[Poll] Do you like LEGO as a company?

[Lego David]

This poll's aim isn't to know whether you like LEGO's offerings (the products) but rather, this poll aims to ask about your opinion about LEGO as a corporation. Feel free to vote in the poll, and if you want, sharing some insight into why you choose a specific poll option would be much appreciated as well. 

[ks6349]

This isn't about you like or you don't like. If Lego weren't a company, they wouldn't be able to design and manufacture so many products, from nothing to a Lego set there are a lot of people and processes involved, they are all costs and have to be run according to law and conditions and it has to be a company

[Toastie]

I voted "mixed thoughts" - which are mostly caused by TLGs ("smart") electronics and software development and maintenance department" (Sesame)

Just very few examples:

• The recent introduction of the entire PUp line is a complete mess.
• PF had the option to be expanded to 16 channels (they have it even in their very own PF protocol description, they made publicly available a long time ago ...) but TLG pulled the PF plug before even introducing that. That is laughable, as it needs one single additional bit to be decoded by the PF receiver (oh yes, that would need to be a V3 version - sooo expensive).
• Ever taken apart an RC train base to have a look at the "electronics"? 5 cent each, max. Everything was rushed here. HW, firmware ... made - well - somewhere.
• The "grift" regarding the 10V DC wall wart type power supply costing $30 to charge the PF LiPo - >with< TLG knowing that a $3 wall wart supplying 9, 12, 15 V - and everything in between would do.
• The pricing of TLGs low voltage electronics in general. Production of large volume BLE devices (and before BLE: IR = RC, PF etc. pp.) has become so cheap, it is unbelievable. Yes, firmware and software development is sooo expensive - when done right, certifications etc. as well - reality though demonstrates that other consumer electronics with comparable capabilities is >much< cheaper. 

There are many, many "good" thoughts as well. I love many of TLGs products. They "have me" as customer; it appears as if that will be the case for the rest of my life.

Best regards,
Thorsten

[The Stud]

I say yes. To me, Lego seems like a far more ethical company than most others of their size. They’ve donated millions of dollars in the last year alone to many different causes. They seem to care about the environment and are moving towards recyclable plastics and bags for their products. Their staff at their stores and on social media are almost always super friendly. I think all of that is admirable.

And, I mean, liking many of the products they put out obviously makes them favorable in my eyes. I think they do a good job of blending innovation and catering to fan wishes and nostalgia.
 

Really, my only problem with the company is that I find their theme parks to be disappointingly cheap, cheesy and over kid-oriented compared to Disney for example. That would be more of a problem with Merlin Entertainment though and I’m not really sure if there’s an easy fix for that.

Edited September 19, 2021 by The Stud

[CP5670]

Mixed thoughts for me. I love their products, but they are a huge for-profit corporation with plenty of skeletons in the closet, like all corporations. We get all these sets today because they are a highly profitable global business. It's also a very different company now than it was 20 years ago, in both good and bad ways. They are much more corporatized, but also treat AFOLs as a serious market now. I've heard very mixed things from employees who worked there in various retail and corporate roles.

I agree about the costs of electronic parts, they have always been wildly overpriced, going back to the 9V/12V days. They are generally good quality and reliable though. One of the worst examples was the 9V train speed regulator, which I recall was $50 ($70-80 in today's dollars) for a 5 cent potentiometer encased in plastic.

Edited September 19, 2021 by CP5670

[ks6349]

22 minutes ago, The Stud said:

I say yes. To me, Lego seems like a far more ethical company than most others of their size. They’ve donated millions of dollars in the last year alone to many different causes. They seem to care about the environment and are moving towards recyclable plastics and bags for their products. Their staff at their stores and on social media are almost super friendly. I think all of that is admirable.

And, I mean, liking many of the products they put out obviously makes them favorable in my eyes. I think they do a good job of blending innovation and catering to fan wishes and nostalgia.
 

Really, my only problem with the company is that I find their theme parks to be disappointingly cheap, cheesy and over kid-oriented compared to Disney for example. That would be more of a problem with Merlin Entertainment though and I’m not really sure if there’s an easy fix for that.

