City taking a break from rescue based sets? You've got to be joking!

[The Brick Boss]

So...I just saw the toy book website that Lego is pulling back on rescue toys due to the protests and George Floyd situation. What do you think of this? 

https://toybook.com/lego-pulling-back-potentially-sensitive-product-amid-george-floyd-protests/

Edited June 4, 2020 by Brandon Pea

[Trekkie99]

Probably just a business thing. Better safe than sorry. Yes Lego City is meant to be a perfect utopia unlike real life, but people might not know or care about that and will get a bad taste in their mouth when they walk down the toy aisle at walmart. The only problem I could see with is it sort of makes it seem like they're saying all cops are bad or even the idea of cops is bad, but honestly we shouldn't be the ones apologizing.

[icm]

Probably a good idea to take Police sets off the shelves at this time.  They'll probably be back in a few months.

[Trekkie99]

This probably belongs in general BTW.

[The Brick Boss]

3 minutes ago, Trekkie99 said:

This probably belongs in general BTW.

Yeah! Thanks for letting me know. I wish I could switch it over. 

[TeriXeri]

Not sure why Fire sets would be included.

 

[The Brick Boss]

3 minutes ago, TeriXeri said:

Not sure why Fire sets would be included.

Ikr! The fire brigade started the City theme. Heck, the first ever game on the Lego City website was a fire game. It was called "Fire Truck Challenge". 

[leafan]

1 hour ago, Brandon Pea said:

So...I just saw the toy book website that Lego is pulling back on police toys due to the protests and George Floyd situation. Now for those of you who know me well, I was the one that proposed that Lego do a police free year for City. But I didn't necessarily want them to do it because someone got hurt. I guess Lego is contemplating this just for right now as they don't want to unintentionally remind children of the issues going on with the police. But let me know your thoughts. 

https://toybook.com/lego-pulling-back-potentially-sensitive-product-amid-george-floyd-protests/

When I read your post heading I assumed it was because they're sick of pumping out the same City Police sets year after year, so this was a surprise.

After reading the article, the email and the updated direct statement from TLG, I'm a little concerned and confused.

I sort of understand not *advertising* the police and criminal sets, even though I think it's a bit silly. But why is The White House architecture set on there? It seems like they're taking a political leaning with that, rather than just trying to protect kids.

Edited June 3, 2020 by leafan

[TeriXeri]

16 minutes ago, Brandon Pea said:

Ikr! The fire brigade started the City theme. Heck, the first ever game on the Lego City website was a fire game. It was called "Fire Truck Challenge". 

Maybe the listed Fire sets might have to do with water cannons sometimes being used on rioters as those newer sets also include water cannons and water stud/tile shooters.

Also the Duplo Fire sets aren't listed , which don't have projectile

But the Duplo Police sets are listed.

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by TeriXeri

[The Brick Boss]

But if they stop production of emergency based sets indefinitely, what will they do with City as a whole? City thrives off of that kind of stuff. What sets will they make then? They have to make money off of these sets. 

My argument was never about whether the emergency sets should be there. It was really the overdoing of police.

No side really wins by cutting emergency sets. KFOLs don't win because they won't be able to catch a criminal, fight a fire or save a life for a while and AFOLs don't win because.....well....what if there are AFOLs that collect those kinds of sets? It's kind of a lose lose situation here. 

[TeriXeri]

9 minutes ago, Brandon Pea said:

But if they stop production of emergency based sets indefinitely, what will they do with City as a whole? City thrives off of that kind of stuff. What sets will they make then? They have to make money off of these sets. 

I think the wording LEGO used, looks like it's a pause to advertising/promotional material, and not strictly stopping the entire selling of those sets.

Edited June 3, 2020 by TeriXeri

[The Brick Boss]

6 minutes ago, TeriXeri said:

I think the wording LEGO used, looks like it's a pause to advertising/promotional material, and not strictly stopping the entire selling of those sets.

Hmmm.....I guess the question now is.....how are children going to know that the sets are out there without advertising? 

