Christmas was always the best time of year for a variety of reasons: Christmas tree decorating, carols on the radio, the way NYC was a hundred times more lively and magical than it already was. But despite all of those reasons, the ultimate reason to love Christmas as a kid was presents and lots of them. Every year, aunts and uncles would gift presents I couldn’t wait to play with: video games, electronics, dolls. And there were always those relatives that would bring the one gift I couldn’t stand–Lego. When in doubt, Lego was the default gift item to give to someone. After all, It “spurred” the creativities of young children (and it was cheap), making it the ideal present.
Flash forward 13 years later. I’m accompanying my younger brother to the Lego store in Roosevelt Field Mall [1], only to be struck by the price of the Lego set my brother wanted to buy. The Star Wars Coruscant Police Gunship set was a hefty $49.99 and that one was one of the cheaper sets. A set of five Lego people was now priced at $19.99 when not too long ago, they cost close to nothing. After easily blowing $80.00 on my brother’s new Lego, I couldn’t help but be amazed at how much the franchise has changed, in particular, how it was able to get back on its feet and become the ever so popular toy brand that it is today.
For starters, Lego has executed a strategic marketing plan in order to attract a larger demographic to the franchise. Instead of just selling a set of random Lego blocks and telling its customers to “pursue their imaginations” (and let’s be honest, we all just used to stack all of those Legos on top of one another to make a skyscraper), today Lego has paired with dozens of movie and TV franchises in order to make Lego sets that recreate the iconic sets and props from these movies and shows that everyone loves. Who doesn’t love those massive Lego Star Wars spaceships or those cute Lego replicas of the Kwik-E-Mart from The Simpsons? Lego has opened up a whole set of creations that we would have never thought of otherwise, and more importantly, they’re creations that of things we all love.
Secondly, now, they have instructions. Something so simple, yet such a life saver. Before, we had to actually think and figure out how to make the beautiful creations we imagined in our heads, or even worse, we bought the elaborate Indiana Jones Lego kit only to sit there perplexed about what 90% of the Lego pieces were for. But now, that problem is completely eliminated, for each Lego set now includes a set of instructions that tell you how to assemble a set piece by piece, and, don’t worry, it has a lot of pictures.
However, the most essential part of Lego’s success is the versatility of its products. Just because Homer Simpson isn’t in Jurassic Park doesn’t mean that we couldn’t build a set in which Homer is being chased by a T-Rex. Despite creating sets that only make specific things and giving you instructions on exactly how to make those things, Lego still allows to you to use your imagination and create scenarios that you want. One has to ability to mix and match parts to create potentially anything and everything–and after all, that’s what Lego is all about.
Therefore, while I used to hate Lego, after seeing it blossom into the company that it has, I would be lying if I said I haven’t been tempted to buy a set myself. Despite how pricey Lego has become today, the masterpieces they create many every penny worth it.
[1] The go-to shopping place for all Nassau County, NY residents
Feature Photo Credit: Originally uploaded by Arto Alanenpää on Wikimedia Commons
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