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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Tue, 23 Jun 1998 03:27:36 GMT
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Reply-To:
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cmasi@cmasi.chem.tulane.[avoidspam]edu
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Viewed:
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853 times
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Ben,
Actually, Ben I agree with you. The ramblings below attempt to clarify my earlier
statements.
Just call me Chris; it feels weird to be called Mr. Masi. I didn't get my point
accross well. Mindstorms was a success because it is a very cool product, and it
was marketed well. The commercials for the Mindstorms set were on during Sci-Fi
(or should I say SF?) and other techy programs. Further, the commercials were very
well produced and funny. If Mindstorms wasn't a good product, or if Mindstorms did
not have an agressive advertizing campaing then it would not have sold as well as
it did. Now, switch to trains....LEGO needs a great product, and they need to
market it well. At the moment they are doing neither.
Maybe the problem isn't LEGO. Maybe the problem is that model trains just aren't
as cool as we, or the members of the NMRA, think they are. Maybe LEGO already
figured this out. They sell tons of Star Wars stuff, and the quality and quantity
of the Star Wars LEGO keeps going up (yes the MF or Slave 1 may not be the bees
knees but have you seen the new X-Wing or the Tie Interceptor?!) They sell tons of
Mindstorms stuff, and that product line keeps developing. Maybe when LEGO produced
their best line of trains they just didn't sell well enough. Maybe the only reason
LEGO still produces trains is to keep us happy. If this is true I hope LEGO at
least goes back to quietly producing quality train sets, or maybe just a train
bucket so we can get a good supply of the parts we would like.
The same thing seems to happen in the Technic world. Every once and a while LEGO
has a great run of Technic sets, but it dies out a while latter, only to be
rekindled. Technic is also not widely available. The yellow Front End Loader, very
cool set, comes to mind; it is only available through S@H, right?
In any case, the Freight and Crane Railway is due to be retired soon (it has
been around a while...just starting rumors) so I cannot wait to see the set that
replaces it. LEGO has produced a lot of nice stuff in the last year (new Duplo
stuff (wow I was surprised by some of the neat things here), StarWars, MindStorms,
Technic, Adventurers, Ninjas (I'ld rather see Castle but some of these are very
nice), so maybe we are do for a cool train...and good town stuff.
Woa did I go way off topic...anyway. Good product, well marketed and maybe we have
some hope, otherwise we will have to hope that someone within the LEGO
organization takes pitty on us and make us misfit toy buyers a real jewel.
Chris
Ben Fleskes wrote:
> All,
>
> I'll take a moment to disagree with Mr. Masi. If LEGO wants to push LEGO
> trains. They need one key item: a marketing angle. The days of building a
> better product and the customer will pound your door down are over. We live
> in a marketing driven world.
>
> So a high quality TGV design would get them no where without a marketing
> angle. People have suggested a Thomas the Tank Engine set, but there is one
> problem. Thomas appeals to the 4-6 age group demographic. LEGO trains are
> made for the 7-11 demographic, possibly higher if they made more
> complicated/realistic sets. So what are they to do. So far they(LEGO) has
> held the course steady, releasing designs that are appropriate for the target
> age group.
>
> For anyone that doubts the power of a marketing/product tie in. Think Star
> Wars. It took LEGO 30 years to get there, but when they did, wow! What a
> success it was.
>
> In the near term, LEGO trains will remain a small niche market for LEGO.
> Lacking marketing tie in, building the LEGO train hobby will require the grass
> roots effort of LEGO train enthusiasts across the country. There is no doubt
> in my mind that the efforts of the Pacific Northwest Lego Train Club have
> influenced purchasing decisions made by consumers. Consumers, who at one
> point considered HO or O, decided to go with a LEGO brand train.
>
> Enough said. Long live LEGO trains.
>
> Ben Fleskes
> PNLTC
>
> In lugnet.trains, Christopher Masi writes:
> > I agree with a lot that is being said here, but I think the biggest problem • is the
> > lack of LEGO support. What I mean is that the models that everyone are so
> > impressed with are our home-built models not the LEGO sets. LEGO is producing
> > unexicting, boring-dare I say-bad sets. Until LEGO can produce a good line of
> > attractive sets, get them in the stores, and advertise them nothing will • change. I
> > do not run around pushing LEGO trains because I feel embarrassed by the • current
> > selection. First timers do not have the experience and the collection to build
> > good trains. So, I feel that introducing people to LEGO trains is like • introducing
> > them to a let down. Very soon your friend comes back and says, "Is that all • there
> > is?"
> >
> > Could you imagine a commercial featuring a LEGO TGV zipping through a LEGO
> > countryside, or a massive LEGO freight train pulling a load up Horseshoe Bend
> > (that is the right name, isn't it)? LEGO trains could make nearly as big an • impact
> > as Mindstorms did. Right now no one knows that LEGO trains exist if if they • did
> > they would find the selection rather uninspiring.
> >
> > So, LEGO should design a better looking line, leave them in production a • little
> > longer, and advertize them!
> >
> > Just thinking out loud.
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: LEGO trains...The Future of Model Railroading?
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| All, I'll take a moment to disagree with Mr. Masi. If LEGO wants to push LEGO trains. They need one key item: a marketing angle. The days of building a better product and the customer will pound your door down are over. We live in a marketing driven (...) (25 years ago, 22-Nov-99, to lugnet.trains)
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