Unpopular Opinions about LEGO

[koalayummies]

22 minutes ago, danth said:

Meh, that's on them, not us. Maybe they should put "LEGO Bricks" on the box. Or make other toys that aren't bricks so we'd have to specify.

Agreed. Millions of people say legos. There's also no "bluish gray" or "bright light yellow" but the same dogmatism that's constantly applied to the company's name is for some reason not applied to other official Lego terminology. And that's also still on them because they now own bricklink and can finally fix that. Till then legos are cool.

[JaBaCaDaBra]

1 hour ago, danth said:

Meh, that's on them, not us. Maybe they should put "LEGO Bricks" on the box. Or make other toys that aren't bricks so we'd have to specify.

Wat car do you own?
F.A. a Ford
So you drive your Fords?

Quite respectless reaction anyway.

[Aanchir]

On 11/4/2021 at 1:28 AM, Lego David said:

The thing is, I am really starting to question the LEGO Ideas 10k system. From what I can see, most people who vote for those creations are just looking around the site, and just press the "support" button because they think it looks cool, but have no real interest in buying it. With so many LEGO Ideas projects reaching 10k those days, it is hard to see it any other way. 

There is a big difference between simply pressing a button and spending 300$+ dollars on a set. 

People have been saying this since nearly the very beginning of the Ideas platform. It was a common refrain in response to the Minecraft set, the first one approved after the platform went global — because why would Minecraft fans want to pay MONEY for a plastic toy version of a digital play experience they already own? And yet the sales of Ideas sets have remained strong enough for LEGO to continue investing in the program year after year. The Minecraft set in particular sold well enough to pave the way for an entire Minecraft theme.

LEGO has also gained enough confidence in the platform to release Ideas sets at higher price points than in the past — but even now, hardly any have even approached the sort of $300 price point you mention in your comment. And many of the larger Ideas sets like the Saturn V, Old Fishing Store, Medieval Blacksmith, Voltron, Tree House, Pirates of Barracuda Bay, have proven quite popular among AFOLs!

So certainly, online support isn't a flawless predictor for what will actually end up selling. But coupled with LEGO's own insights that they use to narrow down which projects to approve as sets, the process has clearly been reliable enough to earn LEGO's continued support. So I'm not sure why the refrain of Ideas project supporters not being reflective of actual LEGO buyers continues to be brought up as if it's a perspective LEGO has never considered or questioned themselves.

You're right that there have been an increasing number of projects reaching 10,000 supporters. That doesn't mean supporters of those projects are any less earnest about their willingness to buy those sets than supporters of earlier projects. After all, there are still typically only one or two projects approved per review period, so it's not like a person who supports a dozen projects a year is expected to make room in their budget for every single one of them — just for whichever happen to be selected.

And since so few Ideas projects actually get approved or released as sets per year, it's not like stricter LEGO Ideas qualifications would somehow remedy your concerns about LEGO "flooding the market" with 18+ sets. If anything, a larger pool of candidates in each review period boosts LEGO's likelihood of pinpointing one or two that seem to be a safe bet by other metrics besides their supporter count.

[RichardGoring]

5 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

People have been saying this since nearly the very beginning of the Ideas platform. It was a common refrain in response to the Minecraft set, the first one approved after the platform went global — because why would Minecraft fans want to pay MONEY for a plastic toy version of a digital play experience they already own? And yet the sales of Ideas sets have remained strong enough for LEGO to continue investing in the program year after year. The Minecraft set in particular sold well enough to pave the way for an entire Minecraft theme.

LEGO has also gained enough confidence in the platform to release Ideas sets at higher price points than in the past — but even now, hardly any have even approached the sort of $300 price point you mention in your comment. And many of the larger Ideas sets like the Saturn V, Old Fishing Store, Medieval Blacksmith, Voltron, Tree House, Pirates of Barracuda Bay, have proven quite popular among AFOLs!

