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Dear LEGO,
A passage in your 1998 Annual Report states:
(quoted from
<http://www.lego.com/info/pressspecific.asp?PressReleaseId=68&Year=1999>,
in the section 'Steady as She Goes...')
> We also know the best way to achieve our goal: away from many difficult
> building instructions for beautiful but perhaps overly predetermined
> results (i.e. models) and back to our products' core values - to the joy of
> creating something, giving space to the imagination and a wealth of
> possibilities.
I feel there is a point being missed here: currently, LEGO seems to
produce two types of building sets: sets with instructions for one
specific, advanced model (in the TECHNIC line, usually two, sometimes
several, models), and sets with no instructions whatsoever. There is no
bridge between these two extremes.
The no-instructions, basic pieces sets are a powerful means to encourage
creativity in children, but they can also be a roadblock to advanced
creativity, because children get stuck developing basic building skills and
techniques.
The models sold with instructions are a joy to build (for children and
adults), but the complexity of the models, and the degree of polish and
finish, tend to steer children away from making their creations, because
they won't be "as good as" the official models. Also, some children are
unable to follow the directions, and become frustrated with these models.
Recently, LEGO has (apparently) tried to address the gap between the
advanced model sets, and the no-instruction sets by introducing simpler
building sets, with fewer, larger pieces. I can't speak from sales
figures, but these sets seem to be a step in the wrong direction for
LEGO--they neither inspire children's creativity and imagination, nor allow
divergent building experiences, because there are only a few pieces, and
they are mostly special-purpose.
For many years, LEGO produced general building sets with instructions for a
number of different basic models. To me, it seems like this type of set
fills in the gap between the no-instruction FreeStyle set and the
single-model themed set. Children are given a large number of basic
building pieces, with some instructions to guide and inspire the use of
these pieces. Children who want to build 'by the book' may simply follow
the instructions, children who want to 'do their own thing' may throw the
instructions in the dust bin, and other children may use the instruction to
inspire their own creations ('This is a great harvester model in the book,
but it needs a farm to go with it!'), or they learn new building
techniques, even if they aren't aware of learning anything.
General building sets have the following advantages:
- The instructions support the child who may be unsure of their abilities.
- The basic bricks are less expensive to produce, resulting in a lower
cost per piece.
- Parents perceive a higher value, because the set can be used for multiple
models.
Please don't lose focus on building, inspiring imagination and creativity
in children. Bring back the BASIC sets!
Steve Bliss
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: TLG 1998 Annual Report
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| I thought the exact same thing when I read that passage! John Matthews Steve Bliss <blisses@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message news:376e6891.148232...net.com... (...) of (...) and (...) allow (...) a (...) to (...) multiple (...) (25 years ago, 21-Jun-99, to lugnet.general, lugnet.dear-lego)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | TLG 1998 Annual Report
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| Apologies if this has already been discussed (if it was, I probably read the discussion, maybe participated in it, and then forgot about it). TLG's 1998 annual report is online at (URL) Interesting that they owned up (among other things) to (...) (25 years ago, 21-Jun-99, to lugnet.general)
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