Jump to content

How Much Do You Think LEGO Pays Attention To Its Fanbase?


Baz
 Share

Recommended Posts

After a long period in the early-mid 2000s of the LEGO company acting very very business like in releasing sets based off of franchises like star wars and then releasing various incarnations of Bionicle, I've noticed a shift in the last three years or so in LEGO perhaps actually paying attention to its fanbase. I know the LEGO company acknowledges that many of the people that buy and enjoy building legos aren't just children (they even have sectors for businesses who need something to spark creative outflow; this takes of the form of "LEGO Serious Play"), but recently I've noticed them finally going back to certain themes that certain people, including myself have been begging for them to go back to. The real popular themes I'm talking about are the space and undersea related sets. LEGO Space was awesome. So was Aquazone and the other undersea sets. Just in the past three years they've sort of released reboots of these (in the form of Aqua Raiders, Atlantis, Mission to Mars, Space Police III [omg!!]). Power miners is no exception. To be honest, although I know many here are not particularly huge fans of power miners (I'm not either), I wouldn't count out us in RRU being a contributing factor to why they decided to make another underground based set very similar to Rock Raiders. With the advent of the internet, (it's been around a while, but it's taken a while for people to take it really seriously) a lot of entertainment-based businesses particularly in the video games industry are responding to their fanbases directly via forums and such (most famously Valve, which has community input on Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 on a regular basis). I have a suspicion that LEGO might be taking that direction.

This is all of course in addition to the fact that they are also taking cold-hearted business into account just basing off of the sales of certain themes, seeing what was popular based on that, and then releasing more of the same type (Why do you think Bionicle went on for so long? Because it was cool and people bought them by the truckload with every new release!). I just want to know people's thoughts on this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes and no. In some respects I believe that they are listening to some of their older fans and bringing out, like what you said, reboots. However they are also keeping with the licensed LEGO sets such as Ben 10, Harry Potter etc... Which looks like they are cashing out. However I don't particularly have a problem with this so long as they keep on making their own made-up themes. Now we should keep in mind the LEGO is a Private Company and does not sell shares (as far as I know) so they shouldn't be 'money' orientated as they don't make money for stockholders. This being a reason they are very protective over the company. Creating LEGO for licensed theme is more of a marketing technique to attract children. If they like the Toy Story movies, they'll(or their parents) go look for Toy Story toys.

I do not have a problem with the fact that they brought out Power Miners. What I didn't like about it was some of the flimsy designs, Granite Grinder name rip and colours used in the sets. It was also clear that they did not have any major plans for the theme as once the theme was released there was nothing else to follow it up unlike Rock Raiders. I guess my only problem with LEGO is that they are producing more and more custom parts, parts of which are not always interchangeable with others. This is taking away from the creativity of the LEGO bricks for the sake of making them easier to construct and to look less stud-like. My current fear is that they will change the minfigure design in the near future as they have had the same design for the past 30/40+ years. We know they have does some alterations to the stud on the head recently and now they are producing double faced minifigures, which I dislike. The minifigure in its current form is an icon, changing it for mobility sake would be terrible.

Despite some of the decisions they have made I still maintain my respect for them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My current fear is that they will change the minfigure design in the near future as they have had the same design for the past 30/40+ years. We know they have does some alterations to the stud on the head recently and now they are producing double faced minifigures, which I dislike.

Look into the eyes of any recent minifigure and you will see that it is too late.

I do remember several times hearing that LEGO and DDI knew about us and didn't really care that we were doing this stuff (most likely they were glad to see their products were still loved).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

lol username

Agreed with Cyrem almost 100%, but I wouldn't expect any massive changes to the minifigure soon. The minifig has always been slowly changing since it was introduced in 1978 - I wouldn't call adding more detail the eyes (which Lair complains about for some reason) any more drastic then getting rid of the solid studs on the heads or introducing hook hands, peg legs, and more face types like Pirates did. The minifig is a big icon for LEGO, and they know it, and while they might make improvements over time (which is what they've always been doing) they would never alter it to the point where they don't resemble minifigures as we know them (like, I doubt they would ever give them noses molded into the heads). Heck, when they first introduced flesh colored minifigs with the Sports theme, they still kept yellow for the non-licensed figures because it was so iconic and standard. So while they might do things like add more printing detail, make more detailed accessories, or slightly change how the stud on the head is hollowed out (like they did recently), I can't see them ever doing anything too major.

