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Subject: 
Re: Why do you torture Technic enthusiasts?
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.dear-lego, lugnet.technic
Date: 
Tue, 22 Mar 2005 20:58:09 GMT
Viewed: 
1540 times
  
In lugnet.dear-lego, Gary Tabener wrote:
In all honesty I think that TLC are cutting their own throats by limiting
certain products to certain areas.

I dunno. Debatable I spose. Limiting yourself to a certain area does admittedly
lessen your losses if the theme flops-- which some recent themes have done. And
assumably if the theme does really well, you bring it over to the markets it's
missed (hopefully before the appeal has died). But as Dave K said, it's lots of
money to make everything available everywhere. IIRC things like Belville (or was
it Scala?) were a big hit in Europe, but died here in the US. It's pretty hard
to predict what different markets really want.

i) Dino models, these would sell well in museum gift shops, of which in the
UK we have a lot and I am sure there are plenty in the rest of Europe also.
Apart from that we have a large natural history base within our education
curriculum and a LEGO dinosaur that can be built up and taken apart again is
far more fun than a moulded piece of rubber that is normally sold to kids.

Heh-- sadly the new Dinos look like just that: molded rubber :(
http://www.fbtb.net/toyfair/2005/dino/7475_1_l.jpg

Although some have detachable legs apparently... and maybe arms or heads? I
guess that's a plus. Sort of.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1112381
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/lar/Public/ToyFair-2005/Raw/DinoAttack/dscn4072.jpg

The vehicles themselves actually look like they might be pretty cool. And
possibly modern guns for the first time ever?
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1112397

I would kind of expect that these would do well in lots of places, not just the
US, but I dunno. I don't have buckets of market research.

ii) Viking models, I think I would be right in saying that the folks in the
USA have a great love for our European history ( not that I am calling yours
of which I have a little knowledge of rather than none) but time lines do
speak for themselves and there has always been the argument that the Vikings
got to America before anyone else (please correct me if I am wrong).

I sure hope that's true. I think kids often get a kick out of the idea of strong
castles, vikings, knights, roman gladiators and whatnot, but I dunno. It may
still be pretty tough to win out over Japanimation and video games.

I don't know much about their demographics, but I'd be interested to check out
demographics between kids who typically buy building toys and ones who don't.
The ones that don't are probably the larger statistic, but they're also the ones
who are harder for Lego to sell to. I hope they generally try to cater to the
building-toy kids primarily, and the non-building-kids secondarily. But who
knows?

DaveE



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Why do you torture Technic enthusiasts?
 
"David Eaton" <deaton@intdata.com> wrote in message news:IDrHBJ.tru@lugnet.com... (...) three (...) reason (...) quarter of (...) it's (...) anxious (...) eager (...) get (...) Europe for (...) this (...) the (...) Attack' (...) fan of (...) In all (...) (19 years ago, 22-Mar-05, to lugnet.dear-lego, lugnet.technic)

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