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“Netflix for Legos” is an awesome idea. But can it scale?

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Re: “Netflix for Legos” is an awesome idea. But can it scale?

#31

Post by dav- »

Steveism wrote: post #2

Being able to "lose" 15 pieces out of each set without incurring any penalty sounds like a great way to grow the home lego collection. The Pley membership cost isn't cheap but neither are new lego sets.

Exactly what I was thinking. I wonder if Pley will track how many pieces each customer claims to "lose" and will eventually start penalizing them somehow?

If there was a 6-day round trip for receiving sets and sending them back, you could get around 3-4 sets a month. That's 45-60 free pieces.

You could perhaps realistically steal a 32x32 baseplate ($4.99), 4 2x8 bricks ($0.50/ea), and 10 2x4 bricks ($0.30/ea). That's up to $39.96/month worth of legos.

If you just stole 2x8s and 2x4s, that would be anywhere from $18 to $30/month. Their lowest tier starts at just $15/month.

Prices from http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Pick-A-Brick-ByTheme

Re: “Netflix for Legos” is an awesome idea. But can it scale?

#32

Post by cbhl »

henrikschroder wrote: post #30
gkoberger wrote: post #5

I feel this takes away a lot of the fun. There won't be mixing and matching of sets and peices; no experimenting nor creating new things. Partially because it won't be allowed (what parent will want to re-sort the sets), but mostly because it's impossible (you only get one set at a time). Legos were awesome because you could experiment and build and create new things. Now, they're just a paint-by-numbers, follow the…

> Now, they're just a paint-by-numbers No, they're both. The sets we loved as kids still exist, they just don't advertise them as much as the licensed properties, but they sure as hell haven't discontinued them: http://www.lego.com/en-us/creator/products/all-models http://www.lego.com/en-us/city/products http://www.lego.com/en-us/castle http://galaxysquad.lego.com/en-us

I wonder if parents still buy the sets we loved as kids; the last time I looked I had a hard time finding one in the local Toys R' Us or Sears.

(For that matter, do kids still ask their parents to buy these sets?)

Re: “Netflix for Legos” is an awesome idea. But can it scale?

#33

Post by mbreese »

henrikschroder wrote: post #30
gkoberger wrote: post #5

I feel this takes away a lot of the fun. There won't be mixing and matching of sets and peices; no experimenting nor creating new things. Partially because it won't be allowed (what parent will want to re-sort the sets), but mostly because it's impossible (you only get one set at a time). Legos were awesome because you could experiment and build and create new things. Now, they're just a paint-by-numbers, follow the…

> Now, they're just a paint-by-numbers No, they're both. The sets we loved as kids still exist, they just don't advertise them as much as the licensed properties, but they sure as hell haven't discontinued them: http://www.lego.com/en-us/creator/products/all-models http://www.lego.com/en-us/city/products http://www.lego.com/en-us/castle http://galaxysquad.lego.com/en-us

CITY is actually the world-wide best selling theme (or at least it was a few years ago)[1]. So while there are lots of other themes, just plain old Lego sets are still going strong.

[1] http://lego.gizmodo.com/5019797/everything-you-always-wanted...

Re: “Netflix for Legos” is an awesome idea. But can it scale?

#34

Post by mbreese »

nashadelic wrote: post #29
BIair wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not surprised this is the top comment on a hacker site. But having watched my 5-year old son assemble a 300 piece set while following a 40+ page manual, gave me a new appreciation. He was obviously creating a new thing, even if not experienting. Not only did he have great pride in his creation, but he leaned a lot about 3D visualization and spacial awareness. Sign me up!

I have a 3 year old and he's too young to make lego city sets from the instructions but he loves playing with them and watching me make a set and helping. However, when I leave him with the bricks, he plays on his own, makes funky looking cars and planes. I've seen him spent a lot of time figuring a brick out by keep trying it with different bricks. It's very cool to see the learning process in real time. I think chi…

My 6 year old son is obsessed with Lego. I think it's great to watch him follow the directions to get a big set built. (So far, the biggest he's done solo is ~ 1100 pieces). The process of following the directions, seeing the small changes from step to step, is great for him. Some of the newer sets have some really good engineering behind them too. The above 1100+ set was a Star Wars ship that basically had a Technic skeleton that the rest was attached to.

But I'm far more impressed with the little creations he makes on his own by mixing and matching sets. Usually he makes small transport ships out of anything he can get his hands on, but it's the random stuff that's the best.

(And I think it's hilarious to see Batman fighting along side Clone Troopers.)

Re: “Netflix for Legos” is an awesome idea. But can it scale?

#35

Post by malkia »

BIair wrote: post #25
gkoberger wrote: post #5

I feel this takes away a lot of the fun. There won't be mixing and matching of sets and peices; no experimenting nor creating new things. Partially because it won't be allowed (what parent will want to re-sort the sets), but mostly because it's impossible (you only get one set at a time). Legos were awesome because you could experiment and build and create new things. Now, they're just a paint-by-numbers, follow the…

I'm not surprised this is the top comment on a hacker site. But having watched my 5-year old son assemble a 300 piece set while following a 40+ page manual, gave me a new appreciation. He was obviously creating a new thing, even if not experienting. Not only did he have great pride in his creation, but he leaned a lot about 3D visualization and spacial awareness. Sign me up!

