickset

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 10 Aug 2010 08:38

Yes, the retailers' catalogue is just that: a catalogue of current and forthcoming sets that shops use to decide what to order.

I believe there are two a year produced. One issued about now which details the sets to be released in the first half of next year as well as current sets, and another one is published around Christmas which includes the sets to be released in the second half of the year. It is typically this one which can be obtained by attending the trade fairs at the beginning of the year.

Posted by DrathMaul1997 in United Kingdom, 10 Aug 2010 08:47

@AZFIREWOLF On 2, 'Cous we can stare at the pics of it :)

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 10 Aug 2010 08:58

I'm glad Brickset doesn't leak stuff too early. I never thought about the competitor copying ideas either.

Posted by circoloco in Poland, 10 Aug 2010 09:06

This catalogue usually appears sept/oct. There is one for whole year, some sets usually are marked "preliminary". What's comin next year I would be able to write in sept if BrickSet agree. I can make You sure - It is worth to wait :-)

Posted by DrathMaul1997 in United Kingdom, 10 Aug 2010 09:40

BTW whats the 'competitor' you talk about? MEGA bloks? Death to the mega bloks!!!!!

Posted by vexorian in Bolivia, 10 Aug 2010 10:14

oxford, cobi, mega bloks, click brick, etc. Not to mention the bootlegs, but hey the bootlegs wouldn't be able to copy anything without seeing instructions first.

I don't really think this really protects LEGO from competitors copying ideas, chances are that if clone brands really had such intention they would have easier resources than the interweb.

But indeed , if LEGO don't like those things being available it is better that brickset does not make them even easier to find.

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 10 Aug 2010 10:16

@vexorian: You missed one competitor: K'nex! Yup, they have launched their OWN version of the brick!

Posted by legoDad42 in United States, 10 Aug 2010 10:26

I recently got a 2010 Product Catalog from a friend who went to ToyFair earlier this year in NYC and it's printed beautifully and shows all the line of product available this year (BUT, it didn't have the UCS Imperial Shuttle or the Tower Bridge featured). It has what's availabe, when it starts...and also when it'll end (like sayin' it's all year available or if it's an older line it'll show it ends in the spring, and for new stuff when it starts, etc.), it states how many in a case, store 'planograms' for displaying merchandise, barcodes for all the product and customer service contacts for U.S./Canada/Mexico...also some blank ruled line pages at the end for notes I guess.

I can understand LEGO not wanting people to announce, if someone got the one for 2011 'cause you can get a real good view of what's coming out (not everything) with nice photo's of the boxes, a good description, piece count, etc.

Posted by Jarod98 in United Kingdom, 10 Aug 2010 10:35

@DrathMaul - The Toys "R" Us I live near has another brand Lego-like (I forget it's name), and they're creating their own city sets that are the exact same as Legos (except the minfigs are one piece). So Lego was smart not to release news yet (although I'm dying to see what the new sets are).

Posted by bluemoose in United Kingdom, 10 Aug 2010 12:36

Obviously the 'retail catalogues' don't usually contain any of the exclusive sets, either Lego exclusives (like the UCS Shuttle or Tower Bridge) or the sets exclusive to a particular chain (TRU, Target, etc.); what would be the point ?

The retail catalogues are released to retailers on a confidential basis; the retailers are supposed to protect the information & not make it public.

Posted by Tommyo3000 in United States, 10 Aug 2010 12:47

Oh I understand :)

Posted by power miner2020 in United States, 10 Aug 2010 12:54

What does this mean?

Posted by the_collector in United States, 10 Aug 2010 13:48

leaks already?, wow, lego must have really blown something for them to be out already

Posted by Crt2 in United States, 10 Aug 2010 14:59

I Read This yesterday, I Would Like To Help Lego by Stopping Leaks so I Won't Talk about it.

Posted by mission_zed in United Kingdom, 10 Aug 2010 15:30

::PlugModeEngaged:: For a brief history of counterfeit Lego, check out the current issue of the Brick Journal. I picked one up from Lego MK at the weekend. Just flip past the photo of Huw. ::PlugModeTerminated::

Posted by joao in Portugal, 10 Aug 2010 17:29

I would suspect that if a competitor wants to know what LEGO is putting out they would be able to get their hands on these catalogs easily. I'm not in the business but I'd assume that every company would also be shopping their catalogs around stores around the same time so they don't have time to copy or adjust with new products anyway.

