I have to honestly say that KK2 is very – unsatisfactory. However, for The Lego Company it’s just fine. These sets are targeted for the 7-12 age group. 15 year olds like me are a minority. We simply do not count in the scheme of things. While we might be offered sets like the ISD, the AT-AT, and the Sopwith Camel, these are models if anything. The castle line does not fall under that. If I were to ask the nine year old kid down the street what he thought of KK2, he would probably say it is great.
All I can say about your observation James is that it was frank and to the point – a little too blunt if anything, but it still is the truth. I’m afraid that all kid’s want today is prepackaged action. To go a bit farther, a lot of them simply don’t want to think for themselves. They will go for whatever seems to be most exciting.
Could the whole “Knights in shining armor” thing work? Yes it could I - think. The reason why it didn’t work for KKI is that the whole theme was rather bungled. However, I believe TLC has found it more convenient to siphon off some of the hype over Bionicle and give it some new life. It’s just a little transition over to a new medium. For people like me, it is disgusting and useless, but from a marketing standpoint, it works.
The Lego Company isn’t there to make historical minded people like me happy – it is there to make money. As it so happened, kids in the 80s’ found somewhat historically inspired sets neat – they sold well too. Nowadays the computer and fast action video games have taken over. Lego has had to adapt whether we like it or not. Think of the company’s motto now – “Play on” has replaced the “Just imagine”. It’s all about playability now and KK2 seems to offer a lot of that. Sadly though, it is rather superficial and once that gets old, the child will move onto something else.
HOWEVER…
I want to stress a point here. Now matter how much KK2 is packaged to be an “action toy” it still is a building toy – it is Lego just the same. You can use pieces from the sets with better more appealing themes such as the designer series and the Trains line. That is the whole point with Lego and that’s what keeps it above the crowd.
Note the designer sets now. They have proved that well designed
building sets can sell well too. What I am trying to say is that Lego still has an edge here. Could KK2 be better? Yes – it could be. In fact I think Lego is really trying to fix the problems they’ve made – While Valdek’s siege tower still falls short of the mark, it is a big step forward. If you don’t like KK2 though, ignore it – that’s what I have done.
Before I end there, I want to make another point. What if Lego came out with everything we hoped for and wanted? What would I do? OK, I might buy a set or two, but with awesome sites like Bricklink, I can get exactly what I want for my projects. To be frank, I have more fun building my own stuff rather than an official Lego set no matter how good it is.
Thank you for you post though James. Just try to be a bit more diplomatic next time
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