Same here. But occasionally he'll diverge and change the design a bit, or he'll try to build it just by looking at the cover, or not finish the third rail wagon, because he has the main engine, and a second one.

Re: “Netflix for Legos” is an awesome idea. But can it scale?

#36

Post by malkia »

Gracana wrote: post #9
stormbrew wrote: post #6

This is kind of off-topic, but still kind of relevant I think. I think the 'killer' for Lego is going to eventually be 3d printers. A subscription service for lego sounds cool and all, but I'd rather be printing exactly the pieces I want (or going to a local vendor using a fancier 3d printer to make them). I kind of see this toy angle being the first probably breakthrough for it once the tech gets good enough. I've l…

Sure you can print interlocking bricks with a 3D printer, but there are some problems to solve if you want to even approach the quality of legos. The lego interlocking bump mechanism alone is a precision interface which requires tight tolerances and a controlled surface finish, both of which are currently impossible to match with 3D printing technology. The outside dimensions of the parts are quite important as well,…

And my kid can spot the difference between LEGO and some other brands, even if the pieces are compatible - it's something about the texture, the coloring, and how they stick together that makes LEGO unique.

Recently he got some cheap "no-name" chinese produced "lego-clone" - just a tractor and a character to drive it. It was so bad, the pieces were not sticking together properly. The character's head kept falling off, and the hair piece too.

But eventually he used some real lego "replacement" pieces and did it.

We must have like 10,000+ pieces now... If only there was a sorting LEGO machine!

Re: “Netflix for Legos” is an awesome idea. But can it scale?

#37

Post by mbreese »

mintone wrote: post #22

Lego. I spoke to my parents about 6 months ago whilst they were having a clear out of family toys from yesteryear - their main question: "What do you want us to keep for your (potential) children?" My answer was quite simple: "My Lego and my Brio - that's about it" Lego is made to last a lifetime and more, specified to an extreme degree and made with tolerances far and beyond most consumer electronics; it is somethin…

My son inherited my old Legos (mid-late 80s) when my dad moved somewhat recently. He actually lost a somewhat rare piece from one of the newer Star Wars sets and we found a replacement in the big bin of Lego from my childhood. That then led to a long building session of putting together one of the classic airport sets. It was awesome. And because it's Lego - they all still fit. I also had about a dozen 1980-something space guys, which was a great tie in for the movie.

So yes - keep the Lego, ditch everything else. You can download almost all of the old instructions online, which makes it that much better.

Re: “Netflix for Legos” is an awesome idea. But can it scale?

#38

Post by plorg »

csbrooks wrote: post #3

I told my kids about this. They were like "how is that like Netflix?" I realized to them, Netflix is a company that streams video to you. They don't remember a time we used Netflix to get DVDs in the mail.

Right, but your kids aren't thinking like buzz marketers: 1.) Do X 2.) Pitch as "Netflix for X" 3.) ... 4.) Profit

Re: “Netflix for Legos” is an awesome idea. But can it scale?

#39

Post by watwut »

"LEGOs are crazy-expensive. If you want to buy a Star Wars set bigger than your fist you’re likely to drop $50 or more. "

Not really. When you are buying Star Wars set, you are paying for IP. Of course it is incredibly expensive. It is different when you are buying non ip packs of bricks and less popular sets. Brick price measured by volume or number is cheaper then ever been.

Here is someone who calculated it: http://therealityprose.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/what_happene...

Re: “Netflix for Legos” is an awesome idea. But can it scale?

#40

Post by MarkTee »

DanAndersen wrote: post #11
drakaal wrote: post #7

1. The plural of Lego is Lego. 2. You get a set with 1273 pieces. You find out there are only 1265 pieces. There is great sadness. 3. When you combine Yellow Tiger and Red Tiger and all their friends you get Voltron. You can play with friends and share, at the end of the day you uncombine and you each have a tiger. Much fun is had. With Lego if you combine Lord of the Rings and Spiderman much fun is had. When you try…

Addressing #1: "Photoshop" is not a verb (and should be replaced with the equally-easy-to-say verb "enhance using Adobe® Photoshop® software") [1], but that doesn't stop people from using it as such anyway. The presence of an extra 's' doesn't impair meaning and focusing on it tends to be a distraction. [1] http://www.adobe.com/legal/permissions/trademarks.html#photo...

LEGO used to have a large notice on their site, similar to that one:

“The word LEGO is a brand name, and is very special to all of us in the LEGO Group Companies. We would sincerely like your help in keeping it special. Please always refer to our products as “LEGO bricks or toys” and not “LEGOS.” By doing so, you will be helping to protect and preserve a brand of which we are very proud, and that stands for quality the world over. Thank you!”

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