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Subject: 
Re: Letter to the LEGO President...
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.general
Date: 
Mon, 8 Nov 1999 20:50:43 GMT
Viewed: 
1846 times
  
Thanks folks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Response has been great!   We have gone from 43 cosigners last week, to 110
today!!!

Thank you all!!!!

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 (...) (27 years ago, 4-Nov-99, to lugnet.general)

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