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Subject: 
Re: new lego sets? are they crazy?
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.town
Date: 
Tue, 7 Aug 2001 00:48:26 GMT
Viewed: 
1341 times
  
In lugnet.town, Allan Bedford writes:
In lugnet.town, Joe Franco writes:
hi, i just got my new lego S@H 2001 catalog and god am i PO'd.

Joe.... let me help you with your rant.

These sets
are getting more and more crappier and expensive every day.

Well put.... no help needed here.

please dont tell
me that the new and stupid, "JACK STONE" sets are going to replace the town,
or city sets. are they?

Isn't is odd that the Jack Stone minifigs look a lot like the Megablocks
minifigs?  Why is this?  What's wrong with the standard minifig?

the 4609 fire truck looks like a fischer price toy

No..... it's worse than that.  It looks like whomever designed this thing
has never seen a real fire truck before.  Take a look at the true classic
570 Fire Department set.  Fewer pieces in the ladder truck, but hey..... it
looks like a fire truck!!!  What is with the crane on the 4609 being used to
hoist the hose up?  Are there fire trucks out there that do this?

? the only good thing about this book is the BULK

These are a good thing.... but priced way out of reach for many I suspect.

packs, trains pages, and Star wars. ladies and gentlemen, technic just got
more juniorized. did i miss a few years or did lego pay for shipping at one
time, long ago? gee, guess they're losing money.

Don't forget that for us Canadians there is also the hideous exchange rate,
since we are now forced to order from the U.S.  Or, as I have decided... NOT
to order from the U.S.  I will buy from after market sources or from eBay
but I will not buy from the company directly.  Sorry folks.

i wonder how? anyway, the
guarded inn is in this book and that looks great too,

Typical of LEGO though.... they have put the set out, to flap there in the
wind... no description in the catalog of the set's history, it's appeal to
whomever it appeals to or that it is part of a planned set of "Classic"
reissues.  Even worse.... it's NOT available in stores.  Why?  Why?  Why?

LEGO desparately needs to hire a firm to market their products for them.
They seem utterly incapable of doing so for themselves.

Oh wait... they already have Pitsco hawking all the product that truly
showcases how wonderful their stuff is.  Are they embarassed that someone
might associate the company itself with the educational sets they release
through a 3rd party?

Is some one trying to sabotage the company from within?  Was there a hostile
takeover and I missed the memo?  When did this train come so violently off
the track?  There are some of you who will insist that we stop whining about
what we don't like and just let LEGO try whatever they want.  That's well
and good until you remember that at the end of the day this is a consumer
product and we are consumers.  We don't *have* to buy anything LEGO
produces.... but we should *want* to, shouldn't we?

just my 2 cents, hope i didnt offend anyone. im just so mad.

No problem Joe, you are among friends.  But there are some insane things you
missed:

Page 8.  Nice Mars base.  Looks like something out of the old Micronauts
series of toys from the late 70's.  Those products are still on store
shelves... aren't they?

Page 12.  More Fisher Price toys.  Someone please explain.

Page 20 - 21.  Is this a misprint?  Looks like the catalog from some other
toy company.

Page 37.  Good stuff... but again... priced way out of reach for some kids.

Page 44 - 45.  Does every single Technic set HAVE to be a vehicle with
wheels?  Not one crane, bridge, tower, or any machine that doesn't have
wheels.  Here's a thought... a Technic Fire Truck.... let the guy who
designed the 4609 have another go at it.  But this time.... someone please
take the time to at least go on the Internet and find out what fire trucks
look like.

Page 48 - 49.  Wha.... wha... what the heck is this stuff?  Looks like a
bunch of leftover pieces slammed together to try and look, well, honestly I
don't know what they were trying for here.

Back cover.  Great model, but what's with those plates with no studs on
them?  Um..... LEGO, remember, the bricks are supposed to click together...
you know, like in the old days.

Bottom line?

LEGO..... please...... I beg you...... listen up.........

The catalog I rec'd looked as though it had been put together by a group of
high school students who got bored working on the annual year book.  There
is no cohesion to this catalog that would make you think the company had a
plan behind it.

There are so many themes that it's quite difficult for any one of them to
stand out and establish an identity, the way that classic Space or Legoland
themes were once able to do.  Does this mean that LEGO should suddenly
reissue everything from the classic Space line?  No, of course not.  But
learn from the past.  Learn what once worked and why it worked.  Repeat it,
no... build on it... yes.  Build a strong line, with good clean designs.
Use consistent and recognizable colors to build your line.  Use similar
building techniques, shapes and inspirations to build your line.

Looking at this catalog makes me long for a big bucket 'o bricks.  For it
seems that any old random collection of bricks qualifies as a LEGO model
these days.  Maybe if I close my eyes and snap some bricks together I can
have a model among next year's offerings.

Am I being harsh?  Yes.

Why?

Because LEGO has proven that they are capable of better than this.  The
company wasn't founded on this kind of poor attention to detail.  What
should they do?  Take a lesson from companies like Apple or Volkswagon, who
restored themselves to some of their former glory by focusing on only one
thing.... a really good product.

Dazzle me LEGO.... I dare you.

Signed,
Allan B.

(LEGO fan for over 25 years... but getting ready to stop counting)



Allan, I agree. Everything you said was 100% true. Lego just isnt the way it
was 4 or 5 years ago. I believe someone said that the Town theme didnt work
well, so Lego introduced the Jack Stone series. Once Lego sees that the JS
theme won't turn out the way they expected, they will change it and to a new
theme. The real question is, will the "change" be for the best or worst. An
example of this is with the release of the 1992 Metroliner (4558). It sold
very well, or rather excellent for about 3 years until Lego introduced the
4559 Cargo railway in 1995. Again, in my opinion this set was ok, but was
juniorized, unlike the Metroliner. the 4559 had no visible doors, and
detachible "pods", which do not exist on present trains. Yes, this shows
alittle evolution on Lego Train themes, but it still was a good set for some
people. then, in 1998-9, TLG released the 4560-1 Railway Express. Now, this
set was Heavily juniorized and did not look like a real train at all. This
set was not a big hit as was the Metroliner, but it did sell. This example
shows the Change in Legos. They started out Great, then went down to OK,
then went all the way down to "sucks". Now Lego will hope to make a good
profit with the re-release of the Legends 10001& 10002 Metroliner and
Clubcar. This is a good change for now, but it all depends on the Train set
that will be released after the Metroliner. Hopefully, there will be hope
and the next train will be just as good, if not better than the Metroliner. Joe



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: new lego sets? are they crazy?
 
(...) Joe.... let me help you with your rant. (...) Well put.... no help needed here. (...) Isn't is odd that the Jack Stone minifigs look a lot like the Megablocks minifigs? Why is this? What's wrong with the standard minifig? (...) No..... it's (...) (23 years ago, 6-Aug-01, to lugnet.town)

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