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In lugnet.dear-lego, Richard Marchetti writes:
> [Posted here by request the of another adult Lego fan...]
You are a brave man, my friend! :-,
> I highly recommend this book to any serious Lego fan -- its more or less a
> must have item and fairly well presented. The book contains great pictures,
> great ideas, and a thorough enough development of TLG's history to satisfy all
> but the truly rabid Lego fanatic.
I found this book to be a good read. It was informative and fun. The pictures
were pretty, too. And the sheer scale of some of these models has given me a
new respect for the sculptors.
> But as I looked and read, I could feel my blood boiling. And while I haven't
> had the chance to exhaustively read this book cover to cover, a rather
> leisurely scan last night has already caused me some degree of annoyance.
> Much of my annoyance relates directly to the issues raised by Ian in his
> thread regarding Adult Fans of Lego taking some sort of action to get TLG to
> realize how far off the mark they have gotten of late.
I have no argument that TLG has been aiming pretty far from center, but that is
not evidenced much by this book. My point will hopefully become clearer in a
moment...
> Now all of us know that bricks priced at around 10 cents are a good deal where
> Lego is concerned -- this is common knowledge amongst us (indeed, most new
> sets price at around 20+ cents a brick). Now look again to the Carousel model
> and ask yourself if you bought 8,000 bricks at that not-so-modest price and
> from the bricks available at Shop@Home on page 26 if you could build the model
> in question. Could you build the chessboard mentioned above? How about the
> bowl of fruit on page 124? Or the ‘57 Chevy on page 109? The helmet on pages
> 120-121?
> Answer: NO, YOU COULD NOT!!!
You seem to have confused this book with an idea book. Unfortunately, since
this book is primarily intended for self-promotion, you are pretty far off the
mark. Your typical idea book will provide suggestions for models built with
parts available from the shelf, and that can be built by your typical
five-year-old. Sure, some parts of the book have some really keen building
suggestions for mere mortals -- the snail is AWESOME! -- but the majority of
the book is intended to be a showcase for the magnificant scupltures produced
in-house.
Take this as an analogy: Can you possibly, using parts available at Checker
Auto Parts, build a complete and functional '57 Chevy? Even with an unlimited
budget? No, you could not! You couldn't even manage a rag-top Impala! The
difference in scale between available parts and a complete model is simply too
huge. And nowhere are you purposely led to believe that it is possible.
Okay, the analogy falls apart fairly quickly. :-, The car is a showcase of
the capabilities of the auto company. The spare parts are there for when you
realize that the showcase comes with a leaky fuel pump.
> On page 20 of the book, another interesting fact is revealed (although it may
> now be dated in the face of Star Wars and Mindstorms sets), it reads: "Yo ho
> ho! Eleven LEGO Pirates sets were launched in 1989, with ships and forts; it
> became the most successful product line yet."
> THEN WHY THE F**K DID TLG DISCONTINUE IT? BLAST THEM!
Why does Kenner discontinue the Star Wars action figures periodically between
the Star Wars movies? Why does Galoob discontinue the Micromachines space
series? Why does TSR discontinue the 1st edition of Dungeons and Dragons? Why
does Microsoft no longer sell or support MS-DOS v5.0?
The answer is simply this: If you stagnate in the market, you will lose the
market. If you change, you stand a chance of keeping up. The LEGO Group is
not in the business to care about collectors' needs or even those of the
customer, but rather just to make money. If they react well to the failure of
the recent years' worth of models, they'll introduce something new and make
money again.
So please don't get pissed and freak out because you are reminded that they
discontinued a series. If you don't like it, find another hobby. I think
you'll be hard-pressed to find any toy whose market stays the same...
> My only satisfaction lies in the fact that if TLG collapses under its own dead
> weight today, I can still score discontinued sets from the aftermarket that
> has arisen out of the abyss of satisfying builder needs. If TLG will not
> satisfy certain segments of the market, others certainly will.
If TLG was smart, they'd realize this situation and work to capitalize upon it.
this == badThing, IMO. In Japan, they're working on legislation to make
re-selling used video games a violation of copyright laws. Do we want TLG to
think they should exert control on the second-sale LEGO market? Best-case
scenario: aftermarket prices would go up. Worst-case scenario: no more old
LEGO sets.
> What are my suggestions for a happier Lego future? Bricks by weight would be
> cool and a good start -- but hey, you can already buy basic bricks. Doesn't
> anyone else want black pyramid/cones, or steep corner slopes? How about
> numerous service packs of essentially EVERY element TLG has ever made, and in
> every color? And if not all at once, or all the time -- how about at least
> cycling the elements so they are at least available periodically and keeping
> the market for them satisfied?
Do you realize how much this would cost? Sure, it *might* pay off in the end,
but the up-front expense would be staggering. No sane company trying to
maintain a budget would attempt this.
> I would also recommend developing and
> marketing parts not yet made by TLG (like my minifigure batwing attachment:
> http://members.aol.com/blueofnoon/lego/lego.htm ; or even double-sided stud
> and double-sided tube plates -- yes, they are out there, or at least in my own
> head!).
Why not do this yourself? Who's to say that we can't modify our LEGO pieces?
The quality of the plastic wouldn't change much, and it allows the introduction
of some decent brute-force solutions to some sticky construction issues.
Ooh! Ooh! Why doesn't some AFOL modify pieces and AUCTION them? With a
"community-approved" collection of piece modifications, LDraw parts for them
might not be too far away. I'd be willing to participate in that deal!
> And don't ever again market any set or
> service pack peculiar to a certain region of the world that's just bloody
> stupid. Sheeesh!
I agree on this point. The football (soccer) sets would have sold like hot
sticky danishes here in the States.
> TLG can now either hire me or bite me!
Wow, if only, neh? Even if TLG sent a delegation down to bite you, we'd be
able to at least get a few questions in before they leave! :-,
Cheers,
- jsproat
--
Jeremy H. Sproat <jsproat@io.com> ~~~ http://www.io.com/~jsproat/
Jeremy: "Hi, my name is Jeremy Sproat, and I'm a...Slashdot Lemming."
All: "Hi, Jeremy."
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Ultimate Lego Book (was re: AFOL Take Action!)
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| [Posted here by request the of another adult Lego fan...] I highly recommend this book to any serious Lego fan -- its more or less a must have item and fairly well presented. The book contains great pictures, great ideas, and a thorough enough (...) (25 years ago, 7-Oct-99, to lugnet.dear-lego)
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