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Subject: 
Re: The "return" of Town in 2003
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.town, lugnet.general
Date: 
Thu, 28 Nov 2002 23:27:49 GMT
Viewed: 
1410 times
  
In lugnet.town, Frank Filz writes:
Allan Bedford wrote:
Except for some of the wonderful original creations that people come up
with.  The real problem, in my opinion, is that some of the fan created
buildings are miles and away better than what the company puts out as sets.
How can LEGO compete with such talented fans?  No smilie here... I think
this is a real issue.

While it would be lovely to see more LEGO sets like the Blacksmith's
Shop, I don't expect TLC to ever compete with the buildings that AFOLs
(and kids) build. Why? At the nominal price of 10 cents a brick, the
types of buildings that AFOLs build would be too expensive for TLC's
product line.

So, if I understand you, you're sort of saying that the Blacksmith's Shop was a
good idea, but one that was overpriced?  Or am I misreading your stance on this?

I wonder if 'compete' is the wrong word in this case.  Perhaps I should have
said, "the LEGO company should embrace fan designs and expand upon its line of
sets based on those creations."  I guess what I was trying to do was give some
credit to some of the amazing original creations that we see within the
building community.  I know I'm not supposed to knock what the company does,
but to be perfectly honest I think some of the designs from fans are more
professional when it comes to use of color, styling and overall structure.
 Do they all need to be as big as the Blacksmith's Shop?  No, not all of
them.  As always, I would argue for a mixture of larger and smaller sets to
attempt to appeal to everyone. Do kids like things *like* the Blacksmith's
Shop?  I think they do, don't they?

It may not seem like it, but I think we are all sort of on the same page here.
I think there is the idea that given more input fans could have a significant
positive effect on the products that LEGO produces.  Or am I once again the
only one of this opinion?  :)

Actually, expense of sets may be getting to be a problem.

Even for adults?  Do you feel that the Star Destroyer represents the upper
limit of what adult fans may be willing (or able) to pay in a single shot?

I've been
delaying making my free shipping order because I'm trying to decide if I
really want to spend so much on the ISD. Sure, it's a nifty looking set,
but chances are I won't build it. While I might eventually need many of
the grey plates, I don't need more angled grey plates. It does have some
parts I want, but I'm starting to think I might be better off buying
them on BrickLink.

To be honest, I've begun to see Bricklink as a much more useful and fun outlet
than I had first imagined.  I realize that it fills a hole left by the limited
range of bulk bricks that the LEGO company can offer.  That said, I think
there's room for both services.  If you want 100 black roof bricks, it's
possibly just as easy to order them from the LEGO company.  If you want 10
black 1 x 2's and 25 blue 2 x 2's and so on... then a Bricklink order
probably makes more sense.  Is there still room for LEGO to expand their
brick selection?  Take a look at the brick counter they are running on their
Shop At Home site.  I think the numbers speak for themselves.  If you can
sell 45,000,000+ bricks a month then you can sell more.

On the other hand, there generally are sets which are good for building
normal houses. The Freestyle/Classic/Creator buckets and tubs usually
have some doors and windows. Of course they never have quite enough roof
bricks, and usually have too high a door to window ration, but
fundamentally, the parts to build houses are there.

I still think an architecture-based series of buckets and tubs would appeal
to a broad range of adults and some kids who want to build 'buildings' from
their LEGO.  But as you mentioned, never seem to have the right mix of doors
to windows or roof bricks to walls etc.  I did a lengthy 'Dear LEGO' letter
on this which I posted to my site a few months back.  Oh to dream.  :)

All the best,
Allan B.



Message has 2 Replies:
  Re: The "return" of Town in 2003
 
"Allan Bedford" <ExpertBuilder-DELET...otome.com> wrote in message news:H6B7uD.5st@lugnet.com... (...) sets. (...) think (...) was a (...) this? Not trying to answer for Frank, but I understood him to mean that while the Blacksmith Shop is a great (...) (21 years ago, 28-Nov-02, to lugnet.town, lugnet.general)
  Re: The "return" of Town in 2003
 
Allan Bedford wrote in message ... (...) My experience with selling custom kits is that I do *better* with large, expensive kits. My most expensive kit was the Hospital at $389 and 2400 pieces, and it moved much faster than the cheaper kits I've (...) (21 years ago, 29-Nov-02, to lugnet.town, lugnet.general)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: The "return" of Town in 2003
 
(...) While it would be lovely to see more LEGO sets like the Blacksmith's Shop, I don't expect TLC to ever compete with the buildings that AFOLs (and kids) build. Why? At the nominal price of 10 cents a brick, the types of buildings that AFOLs (...) (21 years ago, 28-Nov-02, to lugnet.town, lugnet.general)

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