Is LEGO Entering Another Experimental Era?

[Lego David]

The late 90's and early 2000's are infamously known as "the dark ages" because at that time, LEGO was experimenting with all sorts of obscure products, with hit or miss (mostly miss) results. After 2005 though, this "dark age" came to an end, and LEGO stopped experimenting. Today, I feel like they have stared to enter another Experimental Era, although in a different fashion then previously. Now days, they have started to experiment with mixing Digital and Physical Play together. Ultra Agents, Dimensions, Nexo Knights, and most notably, Hidden Side, tried combing those two types of play together. Whether those attempts have been successful or not though, it's hard to tell. But, for the time being, it seems like LEGO will keep experimenting with Digital Play until either they strike a big success or a big flop. The upcoming theme "Monkey Kid" is also rumored to have an AR feature like Hidden Side, so we will see how that goes.

So what do you think? Is LEGO entering in the 2nd Experimental Era? 

 

 

Edited February 29, 2020 by Lego David

[Medzomorak]

Without a doubt. Only that TLG's perspective is more established now. They have stricter principles.

Also the digital revolution had become somewhat constant for the past years. Something very drastic should come in virtual/augmented reality to push Lego again into very grey areas.

The 2000's were experimental for the whole world. Take just the phones, cars, gadgets, movies. Everything was designed in an experimental, quite romantic but junkie way. Everything aged very bad from that era, evan the 90s things seem to be more refined at the moment.

For example, take the iconic Porshe 911:

The 2000's version looks like some plastic toy compared to old ones. Also everything had to be super curvy and futuristic because that was the trendy thing.

Also like the Testarossa is considered much more iconic today then the Maranello:

Or just think about great practical effects against 2000's horrible CGI. Take the music clips. They're laughable.

Take the phones, a very overused example: 

I said romantic because nothing was alike, every product wanted to be more shiny and cool etc. This is what experimental truly means. Caused very big animals to cease existing so it did not come free. We are living now in a more minimalist and uniform era. Which one is better is subjective naturally. 

In my eyes, today's Lego apps are already clumsy and cheap but time itself will be better judge of this.

Edited February 29, 2020 by Medzomorak

[Mylenium]

3 hours ago, Lego David said:

it seems like LEGO will keep experimenting with Digital Play until either they strike a big success or a big flop.

Let me be blunt: LEGO is utterly clueless about digital business. We don't even need to wait for Hidden Side or the Control+ apps to implode on itself, we already have a graveyard of failed digital projects from lackluster games to Dimensions. I have serious doubts that anything good will ever come from it and to me that's just expensive stuff they are burning money on without ever making it back. And it's not like the world is waiting for LEGO to compete in the gaming markets. The same could be said in the "trashy creative toy" markets for Dots. So if we're talking experimentation, they clearly have the wrong priorities as far as I'm concerned and that's what makes me sad. There's still so much potential elsewhere, it just seems nobody at LEGO is able to see it...

Mylenium

[Driver Brandon Grumman]

Im a City fan. The golden age of that theme was in 2006 to 2009 in my honest opinion. That's when I would save up my money and buy almost everything. Nowadays, I only buy if its reasonable - so I almost only buy from the Town and Great Vehicles subthemes. I haven't MOCed in a while. Nor do I have enough bricks to do so.

Personally, I think the 2010s was the experimental age as thats where a lot of confusion was. It wasn't as much confusion as it was during the Town Jr era, but it was enough. I don't speak for everyone. I speak from my own experience. So don't flame or challenge what I say. 

Edited February 29, 2020 by Brandon Pea

[KotZ]

4 hours ago, Brandon Pea said:

Personally, I think the 2010s was the experimental age as thats where a lot of confusion was. It wasn't as much confusion as it was during the Town Jr era, but it was enough.

I agree, and I definitely see the 2010s as a mini experimental phase overall. It's the rise of smartphones, apps, etc where TLG is trying to figure out what works in the new age with these kids that have grown up only knowing the internet and smart phones. Maybe not as weird as some of the late 90s and early 2000s experiment/weird. Just in a different way.

