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>
> 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.
OK I know that this is a little off topic but I am curious...maybe some hints
from Dierdre will give me more money for Lego!
Wow Dierdre, you have a much healthier budget than mine! I don't know what you
guys eat, but I cannot feed my family of four (11 yr old daughter and 4 yr old
son) on anything less than $180-200 PER WEEK!!!!!
Now I don't buy frozen pre-prepared food, and my family don't get shop bought
desserts, or lollies (rarely)We go out for dinner once in a blue moon, and
this figure doesn't include the occasional take away (pizza or Macca's once a
fortnight just for the kids)
Here in Canberra, $175 wouldn't pay the rent on a two bedroom townhouse (I
know cause my parents pay $190 and this is cheap) let alone a 3 bedroom house.
Admittedly we have 4 bdrms and a rumpus but the house is old, and a good hike
from the city (10 mins, but small city remember, 10 mins is considered to be
the back of Burke here!) but we pay $250 and as I have been searching this
week I have found that I cannot get the same kind of thing for less than $300
per week.
Perhaps it is time to shift, where do you live again Dierdre???
Oh, yeah, not wanting to dump on your whole post but can you really get TWO
kids bikes for $175?
What do you guys eat????? Do you have a very healthy vege garden, or are ACT
prices grossly inflated?
BTW, I couldn't agree more about the cost of Lego, the average family could
not afford to buy enough to actually do anything much with, unless they spread
the purchases out over a number of birthdays and xmas's, and by then the child
that they were intended for would be verging on adulthood! Although, as adults
WE still lust after the stuff, most parents would like to see thier child
getting some play value on such a huge outlay while still in childhood.
I too have stood in the Lego aisle waxing lyrical on the quality and
durability and creative potential in Lego, and parents are often amused at my
fervour. However, ALL comment on the price, and some, while agreeing that it
is an amazing toy (not to mention, way of life!) still walk away empty handed.
Although you can tell that they are lusting. You would have to spend the
equivelent of a holiday to the US, to actually get enough! (Though what is
enough???? Can you ever have enough?)
LOL Maybe my fervour is what decides them, maybe they suspect that once they
start collecting, then they too will stand, destitute, in shops - worshipping
a plastic toy with a strange glint in thier eyes, preaching to total
strangers!
Rachel :-)
> 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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