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1. Shops/Car/Vignette to Intro each girl, plus the House
2. Summer locales (camping, beachside, and Horse/stable camp)
3. more character vignettes, shops, city pool
4. high school, dolphin cruiser
5. beach house, ranch, shop, variety of small sets - beach, farm, ice cream
6. Jungle, camping, mall
they seemed to have moved a lot (but not all) of the animal focus to the series packs, while keeping the various shops and dollhouses coming pretty regularly. In between, they have offered a pretty large variety of settings outside Heartlake City: Camping, Stables, Beaches, Pool, School, Cruise Ship, and now the Jungle.
That is certainly at least as much variety, if not moreso, than we have seen over city in the same time frame, is it not?
If before Friends & Princesses arrived on the scene, TLG was doing business with a demographic breakdown of 80% boys vs. 20% girls, then it would be logical that 80% of their offerings would appeal to the boy segment. And just because they are seeing a growth in the girl segment, that doesn't mean they should all of a sudden capitulate and throttle it to be 50%/50% offerings over a period of 1 or 2 years. Further to this point is that we do not have the data to show what the predicted mix would be if the market for girls was fully achieved. Perhaps that even when fully saturated and peaked, the mix would be 65% boy vs 35% girl, as building toys may not be as fun or attractive to the girls as to boys on the whole. Thus if TLG got overly excited for their new growth segment, that they can over produce and expand thus creating a loss and potential collapse of the segment or business even.
You bring up Barbie, American Girl, etc., as a comparison point. But wouldn't you agree that more than 65% of their offerings are geared towards girls? What would you think of a guy complaining on the Barbie board about not having enough male dolls released?
Think of all the new demographics. Everyone from elementary school teachers to military model collectors.
This was a decent article to read. I do remember when TLG got a lot of slack for coming out with the Friends theme.
Even though girls may roughly make up 50% of the market, it would be foolish to try and target all of them because there may only be 15% of those girls interested in Lego. It is no different than any product being marketed to the public. Based on statistical information, marketing companies put most of their money into targeting their biggest demographic.
The CMF line has introduced many historical minifigures. Why does TLG need to come out with historical themes when you can pretty much make your own historical diorama? The only thing that is lacking are modern military themes. The closest that we have gotten to that was Indiana Jones.
The big question that is not answered is what should lego put out to attract girls that think they are too old for Friends (what age is this? 10-16?). There is a gap there (if you ignore the creator type sets) but can it really be filled? What do girls of this age group want? Looking at friends' kids of that age, they seem to want make-up, art-stuff / craft / beads, music, clothes, computer games. How should lego appeal to those girls? Brick-built make-up sets?
Does Mattel (Barbie) and Playmobil make toys that sell well to that age demographic?
I'm hoping my daughter continues to play with lego when she is that age and sticks with some of the "boys toys" - the more engineering type sets.
On the second, I think you were assuming I was talking teen. I'm really referring more to the preteen age, but yes, as CCC pointed out, and something I personally have considered as well is what is the breakpoint for girls. Do they simply have no interest after a certain age, does it hit earlier than boys, do they not have the right sets out? I do think there are questions that need to be asked and answered. If she is interested now in science/engineeering items, that often will continue, even if not always via Lego. My general experience, though, is that often science/engineering toys and items are geared towards boys in subtle and not-so subtle ways, which can impact interest. I will say the engineering program that our elementary school uses does try to remove some typical gender stereotypes I have encountered in the past. It is very fascinating seeing the kids, take very different approaches, and what topics they choose based on interest, and generally I do see a large gender difference in what interest areas they have chosen.
Yes, the Winter sets we use as family builds.
I actually think my 7 year old will love the reindeer, while I am not a fan of how they are built. I'm a bit neutral at the moment, and am waiting to see the inside and price tag before formulating a final opinion. I already created a grotto, I picked up extra elves, have my Mr. and Ms. Claus, and I am not sure this really works as a Santa Workshop for me, so I am waiting for more info before formulating an opinion.
I'm also not so patiently waiting for any word on the Minecraft sets.
I can image some kid playing with their newly purchased TLG Hunger Games play set and deciding to try it for real. At least that seems to be the world we now live in...
I do not see any violence happening anymore than violence we have happen with any of the other Lego Themes they have with weapons. Yes, it is kid against kid, but kids very much see this as 'fantasy play' like many of the other Lego genres and not real world play.
As said, though... not happening.
In this Hunger Games spoof, Kantmiss Evershot must fight for her life in the 75th annual Starving Games, where she could also win an old ham, a coupon for a foot-long sub, and a partially eaten pickle.
There is an interesting new line in the UK agreement ...
Open a Dispute within 45 days (or, if you are claiming as a registered UK resident user of PayPal, 180 days)
so it looks like it will be possible to make a claim for non-delivery up to 6 months later, instead of 1.5 months.
Here is the update for those folks interested:
https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/upcoming-policies-full
And, there are a lot (I mean a lot) of people that have never used eBay, and have no desire too. People that use, and love, Amazon. Try as they may eBay will never be on the same level as Amazon. But, that sure appears what they want to be.
Chrome is a classic example of what Google can do. It is now, and has been for years, so superior to I.E. it isn't even funny. Remember when I.E. was ubiquitous? And, had what looked like a insurmountable lead in browser technology. Along came Chrome and quickly ate I.E.'s lunch. Now I.E. will never catch up. (Canvas is doing the same thing to Flash. Guess which browser fully supports Canvas. And, guess which one doesn't?)
There was also the mention by perijove from the very beginning that TLG possibly meant for a 10,000 run only to begin with.
This case on the Rover is a real puzzler for what may or may not happen for the Delorean. Released before the it in Aug. 2013.
It makes no sense to set a low production run on a set which owes its existence to fan popularity.