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Dear Brad
(I'm a little verklempt right now.... talk amongst yourselves..... OK I'm back
now, with tears welling up in the corner of my eyes).
WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!
And thank you for the best Christmas present that that many of us have had in a
long time....
I want to say how happy that I and thousand of other LEGO "Ambassadors" are about
your post. Tell KKK and Peter Eio we wish them and their family the very best in
Holiday wishes, and thank them for us, if you can.
I have been a LEGO enthusiast since 1960, a full year before they were available
in the USA. Your post has indeed fulfilled a dream I have had for many many
years. Recently I purchased (from a German collector) LEGO Set #700 (with
contents), the wooden box Town Plan set from 1957 that had on its cover the
following words in large print: "LEGO Das Spielzeug für Jeder Alter", which in
English could actually be your motto in the next millenium:
"LEGO - THE TOY FOR ALL AGES"
As a collector who has one of the largest collections of LEGO, I am one of the few
private individuals in the world who can build large skyscrapers out of LEGO.
That is because I had the great fortune in 1979 to find 2 very old and rare
(1958-65) European Dealer Windows and Doors boxes with 1000 windows in each box.
Since then, I have found 4000 more, mostly hoarded away in old European toy
stores. I don't know how many people since then have asked me where I found all
those windows. That is because there are so many LEGO enthusiasts that are really
longing to be able to purchase these in bulk orders, but can't. There are a lot
of AFOLs who are dying to be able to build skyscrapers and other buildings like I
can. For them a visit to LEGOLAND is not altogether a pleasant experience. That
is, instead of thinking "gee those buildings are great", they think "darn, I wish
they made the parts available for me to be able to build this", and also "they are
thumbing their noses at us because they can build it, but we can't".
I think you get the picture here.
We have felt neglected for a very long time (for me since 1987), and your letter
is music to our ears. Rather than ramble on, I will end this post with what I see
as possible things that LEGO-Direct can help AFOLs with.
______________________________________
I. -- Bulk Sales - I won't rehash the same old things, but especially windows.
Train collectors are dying for more, Town collectors are eager for more. The
current Service Packs is top heavy in doors (we all have enough doors), and
between the Service Pack and the Dacta pack, all windows are red only. There are
many other parts. Here is what I see as the top 10:
1) Windows - Train and Town. If Billund has any of the classic windows (1957-75)
remaining in their inventory, that would be "icing on the cake", but even if it's
just the newer varieties, that would be fine. Preferably in many colors.
2) Tile Bricks - These are the 1/3 bricks with no studs on top, available in
several sizes. These are always in great demand in all colors, but the supply is
so very limited in current LEGO sets.
3) Sloped Bricks - These are very scarce in what we call "extreme slope" variety,
commonly used as buttress pieces in castle sets. Also, other slopes in rarer
colors. As someone said "any color but red" (which we all probably have in
quantity). Even Train collectors covet these in low slopes.
4) Round(ed) bricks - Especially the 2x2 cylinder bricks. In white they make
great columns for Greek Temples and other classic buildings and space structures.
5) Plates - You may know them as 1/3 bricks. Many sizes and colors are available,
but certain ones are in great demand.
6) Clear Bricks and Plates - Very common in 1960's sets, but rather scarce today.
All sizes are in big demand today. These make for great skyscraper (or cathedral)
windows.
7-10) Other specialty LEGO pieces.
----------------------------
II. AFOL Support Services - The Train folks may want banners or LEGO signage for
their public shows. Large collectors like myself who have public showings of
their creations would like LEGO signs for our displays (free advertisement for
TLC).
----------------------------
III. Perhaps a corporate sponsored AFOL Newsletter.
----------------------------
IV. I know this is probably outside your scope, but some advanced collectors and
PAUSE Database set listing or BRICKSHELF Instructions listings might want access
to the Billund Archives (or have an archivist available to answer questions and
"fill in the blanks"). I know of at least one German collector who wanted to
access the archives to get some missing information to a historic set/catalog
inventory listing, but was rebuffed.
----------------------------
V. Other services for the non-brick LEGO Systems (Mindstorms, LDRAW, etc).
----------------------------
VI. Perhaps some company sponsored events such as building contests, AFOL & the
children of AFOL events highlighting "LEGO isn't just for kids anymore". Perhaps
factory tours, etc.
