Fan Survey Results Revealed

[Hapori Tohu]

Our good pal Kevin Hinkle recently passed on some information based on the fan community survey we asked you all to participate in a little while ago. There's clearly quite a variety in the people that make up our communities, and it's interesting to see some of the trends LEGO was able to capture from the results. Read on (you can do that now!) to see what they were able to pass on. Thanks as always to LEGO for sharing!View the full article

[Van Hohenheim]

first off, the survey results are good. and BZPower got the news articles working again!!!

[Hitoshura]

Could be just temporarily, but take advantage of it before they're gone!Anyway, the results seem quite good, and more people participated than I thought.

[Taipu1]

They're not wrong about the fan involvement in western Europe. The most involved I get with other Lego fans is on BZP. No events or anything.

[CeeCee]

They're not wrong about the fan involvement in western Europe. The most involved I get with other Lego fans is on BZP. No events or anything.

I want a brick fair over here too.

[Black Six]

 

They're not wrong about the fan involvement in western Europe. The most involved I get with other Lego fans is on BZP. No events or anything.

I want a brick fair over here too.

 

There's TONS of events that take place in Europe. Most of the larger countries have at least one big event a year.

[CeeCee]

 

 

They're not wrong about the fan involvement in western Europe. The most involved I get with other Lego fans is on BZP. No events or anything.

I want a brick fair over here too.

 

There's TONS of events that take place in Europe. Most of the larger countries have at least one big event a year.

I was talking more in England. Unless there are I mean, but I have never heard of them.

[Black Six]

 

 

 

They're not wrong about the fan involvement in western Europe. The most involved I get with other Lego fans is on BZP. No events or anything.

I want a brick fair over here too.

 

There's TONS of events that take place in Europe. Most of the larger countries have at least one big event a year.

 

I was talking more in England. Unless there are I mean, but I have never heard of them.

 

I know the Brickish Association runs events. I think there are other ones too, but I can't remember the LUG that does them.

[CeeCee]

 

 

 

 

They're not wrong about the fan involvement in western Europe. The most involved I get with other Lego fans is on BZP. No events or anything.

I want a brick fair over here too.

 

There's TONS of events that take place in Europe. Most of the larger countries have at least one big event a year.

 

I was talking more in England. Unless there are I mean, but I have never heard of them.

 

I know the Brickish Association runs events. I think there are other ones too, but I can't remember the LUG that does them.

Hmmmm. Thats very good news for me Black Six. Thanks, Ill check that out.

[Makuta Almanax]

I think the bit about how Western Europe view value is rather interesting considering a set can have a higher price tag in the countries where value is perceved to be high. That honestly confuses me. A £20 set would be about $30, so I do wonder how you can think you get more value for something which costs more in your currency (even if they are the exact same value, give or take). Still, I'm not surprised, at least for the UK (assuming they count that as Western Europe since we don't get our own mentioning...I hate when we get called Europeans. Two rules of life: never call a Candian an American, and never call a Briton European...but I digress). I'm not surprised because at least here it feels like we're one of the most frugal people on the planet nowadays...but who can blame us?

[Sir Kohran]

 

There's TONS of events that take place in Europe. Most of the larger countries have at least one big event a year.

 

I was talking more in England. Unless there are I mean, but I have never heard of them.

 

Lego events in Britain are almost non-existent, for whatever reason. British involvement in the European events isn't unheard of, but the greater distance needed to reach them is a significant barrier.

 

 

I'm not surprised, at least for the UK (assuming they count that as Western Europe since we don't get our own mentioning...I hate when we get called Europeans.

 

Well, like it or not, the UK is part of Europe.

 

 

From the actual results:

 

 

women represented less than 8% of survey takers - women skew older than men

 

This reads a bit strangely; does it just mean that the average female fan is older than the average male fan?

 

 

Also, Americans are spending the most on LEGO products, both for themselves and others.

 

Presumably the result of the different economic climates. America has recovered and has money to spend, whereas much of Europe continues to be ravaged by recession and unemployment.

 

 

In general, fans outside of Northern, Central, and Southern Europe don't feel they've had good opportunities to participate in events with other LEGO fans

 

Does that mean literally all fans in the world apart from those specific areas?

[Aanchir]

Lego events in Britain are almost non-existent, for whatever reason. British involvement in the European events isn't unheard of, but the greater distance needed to reach them is a significant barrier.

What about AFOLcon?It's true that there aren't nearly as many conventions in Britain as in the U.S. or Europe, but Britain is not as big a country geographically (in fact, the entire United Kingdom is smaller than the state of Texas by geographic area). If you have too many conventions in too small a space they'll draw fans apart instead of bringing them together, since everyone will prefer to go to the convention most convenient to their location and schedule rather than coming together at a single place and time.

From the actual results:

women represented less than 8% of survey takers - women skew older than men

This reads a bit strangely; does it just mean that the average female fan is older than the average male fan?

 

More or less, at least among survey participants.

 

Also, Americans are spending the most on LEGO products, both for themselves and others.

Presumably the result of the different economic climates. America has recovered and has money to spend, whereas much of Europe continues to be ravaged by recession and unemployment.

