Is LEGO dying?

[tuskel]

When I was a lad we had to complain through twenty-eight inches of snow uphill both ways, and we didn't have none of them fancy Twitters and autocorrects these kids have today! We had to be extra-careful to make sure our complaints were spelled properly and we had to mail 'em through the post office like all other correspondence!

:laugh:

Luxury. We used to have to get out of the lake at six o'clock in the morning, clean the lake, eat a handful of hot gravel, work twenty hour day at mill for tuppence a month, come home, and Dad would thrash us to sleep with a broken bottle, if we were lucky!

And you try and tell the young people of today that ..... they won't believe you!

Seriously, though, I loved the Lego Movie. I mean, we had gotten into Lego before that, but I believe it did Lego a world of good and that is why it's the biggest toy company in the world now. I agree with a lot of points here, like the thing about "new people" (read small children) are coming into it every year, they will need the sets repeated, because they'll never have had any before, and loving your cartoon/film/game heroes in Lego. I, personally love Harry Potter, and I am overjoyed there are Lego Harry Potter sets and even games. So cool! Also, it's so funny to think of the famous actors whenever I play the games. Lego Sean Connery! Lego Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom - both in two different series! And Lego Alan Rickman - many a girl's dream, though not particularly mine...

So in one word, no.

tuskel,

sincerely

[ImSpanky]

no, LEGO is not dying, I have just finished reading a GREAT book call Brick By Brick, and it shows that LEGO is not dying or going to die in the future.

[alanyuppie]

no, LEGO is not dying, I have just finished reading a GREAT book call Brick By Brick, and it shows that LEGO is not dying or going to die in the future.

I seldom read books but when I saw Brick By Brick on the shelf , I instinctively picked it up with no hesitation at all. Yep its an excellent read and I'm more inspired to become a proud AFOL than ever before.

[Master_Data]

no, LEGO is not dying, I have just finished reading a GREAT book call Brick By Brick, and it shows that LEGO is not dying or going to die in the future.

He even said that LEGO was on par to compete with Disney! LEGO is far from dying!

[Kelso]

From my point of view Lego seems to be getting more popular, even though some sets can be a little overpriced from time to time.

[Breakdown]

no, LEGO is not dying, I have just finished reading a GREAT book call Brick By Brick, and it shows that LEGO is not dying or going to die in the future.

Unless the book was called: "The rise and fall of lego" I'm not sure why a book that has anything to do with Lego, pride in Lego or anything else like that would really point to a doom & gloom future for lego, or brick/build toys in general.

Taking my Lego-coloured glasses off, here's what I see in terms of diversity for lego (approximate dates as I'm not great on the whole history of lego):

1960s-current: Build crap with lego - kids.

1985 - Current: Build actuating, moving and complex things (Technic) - Older kids.

1991-current: Collect & display - all ages Star Wars, etc.

2000s - current: Video games involving lego - Yes, this is no longer Lego and I'm aware that this was a money losing venture when it directly involved the company but exposure in differing medias is always good.

2005 - current: Challenging adult sets

2010 - current: Serious RC people, you can now run around a car/truck that's actually competent with some of the RC ones.

2014 - current: Lego movie - just EXPOSURE!! Even the Simpsons Lego episode.

[Boxerlego]

Not to be negative but the thread title kinda of a misnomer. Instead of reading "Is LEGO dying?" the thread should be named "Is LEGO getting expensive?"

no, LEGO is not dying, I have just finished reading a GREAT book call Brick By Brick, and it shows that LEGO is not dying or going to die in the future.

Hi! Welcome to eurobricks ImSpanky. I never heard of that book berofe, Brick By Brick sounds like a interesting read. What is it mostly about dealing with LEGO?

Edited February 24, 2015 by Boxerlego

[Inzane]

1991-current: Collect & display - all ages Star Wars, etc.

The Star Wars theme didn't exist until 1999, and the first UCS sets didn't appear until 2000. Even non-SW sets that I'd consider "displayable" such as Statue of Liberty, Sopwith Camel, etc. also didn't appear until 2000 or later.

I wouldn't really call anything in the 1991 lineup particularly displayable any more than any other year around then. (Unless I'm missing something really special from that year).

[Kodan Black]

The new Star Wars films could totally suck and Disney could fold.

The new SW movie and merchandise will make Disney billions, and if it is a good movie it could make more. By the time the last of the sequel trilogy films is in theaters Disney will have easily made back the 6 billion purchase price.

