Mr Hobbles Posted March 28, 2009 So I was just lurking in Trains & Town as I usually do, and thought I would catch up with the Emerald Night post. Lo and behold, what do I find, but a really cool video describing how LEGO came up with the idea for the set! (Link) This got me thinking about how cool it would be if TLG followed the lead of all those other companies and opened up their business to the outside world; becoming more transparent by showing off videos and blogging some of their inner workings. How they come up with their sets, the ideas behind them, and showing off sneak previews in both video form and images in blogs. They've certainly started going down this route, but I'd love to see more! An official TLG blog would be awesome, maybe with a weekly or monthly video podcast showing their new sets and inside sneaks of the company. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
prateek Posted March 28, 2009 the blog and podcast ideas are great Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peppermint_M Posted March 28, 2009 Sadly Lego don't hold a lot of patents on the functional design of the brick (like some more "transparent" companies do) so they can't give us sneak peaks over the interwebs or let us look at the innner workings for fear a rival will produce a clone or near clone of a product. It would be very cool if they could do this with sets and themes after they are a well known addition to the Lego range. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Hobbles Posted March 28, 2009 It would be very cool if they could do this with sets and themes after they are a well known addition to the Lego range. Even that's a great idea, they've already done this with Emerald Night. The set has been known about for some time and they've now released a video. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skipper 24 Posted March 29, 2009 Thanks for the video link. I think a podcast would be good with the videos available on You Tube (HD) in conjunction with a blog. They have already done some set previews like on the Power Miners site and building echnques on the creator site. I wouldn't mind seeing them for more themes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cavannus Posted March 30, 2009 I agree that Lego shows a certain lack in terms of social media to meet fan's expectations. There are probably several factors: the existing collaborative fan network (EB, Brickset, Brickshelf, BL, etc.) has been very well implemented for a while; this works very well and costs nothing for Lego Lego has always seemed to watch tendencies before investing money into a new line: they look web-retarded but I'm sure they aren't that much Lego is an old classic brand which counts on its reputation and the quality of its product rather than investing a lot of money in advertising, so they probably don't see the benefits of managing more collaborative features Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eilif Posted March 30, 2009 I'd love to see some of the things that Mr Hobbes mentioned, but I don't forsee it happening soon. TLG is a very secretive company. Yes, things slip out, but rarely more than a few months ahead of time, and TLG keeps a very tight lid on anything that's more than 6 months away from release or pre-order. However, it should be noted that TLG is taking some very small steps in the direction of fan interaction and transparency. They have given a couple of sneak-peaks and interviews to Brick-Journal Magazine, and they make an effort to do their unveiling of new products at LEGO fan events. They've even begun to involve fan's and fan feedback into sets like Hobby train, Market street, Star Justice, Space Skulls, Custom Car Garage, etc... I think there might be a time where TLG has a tightly controled blog presence, however, if you're hoping for a Blog about TLG insider info, it ain't gonna happen... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joebot Posted March 31, 2009 I think it's a great point. TLC doesn't seem to yet realize how this new-fangled "interwebs" thing works. Sending cease-and-desist letters to websites that are hosting confidential pictures has no effect. It just irritates people -- and usually those people are their biggest fans and consumers! So instead of fighting to maintain a strict veil of secrecy, why not give us some sneak peeks? Tease us with a few cryptic images for a while, and get us all worked up into a lather of speculative frenzy. We'll do the marketing for them by spreading the word and driving more visitors to their website. They have an amy of fans ready to and willing to evangelize their product for them, and yet they often treat us like the enemy. I realize things have gotten better in the past year or two with the fan events and the community ambassadors, but there's so much more they could be doing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bricks Posted March 31, 2009 I agree an official 'LEGO-Blog' would be really awesome. But we have already seen some insider videos... ...check them out here: -The secret vault [all sets from the last 50 years...] -The birthplace of minifigures [how did they get produced] -The Factory [some impressions from the 'interior'] -How a Stormtrooper gets eyes [the imprinting of minifigures] 'Bricks' Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