That "Their staff at their stores and on social media are almost super friendly." is not true. Many staff at their stores are not super friendly, while some are. Some "more intelligent" staff here could quickly detect that I am kind of look who is not going to buy but checking for deals or getting hand-on experience and buying elsewhere.

If Lego had put effort into training their staff, all staff would have come to me and show their friendly attitude to me no matter they like it or not.

I'm always ignored, because they recognize me, I have come to the store for hundreds of times but have never spent a dollar

Edited September 19, 2021 by ks6349

[The Stud]

7 minutes ago, ks6349 said:

That "Their staff at their stores and on social media are almost super friendly." is not true. Many staff at their stores are not super friendly, while some are. Some "more intelligent" staff here could quickly detect that I am kind of look who is not going to buy but checking for deals or getting hand-on experience and buying elsewhere.

If Lego had put effort into training their staff, all staff would have come to me and show their friendly attitude to me no matter they like it or not.

I'm always ignored, because they recognize me, I have come to the store for hundreds of times but have never spent a dollar

I’m just speaking from my experience, they’ve almost always been friendly. Just about every trip I’ve made to the Lego Store this year alone has been satisfying because the employees strike up conversations with me or vice versa. Your milage will vary of course.

[Jack Sassy]

I have mixed feelings. I grew up with this company's products and it holds a special place in my heart, but the way TLG has been acting in recent years (18+ sets, VIP system, etc.) just feels rather strange to me. Part of me still believes they can redeem themselves (''redeem'' might be a bit too strong of a word to use but I'm not sure how else I could describe it).

[Toastie]

3 hours ago, CP5670 said:

which I recall was $50 ($70-80 in today's dollars) for a 5 cent potentiometer encased in plastic.

It's a little different - the PCB layout (i.e., the etched copper layers) are pretty nifty. There is no potentiometer in there, just a "slider" (with some conducting grease) and the < 5 cent "electronics". This assembly actually steps the voltage (= nearly unbreakable), but you hardly notice when running a train. So AC (or DC) goes in, is rectified, and the dial/slider + and a couple of resistors tell the LM317 regulator what to do. Nice photograph of this impressive electronics thingy here (original post, 3rd pic):

And they actually change the polarity completely >mechanically< using this slider when going in reverse.

This regulator is essentially a PCB with hardly any electronics on it. 5 cent sounds absolutely right for that part. I'd say 1$ for the nice layout. No clue, what the case costs (Da Molds!)

Best
Thorsten

Edited September 19, 2021 by Toastie

[metalgeekzy]

I mean, i guess i dont know enough about them as a company to really have an opinion. I do think tacking on an extra few dollars for themed sets is kinda messed up. 

Set 31115 the creator 3 in 1 space mining mech. 327 pieces for 25 bucks.
set 75270 Star wars obis hut. 200 pieces, same price. 

 

[The Brick Boss]

4 hours ago, ks6349 said:

That "Their staff at their stores and on social media are almost super friendly." is not true. Many staff at their stores are not super friendly, while some are. Some "more intelligent" staff here could quickly detect that I am kind of look who is not going to buy but checking for deals or getting hand-on experience and buying elsewhere.

If Lego had put effort into training their staff, all staff would have come to me and show their friendly attitude to me no matter they like it or not.

I'm always ignored, because they recognize me, I have come to the store for hundreds of times but have never spent a dollar

I don't speak for anyone else. But they've always been friendly to me. I've even engaged in some very cordial conversations with some. A few of them were even town builders. The ones I've spoken to don't just do this for money. They're actual AFOLs that work at the ones I go to. There is this one girl that works at the store I usually go to. I think she and I may click. She's also a table town builder. Mostly with Friends sets. 

Edited September 20, 2021 by Poodabricks

[jimmynick]

Wow I love it when I go to the LEGO store, make it clear I’m not going to buy anything, and get treated like royalty the whole time I’m there. Sometimes they give me a foot massage and even apologize that they can’t offer free shipping at a brick-and-mortar shop.