So certainly, online support isn't a flawless predictor for what will actually end up selling. But coupled with LEGO's own insights that they use to narrow down which projects to approve as sets, the process has clearly been reliable enough to earn LEGO's continued support. So I'm not sure why the refrain of Ideas project supporters not being reflective of actual LEGO buyers continues to be brought up as if it's a perspective LEGO has never considered or questioned themselves.

You're right that there have been an increasing number of projects reaching 10,000 supporters. That doesn't mean supporters of those projects are any less earnest about their willingness to buy those sets than supporters of earlier projects. After all, there are still typically only one or two projects approved per review period, so it's not like a person who supports a dozen projects a year is expected to make room in their budget for every single one of them — just for whichever happen to be selected.

And since so few Ideas projects actually get approved or released as sets per year, it's not like stricter LEGO Ideas qualifications would somehow remedy your concerns about LEGO "flooding the market" with 18+ sets. If anything, a larger pool of candidates in each review period boosts LEGO's likelihood of pinpointing one or two that seem to be a safe bet by other metrics besides their supporter count.

It's Friday afternoon, so I'll be a bit cheeky. I think that the common complaint for the Ideas threshold being 10,000 is that too many projects get to review, but only a tiny proportion are chosen. AFOLs want more of them produced.

And another complaint is that they often 'dumb down' the sets. Barracuda Bay was different (although not really smaller), The Medieval Blacksmith was simpler, 123 Sesame Street was much smaller. AFOLs want bigger sets.

And then the BrickLink Design Program came along and offered up to 15 sets from 30 past Ideas projects, and most are really big. And then we found out the prices of large sets and everyone went nuts at 'having to' spent $1000 on five huge sets all at once.

Turns out, AFOLs like to complain. As do I. 

It's fun and generates (hopefully lighthearted and entertaining) discussion.

[RichardGoring]

3 hours ago, koalayummies said:

Agreed. Millions of people say legos. There's also no "bluish gray" or "bright light yellow" but the same dogmatism that's constantly applied to the company's name is for some reason not applied to other official Lego terminology. And that's also still on them because they now own bricklink and can finally fix that. Till then legos are cool.

I agree that it's on them, but I do wonder how it started. It only appears to be people in America who say LEGOs. I've never heard anyone from Europe say it.

[metalgeekzy]

21 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

I agree that it's on them, but I do wonder how it started. It only appears to be people in America who say LEGOs. I've never heard anyone from Europe say it.

I am American and I guess it just kina makes sense to me? 

 

Like if I go to the store. I did not buy Lego. I bought Legos. Cause. You know. More then 1 Lego comes in a set. If I dumped out all my bricks in a pile I would not have a pile of Lego. I would have a pile of Legos. Because there would be more then 1. If I started sorting my collection. I would be sorting my Legos. Lego bricks seems redundant to me. So....I have Legos.

[Toastie]

28 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

I've never heard anyone from Europe say it.

Well European here.

I believe that that perception may not be entirely correct. When parents go to a toy store in my "region", without a clue what to buy for their kids, but have heard somewhere that some plastic building blocks may even be of educational value (for their kids) but they have never ever been to that section of - let's say - the department store, they'll ask at the reception desk (or cashier, or any one running around looking remotely like an official): "Haben Sie Legos"? Or: "Wo finde ich denn die Legos?" For sure. I have tons of Legos up here. Well, I refer to the whole diversity bricks as Legos. I also believe that many others - at least in this part of Europe - do that as well. 

The best part is, that even when other boxes with "construction elements compatible" with other brands ;) they are very often referred to as Legos. Which is - maybe - why TLG doesn't want us to call their bricks Legos, but LEGO bricks. It doesn't make any difference to many - well not so purist folks - as TLG has - by application of myriads of filed patents and prosecution of patent violations - that the term "Legos" has become a synonym for LEGO bricks. And for decades that was >more< than OK - because parents asking:"Do you have Legos?" were directed to shelves with boxes made by the LEGO group.