Part of the repetition in some of the SW stuff is the limited source pool. Sticking to the movie canon stuff means either producing the same items over and over or starting to produce lesser known things that are way more risky. Produce a new X-wing = guaranteed sales. Produce a model of a speeder seen for half a second in the background of 1 shot in a single movie and you have no idea if people will buy it.

I too am not a fan of the "big piece fix" that a lot of the sets seem to use. I get that they work a balance between building quick for kids and interesting build for adults. I suspect they err on the big piece fix because they know AFOLs will modify the set anyway so they may as well appeal to kids.

[wilson3a10]

Absolutely not i think.

[cgarison]

My exact words when I was chatting with a Lego Store employee last week, "Is Lego going out of business? I have not seen this many blank spots on the store selves outside of the Christmas season, ever."

(The following is from an American point of view so please don't flame if I am totally wrong.)

I don't think that Lego is dying, but I am certainly noticing less inventory being produced and less product in the US stores (including many retail outlets as well as Lego Retail stores.) I think this is as a result of the issues in the European economy and Lego taking a "defensive" position so they are not caught with a ton of product in their warehouses if things across the pond (and America a few months later) take a turn for the worse. I know here in America, the decrease in oil prices has been a double edged sword and put some extra money in the pocket of consumers, but many people are laid off because it is no longer financially viable to continue exploring for oil in parts of the US. So the extra few bucks not going into the gas tanks could also contribute to the reduced inventory, but I do not think there is that much extra money the pockets of Americans.

[Breakdown]

There was actually an article that Lego in Canada was unable to keep up with Christmas demand because of spikes caused by the Movie. I would hope that this was just seen everywhere, but I'm noticing similar around here. I'm not concerned as Hot Wheels looks similar. Very empty shelves, same as Transformers. It's something that will balance itself out.

[Faefrost]

My exact words when I was chatting with a Lego Store employee last week, "Is Lego going out of business? I have not seen this many blank spots on the store selves outside of the Christmas season, ever."

(The following is from an American point of view so please don't flame if I am totally wrong.)

I don't think that Lego is dying, but I am certainly noticing less inventory being produced and less product in the US stores (including many retail outlets as well as Lego Retail stores.) I think this is as a result of the issues in the European economy and Lego taking a "defensive" position so they are not caught with a ton of product in their warehouses if things across the pond (and America a few months later) take a turn for the worse. I know here in America, the decrease in oil prices has been a double edged sword and put some extra money in the pocket of consumers, but many people are laid off because it is no longer financially viable to continue exploring for oil in parts of the US. So the extra few bucks not going into the gas tanks could also contribute to the reduced inventory, but I do not think there is that much extra money the pockets of Americans.

The problem in the US is not a lowering of production. Lego is actually increasing their product releases. The problem is Lego uses a fairly efficient "just in time" logistics model that largely seeks to minimize excessive warehousing and stockpiling of product. The product should be entering the stores at about the same rate as it is leaving. With frequent small sized re stocks. But right now product is leaving faster than it is coming in. The Lego Movie created not just demand for TLM sets, but a broader increase accross the boards. The as needed or just in time logistics can be at least temporarily overwhelmed by a smaller unexpected demand. A 5%. - 10% increase will look like a 20% jump in the old days. Couple this with some current logistics problems on the US West Coast ports delaying some sets and components and you might see an unintended temporary reduction in some visible store stocks. The first part of this is what is known as a good problem to have, as sales are exceeding expected growth rates. The second part is totally out of their control and hits up and down the North American economy.

Edited February 24, 2015 by Faefrost

[ImSpanky]

thanks Boxerlego, it is about LEGOs fall and rise in the toy industry

Edited February 25, 2015 by ImSpanky

[baconbh8]

Spanky, I've just got the brick by brick book and it's a really good one if you`re interested in a more detailed view of what happened with LEGO over the years, it shows you what went wrong over the years and how they've fixed it. And yes do tell us about the duck again...

[john529]

My granddaughter got my old logo set out and she has not left it alone

thus got me into it again but with technic logo

[ummester]

The new SW movie and merchandise will make Disney billions, and if it is a good movie it could make more. By the time the last of the sequel trilogy films is in theaters Disney will have easily made back the 6 billion purchase price.

