Increasingly losing patience with Lego

[emm]

One thing to remember as well is SKU count. When Lego nearly went bust they had hundreds of unique special pieces. To save the business they cut hundreds of these unique SKUs. The golden age of trains was the prime example. Departments creating amazing products with no thought to streamlining and costs sky rocketed.

Working in the supply chain myself you have to weight up the cost of the, line time, storage, moulds, rates and margins.

Simple fact is lego cut a-lot of skus from there line to streamline the business and get the cost of the entire operation down.

Having personally done SKU streamlining myself a number of times you have to make choices. Lego Trains do not hold the market share in the same way the other kits do. Trains are not as cool as they used to be. So they get cut. It is simple economics. 

Add to that a Train Purchase is out of the reach of most Children outside of a Birthday / Christmas (this excludes AFOL who buy stuff all year). If you look at what Children buy with pocket money it is in the 10-15 mark not the £89.99 to £179.99 mark - there are always exceptions.

Do you keep a niche happy or do you keep the core happy. Core will always win, it keeps the lights on. Lego’s main sales come from a lower end range and AFOL esp within Trains are not profitable past a certain point.

Now the crocodile was marketing genius. Lego make a set knowing they will sell it because Lego Train Fans are desperate for it. Plus Lego has a cult following where any other brick is rubbish. So another manufacture could come up with a far superior product and would never get the same market share - for the moment. So at the moment Lego are in a Win Win. Hell i remember when Lego realised it people in the UK could not get it. Lego out of stock. John Lewis had plenty of stock, i bought mine from John Lewis when Lego where OOS but others refused. This plays into Legos marketing as they can drip feed and always win. Very very clever marketing.

There was a post about lego making bigger train wheels. This is unlikely to ever happen. Not because the market does not exist, it is because the market is not big enough to warrant the costs involved within both the manufacturing and supply chains and there is a 3rd party solution.

Lego will be watching all 3rd party sales and I can guarantee they will be pulling sales data. If it starts impacting they will act. Until then it supports their markets.

To give an example i guarantee lego has the moulds to re make Monorail. But the manufacturing and supply chain costs of re-starting the production coupled with projected sales will never return the cost of restarting.

Lego might have physically replaced the machine that handles that mould. So now it would be a OPPS parts.

This is my view and i could be / most likely am wrong but Lego is a business and the fact remains Trains are a niche that they will never fully support again. With the rise in 3rd Party 3D printed options, Lego get the sale of the main train without having to worry about the infrastructure.  

Edited March 12, 2021 by emm

[Duq]

I remember Lego's stories about the number of designs and colours, and cutting back on those. Looking at the past few years they seem to be doing the same thing again, lots of weird single use parts and I've lost count of the number of shades of blue in production....

I'm lucky enough to have visited Billund and have spoken with various people there. They have tried selling single engines and cars (last time was 2002/ 2005 with the Santa Fe + passenger cars and then BNSF + TTX) and the figures just don't add up. A Lego train is mostly a Christmas gift according to their market research and few kids would get more than a passenger train and a freight train. Selling a separate train car would take up a slot of a fire engine or police car of which they'd sell many more.

They'll probably keep doing 2 trains every 4 years and the occasional theme train, and if we're lucky some Creator Expert trains every few years, but not expecting much more. Sadly.

[Black Knight]

Sorry to bring you this news: TLG was never your friend. They are -- as all companies must -- there to make money. And TLG's analysis of the train market obviously came to conclusion that the money they can make elsewhere is more. TLG is the world's mindboggingly largest toy company by revenue. Dude. Our interest is just not profitable enough for TLG.

We can be very happy for smaller companies to be happy with a little lower profit margin, from the tiny BigBenBricks, Bricktracks, Trixbrix, FXTracks up to the larger Bluebrixx and the chinese companies, from Mould King to KAZI (and all those I forgot). At least I am very glad to have all those, because -- out of a mixture of sentimental childhood memories and the possibility to play with my own kids now -- I am very fond of my L-gauge trains.

