If I ran The Lego Group

[Aanchir]

Then swap the name Lone Ranger with Prince of Persia, Galidor or Toy Story. Either way, this doesn´t make my argument invalid.

Galidor was not a licensed theme, really. The franchise as a whole was created with the direct involvement of the LEGO Group-- the Danish cultural references, like the robot character Jens, the villain Gorm, or the main character's last name Bluetooth, attest to this.

[robuko]

More support for LUGs in developing territories is a winner for me, my LUG makes big losses on shows because it is not allowed to have ticket sales or revenues, and these shows do drive footfall and sales for retailers.

I would put the alternate build ideas back on boxes/instructions, and move to more pieces per instruction step in the AFOL sets.

I would also have a hard look at the developing country growth strategy. TLG doesn't need to now, because it is winning share globally, but I don't think they are doing enough in Asia. Demographics won't be a free lunch here forever.

I would put more blue sky stuff in the pipeline too. for example, why is Mindstorms only a hobbyist product? Can we get this into real factories? What more can we do on education? Friends has been a superb example of this.

And, I would have a theme like Lego Legends, one AFOL model a year in the style of quite popular classic themes, for example ice planet, Exo-force or Orient adventurers. It wouldn't be a big seller but as DTC it would be good for brand equity and fandom longevity. I guess this distribution concept is working for trains, in a way.

And I would have a gigantic palace with enormous themed play areas full of classic sets.

[Faefrost]

I would also have a hard look at the developing country growth strategy. TLG doesn't need to now, because it is winning share globally, but I don't think they are doing enough in Asia. Demographics won't be a free lunch here forever.

I would put more blue sky stuff in the pipeline too. for example, why is Mindstorms only a hobbyist product? Can we get this into real factories? What more can we do on education? Friends has been a superb example of this.

The problem is they did all of this. Every single one of them. Individually they were great ideas. Collectively, they lost control of them all and nearly bankrupted the company in 2003. If you have never seen this lecture, it is an utterly fascinating look at Lego As a business, and how they nearly went bankrupt, and managed to avoid it back in 2003.

http://vimeo.com/34924096

[BrickG]

I think some of their earlier projects, if changed a bit, would work now. Some of those things were decent ideas but too early. More computer integration in the form of something similar to Skylander could work very well.

[Faefrost]

I think some of their earlier projects, if changed a bit, would work now. Some of those things were decent ideas but too early. More computer integration in the form of something similar to Skylander could work very well.

The problem wasn't whether the ideas were good or bad. Nor was it whether technological advancement had made them viable. The problem was that they expanded in so many directions at once, and tried to go so many places, that they lost control. Luckily they just barely managed to regain it. But since then they have followed a much more conservative approach to expanding into new areas. Smaller steps, with much better feedback and evaluation at each stage. Asian expansion is a great example. They dove into a ton of projects in the 90's and got badly burned almost without realizing it. So now they are going slower. Opening up direct marketing channels and stores more cautiously.

[robuko]

@Faefrost, thankyou very much for posting that presentation, it was very interesting. Yes, I should have said I was coming at this from the perspective of the current environment, so my thoughts are context sensitive - I I run Lego, my business is firing on 12 cylinders right now, Friends guarantees me growth for 3 years. My biggest worries are Star Wars (lull between CW and new film) and CMF (copycats from Playmobil and Hasbro in the "boy doll" market) running out of steam at some point, uncertainty over my 1-hit franchises like PoTC, potential Chima failure (as an AFOL I don't believe this, but if I was CEO I would take good note of my Marvel sets flying off the shelves and my Chima sets staying on them), and speculator revulsion in the secondary market if the bubble overheats. Oh, and now that Disney owns all human boys age 2-15, if they buy Hasbro we're toast. What am I looking for to move the needle over 5 years?

I think some of their earlier projects, if changed a bit, would work now. Some of those things were decent ideas but too early. More computer integration in the form of something similar to Skylander could work very well.

I agree with BrickG that these earlier ideas can work from the current position of financial strength in a way they could not from a position of weakness. But, I would need the systems to manage them - which TLG now has, I think.

[Hey Joe]

I'd make the switch and get rid of yellows and switch to all fleshies.

One problem with that is different countries have different demographics so for example, if you try to skew the mix towards the US (which has something towards a 20% black population) it will be off for other places which are too numerous to mention. Imagine your average African; "Hey, what's up with all these white faces?"

How to portray people of Middle-Eastern heritage, or mixed races? It's a huge can of worms and it just seems to me that an intelligent, global, PC company should just stick to what's working now.

Yellow is also in alignment with the demographics of what will probably someday be the largest market in the world.