[Driver Brandon Grumman]

2 minutes ago, KotZ said:

I agree, and I definitely see the 2010s as a mini experimental phase overall. It's the rise of smartphones, apps, etc where TLG is trying to figure out what works in the new age with these kids that have grown up only knowing the internet and smart phones. Maybe not as weird as some of the late 90s and early 2000s experiment/weird. Just in a different way.

Hahahahaaaaaa! I see what you did there.....and this is also the era where the Honda Civic began to look ugly ASF. 

Edited February 29, 2020 by Brandon Pea

[KotZ]

Just now, Brandon Pea said:

Hahahahaaaaaa! I see what you did there.....and this is also the era where the Honda Civic began to look ugly asf.

I mean, late 90s had Slizers, throwbots, and then in early 2000s we had... Galidor... Bionicle was weird but it was a hit (I love Bionicle, btw). In the 2010s we have Hidden Side (while not weird, is definitely experimental), soft reboots of old themes like Bionicle G2, etc.

I'd say it's a trend of LEGO knowing what they can do well, and trying to figure out how to expand it elsewhere, unlkike earlier experimental periods that may have been more "Well, what can we try to do? Does this even work?"

[MAB]

They have always experimented. Introduction of maxi-figs in Homemaker type sets, minifigures, light and sound bricks, Bionicle, Galidor, doing licensed sets. Even doing plastic bricks instead of wooden toys was an experiment. Some experiments take off, others don't.I

The problem with app based toys is that they are superseded very quickly as technology is fast changing.

[Driver Brandon Grumman]

Just now, KotZ said:

I'd say it's a trend of LEGO knowing what they can do well, and trying to figure out how to expand it elsewhere, unlkike earlier experimental periods that may have been more "Well, what can we try to do? Does this even work?"

I always loved Lego for that. I try to give my ideas for City sets based on what's already there and exploiting it to its fullest advantage. 

[Driver Brandon Grumman]

So...in a way....we've actually just exited an experimental era. 

[meliander]

I think Lego should invest more into products such as Mindstorms, this is the great place to combine physical and digital. I don't think we have enough of that. Also, Technic could be more advanced in that area. While I don't personally have issues with Hidden Side (I neither like nor dislike the sets), as a parent, I would never buy AR sets for my child, because at least as I see it - the whole point of playing with Lego nowadays is getting kids away from the screens.

[Lego David]

14 hours ago, MAB said:

The problem with app based toys is that they are superseded very quickly as technology is fast changing.

Exactly! Most of the apps LEGO has released in the past 7 years or so aren't even playable anymore. 

Edited March 1, 2020 by Lego David

[Lyichir]

I would say probably not, if only because the innovations of today aren't necessarily that much more of a leap than those of past years. Yes, today we have the Hidden Side app, but before that came the Nexo Knights app; before that, the Ultra Agents app and "app bricks", before that, experiments like Lego Fusion and Life of George. Lego has had a small staff focused on the sorts of bleeding edge concepts and gimmicks for decades—the "Futura" department dates all the way back to the 50s and was responsible for early developments like rubber tires and Lego Duplo as well as more recent concepts ranging from the computer game tie-in of Rock Raiders to the spinner game gimmick of Ninjago to these newer tech-driven themes.

So really what's changed isn't a willingness to experiment, but rather the form those experiments take. And that changes constantly depending on trends, fads, and the parallel advancement of non-Lego media and technologies. Some of these experiments are hugely successful, such as the Bionicle, Friends, and Ninjago themes. Some enjoy moderate but not lasting success, such as Lego Dimensions or Lego Exo-Force. And some utterly fail to make an impact and are quickly forgotten, like Lego Fusion. What's important is that Lego is reactive and nimble, taking into account the successes and failures and factoring the lessons learned from those into future experiments and innovations.

[Masked Mini]

I think TLG like any corporate entity is always in an experimental era. It's either continuous R&D and experimentation or stagnation-irrelevance in the market place-corporate death. The market as a whole never sleeps and if you take a nap you only allow the competition to gain an edge on you.

You may be noticing the current crop of YOLOs more than the trial balloons sent up by TLG in previous years. Case in point, CUUSOO; kind of low visibility, didn't really work out. But revamped and re-released as IDEAS, they are making and selling blockbuster sets that fly off the shelves for the most part. You need constant experimentation to find new ways to capture consumer attention and push sales.

