Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Discussion of general LEGO topics
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Bruce N H
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Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Post by Bruce N H »

Hey,

I suppose at this point we're all piling on what seems like a bad business idea. My main complaint from the user side is that at $15 a month for a small set, you'd have to turn this around at least a couple of times a month to make it worth while. Otherwise, why not just buy a small set each month, and you wouldn't have to worry about finding all of the pieces and boxing them up, taking them to the post office, etc. I just don't see the turnaround being efficient enough to merit this. BTW, that's part of why we stopped getting the discs-through-the-mail option from Netflix when they changed their pricing schedule. If we would get a disc, watch it that night, send it in the mail the next day, and few days later get another and repeat the process it would be worth it, but we just don't have the time to watch that many movies. The streaming option, otoh, is great, as we can watch whatever on the fly. Until they invent a transporter, that won't be an option with LEGO.

On the business side of this, I'm shocked that they have a 'no charge for missing pieces' rule. That's just begging for essentially all of the figs to go walking. I don't see AFOLs using this as an illicit way to get some rare elements, but I do see kids just playing with the figs all over the house (I'm always finding figs in the edges around my son's bed, for instance, as he often takes a couple to sleep with him), and the parents not getting everything back in the box.

I do see one potential plus to signing up for this system. If you signed up as a 'mega fan' for a limited time, you could get a chance to put together some of the bigger sets that you may not ever purchase. For instance, they actually have the Death Star, 10188. I may be a castler, but Star Wars still runs in my blood (I was eight when ANH came out, the perfect age for it to be a life-defining experience). I'm never going to plunk down the $400 for that set, but I would really love the chance to build that set just once, and spend some hours reenacting all of the key scenes from the movie. If I didn't have kids* I might just sign up for this service for a couple of months, just for the chance to run through and try out some of the really big sets I'll never buy. I see they also have the Super Star Destroyer and a couple of the Cafe Corner sets, other things I'd love to build once or twice but would not purchase.

Blue, you almost gave me a heart attack with that superglue revelation. I do think someone should call child protective services. :)

Bruce

*Don't get me wrong, 98% of my LEGO building, and the most fun part, is with my kids, but their "help" makes assembling large scale models in the middle of the living room pretty much impossible. My personal building is generally reserved for after bedtime, and on my workbench in the garage. That probably also explains why I post so few MOCs.
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Ferretclaw
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Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Post by Ferretclaw »

SSchmidt wrote:
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:
Hehe. Yep they replied. Twice.
AK, that was a very... Tactful way of putting it. I applaud you. :D

Lol. I love how they ended the conversation with "have a pleygo day!" Tacky
AK_Brickster wrote: 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.
Or it breaks.

Anyway I agree with Blue to a certain degree. I can see how this business might be useful for the parents of kids between 4-7. 7-14? Above that? Unless your lego collection is a museum, then a set is bound to be taken apart eventually. That doesn't mean that you just sell or trash the parts.

Even so, this business will not last long. They will constantly be replacing lost parts and figures. Unless they are a bunch of millionaire retirees with infinite money to pour into this little hobby-sort of endeavor.
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Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Post by AK_Brickster »

Ferretclaw wrote:Tactful way of putting it. I applaud you. :D
Thanks! I pride myself on my online diplomacy abilities ;)
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theboywarrior
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Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Post by theboywarrior »

Ferretclaw wrote:
SSchmidt wrote:
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:
Am I a bad person for liking your comment? :P

I agree with Bruce (and a few others) that it would make more sense to just buy a set every month...And I haven't looked at it too much, but there might be issues in terms of transport. What if a set gets lost? That's what happened to part of one of my Bricklink orders...Why not this?
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Re: Pleygo- Netflix for Lego

Post by Bluesecrets »

Blue, you almost gave me a heart attack with that superglue revelation. I do think someone should call child protective services. :)
It is in fact true. And I bet not as rare as it would seem.

But I think I am going to take this off topic for a moment to address something, not so much as a staff member, but as a member of Classic Castle. A lot of comments in this thread are embarrassing to me as a member of this community.

There are ways to communicate the things that have been said here without making fun of a business, making a joke of it, calling it stupid, etc. There is absolutely no reason for comments to be made in a derogatory fashion. Classic Castle is not the place that has ever been one for doing such. We've always prided ourselves on how we talk about things and behave in mature manner. I've been a member here for a very long time and I don't remember any time in which these kind of comments have been made. It is completely disheartening that it is happening here. This Pleygo is a business, whether or not you agree with it, there is no reason to make it a target of your comments or humor. And absolutely nothing should be said or done that could impact their business. (Oh and while you are thinking about that know that our forum IS searched by as many as 12 different search engines, daily. Nothing said here is private.)

Not once have I said I agree or disagree with this business. I haven't decided. I have said I understand the reason for it existing, AND have said that it was not a business that would target people like anyone here. I would not join their service, because I have no need for it.

So if you need to take this as a warning, then so be it. But I would rather you think about how you are communicating and why it would have any member of this forum make comments like I have above.
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