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In lugnet.general, Jeff Findley wrote:
> While I agree with this, what keeps adults buying Lego instead of the cheaper
> clones which have appealing set designs than when we were kids?
>
> The answer is brand loyalty. The parents played with Lego when they were kids,
> not MegaBlocks. These are the same parents who grew up knowing that typical
> Lego clones were clearly inferior.
>
> The challenge for Lego is to maintain that image of superiority in the current
> generation of kids. If kids today don't think Lego is superior, they won't
> become adults that buy Lego for their kids, which is 95% of Lego's current
> customers. Unfortunately, for AFOL's, this doesn't necessarily mean higher
> quality bricks. It could mean sets that are more "fun" or "easier to build".
> It could also mean sets that contain other brand images such as Star Wars or
> Spiderman (I can still recall how I wished for official Star Wars Lego back in
> the late 70's).
>
> It could very well be that this is a very forward looking change in order to
> maintain and build Lego's brand image with today's children.
>
> Jeff
I am not happy about the new colors and I'm sure my message will get lost in the
fray, but I just have to reply.
Jeff makes a point that if kids don't think LEGO is superior, they won't become
adults that buy LEGO for their kids. Let's take this one step back. Who buys
LEGO for those kids today? Adults, like me. I have a 4 year old son and while he
plays with the LEGO I have collected over the last 15+ years, he also plays with
clone brands. I have spent more then $400 on clone brands in the last two years,
while my LEGO expenditures in stores and online during that same two years is a
whopping zero! There is nothing I'd like to do more then buy LEGO, but as a hard
core townie their choices in marketing juniorized and unrealistic sets has put
me right off.
So, when my son is old enough to buy construction toys on his own, will he buy
LEGO or will he buy clone brands? Which one will give him the best value for his
dollar once he is able to spend his own money? The Mega Bloks sets we've bought
and played with over the last two years have been very high quality. Perhaps not
on the same level as LEGO, but they're right up there. I've heard that previous
Mega Bloks offerings weren't so sturdy, but I don't own any of their older sets.
The sets we have haven't fallen apart and it has been easy to build other things
with the pieces. In fact the Mega Bloks military sets have stood up to heavy
duty playtime with regular plastic army men.
I still haven't mixed LEGO in with my clone brands, but I'm not sure my son
wouldn't mix them if given the chance.
Jeff Christner
Sixby Fire Tech
http://members.aol.com/regult/index.html
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