 

Well, opinions here differ on whether America has truly "recovered". It's possible cultural attitudes are a factor as well, with Americans more willing to spend on luxuries even during uncertain economic times. It's also possible that the recent economic turmoil didn't strike Americans as consistently, and wealthier families continue to spend money while others struggle to get by. I don't want to get into politics (and truly if I did I wouldn't be knowledgeable enough about international economic discrepancies to form an educated opinion anyway), but suffice it to say there are more possible factors than just the strength of a country's economy.

 

In general, fans outside of Northern, Central, and Southern Europe don't feel they've had good opportunities to participate in events with other LEGO fans

Does that mean literally all fans in the world apart from those specific areas?

 

Could very well be. But since it's an opinion question, it doesn't necessarily mean there aren't opportunities, just that people feel they haven't had good opportunities, which could just mean that some regions are less likely to commit as much time and money to a hobby.

[Sir Kohran]

 

It's true that there aren't nearly as many conventions in Britain as in the U.S. or Europe, but Britain is not as big a country geographically (in fact, the entire United Kingdom is smaller than the state of Texas by geographic area). If you have too many conventions in too small a space they'll draw fans apart instead of bringing them together, since everyone will prefer to go to the convention most convenient to their location and schedule rather than coming together at a single place and time.

 

I don't see logic here. Surely a geographically smaller country would be better for fan gatherings, because they have far less distance to travel to find each other. Your reasoning for why conventions might not work relies on the assumption that there are 'too many', yet there are actually very few, if any at all. Another thing you don't take into account is population - the UK has a whole 60 million people, most of whom can reach each other quite easily due to their tight concentration. Really, a large population in a small area should be ideal for gatherings.

 

I'd attribute the lack of British interest in Lego to the general mindset. From what I've seen, the popular activities are texting, social networking, clubbing, or being slumping in front of Cowell-owned talent shows, reality TV and football. Most of the creative things the UK is internationally renowned for - a lot of the best literature and rock music ever, for instance - are largely ignored, or even disliked. It takes something like the Olympics to inspire pride in the cultural heritage. Now, obviously this isn't the attitude among everyone or everywhere, but generally, the UK doesn't seem to me an environment favourable for a hobby that requires a lot of imagination and open-mindedness.

 

 

Well, opinions here differ on whether America has truly "recovered". It's possible cultural attitudes are a factor as well, with Americans more willing to spend on luxuries even during uncertain economic times. It's also possible that the recent economic turmoil didn't strike Americans as consistently, and wealthier families continue to spend money while others struggle to get by. I don't want to get into politics (and truly if I did I wouldn't be knowledgeable enough about international economic discrepancies to form an educated opinion anyway), but suffice it to say there are more possible factors than just the strength of a country's economy.

 

I think we can agree the picture in America (stable growth, Dow reaching new heights) is far rosier than that in Europe, where many countries seem unlikely to return to steady growth for years to come. And the social effects there - a generation growing up without occupation and income, many thousands emigrating to better pastures - may be permanent.

 

Plus there are long-range historical factors. North America was untouched by the Second World War and enjoyed huge prosperity thereafter, whereas Europe suffered devastation that took decades to heal. Regardless of who's wealthier, I imagine that on the whole, Americans have inherited a friendlier attitude to spending than Europeans.

 

 

Could very well be. But since it's an opinion question, it doesn't necessarily mean there aren't opportunities, just that people feel they haven't had good opportunities, which could just mean that some regions are less likely to commit as much time and money to a hobby.

 

Okay; I just find a little hard to believe that Lego fans in every part of the world except some of Europe feel they don't have 'good opportunities' to go to events.

[Aanchir]

 

It's true that there aren't nearly as many conventions in Britain as in the U.S. or Europe, but Britain is not as big a country geographically (in fact, the entire United Kingdom is smaller than the state of Texas by geographic area). If you have too many conventions in too small a space they'll draw fans apart instead of bringing them together, since everyone will prefer to go to the convention most convenient to their location and schedule rather than coming together at a single place and time.

I don't see logic here. Surely a geographically smaller country would be better for fan gatherings, because they have far less distance to travel to find each other. Your reasoning for why conventions might not work relies on the assumption that there are 'too many', yet there are actually very few, if any at all. Another thing you don't take into account is population - the UK has a whole 60 million people, most of whom can reach each other quite easily due to their tight concentration. Really, a large population in a small area should be ideal for gatherings.

 

My point is that if you put too many fan gatherings in one place then you decrease the number of people who will attend any one fan gathering. That's part of why the LEGO conventions in the United States are spread so far apart. If they're too close to each other then they're essentially competing to attract the same audience. Conventions are expensive to attend and not everyone is willing to devote the time and money to go to more than one in a year. The more conventions, the smaller the turnout at each one. It's the same reason why shopping centers rarely have more than one pizza restaurant, but on a much larger scale.It should also be noted that BZPower's tradition of letting people mail in their MOCs to be displayed at conventions is NOT the norm. Outside of the BIONICLE tables, it's rare for any MOCs to be displayed other than by the people attending. So while it might not seem so bad to have multiple smaller conventions versus one larger convention, that also means there would be less to see during your visit.Currently, as I said, AFOLcon is in the UK, and from what I've heard it's a fantastic convention. It gets special guests we could only dream of getting in the United States like esteemed LEGO designer Mark Stafford and video game developers from TTGames. It's not a huge convention, but it's growing and would probably grow a lot more slowly if it had other British conventions it had to compete with. The date and location have not been announced for the 2013 AFOLcon, but it might be a good idea to keep tabs on that one in case it turns out to be something you can take part in.