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Subject: 
Re: Guess who paid for those eToy Lego bargains?
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.lego.direct
Date: 
Wed, 7 Feb 2001 04:21:42 GMT
Reply-To: 
johnneal@uswest.*StopSpammers*net
Viewed: 
446 times
  
richard marchetti wrote:

In lugnet.lego.direct, John Neal writes:
These are KIDS toys; we are ADULTS playing with KIDS toys.  And even still, >TLC has listened to us and tried to accommodate us!

Yes and no.  Have you ever been to a store specializing in train models?  I
have been to several.  There happens to be a hardware store on University
Ave. in Berkeley, CA that has a model and train hobby section in the
basement.  Point being: from the standpoint of expense and space required,
train modeling cannot really be a child's hobby.

lol Make no mistake: model railroading is by *no* means a child's hobby!  Can you even *have* a "child's hobby"?  Children play with
toys.  When adults play with toys, it's a hobby;-)

We as AFOLS have commandeered LEGO as a hobby for ourselves.  And with good reason.  LEGO defies simplistic categorization.  Yeah,
it's a toy, but it's also a medium, a medium for creative expression which attracts many types-- artists, architects, computer
geeks, mathematicians-- the list goes on and on.  Even so, TLC's primary marketing target is an 8 year old.

It would be nice if TLC thought that marketing directly to adults would be a profitable venture, but I don't think they do at this
time (and maybe the AFOL market *is* too small).  I think it would work, but that is just wishful thinking without statistical
support.

-John

And a train modeling
stores have everything you need right there: the trains, little people,
buildings, mountains, brideges, trees, foliage, etc.  Maybe it's not cheap,
but everything is readily available.  For specialty elements I'd pay a
premium, but for the basic 1x? or 2x? there should be a very low cost --
bulk or otherwise.  Why should a 1x8 cost as much as it is currently priced
from Lego Direct?

And if you really investigate the price of Lego, it's not realistically a
hobby a child can *really* get into.  The average child might get a few sets
as gifts, maybe some buckets, but then they just won't have enough bricks to
build much with.  I am having that problem with my nephew right now, and his
dad can pretty much afford whatever he wants.  It's just that even given
that, how many kids get whatever they want?  My brother bought him the
studio set with the camera, but now he has to wait for Xmases and birthdays
to get more sets. Anyway, the kid has been asking for more stuff.  Stuff he
cannot afford.

-- Richard



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: Guess who paid for those eToy Lego bargains?
 
(...) Well, at one time they certainly thought adults were worth marketing to: (URL) that in the top two pictures, adult-type people are building adult-type things with the bricks- and no children are in sight. Then again, the contents of these (...) (23 years ago, 7-Feb-01, to lugnet.lego.direct)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Guess who paid for those eToy Lego bargains?
 
(...) Yes and no. Have you ever been to a store specializing in train models? I have been to several. There happens to be a hardware store on University Ave. in Berkeley, CA that has a model and train hobby section in the basement. Point being: from (...) (23 years ago, 6-Feb-01, to lugnet.lego.direct)

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