Waste Not, Want Not

Post by **rogue27** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 6:47 pm

Dear LEGO,

I recently purchased Knight's Kingdom set #8777: Vladek Encounter. For being such a small set, I was appalled by the large size of the instruction booklet.

The instruction booklet was folded in half because it was roughly twice the size of the box. Even worse, it had 20 pages, yet only 6 of them actually contained instructions. Even on the pages containing instructions, the majority of each page was unused space, so the instructions probably could have been compressed down to 4 pages while still having room for product shots. Most of the other 14 pages were used on a promotional comic that seems to be included in each of the Knight's Kingdom sets.

I find this wasteful packaging to be incredibly irresponsible for a company such as LEGO that strives to promote good values in children and families. I also fail to understand how a company that lost millions of dollars in 2003 can justify the production and shipping costs on all of this waste material that is just going to sit in landfills. I hope this company will be more resourceful in the future.

Sincerely,
Rocco J Carello

TheOrk · Post by **TheOrk** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 6:56 pm

I noticed this problem too and I find it annoying. I they are going to have LEGO comics they should include the actual products.
http://library.brickshelf.com/scans/cat ... uk-40.html

Luís · Post by **Luís** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 7:03 pm

TheOrk wrote:I noticed this problem too and I find it annoying. I they are going to have LEGO comics they should include the actual products.
http://library.brickshelf.com/scans/cat ... uk-40.html

Cool catalog.

Sir Vincent · Post by **Sir Vincent** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 7:17 pm

TheOrk wrote:I noticed this problem too and I find it annoying. I they are going to have LEGO comics they should include the actual products.
http://library.brickshelf.com/scans/cat ... uk-40.html

That entirely ruined my view on Majisto and the Dragon Masters...that was such an "Orkish" thing to do...

Well anyway...I do agree that the instruction booklet was and stilll is much too big...but hey since it's so big you won't have to worry about losing it right? Right? RIGHT?

TheOrk · Post by **TheOrk** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 7:32 pm

If you look in every catalog the set has a diferent name
I.E http://library.brickshelf.com/scans/cat ... uk-41.html
'King Saxondale's castle' is also called
The Royal Keep
The Royal Knight Fortress
The King's Castle

That entirely ruined my view on Majisto and the Dragon Masters...that was such an "Orkish" thing to do...

Thats what TheOrk's here for...........

TwoTonic Knight · Post by **TwoTonic Knight** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 7:39 pm

A: You are paying for it anyway.

B: They give my bird something to aim at on the bottom of his cage.

Jokes aside (though I suppose "A" above wasn't really a joke), I rather imagine that LEGO® feels it is good marketing to give the KK line a backstory. I certainly don't need it, but perhaps kids enjoy that kind of thing. If I was 8 I probably would.

Post by **Robin Hood** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 8:19 pm

well I suppose the comic is ok. But they still waist a lot of space. I mean sometimes they have an entire page for putting just one brick on.

Dan

Sir Vincent · Post by **Sir Vincent** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 8:36 pm

Robin Hood wrote:well I suppose the comic is ok. But they still waist a lot of space. I mean sometimes they have an entire page for putting just one brick on.

Dan

I know what you mean...but you have to take into consideration...that most kids are a tad bit shall we say slow these days...

LEGOFREAK · Post by **LEGOFREAK** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 8:57 pm

Sir Vincent wrote: I know what you mean...but you have to take into consideration...that most kids are a tad bit shall we say slow these days...

Nope they aren't. I disagree. Its marketing who assumes kids today are stupid. Really, just because a kid isn't into lego doesnt mean that kid is stupid. it just means they may have a different hobby. my nieces and nephews are all into different things, and I think by observing them and their friends, I can see a pretty accurate potrayal of kids today. I wouldnt categorize any of them as stupid. Ok - maybe one or two.

but not most.

I personally don't think parents/teachers/community etc... push kids to their true potentials.

Freak

doctorsparkles · Post by **doctorsparkles** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 9:29 pm

All right, we've had the 'kids today are stupid' debate before, and the only thing we ever accomplish is to get the thread locked, so I think it may be best to stop while we're ahead.
I will have to agree with your opinion on the instruction booklets, for the most part. Vladek Encounter's instructions could have very easily been printed on one folded up sheet. 6011, a set that is only slightly smaller, is printed on a single sheet, about 3 and a half inches wide and 16 inches long. It not only includes full instructions, but a photo of the finished set and 2 alternate models. The instruction sheet for set number 4816, a much larger set, measures 8 by 12. This includes full instructions, a photo of the model and a half sheet advertisement for the rest of the KK1 chrome line.
I don't mind the inclusion of comics in the instructions, but I think it would be more appropriate if they encouraged children to read by including captions and dialogue. I also think they should only put a portion of the comic (whatever portion applies to that particular set) in each booklet. That way you would have to buy the entire series to get the entire story, and those of us who don't care wouldn't have to pay an extra fifty cents for a ten page comic that we don't even want to read.

TheOrk · Post by **TheOrk** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 9:29 pm

I personally don't think parents/teachers/community etc... push kids to their true potentials.

I'm a kid and I agree.(Gimmie more LEGO

)
But still this problem has been discused on several other treads so lets get back on the topic.

Luís · Post by **Luís** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 9:36 pm

LEGOFREAK wrote:
Sir Vincent wrote: I know what you mean...but you have to take into consideration...that most kids are a tad bit shall we say slow these days...
Nope they aren't. I disagree. Its marketing who assumes kids today are stupid. Really, just because a kid isn't into lego doesnt mean that kid is stupid. it just means they may have a different hobby. my nieces and nephews are all into different things, and I think by observing them and their friends, I can see a pretty accurate potrayal of kids today. I wouldnt categorize any of them as stupid. Ok - maybe one or two.
but not most.

I personally don't think parents/teachers/community etc... push kids to their true potentials.

Freak

Totaly right.
I'm a kid and I'm a genious at school.

doctorsparkles · Post by **doctorsparkles** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 9:48 pm

Seriously, I'm willing to bet if people keep replying to the 'kids are stupid' comment, the thread will get locked. We've had this conversation many times before and it's gotten us nowhere.

Post by **rogue27** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 10:08 pm

*sigh*

Every thread I create seems to generate a bunch of off-topic discussion which results in a lock.

Anyway, yes, we are paying for these repetitive comics that are included in the KK sets. I have two problems with that:

1. I am paying for it, and I don't want it.

2. It makes LEGO more expensive which will ultimately assist MegaBloks in taking away market share. It's already about half and half. Once it turns in favor of MegaBloks, we'll have nothing left to do but watch an empire crumble.

LEGOFREAK · Post by **LEGOFREAK** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 10:14 pm

Allright allright... sorry

Admins and brute squad - please do not lock this thread as we are getting back on topic.
totally my fault. sorry.

That big ol comic book IS a waste of space, They could have put a smaller one in each one. sort of like they did with the star wars ones. It seemed each one of those were at least related to the set they came with whereas this comic seems to be the same in every set.
At least I think so.
they kinda irritated me so i didnt look to closely.