Subject:
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Re: LEGO trains...The Future of Model Railroading?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Sun, 21 Nov 1999 10:21:06 GMT
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Viewed:
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761 times
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In lugnet.trains, John Warren writes:
> Hello fellow railroad buffs,
> I just thought I'd share a little story with you that occurred to me
> today. Earlier today I went to a model train hobby shop to look for some
> decals to add to my recently completed EMD GP15-1 union pacific diesel engine.
> I decided to take my engine in with me so as to compare it's size to some
> decals. I pulled the engine out of a bag and placed it on the counter top in
> the shop.
> Needless to say all of the oldtimers in the shop were little impressed.
> Most of these guys were age fifty-five and over. They were all
> gathered together working on a large HO layout in the back of the shop. While
> looking through the decals a father and his small son (about age 6) came into
> the store to pick out his sons first train set. Boy, all the old men got
> excited. Now comes the kicker. During the time the father and son were in the
> shop looking around, the son completely left his father's side at LEAST five
> times and came running over to my LEGO diesel engine and touched and played
> with it with utter fascination. He was totally uninterested in the other
> trains all around. He kept telling his dad that he wanted "that train"!
> Needless to say, [neither] his dad nor the other oldtimers were amused.
> The point of this story...I don't know. To me it seems that today I
> observed that the future of model railroading lyes not in HO or O scale models
> but MAYBE in LEGO. I know that HO and O will never die, god forbid, but I
> have a strong sense that when I hit age fifty in the year 2021 I will see
> train shows that are at least 50% lego. Oh well, maybe I'm just dreaming.
>
> Keep Building Guys.
> John Warren
I believe this story well illustrates the first of three attitude problems that
LEGO trains face. IMHO, unless these attitudes change, LEGO trains will never
be the future of model railroading. (Might want to get comfortable, this is a
long one...)
Attitude 1: Model Railroaders.
I took my LEGO catalog into the local train and hobby shop about a year ago, to
show the owner the potential of LEGO trains, and to suggest that it might be
something to consider carrying. He seemed to be a bitter old man, and his
response to me was essentially, "We don't sell -toys-," with derision in his
voice on that last word. I tactfully avoided pointing out to him that Lionel
trains were considered toys for many years, until the collectors took them
over.
My opinion is that many model railroaders are slightly bitter and defensive
that kids are not interested in trains the way they used to be, and slightly
afraid that if things don't change, model railroading may be a dying art. But
in the same way that LEGO purists are often unreasonable in their quest to stay
100% LEGO (I'm guilty of this too), Model Railroaders have a very hard time
with the idea of a model railroad that does not, and will not ever look even
close to "realistic" (with appologies to some of the admittedly impressive LEGO
locomotive recreations out there).
As a case in point, at the recent PNWLTC layout at the '99 Western Washington
State Fair in Puyallup, I spoke to a man who had organized the fair's displays
of local model railroad club layouts for something like 11 years. Each year a
different guage was featured, and members of differently-guaged clubs -always-
came out to help man each others' layouts. PNWLTC was told that, as other clubs
had in previous years, they could count on the model railroad community to help
with staffing for the 16 day event. Well, as you may have guessed, the layout
was understaffed. A couple railroading guys came out a couple of days, and they
were fairly impressed, but my impression was that they considered it mostly a
novelty, and possibly somewhat beneath them. And this was a huge, complex
layout, with some of the finest LEGO modelling there is. (Gallery at
http://www.pnltc.org/WWF0999/W_Wash_Fair_Main_0999.htm )
Personally, I think that LEGO railroading could be utilized by N, HO, and O
clubs as a "gateway" to model railroading. You can get kids hooked from very
early (my 2 1/2 year old has been playing with mine for more than 6 months,
now) without worrying about them damaging valuable models. Then, as they get
more sophisticated, and especially as they enter their dark ages, they can be
easily switched over to the other guages. That's my idea of it anyway.
Attutide 2: LEGO.
LEGO seems to be almost anti-train in the US. I understand that they don't want
to devote a lot of time and effort on a line that is a comparitive low seller,
but it often seems to me that they do anything they can to avoid making it
easier for us to buy trains. Note the following:
A. Only one train is available through retail channels. Even if a store
-wanted- to carry additional trains, track, accessories and train structures,
they would not be able to. Lego's Shop-at-Home items are not availible to
retailers.
