Good idea holding the info, Greg. BIONICLE would be really boring if we knew everything that would happen the whole year in the first week!

Glad to hear BIONICLE is doing good on the market, I hope the early read is right and LEGO will come in strong in 2008. If the 2008 sets come out later in December, you can be sure I'll buy my share!

~

Those are fantastic news, but... When you say that no info until July, It's because is in July when Shadows In The Sky gets released?

And that your products of next year are great, it's something that you guys have been able to see in BZP for months (Heck, everyone is gonna get a set in 2008)

Great news.

Let's hope BIONICLE will do good next year. I know I'll do my best to help it along.

Night Terror -- The reason to hold back info on summer sets until July is that the sets don't come out until then. So there isn't much point in discussing them when no one can buy them yet.

Since the winter sets are appearing places now, I can start discussing them -- like I said, I just want to ration the info, because there are no comics or books until March next year and I don't want you guys bored the whole first quarter of 2008.

Greg

I'm sure that 2008 wil be great. What bothers me is the books though, they don't get enough spotlight. When I go to one of my bookstores I have to wander past a bunch of kiddie stuff, like stuffed animals etc. Then I have to bend down and search for the spines. I got to thinking, hardly anyone is going to stumble across these and be introduced to the books like that. And I don't know if it is just where I live, but if BIONICLE could put out some cardboard kiosk/stands for the books that people could see, and see the cover of the books, I think that would boost books sales a lot.

I am in complete agreement with this. When I found BL8 not long ago, it was on the very bottom shelf of a section full of 4-6 year old kids' stuff, crammed between BL7s and some other kind of kids' book. I almost gave up before I finally found the thing. So yeah, I really do think that they need to be better displayed. The book stores can put the books wherever they want from what I understand, but maybe some kind of arrangement can be worked out for the BIONICLE books? It really would help.

So much news, I don't know where to start. It's great to hear that kids like BINOICLE that much, top three is very good. But, when you say that thing about Schoolastic and 6-8 year-olds, you don't mean the books will be more "kidish", right?

~CN

what is the new mask power you told ? I also have question: Would a mask of Darkness be the same as a mask of Shadows?

piraka slayer

The display situation is not something LEGO can affect. To get an end cap or a display like that in a store, the publisher has to be willing to pay for that space and the store has to be willing to give it to them. And it ends up a chicken and egg situation -- the books possibly do not sell as well because of display area, but because they do not sell that well, they aren't going to get that display area either. Same way that if you had a LEGO line that was selling poorly, you wouldn't see TRU or Target give an end cap up for it -- the end caps go to things like Star Wars or LEGO City that are selling really well.

At the same time, the books were being shelved in the same way in 2004 and 2005 when they sold like crazy. Book sales are being affected more by a lack of awareness about BIONICLE than anything else.

Greg

Great to hear it! I wonder what Scholastic's gonna do, maybe less-advansed books?

Great to know that BIONICLE is doing well in market. ^^ 2008 will probably be even better with the return of the Nuva, after all, old fans love Nuva. =D

~ Bioran

Good luck Greg.

Always good to hear that Lego isn't having a ton of financial issues like I thought.

And that Bionicle is going strong.

-CF

No, CF, the "ton of financial issues" was pretty much the 2002-2004 period -- we started turning things around in 2005, built up steam in 2006, and kept it going in 2007. In a very bad toy market, we are one of the few success stories out there.

Another big news item this year has been the continued success of the LEGO retail stores. I'll admit, when we first opened stores, I had my doubts they would work -- but the Brand Retail team we have in place really did a great job. Revenues jumped way over last year's, which were already a big jump over 2005. So the predictions voiced in some quarters of BZP that you would be seeing cascading store closings proved to be wrong, thankfully

Do we face challenges? Yes, the same ones pretty much every other toy company does in 2008 -- high oil prices, the credit crunch, and the weak dollar. Fortunately, LEGO Company's history is that we ride through tough economic times pretty well, so hopefully that trend will continue.

Interestingly, one of our top lines this year, along with Star Wars, was LEGO City -- which makes me think you may be seeing a backlash against all the electronic items and video games, etc., and maybe some parents turning back to really traditional toys for their kids. Outside of Creator, City is the most classic LEGO series we have.

Greg

No, CF, the "ton of financial issues" was pretty much the 2002-2004 period -- we started turning things around in 2005, built up steam in 2006, and kept it going in 2007. In a very bad toy market, we are one of the few success stories out there.

 

Another big news item this year has been the continued success of the LEGO retail stores. I'll admit, when we first opened stores, I had my doubts they would work -- but the Brand Retail team we have in place really did a great job. Revenues jumped way over last year's, which were already a big jump over 2005. So the predictions voiced in some quarters of BZP that you would be seeing cascading store closings proved to be wrong, thankfully

 

Do we face challenges? Yes, the same ones pretty much every other toy company does in 2008 -- high oil prices, the credit crunch, and the weak dollar. Fortunately, LEGO Company's history is that we ride through tough economic times pretty well, so hopefully that trend will continue.

 

Interestingly, one of our top lines this year, along with Star Wars, was LEGO City -- which makes me think you may be seeing a backlash against all the electronic items and video games, etc., and maybe some parents turning back to really traditional toys for their kids. Outside of Creator, City is the most classic LEGO series we have.

