Sales Pitches for Lego

After writing the first post about Legos, I got to thinking: I can complain about what I think they're doing wrong, but what would I like to see done? What would doing it "right" look like? Does it matter that the toys aren't really Legos in the sense of being mostly built from the same common blocks, since they are in fact selling better than expected? Would a set that I consider to be great due to its lack of exclusivity and themes that align with goals and ideals more commonly held by girls sell well, as in, would it be as attractive to the parents who are spending the money as well as the girls and boys who would play with it? After I started thinking about it, I came up with a few ideas.

Belville Winter Wonder Palace

Lego, girls are not necessarily adverse to building. You seem to think so, with the Belville and Friends sets having few parts to put together and therefore few, if any, ways to play with them that aren't the picture on the front of the box. You have an amazing collection of Landmarks and Architecture; why don't you have Disney castles? Sure it's the obvious thing, but Disney collectors and girls alike will jump at these sets, and so will some boys. You have the Duplo Cinderella Castle, why not an Architect version for adults? If you add an amazing dragon, maybe using some of the moving parts you're so good at to make it roar and "breathe fire", a Prince on his noble steed, fairies to save the day, a MiniFig with a changing dress color, and maybe some additional sets for special scenes like the cabin in the woods, the friends in the forest, or the finger-pricking spinning wheel, you've got a real collection with aspects that will appeal to many demographics, boys and girls, adults and kids. Even if the boys aren't buying it strictly for the Disney factor, they might need another castle to battle against, or a fire-breathing dragon to menace their pirates.

Looking at your other products, why Cars and Pirates of the Caribbean but not Up? That house, especially if they did translucent balloons, would be something amazing, and would appeal to girls too. The Lego Games are a really interesting concept, games whose Lego boards change during play. I'd love to see some broader themes, like an equestrian set where you change the paths and jump heights, or take Heroica and add some themes like an army led by a Queen. Changing the Minotaurus game to have female heroines as an option rather than two males on the cover, or even having a similar game where the goal is to find the treasure or rescue someone (in an Egyptian tomb? on a pirate map?) rather than to avoid the Minotaur would make them more appealing. What I'd love to see would be a Mouse Trap style game using Technic-style moving pieces. I'd also love to buy different things that move under the Technic banner, like useful robots. Really, just changing the marketing and presentation of many of the toys so they were less male-centric would help broaden the appeal as well. So many possibilities!

Disney Parks - Castles Collection

Lego Cuusoo is a website for people to build prototypes of sets they'd like to see. Once a set has 10,000 supporters, Lego will review it and see if it would be worthwhile for them to implement it. Right now, there's a set of the three main Disney castles that is looking for supporters, among other really cool possible prototypes (Curiosity the Mars rover got its 10,000 supporters already). Support your favorite projects if you'd like to see some new sets, or better yet, design your own and try to drum up enough support. When I can find the time, I plan to submit some of these ideas.