----------------------------
VII. Perhaps some help or ideas for AFOLs getting their LEGO insured. Many AFOLs
have collections valued into the 4 or 5 digit figures. Insurance agents balk at
insuring large collections without some framework for valuation.
-----------------------------
VIII. One area I didn't mention is criticism about the Juniorization of LEGO
sets. I won't touch that one, because all your current LEGO sets are geared
towards children. Perhaps a few sets for the adult market. Someone mentioned
reissuing old sets that were popular. Maybe a select few sets geared towards
architecture or historic periods.
-----------------------------
I'm sure that there are other areas or ideas that people will come up with.
Perhaps some commercials showing "LEGO ain't just for kids", with adults playing.
After all most baby boomers had LEGO as kids. They just might need to be shown
that building with LEGO as an adult is nothing to be ashamed of. If you remove
any percieved stigma, them maybe more adults will join the cause.
In summation, we do appreciate this new beginning......
Gary Istok
Detroit
P.S. If you want to see what 6000 windows can build......
http://my.voyager.net/lar/gistok.html
Brad Justus wrote:
> To LEGO enthusiasts everywhere:
>
> We hope that we are the bearer of some holiday cheer for you all. For those of
> you who have felt that your love for LEGO was unrequited, this is a new day.
> With this missive, the LEGO Company asks to open a dialogue with you, our
> consumers. Whether you are an AFOL, or a parent purchasing a first DUPLO set,
> or a KABOB (Kid with a Bunch of Bricks – we just made that up), here are some
> words that should gladden your hearts: We are listening. And more than that,
> we will endeavor to be very responsive to your needs and desires. We want to
> have the best possible relationships with all of you who want to have a
> relationship with us. That is what LEGO Direct – our new direct-to-you
> communications and commerce channel (which I am heading) is all about. LEGO
> Direct embraces all the company’s direct-to-consumer efforts on a global
> basis, both on- and off-line: Shop@Home, our Internet presence(s), e-commerce,
> LEGO clubs worldwide, community building activities, and more.
>
> In creating this new enterprise for the company, we take one more step towards
> reaching our strategic intent: we want to be the strongest brand in the world
> amongst families by the year 2005. It’s a very bold goal, and one that we
> believe we can reach – but only if we are capable of listening and responding
> to the people who buy our products. You. Hence the creation of LEGO Direct.
>
> As a first step, we at LEGO Direct want to participate actively in these
> newsgroups from now on – that is, if such participation is something that you
> want. Please realize that it will take some months for all our new efforts to
> be fully visible – we will be redesigning our entire Web operation (as well as
> our offline direct services), and intend to have the first release ready for
> you by late next Summer. But here’s a little preview that we think you’ll
> like: we are planning to make bulk ordering – albeit initially in a restricted
> format – available by then.
>
> We are right now in the process of establishing new office space in New York
> and expanding the LEGO Direct staff. It will take a little time, so please
> understand that we’re not yet able to handle a deluge of incoming e-mail – but
> we’ll be happy to engage in a dialogue with you in these forums. We will do
> our very best to respond to everything that we can in a timely manner. We want
> to be a company with whom you want to be involved. We want to be the company
> you’d like us to be. And to do that, we need your input. What do you love?
> What do you hate? How can we help you? Tell us – we want your input. We know
> you’ve got a lot to say – we’ve been reading your postings for a little while
> now. We are very encouraged by the commitment and intensity of the LEGO
> community online – and that includes AFOLs. Perhaps, if traffic warrants it,
> we ought to consider creating a new newsgroup (or simply reformat lugnet.dear-
> lego) to serve as the online communication-to-LEGO channel. It’s up to you.
>
> We cannot tell you how excited we are to be working with you all. We hope you
> are equally encouraged by the renewed commitment we are making to you. We look
> forward to a very rewarding collaboration.
>
> Happy Holidays. And Play Well.
>
> – Brad
>
> Brad Justus
> Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct
> legodirect@lego.com
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Introducing LEGO Direct
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| To LEGO enthusiasts everywhere: We hope that we are the bearer of some holiday cheer for you all. For those of you who have felt that your love for LEGO was unrequited, this is a new day. With this missive, the LEGO Company asks to open a dialogue (...) (24 years ago, 9-Dec-99, to lugnet.general, lugnet.announce, lugnet.dear-lego) !!
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