American comics: You're asked to fish, but you catch a Superman template?

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And everything turned out exactly as Xu Fu predicted.

Thanks to his consistent promotion, the LEGO Candy City toys were well-received as soon as they hit the market.

According to Herman Fisher, the LEGO Candy City bricks sold out as soon as they hit the market, with many fans lining up outside the store early in the morning.

It's clear that Xu Fu's LEGO and Superman sets are very popular in the market, as many stores sold out of stock in just one morning.

"Superman caused a toy craze!"

"LEGO bricks are a new era of toys."

Meanwhile, Xu Fu's daily newspaper, "The Messenger," also promoted news during this period, indirectly stimulating the public's desire to buy.

It wasn't until the next day that this frenzied situation began to turn slightly worse.

"What happened?"

At the Fisher-Price toy factory, Xu Fu learned some bad news from Hermann Fisher.

"It all comes down to the materials used in LEGO bricks. People don't seem to be as receptive to new plastic toys as they appear. Many consumers like to return LEGO Candy City toys the day after they buy them. It's understood that some toy stores have a return rate as high as one in five, and some toy retailers have expressed a desire to possibly stop selling them."

Xu Fu was somewhat surprised that consumers did not accept Lego made with new materials.

After all, in his time, plastic toys were already a mature industry, while wooden and metal toys were in the minority.

However, during the Great Depression, all of this seemed to be moving in the opposite direction, as decades of toy history were reduced to the public’s acceptance of heavy wooden and metal toys.

Today, unpacking and assembling lightweight LEGO has become an impossible task.

Is this light, flimsy thing that you can hold in your hand really what they call a toy?

Herman Fisher and others were bewildered because toy manufacturers astutely foresaw the future replacement of traditional toys by plastic toys, but overlooked the fact that such a replacement would take time and would not be easy.

Chapter 701 Window Display

"Is there a toy store nearby?"

Xu Fu was not swayed by the return of the toys. After thinking for a while, he turned to Herman, who was standing in front of him, and asked.

After Hermann, the couple went to a toy store near Fisher's home.

This is a seemingly ordinary shop filled with all sorts of toys, mostly made of wood and metal. The standout item is a box of writing blocks made of yellow jacks, which is actually a fairly well-known early building block toy.

These letters are engraved on wooden square puzzle pieces, allowing children to learn while playing.

Other types of toys, including ball toys, metal puzzles, and jump ropes, were common during this period.

It is worth noting that Xu Fu even saw a Mickey Mouse train model licensed by Disney in the store, which is said to be one of his favorite items in the toy store.

Of course, Superman dolls are also one of the most popular product types.

Xu Fu quickly looked away from the wide variety of toys in the toy store and spotted a box of Lego Candy City toys.

However, compared to other toys, the LEGO box is not particularly eye-catching.

This was clearly affected by returns; even while Xu Fu and Herman were watching from outside, someone walked into the toy store with a box of Lego bricks, wanting to return it.

"I'm sorry, sir."

After witnessing the entire return process, Xu Fu stepped forward and stopped the other party.

"Who are you!"

Seeing the figure that had stopped in front of him, the man couldn't help but show a fighting spirit. He subconsciously stuffed the returned money into his hand.

Nearby, a toy store owner seemed to notice what was happening at the store entrance and peeked out.

Upon seeing this, Hermann, who was standing nearby, quickly came over to explain.

"that's me."

"It's you, Herman. I thought you were someone suspicious. By the way, what are you doing here?"

As a toy manufacturer, Herman was clearly familiar with the shop owner; in fact, all Fisher-Price toys had been sold in his shop in the past.

"Don't worry, sir, we didn't mean any harm."

Shifting his gaze from the man's hand, Xu Fu offered an explanation. He pointed to the toy store behind him, "Actually, we are the manufacturer of the Lego toys you just returned. I just came to ask you why you don't like these toys."

The man's face showed a hint of embarrassment at being caught by the toy manufacturer.

He hesitated for a moment before explaining, "Actually, there's no specific reason. I just don't like the weight of this Lego set. It looks too light, and I'm worried that if I accidentally lose it, I won't be able to find it."

Today, the lightweight advantage of Lego does not seem to have been widely accepted.

After briefly explaining his reason for returning the item, the man hurriedly left the store. As Xu Fu watched him leave, he turned around thoughtfully: the toy store owner on the other side was complaining to Herman in the exact same way.

"People don't seem to like this toy called Lego. Although the wooden Lego didn't sell well before, at least the return rate wasn't this high. In just one morning, about five or six people came to me to return their Lego toys. This is not a good sign, Herman. If possible, I would like to return the Lego toys in my inventory to you."

"this?"

Herman seemed somewhat hesitant in the face of the toy manufacturer's demands.

"No problem."

On the other hand, Xu Fu nodded in agreement without hesitation.