[Lego David]

8 hours ago, The Stud said:

I say yes. To me, Lego seems like a far more ethical company than most others of their size. They’ve donated millions of dollars in the last year alone to many different causes. They seem to care about the environment and are moving towards recyclable plastics and bags for their products. Their staff at their stores and on social media are almost always super friendly. I think all of that is admirable.

Now, to their credit, I also think their ethics are far superior compared to other companies of their size. However, there's a catch... Often times, their ethical code can easily be broken if they come across a profitable opportunity (looking at you, Star Wars), and when they actually do apply their code, it feels forced and unnecessary, like with the recent V-22 Ofsprey affair. 

Wanting to protect the environment can also come as a double edged sword. It may seem like a good thing to do on the surface, but if it results in worse quality products, I don't know if it's really worth it. Why make LEGO parts bio-degradable if they might as well still be in use by the time they start decomposing? 

8 hours ago, The Stud said:

And, I mean, liking many of the products they put out obviously makes them favorable in my eyes. I think they do a good job of blending innovation and catering to fan wishes and nostalgia.

Honestly, I never felt like they genuinely cater to fan wishes in order to make us happy, as much as they do that in order to discover new market opportunities for more profit. Take LEGO Ideas, for instance. On the surface, it may seem like a dream come true for many AFOLs, but when it comes to which sets they actually approve from the platform, it is a different story. Rather than just simply making the long-time fans happy, they just pick what they think would be the most marketable to a general non-AFOL audience. Despite people constantly submitting what they want and getting it to 10K time and time again, proving the demand, they are always turned down. So, it wouldn't be entirely accurate to say they truly "cater to fan wishes" in order to make their main audience happy, as much as they do so for profit. 

The innovation part also really bugs me. As someone who has looked deeply into their history, I can tell you right now that unlike other companies like Nintendo, LEGO has always been, for better or worse, behind their times when it came to innovations. They mostly just stuck to what they did best, and never tried anything new. And most of the time they actually tried to "innovate" they always failed (the only notable exception would be Mindstorms). All those recent "innovations" are basically just pointless phone gimmicks that nobody cares about. 

If you ask me, some actual innovating they could do would be coming up with new building systems and new ways to build, because let's face it, that is the core of LEGO. But those days, they seem to try out anything but that. 

[MAB]

2 hours ago, Lego David said:

Now, to their credit, I also think their ethics are far superior compared to other companies of their size. However, there's a catch... Often times, their ethical code can easily be broken if they come across a profitable opportunity (looking at you, Star Wars), ... 

Which ethical code are they breaking with Star Wars?

[allanp]

I am mixed. I like that they listen to fans for their sets but I wish they would stay out of politics entirely.

[MAB]

32 minutes ago, allanp said:

I am mixed. I like that they listen to fans for their sets but I wish they would stay out of politics entirely.

They don't do political sets. Or do you mean sets like Everyone us Awesome and Queer Eye. I don't see how they can stay out of politics,  in the sense of everyday politics rather than supporting a political party or movement. For example, including a woman police officer can be seen as a political statement by some. Both in realising women have such jobs in modern society and in being pro police. 

 

[allanp]

I think inclusion of women police officers and gay people in the queer eye set for example is great and I don't see those examples as political. But I would say the rainbow coloured EIA set (with its intro in the instructions), stopping marketing of police sets and supporting BLM are too political.

[timemail]

I had to put no. I like the products, the quality is ok, the service is certainly good (although with the price I pay I expect that). Every time I have received damaged pieces, damaged stickers etc. I have no trouble with getting replacements although I would prefer not to get damaged items. I have never had missing items.

The no for me came down to me deciding whether I would be friends with Lego if they were a person. I think that they try to show that they are socially responsible however many of their marketing decisions are certainly not socially responsible in my opinion. E.g. The use of blind bags/blind boxes to encourage gambling / gotta get them all mentality in children, and taking advantage of those who are completeists. This is similar to the inclusion of unique mini-figures in expensive sets. The release of limited edition, reduced number collector style sets. VIP sets either in numbers that don't allow those that want them to get them - I understand not having these available for a long time, but mere hours or minutes is not acceptable.