[danth]

Quote

UPDATE: A spokesperson for the LEGO Group responded to our request for comment with the following statement:

“We requested that our affiliate partners refrain from posting promotional LEGO content as part of our decision to respect #BlackOutTuesday and pause posting content on our social media channels in response to the tragic events in the US. We regret any misunderstanding and will ensure that we are clearer about our intentions in the future.”

Maybe it's just a one day thing? Might be a big nothingburger.

[KotZ]

1 hour ago, Brandon Pea said:

Hmmm.....I guess the question now is.....how are children going to know that the sets are out there without advertising? 

I don't watch a lot of TV (especially kids shows), but does LEGO air commercials? They pretty much never did when I was a kid.

With social media, I still see them rarely promote smaller sets.

[TeriXeri]

14 minutes ago, KotZ said:

I don't watch a lot of TV (especially kids shows), but does LEGO air commercials? They pretty much never did when I was a kid.

I sometimes see LEGO Friends commercials aired here.

[The Brick Boss]

45 minutes ago, KotZ said:

I don't watch a lot of TV (especially kids shows), but does LEGO air commercials? They pretty much never did when I was a kid.

With social media, I still see them rarely promote smaller sets.

The entire HEY Generation of City had commercials. Along with the Fire and Sky Police. 

[KotZ]

1 hour ago, TeriXeri said:

I sometimes see LEGO Friends commercials aired here.

Maybe it's changed then. I rarely saw them as a kid on kids channels.

36 minutes ago, Brandon Pea said:

The entire HEY Generation of City had commercials. Along with the Fire and Sky Police. 

I remember those, but they weren't played as often. Unlike commercials for Moon Shoes, KidzBop, those animal books or any other toy then LEGO, at least in my region of the country. I think I saw those commercials more on LEGO's website than on TV.

My exposure to new sets was the LEGO magazines, LEGO's website, or honestly places like Brickset or Eurobricks.

[Robert8]

What the actual megabluck?

I never expected this level of virtue signalling from a company like TLG.

 

 

What's next? A rioting/looting people pack??

[The Brick Boss]

24 minutes ago, Robert8 said:

What's next? A rioting/looting people pack??

Well...you've already got a squatters pack! 

[PicnicBasketSam]

45 minutes ago, Robert8 said:

I never expected this level of virtue signalling from a company like TLG.

The LEGO Group is one of the only big companies I have seen actually do something - they're also donating four million dollars to organizations supporting black children, which in my opinion deserves much more attention than telling retailers not to advertise police-themed products. Most companies I have seen just post something feel-good on Twitter or Instagram and call it a day without doing anything at all, which seems much more like virtue signaling to me.

[LEGO Historian]

After all the kerfuffle over pink LEGO and the Friends sets among feminists, and the protests over making Shell LEGO sets by environmentalists... TLG probably decided to be ahead of the curve... and remove police themed items from their selection for a while, until this all simmers down.  Can't blame them for that.  As for any LEGO sets in inventory or those that perhaps might be returned to TLG by retailers... they'll just stick them into trash compactors and shred them to oblivion.... Hehehe... just kidding...  

We all know that TLG NEVER throws anything away.... they'll be back when things cool down (or maybe relegated to Shop-At-Home). The end result may be fewer of these sets produced, with short production runs... but I don't see Police sets (a staple of LEGO Town/City since the 1970s) being eliminated completely.

Edited June 4, 2020 by LEGO Historian

[The Brick Boss]

1 minute ago, LEGO Historian said:

We all know that TLG NEVER throws anything away.... they'll be back when things cool down (or maybe relegated to Shop-At-Home). The end result may be fewer of these sets produced, with short production runs... but I don't see Police sets (a staple of LEGO Town/City since the 1970s) being eliminated completely.

I read it fully. Its actually emergency based sets period. That's why I'm not too happy on that. The doctors and firefighters did nothing wrong this time. Just the cops. My guess is that they're assuming that children don't want to be reminded of the violence that's going on in our world today. So....like you said.....until it simmers down, they're taking a break. It'll simmer down soon. I also don't think police should be annihilated - my thing was overdoing it. But if they annihilate it, that would be bad for the City theme. 

