Subject:
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PRODUCT REVIEW: Lego's new action figure disappointing
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lugnet.mediawatch
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Date:
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Sun, 20 Oct 2002 01:36:32 GMT
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PRODUCT REVIEW: LEGO® new action figure disappointing to parents but fun for
the kids.
By MARTHA MENDOZA
.c The Associated Press
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Its arms fall off, it has a banal computer game in
the back and you have to watch television for it to fully interact. Could
this possibly be Lego?
Sadly, yes. LEGO new Galidor line - its first foray into the action figure
market - is a terrible disappointment. To us grown-ups, that is.
My kids, who love action figures and have spent many happy hours building
with LEGO famous colored, plastic blocks, were highly entertained with the
new toy and are, at this moment, dive bombing it off the couch into their
baby sister.
``It's not like any other Lego product, and the punch is kind of feeble, and
the computer game part is boring, but as an action figure it's
spectacular,'' said Raymond, 9.
``I just think it's great,'' said Thomas, 7, who I should warn you pretty
much thinks all toys are great.
Galidor is a line of action figures based on a new kids television series,
``Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension.'' Its price ranges from $9.99
to $59.99.
Airing Saturday mornings on Fox Kids, the show combines live action and
computer-generated animation. It follows hero Nicholas, his sidekick Allegra
Zane and their adventures battling an evil tyrant, Gorm, in an outer dimension.
My kids and I were excited to try out three features.
The action figures have audio sensors so they can react to the television
show. They have interchangeable limbs and heads. One has a computer game
built into its back.
``Oh yea, this is going to be good,'' said Thomas, tearing open the box.
``This is going to be good.''
But Galidor, in the end, was not all that good.
As my kids and I discovered one frustrating weekend, unlike Lego bricks that
snap together securely and can be taken apart with relative ease, the
Galidor figures are fickle. Arms and legs, designed with numerous points of
articulation and 360-degree rotational abilities, fall out a lot.
And it's actually not all that exciting to be watching a television show
with an action figure in your lap occasionally banging, beeping or hollering
``Look out'' or ``Missed me'' in a strange, computerized voice. (Raymond
points out here, however, he likes to watch television, with or without an
action figure).
As for the computer game: It's a dud.
Maybe before GameBoys and PlayStations spoiled us all with incredible
graphics, sound and adventure, we might have been impressed with the
postage-stamp sized three-button game. More than anything, it resembles the
games that come with cellular telephones these days.
Even worse, you control the Galidor computer game built into the Kek
Powerizer action figure by rotating the arms, which makes them fall off, or
rocking or tipping the entire toy, which makes it hard to see what's
happening on the screen.
Toy consultant Stevanne ``Dr. Toy'' Auerbach, director of the Institute for
Childhood Resources in San Francisco, believes kids need more time for
creativity - not television companions.
But try telling that to the 9-year-old boy who lives around the corner and
who had to spend last week at home after breaking his arm.
I dropped a set of Galidor figures at his house, and a few hours later his
Lego-covered desk had been cleared and the action figures were engaged in a
heated battle.
LEGO, a 70-year-old family-owned Danish company, suffered its first annual
loss in 1998 and then posted another deficit in 2001 for the previous year.
Analysts blamed the losses on too many new products such as computer games
and electronic toys, as well as a weak toy market.
After cutting about 10 percent of the work force, owner Kjeld Kirk
Kristiansen has vowed to ``return to the core of our brand and to deliver
what consumers are expecting from us.''
LEGO officials say the 2003 product lineup will again be dominated by
interlocking plastic blocks.
My oldest son, Raymond, approves of this business plan.
``It's kind of odd that Lego is trying to make action figures,'' he said.
``Unless they come up with some brilliant idea, I think they should stick to
what they know best.''
-end of report-
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