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Subject: 
Re: Interesting point of view, Rene!
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.lego
Date: 
Wed, 22 Dec 2004 20:11:31 GMT
Viewed: 
8246 times
  
In lugnet.lego, Christian Treczoks wrote:
David Koudys wrote:
I wonder if the car companies go thru this when they released the PT Cruiser or
the (hopefully upcoming) Dodge Charger
"You promised me that this was the last model year of this vehicle!!  I invested
all my money into it and now, 20+ years later, you re-released it!!  All my
money was for naught!!"
Wrong end of the line. Imagine what car (or other companies) go through
when they promise something in their advertising, and don't keep it.

I seem to recall General Motors making a promise that they were going to release
the new Camaro by "x" date....well, turns out that they didn't make it.  The
result?  An advertising campaign featuring the "human caring factor" of a
manager who made a really tough decision...ending with the line "he made the
decision because it was the right thing to do...and then he went home and slept
really well."

Not implying here that Lego is doing the right thing--just think what GM had to
pay extra for the PR campaign to quell the voice of drooling potential Camaro
owners...the rabid GM fans...would one call them AFOC's?  (Adult Fans of
Camaro?)


(snippage)
The limitedness of the set was one of the big sales-pushing factors. This
factor did not hold true. Thats all I said.

Comment spoken in hindsight.  At the time, the statement of a limited production
run was accurate.  Does a guy say to his friends "I'm never going to get
married", only to discover the true love of his life a short time later....Do
his friends immediately support him, or start citiing legal action for going
back on his word?

Bill Volbrecht said one word that says it all: PERSPECTIVE.

Keep things in perspective...Like Dave Eaton says, no company has the crystal
ball to tell them the future.  Things change.  Get over it.



I am not badmouthing Lego in particular here. If a company sells
anything and it is not up to the advertised/announced specifications
(even if they did not know it initially), they get in trouble, and
rightfully so. This is what a normal customer expects. Truth in Advertising.


hindsight.  Sometimes I wonder if that's aptly named....


I hope to high heaven that LEGO re-releases the Galaxy Explorer and any other
set that some folks who still have dozens MSIB so they can watch the "collector
value" plummet.
Only that the Galaxy Explorer was never ever sold on the promise to be a
  limited, absolutely final production run. Never to return. Ever.

Again..PERSPECTIVE.  The world was a different place back then.  Megabloks
didn't exist.  Competition wasn't as fierce then (and if you know the toy
industry, you know it's incredibly fierce).  The world is becoming a Wal-Mart
society where the lower-cost factor is driving out the higher-quality factor.


TLC is not here to make your 'collector' lives easier.  They are here to make a
fine quality product for kids and adults that still appreciate the fine quality
product.
Could you help me with that? Lego left the camp of quality product
producers some time ago, if a lot of concerned people are not totally
mistaken.

Again I say, if you're so upset by what is probably a sound business decision fo
the company, but not a sound business decision for whiny collectors who have
little respect for the product beyond the market value of 'collector sets', then
stop with the LEGO already.
I don't consider breaking the law on Truth in Advertising a "Sound
Business Decision". Thats my whole point. I'm not a collector of sets. I
didn't even buy one of the ships, because I don't like the Maersk blue
as a colour. It is just that Lego kicked their most devoted customers
rigt in the face, again, but this time they made a real mistake with
that, which might even lead to legan implications.

again...hindsight.  Things change.  You may be referencing the statement from
the post on 1000Steine, but I see no issue here.  I bought 3 Maersk sets...I
couldn't afford 5 at the time.  did I get them for collectors purposes?  No.  I
got them because I didn't have any and wanted some in my collection (1). It was
a way to get a very unique color for a good price (comparative to stuff on
e-bay).



This also factors into those that really hate the colour change as well--"I've
invested hundreds (or thousands) of dollars into collecting 'old grey' and now
that collection is worthless!!"  If you can't find the real worth in hundreds or
thousands of dollars worth of previously purchased LEGO bricks, no matter what
the company does today or in the future, then you obviously have missed the
point of LEGO in the first place.
So what is the point of Lego if not keeping to the company values like
compatibility? Agreed, nobody really promised that the old grey would
stay forever - this was just taken for granted after a 40+ years
history. The case with the ship is different. It might be a legal case,
depending on the strength of consumer rights in the respective
countries. (IMHO, IANAL)

Do the new color bricks work with the old bricks?  Yes?  Where does that void
the statement that the bricks aren't compatible?  I've noticed that the term
"color compatibility" has never been spoken by Lego (prove me wrong here), and
that it has been an implied perception by AFOL's.


Life's too short to dwell on things that make you unhappy.
I am just concerned about how many stupid decisions Lego can stand and
survive. I like the Lego brick, it is my favourite hobby, and I just
fear that decisions like that might drown the company that supplied me
with the raw materials.

Well, as the old adage goes "you catch more flies with honey than with water".
Present your statements in a calm, informative, clear, logical and proof-based
support, and I'll bet someone listens.  When you rant and rave about things,
it's like a parent watch a child lie on the floor kicking and screaming when
they don't get their way--the parents don't listen to kids when they do that
(not to mention it takes the "A" out of AFOL--or replaces it with another
term)...

Scott Lyttle

(1) Collection of Lego bricks I like to build with and display, not collection
of stuff I intend to sell one day



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Interesting point of view, Rene!
 
(...) Wrong end of the line. Imagine what car (or other companies) go through when they promise something in their advertising, and don't keep it. E.g. if the any car company advertises a car to run 100km with 3 litres (The task of calculating the (...) (20 years ago, 21-Dec-04, to lugnet.lego)

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