Time magazine Lego Article

[lightningtiger]

While searching Goggle News for anything latest to do with Lego I found this article....Time Magazine Lego Article

Interesting read, enjoy.

[toycardriver]

Very interesting article, thanks!

[Masked Builder]

Interesting insight into LEGO's crisis.

[Yatkuu]

Many of the new items received positive reviews within the industry and from customers, particularly the Star Wars– and Harry Potter–themed products. “They were successful — until they weren’t,” Robertson stated, noting that the Star Wars– and Harry Potter–centric toys, for instance, were blockbusters — but only in the years when new movies or books in those series were released.

I would agree with Harry Potter but the Star Wars line has proven itself to remain popular even without new movies coming out (and no, Episode I 3D does not count!)

[Robominer]

LEGO was in this much trouble during the 1990's? I thought that TLG was always prosperous.

[TheLegoDr]

That is very interesting. Good find!

I had no idea they were doing poorly in the early 90s. That is the time when we were buying the most Lego I think. I would've been around 10 years old when they were slumping. Granted I did quit doing Lego by 1995 due to video games and more mature activities. I didn't get back into Lego until late 2010 thanks to Harry Potter, so if they would have gone bankrupt in the early/mid 2000s I wouldn't even have known. Lego is one of those brands that you would expect to just be around forever, much like Hasbro and Mattel. It is really odd when I see classic American companies like Sears Roebuck going out of business.

Either way, a good read. It's good to see they are doing better financially. Off I go to spend more money..

[Aanchir]

I'm surprised so many people commenting here didn't know about TLG's struggles in the 90s. Those struggles are the very reason there were so many big changes in the late 90s and early naughts: the company's expansion into video games, expansions into other audience demographics (think Belville, Paradisa, Scala, "Town Jr.", and Jack Stone), the introduction of licensed themes in the form of LEGO Star Wars, and the introduction of full-scale, in-house intellectual properties in the form of BIONICLE.

The real changes that put LEGO back in the black were mostly around the time Jorgen Vig Knudstorp took the helm. The article describes these in brief, but I have seen other articles which go into more detail about changes like streamlining the color and part palettes, speeding up the design and production cycles for new products, marketing LEGO as a "premium brand", and refocusing the company's mission of producing quality building toys (entrusting things like the LEGOLAND parks, LEGO-brand media like video games, and other side projects to external companies).

Needless to say many of these changes were controversial at the time. I was not a big part of any LEGO communities during these changes so did not witness them personally, but there are some like the replacing of the old greys which remain a sore spot for some AFOLs.

Edited July 24, 2012 by Aanchir

[davee123]

I didn't know the stagnation was happening as early as 1993, but I know 1998 was the first year they ever suffered a loss.

At the time, LEGO took something like 2-5 years to create a product. So (generally speaking), the stuff they would come out with in, say, 1998 was actually entering the design phase around 1993-1996. On that note, LEGO started ramping up the crazy train around 1996-1999, which probably makes sense, and that they were designing things starting around 1993 when sales started doing poorly.

At the time, LEGO had crazily ambitious goals. They wanted to be the next Disney. Specifically, their goal was something like: "By 2005, we want to be the #1 brand in households with families". Note: They weren't trying to be the most profitable, they just wanted to be the one that customers rated the highest.

On that note, they started mixing things up quite a bit:

1996 - Primo

1996 - LEGOLAND Windsor (the plan was to open up a new park every 3 years)

1997 - Juniorization (Town Jr - first big conscious effort by LEGO to juniorize)

1997 - Scala

1998 - LEGO Mindstorms

1998 - First LEGO video games

1998 - ZNAP

1998? - Clothing lines

1999 - Licensing - Star Wars

1999 - LEGOLAND California

2001 - Licensing - Harry Potter

2001 - Bionicle (following explorations into Throwbots and RoboRiders)

They also started doing different types of themes like Ninja, Adventurers, Rock Raiders, Aquazone, Wild West, Time Cruisers, etc, which were a departure from their tried-and-true "Town, European Castle, Space Fantasy, and Pirates".

Most of their new initiatives weren't very successful. But some were. In 1998, they had their first financial loss, but I think their thinking at the time was that they were losing money thanks to the initial investments they were doing, and that it would magically start paying off "really soon". Plus, everyone in the toy market was suffering, and claiming it was due to video games, so LEGO played that card too.

DaveE

[Faefrost]

this is a video of that books authors lectureto Financial Times. It's really fascinating. Both for Lego buffs and as a business case study. It also really explains some of the changes that have led to our modern golden age of Lego.

http://vimeo.com/34924096

My personal favorite is that "this is our Firetruck" moment. Pretty much that exact moment when we started to see the change in design that has led to so many great modern sets.

Edited July 24, 2012 by Faefrost