Subject:
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Re: Nicely now. What do you think of the new colors?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.lego, lugnet.general
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Date:
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Fri, 16 Jan 2004 14:49:06 GMT
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Viewed:
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13009 times
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Bottom line - I think the color change is a huge mistake.
Jake, I appreciate you taking the initiative to do some fact finding on
this. And I cannot pass up this opportunity to offer my views.
I have been a Lego fan since 1974 when my mother put a 653 Ambulance &
Helicopter set in an Easter basket.
And those bricks are mingled in with my existing collection. The whites
bricks are a little faded and dirty. But that is due to age. But they still
are usable with my other bricks.
The new light gray however, will not fit in with my huge collection of
Classic Castle & Space sets. It will not fit in with my Sante Fe trains. The
new color is simply incompatible.
I know, and other AFOLs will know that the incompatibility is due to Lego
changing the color.
Many others have mentioned this, but I will mention it as well. Those buyers
who pick up a 2004 set with the new colors will not know that Lego changed
the colors.
And they will assume the quality of the Lego brick is lower or that they got
a bad batch of bricks. The 2004 light gray will not match the gray in their
Blacksmith Shop. Or their Black Falcon's Castle.
The perceived drop in quality will damage Lego far beyond 2004.
The change in colors is in line with a general trend by Lego to stray from
the "System".
To me System means Compatibility and Continuity. The replacement of colors
is just one area where System is being phased out or falling apart.
Compatibility and Continuity are being eroded by:
* replacing existing colors (bad bad move)
* the rapid introduction of new colors for common parts without the ability
to get the part in a quantity that you can do something meaningful with.
Look at the roof slopes in new colors. How many HP sets do you have to
purchase to make a Teal Green roof? The new dark red is a gorgeous color. My
"unsorted parts bucket" is filled with hundreds of common parts in wild
colors, that I can't do anything with... Tub 4400 was a great idea - but it
is now discontinued...
* the inability to get common parts to build things children are familiar
with. My wife hosts a playgroup for the 3 year old. All the other mothers
ask - "Where did you get all those neat windows, doors and roof pieces? I
can't find those..." And I have helped people in the Lego aisles find sets
that "build a house".
* the rapid development of new themes that do not build on previous
themes... Life on Mars comes to mind. The System aspect of Harry Potter is
great. Lets bring that back to Town. And Castle. World City is a nice move
in this direction.
* the dropping of the System logo. Why?
* the change of Duplo to Explore. People know Duplo bricks connect to Basic
& System bricks. That has been drilled into the consumer marked since the
70's. Why change it now? This change created a lot of confusion.
I would enjoy being part of a focus group to further discuss these issues.
I love Lego toys. My family loves Lego toys. I want the Lego Group to
succeed.
But quite frankly, the Lego sets and bricks of today have lost the charm and
sincerity that they had as recently as the early 90's.
And I think the consumer sees that. They see Lego as trying to match the
marketplace with sets with action features and large action figures. They
don't see today's Lego as being the superior alternative to what Hasbro has
to offer.
This correspondance has strayed off the mark of the color change - but the
color change is one small part of my dissatisfaction. And I will likely
recompose this for a printed letter to Consumer Affairs.
Please fix the colors.
Bryan Kinkel
Berwyn, PA
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Nicely now. What do you think of the new colors?
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| It's only a couple of weeks in the new year, and it looks like it's going to be an interesting 2004! I have a request, but before I go any further, let me say that personally, I understand the concerns surrounding the color changes. I know many of (...) (20 years ago, 15-Jan-04, to lugnet.lego, lugnet.general, FTX) !!
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