TLG
Douglas Pool
Hi everyone, thanks for the responses to my doom question, glad to see
some people still like the game :).
Today I have a different question though. Something I put together based
on various posts here. If I remember correctly someone made the
statement that lego enthusiasts make up but a very small fraction of lego
sales and therefore why would they pay attention to us? Or maybe the
person just meant rtl but for the sake of my argument lets say all lego
enthusiasts. Second there has been discussion about how many lego
enthusiasts aren't even online, aware of this news group, etc. which
basically means there are a lot of us out there. Third I have been
looking at peoples web pages and role call posts. Very impressive, many
of you out there own a LOT of lego. In addition, I have seen posts about
buying lego, one seemed to indicate that the person bought lego almost
everyday while others talk about spending $100+ on lego at a time. Well
ok, they don't put dollar amounts on them but they are buying a lot of
sets and face it, lego isn't cheap. So my basic premice is given that
lego enthusiasts tend to have several times more lego than say the average
kid whom TLG is presumably targeting and that there are a lot of us out
there, wouldn't that make us significant to TLG? I realize TLG couldn't
satisfy every enthusest out there because peoples opinions very, but one would
think they could do more than just give a little lip service on the cover of
their web page and send out legal notices about using their logo on web pages.
Just a thought. Let me know if I am way off base on this. Oh and I used
the term lego enthusiasts because there are young adults out there that own
a lot of lego too. They might not necessarily have the purchasing power
of an adult with a job but they still get a lot of lego, a lot more than
me. Nope, not jealous at all :P.
laters
dp
Mike Stanley
Derek Schin (dsc...@mcn.net) wrote:
: AFOLs who each spend $2000 a year on LEGO. That's $8,000,000 a year. This may seem like a lot
: of money. Heck, it _is_ a lot of money! However, it's (sadly) a drop in TLG's blue bucket.
Well, it may very well be that we as a group are far exceeded in importance by
parents and childred, at least to TLG.
But I would bet that we're pretty darn important to our local retailers. I know for
a fact that I'm probably worth more than any 10 families to my local stores. And if
we could get those retailers to complain to TLG (like "Some of my largest customers
are totally ignoring entire lines, and this is why) that might do some indirect
good.
--
Mike
Derek Schin
Douglas Pool wrote:
> basically means there are a lot of us out there. Third I have been
> looking at peoples web pages and role call posts. Very impressive, many
> of you out there own a LOT of lego. In addition, I have seen posts about
> buying lego, one seemed to indicate that the person bought lego almost
> everyday while others talk about spending $100+ on lego at a time. Well
> ok, they don't put dollar amounts on them but they are buying a lot of
> sets and face it, lego isn't cheap. So my basic premice is given that
> lego enthusiasts tend to have several times more lego than say the average
> kid whom TLG is presumably targeting and that there are a lot of us out
> there, wouldn't that make us significant to TLG? I realize TLG couldn't
Well, we've had this discussion on rtl before (I bet newer members hate it when people like me
say things like that). Here's the basic argument for why we don't matter:
I consider myself somewhere in the middle in terms of how much money I spend on LEGO per month.
I mean, I spend a lot, but not nearly as much as some people, I'm sure. However, since I'm
probably somewhat above the actual median dollar amount spent, I'll use my own expenditures in
order to make how much we ("we" being (mostly) adult fans of LEGO (AFOLs) who would make up some
sort of constituency) spend seem as large as possible.
In the course of a year, I probably average close to $200 a month on LEGO. So we'll say $2000 in
a year per AFOL.
Now, there are hundreds of rtl'ers. And there are hundreds of AFOLs who aren't on rtl, I'm sure
(even though the ones who aren't in contact with the rest of us would be of almost negligible
value when trying to get TLG to do something). So we'll say there are, oh, I don't know, 4000
AFOLs who each spend $2000 a year on LEGO. That's $8,000,000 a year. This may seem like a lot
of money. Heck, it _is_ a lot of money! However, it's (sadly) a drop in TLG's blue bucket.
Here's what I'm talking about:
There are over 250,000,000 people in the US of A. Let's say that one percent of these people are
kids whose parents buy them LEGO. If the average kid only gets $100 worth of LEGO a year, we're
back at $250 million. This makes AFOL contributions to TLG look very small indeed. And that's
just the US, with _very_ low numbers, to boot.
Now, none of the above is anything but pure conjecture (so I'll probably get in trouble with Todd
for making up these numbers ;), but I think that I have erred on the side of making us look more
important than we really are instead of the other way around. Any comments from the peanut
gallery?