This sort of behaviour seems really hypocritical to me. They really are focused on the bottom line, and exclusivity at the expense of fans. I have no issues with them doing that as a company - if I was the company I would likely be doing the same as the purpose of a company is to make money, regardless of how they choose to market themselves. It does make me think that all of their social responsibility is there to garner favour and appear to be doing good to ultimately bolster their profits. I don't doubt there are many socially responsible people working at Lego, however in the end they are a company and there for profit not to be our friends.

[CP5670]

The store staff I know are great people, but not always treated well by the company. After all they are just employees, not the owners or senior management.

As for the "social responsibility," it's like that for all for-profit companies. The reality is that they do some combination of good and bad things, and publicize the good things while hiding the bad things.

15 hours ago, Toastie said:

This regulator is essentially a PCB with hardly any electronics on it. 5 cent sounds absolutely right for that part. I'd say 1$ for the nice layout. No clue, what the case costs (Da Molds!)

Interesting, thanks for clarifying. The regulator does work nicely (except for the current limit which makes it hard to use with PF), but it's definitely not a $50 part.

[thebrickhamster]

They seem to have a pretty good culture going to me.

[Alexandrina]

18 hours ago, ks6349 said:

I'm always ignored, because they recognize me, I have come to the store for hundreds of times but have never spent a dollar

I'm not being funny here, but why would you expect the staff to go over to you if, as you say, you regularly go to the shop but never spend, enough so that they recognise you? Lego shops are usually busy - I've never been in one that had less customers than staff - so they can't physically go over to every single customer right away. It's a better use of everybody's time if they prioritise customers who are actually looking to purchase over someone who's just there to price-check.

As an aside, I'm not sure why you'd need to go to the physical store to price-check. Lego Shops charge the same as Shop@Home, right?

[The Brick Boss]

11 minutes ago, Alexandrina said:

I'm not being funny here, but why would you expect the staff to go over to you if, as you say, you regularly go to the shop but never spend, enough so that they recognise you? Lego shops are usually busy - I've never been in one that had less customers than staff - so they can't physically go over to every single customer right away. It's a better use of everybody's time if they prioritise customers who are actually looking to purchase over someone who's just there to price-check.

As an aside, I'm not sure why you'd need to go to the physical store to price-check. Lego Shops charge the same as Shop@Home, right?

But the likelihood that he is being ignored when he goes to the store is next to none. How do I know? Experience! Every time I have went to a Lego store, the people were very friendly and welcoming. Being an extrovert, I also like to engage them in conversations. 

[Alexandrina]

Just now, Poodabricks said:

But the likelihood that he is being ignored when he goes to the store is next to none. How do I know? Experience! Every time I have went to a Lego store, the people were very friendly and welcoming. Being an extrovert, I also like to engage them in conversations. 

Oh, agreed! I'm not the sort who tends to want big conversations with the sales staff normally. There's no Lego store local to me, so when I visit it's because I'm in town and so I've already decided what I'm after, and I'll just go straight to it. But the staff always engage me in a friendly way, help as much as I need help.

Plus, Lego Stores are retail, and in retail you're expected not to ignore people. I work in a shop which has some absolutely vile regulars, but unless and until they're actively rude to me, I'll still greet them with a smile and help them out as they need it.

[The Brick Boss]

18 minutes ago, Alexandrina said:

Oh, agreed! I'm not the sort who tends to want big conversations with the sales staff normally. There's no Lego store local to me, so when I visit it's because I'm in town and so I've already decided what I'm after, and I'll just go straight to it. But the staff always engage me in a friendly way, help as much as I need help.

Plus, Lego Stores are retail, and in retail you're expected not to ignore people. I work in a shop which has some absolutely vile regulars, but unless and until they're actively rude to me, I'll still greet them with a smile and help them out as they need it.

Yeah! Most people's dream jobs are cops, firemen and pretty much any job that Lego City pushes to the forefront. But my dream job has always been to work at a Lego store. 

[Johnny1360]

Had to vote no, love my LEGO but I care none for any large corporation, too much greed and wasted talent. Just my opinion and I recognize it is likely a necessary evil but I just can't buy into the hype, that is a major corporation.