Last week I was talking with my wife about the minifigure scanner app. I said,
give it a year and the entire CMF industry on Bricklink, Brickowl and Ebay would
be gone. So many people are now using the app at Walmart and Target and finding
the specific minifigures to complete their collection. I saw two people the
other day in the store using the app and finding exactly what they wanted. I
said see, those two people are not going to buy off of secondary sites to complete
their collection because they are using the scanner app.
If I saw two people in one day, imagine how many across the country are using
the app right now to find what they need. Yes there will be a percentage of
the population that will not use the app for one reason or another. However
a very large percentage of potential customers are probably gone for good now
that the app is more popular than ever.
Last week I was talking with my wife about the minifigure scanner app. I said,
give it a year and the entire CMF industry on Bricklink, Brickowl and Ebay would
be gone. So many people are now using the app at Walmart and Target and finding
the specific minifigures to complete their collection. I saw two people the
other day in the store using the app and finding exactly what they wanted. I
said see, those two people are not going to buy off of secondary sites to complete
their collection because they are using the scanner app.
If I saw two people in one day, imagine how many across the country are using
the app right now to find what they need. Yes there will be a percentage of
the population that will not use the app for one reason or another. However
a very large percentage of potential customers are probably gone for good now
that the app is more popular than ever.
Thoughts?
Hi,
In France we can use the app too. One good point is that we find less opened
boxes in stores !
Last week I was talking with my wife about the minifigure scanner app. I said,
give it a year and the entire CMF industry on Bricklink, Brickowl and Ebay would
be gone. So many people are now using the app at Walmart and Target and finding
the specific minifigures to complete their collection. I saw two people the
other day in the store using the app and finding exactly what they wanted. I
said see, those two people are not going to buy off of secondary sites to complete
their collection because they are using the scanner app.
If I saw two people in one day, imagine how many across the country are using
the app right now to find what they need. Yes there will be a percentage of
the population that will not use the app for one reason or another. However
a very large percentage of potential customers are probably gone for good now
that the app is more popular than ever.
Thoughts?
I remember a similar discussion about bar codes in series 1, how it wasn't
worth investing in CMF as people can identify them themselves.
Being able to identify them so quickly probably means it is harder to find the
ones you want in a retail store as the popular ones are removed as soon as a
box is opened. And so people need to turn to the secondary market for the in
demand figures.
Last week I was talking with my wife about the minifigure scanner app. I said,
give it a year and the entire CMF industry on Bricklink, Brickowl and Ebay would
be gone. So many people are now using the app at Walmart and Target and finding
the specific minifigures to complete their collection. I saw two people the
other day in the store using the app and finding exactly what they wanted. I
said see, those two people are not going to buy off of secondary sites to complete
their collection because they are using the scanner app.
If I saw two people in one day, imagine how many across the country are using
the app right now to find what they need. Yes there will be a percentage of
the population that will not use the app for one reason or another. However
a very large percentage of potential customers are probably gone for good now
that the app is more popular than ever.
Thoughts?
I remember when the UPC bar codes were first used and the community figured out
how to decipher them (by scanning). Then LEGO made the change to standard UPC
codes across the board. Then, folks came up with the "feel" test and
that sort of helped (published guides on the parts). Now that we have these
QR codes on the boxes, I'd say give it time before LEGO changes it again
or removes them altogether.
Last week I was talking with my wife about the minifigure scanner app. I said,
give it a year and the entire CMF industry on Bricklink, Brickowl and Ebay would
be gone. So many people are now using the app at Walmart and Target and finding
the specific minifigures to complete their collection. I saw two people the
other day in the store using the app and finding exactly what they wanted. I
said see, those two people are not going to buy off of secondary sites to complete
their collection because they are using the scanner app.
If I saw two people in one day, imagine how many across the country are using
the app right now to find what they need. Yes there will be a percentage of
the population that will not use the app for one reason or another. However
a very large percentage of potential customers are probably gone for good now
that the app is more popular than ever.
Thoughts?
I remember when the UPC bar codes were first used and the community figured out
how to decipher them (by scanning). Then LEGO made the change to standard UPC
codes across the board. Then, folks came up with the "feel" test and
that sort of helped (published guides on the parts). Now that we have these
QR codes on the boxes, I'd say give it time before LEGO changes it again
or removes them altogether.
There are only 3 solutions to the "surprise" problem:
* pack with an opaque resistant carton packaging, adding an extra weight to hide
the eventual weight difference... too costly,
* with zero difference, but then people progressively crumple/destroy the packaging
making the remaining "touched" minifigures not sold,
* leave some difference - the desired ones are quickly sold, the other ones also
anyway by the majority of people who don't go shopping with a specific app
(grand/parents, people offering little gifts, kids, etc.)
In short, the third only is valid for LEGO, as it is now. IMO.
Last week I was talking with my wife about the minifigure scanner app. I said,
give it a year and the entire CMF industry on Bricklink, Brickowl and Ebay would
be gone. So many people are now using the app at Walmart and Target and finding
the specific minifigures to complete their collection. I saw two people the
other day in the store using the app and finding exactly what they wanted. I
said see, those two people are not going to buy off of secondary sites to complete
their collection because they are using the scanner app.
If I saw two people in one day, imagine how many across the country are using
the app right now to find what they need. Yes there will be a percentage of
the population that will not use the app for one reason or another. However
a very large percentage of potential customers are probably gone for good now
that the app is more popular than ever.
Thoughts?
A few people with the scanner can have an outsized influence if they are scalpers,
but I still think the majority of the market is moms buying them for children
and not using an app. Not even being especially informed about the possible
minifigs inside.
A few people with the scanner can have an outsized influence if they are scalpers,
Why "scalpers"? An army builder with the scanner app has probably even
more influence as they are likely to remove as many as they can and not allow
those on the secondary market, plus they will no doubt buy any cheaper ones on
tge secondary market. Similarly a longer term reseller rather than quick flipping
scalper probably has more of an effect, since those are removed from the market
entirely for a period of time making secondary market stocks lower and hence
prices higher.
A few people with the scanner can have an outsized influence if they are scalpers,
Why "scalpers"? An army builder with the scanner app has probably even
more influence as they are likely to remove as many as they can and not allow
those on the secondary market, plus they will no doubt buy any cheaper ones on
tge secondary market. Similarly a longer term reseller rather than quick flipping
scalper probably has more of an effect, since those are removed from the market
entirely for a period of time making secondary market stocks lower and hence
prices higher.
A few people with the scanner can have an outsized influence if they are scalpers,
Why "scalpers"? An army builder with the scanner app has probably even
more influence as they are likely to remove as many as they can and not allow
those on the secondary market, plus they will no doubt buy any cheaper ones on
tge secondary market. Similarly a longer term reseller rather than quick flipping
scalper probably has more of an effect, since those are removed from the market
entirely for a period of time making secondary market stocks lower and hence
prices higher.
I meant influence on an individual store.
Even for an individual store, an army builder that removes all of one particular
figure has exactly the same effect as a 'scalper' that removes all of
one particular figure wanting to sell those figures quickly or a 'reseller'
that does the same but intends to sell them in the future. Their intention for
the minifigures doesn't really matter, as they all do the same thing in that
they take the figures they want leaving none for others. There is often this
view that 'scalpers' are bad as they want to profit from it and are hence
given the name scalper, whereas collectors and army builders are more honourable
and good. But they both really have the same effect.
USA, North Carolina
France, Centre-Val de Loire
United Kingdom, England
