Subject:
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Re: Ideas and Suggestions for LEGO S@H
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Tue, 27 Sep 2005 18:10:49 GMT
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Viewed:
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2295 times
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In lugnet.general, Kelly McKiernan wrote:
> * What do you think LEGO would never do that you’d love to see?
Wholesale S@H: This would be a very good way to promote LEGO trains. Unlike
most toys, model trains are not sold through big box stores. Hobby and small
toy shops have a notoriously difficult time with LEGO because LEGO's retail
distribution system is optimized for Wal-Mart and TRU. How about letting S@H
handle these customers? Let them order whatever sets they want in whatever
quantities they want (with certain minimums required) and they get a wholesale
price that's not as good as what the big box stores get, but still allowing them
to sell at MSRP for profit. Let anyone with a state resale permit do this, and
keep the minimum purchase rates high enough to discourage all but the most
hardcore AFOL's from pretending to be a retailer just to get the discount.
Space: Something like classic space, but not a rehash/rerelease of the 80's
sets. Something new and science-fictionish. Or something like what NASA would
like to be doing in 20-50 years. Maybe collaborate with a famous science
fiction author to design a universe and then keep cranking out new sets in that
universe for years.
Town: More than just police & fire. Shops, houses, businesses, etc. are all
needed to make a working town. Keep down the baseplate churn (it seems like
there's a new design every year) and sell baseplates individually (one straight
road, one curve, one T road, etc.) Sell the bridge elements from the Highway
Construction set as parts packs or bridge-building kits. Sell kits to build
things like traffic signals and street lights and mailboxes and fire hydrants.
Integrate town with trains by adding train stations that look good from both the
track and road sides. Buildings should be enclosed on all sides, but with roofs
that lift off or walls that hinge open.
Castle: I think you're already doing this but mature the existing Knight's
Kingdom along with the kids, so each year they get about one year more advanced.
Provide parts packs for minifigures. Also, all the stuff I say above about town
applies to the castle theme - medieval villagers, blacksmiths, marketplace, etc.
Technic & Robotics: Mindstorms hasn't been updated in years. Let's see some new
technology! And how about selling some Mindstorms/Trains interaction kits? Or
space, town, or castle sets with robotic elements? Also, this stuff is *hard* -
so offer more in the way of books on how to design a set with robotics or
complicated gear trains, etc.
Designers: If you go shopping at Ikea they tell you the name of the person who
designed each piece of furniture. Let your LEGO designers develop a fan
following (you've done this somewhat already with trains, so just keep that up).
Any excuse to buy a set is a good one!
> * What types of themes/concepts should LEGO stay away from?
Themes that vanish after 6-12 months. I understand retailers demand churn in
the product line, but that's no reason to churn the themes. Let a product
disappear from the shelves after 6 months but replace it with new products in a
similar theme. As others have mentioned, the most popular themes lately (HP,
SW, and Bionicle) are also the longest-lasting, and that's probably no
coincidence. Kids have short attention spans, but they also have very stubborn
tastes as well. Churning sets within constant themes would fit that pattern.
> * Are there any community projects/products (Moonbase? Great Ball?) that
> you’d like to see turn into a LEGO set?
No, I think this is a bad direction to go in. However, it might be interesting
to see if LEGO could help get the word out about such things. Find a way to
endorse the moonbase standard officially, and include information about it in
the Lego Club magazine or in product inserts.
> * (And as a follow-up to the last question – are there any projects/products
> that LEGO should stay away from?)
Anything that is so specific, it can't be used for something other than its
original purpose. Many of the less popular themes (e.g. sports, dinosaurs)
failed IMHO because it's really hard to use the specialized pieces in other
ways.
> * What types of products/themes/concepts do you think are missing from the
> assortment over the years?
Consistency of themes outside of HP, SW, and Bionicle.
> * Are there things missing in general? On box? In the instructions? In the
> box materials?
Larger sets ($50 and up) should have flip-top lids with a "window" so you can
see what parts are included clearly. When I was a kid this was a very important
part of my LEGO shopping.
Catalogs would be good too, but I imagine you have a problem with your retailers
on that one. TRU probably is reticent about letting you promote S@H in products
sold off their shelves. If that's the case, how about LEGO magazines sold ($3
or so) alongside the sets in retailers? You could include different editions
for different retailers to accomodate their specific demands.
Eliminate stickers. I never used them as a kid and I never use them now. They
make it harder to reuse parts. Kids can't put them on straight, and they can
rub off and leave gluey residue. If they span multiple parts that poses lots of
additional problems. Instead of stickers invest in printed bricks more.
--Bill.
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Ideas and Suggestions for LEGO S@H
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| "Bill Ward" <bill@wards.net> wrote in message news:InHMI1.147p@lugnet.com... (...) Unlike (...) small (...) retail (...) S@H (...) whatever (...) wholesale (...) allowing them (...) this, and (...) [ ... snipped ... ] This already exists, it is (...) (19 years ago, 27-Sep-05, to lugnet.general)
| | | Re: Ideas and Suggestions for LEGO S@H
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| (...) IMO, what they need is a new RIS (call it 3.0 perhaps). It would include the current RCX brick plus the current sensors and electrics. It would include a set of elements built around the current technic selection (such as the various gears in (...) (19 years ago, 28-Sep-05, to lugnet.general)
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