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Really cool article. My kids have just gotten interested in LEGOs, and I have to admit I thought they must have gotten more expensive, too. I think the authors
by burlesona 7y ago
Really cool article. My kids have just gotten interested in LEGOs, and I have to admit I thought they must have gotten more expensive, too. I think the authors point at the end is the best explanation for this perception:
> As I showed before, LEGO has had $100+ sets for a while. However, only recently have they produced sets even more pricy than that. When we were kids, the $100 set was the pinnacle of LEGO. It was the set we all aspired to own. It was the set we all went straight to at the store. Of course we rarely ended up with that set, but that was our dream.
> Now, the dream set is closer to the $400 range. It doesn’t mean that LEGO doesn’t make sub-$100 sets. They do, and more than ever. It just means that in comparison the $25 set looks a lot smaller than it did when the largest set was only $100.
At another point in the article the author points out these new mega sets aren’t really for kids, they’re for the adults, and Legos targeted at adults didn’t really exist 20 years ago.
- chungy 7y agoLego has also gone through some very aggressive marketing in the past 10 years to push themselves into the limelight more than they've ever been before. They've even hit strides with massively successful games and films.
- tudorw 7y agoI am glad they moved with the times and they deserve the success, while I lament the free form nature of the original limited palette it's great to see diversity in their ranges. So in amongst a sea of appalling franchised products not to mention homegrown eco-disasters like LOL dolls which seems to have a maximum waste formula, it's great to see them thrive, there will always be a place in my heart (and home!) for Lego.
- tudorw 7y agoBTW an adult lego fan is apparently an 'AFL' pronounced like apple :)
- furyofantares 7y agoIt's AFOL (adult fan of lego)
- LoSboccacc 7y ago> When we were kids, the $100 set was the pinnacle of LEGO. dunno I remember 90s technic to be quite expensive, I had the 8880 Super Car and the 8851 excavator set and I think both retailed above that. yeah I know op talks about basic lego but the new lego set, with their intricate pieces and purpose built part that only exist for one set, are closer to the technic boxes than the original bricks sets
- leokennis 7y agoI was forever saving for that 8880 super car. It had a real gearbox... But it was just like saving for a Ferrari or something. A nice dream that was never to be for a 12 year old...
- jeroen 7y agoI have the same feeling about prices, but I also remember the excavator as a big set. It’s only about 350 pieces. Even with the pneumatics, I can’t imagine a price above $100. What changed since then is that the new Liebherr excavator has more than 4000 pieces.
- sombremesa 7y agoI think the author is just using $100 as an illustrative value, since earlier in the article the author says they owned a schooner and the price in their table is $126ish.
- lostlogin 7y agoYou mention that they seem to be targeting adults. While on holiday I came across the architecture range in a few tourist shops and was impressed, the sets look great. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Architecture https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Architecture