It's more damaging for customers who see a set like the new (not going to tell) and now know they have to wait (not telling either) months to get it.

Out of curiosity I'd like to see what these pages look like. Does anyone have a scan of an old and now irrelevant one so we can see what they look like?

Posted by LobsterWarrior in United States, 10 Aug 2010 19:51

Wish I could see the new sets. I hope there's some more Power Miners, and maybe some Kingdoms and hopefully, SPACE POLICE 3! I hope.

Posted by Jarod98 in United Kingdom, 10 Aug 2010 21:20

@LobsterWarrior - I hope there's more Kingdoms sets as well, and I used to be big on Space Police III, but there were so many themes I was into (including Kingdoms) that I had to eliminate one (sadly it was SP3). I do want to say that Lego has made Space Police III for two consecutive years now, so I highly doubt Lego will make any more in 2011, but if they do that will be SP3's last year for sure. I'm hoping Lego will make a new subtheme with regular space stuff, instead of aliens and city's on other planets.

Posted by LobsterWarrior in United States, 10 Aug 2010 21:43

@Jarod98 - Oh...But SP3 started in 2008 right? Don't most themes have three years?

Posted by legowomen1980p in United States, 11 Aug 2010 00:11

That is the whole reason I come here... I want to learn about what is comming out before it does so I can save my money for it..

My Husband and I Buy Legos and Fireworks every year.. If cool sets come out, we will buy less fireworks.. but if I don't know.. I will probably buy less legos.. because we don't know..

I am sorry, but we live on a Budget.. If it's not planed on... were probably not going to get it.. Can you direct me to sites I can check daily??

Posted by meccanotwitch in United Kingdom, 11 Aug 2010 04:05

I can remember when the only way I could find out about the latest Lego additions, was to obtain a customer catalogue from my local toy shop. Remember this only had sets for that year, so finding out about next years sets was never an option. In my opinion these were the good old days of Lego, even if it was 20 years ago.

Posted by Parax in United Kingdom, 11 Aug 2010 08:13

It's naive to think the competition don't get a retail catalogue within days. The real reason for secrecy is that it is simply pre-release. Lego have a release date and they want to stick to it, as is their right. The only reason the information is now public is because someone breached a contract. This is why the lawyers get involved. But once the Genie is out of the bottle, legally the information is public, and can be republished by anyone who is not under contract, however it would simply be rude to do so. Lego could save themselves a headache and legal costs by releasing at the point of publishing the retail catalogue. But they don't, as is their choice.

Posted by skypirate in United States, 11 Aug 2010 08:53

I respect your decision on honoring LEGO's wishes. I think releasing a catalog early could also hurt this year's sales. Retailers and LEGO need to move the existing merchandise off the shelves. If consumers have already set their sites on next year's sets, lots of current sets won't get sold. Then retailers will begin to think of LEGOs as space consuming merchandise that doesn't sell and possibly reduce their future inventory. "Hey, our 2010 LEGO sales weren't that good. Sales really dropped off in the middle of the year for some reason (catalog leak), should we bother with the 2011 sets beyond a token xmas inventory?"

Posted by Jarod98 in United Kingdom, 11 Aug 2010 09:26

@LobsterWarrior - Actually it started in 2009 which means that 2011 will be their third year and some subthemes do, but I don't see what else Lego needs to make. They made a ton of space ships the first year (along with an alien hideout: Squidman's Pitstop). In the second year they made Space Police Central which obviously was there base, what more do they need. Actually, I don't see Kingdoms coming back, unlike the Fantasy Era sets, Kingdoms is realistic, so there won't be any elves or dwarfs coming. It would be nice if another group of knights (like the Lion Knights and Dragon Knights) would join the party to attack.

Posted by DJ Dave in United States, 11 Aug 2010 15:06

In honesty, if a set won't be released until the second half of the year, I wouldn't want to know what is slated for release until that particular year begins. A full 10 months for the announcement of the 3 2010 City Airport sets (September 2009) to the time of US release (July 2010). A bit too long of a wait if you asked me--I would have been just as satisfied if I didn't know about the Airport sets releases until say March 2010.

Posted by Ypres in Canada, 11 Aug 2010 15:41

Searched Google a bit... didn't find much other than possible set names. As far as that set information goes, I don't trust anything I don't get images for. Still too early to care. I'm worried on getting sets that are out now, not about ones released months later

Posted by bluemoose in United Kingdom, 11 Aug 2010 15:47

Come on guys, this isn't a chat board. Keep politics out of here. Keep personal attacks out of here. Keep any discussion on topic.

