G2 and Toys R US Demise Theory

LEGO BIONICLE
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During the dying days of G2, a lot of people pointed to the fact that it sold poorly (in spite of LEGO statements denying the fact) because it was still left on shelves. A lot of people said, things like, “at my local TRU.”

We now know that Toys R Us (TRU) was in trouble at the time. How could they not have been? They’re closing up now, and this sort of thing doesn’t happen over night (K-Mart, you’re next buddy). So there’s a new variable. Was Bionicle the bad lot, or was TRU the bad one?

LEGO obviously knows the answer. They have the online sales to look at (something we fans can’t see). But if Bionicle was selling poor, and TRU was doing poor at the same time, we’d probably never know. BUT: Lego specifically said that Bionicle did okay.

I hear you. TRU was not the only retailer to over buy Bionicle. Target did it. Walmart did it. I recently walked into a toy store that sold old Lego. Only Bionicle? 2015 Onua. They somehow did it too. So, the obvious question: If Lego is right, and TRU is the problem, then how did they get left on the shelves at Target?

My answer: shady (or not, I’m not in retail) corporate business practices. If you know TRU is going all in on a toy, and you believe that they (TRU) are successful, would you buy more of it? Heck yes. The only one who wouldn’t? The LEGO store.

And here I have some solid evidence of my ideas. LEGO did not have tons of Bionicle left over. Sure, some of it was put on clearance to make room for the new, but that’s pretty common practice, even with the Brickheadz. (I probably butchered that spelling). LEGO knew how much to put out there, and wasn’t buying into TRU’s hype. (They probably thought it was really weird though).

So, in summation, Target (et al, 2015), see that TRU is buying into Bionicle and figure that TRU knows something the rest of them don’t. They follow the leader, not realizing TRU is just trying to save itself flailing wildly, whilst LEGO looks on, knowing exactly how much they need to put out wondering why everyone else is overstocking.

This whole topic is basically to defend one LEGO twitter post saying “Hey Bionicle did fine guys!” (not a direct quote) by revisiting the demise of G2 knowing what we know now about TRU.

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I agree on you with this.

Not only have I been pro the g2 did well argument since it’s cancellation.

Some pointers to make this topic a little more interesting the Swedish TRUs have gotten rid of all their 2015 and 16 sets from what I know and many toy stores in Sweden were just to skeptical about the line. For example not stocking up on all sets, slipping on release dates, the only store too over stock from my experience is Rusta which is a store that focuses on selling latge quantities for a cheap price.

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I don’t think there’s enough evidence either way to suggest that TRU had something to do with G2s demise or vice versa. The way I see it, if Bionicle was doing bad enough for them to cancel G1, and G2 only did “Okay” by Lego standards, it’s a pretty simple cost/benefit analysis to see that maybe it’s not worth the money, especially when everything about Bionicle requires constant new molds while other lines do not.

While the TRU angle is interesting, I’d like to point out that the only TRU that went under was the American one - and the constantly inflating price of Lego overall has contributed to lower sales figures - In fact, Lego posted a 17 percent drop in profit last year.

"Lego said part of the collapse in profits was due to the company producing too many of its colourful bricks, which it was forced to sell off cheaply to make room in its warehouses. A spokeswoman told the BBC that Lego had too much stock in shops and stores, which made it hard to get new products in front of consumers. "
Source, for those interested

As far as the shady business practices thing goes, I’ll tell you right now that over purchasing inventory is a very common practice. In fact, if you have a sense that something will sell well, you ALWAYS buy more than you think you’ll sell, because if demand spikes you’ll be the one with more. It’s just unfortunate that in the case of G2, demand never spiked.

In fairness, if you were any one of those companies you’d throw in with Bionicle too, because G1 was a consistent and heavy driver of sales. G2 lacked everything that G1 had that made it magical at the start, and therefore was doomed to fail because of poor writing and oversimplification, but from a corporate standpoint you’d rush right into that. Bionicle figures stayed on shelves because people just don’t go out to the store anymore: most toy stores are losing profits specifically because they can’t keep up with online sales and because more and more kids are distracting themselves with their phones and Ipads than toys. And given that you can buy a relatively solid android tablet for less than some Lego sets? I can’t blame em.

TL:DR It’s an interesting theory but TRU wouldn’t have thrown all their eggs in with the Bionicle basket when it was a reboot and there were no guarantees - Lego saying something sold “Okay” does not mean there was profit for Lego in continuing the line.

(It’s late, I’m writing this up at 11:45, feel free to nitpick it apart and I’ll respond on the morrow when I’m more awake :P)

~Hawkeye

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Actually my TRU didn’t stock Bionicle G2. It might be different, due to being British, but I specifically asked a few months after Wave 1, and the dude said something along the lines of “sorry, we don’t stock those.”

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I think you are right to point out that the reason many people saw a number of G2 sets at their local TRU has more to do with TRU failing than BIONICLE failing. Now that TRU has begun to decline, it offers an obvious explanation.

Now, does TRU’s “overstocking” of BIONICLE have anything to do with other retailers doing the same, thus leading to “lower” sales overall? I’m not sure. Keep in mind that TRU was fundamentally a toy store. That’s what they sold, exclusively toys. It makes more sense that they would have a large stock of BIONICLE sets, because people aren’t going to TRU for a little bit of everything–they’re going to Walmart and Target for that. The reason TRU closed is because the interest in a store that sells only toys is irrelevant nowadays, as you don’t need to go to an eclectic store to buy something you might not be able to find in a Target or Walmart–you can just go to Amazon and do that.

Did other retailers see TRU’s large stock of BIONICLE and emulate it? Maybe, but I don’t think so. More likely, those other retailers remembered G1 BIONICLE’s popularity, and thus assumed that it had the selling potential it used to have. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, it didn’t, at least not this time…

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They actually used the word “Well” I believe. [quote=“Kini_Hawkeye, post:3, topic:45304”]
Lego posted a 17 percent drop in profit last year.
[/quote]

Bionicle ends, and then LEGO sales go down. Karma apparently has an account on the boards /s :stuck_out_tongue: [quote=“Kini_Hawkeye, post:3, topic:45304”]
Bionicle figures stayed on shelves because people just don’t go out to the store anymore:
[/quote]

This is probably why LEGO said Bionicle did “Well” when we the fans were seeing little evidence of that. It may have been a blockbuster online, and we just had no idea. In fact, this is supported by: [quote=“Kini_Hawkeye, post:3, topic:45304”]
A spokeswoman told the BBC that Lego had too much stock in shops and stores, which made it hard to get new products in front of consumers.
[/quote]

Which sounds like Bionicle’s problem, one whole year later, and applying to literally everything LEGO. Maybe we as fans spent way too much time seeing that Bionicle wasn’t moving, and we forgot to notice that the sets next to it were in the same boat.

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But the line sold well.

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I think the bigger picture to take away is that lego in general, not just Bionicle, is slowly failing. It’s really easy to see that, given the skyrocketing price of sets in comparison to ten years ago.

It very obviously wasn’t a blockbuster online though, otherwise it would still be running and Lego wouldn’t be in a situation where their products aren’t selling.

Once a story buys inventory that’s the end of where Lego is involved. If online stores were selling Lego wouldn’t be stating that the lack of sales meant that they weren’t able to get new products on the shelf :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Personally I think everyone put way too much stake in Bionicle. ESPECIALLY the fanbase. Magic Bullets only fire once.

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