If I ran The Lego Group

http://mizibunktechnic.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/if-i-ran-lego-group-tlg.html

If I ran The Lego Group (TLG)

This is not about wild and outrageous ideas such as selling 5000 piece sets for $20 or anything like that but more about changes I would make if I ran The Lego Group, which would not cost much but would improve how I see the Lego hobby developing. Some of these ideas are related directly to my main area of interest (Lego Technic) while others are more general in nature.

What made me think about was on Boxing Day I was waiting outside my local Toy World store for it to open; I was the first person in the door and within a few minutes 3 other men aged in their early – mid twenties joined me in the Lego area of the store, it was clear that they were buying sets for themselves and not kids. While Lego is still designed as a kid’s toy, I think more and more adults are buying it for themselves and this is something that The Lego Group might want to consider.

My ideas are:
- Remove the age range on boxes: I have noticed some of the newer larger sets are just marked 16+, why not just mark all sets 8+ or 10+ as required and not list them as 8-16 or 10-16 like they are marked now.

- Place piece counts on the outside of the boxes: I know this happens already in some countries, why not do it for all countries.

- On the Lego website have a area where you can sign up as a member and list all the sets you own which would do piece counts, list all the pieces you own and allow you to download LDD files for all these sets which are created by The Lego Group and are 100% complete with all parts and stickers.
Maybe also have codes in each box, you can register these on your profile and after you buy sets worth so many points you get a bonus of some sort. Reward people for buying more sets.

- Have themes within the Technic range. In the 1980’s and early 1990’s they had a couple of themes including Rally which had a small 6 wheeler, a rally buggy and a rally truck. One year you could have a rescue theme which might include a small helicopter, a larger helicopter, a rescue boat and a rescue 4WD truck. The next year might be earth works which could be a front end loader, an excavator, a dump truck and a road grader.

- Advertise Lego at adults, those who have seen my 4x4 crawler or another large set are amazed how much Lego has changed. If more people see that Lego is a hobby that adults can enjoy it might increase the interest in this.

- Hold official Lego shows. These could include previews of new sets, classic sets and the best models from the MOC scene. Target these both at kids and adults; maybe have adult only sessions of a night time.

- Bring back some of the classic Technic sets like 8880 but built stud less.


What are some of your ideas and suggestion? Try and keep them practical

Some great Ideas there Paul I agree with all of them.

I am a big fan of the piece counts on the outside of the boxes not sure why they don't do it here for Australia its just baffling.
It would be nice for Lego to remove the "Age limit" & Lego to advertise to adults as well.

I believe the 'age range' is mrked on boxes to give you an idea of the skill level involved. Eg: A set marked 6 -12 is only a guide.

I'm sure the sets marked 16+ are intended for advanced builders and adult builders, why else would lego include so many elements in uncommon and hard-to-find colours?

I am certain that some sets, Creator and 16+ sets, including Ultimate Collector Star Wars sets actually have the piece count on the box.

And there is an Official Lego show each year, held in Skaerbaek, Denmark. http://www.fanweekend.dk/

Hi Paul,

I'm not trying to be negative but I've discovered by asking dumb questions of LEGO employees at shows that they've already considered a lot of the suggestions adult fans come up with. A common theme in their replies are that their primary focus is selling toys to kids. They'll consider other stuff but if it gets in the way of selling toys to kids it'll never happen. The LEGO group has a pretty good idea of how many adults fans are out there in the online community and probably reasonable estimates of the ones that are not active in clubs and online, but still buy for themselves. It's a tiny part of their market (about 5% last I heard), even though many adult fans buy more than the average child gets. The key part is there are just so many more kids into LEGO than adults.

Paul B wrote:http://mizibunktechnic.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/if-i-ran-lego-group-tlg.html

My ideas are:
- Remove the age range on boxes: I have noticed some of the newer larger sets are just marked 16+, why not just mark all sets 8+ or 10+ as required and not list them as 8-16 or 10-16 like they are marked now.

The upper age range is there as a sales tool. It's very frustrating for kids if the set they've been bought is too difficult, so not having the upper age would lead to bad experiences that would probably effect future sales.

Paul B wrote:
- Place piece counts on the outside of the boxes: I know this happens already in some countries, why not do it for all countries.

These are only on US region boxes because they are required by law. They wouldn't be there if LEGO had a choice. If adults want this info it's easy enough to get from Bricklink anyway.

Paul B wrote:
- On the Lego website have a area where you can sign up as a member and list all the sets you own which would do piece counts, list all the pieces you own and allow you to download LDD files for all these sets which are created by The Lego Group and are 100% complete with all parts and stickers.
Maybe also have codes in each box, you can register these on your profile and after you buy sets worth so many points you get a bonus of some sort. Reward people for buying more sets.

Most of this already exists in various places, Brickset has the list and I think piece counts. Eurobricks has the LDD files of a lot of sets (it's a work in progress). The VIP points system gets you free stuff if you buy your sets through LEGO stores (not much help in Oz) or their online shop).

While it might be good to have them all linked for fans I don't think it would be a great gain for LEGO so I can't see a reason they would want to do it (and potentially upset the fans that already do the parts that exist).

Paul B wrote:
- Have themes within the Technic range. In the 1980’s and early 1990’s they had a couple of themes including Rally which had a small 6 wheeler, a rally buggy and a rally truck. One year you could have a rescue theme which might include a small helicopter, a larger helicopter, a rescue boat and a rescue 4WD truck. The next year might be earth works which could be a front end loader, an excavator, a dump truck and a road grader.

I'm not really familiar with how Technic is sold (I'm more of a train fan) but I'd guess having a diverse range probably sells better than a common theme. Most things they've tried and walked away from in the past have happened for very good reasons from what I can tell.

Paul B wrote:
- Advertise Lego at adults, those who have seen my 4x4 crawler or another large set are amazed how much Lego has changed. If more people see that Lego is a hobby that adults can enjoy it might increase the interest in this.

They sort of do, in that the ranges like the modular houses and the exclusive trains and Cuusoo project are promoted to adults, just that they're selling to those who are already in the hobby. The best advertisement for other adults is seeing current adults doing their thing with LEGO at conventions and train shows. Actually putting on say TV adds for adults would probably not get them as many extra sales as making another add for kids, so they'd be silly to do it.

Paul B wrote:
- Hold official Lego shows. These could include previews of new sets, classic sets and the best models from the MOC scene. Target these both at kids and adults; maybe have adult only sessions of a night time.

They do in their bigger markets. They have one in Denmark (Skaerbeck) a couple of LEGO worlds in Zwolle (Holland) and one in Germany, and I think there may be an official one in the US (most conventions there have had good support for many years now). The LEGO community guys don't want to put on adult conventions though, since they believe adult fan conventions are better without the restrictions their involvement would require. They also don't want to compete where a fan convention does exist. Not only that but the number of conventions around the world is growing rapidly, and they can't afford to do what they've done in the past for the early ones for them all now. There are over 20 in the US now as an example. There are three relatively established displays/conventions in Oz (Melbourne, Canberra and Perth) and Sydney and Brisbane are not far behind, both have regularly been doing train shows for some years.

Paul B wrote:
- Bring back some of the classic Technic sets like 8880 but built stud less.

Reissued sets have had poor sales in the past, even for big selling themes like town and castle. They are likely to sell more on a completely new model so that's what they make.

Interesting post though and I'm looking forward to what others have to say.