Wall Street Journal Talks About LEGO with No One from LEGO

[Staff]

When the above video was linked to me, I watched it with the expectation that I would actually learn something about LEGO and their working relationship with their licensors and, like the headline says, why LEGO is so expensive. Maybe that was my fatal flaw, having an expectation. But instead, I learned that having two people from the Wall Street Journal talk about LEGO without anyone from LEGO there can expose how inaccurate their facts are. For instance, LEGO's set designers operate out of Denmark, and not Norway. And the headline? The headline says, "Why Are Legos So Expensive?" The video doesn't exactly detail why it's so expensive but maybe the published article they allude to explains it a bit better. Oh, and also, it's LEGO not Legos. I'm not one of those grammar nazis that correct people all the time when they use the term Legos. I honestly don't care and don't expect the average joe to know the difference but from a news publication such as the Wall Street Journal, you'd think they'd know or at least have someone at LEGO briefly proof the copy for inaccuracies before going to set or publishing the article.

I don't know why I'm nerdraging about the video. I realize they're not LEGO nerds like we are, but still...
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Permalink: http://www.fbtb.net/2012/12/21/wall-street-journal-talks-about-lego-with-no-one-from-lego/

[hodgavic]

they are worried about spending $70 on the hobbit set?....It's RRP is $120 in Australia and our dollar is worth more....Lego need to seriously look at pricing in Aus when you can order from resellers in germany and holland and have sets devilvered for less that you can get them for in Australian shops or S@H in Aus.

[etcknight]

Norway? No way! j/k (couldn't resist)

Is "Bag End" really the "gotta have it" toy of the season? I'm kind of surprised by that statement. Personally, I was more about Jabba's Palace this year. "Bag End" is a cool set, but there seemed to be plenty of supply at all the retailers. But, that's cool if it really is.

[SapphirePhoenix]

Hey, i am a Joe, and i know it's LEGO not Legos.

[SapphirePhoenix]

... retards.

[zhouston]

They're still a step ahead of me, I thought it was "laygoez"

[JD4M]

Bad Journalism at it's finest or fine journalism at it's worst? I'm willing to give them benefit of the doubt and assume the latter.

[ninnymuggins]

Aren't Fox News and the WSJ owned by the same parent company?

[preterosso]

The actual article in the actual paper was more interesting -- the video looks like a fluff piece for those who don't read. Which is what it is supposed to be, I guess. . . .

[davedude]

i got an email from lego...i asked why it was so expensive in canada compared to the USA, since our moneys (SP lol) are more...heres their reason(run-around)...
Dear Dave,

Thank you for your contacting us regarding the prices of LEGO® products.

Dave, we're so happy to hear you're a huge LEGO fan! Hopefully, the information below will explain the pricing differences for you.

I would like to explain that the Company has not historically changed retail prices as local currencies fluctuate, and recent developments with the Canadian dollar have not dramatically altered the fixed costs of doing business in Canada. With headquarters in Europe, the LEGO Group reports its financials in Danish Kroner, and maintains a manufacturing cost base fixed in Euros. The prices of LEGO products vary around the world, and are determined by careful evaluation of local factors such as government taxes, transportation costs, exchange rates, market conditions and the cost of doing business. It is, therefore, inaccurate to look to U.S. pricing as a means of measuring anticipated Canadian price equivalencies.

I want to assure you that the LEGO Group does everything it can to deliver the best possible quality, value and play experience to our consumers at competitive prices in all of the 130 countries where we do business. We wish you many more happy hours of creative building with LEGO brand toys in the years to come.

Thank you again for contacting us. Dave, if you have any further questions, please feel free to reply to this email or call one of our friendly Customer Care Advisors at 1-800-835-4386 (from within the US or Canada) or 1-860-749-0706 (from outside the US or Canada). We are available Monday through Friday from 8AM - 10PM EST and Saturday through Sunday from 10AM to 6PM EST. Please have your reference number handy if you need to get in touch with us: 0#############

Sincerely,

Jane
LEGO Consumer Services

[JamesBenjamin]

Aren't Fox News and the WSJ owned by the same parent company?

