Subject:
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Re: Will Lego Learn a lesson?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.dear-lego
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Date:
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Wed, 16 Aug 2000 18:26:31 GMT
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Viewed:
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1455 times
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In lugnet.general, David Eaton writes:
> In lugnet.general, Santosh Bhat writes:
>
> In general, I agree... I think there's a lot of reasons Lego's losing money,
> though.
>
> 1. Legoland Theme Parks - The plan was (as I recall) to release parks every 3
> years around the world. Certainly the most recent in Carlsbad cost them FAR
> more than they've made off of it. From everything I've heard, it's done
> nothing
> but loose them lots of money (probably the reason they were so eager to hold
> an
> event there this summer). Further, I've heard that they even limit attendance
> for a particular day to avoid crowds--- good in theory, but I think that
> hasn't
> helped either... It makes me wonder how successful Legoland in Winsor was?
You've got a point there.
>
> 2. Growing competition - Things like K'Nex, Mega Bloks, Best-lock, etc., have
> been growing on the market. Or so I assume from all their products that I see
> on the shelves.
I have to admit, I can't stand those things. Usually they hardly stick
together.
> They look exactly like Lego from the boxes (so parents can't
> tell the difference)
My parents could tell the difference. They also realized that "real" Lego was
higher quality.
> they're cheaper (parents can see that)
My parents saw that too.
> and they make a lot of models that Lego won't (army stuff, Nascar stuff, etc)
I've heard suggestions for somethings like that.
> (kids see that, parents see the price difference between Lego,
> and it's a no brainer which they'll choose-- especially since several are
> compatible with Lego).
It depends on who you are talking about.
> 3. Znap - Znap. Silly, and pretty useless. It probably cost Lego huge amounts
> to research, develop, test, produce, and market this product, rather than
> enhance their current one. It seemed rather dubious to me that they'd come out
> with a product that would compete with their existing product. Also, I think
> the Znap system is very similar to another old construction toy (Construx, I
> think?) which also seemingly failed. Anyway, for whatever reason, Znap has • cost
> them lots more money that they couldn't afford to loose.
I never see Znap at Toys-R-Us. I saw a small bag there once, but nothing else.
No commercials, no signs, nothing. Maybe they try and market them better in
the US.
>
> 4. Poor set design & juniorization - Certainly from a retailer's perspective
> and a customer perspective, this is the biggie; and most notably the one that
> we as fans comment on the most. From what I've seen, set design from roughly
> 1997-1999 was pretty lacking. Themes like Fright Knights, Wild West,
> Insectoids, UFO, Hydronauts, Aquanauts, Stingrays, Town Jr, Cyber Slam, and
> even some of the Ninja sets simply get put on the shelf at the toy store and
> remain there. For the most part, the themes are either ugly or uninteresting
> for most Lego buyers, causing a major loss in sales, and even more discounts • on
> Lego-- something that I certainly saw only very rarely before; which in turn
> causes retailers not to want to buy more Lego for their customers. In • addition,
> juniorization has made the few themes that ARE worthwhile a lot worse for
> collectors to buy. I've even seen several parents in toy stores looking at • Lego
> and commenting on how little could actually be done with the pieces that they
> give you.
>
> Anyway, I could rant for another four hours on juniorization, and I'm not sure
> that it's THE major reason for Lego's recent losses, but it certainly hasn't
> helped. I can only hope that the trends we've seen in the 1st release of the
> Star Wars sets and the Ultimate Collector's series will be followed in other
> Lego themes. As for everything else, I can only say I hope that Lego remains
> wary of making more bad business decisions-- as of late their actions have • been
> questionable to me, and certainly others.
>
> DaveE
Don't talk about juniorization. It's sad. We all could go on for hours about
it but it useless. Just my little "comment" on it is that kids can't tell the
difference. I'm going into junior high, and my friends who like lego can't
tell the difference, and buy the sets.
Chef
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