Probably not something that a lot of people want to hear about or admit, but there is a cancer in the AFOL community that is not only being ignored, but encouraged by some of the larger influencers.
watched all the way through, still dont actually know what this is about. its so cryptic? is there something about the rainbow background that tells you somethings stolen? they just look like lego figurines to me
Nothing to do with the background. The transparent clone trooper/Darth Vader figures are not ones that LEGO has ever produced for sale. They are being made illicitly and are being fenced to sellers on whatnot, ebay, etc. They are just an example though, a bunch of Captain Rex figures were also stolen last year and started selling before the Venator had even released.
It needed to be said! I also don’t see much of the appeal here, personally the collecting only has value if the rarity can be known. A minifig that was only in one set? Sure, that could be rare. A transparent or glow-in-the-dark minifig that’s never been in anything? Practically worthless, given that it’s much more likely that the fig is coming from a copycat
Thanks for watching. These stolen items (including all the Captain Rex figures that appeared before the Venator even released) cost the company money. They pay for the plastic, the wear on their machinery and molds, and likely the wages of the people stealing them as well. If they are paying out that money, but getting no return on the resources because they are stolen, that goes against the LEGO Group's bottom line. The more items are stolen the more it hurts the company and the more prices go up to compensate for the losses. Plus, in the case of Rex, each stolen fig that sells directly influenced sales of the UCS Venator. Even if the customer for the stolen figure wasn't going to buy the Venator themselves, a person selling legitimate figures would have needed to buy the set to take the minifig from, this theft directly affects sales. This is by far not the only thing that influences price increases, but it is a factor. Theft absolutely affects company profitability, which in turn influences prices.
@@waltherltd they are indeed stolen items, workers took the Lego company's materials and partly wore down their molds, that is pretty objective and true, i would be shocked if anyone tried to contest that much. However im gonna need an official statement from the Lego company saying that this is somehow affecting the sales of their sets. these sellers are selling items that literally don't exist in any set, its the same mold, but a different color, that is a different part at the point. No one is buying up a light blue trans clear Captain Rex in place of any of the actual Captain Rex figures. if someone thinks spending 50-100 dollars on one of these guys is worth it then i would even say they are more likely to be buying the expensive Lego sets, if thats really the kind of disposable income they are working with.
Thanks for watching. The transparent figures are just one facet. I used the transparent figures as an example because it is obvious those are not regular production figures. Like I mentioned, the Captain Rex figures were the normal production version [not transparent] they were the fully printed minifigures from the Venator, the only difference was the lack of the pauldron. So yes, these figures being stolen and resold directly impacted the sale of the UCS Venator. It would not surprise me if the release of the microfighter including Rex coming up was partially in response to the theft of these minifigures.
Lego is a 13 billion dollar company and, like all companies, have a margin for loss baked into their finances. They expect items to be stolen, that just happens. They have also seen constant growth and make more and more money year on year, yet they are still upping their prices. I've never stolen a figure, nor do I necessarily condone doing so, but claiming that people stealing cheap figures is hurting anyone is just not the case. Lego don't care, they're gonna keep charging you extra for their own benefit for as long as they can get away with it regardless.
You are correct and it made my own point, they bake a loss margin into their finances! The more theft happens, the larger that margin has to be. Theft from the factory has become larger scale over the last decade, which is costing the company more, retail theft is also up. This means they have to charge more to hit their profitability goals. After making the point that they take theft into account as a cost, but then claiming it isn't hurting anyone are contradictory claims. Your second point is also true, LEGO will charge what the market will bear. Inflation has drastically increased the cost of resources to manufacture LEGO parts in the past several years as well. There are many factors that play into price increases, they aren't mutually exclusive. LEGO hasn't been able to shut down the theft at their Mexico facility. It would not surprise me to see the Mexico factory close once the new factory in Virginia opens.
If it is real I do not care if it is stolen or not. It is good that this stuff is on the market so there is more stuff for Lego enthusiasts to collect. I'm perfectly fine with buying goods from FBM that may have been immorally obtained if it means I can get a good discount.
@@charliestephens4686 No. I have bought some sets at a hefty discount (likely stolen) from FBM. All I care about is the price, not the ethics. As for stolen test minifigures, Lego should auction these off if they want to curb this market. I don't see anything wrong with buying selling this stuff. Besides, these test figures will just be tossed in the bin. 1 more thing for enthusiasts to collect is always good.
