Reply From Lego Consumer Services About New Colors

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Teh Stud
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Reply From Lego Consumer Services About New Colors

Post by Teh Stud »

I recently gave Lego my comments on the new colors at the Lego.com website. I asked why such a poor decision was made, as I'm sure others of you have. I received the following form email back. I though some of you might be interested.

*Note: For those of you who are tired of the color complaints, please feel free to read other posts. 8)

From Lego Consumer Services:
Dear LEGO® Enthusiast,

Thank you for your recent inquiry or comments with regard to color
modifications and element changes to the LEGO brand building brick.
I would like to assure you first, that no changes have been made to the
studs or "bumps" that appear on the LEGO brick. As you might imagine,
doing so would be a large undertaking, since all LEGO brick molds have
been designed with this same "tube and stud" concept for years and
making a change like this would affect the interlocking capabilities of
all elements. Additionally, the same ABS plastic is still being used.

Material and part quality has not been changed in any way. Producing the
highest quality bricks is an integral part of the LEGO brand and we
would not jeopardize the high quality that consumers have come to know
in any way.

There have been some color modifications recently, such as to the grey
colored bricks. These changes were made to brighten and sharpen certain
palettes to ensure that these colors are more compatible with the other
brighter, primary colors offered. These changes were made after a
great deal of consideration and new products, starting with the 2004
sets, will be packaged with these new colors.

Thank you again for your avid interest in the development of LEGO toys
and please don't hesitate to contact us again. Happy Building!

Kind regards,

Kate
LEGO Consumer Services
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Sir Smittens
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Post by Sir Smittens »

That's....interresting.

I was considering sending an email to Lego, reccomending that they check out this site and see all the classic-castle fans (even though I realize there's a 1% chance they actually would look), but after seeing the crummy response they gave you, I see no point. TLC seems to be getting worse and worse.
Philosophies of my life:

"A PC turned off is better than a PC turned on"

"It's not about who wins...it's about who gets to gloat after they win."
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AoErat
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Post by AoErat »

Translation: We love to sabotage our own products!
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Troy T. Moore
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Post by Troy T. Moore »

It is exactly the same reply I got, obviously a form letter. Sad but true (for now). I am sure you were relieved that they were not going to change the bricks as that would be a "large undertaking" :roll: For financial reasons I cannot be buying up old light grey right now, and the pickins' are getting slimmer each day on BL no doubt. Maybe I should start to collect yellow bricks.....
Troy T. Moore
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J1A3L5
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Post by J1A3L5 »

I have a question - How long was the time between emailing them and recieving a response? Because I wrote a letter to them about the same topic over a week ago and have got no response whatsoever.
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Mr. D
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Post by Mr. D »

Hm...same response I got. I wondered at the time if it was a form e-mail because it said "such as the new gray colors" or something like that. The thing is, I made it very clear that my issue was with the new grays. I did reply to that e-mail, however, and got a more personal response.
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Daimyo
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Post by Daimyo »

Hmmm... I love the "We chose the new grays to brighten the color palette and BE MORE COMPATIBLE WITH THE OTHER COLORS."
Don't do us any favors.
"Alright Kif, let's show these freaks what a bloated, runaway military budget can do"
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Daimyo
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Post by Daimyo »

Mr. D wrote:Hm...same response I got. I wondered at the time if it was a form e-mail because it said "such as the new gray colors" or something like that. The thing is, I made it very clear that my issue was with the new grays. I did reply to that e-mail, however, and got a more personal response.
Will you post the email?
"Alright Kif, let's show these freaks what a bloated, runaway military budget can do"
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Mr. D
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Post by Mr. D »

Here's what I replied:
Hi,
Thanks for the reply. I know that the quality of the product is still
the
same, and there is nothing the matter with adding new gray colors, or
any
colors. But there is a problem with replacing two very good colors with
inferior colors. I guess that's really my concern; the two new gray
colors
are inferior to the previous gray colors. Many people who have been
collecting dark and light gray for years suddenly have to 1) add two new
gray colors to their collection and get previous gray colors from places
such as www.bricklink.com and www.ebay.com, 2) sell all their old gray
bricks and stock up on the new gray colors, or 3) continue collecting
old
grays from websites such as those mentioned above and not buy any of the
new
LEGO sets that have gray in them. Sadly, I believe that most people will
take the 3rd. option. I know the grays were changed so that they would
match
the currant color palate better, but the new colors don't match other
colors
better, the new gray colors simply are not as good as the previous
grays.
Dale Stoltzfus (alias Mr. D)
Here's the answer:
Dear LEGO® Customer,

Thank you for your email. In our ongoing efforts to produce and market
products that are valued by children and adults alike, consumer
comments, such as yours, are a resource that we welcome and value. We
will be passing all comments regarding this subject along to the
appropriate departments, for their review.

Thank you, again, for writing.


JoAnn,
LEGO Consumer Services Advisor
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Teh Stud
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Post by Teh Stud »

Jail Wrote:
I have a question - How long was the time between emailing them and recieving a response? Because I wrote a letter to them about the same topic over a week ago and have got no response whatsoever.
I received the response within 24 hours. I was pretty surprised at the quick response. Also, I didn't receive it automatically. I say this because the reply email from Lego didn't appear in my Inbox seconds or even minutes after I wrote my comments. The email appeared the next day.
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Teh Stud
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Post by Teh Stud »

From Troy:
It is exactly the same reply I got, obviously a form letter. Sad but true (for now). I am sure you were relieved that they were not going to change the bricks as that would be a "large undertaking" For financial reasons I cannot be buying up old light grey right now, and the pickins' are getting slimmer each day on BL no doubt. Maybe I should start to collect yellow bricks.....
Of course I was relieved! Since I clearly stated in my comment to Lego that the color change was a horrible idea, I was glad to hear the studs hadn't been altered! :P

I feel the intended effect of the letter was to make it clear that Lego cares about my feelings and wants me to be happy. Unfortunately, all the letter did was confirm my belief that Lego will never change the colors back, and they don't really care what a minority of customers feels. (Lego feels that only a minority of customers care about the color change).

My opinion is the average Lego customer will think the color change is a quality issue, since Lego has never officially announced or promoted the new color. (Well marketed products would stamp "new improved colors" or something similar on their products). Of course, this is my opinion. I personally hope that the color change won't hurt the Lego company, but I feel that it will.
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Sir Terrance
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Post by Sir Terrance »

That is the exactly same thing I got, but from a different person.
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