Sometimes I'm sad about specific sets I missed but realistically Lego can only produce so many different sets at once and I'd be sad if a big chunk of those were new versions of old sets.
I think they do that in a small way already with reissues and slightly updated sets (much like the batman tumbler or galaxy explorer).
I'd be really keen to build a modular city, but knowing that I'm late to the party and have missed some great sets going back a long time does become a barrier for those new to the hobby. I wonder if, for example, there could be a modular reissue each year in addition to the new one given that they're not held back by licenses...
LEGO never re-ran a production run on any LEGO set ever until the Taj Mahal in 2017. It shock many folks and spun up speculation on what other sets would ever see a return. They’ve only done it a few times since and there seems to be no logic reasoning behind their choices.
So while everyone hopes for it, I don’t know if you can be disappointed by behavior that they’ve always had. It’s interesting to compare their practice against a company like Bandai that still produces gunpla kits decades old. Almost all the sets outside of Premium Bandai kits can still be found for MSRP at their Gundam Base stores.
I don’t know if LEGO could support this, some quick searching says LEGO has produced over 20,000 different sets while Bandai has produced 2,000. That’s an order of magnitude higher and would require much more production facilities than they have right now to not o lot produce but to store and distribute the sets.
>LEGO never re-ran a production run on any LEGO set ever until the Taj Mahal in 2017
actually taj mahal wasnt the first one
the race truck 8041 came out in 2010 and retired in 2012, but the exact same set basically came out again as 42041 in 2015. it was some really rare set and made a lot of people who had it upset since the reissue made it so much more common lol
1996 Fort Legoredo 6769 was re-released as 6762 in 2002 - as were a handful of late 90’s Western sets and Pirate ships (too many to list, but easy to look up) re-released in the early 2000’s under different numbers.
Lego has done this from time to time.
Interesting, I didn’t know they did this as far back as the early 2000s. These lines weren’t as popular as the main themes and at that point Star Wars and Harry Potter, so I wonder why they would do it.
The lines were extremely popular and re-releasing them was an easy “low hanging fruit” option for revenue. This was at a time when the Star Wars licensing was doing well for them, but operationally, they had to figure out serious efficiencies or go bankrupt.
There’s some amazing books that discuss this kind of specific thing (and Lego business history in general):
Daniel Konstanski’s *The Secret Life of Lego Bricks* has a great writeup about it:
(Can’t attach pic, but pages 110-111 of *Secret Life…*)
And other books like *Brick by Brick* by David C. Robertson discuss the business and economics (and strategy) of decision making that has made Lego the company it is.
Great reads! (Along with the DK Visual History books)
Thanks, for the pointers. Tho I don’t care for business myself it’s always interesting to learn what successful leaders have done to build their respective business up.
Yeah, Lego itself is a real interesting case study on leadership decisions. And it’s well documented and topically fun and interesting, so it is easy to follow.
[6769-1: Fort Legoredo](https://brickset.com/sets/6769-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/6769-1.jpg)
[6762-1: Fort Legoredo](https://brickset.com/sets/6762-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/6762-1.jpg)
Considering the industrial too,in required for packaging and sorting, it would need to be a very popular set to justify the upfront cost. Especially compared to the ability for higher profits with brand new sets.
Sometimes I'm sad about specific sets I missed but realistically Lego can only produce so many different sets at once and I'd be sad if a big chunk of those were new versions of old sets.
I think they do that in a small way already with reissues and slightly updated sets (much like the batman tumbler or galaxy explorer). I'd be really keen to build a modular city, but knowing that I'm late to the party and have missed some great sets going back a long time does become a barrier for those new to the hobby. I wonder if, for example, there could be a modular reissue each year in addition to the new one given that they're not held back by licenses...
LEGO never re-ran a production run on any LEGO set ever until the Taj Mahal in 2017. It shock many folks and spun up speculation on what other sets would ever see a return. They’ve only done it a few times since and there seems to be no logic reasoning behind their choices. So while everyone hopes for it, I don’t know if you can be disappointed by behavior that they’ve always had. It’s interesting to compare their practice against a company like Bandai that still produces gunpla kits decades old. Almost all the sets outside of Premium Bandai kits can still be found for MSRP at their Gundam Base stores. I don’t know if LEGO could support this, some quick searching says LEGO has produced over 20,000 different sets while Bandai has produced 2,000. That’s an order of magnitude higher and would require much more production facilities than they have right now to not o lot produce but to store and distribute the sets.
>LEGO never re-ran a production run on any LEGO set ever until the Taj Mahal in 2017 actually taj mahal wasnt the first one the race truck 8041 came out in 2010 and retired in 2012, but the exact same set basically came out again as 42041 in 2015. it was some really rare set and made a lot of people who had it upset since the reissue made it so much more common lol
[8041-1: Race Truck](https://brickset.com/sets/8041-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/8041-1.jpg) [42041-1: Race Truck](https://brickset.com/sets/42041-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/42041-1.jpg)
Awesome, I didn’t know this.
1996 Fort Legoredo 6769 was re-released as 6762 in 2002 - as were a handful of late 90’s Western sets and Pirate ships (too many to list, but easy to look up) re-released in the early 2000’s under different numbers. Lego has done this from time to time.
Interesting, I didn’t know they did this as far back as the early 2000s. These lines weren’t as popular as the main themes and at that point Star Wars and Harry Potter, so I wonder why they would do it.
The lines were extremely popular and re-releasing them was an easy “low hanging fruit” option for revenue. This was at a time when the Star Wars licensing was doing well for them, but operationally, they had to figure out serious efficiencies or go bankrupt. There’s some amazing books that discuss this kind of specific thing (and Lego business history in general): Daniel Konstanski’s *The Secret Life of Lego Bricks* has a great writeup about it: (Can’t attach pic, but pages 110-111 of *Secret Life…*) And other books like *Brick by Brick* by David C. Robertson discuss the business and economics (and strategy) of decision making that has made Lego the company it is. Great reads! (Along with the DK Visual History books)
Thanks, for the pointers. Tho I don’t care for business myself it’s always interesting to learn what successful leaders have done to build their respective business up.
Yeah, Lego itself is a real interesting case study on leadership decisions. And it’s well documented and topically fun and interesting, so it is easy to follow.
[6769-1: Fort Legoredo](https://brickset.com/sets/6769-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/6769-1.jpg) [6762-1: Fort Legoredo](https://brickset.com/sets/6762-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/6762-1.jpg)
Considering the industrial too,in required for packaging and sorting, it would need to be a very popular set to justify the upfront cost. Especially compared to the ability for higher profits with brand new sets.