Things have changed ... and naturally they now have to ask: "Wo bitte finde ich denn die Sets der LEGO Gruppe?". You know what: I have never ever heard somebody asking that, never. I am also pretty sure that these folks have mostly no clue what the "LEGO Gruppe", "LEGO Group", "The LEGO group" is. They know: Legos.

I have a (remote) feeling that TLG built something up, which worked for decades. But - well - time goes by (so slowly, as Madonna knows).

Just my two cents, what do I know, I just work here.

All the best and have a nice weekend,
Thorsten

           

[danth]

4 hours ago, JaBaCaDaBra said:

Wat car do you own?
F.A. a Ford
So you drive your Fords?

Quite respectless reaction anyway.

Huh?

[Peppermint_M]

It sounds weird to UK ears. Legos just sounds, well, not to mince words. Stupid. Like saying Sheeps. 

 

 

[Toastie]

44 minutes ago, Peppermint_M said:

Stupid. Like saying Sheeps.

What's wrong with Sheeps? One sheep. Many sheep. Gazillion sheeps ... . There is also good, better, best - and of course - The Bestest. And then: A lab course is called a Praktikum in German, as all here know, and many of such courses are "Pratika". Now, when you are in your 10th semester and haven't managed to get your BSc degree, you certainly have repeated many "Praktikas" - which is of course language nonsense.

All this is certainly a language thing. It was just that @RichardGoring thought that "Legos" is an US thing (as far as I understood), but for sure it is also a well-used German "term". You are saying it sounds weird in the UK ... I love that!

Now, when the average (as in not The True LEGO Company AFOL) goes into a not-LEGO store - just into an arbitrary LEGO boxes storing store: What would they ask to find the LEGO boxes section?

[I am really curious. I like such things. My daughter is studying "Theoretical" German Language - and I must say: It is very compelling to me (as a physical chemist).]

All the best,
Thorsten

Edited November 5, 2021 by Toastie
Was born in 1962. Current post: #1964. Oh my. But: running up my years. 1965 will be: Got my first LEGO set ...

[Peppermint_M]

 

1 minute ago, Toastie said:

LEGO boxes storing store: What would they ask to find the LEGO boxes section?

Personally, I would ask the staff where the Lego is kept. Maybe I would ask for Building Toys (As Meccano, K'nex etc are usually grouped with the LEGO and other brick brands) but even in stores that do not stock LEGO but have their own similar thing (Wilko, a sort of Hardware/Everything store in the UK, has its own brand of bricks) will say that they don't have Lego, but they do have "xx Bricks that fit with LEGO." 

I've never encountered anyone really calling building bricks "Legos" or even bricks not branded with LEGO as Lego.

This may be my own peculiar part of the world 

[timemail]

Legos is common where I am (South Australia) for any building brick. A supermarket called Woolworths here recently had a generic building brick giveaway which everyone who I know was referring to Woolworths/Woolies Legos. Oh. And they all pronounce it Lay-go / Lay-gos - I have never heard it pronounced correctly from anyone here. I always call it Lay-go but don't put the S on the end.
I would note that I don't know anyone else who collects Lego as a hobby so the people I am referring to are all non-Lego fans.

There are many brand names used to refer to a product type over here (e.g. Texta = marker, Esky = cooler box, Band-Aid = sticking plaster, and the list goes on).

Edited November 5, 2021 by timemail

[Toastie]

1 hour ago, Peppermint_M said:

I would ask the staff where the Lego is kept

So it is the ending "s", isn't it? "The Lego" is singular to you, as a type of things, whereas I am thinking of a plurality of bricks in the boxes, "the Legos". Could that be it?

I really like this discussion. It tells a lot (good things)!

All the best,
Thorsten

 

[Darkdragon]

It really boils down to two things: TLG has asked people not to use "Legos" and the word LEGO is a brand not an item.

Since Toastie is posted just above me, I'll pick on you

Let's say for the sake of argument that Toastie created a really popular line of wallets.  Now parents are going into stores and kids are collecting the wallets.  Of course, there will be some people to day "check out how many Toasties I have" but that's not really proper at all. It should be "check out how many Toastie wallets I have" since Toastie is the brand and wallets is the product.