[Zarkan]

37 minutes ago, Brandon Pea said:

I read it fully. Its actually emergency based sets period. That's why I'm not too happy on that. The doctors and firefighters did nothing wrong this time. Just the cops. My guess is that they're assuming that children don't want to be reminded of the violence that's going on in our world today. So....like you said.....until it simmers down, they're taking a break. It'll simmer down soon. I also don't think police should be annihilated - my thing was overdoing it. But if they annihilate it, that would be bad for the City theme. 

You seem to be under the impression that there are any sets containing doctors on that list. There are not. The last released set in that subtheme was the hospital from 2018, which is already discontinued. 

Also, the fire fighter sets being part of this measure is almost certainly because of the burning buildings/structures included in modern day fire fighter sets - not because of water cannons.

 

Edited June 4, 2020 by Zarkan

[BusterHaus]

I don't understand why Lego (or any other company) has to make a huge announcement regarding donations or commitments to any cause. Whether it's a commitment to education, material sustainability, or social justice, it comes off as an opportunistic way to advertise their brand. 

I don't have an issue with them supporting causes - most big companies have a section on social responsibility in their mission statement. They can spend their profits on whatever they want.  But charity should not be used for self promotion. 

[KotZ]

3 hours ago, Robert8 said:

What the actual megabluck?

I never expected this level of virtue signalling from a company like TLG.

I'm surprised and unsurprised. They're donating $4mil USD to this. That's not a small amount. People can argue it's a small amount to TLG or in thr grande scheme of things, but that's a ton of money. Money most people will never ever see in their life

2 hours ago, PicnicBasketSam said:

The LEGO Group is one of the only big companies I have seen actually do something - they're also donating four million dollars to organizations supporting black children, which in my opinion deserves much more attention than telling retailers not to advertise police-themed products. Most companies I have seen just post something feel-good on Twitter or Instagram and call it a day without doing anything at all, which seems much more like virtue signaling to me.

I'm going to be honest, because I know EB is probably one of the most level-headed sites out there. I don't get the riots. The protests, I can understand. The riots no. There's no reason to destroy completely innocent people's liveliehood. People can be pro-police and pro-reform and all the everything else that mixes in there. At least LEGO put their money where their mouth is.

You see other companies that are like "Oh! We'll just delay XXX or state YYY!"

The only other company I've seen was Disney/Lucasfilm, which honestly is a stupid one. I have a lot of issues with TLJ and TRoS. A lot. And they take John Boyega's protest and co-opt it to make them look bette, even after they made him smaller on their China posters and reduced his screentime. Yeah, they're donating however much, but they're co-opting the important statement John Boyega made.

I'm also annoyed by the LEGO fans who are like "So can you make black characters now?" No. LEGO was made yellow to be nobody. Specifically. Aside from licensed themes. Stop thinking classic yellow is white. It's whatever/whoever you/kids want.

I had multiple POC friends who played with LEGO and made their minifigures the classic yellow and nobody had any problem. Leave LEGO neutral. We have the classic smiley face that everyone can use for a reason.

31 minutes ago, BusterHaus said:

I don't understand why Lego (or any other company) has to make a huge announcement regarding donations or commitments to any cause. Whether it's a commitment to education, material sustainability, or social justice, it comes off as an opportunistic way to advertise their brand. 

I don't have an issue with them supporting causes - most big companies have a section on social responsibility in their mission statement. They can spend their profits on whatever they want.  But charity should not be used for self promotion. 

They made the announcement a day after the Blackout Tuesday. People can argue about that and say LEGO doesn't care because they didn't do it on blackout tuesday.

I agree, most companies support causes, and I personally don't care either way unless it's egregiously bad.

At least LEGO hasn't been too bad for self promotion unlike other brands or such.

I'm sorry for making it political, I honestly have tried to avoid politics throughout all of this debacle.