This policy on leaks has been in place for a long time; it hasn't changed & there are no plans to change it.
As soon as legitimate information becomes available, you'll hear about it here ... and it'll still be months before the sets are actually available. Thanks for understanding :-)

Posted by legowomen1980p in United States, 11 Aug 2010 15:53

well there are several sites right now publishing the new series 3 lego minifigure collectibles along with the other new sets set to arrive next year. How many sites need to publish the information in order it to be legitimate information?

Posted by bluemoose in United Kingdom, 11 Aug 2010 15:57

(1) This *isn't* about the Series 3 minifigs; there are a lot of other rumours about the early 2011 'System' releases circulating at the moment. Some sound possible, others are pure fiction; and ...
(2) 'Legitimate' isn't the same as lots of blogs repeating the same info; when there is concrete info from a major source (Lego, Amazon, photos from a Toy Fair, etc.), so they aren't just unconfirmed rumours, then we'll post.

Fundamentally, the policy isn't up for discussion. We get enough requests from Lego to pull info from the site as it is.

Posted by bluemoose in United Kingdom, 11 Aug 2010 16:05

Just to clarify, this is not a 'chat board' / 'general discussion board'. Please keep the comments on topic, otherwise they are likely to be edited or deleted. We try to be relaxed about it, but history shows that things will usually get out of hand quickly.

'Chatty' conversations between people are discouraged; asking on-topic questions is fine. If you want to 'chat' then there are plenty of other Lego-oriented websites out there ... we even have a formal link-up with the Tabletown forums (see the link at the bottom of the page).

Sorry if this seems a little harsh, but we're trying to keep this place safe for everyone.

EDIT - Since some people seem determined to make this issue personal, when it isn't, I've decide to lock this news item for a few hours to stop things deteriorating. If anyone wants to discuss this further, feel free to contact me through my profile.

EDIT - I've unlocked this news article comments section again. *Please* keep it on-topic & civil, OK ?

Posted by jacksonb526 in United States, 12 Aug 2010 08:48

The retailer's catalog's got some pictures of the 2011 City sets!

Posted by legofanatic2414 in United States, 12 Aug 2010 14:10

I don't even know about ANY sets coming in 2011 and personally I don't want to know. Either which, I like how Brickset never shows any information on any new sets I like it being a suprise! I used to go on Brickshelf but I don't do THAT any more. And whats with all this STAY ON TOPIC bussiness?

Posted by jacksonb526 in United States, 12 Aug 2010 15:59

I think all 2011 sets will rock.

Posted by Brickmatic in United States, 13 Aug 2010 20:17

I just want to say I like the policy. Despite the fact I like getting the inside scoop on upcoming sets, I think by not showing super early leaks Brickset shows its respect for LEGO and ultimately helps to foster the brand's continued success. There are marketing reasons why a toy company operates a certain way and early leaks are bad for business. LEGO wouldn't care so much if they were good for business.

@legofanatic Stay on topic probably had something to do with comments that already have been deleted which were not on topic.

Posted by voyanui8768 in United Kingdom, 14 Aug 2010 11:26

I don't really see all those other companies as competion. I don't see any "Mega Blocks Stores" or "K'nex land". ;-)

Posted by powerpig in Canada, 14 Aug 2010 12:38

Although competition might be cited as a concern, it's not the only worry for Lego. Another major issue is "deferred purchases," or to put it in layman's terms, the likelihood that people will pass up items currently on store shelves and save their cash for future sets. This increases the chances that more inventory will build up in the channel and have to be reduced to clear. There are always "dud" sets, of course, but advanced knowledge of upcoming sets could drastically increase the number of duds, especially in an uncertain economic climate. This is not an issue particular to Lego, of course. It affects just about any company that revamps its products on a regular basis, from tech companies to car manufacturers.

Posted by Orsie in United Kingdom, 15 Aug 2010 03:26

once when i went to my local toy shop (at christmas) i asked if the kingdoms sets had come in and she ended up showing me the whole retail catoulouge and telling my when everything was coming out!

Posted by MasterOfDisaster in United States, 17 Aug 2010 17:34

Like most people have said when they commented on this article, you don't want to get on LEGO's bad side, so I understand Huw.

Commenting has ended on this article.