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> * Would you buy LEGO toys for children 0-11? Y/N
Yes.
> * Why / Why not?
I believe that LEGO makes intelligent toys that broaden a person's creativity
and 3D visualization skills while also being fun to build and play with for
people of all ages.
> * What feature(s) would you add if you were the marketing director of LEGO?
I would bring back the flip-tops that let you see the parts inside of a box. I
would return to including a cardboard tray inside of the boxes because they are
convenient.
I would also take some things away. I would remove the gimmicky card and board
games included in some recent theme sets. I would reduce the oversized LEGO
boxes to a size that is less wasteful and more appropriate for the contents
inside the box. I would reduce the amount of dead space inside of some
instruction booklets and remove wasteful things like the Knight's Kingdom comic
which is duplicated in every instruction booklet of every Knight's Kingdom set.
I would reduce the amount of computer graphics used in catalogs, instruction
booklets, and on LEGO boxes so there is more focus on the toys themselves.
> * How would you change existing LEGO products if you wanted to sell them
> for more money?
I would include more parts and picture more alternate models in the instructions
and on the back of the box. The Designer line is a good example. This idea
should be carried to all LEGO themes.
> * What new products would you launch?
I would launch products resembling the town, castle, pirates, and space themes
from the 80s and early 90s. I would also bring back the BASIC and TECHNIC sets
that had instructions for multiple models.
I would release a new idea book every year or two depicting clever and creative
ways to build new things with existing elements. I would also release more great
building sets like Building Bonanza with it's high piece count, multiple models,
and multiple pictured ideas. I'd release a castle building set similar to that.
> * What should LEGO be doing that it isn’t now?
LEGO should be marketing itself as a system of toys instead of as a series of
similar but unrelated products.
There are many things which can be done to accomplish this:
- The Technic line should replace most of the stud-less beams they currently use
with the technic bricks that were primarily used in the 80s and 90s. This will
create a greater sense of compatibility and continuity between Technic and
non-Technic LEGO toys.
- LEGO toys should stop including theme-specific flyers and return to including
catalogs and pamphlets that highlighted all of LEGO's products. For example, a
Knight's Kingdom set will include a comic depicting other sets from the theme,
but it does not include anything that shows any other LEGO products. This
detaches the LEGO brand from the toys they sell. Instead of seeing Knight's
Kingdom and Alpha Team as two compatible product lines sold by the LEGO company,
it makes Knight's Kingdom look more like a stand-alone toy that has no
association with any other LEGO toys.
- There should be more basic LEGO elements in a typical LEGO toy. The basic
bricks and plates are recognizable and easy to build with. Seeing basic parts in
many different LEGO sets promotes the idea that they can be combined to build
different things. The high number of specialized parts in most current LEGO sets
obscures this concept and makes it difficult to build alternate models or to
combine LEGO sets from different themes.
- There should be fewer new molds created each year. New molds are not needed to
create a good LEGO set. Some of the best online exclusives in recent years, such
as Daniel Siskund's Blacksmith Shop, Red Baron, Sopwith Camel, Building Bonanza,
and the Legends series were all done without the creation of new LEGO parts. Too
many new parts leaves people with dozens of oddball limited-use parts in low
quantities that are unsuitable for building and it makes LEGO toys start to feel
"alien" and lose their identity and recognizability.
- Jack Stone should be eliminated. It forces TLC to spread their resources thin
to create an interim product between Duplo and standard LEGO toys that is only
good for children between ages 4 and 5. This leaves people with lots of large
specialty parts that are not very useful with any LEGO toys they may purchase in
the future. Instead of selling Jack Stone, the BASIC line could be brought back
to fill that gap as it did before. There could also be a couple sets from the
standard themes that are designed for ages 5+ instead of the 6+ - 8+ that is
typical.
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Talking to myself here, I just wanted to add a few things to this:
> * What should LEGO be doing that it isn’t now?
- More small sets. When I was growing up in the mid-80s, I would take my $3
allowance most weeks and go to K-mart or ShopKo to buy LEGO. Fortunately, each
theme would have a couple sets for $2, $2.50, or $3, and usually other sets for
$5 and $10 that I could save up for. That made LEGO very accessible to children
and parents, and people had a wide variety of things to choose from for $5 or
less.
Now, if you look at a theme like Knight's Kingdom, the 5 available sets are
priced $7, $20, $30, $50, and $90. A child cannot afford most of those. Most
other themes are similar in having a small number of available sets with very
few sets available for $10 or less.
- Consolidate the themes. Each theme needs more sets, with most of them being
added to the low end of the price range. There also need to be a few
long-lasting themes, instead of many short-lived themes.
- Reduce or eliminate licensing. Star Wars was a good idea, and Harry Potter
seems okay, but the existence of these licensed sets has shrunk or eliminated
the presence of the classic themes. It also turns LEGO from a classic toy into a
fad toy. Fads die.
- Be generic. Story lines and licenses create themes where most of the
mini-figures become useless when purchased in multiples. Nobody needs more than
one king so-and-so, or more than one Harry Potter. However, generic castle
soldiers, spacemen, firemen, shopkeepers, and pirates are always useful.
- Stop trying to appeal to the wrong children. If TLC simply "must" use focus
groups, at least make sure the focus-group children are in there for the right
reasons. Doing focus-group testing on people who want sports toys or action
figures is just plain wrong. LEGO is about building. Modifying LEGO's toys to
appeal to whatever fad is in cheapens the experience for the parents and
children who are looking for a great building toy.
Yes, most of my advice basically says to be like you were in the 80s. That is
okay though, because that is when TLC was selling great products at acceptable
prices, and remaining profitable while doing so.
Also, thanks to Jake and everybody else at TLC for giving us a channel to voice
our concerns and opinions.
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