Subject:
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Re: From the mouth of babes and just what is going on!?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.dear-lego, lugnet.general
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Date:
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Mon, 10 May 2004 19:23:06 GMT
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Viewed:
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3654 times
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In lugnet.dear-lego, Daniel Warren wrote:
> In lugnet.dear-lego, Melanie K. Fields wrote:
> > Dear Lego,
> >
> > Last week I gave my 12 year old daughter 2 of the new Harry Potter sets. She was
> > not aware of the gray changes, it just hadn't come up. What follows is an
> > account of her exact words.
> >
> > Happy to get the new sets, she dumped them out on the table. Her face changed
> > to a confused expression and she said HUUH? What's this?
> >
> > I said What?
> >
> > She said, This gray, it's different, it looks wierd or something.
> >
> > So I told her that Lego is making this new color now and left it at that.
> >
> > She said, This is dumb, I don't like these grays, it's too blue and besides,
> > how's it posed to match all my other Harry Potter sets? I wish I could tell
> > Lego this is dumb.
> >
> > She said, I really like Buckbeak, but he'd be a lot better if he was the same as
> > they used to make. I don't want these sets Mommy, you keep them.
>
>
>
> Personally, your daughter comes across as being extremely stuck up and nearly
> teetering on spoiled.
>
> The thing that is getting lost in this the most is the fact that Lego, as
> awesome as it is, is a toy. Everyone who is a member of Lugnet has a love for
> Lego in some form or another. And like most people on here, I too have been
> collecting it for the majority of my life. I'll be honest, the color change
> doesn't make me happy either and for a couple reasons:
>
> 1) Storage of another color
> 2) the fact that in the last few years the colors of brown, grey and dark grey
> have become very common in sets. Almost every theme now has a heavy dose of
> these 3 colors and to change them (for arguements sake) halfway through "is"
> stupid. I mean a handful of Star Wars sets use just the 2 greys and brown and
> tan.
>
> So for us to chilishly sit here and rant on and on about it, bitching to Jake
> about it day in and day out is also stupid. I like many of you wish things could
> be like the 1980's again where Lego produced some of the best damn sets ever; in
> all themes (town, castle, space, pirate, technic, model team).
>
> But when I see comments from a 12 year old refuting a GIFT from their parents
> because they don't like a certain element (no pun intended) of their GIFT, its
> pretty pathetic if that is what we have come to.
>
> Lets all pause for a moment and remember why we REALLY love Lego.
>
> --member 1893
Quite the contrary actually. Her rejection is exactly the type of response I
have worked to cultivate in my children and I am quite pleased with her--not
because she rejected the new colors, but because she made her decision based on
the value she assigned to the object and chose not to own just for the sake of
owning.
We have worked hard to counter the childish tendency to pack-rat and hoard, I
want them to choose only those things which have the most value to them and
reject the rest.
The entire conversation took a little over an hour and involved my 16 year old
son (who also did not like the new colors) and I edited it down for the sake of
brevity so as not to bore Lugnet with details but to stick to the point--an
honest target market reaction--which came as a total surprise to even me since I
fully expected that neither of my children would notice.
The circumstances are that I had purchased some new HP sets for selling in my
BrickLink store. My son and daughter both work for me and I give them a choice
between pay in sets or pay in money. They make up their own minds based on the
value they assign to either the sets or the cash. (It's not uncommon for them to
ask for MORE work so they can earn both sets and money.)
These sets were presented to her with the choice of getting paid with money or
with sets. Once she fingered the sets, she rejected them. Rejection is
preferable to her having a room full of possessions that she does not value and
I later have to get rid of.
I don't know how common it is for children to play with Lego to the extent she
does (she's rejected all other toys--even Barbie) and I'm sure there are plenty
of kids who don't care about the colors. I'm also sure that she has to be
representative of some portion of the target market I just don't know what
portion that is.
What I do know is that both my kids have said, with no influence from me, that
they do not like the new colors. My son, who is a Star Wars set collector, is
now turning up nose to the new sets.
I didn't cause their feelings and I won't attempt to sway them. They surprised
me and I reported it here. There is nothing more to this than that.
Thank you,
Melanie
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