B. If a store wanted to carry the one LEGO train which is available, there is a
minimum order of something like $500, and returns are not an option. A small
model shop that wanted to try the product out to see if it would sell will not
be willing to outlay that much cash on a product they don't know will sell, and
that they don't think much of anyway (see Attitude 1).
C. I considered opening a LEGO train kiosk at the mall at Christmastime a year
or two ago. That is, I considered it until I called LEGO. They won't sell
products to a retailer unless they have a permanent storefront. An
understandable policy to avoid shady dealings, but easily overcome in other
ways. It would be a simple matter to produce documentation that all sales were
legitimate.
D. The fact is, placing LEGO trains in toy stores is simply not a good
marketing strategy except at Christmas. People looking for a LEGO set are
usually looking for the under-$20 range. And people looking for model trains
are not in the LEGO aisle. Potential customers for the product never see it.
For that matter, No one ever sees it (Or maybe you've never heard anyone say,
"I didn't know LEGO made trains!"?).
E. LEGO does pretty much nothing to help the LEGO train clubs in the US. I
haven't persued this except to make some initial inquiries, but LEGO Group did
not exactly jump at the chance to provide either materials or permissions to
reproduce materials (specifically, the small train flyer (can be seen at
http://astro.caltech.edu/~rrg/lego/smeu1999v2f.jpg Thanks to Roy Gal's site,
http://astro.caltech.edu/~rrg/lego/legocats.html))
Actually, if you think about it, the best place to sell LEGO trains and
accessories may well be at the train shows. Every other guage is busy selling
everything they can, while LEGO remains display-only (per LEGO's policies).
Attutude 3: LEGO Train fans.
The third problem is our own fault. I think it's minor compared to the other
two, but it's a problem nevertheless. And I'm as guilty of it as anyone. We're
not doing much to encourage kids to join us. Sales to kids is where the money
is for LEGO. But when I was at the Washington show, the person who had come
with me to the fair pointed out that those of us staffing the layout were a
little bit standoffish toward the kids who came to see the layout. We were very
busy making sure they weren't touching the trains, and I myself was more
interested in talking to other adults than to the kids. Now I'll admit I don't
care for kids much (other people's, at least), and kids in the 7-12 range can
be particularly talkative about the most inane of topics. But treating them
like second-class LEGO fans is not helping matters. We gotta figure a way to
include them in the layouts at the show, without them knocking everything over.
(I know some of the clubs have a special kids area, but I think that's the
exception.)
Not really sure how to wrap up this diatribe, but that's my two dollars and two
cent's worth. Am I off in left field, or have I hit some nails? And if I'm on
target, what shall we do about it?
Rick Clark
jrclark@nospam.aol.com
http://members.xoom.com/jrickclark/index.html
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: LEGO trains...The Future of Model Railroading?
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| (...) that (...) to (...) Been there, seen it done. I should ask my friends who are dealers if they would be interested, but I think they would run afoul of the next comment... (...) But (...) stay 100% LEGO (I'm guilty of this too), Model (...) (25 years ago, 21-Nov-99, to lugnet.trains)
| | | Re: LEGO trains...The Future of Model Railroading?
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| (...) It would be interesting to hear from someone modeling N scale back in the 60's when it was considered a toy by the model railroad establishment. It would really help if the NMRA recognized us (BIG STEP). (...) My 4 year old and 2 1/2 year old (...) (25 years ago, 21-Nov-99, to lugnet.trains)
| | | Re: LEGO trains...The Future of Model Railroading?
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| (...) The ones I met during my shifts at The Fair were more bemused at what we had accomplished. I talked extensively with one guy who had already decided to look into LEGO trains as a cheaper alternative to the Lionel he currently collects, and as (...) (25 years ago, 22-Nov-99, to lugnet.trains)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | LEGO trains...The Future of Model Railroading?
|
| Hello fellow railroad buffs, I just thought I'd share a little story with you that occurred to me today. Earlier today I went to a model train hobby shop to look for some decals to add to my recently completed EMD GP15-1 union pacific diesel (...) (25 years ago, 21-Nov-99, to lugnet.trains)
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