I am not bitter at TLG. I understand that I just don't bring enough money to the table for them to care about my needs. But I also don't hesitate to buy from any of the aforementioned companies. You should do the same. TLG is after all just a company. Better stop having feelings for any company after all.

If you want to support our hobby, buy the stuff that you like and that is on the table now. If you ignore their competition, you just encourage TLG in their assumption that there is no market for L-gauge trains.

[zephyr1934]

On 3/12/2021 at 2:50 AM, *thomas* said:

In the early 2000s they indeed had the idea to launch two lines: one aimed at kids with RC trainsets and one with 9V aimed at AFOLS. If the internet would've been a bigger thing back than or if there would have been more stores offering the santa fe, BNSF etc, I'm almost certain they would've stuck with the idea. But I for instance was 12 at that time and my parents bought LEGO sets at the local toy shop. I would've adored owning the santa fe etc and if available at a 'normal' shop, I would've gotten it. 

It was a great time to be a buyer...

 

On 3/12/2021 at 5:26 AM, emm said:

One thing to remember as well is SKU count. When Lego nearly went bust they had hundreds of unique special pieces. To save the business they cut hundreds of these unique SKUs. The golden age of trains was the prime example. Departments creating amazing products with no thought to streamlining and costs sky rocketed.

Exactly that (the entire post), I was on the Ambassadors group when they were streamlining. When asked all they would talk about is keeping the SKU's down.

 

On 3/12/2021 at 7:25 AM, Duq said:

I'm lucky enough to have visited Billund and have spoken with various people there. They have tried selling single engines and cars (last time was 2002/ 2005 with the Santa Fe + passenger cars and then BNSF + TTX) and the figures just don't add up. A Lego train is mostly a Christmas gift according to their market research and few kids would get more than a passenger train and a freight train. Selling a separate train car would take up a slot of a fire engine or police car of which they'd sell many more.

... and that

[Tube Map Central]

On 3/9/2021 at 3:37 PM, zephyr1934 said:

Indeed, the color availability is quite the challenge, but I like working around the limited pallet of various colors (e.g., before there were dark green 1x1's I'd use 1x6's across the inside when needed). But that is unavoidable- take the number of parts multiplied by the number of colors and you get some huge number.

It's not just a challenge, it's utterly crippling. I would love to make my tube train in a different colour. Dark green and tan would look fantastic, bright light blue and tan would look very elegant. I just about managed dark red and tan, but I think that's it, all the other good colours are just impossible. Sure individual problems can have compromises and workarounds, but I'm stuck even getting started because most colours are just useless. Below is my list of critical parts to make a Tube train motor coach. I don't consider these to be too esoteric, clips and headlights mainly, but no, it is almost impossible to do this even if I this even if I compromise on the window frames.

18980  Plate, Round Corner 2 x 6 Double

For a 2x7 round-top door (one of pair)

 

27507 Tile, Round Corner 4 x 4 Macaroni Wide

To smooth above door

 

2453b Brick 1 x 1 x 5 - Solid Stud

For corner posts, 1x1x1s lack strength, and look awful

 

4970 Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Headlight

For fixing various things to the front, there are alternatives with studs on sides, but the destination tiles should be recessed, otherwise they don't look good

 

4085d Plate, Modified 1 x 1 with Open O Clip (Vertical Grip)

To attach handrails next to door, I have tried other fixings such as 35480 1x2 plate with rounded edges, and it doesn't look good. There are other ways to get this sort of clip, but I've noticed that parts tend to be correlated. E.g. some colours have plentiful SNOT parts, but no clip parts and vice-versa

 

61252 Plate, Modified 1 x 1 with Open O Clip (Horizontal Grip)

For front lamp holder. The 1x2 version would work, but there is the correlated part problem. The 2x1 version (and other 2x1 alternatives) won't fit

 

60592 Window 1 x 2 x 2 Flat Front

I could use transparent panels, but they would look too modern, this unit is from 1905

 

60593 Window 1 x 2 x 3 Flat Front

Ditto above, considering that Lego is often used to create building sets, their range of windows is useless

 

34103 Plate, Modified 1 x 3 with 2 Studs (Double Jumper)

For seats inside, the easiest way for minifigures to stay in place and line them up with the 3x3 windows

 

 

 

Edited March 15, 2021 by Tube Map Central
Non critical part removed

[zephyr1934]

17 hours ago, Tube Map Central said:

It's not just a challenge, it's utterly crippling. I would love to make my tube train in a different colour.

