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I'm not sure, but I think this thread has now had more name changes than a
dead LEGO product line. ;)
In lugnet.dear-lego, Suzanne D. Rich writes:
> TWS Garrison wrote:
> > On Mon, 5 Aug 2002, Suzanne Rich wrote:
> > > What about DACTA? If price were not an issue, why wouldn't we buy a
> > > zillion DACTA TECHNIC sets? could/should the adult community focus on
> > > that possibility instead? I for one, would love to encourage those
> > > products' survival, and I have more hope for that happening. ..at least
> > > for a little while.
> >
> > Well, technically DACTA is already as dead as the DUPLO, err, dodo:
> > http://www.lego.com/dacta/home.asp
> > The middle of the page announces the DACTA is now "LEGO Educational
> > Division".
>
> yeah, I'm aware of the name change, but for some reason I refuse to
> adopt it. ..chock it up to nostalgia. and too long of a name. I still
> say SYSTEM, DUPLO and TOOLO too.
Name changes (after 20+ years of being in use) are a silly exercise. For
anyone who's ever known it as such, it will always be DUPLO. And why not?
The name, and what ever it means, works just fine.
> > This press release raises three interesting questions:
> > 1) Is this rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?
>
> lol. that's not funny, but it made me laugh. never heard that expression
> before.
I'm not sure it's meant to be funny, more likely to indicate a futile
effort; such as renaming a line like DUPLO or Technic or such. But having
said that, it's always been one of my favorite expressions to represent a
situation such as this.
> I believe there are many factors at work which we may be unaware of.
> There's their business relationship with Pitsco, there's the names of
> the same service in other parts of the world, there's the start of
> K'Nex's educational line, and the psychology of curent educational
> purchasers.. and who knows what.
> Lately I cringe at the thought of Apple losing its place in the
> educational market. I cringe too, knowing how standardized testing is
> killing DACTA. (among other things)
It surprises me that no one has mentioned an educational market like home
schooled kids in all of this. Another potential lost market for the
company? Or what about parents who use play as add-on learning to the clap
trap that their kids are fed in school? Selling DACTA just to the
institutionalized education sector is like only selling cat food just to
veterinarians.... sure they're part of your market, but aren't you missing
something?
> > [...] It is my general impression, however, that DACTA products are
> > a) hideously overpriced
>
> well, that's all relative. I agree that it looks expensive (especially
> when up against the retail sets) but, for me personally, there are NO
> other LEGO sets I consistantly want so badly. In fact, if I could
> collect anything, it'd be DACTA.[1] So, for me, the additional cost gets
> ballanced out by additional value.
>
> Back to my main point:
>
> Yeah, it might be expensive, but at least it's still available!!
> :-)
>
> > b) available only to those willing and able to jump through the hoops
> > Pitsco erects to frustrate those who want to buy Lego.[2]
>
> I think that's a myth at this point.
Not a myth here in Canada. Unless you know something we don't? I ended up
ordering (by phone, which I loathe) from a company called 'Spectrum'. It
was a very Mickey Mouse process. I won't do it again.
If the company wants to see DACTA (much less Technic) succeed, then they
need to admit something they don't want to.... LEGO bricks *are* be
educational; even in their worst forms, you just can't get around that fact.
Ouch, wouldn't that just kill them to talk about? My head still spins when
I look at how far and how successfully they've distanced themselves from the
DACTA line.
But I'm with you, I'd buy it too.... lots of it..... (if it wasn't such a
hassle.)
> > If these impressions (true or false) are common among Lego buyers,
> > I can understand why few would be interested in DACTA.
>
> Maybe it'd be a worthy endeavor to begin an educational campaign in our
> community. Maybe with enough effort, we could open a fruitful
> relationship with this part of TLC. (They did, afterall, ask for the
> lego.dacta ng, and do send their consumers to LUGNET for RCX help...)
I would support this effort. I think it's important for people to see/read
some of the more educational materials related to LEGO and building (ex.
Fred Martin's 'The Art of LEGO Design')
Those materials need to find a voice.
> Personally, after reading most of this thread, I gotta say [no offense
> meant to anyone], to all folks disapointed at the loss of TECHNIC who
> want it back:
>
> I'd guess that vocalizing despair here in hopes that TLC will listen and
> take pity, is WAY more of a longshot than charging the gates of DACTA
> offices, in hopes of striking a mutually beneficial deal that improves
> our accessability to their products.
Speaking for myself, I'm not trying to express dispair, but rather encourage
the company to realize what a golden brick it's hanging onto. No other
company has a learning/building/fun product quite like LEGO bricks (be they
Technic or otherwise). I think more consumers know this than the company
realizes. I think it's time for LEGO to come out of the educational toys
closet.... so to speak. Sell the kids Galidor, sell the kids Bionicle, sell
the kids anything the want to entertain them...... but why not slip in some
stuff that helps them learn while you're doing it. The two do not need to
be mutually exclusive.
> > [...]
> > When a construction toy company loses sight of this, it has forgotten
> > why it is a *construction* toy company to begin with.
>
> It's pretty plain to me that TLC (for years now) wants NOT to be thought
> of as a 'construction toy company'.
It hurts me to hear this. There is no shame in being a 'construction toy
company'.... none. In fact, compare that to producing plastic army men, or
sexist dolls, or mindless video games...... well, I think the 'construction
toy company' label starts to look pretty good.
My message to them?
"Don't be afraid LEGO.... it's o.k. We know what you really are. Just
accept it and embrace it."
All the best,
Allan B.
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