-I think it is a huge mistake that the (IMO overly) 'girly' theme, Belville, isn't fig scale. This makes it that much harder for those girls who do get into these to transition to other themes. Also, I never see Belville sets on the shelves of Target etc, so it seems that LEGO isn't doing enough to push this to distributors.
Exactly.
Also, I would hate to tell Lego to make a cool/hip product, because they would probably blow that out of proportion and give us some stereotyped teen 'fashion model' thing, and that's not my point at all.
A checklist:
1. Price parity. By being in minifig scale, comparable prices with other minifig scale themes is expected. To ignore this is to fail.
2. At least some of the sets need to use a somewhat 'girly' colored packaging to attract buyers that have been neglected over the length of time that any female oriented Lego sets have not been stocked by the stores.
That said, this should be a line with mass appeal, so boxes could be Red, red/yellow, purple, bright green, bright green/sky blue, yellow/bright green, or orange/purple.
3. Fix the ratio. A 13 to 6 female to male minifig ratio to make up for the situation. They don't have to all be pink either!
4. Design with non-violence and gender-neutrality in mind. Set part colors need not be 'girly'.
4. Not monotonous. Monotonous would be an entire fire/police theme that always comes out with similar vehicles EVERY YEAR.
5. Do not discount 'sophistication' in the sets, though most sets will need to be far simpler to build than, say, a Corner Cafe, while echoing some of its finer points.
6. Just because it's not a violent theme does not mean it needs to be a prosaic and monotonous civilian line:
I think that what Bruce meant was that girls tend to (but do not always) like the civilian-style themes than the "conflict driven" themes. I, too, appreciate the civilian sets (and last time I checked I was a guy). This is not true for everyone, and can even be seen as stereotypical, but is general more-or-less true.
There is a third way: Take the best of pop culture while avoiding the shallow. Maybe that would not be normally defined as 'civilian', but Lego should redefine how it approaches civil type sets. Why can't there be a cool set that doesn't reduce itself to an 'EXTREME!!!' cliche?? Take a note from the generation growing up with games like The Sims and build a world of choices. Theme can bounce between 'more female oriented' and 'more male oriented', and it would be FINE.
Sets that Pep demands!!! :evil:
A 50s themed diner car. A row of stools. A brick built juke box! A selection of Parfait/desserts: Ice cream under trans clear dome pieces. Tan countertops. Red seats. Aqua bricks. Some chrome pieces. Doesn't have to be on a straight piece of train track (it can be a converted car with a regular building structure). 2x2 45 degree slope with printing on the flat side as poodle skirt for minifig?? White minifig 'police' cap with black printing on the bill (milkman). New part: Diner hat?? Maybe a classic convertible car? This set would be awesome!!!
A horse ranch. New horse colors. Several pieces of fence in a new color, like tan or dark tan. D bucket accessory in a new color. Ranch hands/horse riders. Orange based plaid shirt torso. Retro parts: Bring back pigtails in new colors. A few jump bars and a green 'sculpted' hedge row made out of lots of plant parts or hinges for steeple chase!
A 70s automobile, a roomy wagon (Think Chevy Chase Vacation
) with a couple of scout masters and kids in scout uniforms. Camping supplies on the roof of the car.
Okay, I'm done ranting for now.
