Subject:
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Re: High praise for Designer Set #4100
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Wed, 11 Jun 2003 04:01:36 GMT
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Viewed:
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1591 times
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In lugnet.general, Richard Marchetti wrote:
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Larry’s idea is actually not as strange as it sounds -- the idea of marketing
this set as a BOOK that comes with the needed bricks is not at all a bad
idea. Kind of like that Klutz “Lego Crazy Action Contraptions” book that was
available some time ago.
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There are actually a few books that have been released this way under the
Masterbuilder name (though the most famous one was released sans book). Books
would drive the price up, and those few MB sets that were released with books
were very hard to find. My suspicion is that the presence of an ISBN caused
retailers to think of them more as books than toys. While I’m sure books would
go over better here than the standard instruction booklets, they’d probably
cause the sales on the Designer sets to tank.
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Designer sets should maybe have a newsgroup of their own -- I mean if
something as lame as “Galidork” gets a newsgroup, this certainly merits at
least a subgroup or something.
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My understanding is that newsgroups are not “earned” based on popularity, but
rather on theme differentiation. Galidor got a standalone group because there
really wasn’t any other theme group that it was closely related to. Truthfully,
as the current best-selling LEGO theme, and as a property that has actually
managed to outsell most, and possibly all, action figure lines, Bionicle is the
most deserving of a standalone group. However, it’s very obvious that it’s a
subgroup of Technic, so that’s where it is. That’s not to say that
Designer/Advanced Designer/Inventor shouldn’t get one or more groups/subgroups,
but trying to justify the deservedness of newsgroups based on your personal
tastes is more than a bit silly.
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TLC may need help calling attention to this stuff. Properly marketed, this
kind of set is the future of TLC (and hopefully the death of stuff like
Galidork, bioknuckles, and non-standard and therefore almost useless
technic).
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First of all, you’ve had almost two years to hate Bionicle. If you’re going to
waste time griping about how stupid you think it is, one would think you’d at
least have taken the time to come up with more creative insults than
“bioknuckles”. I happen to love the series but I’m positive that I could come
up with something much better than that in a week or less.
Secondly, the usefulness of a part is only restricted by your own imagination.
Just because you don’t draw inspiration from some of the more unusual “organic”
Technic pieces doesn’t mean other people can’t. And it doesn’t mean you should
judge them as “useless” either. I’ve spent the last 25 years building MOCs
based primarily around specialized pieces, and I have very little creativity
when it comes to standard 2x4 bricks, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be excited
about the prospect of a working brick-built harpsichord, or enjoy the details of
a minifig-scale Japanese fishing village.
Third, the best thing for TLC right now is a greater diversity of product
offerings, not less. In 1998, the basic brick brought them losses, not profit.
In today’s market, the basic brick is not strong enough to stand solely on its
own merits when going up against the wide variety of action figures, video
games, sports, tv, movies, and other distractions available for today’s kid.
The Designer series is a great step in the right direction, but no more than
Star Wars, Harry Potter, and yes, even Bionicle. This shouldn’t be about which
themes should get dropped in favor of which other themes. It should be about
which themes will be interesting enough to pull kids away from the PS2 and get
them to do something that will enrich their mind. It should be about which
themes will be strong enough to keep TLC from having to announce another batch
of layoffs. And most importantly, it should be about making sure that every Fan
of LEGO can walk into a store and find something that interests them enough to
buy. A lot of the old school AFOLs can’t get into Bionicle, and that’s fine
with me. You don’t have to buy it. You don’t even have to like it. But you do
need to get your head out of the sand and realize that there are millions of
kids who do like it, and most of them never saw any reason to get interested
in the basic brick. A lot of them still don’t, but if Bionicle goes away, so
does any influx of newfound brick fans that’s been along for the ride. Can you
seriously say that you think that would be a good thing?
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: High praise for Designer Set #4100
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| (...) I just did a little fun investigation. As an IBMer, I first think of PS2 as a computer (technically PS/2). So I did some trademark research. Here's Sony's trademark for PS2 (I'm not 100% sure this link will work for you): (URL) here's IBM's (...) (21 years ago, 11-Jun-03, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: High praise for Designer Set #4100
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| (...) I am picking up from this dead thread because: a) the local TRU had these in a while back, but they quickly sold out, and I only noticed the shelf space afterwards b) I just picked up #4101 and am mightily impressed with it Larry's idea is (...) (21 years ago, 10-Jun-03, to lugnet.general, FTX)
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