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In lugnet.dear-lego, Bradley Dale writes:
> How is Lego hideously expensive? I think its a pretty good deal.
I live in Australia, and of course, I can only write from my observations
of other parents in Australia. I am not a Mum in Canada, or the US, or
anywhere else so I can't write from that perspective.
Lego _is_ hideously expensive here. Many reasons have been put forward
in other threads as to why, I don't want to address them here, rather I want
to address it as a given fact that in reality is unlikely to change.
Here are some examples, in Aus $, and pre-GST (our tax system was changed
on the 1st July, Lego prices have dropped in the main, but only slightly, not
enough to be significant).
6600 Highway Construction $173.95 (2000)
6478 Fire Fighter's HQ $115.95 (2000)
6464 My Town/Super Rescue Centre $167.75 (1999)
2604 Duplo Dino World $135-$145 (1997) $175 (1999)
2306 Duplo Baseplate ~$10 (1996) $20 (2000)
2741 Duplo Battery Starter Train $120 (1997) $140 (2000)
2745 Duplo Deluxe Battery Train $272 (1999)
Mindstorms RIS ~$375 (1999/2000) $350 (post GST 2000)
If it helps a bit to put those prices in perspective, $175 is 2 weeks groceries
for a family of 3-4, 1 weeks childcare, 1 weeks rent or mortgage repayment on
a standard family 3 bedroom home with a yard, a season's set of new children's
clothes. It is also more than enough to buy 2 brand new children's bicycles,
or a quality 3 swing set for the backyard.
Now, I paid ~20% less than that for most of them, because I know who has sales
and when, most parents are ignorant of that. When I talk to people in the
Lego aisles (which generally start with them commenting - "this is so
expensive") I will tell them when and where they can save money, but often
they're after a birthday/Christmas present and can't wait. So what do they
do? More often than not they buy something else altogether and Lego misses
out.
> Lego, IMO
> opinion, has about the best playability of anything ever invented. A kid can
> build the main model, play with it for a while, and then make something
> completley diffenrt the next day. Lots of people pay $5-10 for a Beanie Baby,
> but I know from experience that those things just sit around and get dusty.
> For the price of one typical action figure with a few violent accessories, you
> can get at least one Lego mini-figure and a vehicle. And even if a LEGO set
> reccommended for "ages 6-10", four years is a good lifespan by today's
> standards. But many people don't outgrow their LEGO, because you can combine
> the sets into more complicated things as you get older- look at the terrific
> castles on some AFOL homepages. Lego is a toy for life, and is not expensive.
Apart from the "not expensive" bit (see above), I agree.
As AFOLs we know that, I was trying to write my post from a parental point
of view rather than an AFOL point of view, I happen to be both. For too
many parents it comes down to price. Kids are expensive, and for many people
trying to put food on the table, a roof over their head and pay for all of
life's other necessities on limited means, Lego, playability or not, doesn't
figure highly. If it is affordable compared to other toys, well then of course
that changes things, if it is considered affordable by the person on the street
in your country then that's great! Unfortunately, that is not the perception
in mine.
Deidre
drb@tasmail.com
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