As we discussed back in December, the LEGO Group recently acquired BrickLink, the largest online LEGO marketplace with buyers and sellers from all over the world (see: The LEGO Group Acquires BrickLink.com). There have been many questions and concerns about this change of ownership, so the LEGO Group’s Chief Marketing Officer, Julia Goldin, is currently gathering feedback from the community. The special forum session will be open until the end of January. Below is the announcement, as well as the link to ask questions and read questions by other LEGO fans.
Dear BrickLink members, we hope you have had a great start to the New Year! A big thank you for all of the feedback, questions, and comments that you’ve shared on BrickLink and on other forums over the past month. We’ve been busy reading through your posts and are excited to continue to hear your feedback and questions.
In this regard, we are pleased to announce today the LEGO AMA (Ask-Me-Anything), where we would like to give you the opportunity to continue to ask questions regarding the LEGO Group’s acquisition of BrickLink, and to help us understand more about what you want out of the BrickLink platform.
You can add your questions in the thread at this special BrickLink forum section. We will update the FAQ section on an ongoing basis with your most top-of-mind questions, until the closing of the AMA on the 31st January 2020 at 9AM EST. (We encourage you to also check out the BrickLink FAQ, as some of your questions might have already been answered.)
We remain committed to creating the best possible platform and experience for adult LEGO enthusiasts whether you are a seller, buyer, a designer, or any combination of the three! We look forward to hearing from you!
In addition to gathering questions via the BrickLink forum, LEGO is also getting feedback via the LEGO Ambassador Network, so if you are part of a Recognized LEGO User Group, you can also share your thoughts via your Ambassador. We are also part of the LEGO Ambassador Network, so you’re welcome to share your thoughts in the comment section below, and I will forward them on your behalf. However, best is to ask your most burning questions at the above-linked Bricklink forum. For your convenience, I copied the current list of FAQ below:
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why is the site being sold? – Jay and the BrickLink team have bold ambitions for the platform and they believe these could be best achieved together with the LEGO Group.
2. Will this have any impact on BrickLink’s independence? – Yes, and no. BrickLink will no longer be an “unofficial” marketplace and will need to be conscious of the fact that it is representing the LEGO brand in a much more direct way than before. However, BrickLink’s target audience (AFOLs) will remain unchanged, and the BrickLink brand itself will remain intact.
3. Will BrickLink still be based in the United States? – Yes. BrickLink is currently based in Irvine, California and there are no immediate plans to move the company.
4. What changes does the LEGO Group have in store for the platform? – BrickLink was acquired by the LEGO Group because it is interested in strengthening the connection with the AFOL community and finding new ways of doing this through improvements to existing functions on the platform. What exactly those improvements will be will become clearer once the deal has been finalized. However, the LEGO Group is keen to make sure that the platform develops in collaboration with the community – it has acknowledged that BrickLink already serves its users very well and is not planning to make changes straight away.
5. Will transaction fees increase going forward? – There are no plans to increase transaction fees at the moment.
6. Will anything change for BrickLink sellers? – The LEGO Group has been clear that it won’t interfere with how sellers operate or the healthy competition that exists in the marketplace. It sees BrickLink as a complementary service to its own parts selling services.
7. What about Studio and LEGO Digital Designer (LDD)? What will happen with the two digital building experiences since they’re quite similar? – The LEGO Group is planning to support and evolve Studio and will review opportunities for both services following the closing of the deal.
8. We can no longer click into Buyer names. Is this permanent, due to privacy issues? – We made this change to protect the privacy of BrickLink users. However, we plan to add some information for both buyers and sellers such as the last login and a summary of recent address changes.
9. What will happen with our current volunteer admins? – Our volunteer admins will continue to be crucial to the BrickLink community and to the catalog. We are currently working to move them over to the new ‘Community Experts Program’.
10. How can I completely delete my profile? – Send a ticket to the Help Desk asking to delete your BrickLink account and all your personal data. We will work with you to complete this process. If you simply wish to unregister your account, click here.
11. How will you be using my data? – Your data will be used only in accordance with the Privacy Policy and your personal settings. It will not be shared with any other entities, including the LEGO Group, without express consent.
12. Is BrickLink a subsidiary of the LEGO Group, or actually folded into it? – BrickLink is a wholly owned subsidiary of the LEGO Group and will be managed as a stand-alone team. It will continue to be based in Irvine CA.
13. Why are modified parts no longer allowed? – Modified parts may consist of material that may not meet LEGO quality and product safety standards. In addition, printed designs may also have some legal implications related to intellectual property rights or display content incompatible with the LEGO brand.
14. Will the LEGO Group start directly providing set inventories so they no longer have to be created manually by volunteers? – Moving forward the LEGO Group will supply data to help the catalog admin team update the catalog faster and more accurately. However, we will continue to need the community to help build and maintain the catalog.
What do you think? Do you have any questions or concerns about LEGO’s acquisition of the largest LEGO marketplace? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below!
And you might also like to check out the following related posts:
any plans to relaunch : Mosaic ?
That would actually be great, but it’s not the focus on BrickLink. However, with the new LEGO DOTS line, I’m pretty sure that mosaic building will be very popular. 🙂
This doesn’t sound like a real AMA as it is not live. They are just collecting questions to expand the FAQ section. They may not even answer all the questions. Disappointing. 🙁
Yeah, they sort of misused or didn’t understand the meaning of AMA. But they are trying, so if you have questions or comments feel free to include them here or at the BL forum.
When are the catalog administrators allowed to work again? New inventories have been on hold since the beginning of december because admins were not allowed to work.
I read through the questions on bricklink. The people there are not happy. It seems like a lot of things went wrong since the purchase. They even have a special comic strip for it: http://v4ei.com/mini-fig-ure-outer/comics/index.php
Yes, a lot of the frustration comes from lack of communication. Unfortunately, the holiday season made it even worse. I do hope that communication will be better from now on.
@Peter
Is the webcomic explicitly Bricklink-related? It seems to be rather general to me, but maybe I misunderstood… Or you didn’t link to the correct strip.
You have to be pretty familiar with the history of BrickLink, but yeah, every setup and every caption in that comic is referencing real events in BrickLink’s history. It has been an outlet for BrickLink members to laugh at all the frustrating events.
Lego lies about the safety thing. They don’t want modified parts because they dread the idea that inn making BDSM MINI FIGS WITH COMPLETE DUNGEONS . The A in AFOL. is adult. Lego is ruining the free builders freedoms. I want horror gore and sexy time parts. Safety is a lie.
@Thita
Oh, yeah, in-jokes. I kinda got it while looking at some older strips. Although not all of them were explicitly lambasting Lego’s acquisition, per se.
@Grim
I think I found one or two BDSM figs at a thrift store, once. Some Citizen Brick customs who had found their way into a minifig pile with regular Lego minifigs…
Ha-ha! I immediately thought that they might have been by CitizenBrick! 🙄