dont stop making Jabbas

I totally agree and that is what is making me angry

Point 2 is exactly what Lego did not do in this case. Instead they started with "we will not stop production" went to "OK we will stop production then" and followed it with "Oh we were going to stop then anyway" All they had to say in that meeting was that toy was based on a fictional place with fictional characters and had no relevance to Islam whatsoever and so the complaint was unjustified."fantasy funkdome" Their problem next time this happens will be that "fantasy funkdome" has a planned production run of another 2 years (24 months) and they are going to be facing people telling them that they stopped Jabbas Palace within 12 months so they must stop "fantasy funkdome" within 12 months. That gives them a choice of revealing they misled people about stopping Jabbas Palace because of protests to "smooth feathers" or coming up with a reason why the complaint about "fantasy funkdome" is less serious than the one about Jabbas Palace. Neither option gives much hope of happy smooth outcome.

What about future releases that people do not have the right to be upset about? If the group had a right to be upset I would not be having this debate. What about the next set that should not offend anyone but that a group claims does? What happens when a group says "you stopped producing Jabbas palace now stop producing this" when there are not existing plans to stop? What are Lego supposed to say in response to that?

My concern is the future. By changing their statement they have given the protesting group the material to claim they have won. It looks like TLG changed what they were going to do in response to this groups pressure. Which encourages not only this group to apply more pressure but other groups to try their hand at pressure as well. I believe there is a real risk other toys will be stopped earlier than intended and that some may now not be made and I think that is unacceptable.

Probably because at the start Lego said they would not stop production. Then a couple of days ago they said they would stop production in early 2014. Then today they are saying they always intended to stop in 2014. My question is if they always intended to stop early 2014 why they did not say that in January. The statement " production is planned until early 2014 and we are not going to change that because of these protests " would have been far more effective than "we are not stopping" "we are stopping 2014" "we were always going to stop 2014"

And in 6 months time when this group and 2 others are campaigning to have other toys stopped - where has TLG got to go? They will have the choice between giving in again only with much worse consequences or a far far nastier court case. I know they are a toy company and have no political power but they have just handed power to these groups.

All they have done is put it off though - the next time this group gets offended - or another group - if Lego do not respond by stopping production within 12 months then they will get a lawsuit - and it will be much harder to defend because the group bringing the suit can show precedent, can show that Lego has ceased production in 12 months on a different occasion. The company has made itself far far more vulnerable to these groups because it appears to have given in once they will make sure it gives in again. How long before a new set just released with a planned 3 year production run has to be stopped after 11 months because someone is offended?

No it is not a smart move at all - because the next time a group gets offended at something and complains Lego will have to stop production of that within 12 months even if it was supposed to run for 2 years. If they dont stop production of it the message is this complaint is taken more seriouly than that one which will result in massively increased complaints to show the new complain is just as serious as that one. Or they can look up and say OK we lied to the people complaining the first time we were going to stop it anyway and just let them think we were doing it for them - and I am sure you can imagine the effect that will have. By handling it this way they are sending out the message that their decisions can be controlled by pressure from protesters - and that will simply result in more protesters wanting more control.

Amen to that brother

My apologies - I am out of order, keep forgeting which forum I am on. I would debate this further as there are points but do not want to cause problems so will withdraw. Just dont want you think I was blanking you.

I disagree that this issue is not worth protesting. Lets say TLC did agree to keep the the peace - well what happens with the next toy that causes someone offence? They have something to point to - you stopped that toy because it offended those people. What will TLCs answer be then? What if the planned stop is longer than 12 months away - how are they going to say "well yes we stopped that toy in 12 months and we will stop the one offending you but in 15 months" without making the problems 10 times worse as it immediately makes this toy more offensive than that toy and the groups set out to prove different. So they bring the stop forward to 12 months - which means they are forever more held hostage by any group that wants to feel offended. Which will of course be felt back at the design stage as planners are told to make sure their plans cannot offend anyone whatsoever - what do you think that will do for the quality of future Lego toys when the company is concentrating on non offending people more than pleasing people. For Toy read every single other litlte area of life. Yes there are other more serious issues - I confront them elsewhere as they are not lego related - I can be contacted for details. However every single serious issue started as something small and unimportant - its just this one little thing we are going to change its not important its pretty much what we would have done anyway we will just let them think we are doing it because they wanted it. So the they keep thinking they can have things their own way right up till the point their own way is different when they find they cant and then all hell breaks loose.

As far as I am concerned the problem is whether the date it will be discontinued has been affected by pressure from protesters. If that is the case - if they are stopping sooner than planned because of pressure then what does that mean for other sets? For the development of future sets?

I get what you are saying about the wider implications not being discussed here - I have a general forum if you are interested but its for people to contact me privately I will not advertise it. Sticking to the relevance of Lego itself my concern would be that if this group even start to think they have caused a change (and the fact that the stop date was not pushed in January and is now being presented as nothing to do with the pressure suggests unfortunately it is something to do with the pressure), if allowed to think they have caused a change once then they will do it again - and do it harder next time. Are you positive there is absolutely nothing else in the Lego range they could take offence to because I am not - and what starts with one set could next time see a whole range targetted. It could result in the designers and planners of future sets changing they way they work and what they produce - are you happy that the lego you get access to in future may be restricted at the design stage in case it upsets a certain group? Cant make a wild west set the cowboy figures will offend the indian sorry native american figures so on and so forth

I started off hoping it was a joke - then did some research and found it wasnt - then started the protest group. This cannot be allowed to pass uncommented. I get that as Lego is worldwide stopping selling it in just Muslim countries would not satisfy those being critical but ask yourself this from your neutral point of view - should a group that is not world wide ever be able to dictate what happens worldwide.

I have considered those factors but remain worried that the single factor of the Muslim community being offended is carrying too much weight. I am not saying they have not been offended however I do not consider that such a factor should be considered in the manufacture of this particular set. If the set was supposed to be something Islamic or Muslim or Geographic then OK their offence would be relevant but it is a set based on a fictional scenario on a fictional planet with fictional aliens. I mean there are things in Islam that offend me as they are different from the code I was raised with however I accept that I have no rights to criticize or change those things that occur in countries not my own. If the Muslim offence was that bad then I could see an argument for the sets being withdrawn from sale in Muslim countries but to stop production totally? Following on from that if the production is stopped because of Muslim offence then what next? Jabba the character appears in other places - are they to be withdrawn? The fictional worlds of Starwars present Jedi as the correct belief system so should the whole francise either be stopped or changed to have everyone good following Islam?