:Derek
--
LEGO: MOC+++ CA[wp+++ fm++ bf+]+++ TR+++ SP++(6950) #+++++ LS A++ M+ YB74m
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/9639/ dsc...@mcn.net
Dan Jezek
Mike Stanley wrote:
>
> Derek Schin (dsc...@mcn.net) wrote:
> : AFOLs who each spend $2000 a year on LEGO. That's $8,000,000 a year. This may seem like a lot
> : of money. Heck, it _is_ a lot of money! However, it's (sadly) a drop in TLG's blue bucket.
>
> parents and childred, at least to TLG.
>
> But I would bet that we're pretty darn important to our local retailers. I know for
> a fact that I'm probably worth more than any 10 families to my local stores. And if
> we could get those retailers to complain to TLG (like "Some of my largest customers
> are totally ignoring entire lines, and this is why) that might do some indirect
> good.
I don't think that collectors are the only ones disgusted with Town jr.
Show me one kid who thinks that Town jr. is the best thing that happened
to Lego.
Other themes are not great either this year. By going through the 1997
catalog, I can't seem to pick a single theme that would be cool to
collect in except maybe Divers or Technic. The UFO saucers are made up
of too many special pieces. Too many! You don't see a single brick or a
plate. There is also too much paint. The new sets are not worth
collecting. It is better to spend money on older sets in RTL auctions.
Keep those auctions going!
-- Dan
danj...@pixi.com
Todd Lehman
Derek Schin <dsc...@mcn.net> writes:
> [...]
> Now, none of the above is anything but pure conjecture (so I'll probably get
Heck no -- there's nothing wrong with guesstimating and calculating when you
state clearly that it is conjecture. You're also not talking about someone's
private life, so hey, conject away! :-)
--Todd
bac...@mindspring.com
> The problem with asking kids is that they probably don't remember a time
> before Town Jr. Or at least the age group that TLG is targeting doesn't.
> Unless "Town Jr." becomes an official name, and is logicaly followed by,
> say "Town Sr.", then we must be prepared to face the sad truth of the
> death of Town as we once knew it.
My little brother is 12, the end of the "targeted" age and he thinks it
is stupid. Then my best friend has an 11 year old brother who thinks
its crap, and so does his 8 year old brother. But they are more into
castle anyways... But still, Town Jr. isn't even worth melting in a
bonfire for fun...
-Dan Piergallini
bac...@mindspring.com
PDX Yoda
Dan Jezek <danj...@pixi.com> wrote
[Snip-Snip]
>I don't think that collectors are the only ones disgusted with Town jr.
>Show me one kid who thinks that Town jr. is the best thing that happened
>to Lego.
>
>Other themes are not great either this year. By going through the 1997
>catalog, I can't seem to pick a single theme that would be cool to
>collect in except maybe Divers or Technic. The UFO saucers are made up
>of too many special pieces. Too many! You don't see a single brick or a
>plate. There is also too much paint. The new sets are not worth
>collecting. It is better to spend money on older sets in RTL auctions.
>Keep those auctions going!
>
>-- Dan
>danj...@pixi.com
I wholeheartedly agree with Dan here, i took a trip to TRU and much to my
surprise I found the new LEGO line of sets. I simply cannot believe what
this once great company is putting out these days. it was said that there
were "endless combinations" possible with LEGO toys. Sadly, it is no
longer the case, as there are far too many fill in bricks that are only
useful for one purpose, the set on the box.
my rant is over,
Yoda
Dan Jezek
It seems that the real problem is the paint. Too much of it. There
might still be a chance to use a plain saucer piece in a castle
creation, but not a painted one. Also painted native american legs
can't really be used on any other figure. There is too much paint on
faces, bricks and now - even minifig legs and HORSES!
-- Dan
danj...@pixi.com
Zacktron
In article , Dan says...
I cannot agree more! They should have stickers for the saucers instead of
paint. Way to go TLG on ruining maniacs' dreams about Starship Enterprise
models! The Indians are so ugly!! Noses!!? What has this LEGO world come to?
The horses are ugly, too. I can see a couple feathers on the faces, but other
than that it should be classic smiles and round eyes. None of this
Time-Pukeresque crap. The eyeballs are bad enough on two minifigs (Timmy and
Dr. Cyber), but now they continue it!? Helloooo? Anyone home?? LEGO??! Town
Jr. is really crappy, too. Who would want a two-piece tow truck with no roof,
no doors and no real headlights?? Maybe a *two year old*, that's who! The bank
is a poor excuse for a set. Remember that bank five or six years ago? (I think
it was S@H and Euro only). That thing kicked butt! I wanted that set so bad,
but now, I would care less about town.
There is still hope for TLG, though. Read RTL and listen to what true LEGO
manaics are saying. Take our suggestions and market them. Then they will
recover.
I hate to say this, but if this continues, I'll probably buy Megabloks!!
(exaggeration)
Keep Building with your old LEGO!!