Comunque sulla LAN parte Ambassador ci sono stati due bei post che vi invito a leggere: Da Rebecca Deak: Sara Skahill and Signe Lønholdt Please know that I know you are doing your job. You are listening to a lot of negativity and reaction. But you are also dealing with people who have a lot of passion. Plus there are quite a few who have been around a long time who have seen time after time where the AFOL Community is told that we are valued but then the actions prove otherwise. You are on the receiving end and for that I do apologize for you are just the messengers. It was not your decision and you also are the sounding board. I appreciate you for doing it. Trying to keep this positive as if we all took one giant step back...we would all probably agree. You are great.
I have not weighed in on my personal thoughts because I needed time to let my instant reaction go. All of my thoughts keep coming back to trust and is this hobby which is already expensive (Please do not tell me it isn't. It is.) is now going to be come:
1) So cost prohibitive that I can not continue
2) Even more impossible to obtain the parts I need
Please give me a moment to explain. I build big. I plan for years, slowly gathering the parts I need if I can. But sometimes I can't. Take for instance my latest giant Captain America mosaic. (see below) He's 48 inches long and 36 inches tall. He contains over 40,000 plates. Plates I could not buy from LEGO. You do not offer them in the colors and quantity I needed. You still don't. I used over 5,000 1x1 plates in dark grey. I couldn't order them from LUGBULK because I needed that built before LUGBULK would arrive. So I had to order the parts I needed off Bricklink out of Europe because they only existed in the quantity I needed there. Now you own Bricklink. I am afraid that you will make it impossible for me to get the parts I need now. Let alone be able to afford them.
If I am going to be honest, I actually have been having thoughts of completely abandoning the hobby now. Why? Because I do not trust that what is being told is actually what will happen, because of experiences from the past.
And there is the underlying problem for all of this...trust has been lost. And I don't think I am the only person who has lost trust. I think the reaction of the community is very clearly showing that fact.
Da Anna - theBrickBlogger This is a very valid concern that I have been hearing from so many members of the community. LEGO consistently demonstrated and stated over the years that they hate resellers, and they will do everything in their power to try to stop them. Putting unreasonable expectations and demands on small toy retail shops, so much so that toy shops rather get their inventory from BrickLink rather than directly from LEGO. Banning families for buying too much LEGO for personal use. Banning hobbyists for reselling minifigs to recoup some of the cost of the hobby. It's ironic that just the day before the announcement about BrickLink's acquisition, Anna Bitanga started a thread just about this very topic. And now LEGO buys the largest and most established LEGO marketplace in the world. And we supposed to trust that they are doing it for our good.
I thought to add a little bit of BrickLink's history here for those who are interested, and for the AFOLET team to understand better why the AFOL community is so weary of this announcement. When Dan started the site back in the year 2000, it was a dedicated marketplace to buy, sell, and trade LEGO amongst AFOLs. (There also used to be an auction section of the site in the early years where some interesting odds-and end, bulk LEGO lots, and MOCs could be sold. And there was a section of the site for custom items compatible with LEGO, but no clones or competing brands were allowed.) That's it. BrickLink wasn't a place for LEGO news, or sharing MOCs, or developing fancy tools, or wanting to strengthen the relationship with LEGO. It was just a place where AFOLs could buy and sell LEGO in peace...
After Dan's passing, the site was hacked twice, which caused severe damage. It was clear that Dan's mom and a small team of volunteers couldn't deal with the issues. The best thing to do was to sell the site to someone who can maintain it and develop it further. This is when the site was sold Jay Kim. This news was received with some nervousness, but mostly enthusiasm. Finally, the site was in the hands of someone who had the resources to maintain and develop it. However, the enthusiasm died down fairly quickly. It became clear that for Jay and his team the marketplace aspect of the site was not the focus. Instead of fixing and developing tools that buyers and sellers were asking for, resources were spent on side projects like the MOC Shop, Stud.io, the BrickLink mosaic builder (called Mosaick), and the AFOL Designer Program. From these projects Stud.io became fairly successful, and the AFOL Designer Program was a nice collaboration with LEGO. But none of these projects were what BrickLink members wanted. They just wanted a place to buy and sell LEGO in peace...
And now comes LEGO buying BrickLink, the worlds largest online LEGO marketplace. Take a look at the press-release. Niels said: “Our adult fans are extremely important to us. They are passionate, committed and endlessly creative. We have worked closely with the community for many years and look forward to deepening our collaboration through BrickLink. We plan to continue to support the active marketplace and evolve BrickLink’s digital studio which allows our talented fans to take their creativity to the next level.”
And Julie said: “BrickLink provides the LEGO Group with a unique opportunity to connect with adult fans through new channels and exciting experiences. We’ve recently collaborated with BrickLink on a range of crowd-sourced sets to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the brick. We learned a lot and are keen to explore more ways of working together to create value. We look forward to collaborating further with our adult fans, while retaining and nurturing the independent spirit of the digital platform.”
What are they emphasizing here? Further evolving Stud.io, projects like the AFOL Designer Program, and collaborating with AFOLs for exciting experiences. Sounds familiar? Someone buying the site who doesn't understand BrickLink, and wanting to use BrickLink for their pet projects. BrickLink members don't want exciting experiences. They don't want closer ties with LEGO. They just want to be able to buy and sell LEGO in peace...
And now circling back to my first point; LEGO hates resellers. Their stance on this did not change. And now they are in charge of the largest marketplace in the world dedicated to LEGO. Let that sink in. BrickLink is not about Stud.io, or the AFOL Designer Program, or other fancy side projects. It's about AFOLs with small to large projects being able to buy all the pieces they need. And little hobby shops to fulltime businesses meticulously sorting, cataloguing, and selling LEGO pieces to fulfill the needs of these buyers. Resellers - the black sheep of the hobby LEGO hates so much.
To be fair, LEGO doesn't hate all resellers. They do accept and even recommend sellers that sell old retired stuff that LEGO abandoned a long time ago. But those who are buying and parting out current LEGO sets? Or those who buy a new set and then resell the minifigs to recoup some of the cost? Or those who buy two sets during a sale and sells one? Those people are still evil badguys who should be banned forever and ever. And now they can't just be banned from LEGO's own stores and online shop, they can also be banned from the largest secondary marketplace. To believe that LEGO is not going to track buyer and seller accounts on BrickLink and banish those who's activities they don't like is naïve.
And just another point to add to this, LEGO has a long track record of not just hating on resellers, but also having side projects that they abandon. Neither of this leaves BrickLink buyers and sellers with much confidence. Fortunately, we still have BrickOwl to fall back on, in case LEGO screws up BrickLink. I wouldn't be surprised if large sellers who's livelihood depends on their sales migrate over there between now and the end of the year. And sellers migrating means buyers migrating too...
I would really-really like to hear LEGO's real reasons for buying BrickLink, and not the PR sweet talk. Because I'm fairly certain that supporting LEGO resellers is not on the list of these reasons. But what do I know? Maybe this time it is going to be totally different. And LEGO will allow AFOLs to buy and sell LEGO in peace...
Date una medaglia a queste donne!
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