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New York Magazine Explores What Makes LEGO "The Perfect Toy"


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A recent article in New York Magazine begins with the bold claim in its headline that "LEGO is the Perfect Toy", and then goes on to analyze in depth the many different, sometimes seemingly contradictory things that make LEGO so beloved. Along the way it looks at how LEGO has evolved into a "transmedial" brand, and how this changes the way kids experience LEGO play. It even delves into the development of the new DC Super Hero Girls line and how LEGO actually led the development of the "Kryptomite" baddies that appear across all its sets. Follow the link above to read the article!

 

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I find it amusing that the authors left out LEGO's crucial ties to DC and Disney, with Star Wars and Marvel and other super-heroes. These are lines that allow for price gouging due to the more inelastic demand for certain licensed products. The author neglected to mention any negative sides of LEGO's new transmedia existence. 

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I find it amusing that the authors left out LEGO's crucial ties to DC and Disney, with Star Wars and Marvel and other super-heroes. These are lines that allow for price gouging due to the more inelastic demand for certain licensed products. The author neglected to mention any negative sides of LEGO's new transmedia existence.

I don't think they neglected to mention any negative sides. After all, they talked about how toys that tie in with media might lead children to play with them according to how they see them in that media, which doesn't seem like a glowing endorsement.

 

However, even though it sometimes seems that way, licensed sets don't actually tend to run at an overall premium compared to non-licensed sets. In Figure 9 of the article What Happened with LEGO?, the author compared the price per piece in licensed and non-licensed sets, and found that since around 2007 they tended to be about equal. Mind you, that article's data only runs through 2012, prior to the Disney acquisition of Star Wars. But even among more recent sets, the non-licensed City theme is often just as pricy as licensed Star Wars sets of similar size (compare 60107 with 75137 or 60125 with 75105).

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