 

Greg

Yay! Thanks for the clarification.

Personally, I'm not into City, but looking at the sets I do think they were spiffy this year, so good job. There was a big variety of items at a range of prices. The dump truck and the cement mixer were new ideas that I thought were clever and different from the same old of firetrucks and helicopters.

Ooh, Creator. Great way to get tons of pieces at a small price. (and this year there was the Mosaic sets!)

Hmm, KUTGW?

-CF

No, CF, the "ton of financial issues" was pretty much the 2002-2004 period -- we started turning things around in 2005, built up steam in 2006, and kept it going in 2007. In a very bad toy market, we are one of the few success stories out there.

 

Another big news item this year has been the continued success of the LEGO retail stores. I'll admit, when we first opened stores, I had my doubts they would work -- but the Brand Retail team we have in place really did a great job. Revenues jumped way over last year's, which were already a big jump over 2005. So the predictions voiced in some quarters of BZP that you would be seeing cascading store closings proved to be wrong, thankfully

 

Do we face challenges? Yes, the same ones pretty much every other toy company does in 2008 -- high oil prices, the credit crunch, and the weak dollar. Fortunately, LEGO Company's history is that we ride through tough economic times pretty well, so hopefully that trend will continue.

 

Interestingly, one of our top lines this year, along with Star Wars, was LEGO City -- which makes me think you may be seeing a backlash against all the electronic items and video games, etc., and maybe some parents turning back to really traditional toys for their kids. Outside of Creator, City is the most classic LEGO series we have.

 

Greg

Yay! Thanks for the clarification.

 

Personally, I'm not into City, but looking at the sets I do think they were spiffy this year, so good job. There was a big variety of items at a range of prices. The dump truck and the cement mixer were new ideas that I thought were clever and different from the same old of firetrucks and helicopters.

Ooh, Creator. Great way to get tons of pieces at a small price. (and this year there was the Mosaic sets!)

 

Hmm, KUTGW?

 

-CF

Same here. I love City sets, but don't have the budget to become a collector. Glad to see more traditional themes are doing well... what about Mars Mission? I would expect it to have done well, since they're continuing it next year, but I liked it much this year-- combined many of the better aspects of past Space themes.

Win the children over with picture books. Ever read Nova's Ark? It's a good example to follow for illustrations.

I went to Toy r Us today and there were no Jaller and Hewkii;one Kongu;around three Hahli,ten Nuparu,but Matoro,they have fifteen.Hewkii did pretty good.There's one kid that wanted Barraki deapsea patrol but siad it was not scary enough and he bought those Lego castles.I saw another kid that was interested in Avak,Hahli and the squids but didn't buy anything.I was promoting Bionicle and got another kid to buy Takadox.I bought Matoro.

Well, good job, Lhilertoro The best spokespeople for BIONICLE are fans who like it.

Mars Mission did very well among LEGO Club members, as did Castle, I don't know its sales overall.

The great thing about City and Creator is that they are good "intro products" -- often, they get bought for younger kids and become a way to get them into LEGO building. We find if kids get into this at a young age, they are more likely to stick with it as they get older.

Greg

Win the children over with picture books. Ever read Nova's Ark? It's a good example to follow for illustrations.

I've read that. If LEGO had the budget to make BIONICLE picture books of that quality... *dreams happily*

EDIT: But they did manage to do 3-D graphics for those old LEGO picture books like "Trouble at the Bridge." Certainly BIONICLE might pose more difficulty, but I can't say it's not a possibility at this stage...

But I'm not sure how picture books of that sort would fly with 7-10 year olds. If anything it might be worthwhile to go for something more like the Exo-Force books (though, not having any experience with what kind of books sell to what age range, I'm not sure whether I am making a correct assumption in that this would sell well).

Well, good job, Lhilertoro The best spokespeople for BIONICLE are fans who like it.

 

Mars Mission did very well among LEGO Club members, as did Castle, I don't know its sales overall.

 

The great thing about City and Creator is that they are good "intro products" -- often, they get bought for younger kids and become a way to get them into LEGO building. We find if kids get into this at a young age, they are more likely to stick with it as they get older.

 

Greg

How did Exo-force do? I actually like Mars mission.Just a good news,I convinced my sister to buy Bionicle,she likes the Cordak.

Win the children over with picture books. Ever read Nova's Ark? It's a good example to follow for illustrations.

I've read that. If LEGO had the budget to make BIONICLE picture books of that quality... *dreams happily*

 

EDIT: But they did manage to do 3-D graphics for those old LEGO picture books like "Trouble at the Bridge." Certainly BIONICLE might pose more difficulty, but I can't say it's not a possibility at this stage...

 

But I'm not sure how picture books of that sort would fly with 7-10 year olds. If anything it might be worthwhile to go for something more like the Exo-Force books (though, not having any experience with what kind of books sell to what age range, I'm not sure whether I am making a correct assumption in that this would sell well).

I remember they had those old Rock Raiders picture books that were awesome. Those could do wonders for BIONICLE... It would give a better idea of the locations, too.

Wow, great to hear BIONICLE is doing well!

It's good to hear LEGO is doing well too. It's a good sign that maybe traditional toys won't die out all together!

Cool, so the Phantoka should be out in the East Coast bu X-mas!