Agreed, I didn't say it was always possible and even when it is at times it can take months to years to figure out solutions using the existing palette. You definitely cannot simply rebuild a model in a different color. And your challenge is greater than mine. I generally do not detail the inside, so that gives me space to build hidden assemblies to get around some of the aforementioned challenges.

[Tube Map Central]

4 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

Agreed, I didn't say it was always possible and even when it is at times it can take months to years to figure out solutions using the existing palette. You definitely cannot simply rebuild a model in a different color. And your challenge is greater than mine. I generally do not detail the inside, so that gives me space to build hidden assemblies to get around some of the aforementioned challenges.

I think that is one of the nice things about the Train Tech forum, we are aiming for different things, but we all can appreciate what other people are trying to achieve, it is a good melting pot.

It does really hurt my ... outlook on life ... when I see that some colours have every clip imaginable but no headlights, and others have an abundance of SNOT bricks, and no clips whatsoever, how did we get this way?

Deep down, I feel that Lego is too focused on sets, and not focused enough on systems (one day, a long post on curved bricks/plates/tiles/fences and another on arches will discuss this in detail). At the very least, for MOCers who, after all, show the world just how impressive Lego can be, there should be some sort of core colours/core parts availability. At the moment, the only colours that function vaguely like that are tan, black, white, reddish brown, and blayx2, hardly a palette to set the world on fire.

 

And plain red, possibly plain blue and yellow, but not plain green or orange

Edited March 16, 2021 by Tube Map Central
Omission

[Djmojo]

just listed my 35 train sets for sale to fund a Ho scale system, sadly i am a little to "true" to the lego brand to buy a bunch of speciality parts and lego produces to little, will keep my supercief as a memorabilia tough 😁😁

[Toastie]

49 minutes ago, Djmojo said:

Just listed my 35 train sets for sale to fund a Ho scale system, sadly i am a little to "true" to the lego brand to buy a bunch of speciality parts and lego produces to little

Fair enough! Good luck on entering a new world! And: Very wise to keep the SuperChief!!!

Plus: I may be wrong, but can't you use as much "Chinese"/"clone"/"Mega Blocks H0" stuff as you want within the H0 system(s) - without having to be "true" to one brand, because they don't have that type of religion over there? Is that so? Is the H0 world in the truly free world=market or do you have to play the chords of brand chimes of THE TRUE H0 SYSTEM provider? As we apparently have to in the LEGO SYSTEM?

No wait, wrong, we can do that in the LEGO SYSTEM as well, when we decide to do that. But ... we should feel a little - or more ... bad about it. Or even a little more than more.

But we should not talk about it - I mean here!

No wait: Also not true - there is an extra forum to do that

So what ... Just have fun and enjoy freestyle!!!

All the best
Thorsten

 

 

[NaotoYoshiiee]

Personally, I am not that disappointed with lego trains because I know that the reason why they are inexpensive, is that they really do not have the quality that can rival that of model trains. I mean, those are really different. I  have a few lego trains at home and I like them. I just put them on display once I finish it because I am too scared that someone may touch it and have the pieces fall out.  Well, the only thing that I only don't like about it is the colour. I don't want to dye it anymore. 

[Tube Map Central]

Wouldn't Märklin have been the equivalent of religion in the HO trains world?

[Toastie]

6 minutes ago, Tube Map Central said:

Märklin

That is what I was asking: I simply don't know ... There are other manufacturers - (Fleischmann, Roco, ... and then all others around the world ... just google "H0 manufacturers" ...

