7979 Castle Adventcalender

tiberium_blue · Post by **tiberium_blue** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:37 am

Just posting a heads up to people in the UK and mainland Europe that the castle advent calendar is now available on S@H.

http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.as ... n=473&d=70

castlestrike666 · Post by **castlestrike666** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 10:13 am

maybe I'll try to get some for cc people..

nanuck95 · Post by **nanuck95** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 1:38 pm

I hope they release it in the US as well. I bought a city calendar for my wife since she is more into the city theme and was majorly bummed when I found out it wasn't being released in the US.

Guess I'll have to start watching ebay and bricklink like a hawk the next couple months.

VAMPROE · Post by **VAMPROE** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 8:27 pm

My mum lives in the UK and I ordered 4 to be delivered to her.
I should have them in a month.

I'm keeping 1 maybe 2 and will sell the others to interested parties once i have them.

if this works, I would be willing to do this for more people.
just remember shipping from the uk is expensive and they do not always take the best care in shipping.

CVfan13 · Post by **CVfan13** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 12:32 am

Darn TLC... what the heck where they thinking? *sigh* Oh well, guess I have to take nanuck95's approach...

Dunechaser · Post by **Dunechaser** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 4:44 am

architect wrote:I want to make it clear that the LEGO Community Team and LEGO product designers (including those working on LEGO Castle) have excellent communication with fan representatives including LEGO Ambassadors. Different countries and regions have their own marketing teams who work with various retailers and SAH to bring products to that market.

So the communication is great with some parts of the company, but not all. It would be extremely difficult to offer all products to all markets. That being said, certain highly sought after sets should be available in both major markets (NA and EU).

Exactly. The list of set design decisions LEGO has made as a direct result of fan input is long, and the number of "fan-designed" sets is on the rise. There's no question in my mind that LEGO's product design teams are taking fan input to heart, and we have the LEGO Community Team and LEGO Ambassadors to thank for that. (I can say that because whatever effects I've had as an Ambassador have yet to bear any fruit.

)

Remember, everybody, The LEGO Group is not a single, monolithic company where all the decisions are made by some small group of people who are aware of everything the rest of the company is doing. What the Castle Advent Calendar issue illustrates all too well, I believe, is that the people designing sets are more and more frequently giving fans exactly what we want, while the country-by-country marketing teams making the decisions on where to release those sets continue to be primarily focused on the traditional 5-12 market.

Realistically, Ben may be absolutely right that it's too late in the year to do something, but until we hear otherwise from LEGO, let's keep the pressure on and see if we can work together to change their minds.

On that front, I've rounded up some of the ways you can communicate with LEGO about this issue in a post on The Brothers Brick. I'm very pleased to report that more than 600 (EDIT: 800) people have voted in our poll so far, overwhelmingly in favor of seeing this set available. No surprise there, but numbers speak louder than words, and that's some good food for thought for LEGO when they get into work on Monday morning.

DaleDVM · Post by **DaleDVM** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 10:54 am

What truly bothers me more than anything posted so far: The fact that this information was leaked at a time when nothing could be done about it. I imagine this information has been available to some who visit here for a long time and nothing is allowed to be said about it. TLC keeps the lid on the bad news as long as possible. I imagine this is to limit the complaints and protests that are sure to ensue from fans. Now a very simple answer can be given to our complaints. "It is too late for anything to be done about a North American release. So Sorry."

I say lets let TLC have complaints in triplicate. Nothing can be done now I know, but I will be sending not one... but a bunch of complaints about this decision.

I purchase an aweful lot of lego castle product (I already have 3 of the chess sets) and was planning on atleast 8 of these calendars. Which means I would have likely ended up with a dozen or more. Ordering these oveseas will not be feasable I am guessing. The cost per item will likely rise to the $45.00 and up range. Then the value really decreases and I will probably only get one or two.

Now us North American fans will be pitted against one another to drive up the price for this set from European fans.

MarioDAlessio · Post by **MarioDAlessio** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 2:25 pm

MarioDAlessio wrote:

Count Blacktron
Hey, here is a novel idea too. Make it available to Australia too...
It probably will be because we don’t have the US-Specific warning labels.

Heads up for Australia and New Zealand too!

See Lego is listening and taking notice to your posts or it may have been that their wasn't the necessity for those gaudy warning signs

Regards
Mario

Tower of Iron Will · Post by **Tower of Iron Will** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 1:07 am

Somethings about Dunechaser's post begs some questions; If the country-by-country marketing for the North America market did consult the LEGO ambassadors (or some US fan equivilent) then we know that something is not working as well as we've been repeatedly been told or if the North America marketing team did not consult any fans then the blame is on that marketing team for not consulting the fans. Either way something's not right here.

LEGO needs to repond on this either way. It could be that they see nothing wrong and are using this to distract us for a while until the new 2009 sets come out.
-Tower

Dunechaser · Post by **Dunechaser** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:44 am

To the best of my knowledge (this is only my second cycle as an Ambassador), LEGO marketing has not consulted the Ambassadors on questions of set availability on a per-country basis. What has been communicated repeatedly in the past is the success of set design improvements based on fan input.

(And there is no "US fan equivalent" -- the LEGO Ambassadors program is global

.)

Jacob C. · Post by **Jacob C.** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 7:41 pm

The one set I was really looking forward to buying will not be available in the USA!? I guess its back to the dark age for me.....sigh.

highlandcattle · Post by **highlandcattle** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:01 pm

Not to rub it for all you Americanos but my set has been ordered! Along with the Jungle Duel which is only available on shop at home in Belgium.

darkstarsk8er327 · Post by **darkstarsk8er327** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:36 pm

i have no clue about rumor but it looks awesome

Bear · Post by **Bear** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 10:18 pm

Well, like I said I emailed Lego last week with my disappointment not only as a castle fan, but someone who wanted to use the advent calander in its traditional way with his son. Here is the response I got.......

Dear GerardThank you for contacting us on 09/04/08 and for your interest in LEGO® brand products. The particular set you inquired about is not available here in this country. Each year, we update our assortment of items with new and exciting products to suit a wide variety of interests. However, a LEGO product offered in another country may be, at some point, available here in this country. For a current list of product available for your country, please visit www.Shop.LEGO.com or contact our Consumer Service Department. Thank you again for contacting us. We wish your family many happy hours of creative building with LEGO brand toys in the years to come. DanielleLEGO Direct Consumer Services

I even put links to the threads here at claasic castle to show all of the interest there is.

Muskey15 · Post by **Muskey15** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 10:54 pm

Bear wrote:Well, like I said I emailed Lego last week with my disappointment not only as a castle fan, but someone who wanted to use the advent calander in its traditional way with his son. Here is the response I got.......

Dear GerardThank you for contacting us on 09/04/08 and for your interest in LEGO® brand products. The particular set you inquired about is not available here in this country. Each year, we update our assortment of items with new and exciting products to suit a wide variety of interests. However, a LEGO product offered in another country may be, at some point, available here in this country. For a current list of product available for your country, please visit www.Shop.LEGO.com or contact our Consumer Service Department. Thank you again for contacting us. We wish your family many happy hours of creative building with LEGO brand toys in the years to come. DanielleLEGO Direct Consumer Services

I even put links to the threads here at claasic castle to show all of the interest there is.

Interesting. It sounds like a generic response, with only your name and a small amount of information about the certain product. When I was ten, and the republic gunship sold out, I sent a letter to Lego, getting the exact same response.

-Muskey

Classic-Castle.com

7979 Castle Adventcalender

just ordered 4