Subject:
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Re: Talk me into Bley at BrickFest
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.color
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Date:
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Sun, 18 Mar 2007 18:56:25 GMT
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Viewed:
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4289 times
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In lugnet.color, Chris Phillips wrote:
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In lugnet.color, Timothy Gould wrote:
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--snip--
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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?
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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.
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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?
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As Marc says the colour change affected a minority within a minority. Hardly
likely to be a destructive force for the companies fortunes. Yes TLG support
AFOLs and generally try to keep them happy but they are a very insignificant
minority in terms of sales.
There is one further issue that has not just affected TLG but every other major
toy company: consumer technology. Up until the mid 90s (when TLG were still
doing well) kids got toys, books or clothes (in the marketplaces TLG serves).
With the proliferation of mobile phones, video games and other consumer
technology there was a new competitor in an already fickle marketplace. That is
billions of dollars no longer being potentially spent on your product.
Compare that to the colour change which probably seriously affected the buying
habits of (at a long stretch) a couple of hundred fairly big spending people.
Tim
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Talk me into Bley at BrickFest
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| (...) 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, (...) (18 years ago, 18-Mar-07, to lugnet.color, FTX)
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