Best
Thorsten

[Pendra37]

16 hours ago, Toastie said:

can't you use as much "Chinese"/"clone"/"Mega Blocks H0" stuff as you want within the H0 system(s)

What do you mean by Mega Block H0 stuff? I'm not aware of that.

As for "H0 Märklin religion", I don't know about that. Marklin is an oddity that lacks compatibility on many levels. If you start with Marklin, you kinda stick to it. Down the line it is way more expensive to switch to something more usual.    

Edited March 17, 2021 by Pendra37

[dr_spock]

Marklin has a HO block train set that you can use your building blocks with.

[Toastie]

56 minutes ago, Pendra37 said:

What do you mean by Mega Block H0 stuff?

When you write certain "clone" brand names, i.e., Chinese manufacturers of LEGO compatible building blocks, or the equivalent of merde in English, The Big Brother of the Forum changes that to Mega Blocks. So I was referring to the weird situation we have in the LEGO world: When using a third party piece - worst thing: one of a Chinese clone brand - then this is generally perceived here as ... questionable.

Now in the H0 world there are as many Chinese, American, European and companies on all other continents as well - maybe except for Antarctica, but who knows what they do in their research cubicles during winter time there - brands. I bet some are regarded as good, bad, and worse. I don't see anything even close to naming something "clone". It is there or not. That is my impression. I don't do though H0.

I was just curious ...

Best
Thorsten 

28 minutes ago, dr_spock said:

Marklin has a HO block train set that you can use your building blocks with.

... and they have "Power Features" (PF) as well (https://www.maerklin.de/en/lp/2020/welcome-to-my-world/)

The cool thing tough is: Märklin is regarded as one accepted supplier (surely not for all! See above, comment of @Pendra37) - and they do now clone stuff - which makes this discussion even more interesting ...

Best
Thorsten

Edited March 17, 2021 by Toastie

[*thomas*]

I know a little bit about HO. My grandfather used to have a bunch of JOUEF stuff from the '60s and '70s. They were cheap trains compared to Marklin, but more expensive compared to LIMA for instance. 

I also have a few locomotives that I kept, just for nostalgia and frequent some model train (not only HO) specific forums and visit one or two small exhibitions a year. There are purists that stick to one brand, but many don't and don't frown upon using a 'mixed' bag. Furthermore, you could build dioramas from 'ready-made' sets, but could also use cardboard and paint if you'd like. 

That's what annoys me about LEGO, you're stuck with what they make and if you want to stay 'true' to bricks, you get a load of **** from 'purists' who only use LEGO. 

[Pendra37]

I will eventually take some of my broken, crappy H0 locos and bolt a 4 wide plates onto them. Then use that as the basis for my H0 scale Lego MOCs. In the meantime, my son pushes the H0 MOCs on his Brio railway. Until I install some monorail propulsion system into it. 

2 hours ago, *thomas* said:

There are purists that stick to one brand, but many don't and don't frown upon using a 'mixed' bag. Furthermore, you could build dioramas from 'ready-made' sets, but could also use cardboard and paint if you'd like. 
That's what annoys me about LEGO, you're stuck with what they make and if you want to stay 'true' to bricks, you get a load of **** from 'purists' who only use LEGO. 

It is not like I'm a Roco purist and I frown upon Marklin. More like Marklin still used AC system when everyone else moved over to DC. So Marklins locos were not running with the usual power source. Then they use 3 rails instead of 2 rails. Meaning there is a somewhat hidden middle rail. Their rails have one polarity in the rails and the middle rail has the other polarity. For this reason Marklin can have full metal wheels because the regular rails have one type of polarity. Meanwhile on Roco, there is no middle rail, one rail has one polarity, the other rail has the other. If you put a full metal wheel on that, it will short the power source. Not good. You can use a Roco wagon on a Marklin rail, but you may have issues with a Marklin wagon on a Roco rail. You can't use Roco locos on Markling rails without modifications and you can't run a Marklin loco on a Roco rail without modifications.
Plus there can even be really minor issues with the gauge, like a fraction of a mm. However that can be enough that a wagons from one brand derails or gets somewhat stuck on a rail of another brand. Annoying. It is not really purism, it is more like bigger or smaller compatibility issues between brands. 