Personally, I like the yellow minifigs, they look 'normal' to me but maybe I'm just old-fashioned.

[Faefrost]

One thing I would do is to follow up on the idea sort of inadvertently created with 10228 the Haunted House and 10937 Arkham Assylum. More AFOL oriented tie ins to existing younger targeted product lines. Something that can be viewed as a big family build, that still ties back to the kids favorite subjects. Many more of the major lines should have a big upper end exclusive type tie in set. Something to bridge the old and young, and maybe reduce the period of Dark Ages.

[hjmediastudios]

Yellow is also in alignment with the demographics of what will probably someday be the largest market in the world.

That's in exceedingly poor taste. From extensive personal experience, I can say that the range of skin tones present in (at least American) folks of Asian and European descent is pretty much identical- most of the main differences are more structural than coloration.

[Hey Joe]

That's in exceedingly poor taste. From extensive personal experience, I can say that the range of skin tones present in (at least American) folks of Asian and European descent is pretty much identical- most of the main differences are more structural than coloration.

I live in China, Chinese refer to themselves as having yellow skin, I meant no offense. Joe

[Paul B Technic]

Thanks everybody for the replies, this topic has taken off in a way that I never would of expected.

[Bobsy]

I don't think the yellow/flesh argument is directly related to sales, but it does have knock-on effects. My biggest bugbear with the whole thing is that to me figures become incompatible with each other. I can't mix yellow-skinned figures with flesh-skinned figures. Not a problem when it's say, Castle and Star Wars, but when it's Superheroes and City, it is a bigger issue. Worse still when they use a distinctly different visual style, such as the Clone Wars faces or the utterly horrifying attempts to do real-life likenesses in the sports teams. Brrrr.

[TheLegoDr]

Some people don't mind mixing them. I think it looks off only because yellow is such an extreme color compared to the licensed skin tone.

There are so many great torsos in both yellow and licensed skin tone that it is a shame to not be able to mix them. I love a lot of the newer torsos that don't have any skin tone on them so you can switch as you needed.

And I agree about the clone wars eyes. However, they are hitting the source material spot on.

[Aanchir]

I don't think the yellow/flesh argument is directly related to sales, but it does have knock-on effects. My biggest bugbear with the whole thing is that to me figures become incompatible with each other. I can't mix yellow-skinned figures with flesh-skinned figures. Not a problem when it's say, Castle and Star Wars, but when it's Superheroes and City, it is a bigger issue. Worse still when they use a distinctly different visual style, such as the Clone Wars faces or the utterly horrifying attempts to do real-life likenesses in the sports teams. Brrrr.

Well, awful inconsistent visual styles were around even before fleshies. Remember the Indians (and the bandit Flatfoot Thomsen) in the Wild West/Western theme? Not only did they have sclerae like the Clone Wars, Avatar: The Last Airbender, or NBA figs, but they had noses. Every. Last. One of them.

This is part of why I don't think the fleshies issue is such a huge deal. And from what I've heard, at least with characters in Light Nougat (Bricklink's Light Flesh), yellow Sharpie is a pretty effective solution if you want your minifigures consistent. Other races from licensed themes in colors like Earth Orange (Brown), Reddish Brown, Brown (Dark Flesh), Dark Orange, Nougat (Flesh), or Medium Nougat (Medium Dark Flesh) are more problematic, though (somewhat frustratingly) these skin colors are rarer for minifigures than Light Nougat.

[Vindice]

interesting topic.

If I ran LEGO my first concern would be production costs. With more competition in the marketplace it's important to focus on profitability and operating costs. Sales may possibly be lower than what is budgeted considering the economic situation of much of the world so I wouldn't make any kneejerk reactions to certain themes performing slowly.

I think LEGO are possibly over extending themselves in certain areas. Too many themes, too many sets. I think taking on the superheroes and LOTR themes at the same time as SW, Chima, Galaxy quest and Turtles and others is a mistake. Having said that they pciked up some excellent licenses.

Unfortunately if disney buys Hasbro then the super heroes agreement will not likely be renewed which could be damaging.

Here is the big one for me. They need to find a way to attract and KEEP the set designers. They cannot afford to be losing critical staff to rival companies or quality will suffer at TLG whilst improving at other companies. TLG needs to invest heavily in their staff as well as marketing.

They should forge meaningful partnerships with schools which will help them engender a loyal fan base through competitive times plus groom the next generation of designers. I think LEGO education is important and LEGO should provide a track for young designers into the company in a more public way.

