2012 Planet Sets Series: Collector or Kinder?

The surprise was considerable: in 2012, LEGO launched a new range of sets known for the moment under the name of Planet Series and whose concept is sufficiently innovative for me to give you my few nocturnal reflections on this subject.

On the menu of this range, mini-sets presented in pretty boxes suitable for positioning in displays, unlike the compact sets in the range. Racers generally found on the shelves of toy departments for example, and which should be distributed in the form of successive mini-series to collect. LEGO has also already invested in store checkouts with the series of collectible minifigs in bags sold individually. 

The content is original: A machine in mini format, a minifig matching the machine in question and above all a planet made up of two half-shells reproducing the environment in which the machine operates and capable of containing the parts and the minifig to the way of many products already on the market. Everything comes with a mini display with an identification sticker to accentuate the collector look mini UCS.

The first series, unveiled in September via images borrowed  to a reseller catalog, will offer the following sets:

9674 Naboo Starfighter and Naboo
9675 Sebulba's Podracer and Tatooine
9676 TIE Interceptor and Death Star

The second series, which appeared on photos published a month later should offer the following sets:

9677 X-wing Starfighter & Yavin 4
9678 Twin-Pod Cloud Car & Bespin
9679 AT-ST & Endor

What about this new range of sets whose sale price has been announced by some at € 9.99 and which according to my sources should be much higher?

There is no doubt that these mini sets will be starter products that should allow LEGO to reach an episodic clientele not necessarily familiar with the classic products of the range. The planned packaging clearly indicates LEGO's desire to position these products in visible and accessible marketing areas in stores, and why not at supermarket checkouts, for example.

The presence of the plastic shell responds to a fashion effect, as the Ninjago spinning tops do in their field and of which I still wonder what their real interest is (Those who have already played with beyblades will understand me), which consists of allowing children to transport their toy in a practical, identifiable and original container such as Pokeballs for example.

This approach is undoubtedly the good one for the manufacturer to glean new customers / collectors and to fight against some competing brick brands more and more present in stores and which also have great licenses, in particular Mega Blocks with Halo or WoW, or Cobi with the Formula 1 McLaren Mercedes and Renault F1 Team teams, marketed at more competitive prices.

In addition, the crisis and the general decline in household purchasing power do not necessarily favor the sale of larger but also more expensive sets, as customers generally fall back on more compact and less expensive products.

But depending on how these mini sets are marketed, ultimately involving a certain trivialization of the LEGO toy to make it more affordable, the overall image of the brand could suffer. Find yourself on the shelf or at the head of the gondola next to eggs Children and balls Pokémon or as is sometimes the case with series of minifig collectables at newsagents and tobacco companies would not be in the best taste for the brand,. In my opinion, it would be dangerous to see the expression appear in the mouths of the youngest LEGO Star Wars Egg, thus popularizing at the same time a product, a license and a brand.

Certainly LEGO produces high-end toys, sometimes sold at abusive prices, but to gain or at least retain market share, you have to know how to reach a clientele with a more limited budget without devaluing the product offered.

What makes LEGO a brand apart, collected all over the world, and with a thriving parallel market must not be marred by overly aggressive business practices. I still think that at LEGO, the commercial strategists have already thought about all these considerations and will know how to organize a coherent distribution of this new range.

Although ... remember the LEGO Batman toys that were distributed in the Happy Meals McDonald's in 2008 during the launch of the LEGO Batman video game. These toys were only LEGO in name and loosely in shape: The minifigures weren't even articulated ....

Obviously, I would be the first to acquire these new sets, which are an integral part of the Star Wars range and which seem to have been seriously thought out and designed by LEGO, but I would also be happy if their reduced cost allows children to discover a universe and an exciting product.