Subject:
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Re: Comment Now at LEGO.com: New Grey and Brown
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.lego
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Date:
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Thu, 11 Mar 2004 19:41:03 GMT
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In lugnet.lego, Jake McKee wrote:
> I know people are quite upset with the color change, and for valid reasons.
> But we've made a decision (right or wrong is another thread) based on real
> thought, and we have to stick with it long enough to see what happens over
> all. Remember, Bionicle was flamed more months (perhaps years) here, and
> turned out to be our best selling product of all time.
Ah, but there are a few fundamental differences between the two situations.
Firstly, and most importantly, BIONICLE had no immediate direct impact on the
fate of any of the other contemporary themes, and it was left to stand or fail
solely on its own merits. BIONICLE succeeded where Galidor failed, but neither
has resulted in the abandonment of the 2x4 brick (to the contrary, the failure
of Galidor was probably part of the decision to focus on core products this
year). (Most of) those who objected to the BIONICLE theme eventually figured
out that it posed no threat to their chosen building style. Changing core
colors across the board affects every single theme, and deeply.
Secondly, it's easier to judge the success of BIONICLE or Galidor than it is to
judge the success of a color change. If the product line sells, it's
successful. if it doesn't, it's not. In 2004, where every single theme is
affected by the color change, how do you tell if the success or failure of a
theme was affected more by the color issue or the merits of the set design
itself?
Third, we keep hearing that the color change is not going to be reversed. New
themes are never given "sacred cow" status. Never. They have to prove
themselves year after year, or they get dropped. Every time I've asked about
the long-term future of the BIONICLE theme, the answer has always been preceded
by "as long as it keeps selling". Thus far, there has been no official
indication that this decision stands any chance of being corrected. We keep
hearing that our opinions are being collected and passed up the ladder, but we
also keep hearing that it's here to stay, seemingly in complete disregard for
all of those opinions that are being collected. I guess the question that needs
to be answered is when we're told that the color change is not going to be
reversed, what exactly does that mean? Is it set in stone, doesn't matter if
the company goes belly-up, never ever ever going to change; is it not going to
be reversed "at this time", but subject to reversal the instant it becomes clear
that it is harming the future of the company; or is it somewhere between those
two extremes?
> Keep in mind that the non-AFOL consumer (especially the kids on the boards)
> probably hasn't realized there IS a color change. Many of this year's
> products aren't out yet (Harry Potter for instance, isn't out until the
> movie time around May). If they have the products, it may take them a while
> to notice a difference. If they notice a difference, I'm not sure a large
> percentage will care. Think about what the creations kids build typically...
> many many of them are multi-, mixed- color. Browse the galleries in the
> online LEGO Club, and you'll not see much color consistency.
That brings up a very important point that I'm shocked noone has asked about
before. If the kids don't notice it at all, or don't care one bit when they do,
and the AFOLs are (for the most part) vehemently opposed to it...who exactly was
the color change aimed at (my guess is still that it was aimed at the accounting
department, and that the new colors are cheaper to produce than the old ones,
because all of the official reasons that we've heard fall apart either under
close examination or by complete lack of evidence)? It's had an immediate and
severely negative impact on the AFOL market (and yes, I've heard the AFOL
community only comprises 5% of the total market, but I have to wonder if that's
measured by quantity of customers, or by total spending), largely eliminating
significant portions of it, but I've yet to see a single person, adult or kid,
come out and state that they not only love the color change, but plan to
increase their annual spending directly as a result of it. Sure, I've seen kids
say that the prefer the new greys over the old, but I've also seen many of the
same kids complain that they can't collect the entire line anyways, so I doubt
parents are suddenly going to start buying them more just because their kids
like the new colors better. I was a kid once, and I can tell you for a fact
that my parents didn't bat an eye when I explained to them that the new batch of
toys was even better than the previous batch, and that therefore I needed more
of them.
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Comment Now at LEGO.com: New Grey and Brown
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| "Purple Dave" <purpledave@maskofdestiny.com> wrote in message news:HuFG0F.1pKI@lugnet.com... [ ... snipped ... ] (...) about (...) they do, (...) exactly was (...) accounting (...) ones, (...) under (...) [ ... snipped ... ] I made a very similar (...) (20 years ago, 11-Mar-04, to lugnet.lego)
| | | Re: Comment Now at LEGO.com: New Grey and Brown
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| (...) If Lego does go belly-up, then the first thing I am going to do is raise all the prices in my Bricklink store by a lot. What a position to be put in - demise of Lego corp. = more money to me. Bob (20 years ago, 11-Mar-04, to lugnet.lego)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Comment Now at LEGO.com: New Grey and Brown
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| (...) Good to hear you're happy about this! I'm not sure that I would agree that there is a "cloud of holyness" surrounding this issue. Just because we've said that we're not reversing the decision, doesn't mean that we're stupid or clueless. I know (...) (20 years ago, 11-Mar-04, to lugnet.lego) !
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