When someone says Toasties, not only does the brand get watered down because what if they are looking at a Gucci wallet and saying "check out that blue toastie". They also inherently are ignoring all the other products Toastie has created like belts and shoes!

So even if you don't care that TLG has kindly requested people not to use the term, using the work Legos to mean "LEGO sets" also becomes confusing because there are other items such as: books, stationary, clothing, plushies, keychains, WHATEVER

Ok, that's all from me on this topic.  have fun peoples

[Lego David]

From their own words, they asked people to refer to them as "LEGO Bricks" which honestly sounds really cheesy to me. As far as I am concerned, "LEGO Bricks" is a super outdated term that doesn't really describe how most LEGO pieces currently look like. Despite average people when thinking about LEGO, "bricks" or "blocks" instantly come to mind, to me, this makes me think more of the pre-70's LEGO instead of the LEGO of today. The system has evolved so much over the years, that now, it is widely inaccurate to refer to LEGO as simply "bricks". 

 

Edited November 6, 2021 by Lego David

[MAB]

5 hours ago, Toastie said:

So it is the ending "s", isn't it? "The Lego" is singular to you, as a type of things, whereas I am thinking of a plurality of bricks in the boxes, "the Legos". Could that be it?

I really like this discussion. It tells a lot (good things)!

All the best,
Thorsten

 

Like if we ask where is the meat or milk or bread or flour or tea or coffee or fruit. We do ask where are the vegetables or newspapers, but not where are the meats or milks or breads.

[Stuartn]

10 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

I agree that it's on them, but I do wonder how it started. It only appears to be people in America who say LEGOs. I've never heard anyone from Europe say it.

South Australians say L’ay’GO, so I am told

Edit: that point has already been made, I should read these forums properly first.

Edited November 6, 2021 by Stuartn

[timemail]

When it comes down to it language constantly changes and evolves and a single company certainly isn't going to change it at their will. I mean many people speak English, yet there are many variations between countries, states, provinces etc. This variation is both to how it is spoken, how it is written, and how words are used or formed.

In reality it is a testament to the product that it is used to describe all bricks by many people and surely that would be of more benefit to the company than being a company whose brand is simply not known.

If some people see a Lego as being a single brick, and Legos being multiple bricks then so be it. Is it really that confusing that we don't know what people are talking about or can't ask a clarifying question. I think it is just standard pedantry which is often seen on the internet.

I would note that I come from a country that shortens or lengthens so many words that it really doesn't matter to us what a company thinks, many companies realise that what is important is any good publicity, and if your brand doesn't suit your environment, then adjust your brand to suit. McDonalds is a great example where much of their branding here is now Maccas simply because that is how they are known. If you try to force your customers to change rather than accepting that sometimes you need to change then you are going to fight a losing battle.

Edit. Beyond the screenshot earlier I haven't seen anything from Lego trying to stop people misusing their name (protecting their IP from other companies is another matter). I suspect this is more fans trying to change others behaviour rather than Lego trying to change it.

Edited November 6, 2021 by timemail

[MAB]

2 minutes ago, timemail said:

In reality it is a testament to the product that it is used to describe all bricks by many people and surely that would be of more benefit to the company than being a company whose brand is simply not known.

It is not necessarily a good thing, although clearly better than being unknown. LEGO don't want their name to mean any building brick as then the LEGO section in a store could contain Megabloks and Cobi but not necessarily any LEGO. They don't want people to ask for LEGO and get another brand, It is just like Google do not want their name to mean do an Internet search, as in I googled it with Bing.

[RichardGoring]

7 hours ago, Toastie said:

All this is certainly a language thing. It was just that @RichardGoring thought that "Legos" is an US thing (as far as I understood), but for sure it is also a well-used German "term". You are saying it sounds weird in the UK ... I love that!

Fascinating. Maybe it's mainly a UK/Danish only thing, which would be incredible.