The Lego purism has one such basis. Knockoff bricks connection may be overly tight to the point of not fitting or overly weak, falling apart all the time. Then there is the quality issue where they may break more easily or be a bit taller or smaller than standard Lego bricks, defying the system and throwing the build way off. And finally, as someone touched on it, Lego is like a puzzle. You have a limited set of elements and you need to be able to build the best looking thing within the constraints. If you use non standard chinese bricks or, say 3D print special bricks to your needs, it is like cheating the system. 

Edited March 17, 2021 by Pendra37

[*thomas*]

I agree with you, Pendra, but apart from Marklin many other brands exist to choose from. Furthermore, I think you can change wheels on rolling stock, not? 

[zephyr1934]

21 hours ago, Tube Map Central said:

Deep down, I feel that Lego is too focused on sets, and not focused enough on systems (one day, a long post on curved bricks/plates/tiles/fences and another on arches will discuss this in detail). At the very least, for MOCers who, after all, show the world just how impressive Lego can be, there should be some sort of core colours/core parts availability. At the moment, the only colours that function vaguely like that are tan, black, white, reddish brown, and blayx2, hardly a palette to set the world on fire.

 

And plain red, possibly plain blue and yellow, but not plain green or orange

I remember the days where the dark green palette was essentially the bricks found in the BNSF loco, a real challenge to build without ANY 1x1 parts (except the newly released cheese brick). So for me the dark colors keep exploding with new possibilities. Then again, I remember when orange was brand new and something to be skeptical of. It was one of the first of the "new" colors (tan and brown were about the same time).

Given the huge spectrum of colors, it makes sense to me that not all parts are available in all colors. Lego seems to have a few tiers of part availability in various colors.

At the top of the availability are red, yellow, blue, black and white, which are the core colors from the beginning of time, so those should always have the largest selection of bricks.

Meanwhile, grays, black, tan and brown all seem to have a good selection of clips and such probably because they are neutral colors that can go with most other colors. It seems to me that Lego views a lot of the clips as specialized pieces that if they were to release in many colors would open a floodgate that they want to keep closed.

 

 

3 hours ago, *thomas* said:

That's what annoys me about LEGO, you're stuck with what they make and if you want to stay 'true' to bricks, you get a load of **** from 'purists' who only use LEGO. 

Don't worry what other people think, it your hobby, do what you like to do with it.

[Toastie]

7 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

Don't worry what other people think, it your hobby, do what you like to do with it.

This is so true. Thank you very much @zephyr1934 for phrasing this so clearly in this thread. As you have done in the past elsewhere.

Best wishes,
Thorsten

 

[SteamSewnEmpire]

12 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

Don't worry what other people think, it your hobby, do what you like to do with it.

Some of the best space sets ever posted on these forums have hordes of custom pieces in them.

---

I think the difference between HO and Lego - and part of what lies at the core of the 'purity' debate - is that in HO, you are trying to (generally) create a series of scenes that look as true-to-life as possible. By contrast, in Lego, you are trying to get as true-to-life as it would look if life were Lego. HO is attempting to mimic the real, and thus scratch building, gathering materials from the forest floor behind your house, chiseling rocks out of plaster, etc. are all not only encouraged, but celebrated - the end goal being to make the final product startle in its realism. In Lego, you're trying to make the final product startle... in Lego. Thus, the limitations in Lego become a part of 'the game.' Break the rules too much, and it stops being Lego.

Basically, none of us would be playing in this medium if we didn't accept that the end result would be deeply flawed as a model that is representative of the real thing - nothing built in Lego bricks will ever 'be there' for any number of reasons: shapes, proportions, colors, minifigure limitations, dimensions of the bricks themselves, etc. HO is pursuing the real, and Lego - in many ways - the surreal. But I still maintain that, given how much Lego charges for this product, and how boutique private sellers on the web have been - for years now - picking up the slack for them, that they could do even modestly better in the parts department. 