Upon hearing his answer, the toy manufacturer turned his gaze, somewhat puzzled, to Hermann, who also introduced this section. "This is Mr. Xu Fu, the creator of LEGO toys. Fisher-Price collaborates with him to manufacture LEGO toys. In addition, he is also the creator of Superman, and Fisher-Price Superman figures are manufactured under his license."

Through these introductions, Herman indirectly warned the toy manufacturer that if he offended Xu Fu, he might not be allowed to sell Superman dolls in the future.

As a close toy seller, Herman clearly had a good relationship with the shop owner, and was therefore willing to make this suggestion.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Xu Fu.”

The toy salesperson clearly understood the key point in Herman's words, and with a somewhat reluctant expression, explained to Xu Fu, "I'm not trying to imply that although people are returning items one after another, there are actually quite a few customers who really want to buy Lego toys."

Toy manufacturers were also affected during the Great Depression.

Toy manufacturers like Fisher-Price were in the minority because they were able to continue making money during the Great Depression. In fact, the vast majority of toy factories were forced to shut down at the beginning of the Great Depression, and most of the toys still in circulation today are older brands produced in the years leading up to the Great Depression.

These products have been on the market for a long time and offer little in the way of innovation; similarly, their sales have been stable.

Superman dolls clearly do not belong to this category.

Superman or Disney licensed toys are well-known and popular toys, making them easy for toy manufacturers to sell.

This is one of the reasons why he changed his attitude when he discovered that Xu Fu was the authorized person for the Superman doll.

At the time, finding toys that could truly make money was not easy, and losing a popular Superman doll meant more than just losing a toy for toy manufacturers.

"No, you misunderstand me, sir."

Of course, Xu Fu was clearly not the kind of person who would slack off just because a toy manufacturer had returned.

He agreed to return the goods not out of anger, but because he had his own reasons.

“I misjudged the situation with LEGO products. Going forward, I will divert toy retailers who want LEGO products back and redistribute them, focusing on placing LEGO products in toy stores with physical stores.”

"What you see is what you get" is a classic sales technique.

Most of the toys sold in the store are simple toys that don't require much explanation; customers can make a choice with just one item.

Lego is clearly not that kind of toy. As a new toy product, the box alone cannot make buyers understand the appeal of these building blocks.

After all, unlike alphabet bricks, LEGO bricks only lasted a few months from their inception to their release.

Furthermore, the transition from wood to plastic in toys was extremely short, resulting in far less accumulation compared to the history of Lego bricks.

Therefore, in this situation, the only way to get customers to accept these lightweight plastic toys is to continuously display the finished products to arouse their interest. At the same time, after displaying the toy products, customers will have a clear understanding of the overall situation of LEGO toys, which can greatly reduce returns later.

In addition, although he does not have the world's oldest LEGO brick collection, Xu Fu has a brand effect that the long-established LEGO brick collection does not have.

The addition of Superman will help LEGO open up the toy market.

In fact, although the return of LEGO toys is still very difficult, its sales are not bad.

After all, besides customers who buy toys out of curiosity or simply because of radio advertisements, the toys themselves also have a loyal fan base. Like "Superman" readers, they buy Lego toys not just for the toys themselves, but for the added value they offer.

In short, with these readers, Xu Fu at least doesn't have to worry about Lego toys not selling at all.

After listening to Xu Fu's explanation, the toy manufacturer's gaze lingered for a moment on the Lego toy boxes piled up in the corner behind him, and he became even more nervous. Finally, under Hermann's gaze, he clenched his teeth.

"No, Mr. Xu Fu, I will not return the goods. I want to continue selling these Lego toys in the store."

Noticing the shift in the toy manufacturer's mindset, Xu Fu did indeed offer a warning: "But, sir, the next Lego toy will require a special demonstration space, which you don't have here."

"I'll figure something out. Just give me one day, just one day. The shop windows will be all installed by tomorrow."

The toy manufacturer responded decisively.

Of course, the very next day, Xu Fu saw the toy manufacturer's solution in the store.

That night, he made a movable glass cabinet to store Lego toys.

Looking at the finished Lego model of Candor City in the cabinet, Xu Fu naturally had no reason to refuse. He even thoughtfully asked Herman to send more Lego miniature models, including a Lego Superman miniature model and a green superfan miniature model, to recreate the scene from the comics.

Of course, apart from toy manufacturers closely associated with Fisher-Price, not all toy manufacturers were willing to accept Xu Fu's proposal.

Part of the reason was that they didn't have a closet in their store, but more so because returning the Lego toys didn't inspire their optimism about future product sales, so they quickly agreed to Xu Fu's request and returned all the remaining Lego toys.

Xu Fu felt sympathy for these returning toy manufacturers, but he still formulated rules.

In other words, in the future, LEGO will only partner with toy retailers who are willing to display finished LEGO bricks in their stores.

These toy manufacturers will collaborate again in the future, if they wish.