[timemail]

5 minutes ago, MAB said:

It is not necessarily a good thing, although clearly better than being unknown. LEGO don't want their name to mean any building brick as then the LEGO section in a store could contain Megabloks and Cobi but not necessarily any LEGO. They don't want people to ask for LEGO and get another brand, It is just like Google do not want their name to mean do an Internet search, as in I googled it with Bing.

I do agree. I hate being given Pepsi when I order Coke and return it every time. That being said the benefit to having your company being THE company must be greater than being unknown. I would think that Google would rather any internet search being called Googling than being called DuckDuckGoing whether it was through their engine or not.

In terms of Lego, if people go into a shop and ask where the Legos are and are shown generic construction blocks because they have no Lego then sure Lego may lose a sale. But if they have Lego that is where they will be taken. The consumer may buy a random brand set due to price or theme or something else but if they really want Lego most people would be able to tell that the one which says Lego is the one they want.

If a store was actively promoting Megablocks as Lego that is a complete other thing and should be cracked down on. IP infringement by companies is a separate thing to a trademark being used in the common vernacular by regular people.

[Peppermint_M]

8 hours ago, Toastie said:

So it is the ending "s", isn't it? "The Lego" is singular to you, as a type of things, whereas I am thinking of a plurality of bricks in the boxes, "the Legos". Could that be it?

I really like this discussion. It tells a lot (good things)!

All the best,
Thorsten

 

Yep! That last little S just sounds silly to my dialect, locally no one at all says it, I can't vouch for the rest of the UK, as we cant even agree on what to call a bread roll.

The contents of the box could be Lego Bricks, or Minifigures, or Technic. But the product is Lego, the contents will never be Legos. (I shudder to type it ). Maybe it is the fact that there were few to no competitor brands for a long time, as my parents generation had Lego, what you could call their Babysitters (two lovely "aunties" I have, who were about ten to 13 years older than them) had Lego. The first easily available competitor brands were of very low quality or a very different thing (Betta Builder was very different in aspects. Best Lock was noticeably poor quality with weird figures) so people don't lump all bricks into one "Legos" but want a quality product.

[Pinnacle]

For Dutch people, “legos” sounds very strange, and I have never seen one Dutch person who uses the word legos. I may have tons of LEGO-bricks or LEGO-parts. But I have still LEGO ( singular). Because it is a brand name. And not the name of the parts themselves.

But I don’t know how it is in other European country’s.

[danth]

You know...

The real thing that endangers a trademark is when people use it to describe other brand's products incorrectly. That's what happened to Xerox, Taser, Escalator, etc.

Like if everyone called every small SUV a "jeep". That's what I used to do when I was a dumb kid. A Suzuki Samurai was a "jeep" to me. Same with an old Toyota Range Rover. They looked like Jeeps, so they were jeeps to me.

Or Tupperware. Any old plastic container is "tupperware" to me unless I'm really thinking about it.

So instead of asking us to say something stupid like "LEGO ® brand building bricks™" in casual conversation, maybe just ask us to not refer to other brand's bricks as Lego.

Except I'm pretty sure no fan of Lego would do that anyway.

Edited November 6, 2021 by danth

[metalgeekzy]

40 minutes ago, danth said:

So instead of asking us to say something stupid like "LEGO ® brand building bricks™" in casual conversation, maybe just ask us to not refer to other brand's bricks as Lego.

Except I'm pretty sure no fan of Lego would do that anyway.

I was just thinking about this in the shower. Deep thoughts in the shower. 

If i say i am sorting my Legos. I am not talking about any other building toy or whatever. I am sorting my building bricks, is another thing. If i say Legos, i mean lego. Legos=Lego. 

I mean, is anyone actually confused when someone says Legos?

Additionally, i have seen a few threads on this forum talking about knockoff Chinese motors and what not. So is the goal here to talk about building and mocs and insperation ect ect, or respecting The Lego Group and how they want there plastic bits and pieces be talked about? If you build a MOC with just mega blocks, are you any less of a builder?