Subject:
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Re: Juniorization Lives, and comments on marketing strategy
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.dear-lego
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Date:
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Sat, 3 Feb 2001 17:26:45 GMT
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Viewed:
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1580 times
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In lugnet.dear-lego, Tim Courtney writes:
> Dear LEGO -
> From what we've heard we haven't seen the last of Juniorization
This seems to be getting pretty serious. I know I haven't been very
freindly to our Lego representative in my posts...maybe I'm biased towards
corporations/big buisness. Sometimes I think that I have no right to
comment on Lego, It's not my company after all. I'd like to share something
with everyone however:
I have a stepson. He is 4 1/2 yrs old. He plays with lego bricks.
The young boy plays with them because he sees me build with mine. Not
because of his friends, or due to what he's seen on T.V., it's because of
me. Christmas of 1999, his Head Start teacher asked my wife and I what
kinds of things the boy was interested in. The first thing on the list was
Lego. He had seen me with mine and could not stop making ooh's and aah's
over my MOCs, so I had intended to get some Duplo for him (3 yrs old at the
time) to see what he could do. So on the Head Start christmas list Lego
went. Come christmas and Duplo anniversary silver bucket was his. He still
plays with those bricks over a year later. He also has a red bucket of
basic pieces and an Aquazone set bought on clearence. Every couple of
weeks, we give him a small bag from an advent calendar. So, at 4 1/2 yrs
old, the boy is a Lego fan. Creative as can be. He puts wings on his
Aquazone minifig (with the chrome backpack) and whooshes it around. He
builds "bigger" space ships than me and has "more" pieces. I gave him some
castle walls I had no use for and didn't tell him what they were "supposed"
to be used for. He immediately built a space ship prison (I had also given
him a barred door).
The point is, he likes Lego because I like Lego. If not for me and my
influence as an AFOL, he would not know what Lego is except maybe as a
building block toy from school. He has Lego pieces because I bought them
for him. My stepson is not a customer of the Lego Group. I am. I will not
purchase any more Duplo sets for him because he has shown me that at 4 1/2
yrs old, he is too advanced for those sets. Nor will I purchase any
junorized sets for him. That is the power I hold as a consumer. I will buy
this young boy Megablock sets long before I consider juniorized sets from Lego.
I am an AFOL because Lego provides the tools for custom models and the
individual pieces are well made. However I am not above turning to other
brands, as I am not a desciple of name brands, but of quality, usefulness
and availability.
I've learned the power of my dollar. I will excersize that power. My
stepson will not have my power until he has a job of his own. I dare say
that, the current direction of Lego will simply push him towards more
grown-up hobbies by the time he gets that job.
I am not trying to strike at Lego. Just relating the cold, hard truths
as I see them.
History repeats itself. Lego will shine again. Just don't change in
such a dramatic manner. Halt juniorization and continue to expand Lego
Direct with a greater variety of parts and colors.
~Kirby~
> Tim Courtney - tim@zacktron.com
>
> http://www.ldraw.org - Centralized LDraw Resources
> http://www.zacktron.com - Zacktron Alliance
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Juniorization Lives, and comments on marketing strategy
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| Dear LEGO - From what we've heard we haven't seen the last of Juniorization. I'm very disappointed about the news re: the Jack Stone line. I wasn't too excited about the line to begin with (because it isn't my thing), but to hear that its Juniorized (...) (23 years ago, 2-Feb-01, to lugnet.dear-lego) !!
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