TV is an important medium. I'd like to see (in addition to the cartoons) LEGO do a live show featuring designers where they actually show building techniques and feature some themes and what you can do with LEGO. Building, stop motion animation etc. Like a LEGO Blue Peter or art attack.

These are difficult times financially for every company including TLG. i do wonder if the company may even merge with another Toy company one day.

[Paul B Technic]

Well it is a year on from my original post and it seems that not much has changed with TLG (Not that I was really expecting it to)

I hope that the Simpsons works out well for them however this is a line I don't think I will be buying.

In my main area of interest (Technic) they are developing some good sets and I hope to see these continue in to the future.

[Mowikan]

I would resell every box that is going creasy on Ebay.

Lego is a toy and not gold!

[Lego Otaku]

Let me know when you have 10179 out for the original $500 price.

[TheLazyChicken]

I would make a new theme where all the villians from past lego lines joined forces to stop all the best heroes.

[B-Lister]

I would expand existing ranges in the same manner as Star Wars. Offering affordable ways to build armies. This would apply to LOTR (which, admittedly does a good job of this already) as well as Superheroes (AIM, Hydra, Lex soldiers, Parademons, etc. would all be available en masse).

Character positioning would be important in licensed themes. I would not be afraid to release sets not anchored by Batman or Superman.

I would emphasize a need for parity regarding minifigure gender, especially in non licensed themes, and try to reflect a myriad of professional roles for women.

We would move towards getting girls interested in main themes, instead of trying to pander.

We would make classic themes available perpetually, including certain classic sets. Some themes would become web/store exclusive but would always be available. Certain sets would be evergreen, meaning they would always be available. Retiring sets is important to keeping things fresh, but a classic, proven seller should not be kept from those who want it.

Employ top market research to predict licensing trends in order to capitalize on hit properties before the competition.

The playing field is narrowing. Lego still has the top spot, and the quality (though that has slipped before). If I ran the company, it wouldn't be in an effort to simply maintain top spot, it would be to destroy the competition.

Edited February 28, 2014 by Mister Blisterfists

[Bricknblue]

I think it's funny that the USA has a rule/law saying the piece count needs to be listed.

Why is it not in a lot of countries? My guess is LEGO doesn't want you to realize how much they are ripping you off on City sets. :lol:

Completely agree with the age range. Why are some ranged 6-12, when others in the same theme are 7-14? Why not 6+ and 7+ as the case may be?

[kinggregus]

The age range is probably the silliest decision form the Lego group. They have very little to gain but so much to loose by putting an age limit. As a kid, I stopped playing Lego specifically because of the age limit despite still loving them. I vividly remember my parents telling me to move to something else at some points because I was above the age limit.

[Lyichir]

The age range actually has a valuable purpose, though. It helps gift-givers know what sort of set is appropriate for what age of kids, and believe it or not the upper and lower bounds are important for that purpose. A 16-year-old kid isn't necessarily going to want a Duplo or Juniors set, and even a set like those in the Cars theme might be below their building level. For a non-FOL, this sort of thing isn't necessarily evident based on just looking at the box—Worriz's Combat Lair and Big Bentley Bust-Out are both $70 sets, and the latter actually has a higher piece count, but it's aimed at younger builders, with simpler building techniques and large, specialized parts. That's reflected in the age range, with the Combat Lair saying "8–14" and the Cars set saying "7–12".

Obviously it stinks when a parent takes that as gospel and refuses to get a set they want if they're older than the recommended age range, but it's supposed to be just that—a recommendation—and just because Lego can't control what people do with that information shouldn't mean the information shouldn't be there for people who need it.

[Vee]

If I ran TLG? If I am running it, it means I am its CEO, not its owner, because the owner owns it, does not run it (he used to run, but not anymore, I've read he was doing a bad job so he fired himself...). As for me being TLG's CEO, it will never happen so I see no reason to conjecture. I could though accept a position as CIO...

Edited March 11, 2014 by Vee

[Lego dad]

Obviously it stinks when a parent takes that as gospel and refuses to get a set they want if they're older than the recommended age range, but it's supposed to be just that—a recommendation—and just because Lego can't control what people do with that information shouldn't mean the information shouldn't be there for people who need it.

I agree, the age range is just a recommendation based on the capabilities of the average child. It's no different than movie ratings, PG is parental guidance suggested, not parental guidance mandatory. And just as an adult can watch and enjoy a movie rated G, a 17 year old can enjoy building a set meant for much younger children.

Their main reason for existing is you wouldn't want to give a small child a set with small pieces that they might stick in their mouths and chock. You also want your child to have something that will challenge them and keep them engaged. That being said you see children all the time playing with toys for much younger children because toys can be fun at all ages.