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Subject: 
Re: Say it ain't so...
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.general, lugnet.space, lugnet.castle, lugnet.town
Date: 
Fri, 9 Aug 2002 23:38:44 GMT
Viewed: 
48 times
  
"Matt Hein" <Pyrokid17@hotmail.com> writes:
LOM is a town sub theme?! Geez, where did lego come up with that idea,

The theory goes that Space Port was a town sub-theme, and LoM was what
happened when the Space Port guys made it to Mars.  The supposed
reason was that LEGO had to agree not to make any non-SW space sets
when they made the deal with SW.  However, I believe the real reason
is that LEGO doesn't want to split their target audience (buyers of
space sets) into two camps.  They want to focus on SW because that
way, all the space set buyers will buy only SW.  I suspect that LoM
only came out concurrent with SW because of the delay in product
development.

I'm sure that once the SW phase is over in a couple of years, LEGO
will resume making space sets from an original theme, or perhaps
modeled on another franchise.

In my opinion, though, is is space, but with really odd designs...
have you taken a look at the color schemes? Hideous.

OK, so it's a little odd.  But it's not really any worse than much of
what LEGO has produced in its previous space product lines.  Every set
is a bulk parts pack, anyway...

No, though, I'm not gonna complain perpetually about a box without the
word 'space'. All I want is to see an original, intelligent space system
series back on the store shelves (take a look at thr 94-96 product line
and you'll know what I mean.)

Um, that's exactly what LoM was!

Whatever happened to sets like Spyrius and Unitron with distinct story lines?

Spyrius's color scheme is a lot worse than LoM...

Anyway, what's the big deal?  Star Wars sets are full of great parts
for making your own space MOC's, and that's all that matters...

What about town sets that don't snap together in two minutes, but instead
take some time to get together?

The kids who were playing with those are now playing with Bionicle (or
not with LEGO at all), and the younger generation isn't interested
because it isn't "new".  When the current generation of Jack Stone
kids grows up a little more, I'm sure LEGO will re-introduce town
sets.  It seems obvious to me that Jack Stone is an effort to foster
interest in town sets in little kids.

And where did those pirate sets ever sail off to?

There are a couple of pirate ships currently available from Shop at Home.

What about ever large complicated castle sets with trap doors, knights and
the ever useful glow in the dark ghost and battering ram?

With the new millennium, people are more interested in the present and
future than the past.  Give it a year or two, and the pendulum will
swing back.  Already we're seeing more interest in Roman times in
popular culture, and I would bet money that LEGO is going to come out
with some ancient-themed sets one of these years.

And has anyone seen any bulk sets or 3033 tubs on the store shelves?

The 3033 was discontinued last year, but there are some new bulk sets
coming out right now that are almost as good.

Is lego trying to market imaginability, by only selling accessories like
roofing elements and plates online, because it's difficult for
alternative building to occur with bionicle or overspecialized sets.

Well, in their place, I see Bionicle, Jack Stone and Galidor. Aaagh!!!

That's because the stores are trying to clear out the old stock to
make room for the new stuff for the winter shopping season.  The
Bionicle, Jack Stone, and Galidor is the stuff that isn't selling,
which is why it's even there at all anymore.

Did you miss the bit where Jeff explained that the lack of toys on the
shelves is due to stores not replaceing their stock in anticipation of large
orders during the fall holiday season? I just think you hit some stores that
had been cleaned out. My local stores have all the available at retail
products including high end stuff like Yodas and RBRs.

Nah, I go to the store about every few months to take a look, and I wasn't
satisfied even during the holiday season. I knew beforehand that the local
TRU wasn't 'cleaned out', and All I saw on the shelves were some misfit HP sets,
a few of the new SW sets (not too shabby), and a bunch of no...Jack Stone!!!
Bionicle also took up about 90 percent of the display though, so I bought
Metal Gear Solid 2 and left that joint.

You have to go in the fall.  October is probably about right.

All the good stuff was probably cleaned out and what you saw is all
that's left.  The shelves weren't empty because stores don't like to
have empty shelves, so they fill them with what they've got overstock
in: Jack Stone and Bionicle.

Well, perhaps this is deemed unconstructive to some because they either
don't 'get' whats going on here, or they themselves are afraid to speak out
against the lego company. Think of it this way, sometimes it is important to
get your opinion out no matter how much someone thinks it sucks. I think if
lego was to read up on how fans want intelligent design back in the models,
perhaps they would give their old 'sure fire' concepts a chance, and strike
gold. I think this pilgrimage into the bandwagon approach and action figures
is not only diminishing lego's products, but their reputation as well. Think
about it, the designs are going down the tubes (for SW and HP sets), and
they throw in a bunch of 'specialized or unique' pieces to get us hooked.
Why not
throw in a cool design and a bunch of intelligent functions instead? I say
to lego, rehire the designing staff!

They've still got some great designers.  Look at the Santa Fe Super
Chief or the Sopwith Camel or Red Baron!  Oh wait, you don't care for
Lego Direct.  Well too bad for you then.

Lego today probably sells more products than they ever have. This is good.
It guarentees survival. The survival of Lego is good.

Yes, but the survival of current fans of the system is much better. Repeat
customers keep a company moving. I'm guessing in the next few years that
bionicle will go 'out' and the next big fad will roll in. Just you wait.
Hey, the same thing happened to Pogs and Pokemon (and we thought that
nightmare would never end)

Hey, don't you be critical of Pokemon!!  ;-)

[...]
Oh yeah, and when does that next MOC come out?

It just did.  The new Santa Fe passenger cars are a MOC by James Mathis.

--Bill.

--
William R Ward            bill@wards.net          http://www.wards.net/~bill/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      Verbing weirds language.  --Calvin



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Say it ain't so...
 
(...) Anti-gravity boosters? Well, I suppose that could be a reality too, but depending on the atmosphere, It might need a different design if it isn't to fly down like a rock. The Jedi Starship has a really odd design, and I'm not sure how it could (...) (22 years ago, 9-Aug-02, to lugnet.general, lugnet.space, lugnet.castle, lugnet.town)

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