lego and military sets

[kermit]

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/lego-military-sets-intl-hnk-dst/index.html

 

this is an excerpt from the article in the link

This is a story about a multibillion-dollar international conglomerate, arms manufacturers, a German peace group and renegades who make miniaturized weapons systems out of small shops.

Not that those tiny weapons could actually hurt anyone. Well, not unless you stepped on one.

The conglomerate is LEGO, with worldwide revenues of $6.2 billion in 2019 from its toys, retail stores, theme parks and even movie rights. Its toy sets -- which are intended to "inspire the builders of tomorrow," according to the company's mission statement -- run the gamut, from skyscrapers to boats, police stations to castles. There's even a kit to make Rome's famous Colosseum. Nothing from the real world, it seems, is off limits. That is, except for anything modeled on today's military.

 

"We have a long-standing policy of not creating sets which feature real military vehicles that are currently in use," Ryan Greenwood, a spokesman for the company, said in an email to CNN.

But during the summer, the Danish company released a set for the V-22 Osprey, a tiltrotor aircraft manufactured by Boeing and Bell Helicopter Textron that is only used by the American and Japanese militaries.

 

 

[MAB]

14 hours ago, kermit said:

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/lego-military-sets-intl-hnk-dst/index.html

 

this is an excerpt from the article in the link

This is a story about a multibillion-dollar international conglomerate, arms manufacturers, a German peace group and renegades who make miniaturized weapons systems out of small shops.

Not that those tiny weapons could actually hurt anyone. Well, not unless you stepped on one.

The conglomerate is LEGO, with worldwide revenues of $6.2 billion in 2019 from its toys, retail stores, theme parks and even movie rights. Its toy sets -- which are intended to "inspire the builders of tomorrow," according to the company's mission statement -- run the gamut, from skyscrapers to boats, police stations to castles. There's even a kit to make Rome's famous Colosseum. Nothing from the real world, it seems, is off limits. That is, except for anything modeled on today's military.

 

"We have a long-standing policy of not creating sets which feature real military vehicles that are currently in use," Ryan Greenwood, a spokesman for the company, said in an email to CNN.

But during the summer, the Danish company released a set for the V-22 Osprey, a tiltrotor aircraft manufactured by Boeing and Bell Helicopter Textron that is only used by the American and Japanese militaries.

 

 

What is the point you are trying to make, especially with the early cutting of the article suggesting the V-22 was widely released without indicating that it was pulled very quickly?

A later paragraph is "LEGO quickly pulled the motorized aircraft model from its inventory in late July. The few sets that had already hit store shelves made their way into the hands LEGO enthusiasts and onto internet trading sites at prices as high as $1,000 for a set that would've retailed at around $120." and "Greenwood, the company spokesperson, refused to comment further on why LEGO changed its mind on the Osprey model or why it was produced in the first place."

Before concentrating on lots of MOCs where people build their own military displays.

 

 

[Peppermint_M]

Yea, I don't get it. Apart from the bit where they try and conflate clearly fantasy combat with real world military action. 

Star Wars is not a modern offensive. The conflict depicted is not the same as any sort of contemporary action or even those from modern history. Sure, there may be parallels but there are big differences to take into account also.

[kermit]

18 hours ago, MAB said:

What is the point you are trying to make, especially with the early cutting of the article suggesting the V-22 was widely released without indicating that it was pulled very quickly?

A later paragraph is "LEGO quickly pulled the motorized aircraft model from its inventory in late July. The few sets that had already hit store shelves made their way into the hands LEGO enthusiasts and onto internet trading sites at prices as high as $1,000 for a set that would've retailed at around $120." and "Greenwood, the company spokesperson, refused to comment further on why LEGO changed its mind on the Osprey model or why it was produced in the first place."

Before concentrating on lots of MOCs where people build their own military displays.

 

 

Why so angry I came across an article that is lego related and decided to share it i dont understand how it can offend anyone.

Edited December 15, 2020 by kermit

[icm]

The problem is mostly that the cancellation of set 42113 was heavily debated in this forum this summer and nobody wants to revisit the topic at the moment.  You might try searching for the existing topics on 42113 and reading them in full.

[MAB]

4 hours ago, kermit said:

Why so angry I came across an article that is lego related and decided to share it i dont understand how it can offend anyone.

I'm neither angry nor offended. I was just asking what point you were trying to make by posting part of an article. If you came across the article, why not just link to it if you feel people should read it. You could have even put it into a thread where the Osprey was already discussed.

But you linked to it, then extracted part of the article, choosing to stop the extract at a point to indicate that LEGO had released the Osprey set, without indicating that they quickly pulled it in the few locations where it was released. So it appears as clickbait. Either put just a link, or post the whole thing.

 

Edited December 15, 2020 by MAB

[Ralph_S]

I was one of the people contacted by CNN for this article and I exchanged several emails with the writer. The bit of the article that was quoted was a bit unfortunate, but I think the writer did a nice job. It's about much more than the Osprey set or about how LEGO making Star Wars sets might be at odds with their official policy. If I had to summarize it, it's about how LEGO itself has a policy against military models, but there's a worldwide community of LEGO military builders, as well as a few companies who sell military models. In a way, they're using LEGO what it's intended for: to make their own things. I am quite excited to have played a small part in this hobby being put in the spotlight like this by a major news organisation.