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Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

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171–180 of 345 posts

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Anyone know what changed economically to justify the high US labor costs? Based on prices I've seen shopping for my nephews they seem to be a luxury brand now that can afford to. Lots of elaborate and expensive sets sold for $50-200. In my day they were closer to plain bricks.

I’ve posted before that Lego in the USA in the 1970s consisted of multi-colored bricks of different sizes. That’s it. And usually someone replies “You’re wrong” and points to some Lego mini-figure or elaborate kit that existed in the US in the 70s but in reality, I never ever saw one and neither me nor any of my friends ever had anything besides basic bricks. It’s like there is some alternate 1970s Lego reality that…

The 90s are when fancy sets with specialized pieces REALLY took off. The 90s space stuff compared with the 80s was a big shift.

But that's still 30 years ago so Lego has been fancy pieces and custom kits for a couple generations of kids now.

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#172

Funny how nobody mentions plastic pollution, which is the main output of this factory.

If kids can't even have Lego we are truly lost. For many kids, their love of science and technology stemmed from playing with Lego. You are likely benefiting now from some of those things now. I am so tired of this anti-human, simplistic, single variable optimization that so many seem to subscribe to.

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As opposed to those serious Guiness records like "farthest eyeball pop", "loudest purr by a domestic cat", "most face flesh tunnels", "most tennis balls held in the mouth (by a dog)", "most eyebrow waxes performed in eight hours by a team", and "longest head massage chain". Guiness has always been a half-commercial silly enterprise. It's literally founded by a beer brand to resolve pub trivia arguments.

The point still stands: By no reasonable definition is Lego the largest manufacturer of tires.

G*P said largest tire manufacturer, but if you click the link the article is titled "toy tyres". The article also points out that this 300M is also more than any automobile tire mfer. So it's not like any wool is being pulled, the record is for toy tyres.

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#174

Funny how nobody mentions plastic pollution, which is the main output of this factory.

Consifering how much plastics we use for once in restaurants and starbucks, or how much we use in cars or home appliances and dispose (=landfill) without second thought, this is miniscule. Do you post same question on every Tesla or Apple thread? The added value between creation and landfill is what defines utility, and I'd say Lego is one of the better uses of it. The last thing I want to see is Lego forced to use s…

I suspect OP feels that everything "human" is bad, not just Lego.

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#175

Hopefully all American employees get the same treatment as European employees, rather than hiring a bunch of US-entrenched management and having them go "well this is an American plant, so we don't have to give you a minimum number of vacation days, and we only need to wage gauge you a tiny bit less than other companies in this space int he US for you to feel like we're treating you well". It's so easy to open a plan…

Is there any way to find a company that has those kind of benefits in the US? Or are the market forces in the United States just too harsh to allow for such a company to exist?

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#176
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plastics - where are they cheap? That is the answer.

The plastics cost are relatively low for this product compared to many other products made of plastic. Lego is first and foremost a marketing machine (which they excel at) before they are an injection molding specialist (which they also excel at). They've had their ups and downs over the years but the value add on 1 KG of ABS to sell for >> $200 is such that the plastic bit is almost an afterthought. Without the Star…

Did they discover adults or did those adults just grow up with Lego toys and never stop loving them?

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#177
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s highly automated but you still need people to watch the machines. Many Lego factory videos are available. If this lets them source much of the plastic locally, it will save on millions of boxes being shipped across the ocean. That’s a huge reduction in carbon, even if the local manufacturing costs a bit more.

Also, the general container shortage and supply chain issues over the years have showed that you want to hedge your bets with a global supply chain.

Easy, build a container from Lego.

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#178

Funny how nobody mentions plastic pollution, which is the main output of this factory.

If kids can't even have Lego we are truly lost. For many kids, their love of science and technology stemmed from playing with Lego. You are likely benefiting now from some of those things now. I am so tired of this anti-human, simplistic, single variable optimization that so many seem to subscribe to.

If Newton and Einstein hadn't played with legos, we would probably not even be having this discussion!

that being said, I did enjoy my legos

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#180
post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If kids can't even have Lego we are truly lost. For many kids, their love of science and technology stemmed from playing with Lego. You are likely benefiting now from some of those things now. I am so tired of this anti-human, simplistic, single variable optimization that so many seem to subscribe to.

If Newton and Einstein hadn't played with legos, we would probably not even be having this discussion! that being said, I did enjoy my legos

Are you seriously implying that I think Lego is universally responsible for all science and technology?
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