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Señor Justus,
You write that your firm intends to be more receptive to Adult Fans of
LEGO. I am quite pleased to hear this. Although I like what I've seen from your
2000 catalog, I have a few new ideas, that I wish to pass on. After this small
piece, I have a re-submitted a previous letter of which I hoped would go to
someone in the LEGO Group. If it does not receive a reply from you within a
week, then an attempt will be made to e-mail it to you directly later on. I
hope that you carefully listen to all of the information I've written regarding
your company's 1999 line of LEGO System Town and Space products. I will play
well - once the right number of parts in the right colors comes my way. Good
luck to your company, whether you choose to use my ideas or not.
James Jackson
AFOL for about 15-16 yrs.
P.S.: You already are the strongest brand-name among families. But if you need
something new to strive for...
P.P.S.: After 20 or more years of "LEGOLAND", you finally build a bridge for
Town System usage. Thanks.
------------------------------------
In lugnet.dear-lego, James J. wrote:
To whom it may concern:
I was thoroughly disappointed by the lineup of building models made
available for LEGO System in 1998 and 1999. Based on what I found out from
other Lego fans on the Internet, The LEGO Group (TLG) released models with less
detail and bulkier parts to make items simpler for small children in Europe.
However, it teaches the children of North America that we have to decrease our
standards and limit ourselves based upon (from my understanding about European
education) what European children should have already understood. Some fans are
so upset by this change, they refer to the majority of these items jokingly as
Town Jr. (no relation to the DUPLO Town Jr. line) Upset with these problems, I
have given myself the task of constructing models and building sets in order to
give you the option of accepting or rejecting them in order to improve the
standards of your company in whole. All of the models in question have been
constructed using the DOS-based Lego CAD program, LDraw and its companion
building tool, LEdit. (Unfortunately, its creator, James Jessiman died in 1997,
but his work is carried on with new pieces being made by several people who
also use this program.) Among the items I have placed my attention are about
seven Town sets and at least two Space subcategories. I also have an idea for
several shop-at-home accessories and mini-figure sets. In addition, I intend to
market all of the seldom used colors that TLG made but only wanted to limit
their presence. Orange is a favorite by me and others (although mine is for
reasons other than Star Wars or Hallowe'en), as green and the violet purple you
used with the Grimace McDonald's premium. Dark Grey has been burned out
and Blonde hairpieces don't show up enough (esp. when we think of Lapland and
Scandinavia).
Everyone loves the McDonald's Restaurant set (#3438) but disapproves of
its small size. I've only seen one restaurant of that size and like the Rally's
and Sonic hamburger chains, only employees can enter the building and the
entire space therein is devoted to food service. (It's called McDonald's
Express.)
What I am requesting calls for new decorated elements, the continued use
of spare small elements, such as helmet visors, transparent 1x1 rounded plates
and transparent 1x1 tiles. If you compare your 1980s lines to your early 1990s
and current lines, you will notice small improvements in the 1990s and late
1980s, but very disappointing 'de-provements' in all of your products. (For
example in your shop-at-home catalogs, you will notice that you have been
trying to push that undersized "Recycle Truck" on customers for two years. It
is all but sorry compared to the one in your in-box 1993 catalog, which
features a loadable dumpster.) Give me the word and I will provide you with a
series of Town or Space Accessories that anyone would be proud to pay
$3.00-$4.50 US for. Although most of my models could only sell for $5.00-$12.00
US, I also have a set which will rival (and be compatible with) 1980's #6390
Main Street! It includes a bus stop, traffic signals, (street signs later on,)
and a tractor trailer with a 6-stud-wide trailer. Some of your vintage town
sets should have a second run. These sets should include #6390 (Main Street),
#6389 (Fire Control Center; I love the truck from this one!), #6372 (Town
House), #6365 (Summer Cottage), #6361 Mobile Crane (although I'd fancy one in
orange), #6546 (Octan F-1 Racing Car, but with the driver having the white
Octan racing suit and a dark blue helmet visor), and #6634 (Stock Car; Carries
SHELL as a sponsor).
