Subject:
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Re: Question: Does the market realy want junorization? (or were they such good ol' days?)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Thu, 6 Dec 2001 14:13:42 GMT
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Viewed:
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700 times
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> Forget about juniorization-- think of it as Duplo senior and let it go.
Absolutely. I was into Lego as a kid in the 1960s. One of my last sets
before the commencement of my Dark Age was:
http://guide.lugnet.com/set/345_1
and I thought this was a pretty neat set at the time. I must have built that
set again and again and again, because I liked it so much. And such a *big*
set too, I used to think. Sooooo many parts. That same year (1969), the
LUGnet database reveals a total of 52 sets. Go take a look at them:
http://guide.lugnet.com/set/?qy=1969
Oh, and don't forget the 18 sets offered in 1968:
http://guide.lugnet.com/set/?qy=1968
Fast forward to 2001 ....
LUGnet lists 281 sets for 2001, and 342 for 2000. There is everything from
Primo to robotics and movie making.
OK, I'm not into Primo, Duplo, Jack Stone, or Bionicles, but I think they
are aimed more at the under 40s! :-)
But, in the past few years, we've seen the progressive introduction of:
* Shop At Home
* Lego Direct and bulk parts
* re-release of some classic sets: castle, pirates, train
* large sculptures and Ultimate Collector Sets
Who is this aimed at? Do many 5 year olds order packs of 25 small spruce
trees on S@H? Come on ... a lot of this reflects the fact that Lego is
starting to notice and respond to an adult market. And if adults spend big
on S@H, bulk parts, re-releases, sculptures, etc, I'm sure we'll see more
and more of this stuff.
And what about the "basic bricks" that everyone says is dead and gone? My
local KMart has stacks of 3033 Big Blue Tubs (1200 basic bricks), and
whenever they are on sale, they sell like hotcakes to Mums and Dads. I think
there will be a lot of Big Blue Tubs under the tree this Christmas here in
Australia! For that matter, there are a lot in AFOL collections too!
As S@H slowly extends its coverage across the world, I think it will provide
Lego with a way to offer more "boutique" or "niche" products. After all, a
small production run advertised only by a WWW page and shipped out of a
small number of warehouses is a much smaller risk than a big production run
sold through a worldwide retail distribution network with paper catalogues.
Is this what Lego is doing with the 3451 Sopwith Camel? If a S@H-only
product sells well, then maybe it will go into retail distribution at a
later stage, so it's a good way to test the market as well.
Everyone complains about licensing, but I thought Star Wars was mostly great
stuff (well, except for Jar Jar). Harry Potter is not so good as Star Wars;
it *is* a bit juniorised, but still I had a lot of fun building the sets,
and there are some great parts. Besides, my Harry Potter collection makes me
the envy of many small children! I tell the children it's my reward for
growing up and getting a PhD -- very motivational for them :-)
I think it's a good time to be an AFOL and I'm looking forward to the
future.
Play well!
Kerry
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Question: Does the market realy want junorization?
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| (...) Pardon me, but TLC offers something *better* than buckets-- bulk packs! I know folk like to rail on about the slowness of this service being expanded, but step back a moment. Three years ago we all would have killed for the possibility of such (...) (22 years ago, 6-Dec-01, to lugnet.general)
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