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Subject: 
Re: Sr. VP Justus of LEGO Direct.
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.general, lugnet.dear-lego
Date: 
Tue, 14 Dec 1999 21:22:36 GMT
Viewed: 
994 times
  
In lugnet.general, Rose Regner writes:

Eric Brok wrote in message ...

James J. wrote in message ...

<snip>

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.

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 thread)

I have a few comments on this theme as a mother of a 3 3/4 year old that
likes to play with LEGO.

The town jr. sets are easier for him to put together but they are very
unstable when compared to the older sets that relied upon brick layout for
structural stability. Nothing frustrates my son more than having the
building fall apart time and again because he accidentally bumps something
the wrong way. With town jr.. the whole building, or section of a vehicle
falls apart rather than one or two small bricks. I even get frustrated with
the lack of stability.

I 'm not going to reiterate previous threads that have addressed the lack of
detail that these sets have.

I don't think that fewer pieces will entice more children to build/ and buy
these sets. My son likes parts, parts, parts. He can put together the
smaller(older) town sets and takes great pride in this. He has been on a
Technic craze lately and built a road rebel, spy runner and police buggy. He
does need some help from my husband or I, but very little. He loves the
engines, axles, gears, etc. that come in the Technic sets.

I think that the marketing people are selling the children short, and the
parents that are buying the sets. I don't know of very many parents that
would pick up a town jr.. set that has limited recontructability  versus a
set with lots of bricks that can be reconfigured with imagination.

I personally believe that the town jr.. sets today should have a lower age
bracket on them, most 5-7 year olds would not be very challenged by the
building part of the set or attracted to the functionality of the set. My
son doesn't even ask for the town jr.. sets, he is more interested in the
other set lines that have more parts and detail.

My main point is that the stability of these sets need to be improved and
please don't underestimate the children of today.


Rose
(ramblings of a very pregnant woman that can't sleep)

I thank you, Rose for your wonderful insight. It pleases me to know that a
parent or two out there agree with me. It really doens't matter to me
who the company belittles it self for, it just the sake of the fact that it is
belittling its own quality. I just want them to strive for perfection in some
division that isn't Model Team or Technic. When I was about 6-8, Me and my
friends would go out of our way to build the most stable vehicles or buildings
we could simply so that when we played 'spaceship' or something else of that
nature, these constructs would endure and not break apart drastically, putting
one of us out of the competition. On LDraw, I have built several models in that
manner, in the hopes that if my spacecraft or buildings or cars were built with
real Legos, they would stay together (or at least lose less than 10 pieces)
even after enduring a 6-year-olds fist, or a 24-inch drop to an uncarpeted
floor. Of course, these are merely dreams, and not reality.
     James J.
P.S.: Speaking of "building", I hope that you and your husband "build" a very
beautiful child together.
P.P.S.: One of my LDraw buildings was built with real LEGOs some time ago, and
the 2nd floor has successfully stood to everything I could throw at it for 10
years.



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Sr. VP Justus of LEGO Direct.
 
Eric Brok wrote in message ... (...) I have a few comments on this theme as a mother of a 3 3/4 year old that likes to play with LEGO. The town jr. sets are easier for him to put together but they are very unstable when compared to the older sets (...) (25 years ago, 14-Dec-99, to lugnet.general, lugnet.dear-lego)

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