MOCs for sale

I've got an idea and it relies on your assistance. I tried briefly to sell small mocs in my store but they were both poor in design and exposure. What if you fantastic builders submitted mocs to me, I gather the parts, create instructions, and sell them. The contributor would receive a portion of the proceeds. And next time one of the blogs features a pennlug moc, we try to get them to mention how I will be selling that moc and future ones in my store. I thought Pete's futuron mech (sorry I forgot the inspiration set's name) would be a great size to shoot for. If the moc contains a lot of expensive or hard to find parts, it wouldn't be the best possibility. So what do you all think of this idea? Once again, I would be selling none of your parts, just the design. I think having the celebrity of pennlug and our builders combined with a shout out on a blog could really launch this project.

Tony E (Whatever happened to him?) used to suggest that I sell my MOCs on eBay. There seems to be some demand on there. I was thinking of doing that with my White Castle, since it's pretty iconic, but not sure if I would have copyright/trademark problems with them.

rgb wrote:Tony E (Whatever happened to him?) used to suggest that I sell my MOCs on eBay. There seems to be some demand on there. I was thinking of doing that with my White Castle, since it's pretty iconic, but not sure if I would have copyright/trademark problems with them.

Not sure; there is someone already selling Cafe Corner style buildings of Chillis, Dunkin Donuts, and other named brand stores. I don't think he got licensing permission.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/accuratebrickinnovations1/m.html?item=290843762934&pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item43b7a3a0f6&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

He has a disclaimer at the bottom which I'd advise as well; "This sale is for a Fan Made Custom Item that uses LEGO® bricks to create the model. LEGO® is a registered trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this product or eBay listing"

Now Bricklink has wider LEGO Base, and lower "everyone else" viability. So likely hood of you getting a cease and desist order are lower.

I'm intrigued by your idea Chris. In the past I've thought about trying to sell high end train kits much the same way Brickmania does
with their military kits. I even went so far as to build a locomotive I thought would be a good candidate for the inaugural set.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/steampoweredbricks/sets/72157627724955654/

It would be a pretty detailed, part intensive set but the construction isn't overly complex and it stays away from any truly rare hard to find parts. It's also proven to be very durable and an excellent running engine.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34338074@N06/6118321700/in/photostream/

My intention wasn't for any kind of high volume seller but for a very high end, expertly detailed kit that would appeal to people who can appreciate having a finely crafted and historically accurate LEGO train model. I thought if I could at least sell 5 to 10 of these I could call it a success. If someone like [/quote]Broadway Limited can sell factory produced, HO scale train models for $300 to $500 surly there are at least a few people out there who would be willing to pay that for a much larger custom train model.

Cale


[quote="ctbyrne"]I've got an idea and it relies on your assistance. I tried briefly to sell small mocs in my store but they were both poor in design and exposure. What if you fantastic builders submitted mocs to me, I gather the parts, create instructions, and sell them. The contributor would receive a portion of the proceeds. And next time one of the blogs features a pennlug moc, we try to get them to mention how I will be selling that moc and future ones in my store. I thought Pete's futuron mech (sorry I forgot the inspiration set's name) would be a great size to shoot for. If the moc contains a lot of expensive or hard to find parts, it wouldn't be the best possibility. So what do you all think of this idea? Once again, I would be selling none of your parts, just the design. I think having the celebrity of pennlug and our builders combined with a shout out on a blog could really launch this project.

ctbyrne wrote:I've got an idea and it relies on your assistance. I tried briefly to sell small mocs in my store but they were both poor in design and exposure. What if you fantastic builders submitted mocs to me, I gather the parts, create instructions, and sell them. The contributor would receive a portion of the proceeds. And next time one of the blogs features a pennlug moc, we try to get them to mention how I will be selling that moc and future ones in my store. I thought Pete's futuron mech (sorry I forgot the inspiration set's name) would be a great size to shoot for. If the moc contains a lot of expensive or hard to find parts, it wouldn't be the best possibility. So what do you all think of this idea? Once again, I would be selling none of your parts, just the design. I think having the celebrity of pennlug and our builders combined with a shout out on a blog could really launch this project.

It's definitely a cool idea, for sure. Yeah, the bigger they are the more time and cost intensive they may be. Then again, if you've got a system down, it would probably work. I was interested in doing this at one point but gave up on the idea because the model I wanted to do was a car that was part intensive and featured chromed bricks. For pricing, Dan from BrickMania suggested (as he does) pricing the kit at twice the cost of the parts (incl. shipping paid per part) to cover your time. At that rate I think I figured out that the car would need to be priced at over $150...

You say that your items never sold very well on BrickLink, but are you aware of any cases where people were able to make a successful go at it? The reason I ask is because I would think that custom kits would sell better via a specialized site like the one BrickMania has, on ebay, etsy or a conventions (ie: Cale's train, if a kit, would probably be popular at model railroading shows). Those sites have a much broader audience to tap into, though ebay fees are a tad bit nasty.

Good luck!

Hi all, again, new to the site
But I agree it would be kind of neat to organize something like that, but could be difficult based on logistics, prices, etc. However, I know for me personally, I would be interested in buying instructions. I don't always have the best creative mind (or time) to figure out MOCs, but I do love building.

Ironically, Cale, your custom PRR steam engines are what brought me to this site. And I would definitely be willing to pay for instructions (or at least detailed photos) of the build. I don't know that I could swing $400 all at once for a fully built model (plus part of the fun is building) but I would definitely consider advice/instructions/photos. This would allow builders of all budgets to slowly create the MOCs without a big investment up front.

So ct, maybe you could start there...???

Just my $.01 (government took the other $.01 as taxes...)

Steve