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Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

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Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#81

Post by Shaddox »

Larrikin wrote: post #39
TylerE wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of that is that LEGO has a policy against making any models including guns.

I read this, believed it, and repeated it to a friend in a Lego store. My friend then pointed out that there are tons of models with guns and many other weapons. I think the actual policy is that their original nonlicensed models don't feature modern day guns or military vehicles, but they are totally fine making models with guns and weapons of war so long as they are from the fantasy world or they are not modern.

I happen to own Lego sets of pirates, which also happen to be my favorites. They have cutlass, pistols, muskets, barrels of rum, jugs of moonshine and other piratey/armada things.

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#82

Post by kuschku »

martin_a wrote: post #55

Lego is becoming more and more of a scumbag company. First hit this year was that they sued a small Lego shop in Frankfurt called "Held der Steine". His logo was a standing brick, but it could have been any brick, no Lego logo was seen or whatnot. They sued him for infringement of their trademarks anyway. That gave quite a huge media wave, I think the video of "Held der Steine" on YouTube where he lays out what happe…

> First hit this year was that they sued a small Lego shop in Frankfurt called "Held der Steine". His logo was a standing brick, but it could have been any brick, no Lego logo was seen or whatnot. They sued him for infringement of their trademarks anyway. That gave quite a huge media wave, I think the video of "Held der Steine" on YouTube where he lays out what happened has seven figure views.

He tried to trademark that logo and sell merchandise with it.

Using stuff that looks like LEGO trademarks is fine, trademarking it and selling your own merchandise with it obviously is not.

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#83

Post by Symbiote »

celticninja wrote: post #48
Larrikin wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read this, believed it, and repeated it to a friend in a Lego store. My friend then pointed out that there are tons of models with guns and many other weapons. I think the actual policy is that their original nonlicensed models don't feature modern day guns or military vehicles, but they are totally fine making models with guns and weapons of war so long as they are from the fantasy world or they are not modern.

It is modern military and weapons that are not made. Not weapons per se

This is the best Quora answer I've ever seen. It has illustrations!

https://www.quora.com/When-did-LEGO-set-start-containing-con...

The introduction of weapons was gradual, and except for Batman, they are either historical or futuristic.

From my observations as a foreigner in Denmark, historical or fantasy weapons like swords, spears, shields, clubs acceptable and common. A 6 year old might have a wooden one, and be seen anywhere in the city. A 16 year old might have a foam and fibreglass one, and be seen LARPing in the woods at the weekend. A gun that isn't clearly a water pistol is a rare sight.

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#84

Post by env123 »

ebg13 wrote: post #33
jncraton wrote: post #24

IMO LEGO thrives thanks to their relentless focus on product quality. The phrase "det bedste ir ikke for godt" (roughly "only the best is good enough") has a long history in the company. The fact that they have been able to thrive like this in a market with many competitors cloning their product is a a testament to their product quality and related brand strength. If you've used and compared the various brands in thi…

> IMO LEGO thrives thanks to their relentless focus on product quality. I'm sure that doesn't hurt, but these days LEGO thrives because of their relentless promotional brand tie-ins. It's not just LEGO anymore. It's LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Batman, LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Disney's Frozen, LEGO Toy Story 4, and so on.

If LEGO can make sure that stepping on them wouldn't hurt, that's a product quality improvement to me

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#85

Post by bluetomcat »

Larrikin wrote: post #39
TylerE wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of that is that LEGO has a policy against making any models including guns.

I read this, believed it, and repeated it to a friend in a Lego store. My friend then pointed out that there are tons of models with guns and many other weapons. I think the actual policy is that their original nonlicensed models don't feature modern day guns or military vehicles, but they are totally fine making models with guns and weapons of war so long as they are from the fantasy world or they are not modern.

The Lego Western theme from 1996 had masked minifigs, rifles, revolvers, fired dynamite, wads of cash and bank robberies.

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#86

Post by Symbiote »

9nGQluzmnq3M wrote: post #79
bluetomcat wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The new "themed" sets apparently sell better than the "random box of colored bricks" from the past. In the 1990s, almost no sets were "random boxes of colored bricks" and they were all themed, but the themes weren't the commercialized junk they are today. You had Castle, Pirates and Space without any references to movie characters and the structures were rather harmonic without too many special or overly-sized part…

Oh, give me a break. Every Lego Star Wars or Ninjago set my kids have gotten has long since been dismantled and reassembled into new creations.

It is reasonable to say that 2019's "Star Wars" is commercial, but the 1990s "Space" sets weren't commercial.

Some parents prefer not to have brands or advertising within their children's toys, and Lego used to be free from this influence.

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#87

Post by Symbiote »

kccqzy wrote: post #9
Animats wrote: post #5

"Lego has become the world’s largest toymaker by sales..." Had no idea they'd grown that much. Mattel used to be on top. Apparently Lego passed them around 2014. The movie tie-ins seem to have done it. Even though Barbie had her screen moments in one of the Toy Story movies.

Read an article recently about how Chinese parents prefer their children play with LEGO than Barbie: https://www.economist.com/business/2019/07/27/why-chinese-pa...

Wasn't / isn't that the case in Europe and North America as well? At least for middle class families.

It was very definitely my parents' policy. My sister and I had Duplo, Lego, wooden blocks, Lego Technic, Mecanno, a train set (sorry dad, "model railway"), K'Nex and board games.

Someone once gave my sister a doll. It's still in the original box in a cupboard in her room, and she's almost 30...

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#88

Post by Svip »

jncraton wrote: post #24

IMO LEGO thrives thanks to their relentless focus on product quality. The phrase "det bedste ir ikke for godt" (roughly "only the best is good enough") has a long history in the company. The fact that they have been able to thrive like this in a market with many competitors cloning their product is a a testament to their product quality and related brand strength. If you've used and compared the various brands in thi…

> The phrase "det bedste ir ikke for godt" (roughly "only the best is good enough") has a long history in the company.

Just for the record, the phrase is »kun det bedste er godt nok«.

Your phrase would translate as 'the best is not too good', or in more natural English 'the best is bad' (which more accurately conveys the same meaning).

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#89

Post by wodenokoto »

martin_a wrote: post #55

Lego is becoming more and more of a scumbag company. First hit this year was that they sued a small Lego shop in Frankfurt called "Held der Steine". His logo was a standing brick, but it could have been any brick, no Lego logo was seen or whatnot. They sued him for infringement of their trademarks anyway. That gave quite a huge media wave, I think the video of "Held der Steine" on YouTube where he lays out what happe…

Logo vs lego brick for comparison:

https://www.watson.de/imgdb/c6c7/Qx,A,0,0,874,491,141,7,629,...

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#90

Post by sethammons »

martin_bech wrote: post #78
ebg13 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> IMO LEGO thrives thanks to their relentless focus on product quality. I'm sure that doesn't hurt, but these days LEGO thrives because of their relentless promotional brand tie-ins. It's not just LEGO anymore. It's LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Batman, LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Disney's Frozen, LEGO Toy Story 4, and so on.

Thats not completely true, I know people at LEGO, and the best selling sets are Legos own Lego City and Lego Friends.

Best selling doesn't necessarily mean most profitable.
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