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In lugnet.general, Jake McKee wrote:
> You’d think I would have learned my lesson by now about the color change and
> just taken refuge in a concrete bunker. Nope, not that bright I think!
>
> I come to you with a final update, and some good news, as well as bad.
>
> Bad news first – After much discussion and debate internally, the color change
> will stand. There was some good thinking that went into the color change
> (although, yes, the implementation fell flat), and as such we are going to stay
> the course. I know this isn’t the answer you’re hoping for, and I know very very
> well that many of you aren’t happy about this news. I also know the reasons why
> you aren’t happy. Rather than cover them all again, I will skip straight to the
> good news.
Thanks for listening and understanding. Sorry your ears are taking a bashing!
You're doing better than other companies would do. Please explain the "good
thinking" though. IMHO "good thinking" would be to make future new colours more
realistic for creating lifelike models (wood brown, concrete grey etc...).
> Good news – based on the discussions and debates, many colleagues are clear that
> the color change dramatically affected the AFOLs. They are also clearly aware of
> the reasons it has upset you. In order to help address some of your concerns,
> several things have been agreed upon.
>
> * The three new colors (light gray, dark gray, brown) will now be classified as
> "universal", and these colors will NEVER be touched again. There will, of
> course, be colors that change over time with trends, but not these universal
> ones.
Please would you list the "universal" and "non-universal" colours, so we can
gauge what colours have limited or unlimited lifespan and parts range. This
greatly affects some people's buying habits, and IMHO would help the AFOL market
to stabilise.
> * A certain few parts that are crucial to keep in the old colors will likely be
> created as service pack type items. An example of this would be the 9v train
> track. I am interested in getting feedback from you (via this thread) on which
> elements MUST be produced in the old colors for the long term. (And no, you
> can’t say "the whole range of parts!" :) )
IMHO there is limited value in having only a small range of parts in a colour.
If the supply of granules is limited, the parts you *do* make will be in limited
supply because some AFOLs will bulk buy. I'm familiar with obsolescence in
electronics and lifetime buys of parts are commonplace. The same goes for old
grey and brown brick and plate packs.
In the light of this I suggest the following parts / packs as a must:
All bricks 1-wide (1x1, 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 1x10, 1x12, 1x16 plus 2x2
corner) in old brown, light grey and dark grey, as one service pack per colour,
~100 parts per pack for economy of scale.
All bricks 2-wide (2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x6, 2x8, 2x10) in old brown, light grey and
dark grey, as one service pack per colour, ~100 parts per pack for economy of
scale.
All plates 1-wide (1x1, 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 1x10, 2x2 corner) in old brown,
light grey and dark grey, as one service pack per colour, ~100 parts per pack or
continue pack 10064 for ever!
All plates 2-wide (2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x6, 2x8, 2x10, 2x12, 2x16) in old brown,
light grey and dark grey, as one service pack per colour, ~100 parts per pack or
continue pack 10060 for ever!
I suggest that 1-wide and 2-wide bricks and plates be in separate packs as
different people use different amounts of each width, depending on what they're
building. Generally more 2-wide ones for scenery, more 1-wide ones for moving
models, though each person has their own preferences.
more packs:
Tiles in sizes 1x1, 1x2, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8 and 2x2, as one service pack per colour
(old brown, old light grey and old dark grey). I suggest 100 pieces in the
pack, with 20 of 1x1 and 1x2 and 15 of the other sizes. The bigger the pack,
the better the economy of scale (?). While we're at it, this pack in all
colours please!
BURPS from castle sets, both triangle and rectangle shapes in old light grey and
dark grey, perhaps two of each type in each colour per pack (total 8pcs).
Singles might be uneconomic, but packs better. Larger pack if other people
think that would be better, or split between the two greys.
Baseplates 16x16 16x32, 32x32 and 48x48 in old light grey. Please note that
availability of other colours of all these sizes (especially green (grass), blue
(sea), tan (sand), white (snow)) separately, without bricks, would be most
desirable. Old light grey is good for railway trackbeds, and all four sizes are
worth keeping - I use all of them and have sought out the smaller sizes for
flexibility of layout baseplate colouring.
I suggest that if the 9V railway track *really* *has* to be changed then it
could be in new light grey. New dark grey would make the old dark grey look
silly, but new light grey would look like concrete sleepers. This suggestion
may provoke a debate of its own!!! It would be easier to keep the track as old
dark grey though.
> * We also have received confirmation from colleagues that in the future, we will
> include both the adult and kid enthusiasts in any testing related to
> modification or change of the core building system. (Please note that there are
> not any plans whatsoever in the works for making changes)
>
> I know this isn’t the silver bullet update you were hoping for, but hopefully
> this bears some good news for you.
That's good to hear, but you must already know that there are as many opinions
as there are AFOLs! I suggest at least one AFOL from each major theme (space,
train, castle, technic etc...) be involved.
> Again, I know the color change upset many of you, and I don’t mean to re-open
> wounds. Thanks for your patience while we worked on getting this put to bed once
> and for all. As I’ve said before, out of all bad things comes something
> positive. In this case, the positive is that there are many more people
> internally who understand your passion and interest.
>
> Jake
>
> ---
> Jake McKee
> Community Liaison
> LEGO Community Development Team
Sorry, it's still sore, but I'm glad you're listening and I hope that
communication will continue to improve. Production of the packs I have
suggested will be like ointment to the wounds! Thinking positively, if TLC do
the right things, and take notice of the feedback you bring to them, sales to
AFOLs will go up.
Mark Bellis
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Color Change - Final Update
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| In lugnet.general, Mark Bellis wrote: (and it bears repeating) (...) (snipping of more great ideas) I agree with all of this. Very well written, Mark. There is really nothing else for me to add. Jake, listen up! ~Kevin Blocksidge (20 years ago, 5-May-04, to lugnet.general, lugnet.lego)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Color Change - Final Update
|
| You’d think I would have learned my lesson by now about the color change and just taken refuge in a concrete bunker. Nope, not that bright I think! I come to you with a final update, and some good news, as well as bad. Bad news first – After much (...) (20 years ago, 5-May-04, to lugnet.general, lugnet.announce, lugnet.lego) !!
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