Part of the repetition in some of the SW stuff is the limited source pool. Sticking to the movie canon stuff means either producing the same items over and over or starting to produce lesser known things that are way more risky. Produce a new X-wing = guaranteed sales. Produce a model of a speeder seen for half a second in the background of 1 shot in a single movie and you have no idea if people will buy it.

You're probably right, Disney will probably make it's money back and then some - I did think Lucas got 4.2 billion for Lucasfilm, not 6?

I like Star Wars (well, the classic stuff anyways) both the LEGO and how the created mythology has entrenched itself in the modern social fabric. Yet, I do wonder when people are going to get bored of it. It's like those super hero films. There has to be a saturation point where people just go, ok, we've seen enough of the same thing now, it just can't hold our interest any longer. Then again, perhaps people are bigger suckers for repetition than I suppose?

And I'm not talking about a new character or spaceship design as being something that can break the repetition - I'm talking about the created universe itself becoming boring (whatever you do within it) because it is just too common and shoved down everyone's throats - I'm sure there will come a point in time where the greater majority gets sick of Star Wars as a concept.

[Hauntedwebby]

I've noticed a lot of people on youtube who do reviews of Lego Sets often complain that the new sets are not really very special and maybe even overpriced. Personally, I completely agree with them! What do you think?

The company almost died once, but brought in new talent and are stronger than ever. This year Lego was named the Top Powerful Global Brand by Forbes Magazine. Since I work for Disney Corp, it is something we talk about because of the merchandise agreement between the two companies. I do think that The Lego Movie helped with this years ranking, but they have been doing some innovated company restructure and global marketing since Jorgen Vig Knudstorp took over (sorry for mis-spelling his name, I don't have an o with a slash mapped on my keyboard).

As for cost, Lego toys have always been expensive compared to the few competitors that have come/gone and are still around. As a collectible, they hold value. Sure the new sets are very expensive, case in point, the new S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. Oh my!! $350US (roughly $0.12 per piece)? BUT It is a collectible display piece, not really a toy. It's big, and interesting but not really sturdy enough for play.If you read Wired Magazine (www.wired.com/2014/08/lego-cost/) they did a cost analyst of Lego last year and on average they cost $0.10US per piece, so the Helicarrier is not that much out of line. I do not think the quality of the product has reduced in any way, and more adults seem to be enjoying the product. I think, from personal experience, that an adult will buy more Legos for themselves then for their kids. For kids, Lego is a toy. For adults, Lego is an intellectual, creative design tool.

Cheers

Webby

[Hauntedwebby]

You're probably right, Disney will probably make it's money back and then some - I did think Lucas got 4.2 billion for Lucasfilm, not 6?

You're close :) it was 4 Billion US. The same cost when Disney bought Marvel. Mr. Lucas is still part of the brand and movies but he had to pay for his divorce somehow. :P

Cheers :D

Webby

[El Garfio]

There are a lot of "refritos" (old sets with "new face") of course.

Overpriced maybe yes, maybe not. At least in Spain, we are suffering a huge economical crisis. That means that regular toy stores (also in the one there is a LEGO set of it) fill their shelves with asian bulding bricks products for offering medium/big boxes at the €10-20 aisle.

Also Mega offer white brand sets to some supermarket chains.

In addition, some toy manufacturers like Hasbro, Technitoys (SCX) and Famosa (a well know Spanish manufacturer) launch a building bricks line. All of them has to made some price reduction and finally clearance because they fail.

Why they fail? First because the LEGO position on the market is very strong, and second because LEGO decrease/mantain their prices in the early years of crisis.

In the last 2/3 LEGO turns to their regular prices. And that means a sensation of rising and overpricing (also if usual prices at toystores are 10% up to the Germany price list). But the clue is to be patient and wait for offers, sales and promotions.

Some sets like Friends Mall or City Police Station cost over €100 euro in September, but you can get it for €70 at Xmas session and if you wait more you can obtain a 30-40% off in puntual days.

The other brands/manufacturers are:

Mega bloks mainly, but the ratio cent per piece are higher than LEGO and in some lines like Barbie the ratio is obscene.

Wange with some of their world famous buildings like London Tower, Pisa Tower, Petronas,... arround €50 and of course for adult builders.

Aussini with some assorted sets for girls, city and trains but IMHO poor quality and not as cheaper as they seem.

Primark some ministeck sets but in 2013 had launches very great sets (average quality pieces and a bargain when you calculate the price per piece ratio) but last ones for the last Xmas were very poor in quality and number of pieces.

