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 Dear LEGO / 4468
4467  |  4469
Subject: 
Re: Fwd from a builder: Colors don't match, among other things!
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.general, lugnet.dear-lego
Date: 
Tue, 18 Nov 2003 12:28:09 GMT
Viewed: 
311 times
  
Aside from the perspectives already mentioned, two other issues worry me:

1 Replacing or augmenting existing colors with slightly different colors will
cause confusion and bad publicity.
- We will have a harder time sorting out pieces and need more storage
compartments (Or we just toss them together and deal with the differences during
building)

- When rebuilding sets from instructions later on, after the pieces got mingled
with other sets, we won't be able to tell from the picture which shade of grey
is meant, especially given the modern instruction graphics with shadows and
highlights instead of consistent reference colors.

- When we buy a new set, from now on you don't know which colors you will get,
since you can't tell from the box. It's one thing to consult Peeron, but box art
should be able to show us what we buy.

- The general public will not be aware of the differences, hence second-hands
sets will be a random mix of right and wrong shades.

- Many buyers may want to return sets if they discover the colors don't match,
without knowing this is actual TLG policy.

- Consumer organisations and tv-shows will love to have a bite at this, LEGO
suddenly producing off-colored bricks 'No, no, this is not bad quality, the
newer bricks were *intentionally* colored slightly different. Research shows
kids like them better'. Explain that to your market.
-...

2 TLG is wasting effort
Regardless if the new greys look 'better', I find it uncomprehensible that in
these difficult economic times for TLG, some product developer was lend an ear
at all by management when he or she raised this issue "Hey guys, now we have all
that grey in Star Wars and Harry Potter, focus groups say our product line tends
to look a bit dull. So why don't we spice up the grey colors, so the sets will
look a little more crisp?!" Yeah, that will safeguard the future of TLG, right.

I'm sorry this all seems harsh and I sincerely hope this will prove to be too
pessimistic. But remember ZNAP, GALIDOR and the name change of the DUPLO brand.
All those were major strategic failures based on some optimistic marketing
belief, and TLG had to discard product lines or change back.
While I don't doubt the sound intentions of TLG designers and marketeers, and
their valid arguments, recent history shows how changes can backfire because
certain effects (such as mentioned above) were overlooked or underestimated.

Eric



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: Fwd from a builder: Colors don't match, among other things!
 
(...) Two new colours shouldnt be a big issue for sorting. If you are keen eyed, it'll be easy, and if not, then you won't care about the difference. (...) You will be able to figure this out simply by referring to the date of the set. Also, Lugnet, (...) (21 years ago, 28-Nov-03, to lugnet.general, lugnet.dear-lego)

Message is in Reply To:
  Fwd from a builder: Colors don't match, among other things!
 
Hi all, This is from a friend of mine, Gareth Bowler: Got into my first 2004 sets today; the MINI star destroyer set, and promptly scrapped them for parts, only to find, to my shock and dismay, that the colors don't match. Further more, the studs (...) (21 years ago, 15-Nov-03, to lugnet.general, lugnet.dear-lego, FTX) !! 

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