And yeah, LEGO certainly has been doing a lot of reboots lately (which I love, more reboots plz!) - Aquazone, Life on Mars, Pirates, Ninja, Castle, Adventures, Alpha Team, Rock Raiders, and Space Police have all had reboots so far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with Baz and Cyrem for the most part. I suppose they could be alot worse. (Dropping original themes for instance...yikes.)

However, when it comes to LEGO Universe, they sure didn't listen to the screaming of many a voice telling them to stop brutally murdering what was once a good concept for a game. :cry:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

(like, I doubt they would ever give them noses molded into the heads)

!BsQnTYQCWk~$(KGrHqEH-CkEvDfY+uemBL3Ny9E

May I remind you of those Max&Tina LEGO Creator sets? Or Jack Stone?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh god Jack Stone. That's who I was thinking of. Compared to the normal ones, he's a giant. No parts detach from him either. Never quite sure why LEGO did that line.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

lol username

However, when it comes to LEGO Universe, they sure didn't listen to the screaming of many a voice telling them to stop brutally murdering what was once a good concept for a game. :cry:

DON'T. GET. ME. STARTED.

(like, I doubt they would ever give them noses molded into the heads)

!BsQnTYQCWk~$(KGrHqEH-CkEvDfY+uemBL3Ny9E

Of course, it's not a human, and it's also from a licensed theme, the character wasn't designed by LEGO. I'm talking about original minifigs from original themes (and even when they do make minifigs with custom molded heads, in original themes they're usually noseless).

"May I remind you of those Max&Tina LEGO Creator sets? Or Jack Stone?"

See above. I'm talking about minifigs, not the 4 Juniors style figures.

EDIT: VezonWireless just sent me a message on YouTube. I think you guys should take a look...

http://minifigures.LEGO.com/en-us/Bios/Default.aspx#Detective

http://minifigures.LEGO.com/en-us/Bios/Default.aspx#Zookeeper

You may have heard of some of the Detective’s most famous cases. He’s the one who single-handedly solved the Brickster’s Baffling Brick-Napping, the Sam Sinister Switcheroo, and the Mystery of Timmy’s Nose. Why, he even tracked down a missing pet from the Racing Drome…and robot monkeys don’t leave footprints!

Living and working in LEGO CITY, the Zookeeper has had to look after some pretty strange creatures in her career. Of course, there are the usual camels and bats and colorful jungle frogs, but nobody ever warned her about dragons and rock monsters, not to mention what that one team of adventurers brought back from their expedition to Dino Island!

Not to mention some of the other bios...

http://minifigures.LEGO.com/en-us/Bios/Default.aspx#Space Villain

As a member of a shadowy criminal organization feared throughout the seven galaxies, the Space Villain really knows his outer space bad-guy stuff. He can hotwire a rocket neutron drive in zero-G, melt through solid plasmodic hypersteel with his nova-ray blaster, and sneak past a FuturonCorp security-bot in under 3.6 quarkoids, all while blindfolded.

Of course, full-time space villainy isn’t easy. Over the stellar cycles, the Space Villain has lost an eye in a warpship chase over Spyrius IV, misplaced a leg in the meteor mines of the Insectoid hivefleet, and he thinks his right arm might be somewhere at the other end of a black hole. Still, he wouldn’t give up his job for all the quasar rubies in the M-Tron Nebula...which just so happen to be the very next thing he’s planning to steal!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ahh, so much to respond to.

1) The LEGO Group has a major presence in the AFOL community. They are present at every major fan event (to the point that they had to downsize their booth to be able to keep up with them all). There is also the Ambassador project and, to a lesser extent, the MINDSTORMS User Panel. Both these groups are made up of fans representing different sectors of the hobby, and give 2 way communication between company and fan. The close fan-company connecction is one of the reasons I love this company.

2) Jack Stone was a good idea gone awry- TLG wanted to appeal to younger kids and went for POOPy designs (POOP=Pieces Out Of Other Parts). This, plus the specialized pieces, led to TLG's depression in '04- they were in the red and had to clean up how many lines- and elements- were out at a time.

now to gripe

TLG, while a private comany, is NOT immune to boneheaded corporate decisions. TWENTY percent of its product is now made in china- most notably the uber specific figs of their Disney and Lucasarts licensed lines. I work in a LBR store, and it was a point of pride when I started that a bare minimum of product was made 'there" (It was textiles and electronics).

Most depresing for me is how many kids want the sets ONLY for that one person- I've sold $50+ sets on the premise of figs alone- building seems to have been lost in the concept of what LEGO is- many parents (This infuriates me) BUILD THE SETS FOR THEIR KIDS- not toddlers but 6-9 year olds. But, when people are so willing to dole out $3-6 a fig, it makes business sense.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Minifig9292

(like, I doubt they would ever give them noses molded into the heads)

!BsQnTYQCWk~$(KGrHqEH-CkEvDfY+uemBL3Ny9E

I saw some fake legos in the dollar store, grey heads and little molded noses.