Edited March 18, 2021 by SteamSewnEmpire

[Black Knight]

On 3/18/2021 at 5:22 AM, SteamSewnEmpire said:

Some of the best space sets ever posted on these forums have hordes of custom pieces in them.

---

I think the difference between HO and Lego - and part of what lies at the core of the 'purity' debate - is that in HO, you are trying to (generally) create a series of scenes that look as true-to-life as possible. By contrast, in Lego, you are trying to get as true-to-life as it would look if life were Lego. HO is attempting to mimic the real, and thus scratch building, gathering materials from the forest floor behind your house, chiseling rocks out of plaster, etc. are all not only encouraged, but celebrated - the end goal being to make the final product startle in its realism. In Lego, you're trying to make the final product startle... in Lego. Thus, the limitations in Lego become a part of 'the game.' Break the rules too much, and it stops being Lego.

Basically, none of us would be playing in this medium if we didn't accept that the end result would be deeply flawed as a model that is representative of the real thing - nothing built in Lego bricks will ever 'be there' for any number of reasons: shapes, proportions, colors, minifigure limitations, dimensions of the bricks themselves, etc. HO is pursuing the real, and Lego - in many ways - the surreal. But I still maintain that, given how much Lego charges for this product, and how boutique private sellers on the web have been - for years now - picking up the slack for them, that they could do even modestly better in the parts department. 

I'd like to disagree here. There are many other things why you'd prefer "brick trains" over real model trains. I for one like that I can enjoy it together with my kids. I personally do therefore happily modify bricks and buy more advantageous offers from other companies, be it for better quality, better price or better options.

We probably have all our own set of motivations and peculiar preferences. For my models I dislike stickers but use alternate bricks while others may prefer it the other way round. As long as we tolerate each others choices we should all brick and post happily ever after. Be it with or without 1x5 plates.

[Feuer Zug]

31 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

As long as we tolerate each others choices we should all brick and post happily ever after.

TRUTH!

Everybody has their particular likes, dislikes, and opinions. Differences should be welcomed as long as they stay civil. I've strayed into the world of off-brand track and haven't been tarred and feathered by the purists. As such, I cannot cast stones myself without inviting similar criticism. For some, cost is a factor in going to other manufacturers. Others, it's the color options, or piece types. Whatever it is, we don't need to become snobbish stud (rivet) counters. If a person is happy with 6 wide, 7 wide, 8 wide, or whatever, embrace it. If it looks like a rainbow hot mess a 5-year old cobbled together, offer constructive thoughts and ideas. Let's play nice and brick on.

[Paperinik77pk]

On 3/19/2021 at 2:49 PM, Feuer Zug said:

TRUTH!

Everybody has their particular likes, dislikes, and opinions. Differences should be welcomed as long as they stay civil. I've strayed into the world of off-brand track and haven't been tarred and feathered by the purists. As such, I cannot cast stones myself without inviting similar criticism. For some, cost is a factor in going to other manufacturers. Others, it's the color options, or piece types. Whatever it is, we don't need to become snobbish stud (rivet) counters. If a person is happy with 6 wide, 7 wide, 8 wide, or whatever, embrace it. If it looks like a rainbow hot mess a 5-year old cobbled together, offer constructive thoughts and ideas. Let's play nice and brick on.

I would like to add my 2 cents on this absolutely correct statement.

I am sincerely open to all possibilities with Lego (and non-Lego) - I've always been a "purist" when it comes to 4,5v and 12v Systems and all old sets in general, because I understand they are nice THAT way. In general it applies for me also to cars and old computers. But new things can be better. And in some cases, enhance the original thing without losing it's feeling.

Let's go on with the example - wide radius tracks. AAAAH, it's a pleasure to see trains gliding on large curves and not making L-turns like Automan's Countach . Welcome new tracks!!!  There are so much nice third parties things around (the narrow gauge tracks with switches, wheels, motors, controllers...) that it's hard not to show at least some interest. 

