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Subject: 
Re: new lego sets? are they crazy?
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.general, lugnet.lego
Date: 
Fri, 10 Aug 2001 23:58:03 GMT
Viewed: 
855 times
  
In lugnet.general, Bob Parker writes:
In lugnet.general, Jim Green writes:
<original snipped>

Oh, I'm still addicted to Lego, but it's the older sets that I'm buying from
sources such as Ebay and Brickbay.  The secondary market is the ONLY game in
town as far as I'm concerned for the purchase of good Space and Town sets.
I rarely buy any new Lego sets anymore.  Since the old discontinued sets
that I buy are on the secondary market, TLC doesn't get as much of my money
as they used to.  I will be buying one of each of the retro sets like the
much anticipated Metroliner and Club Car re-release (when they come out).
This is because the price is so much cheaper than the secondary market.

In other words, TLC will get more of my money only when they sell re-issues
and when (and if) they produce better themes of the same quality as they did
before ~1995 or so.

- Bob

These are comments that I think the LEGO company should read very very
carefully.  Here is a company who is being told by one of it's customers,
that they can have more of his money of they simply produce more of the
products that he wants to buy.  Any company who knows what the market wants,
but won't produce it.... finds itself laying off employees.

You can't please everyone.

But........

You can listen to your customers.  Then listen again.  Do you hear the same
comments?  Are your current products poorly designed compared to what you
used to put out?  Are they a number of your old products that you could
simply re-issue in new packaging and please a large number of people?

Are you communicating all of this effectively to your customers through your
own printed materials and website and not relying on a small off-shoot
community to convey your messages?

Are you at all concerned about creating a new generation of loyal customers
who pride themselves on buying your product?  Will they be proud to
introduce their children to this product?

Am I the only one asking these questions?

When the train begins to come off the track, perhaps it's time to shorten
the train, slow down and stop making so many stops.  The most recent Shop At
Home catalog proves that LEGO's train is not only off the tracks, but is
trying to traverse a lake.  It's time to pull in the fringe, trim the fat,
focus on core products and focus intensely on design.  If you're not going
to sell bulk bricks at a reasonable price, then give folks a reason to buy
themed sets.  Make them so utterly spectacular that people feel as though
they couldn't possibly have thought up such a model on their own.  They will
*want* to buy it.  They won't need to be fooled by tag lines like "Not
available in stores".

Regards,
Allan B.

(Almost wishing I hadn't looked at the catalog to begin with)



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: new lego sets? are they crazy?
 
(...) more snippage (...) Oh, I'm still addicted to Lego, but it's the older sets that I'm buying from sources such as Ebay and Brickbay. The secondary market is the ONLY game in town as far as I'm concerned for the purchase of good Space and Town (...) (23 years ago, 6-Aug-01, to lugnet.general, lugnet.lego)

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