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Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 5:17 pm
by RichardAM
Thought this was weird. I know there's a lot of love for services similar to this for other media but they're usually digital, this seemed a bit backwards. Plus, how many of these kids are willingly going to give the sets back? The fun's in keeping those bricks and building a collection for future use...right?
Pleygo.com
Pick a Plan

Select the plan that best fits your needs. In all membership plans you receive unlimited exchanges per month, one set at a time. You may return the set at any time you wish.

Our membership plans:

Fan: $15/month, you can play with small to medium sets usually up to 250 pieces.
Super Fan: $25/month, you can play with larger sets up to 500 pieces.
Mega Fan: $39/month, for the real Lego lover! Play with all sets up to 5400 pieces.
To purchase a plan click here

Create Your Wishlist

Select the Lego sets you want to build from our inventory. Our collection of sets is constantly being updated with the latest and greatest Lego releases and sets added by new members. You will be sent sets according to the order they appear on your Wishlist.

Play, and Return

You will receive your set in the Pleygo box with an instruction manual and a spare pieces bag. We clean and sanitize all the pieces so your kid will have a safe Lego building experience. Once your child has completed playing with the Lego set, just place all the pieces in the provided ziplock bag, place it in the box and drop it in any US postal mail box. Shipping is FREE with any of our memberships. Once we get your set, we will mail you the next set on your wishlist.
Thoughts/ideas/experiences?

Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 6:59 pm
by Forestboy
Yeah, I also got a message about this through my LUG. For sure, backwards. Like, it would just be more beneficial to take the money for it and put it towards keeping a set. Unless you're getting some massive set. And even if the bricks are sanitized, I'm sure that after a few young builders, those pieces won't be in good condition from bites, scratches, or stress. Just a silly concept, in my opinion.

I just love the super cheesy photo from the front page. :lol:

~FB~

Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 8:44 pm
by Bruce N H
I saw a service like this for other toys on Shark Tank and thought it was kind of strange. For LEGO it seems especially bad, since I'm sure little pieces get lost every time they send some set out and get it back.

Bruce

Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 11:15 pm
by Eklund
Exactly, what are they going to do when pieces get lost? This whole idea doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I could see doing it with other toys, but doing it with Lego sets seems problematic.

Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2013 1:37 am
by theboywarrior
Forestboy wrote: I just love the super cheesy photo from the front page. :lol:
Totally not Photoshopped at all... :P

Seems silly to me. My first reaction was "Why?"

Besides, what's stopping people from renting a set, removing their favorite bits, and mailing it back with a claim that it was like that when they got it? I don't think the system is very well thought out...

Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2013 2:37 am
by Aeridian
Unfortunately, over the years the sets became more complex and the price skyrocketed. When my husband told me once how much we spent on Legos, I was shocked. That’s when I thought of the concept of having parents exchange the Lego sets they already own for new ones, it would save both time and money. And that’s when Pleygo was born!
I think the idea got half-baked or something. Sure, it'd be interesting to send in an old-ish set (if intact and whatnot) and exchange/upgrade it for a newer one, and then of course keep it. But that's not really what they offer. "Why, yes I'd like to rent a set, play with it for a month and send it back instead of buying the exact same set and keeping it..." uh, what? And is more complex a bad thing? Toys in general are going to be expensive... bizarre idea.

Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2013 10:43 am
by andhe
I don't know if this is the same one, but I remember someone trying to push a similar site a few months back, and they soon got shot down.

Whilst you have to commend the idea, the prices seem well out of whack. Why would I choose to spend $15 on this and not keep the lego, when I could spend the same $15 and keep the set?

Maybe people just need to teach their kids the value of saving up and waiting for the set they want.

Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2013 12:20 pm
by Formendacil
This seems to be the sort of product that is *vastly* more likely to be desired by Mom or Dad than by the kid--especially if Mom or Dad have no real sense of LEGO as parts and a building toy--they just see it as "sets," not as inter-compatible parts fodder.

Also, at least if my own childhood memories are ANY kind of guide, kids aren't big fans of sharing--nothing makes their old toys (you know, the ones they haven't played with in FOREVER--which was never LEGO for me) attractive like the threat of giving them away.

That said, I can see the business model working for things like baby toys and toddler toys, which kids outgrow and cycle through, or for less "reusable" toys than LEGO--but for LEGO itself it seems like a really poor model.

