Subject:
|
Re: Letter to the LEGO President...
|
Newsgroups:
|
lugnet.general
|
Date:
|
Thu, 4 Nov 1999 17:18:37 GMT
|
Viewed:
|
729 times
|
| |
|
|
Oppps, I forgot to mention (for those not on the newsgroup for very long),
that this letter is about getting something resembling bulk orders from
TLG. Wow, the "COUNT ME IN" emails are pouring in. YES!!
Gary Istok
Gary Istok wrote:
> Folks,
>
> The letter for the LEGO President and the Executive Committee has gone
> thru 8 rewrites. I finally think I got it right. I have to appoligize
> for not getting it out sooner, but I've been real busy these last 2
> months, and the letter runs to 5 pages. I won't publish this in LUGNET
> and RTL until next week (because I want KKK and the Executive Committee
> to receive it first), since lower level LEGO officials do read these
> newsgroups. I also want to thank Ian Sinclair for his assistance.
>
> I am sending a final rough draft to a few AFOLs (including some Train
> folks), for their concurrence and final comments.
>
> But here is a small sample of that letter (some background info before
> we get to what we want). Note: I added some historical info, just to
> let them know that we are informed, even about the history of the
> product and the company.
>
> ....The online LEGO community numbers well over one thousand Adult
> Friends of LEGO (AFOL for short). This number has doubled in the last
> 18 months, and will probably double again in the next year, and continue
> growing fast into the future. We AFOLs really are your largest
> non-business LEGO consumers. Not numerically of course, but on a per
> capita basis, we spend vastly more on LEGO sets than other LEGO
> consumers.
>
> What many of these old as well as new fans of LEGO are finding out is
> something that I have known for 12 years. And that is that while your
> company is always polite to AFOLs, we get the feeling that since we are
> not your target market (children are, and always have been), AFOLs are
> pretty much ignored by your company. Everything that your company does
> and says is geared towards children. Yes we know that that is over 98%
> of your market. And we know that LEGO has always been devoted to
> children.
>
> We also know that in the 1960's your company did attempt (without much
> success it appears) an ill fated outreach to adults in such sets as the
> short lived Architectural Sets from 1963-65 -- sets 750, 751 and 752.
> Also Building Idea Book #1 (LEGO item 238) has several adults building
> with LEGO. The book shows architects building modern LEGO buildings,
> and a young married couple building their dream house (which became the
> 1961 Samsonite LEGO Junior Constructor set 717 model). And then there
> were those wonderful clear plastic Architectural service packs 518, 519,
> 520 and 521 show young adults building architectural dwellings. The
> adults from that era did not have LEGO to play with as children, and so
> LEGO didn't catch on with them back then. The adults of today did have
> LEGO as children. And we are still building with LEGO as adults. That
> is an indication that you were more successful in getting kids to play
> with LEGO than you thought. Those kids grew up, but their love of LEGO
> didn't stop. It is still with us. That is why we are writing you
> now.......
>
> -------------------------
>
> In addition, I have 43 people that have cosigned this letter, as well as
> the number of pieces and number of sets in their collections.
>
> Any last minute additions to this list are welcome. Just EMAIL me with
> the subject "COUNT ME IN" at gistok@umich.edu and include your NAME,
> (estimated) # of LEGO pieces, and (estimated) # of LEGO sets.
>
> Gary Istok
|
|
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Letter to the LEGO President...
|
| Folks, The letter for the LEGO President and the Executive Committee has gone thru 8 rewrites. I finally think I got it right. I have to appoligize for not getting it out sooner, but I've been real busy these last 2 months, and the letter runs to 5 (...) (25 years ago, 4-Nov-99, to lugnet.general)
|
15 Messages in This Thread:
 
 
 
- Entire Thread on One Page:
- Nested:
All | Brief | Compact | Dots
Linear:
All | Brief | Compact
|
|
|
|