Yes, they are both owned by Rupert Murdock's News Corp.

[hassmyster]

Wow I am surprised at the Wall Street Journal. I am a big fan of the paper and would read it quick frequently. I am quite surprised how poor done this was. I mean I understand Journalist makes mistake but the fact that she cited Norway as the headquarters. Give me a break I expect higher standards from the wall street journal.

[drdavewatford]

"I don't know why I'm nerdraging about the video. I realize they're not LEGO nerds like we are"

To be fair to you, it's not unreasonable to expect a supposedly respectable information source like the WSJ to have done their homework and have a vague idea of what they're talking about. Clearly the WSJ is not what it once was, however.... Useless.

D.

[darth_fett]

Yowch. I still call them Legos too. To me, it's more incorrect to just call them lego bricks, cos there are bricks, plates, tiles, wheels, hinges, walls, BURPs, etc. And that's way too long to say. Simply calling them building blocks is also confusing since most parts aren't block shaped (ie cube). Likewise there are also Kreo, Megablock, nanoblock, Lincoln logs, Knex which are all building "blocks" in their own right. So plz forgive me for referring to the company as Lego (instead of TLG) & their toys as Legos. Or God help me, legos.

[CWAL]

It's actually really easy to just always use LEGO instead of "Legos", and in most sentences doing so doesn't even change the grammar. The trick in most cases is to put the word "some" in front of LEGO. If you're referring to specific pieces, I would typically just assume the listener is in on the fact that you're talking about LEGO, and simply say "Could you hand me two of those pieces?" while pointing.

Actually having to say unwieldy things like "I would like a LEGO Modular Building Block Set for my birthday this year." is, I feel, pretty uncommon.

TLDR:
Saying "That's a lot of LEGO" uses the same sentence structure as "That's a lot of Legos", except that it's one letter shorter, utilizes the approved use of the noun, and us grammar freaks won't say anything about it.

[WillyWampa]

i got an email from lego...i asked why it was so expensive in canada compared to the USA, since our moneys (SP lol) are more...heres their reason(run-around)...
Dear Dave,

Thank you for your contacting us regarding the prices of LEGO® products.

Dave, we're so happy to hear you're a huge LEGO fan! Hopefully, the information below will explain the pricing differences for you.

I would like to explain that the Company has not historically changed retail prices as local currencies fluctuate, and recent developments with the Canadian dollar have not dramatically altered the fixed costs of doing business in Canada. With headquarters in Europe, the LEGO Group reports its financials in Danish Kroner, and maintains a manufacturing cost base fixed in Euros. The prices of LEGO products vary around the world, and are determined by careful evaluation of local factors such as government taxes, transportation costs, exchange rates, market conditions and the cost of doing business. It is, therefore, inaccurate to look to U.S. pricing as a means of measuring anticipated Canadian price equivalencies.

I want to assure you that the LEGO Group does everything it can to deliver the best possible quality, value and play experience to our consumers at competitive prices in all of the 130 countries where we do business. We wish you many more happy hours of creative building with LEGO brand toys in the years to come.

Thank you again for contacting us. Dave, if you have any further questions, please feel free to reply to this email or call one of our friendly Customer Care Advisors at 1-800-835-4386 (from within the US or Canada) or 1-860-749-0706 (from outside the US or Canada). We are available Monday through Friday from 8AM - 10PM EST and Saturday through Sunday from 10AM to 6PM EST. Please have your reference number handy if you need to get in touch with us: 0#############

Sincerely,

Jane
LEGO Consumer Services

I have to call BS on LEGO for that letter. While it can explain why an item costs more on the shelf in a Canadian store, it doesn't explain why it costs me more when I order an item from S@H which is based in the US. I talk to the same customer service rep as a US customer, the item comes off the same shelf as one going to a US customer and ships from the same location, but I have to pay more. I won't grump about shiping cost, sales taxes and other things that are beyond the control of the company, but when they jack up the list price solely based on the destination of the package, I think I am rightfully pissed off.

When S@H first moved their operation out of Canada to the US the first few catalogues had everything priced in US dollars. Too bad they cannot go back to that much fairer system.