By all means try it with your Mega Bloks, though. :tasty:

Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2013 7:03 pm
by AK_Brickster
This is one of the strangest things I've ever heard of. The only people this would be useful for would be people who literally build their sets once, and then either throw them away, or set them on a shelf never to be touched again (even then, you get to look at them, at least).

Over the course of a year, for the big membership, you'd spend (see also, "throw away") almost $470, just to build a few sets once each. Wouldn't you rather buy the original 7 LOTR sets (Gandalf Arrives, Shelob Attack, Mines of Moria, Weathertop, Uruk Hai Army, Orc Forge, AND Helm's Deep) for $500?? (MSRP was only $350, according to Brickset)

Would it be bad form to tell them what a horrible idea I think it is? I found their Facebook page.... https://www.facebook.com/pleygo

Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2013 10:35 pm
by Ferretclaw
Haha!!! I cant help laughing at this. I second everything you guys have already said. Totally stupid idea. I think it is kind of lame for any toy, and especially for lego. If you get bored of a lego set, or only want to use part of it: you break it up, and SELL the pieces on bricklink/ebay! That way you can keep the parts you want, and lessen the blow of the price by a lot. Or you just put it on display even. Or of course take it apart and build new things with it.

This business will be gone in a matter of months. Pieces to sets will get lost and taken, kids will be upset when their new set gets taken away, the whole thing will practically suck money up... It will just end with the people selling the remains of the sets to some unofficial retailer, at a loss of money.
Forestboy wrote: I just love the super cheesy photo from the front page. :lol:

~FB~
Lol. :roflol:

Yeah the whole thing just has everything wrong with it. Kids should just save some money and buy the set. Or parents should give them 15 bucks towards every set they get :P

Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 4:54 am
by SSchmidt
AK_Brickster wrote: Would it be bad form to tell them what a horrible idea I think it is? I found their Facebook page.... https://www.facebook.com/pleygo

Your post on their Facebook made me cackle.
I wonder how long it will take them to respond (or delete it)? :lol:

Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 5:29 am
by Lil_Curt
yea well I just posted a response my self... This is just Megablocks weird!! My Wife whose also a member her did the :twitch: when I told her about it. I'm glad there are people this will work for just not us....

Besides how long do you think this will last when there is no charge for lost Pieces, I mean heck I know a lot of rare mini figs that may grow a set of Legs :halo: an Just wait till they have to start Bricklinking to make up for lost parts. I just dont see this working....

Curt

Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 1:59 pm
by falsusnominatim
:twitch: i have to agree that this is a strange, and slightly insulting, concept. all this is promoting is the death of creativity in the youth of the world and instant gratification. meaning i want it now... OK i had it now i want something better. does no one embrace the true extent of the creative opportunities that lego has to offer? i mean seriously! the things you can do with Lego is truly limitless. and thinking that all you can do is put the set together then let it collect dust is a travesty!! it's an insult to the very core of what lego's are for! :mad:

Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 2:07 pm
by Bluesecrets
I think that as fans and builders, we do not perceive the need or the purpose of this service. Yes, we see the negatives, but I think we are forgetting two basic facts about our product we play with.

1) LEGO is expensive.
2) We are not the target audience this business. (And for that matter, we aren't the target audience for LEGO)

Parents spend a lot for a LEGO set only to turn around and watch the kid stop playing with it after it is built. It is a common complaint I hear. Whether or not we as hobbyists find that valid or not, it is in fact truth. I know plenty of parents who won't buy LEGO because of the price and give it as gift suggestions for their child. I know parents who super glue the sets together to avoid the tantrums and meltdowns that the kid has when the set falls apart, especially the bigger Star Wars ships. With all of that in play, a parent would be pretty glad to have such a business.

So I can understand why someone feels this could be a successful business. Whether or not it will, remains to be seen.

Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 3:11 pm
by AK_Brickster
"...parents are able to save money by not having to purchase a set that their child may only play with for a while, then become bored with and just let collect dust."
-Pleygo
To me, the one thing that makes Lego superior to every other toy in the world is that when you become bored with what you bought, you can change it into whatever you WON'T be bored with. If parents haven't tapped into that realization, then yeah, they won't see the value of the toy. You might as well buy your kid a bunch of $0.99 crap from the dollar store and keep swapping it out when your kids get bored with it.

I'm thinking that this business is geared toward the mom that my wife overheard in the Lego aisle saying, "I just don't get Lego. You buy the set, and then it takes HOURS to put it together! What's the point?"

It almost makes me want to grab Pleygo's subscribers and scream, "YOU ARE NOT WORTHY!!!"

Almost ;)