THE HORROR.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

My biggest complaint about TLG listening to customers is that they lied about discontinuing 90% of their licensed products and only keeping Star Wars. Back in 2005 we contacted the US division headquarters about this and they actually said that the LEGO Spiderman line was going to be the last licensed product line (at least they actually said something about instead of saying they couldn't give us that information like a certain Tabletop Wargaming company from Brittan [a small smudge on their otherwise stainless Customer Service record]).

Fast forward to 2011 and we have Toy Story 3, Cars 2, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and even a Harry Potter re-release (this again?!?!), not to mention a hit or miss lineup of Star Wars models. *Facepalm*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fast forward to 2011 and we have Toy Story 3, Cars 2, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and even a Harry Potter re-release (this again?!?!), not to mention a hit or miss lineup of Star Wars models. *Facepalm*

Business always lies. No-one was going to be surprised by this move; it's obviously due to the fact LEGO is losing the same creative touch that made it the kings of toys back some 10+ years ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fast forward to 2011 and we have Toy Story 3, Cars 2, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and even a Harry Potter re-release (this again?!?!), not to mention a hit or miss lineup of Star Wars models. *Facepalm*

Business always lies. No-one was going to be surprised by this move; it's obviously due to the fact LEGO is losing the same creative touch that made it the kings of toys back some 10+ years ago.

Now that I did some research, it turns out that TLG was in the middle of a large transition at the time we got in contact with them. If you go back ten years ago, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp didn't even exist in the public eye.

I blame Jørgen Vig Knudstorp for the severe change in business ethics. Kjeid shouldn't have stepped down as CEO, as Jørgen doesn't have the kind of business ethics to run a company that was successful because they didn't cut corners.

Back in 2004, The LEGO Group was 3rd place on my top ten list of ethical businesses, just below Scaled Composites/Virgin Group and above Games Workshop. Now it's down to 7th, right underneath Southwest Airlines and above Ubisoft, and barely holding on at that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I blame Jørgen Vig Knudstorp for the severe change in business ethics. Kjeid shouldn't have stepped down as CEO, as Jørgen doesn't have the kind of business ethics to run a company that was successful because they didn't cut corners.

The problem is that Jørgen Van Letsnotgiveusthesourcecode isn't a descendant of the founding father of LEGO; I dunno how he even got entered into the equation, but it's obvious from his radical new style of business sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hey guys fun fact: I didn't die.

But, has it occurred to anyone that they are taking all of this money from major movies, and they could be funneling it into more ambitious projects. I mean, who wouldn't want to see a lot of new, or even creatively rehashed sets? I think that even if they have tons of the licensed themes out now, in a few years, when the economy is doing better and not everybody is pining for as much money as possible just so they can stay alive, I think it will be a golden age for TLG. Just a thought.

Also, since Borders is closing down I went in to buy various books at a discount, and they had LEGO sets, but to my dismay, they were all licensed sets. Made me rage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey guys fun fact: I didn't die.

That's always a positive. Welcome back; I was missing your dolphin-riding abilities...

Also, since Borders is closing down I went in to buy various books at a discount, and they had LEGO sets, but to my dismay, they were all licensed sets. Made me rage.

Oh lol, your Borders is also closing down. However, it seems Dymocks is still open for business...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh lol, your Borders is also closing down. However, it seems Dymocks is still open for business...

What on earth is a Dymocks? But, the whole corporation of Borders is closing.

Now, where can I find cheap Legos near my college? Because my roommate and I both agree that we need more legos in our life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh lol, your Borders is also closing down. However, it seems Dymocks is still open for business...

What on earth is a Dymocks?

Rival bookstore which was 150% more popular in Australia.

And if you need more LEGOs, I'm sure Walmart would have some...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, but Walmart isn't going out of business, so all of their stuff is full price!

Ah, so when I go to your country, the goal will be to try and buy things not in Walmart...you could always try shop online. I'm sure there are some relatively good sets on the likes of eBay to be found.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Failing@Failing

When i was 8 LEGO was fun and all but alot of stuff.... I like the generic blocks and not all these antennae blocks and laser blocks. They barely have any uses. The blocks which will have the most purpose are the standard blocks and flat blocks. They are the bread and butter!!!! Now.... I find it hard to find these in big quantities. Also what makes it more hard is my lack of a credit card. Im only 13 QQ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.