[LegoMavrick]

_{Having played with Lego since I was about 3 years old I have seen Lego change in ways I never thought possible. What Lego creates nowadays in terms of the type of bricks and parts that are available is just staggering.. Having looked at several documentaries on Lego factories, what goes into some of the design moulds etc, this is no cheap and nasty Chinese rubbish knock off product. Lego has never been cheap and from an engineering point of view is hardly ever going to be cheap. I hesitate to use the word expensive because I look at this whole thing of price as being relative. A quick example. I have just started Lego Trains. Starter box set from Lego £139 for the Cargo Train set. What do you get? Full motorised loco complete with decoder receiver, rolling stock track with two points plus the crane gantry vehicles etc. Now compare that to traditional DCC model train setup. Ive spent a huge amount of time on this so lets take N Gauge scale as the most affordable. The most effective good quality DCC controller I could find was the Digitrax Zypher rocking in at £156. A good quality Kato N Guage Loco similar to the Lego one between £69 and £89 and thats just the loco. The DCC decoder is an extra £25 to £30 some of which need specialist fitting setting you back a further £20. Now Im going to stop there as I think you guys cansee where Im going. Ok the Lego controller cannot control 99 loco or have 9999 addresses. Frankly 8 functions is more then enough for me. I dont have to fiddle with extensive electrical wiring for the rails with the Lego system etc..}

_{A different point of view and perhaps an unfair comparrison. For me I dont see it that way so no i dont see Lego as being over the top expensive and certainly do not see it dying out.}

Edited March 20, 2015 by LegoMavrick

[Itaria No Shintaku]

Lol... LEGO going to die... lol...

[Navy Trooper Fenson]

I've noticed a lot of people on youtube who do reviews of Lego Sets often complain that the new sets are not really very special and maybe even overpriced. Personally, I completely agree with them! What do you think?

The company is getting bigger appeal due to the movie and countless licenses. It is growing when you look strictly at the numbers but some aspects are falling.

- More and more pieces are made in China with more details but at the cost of quality

- Less effort is put into parts engineering, faults will be glossed over instead of improved (The Super Jumper, old Lego would have recalled the part by now but you bet they will just send out some more legs on request and call it a day)

- The Lego resell market will collapse similar to the comic market, MISB Modular houses from 2009/10 should be double the price by now but still linger at just over 200€ even though they are out of production for over a year, Star Wars figures start to set in at prices below 10€ a piece due to the large influx of exclusive and extremely obscure figures

Not everything of this is bad per se but this could start a downward spiral. What am I saying, the Super Jumper is clearly the beginning. With the reputation as the biggest brand on a whole and toy company they will be tempted to just rest at the top of the mountain, it´s the same that happened to Mattel and Hasbro who now produce stuff that is on the same quality/complexity level as stuff from the goddamn 45 years ago.

[legoman19892]

The company is getting bigger appeal due to the movie and countless licenses. It is growing when you look strictly at the numbers but some aspects are falling.

- More and more pieces are made in China with more details but at the cost of quality

- Less effort is put into parts engineering, faults will be glossed over instead of improved (The Super Jumper, old Lego would have recalled the part by now but you bet they will just send out some more legs on request and call it a day)

- The Lego resell market will collapse similar to the comic market, MISB Modular houses from 2009/10 should be double the price by now but still linger at just over 200€ even though they are out of production for over a year, Star Wars figures start to set in at prices below 10€ a piece due to the large influx of exclusive and extremely obscure figures

Not everything of this is bad per se but this could start a downward spiral. What am I saying, the Super Jumper is clearly the beginning. With the reputation as the biggest brand on a whole and toy company they will be tempted to just rest at the top of the mountain, it´s the same that happened to Mattel and Hasbro who now produce stuff that is on the same quality/complexity level as stuff from the goddamn 45 years ago.

For most people the LEGO reselling bubble burst is good news.

[zmasterbrick]

Regarding if Lego is dying, I think it is inevitable. They have come to rely so heavily on the Star Wars line, that the classic building style that got them where they are today (i.e. Classic Space) is fading into the sunset. I also fear the new 3D printer will drive the final nail in the coffin of brick by brick design. I mean, the younger generation will not be able to resist the appeal of simply designing and printing their favorite space ship or car or building, or fig for that matter, and honestly, who could blame them?