[Vindicare]

On 2/29/2020 at 3:11 PM, GREG998 said:

Imo, Lego should stay away from digital thing ala Hidden side. That's why i consider Hidden Side pointless, it's like 3D movies....it has had its 2 years of glory then almost vanished. Some things simply don't mix, as oil and water.

Lego is a tangible product , perhaps one of the most one earth cause you can create ANYTHING with. Digital is dematerialized. You can't touch it, you can't feel the clutch.....it's the antithesys of Lego.

So Lego tries to mix unmixable things......why not, but it smells desires of a marketing crew barely knowing what is lego. If it works, why not.........but it'll for sure fail.

Hidden Side is far from pointless. I have quite a few sets & never once even thought of getting the app. The sets I have, graveyard, boat, shack, bus, & buggy. The builds have been what you’d expect from LEGO, nothing was affected because of the app side of it. Some stupid for the set color choices, but that doesn’t take way from the build or set. The minifigs have been especially great. The possession aspect is very cool & well done. They’ve given us some great new parts & prints. 

23 hours ago, meliander said:

I think Lego should invest more into products such as Mindstorms, this is the great place to combine physical and digital. I don't think we have enough of that. Also, Technic could be more advanced in that area. While I don't personally have issues with Hidden Side (I neither like nor dislike the sets), as a parent, I would never buy AR sets for my child, because at least as I see it - the whole point of playing with Lego nowadays is getting kids away from the screens.

Can’t really fault TLG for the move, those damn phones are an extension of too many folks these days. As you see above, I don’t think the sets are missing anything by not having the app attached to them. I reckon it may be harder to persuade a kid to just play with a LEGO set when they know that particular set has an app that will enhance the play of it. 

[MAB]

20 hours ago, Masked Mini said:

You may be noticing the current crop of YOLOs more than the trial balloons sent up by TLG in previous years. Case in point, CUUSOO; kind of low visibility, didn't really work out. But revamped and re-released as IDEAS, they are making and selling blockbuster sets that fly off the shelves for the most part. You need constant experimentation to find new ways to capture consumer attention and push sales.

LEGO did not  set up CUUSOO. It was an existing company that ran crowd funding in Japan. They partnered in the early days of LEGO CUUSOO, first only in Japan then worldwide. However, I don't really know what you mean by it didn't really work out. Look at the sets produced once it went global: Minecraft, Back to the Future, Ghostbusters ECTO-1 and the Mars Rover.

 

[Masked Mini]

2 hours ago, MAB said:

LEGO did not  set up CUUSOO. It was an existing company that ran crowd funding in Japan. They partnered in the early days of LEGO CUUSOO, first only in Japan then worldwide. However, I don't really know what you mean by it didn't really work out. Look at the sets produced once it went global: Minecraft, Back to the Future, Ghostbusters ECTO-1 and the Mars Rover.

 

Huh. I didn't know any of that. That's an unexpectedly large hole in my knowledge. I'll need to reevaluate my position on this.

[Lego David]

With those weird Super Mario sets coming up, I am now 100% convinced that LEGO has indeed entered in it's 2nd experimental era.

[Driver Brandon Grumman]

Well......

 

[TeriXeri]

Still looks a whole lot more fun then Phone based Augmented Reality.

I'm glad LEGO is not going all digital video game on it.

And it still doesn't rule out Minifigs or other types of sets along the 14 sets, we'll see.

If we look at Minecraft for example, over the years it went from microscale, to minifig, to Brickheadz and now other brick-built figures, and I don't think this will be just a 1 wave thing.

Edited March 12, 2020 by TeriXeri

[koalayummies]

2 hours ago, Brandon Pea said:

Well......

Brothers from another brick implying that Mario figure is overweight when it looks just like a Brickheadz.

[Driver Brandon Grumman]

@koalayummies I've known BFAB for a long time and he's got good intentions and brings up good points in a lot of his videos. I don't believe he intended to get at anyone or anything. Look at it as this! He's challenging his fans to come up with a good reason on why he SHOULD buy these. 

Edited March 12, 2020 by Brandon Pea