After LEGO Universe , which will close its doors in January 2012, it is now the turn of the Design byME service to shut down at the beginning of next year.
In its press release, LEGO explains that the service allowing users to design a model in LDD and then order it online was far too complex for children... Obviously. And it seems that LEGO decided to cut its losses by taking user feedback into account.
The HERO Recon Team Hero Creator service remains available for the time being. My son even created his own Hero Factory character on this service and received it within a week, in a vaguely personalized box, and he was especially happy to have been able to get a character for which he could choose every part, every color and even its name.
LEGO seems to refocus its activities, eliminate the less profitable and concentrate on the essentials: Producing licensed ranges supported by communication at a lower cost for TLC (Movies or cartoons produced by Warner / Marvel / Lucas / Disney) and generating large volumes and high margins. In short, a real business logic.
We too often forget that it is not because we make toys that we should believe ourselves in the land of Care Bears. The crisis is here, and LEGO, like the others, must back it up while waiting for the return to better days.