And yes, there are Lego clones.  A lot of  "Compatible bricks". Some are nice, some are rubbish, some are so good that only miss the "branded stud" on top. Well, there are also "compatible parts" for any car (brakes, pipes, shocks...) which in some cases are better than the original brand of first equipment. These can be bought or not. But It's a choice, a free choice that can be done for whatever reason by anyone in any moment and place. 

Lego can be a way to play with your children, an hobby for adults and in case of this and other Forums and shows, an opportunity to meet people.

Who cares if a train is bigger or shorter or not precise or not colored the right way or if it runs on three wheels (actually it can be done also on two )...we're not saving lives, we are building things with small ABS parts. so let's leave acid , angry, unpolite comments and bad feelings away. If it must be a stress...it's better to change hobby.

One last thing - which has surely already been said. TLG is a company that needs to make profit. It's not out there to make people happy at all costs. I'd also love the 12v system back, but I'd be probably one of the few to buy it.

It seems some things have no more appeal on children like they had in the past, like train models.  So the new trains are probably more than sufficient for these young "customers", who like more the new themed sets based on super heroes, movies , videogames, and (sigh) smartphones with "virtual reality". It's a specific market, and TLG must adapt to it.

What about the good'ol'Train AFOLs?  Well...they are still there and are still building (and evolving by themselves with help of 3rd parties), so TLG can focus on other products  . After all, "L-gauge" nowadays is more alive than it was in the past, even in golden ages.

"POSSIBILITIES ARE STILL UNLIMITED".

Ciao a tutti!

Davide

 

 

Edited March 22, 2021 by Paperinik77pk

[Murdoch17]

3 hours ago, Paperinik77pk said:

I would like to add my 2 cents on this absolutely correct statement.

I am sincerely open to all possibilities with Lego (and non-Lego) - I've always been a "purist" when it comes to 4,5v and 12v Systems and all old sets in general, because I understand they are nice THAT way. In general it applies for me also to cars and old computers. But new things can be better. And in some cases, enhance the original thing without losing it's feeling.

Let's go on with the example - wide radius tracks. AAAAH, it's a pleasure to see trains gliding on large curves and not making L-turns like Automan's Countach . Welcome new tracks!!!  There are so much nice third parties things around (the narrow gauge tracks with switches, wheels, motors, controllers...) that it's hard not to show at least some interest. 

And yes, there are Lego clones.  A lot of  "Compatible bricks". Some are nice, some are rubbish, some are so good that only miss the "branded stud" on top. Well, there are also "compatible parts" for any car (brakes, pipes, shocks...) which in some cases are better than the original brand of first equipment. These can be bought or not. But It's a choice, a free choice that can be done for whatever reason by anyone in any moment and place. 

Lego can be a way to play with your children, an hobby for adults and in case of this and other Forums and shows, an opportunity to meet people.

Who cares if a train is bigger or shorter or not precise or not colored the right way or if it runs on three wheels (actually it can be done also on two )...we're not saving lives, we are building things with small ABS parts. so let's leave acid , angry, unpolite comments and bad feelings away. If it must be a stress...it's better to change hobby.

One last thing - which has surely already been said. TLG is a company that needs to make profit. It's not out there to make people happy at all costs. I'd also love the 12v system back, but I'd be probably one of the few to buy it.

It seems some things have no more appeal on children like they had in the past, like train models.  So the new trains are probably more than sufficient for these young "customers", who like more the new themed sets based on super heroes, movies , videogames, and (sigh) smartphones with "virtual reality". It's a specific market, and TLG must adapt to it.

What about the good'ol'Train AFOLs?  Well...they are still there and are still building (and evolving by themselves with help of 3rd parties), so TLG can focus on other products  . After all, "L-gauge" nowadays is more alive than it was in the past, even in golden ages.

"POSSIBILITIES ARE STILL UNLIMITED".

Ciao a tutti!

Davide

 

 

Can I get a "Amen" for this gentleman here?