I would like to see your company produce an Ilyushin IL-62M passenger
plane (with minifig-scale windows, thus making it shorter than a scale replica
:{ ). DC-10s and DC-9s are easy but have you ever made an MD-11 (Since TLG
originated in Western Europe, give it Northwest Airlines/KLM Royal Dutch
decals. They have
a shared route from Memphis to Amsterdam. The planes are called the Elvis I and
W. C. Handy respectively.) Currently, the shuttle and moon rocket in Space Port
are progressively worse looking than #1682 NASA Space Shuttle or even Launch
Command, which carried big ideas but smaller designs. To this point, I am only
impressed with Space Port's satellite and lunar rover (they've never been done
this close to right before).
[Dec. 13, 1999] I've since developed a new idea for the Castle/Ninja
series. I'd like to introduce a group of ninjas called the Dark Ninjas. This
bunch will be clad in (McD's Grimace) purple and will be led by a wicked Dark
Shogun who is also a powerful warlock. He should wear a light gray version of
the Evil Shogun's (from 1999's Red Ninjas) robe w/ (Grimace snowplow) purple
pants, shogun/samurai armor and sleeves. The waist piece should be light gray,
as should the hands and shogun helmet. his helmet ornament should be metallic
silver, while he carries a metallic gold light saber with a transparent orange
blade. He should share the same head with the Thief/Bandit in the #4805 Ninja
Knights package. The Dark Ninjas should share heads with the Red Ninjas. If
they aren't carrying light gray ninja swords, then they should be carrying
black rifles. They also should wear (Grimace) Purple versions of the grey/red
ninja uniform, with light gray gloves. After all, the ninja leaving
fingerprints is the one who gets caught. Most importantly, they will have a
secret weapon in the form of a red dragon with arms and transparent yellow or
gold wings. His flame should be (translucent) yellow or blue - hotter than all
other LEGO dragons thus far!
[Back to the original message:] Among my space ideas, one of them is made
to close fit in with a scene on an earthly planet. Another idea features a
group so dangerously evil that half of their vehicles have been stolen and
modified from other space groups. In fact, if you find a Spyrian, Insectoid, or
Blacktron member in a dungeon, then they were probably betrayed by the
Marauders (working group name). In their main dungeon, members of Futuron will
be held captive, including a pink-suited female Futuron Astronaut (a crazy
idea, but hey I've gotta do something to save your company's future). I thought
about creating a third group, which may serve to start my space design
projects. This set will feature a orange and white space colony, which doesn't
seek to fight any evil, only to protect its own, research other cultures and
explore its surroundings. It would feature Dr. Cyber & Timmy as new citizens of
this colony, as well as other humanoid aliens and a boy robot called Gemini
(meant to rhyme with Timmy, but not mandatory).
I think that you should re-release some of your older sets, but with a
LEGO System tag instead of Legoland. Some of the sets (esp. those with no
subgroup) I think should be revived are #6931 (FX-Star Patroller; I'm modifying
it for my first space subgroup), #1558 (Mobile Command Trailer), #6813
(Galactic Chief), #6849 (Satellite Patroller), #6932 (Stardefender "200"),
#1789 (Star Hawk II), and #1887 (some unnamed Blacktron II space scooter; I
propose rebuilding for the Marauders this vehicle in their color scheme.).
If you like my ideas, I can be reached at jejackso@memphis.edu or simply
reply to this posting. If any LEGO Group executives wish to pursue my
interests, let me know at once. I will be well prepared to reasonably negotiate
with any people &/or group I need to in order to accomplish these tasks.
Although I currently lack the funds to leave Memphis, I would be willing to
work under contract and send my new creations to any destination required
(except for countries unfriendly with the United States). Some models can be
tedious, but most models can be completed in less than 3 weeks. Thank you for
taking the time to read this hastily put together letter.
Respectfully,
James Jackson
P.S.: If you're curious, I am 21 and seeking to obtain my BSET (Bachelors of
Science in Engineering Technology) in a couple of years.
