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Subject: 
Re: Talk me into Bley at BrickFest
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.color
Date: 
Sun, 18 Mar 2007 18:15:35 GMT
Viewed: 
4145 times
  
In lugnet.color, Chris Phillips wrote:
   In lugnet.color, Timothy Gould wrote:
   --snip--

   Who knows? Maybe if somebody within TLC had “cried about pigment change” before it was too late, they could have avoided some of this pain?

I really find it hard to see how the colour change would have been detrimental to TLG in any meaningful way. Perhaps you can elaborate on the idea because I just can’t see any connection.

The company’s trajectory over the past decade certainly implies that something took a dig at their business. Late 90’s: company in financial trouble, saved by unexpected popularity of MindStorms and Bionicle product lines. Early 2000’s, company expands into retail sales in several countries. Mid 00’s: company implements color change, shattering the adult fan base. Late 2006: company announces outsourcing of all manufacturing, packaging, and order fulfillment, sells off real estate holdings, and announces layoffs of 75% of their workforce.

If the expansion into retail was what caused the problem then they would be shutting it down now, but they don’t seem to be doing that. On the other hand, the Ambassador program, more sophisticated model designs, and better brick/buck ratios all seem like attempts to woo back the AFOLs who seem to have abandoned the hobby recently.

If not bley, then what exactly do you suggest caused this sudden reversal of fortunes?

As Matthew said, I don’t think the color change was a major factor in TLC’s business problems. It certainly changed my buying habits, but I’m a minority of a minority among LEGO buyers.

On the other hand, the color change needlessly antagonized some of TLC’s biggest fans to no discernible benefit. The company has never admitted that the change was done to save money, so any loss in sales was not compensated for by savings in production costs.

I think it’s safe to say that the color change was a mistake, although not a major one.

Marc Nelson Jr.

Marc’s Creations



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Talk me into Bley at BrickFest
 
(...) The company's trajectory over the past decade certainly implies that something took a dig at their business. Late 90's: company in financial trouble, saved by unexpected popularity of MindStorms and Bionicle product lines. Early 2000's, (...) (17 years ago, 18-Mar-07, to lugnet.color, FTX)

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