----------------------
In lugnet.general and lugnet.dear-lego, Brad Justus writes:
> To LEGO enthusiasts everywhere:
>
> We hope that we are the bearer of some holiday cheer for you all. For those of
> you who have felt that your love for LEGO was unrequited, this is a new day.
> With this missive, the LEGO Company asks to open a dialogue with you, our
> consumers. Whether you are an AFOL, or a parent purchasing a first DUPLO set,
> or a KABOB (Kid with a Bunch of Bricks – we just made that up), here are some
> words that should gladden your hearts: We are listening. And more than that,
> we will endeavor to be very responsive to your needs and desires. We want to
> have the best possible relationships with all of you who want to have a
> relationship with us. That is what LEGO Direct – our new direct-to-you
> communications and commerce channel (which I am heading) is all about. LEGO
> Direct embraces all the company’s direct-to-consumer efforts on a global
> basis, both on- and off-line: Shop@Home, our Internet presence(s), e-commerce,
> LEGO clubs worldwide, community building activities, and more.
>
> In creating this new enterprise for the company, we take one more step towards
> reaching our strategic intent: we want to be the strongest brand in the world
> amongst families by the year 2005. It’s a very bold goal, and one that we
> believe we can reach – but only if we are capable of listening and responding
> to the people who buy our products. You. Hence the creation of LEGO Direct.
>
> As a first step, we at LEGO Direct want to participate actively in these
> newsgroups from now on – that is, if such participation is something that you
> want. Please realize that it will take some months for all our new efforts to
> be fully visible – we will be redesigning our entire Web operation (as well as
> our offline direct services), and intend to have the first release ready for
> you by late next Summer. But here’s a little preview that we think you’ll
> like: we are planning to make bulk ordering – albeit initially in a restricted
> format – available by then.
>
> We are right now in the process of establishing new office space in New York
> and expanding the LEGO Direct staff. It will take a little time, so please
> understand that we’re not yet able to handle a deluge of incoming e-mail – but
> we’ll be happy to engage in a dialogue with you in these forums. We will do
> our very best to respond to everything that we can in a timely manner. We want
> to be a company with whom you want to be involved. We want to be the company
> you’d like us to be. And to do that, we need your input. What do you love?
> What do you hate? How can we help you? Tell us – we want your input. We know
> you’ve got a lot to say – we’ve been reading your postings for a little while
> now. We are very encouraged by the commitment and intensity of the LEGO
> community online – and that includes AFOLs. Perhaps, if traffic warrants it,
> we ought to consider creating a new newsgroup (or simply reformat lugnet.dear-
> lego) to serve as the online communication-to-LEGO channel. It’s up to you.
>
> We cannot tell you how excited we are to be working with you all. We hope you
> are equally encouraged by the renewed commitment we are making to you. We look
> forward to a very rewarding collaboration.
>
> Happy Holidays. And Play Well.
>
> – Brad
>
> Brad Justus
> Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct
> legodirect@lego.com
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Message has 4 Replies:
 | | Re: Sr. VP Justus of LEGO Direct.
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| James J. wrote in message ... <snip> (...) Europe. (...) our (...) European (...) WHOOW! We Europeans tend to say that about US kids (juniorization to make the US market), but only jokingly so... Eric (Hoping this will not trigger an endless (...) (25 years ago, 14-Dec-99, to lugnet.general, lugnet.dear-lego)
| | | Re: Sr. VP Justus of LEGO Direct.
|
| (...) modifying (...) Hear, hear! The FX-Star Patroller was one of my largest sets as a child; it influenced years of my own spaceship creation. (And just take a look at the parts that went into those lasers on the bow of the ship... around 13 (...) (25 years ago, 14-Dec-99, to lugnet.general, lugnet.dear-lego)
| | | Re: Sr. VP Justus of LEGO Direct.
|
| (...) James, there was a long thread about this part of your letter when you posted it originally, because you had MISUNDERSTOOD the statement on which you based it and it has no basis in fact. While you were editing your letter you might have fixed (...) (25 years ago, 14-Dec-99, to lugnet.general, lugnet.dear-lego)
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