Pure Genius in Marketing: Star Wars Lego! The World's Most Popular Boys Toy? The Best Educational Toy Ever Made?

UPDATE DIRECT FROM LEGO AT BOTTOM!


I think it is pretty safe to say that judging from my son, and all of his friends, as well as what I've seen from older boys (and adults) that Lego is most definitely the most popular boys toy in the world. 

Lego Imperial Star Destroyer

May I also venture to say that, what Apple computers are for adult men over 25, Lego is to the 4-years-old boys to 16-years-old market for young men. Lego is, perhaps, one of the greatest toys ever made. Lego is a hands-on solutions for science, mathematics, spatial concepts, designing and 3D skills (there's probably more that I'm not seeing). Through Lego, kids learn to combine logic with reasoning and eye hand coordination. They get to transform, explore and combine ideas and objects. Not only that! The kids get to use their imaginations after the toy is constructed and deconstructed (which they all inevitably seem to be at my house) into brand new objects that are conceived of whatever my son wants and imagines them to be! 


I am convinced that Lego is pure genius and probably one of the greatest toys ever made! I think Star Wars Lego is the greatest boys toy ever made bar none! Why I say that is because my son and his friends have been Star Wars Lego crazy since he was four years old. Lego sets start at 4 years old and up. Currently, my son is eight but he is now working on a Lego Star Wars set that was designed for sixteen-years-old and up. 


Ah! Say "Star Wars" and what child between 4 and 40 doesn't light up with extreme interest immediately? Say "puzzle" or "3D puzzle" and you'll get yawns and a distinct lack of enthusiasm from the recipient, but say "Star Wars" or "Star Wars Lego" and you'll have your kid all over it and jumping up and down saying, "Daddy I want one!"

Buy these when they first come out and they are $200 ~ $300. Later they become collectors items like this... This is no longer a child's toy. I bought this one for my son new when it was $180 (about).

Find me one other educational toy that invokes such a strong desire and reaction out of the average child and you'll be showing be another genius invention. I can't think of any, can you?


Some people will say that Lego is "So expensive" but I don't think so. If you consider Lego just a toy, then maybe it is expensive. But Lego is not just a toy. Lego is a toy, a learning experience, a science tool, a babysitter, a world of imagination all it's own and much more. A Lego toy is played with for months if not years after it is first taken from the box and assembled! 


Lego is not expensive at all when you consider all that you get for your money.


I especially enjoy the fact that my child can learn at his own speed. If he is five and is ready for the Lego designed for 7 years old boys, have at it. If he is 7 and can do the 12 years old and up, then take the challenge! Why not? He is learning as he is having fun!


Learning and having fun while doing so is the key to the perfect education.


For the more advanced Star Wars Lego sets, there's no way that a child (along with dad, who needs to spend more time with son, by the way... Ahem) can put one of these things together in one sitting. The current model my son and I are working on is a Lego Star Wars Imperial Shuttle. It is for 16 years old and up. It has 2503 pieces so, knowing that, you'd know that it will take quite a while to construct this toy.


It is taking all the resources the empire can muster to put this shuttle together in time to be ready for battle!


I always try to work together with my son when he is constructing his Lego sets. As I mentioned, it is a great time (and future memory) together. He does all the assembling and I help with pushing in difficult or extremely tight fitting pieces (and refrain from doing so unless absolutely necessary - I want him to have strong hands). He assembles and I sit and find pieces for him (mom helps when were stuck). We chat about various things while doing so. It's a great way to spend time together.

We've been working on this one for two weeks at about 30 minutes a day. Very cheap entertainment for father and son (especially when raining or dark outside). Quality and fun time together.

We usually block off 30 ~ 40 minutes at once to work on the kit. So far, we've been working on this one model on and off for nearly two weeks and we're not even half way done so you can see that this is a great way to spend time learning with your child and having fun while doing it.


Another amazing thing I have to point out to everyone about the value of Lego is the customer service is great. Over these last four and one half years, my son has constructed every single Lego Star Wars that was made. I think that must be easily 40 or 50 different models. Many of those models have had over 1,000 pieces. It doesn't happen often, but, there have been times when pieces were missing...


Now, usually when something like pieces missing happens, it's a major headache; find the receipt, take the toy back, wait in line, hassle with details, ... Not with Lego! With Lego, you go online to their Lego customer service page for Replacement Parts and order the parts you need. They then send them to you in three weeks for FREE! Now that is killer customer service!


Out of well over 50 Lego sets that my son has assembled over these few years, we've discovered missing parts only three times. Three times I ordered the pieces and got them delivered to my home with no hassles and No Questions Asked! They didn't ask where I purchased the toy, where my receipt was, or any intrusive questions! They just shipped me what I needed! They even ship them to Japan, where many of the models are not sold, with free shipping too! (I buy the models overseas as many are not available in Japan and bring them back!) 


Wasn't I saying something about, what Apple computers are for adult men over 25, Lego is to the 4-years-old to 16-years-old market for boys and young men. 


Lego's service might even be better than Apple's and that is hard to do!


Like I said, I think Lego is a genius toy and probably one of, if not the, greatest boys toy ever invented.


(Disclaimer: No I do not own Lego company shares nor do I have any plan to. If there are any complaints about Lego, then may I say that I wish they'd license all the Star Wars Lego's for the territory of Japan also so that I may order them directly in Japan? I always have to order in the USA and then sent to my family then to be sent to me! I sure hate bothering the folks.... Or, how about this; "Hey Japanese toy manufacturer! License these products for Japan!")

Lego Star Wars Motorized Walking AT-AT

If you can still find this Lego Star Wars Imperial Walker buy it. This is, I think, the best one at the best price so far. I bought it at $170 new (now sells for $199) and had about 1100 pieces as well as a motorized engine that made it walk. It was wonderful for my son to see how and engine works and turns gears. He built it a year ago and still plays with it!

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UPDATE: 


Just to show what a fine and quality company Lego is, they found this article written about them (smart companies are checking the Internet t see what people are saying about them!):


Dear Mike,

I really enjoyed your article and I must say your son's LEGO Star Wars collection is rather impressive! I'm glad you've been so content with our customer service and I must say I really liked this phrase:

"Lego's service might even be better than Apple's and that is hard to do!"- very nice compliment, thanks a lot!

I hope you will continue your LEGO Star Wars collection for years because no one is too old for LEGO sets!

Best wishes,

Malgorzata Napierala
LEGO Direct


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For the history of Lego see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego   

Shocking Video of Little 2-Year-Old Girl in China Getting Run Over by Truck... and Why China Can Never Be Number One

This is a video that has shaken Chinese society to her roots. It shows what China has become. A two-year old girl is hit by a truck and run over. The truck doesn't bother to stop. A second vehicle also runs over the child. A total of eighteen people walk by the critically injured tyke yet no one stops to help until a cleaning lady happens by.

This is a very shocking video. Parental discretion is advised.

That poor dear child. This tears my heart out.


I have been to China several times and have seen how people will not lift a finger to help someone laying in the road. It is truly shocking. Some westerners who go to China and do help people in the streets are often celebrated on TV as some sort of heroes!


Some people have told me that China today is that way because of years of poverty and the government doing little to help so that people have come to think that they must fend for themselves and that other people do not matter.


In 2010, I was the marketing director for a Macau based airlines and, one day, the government of China revoked the airline's license causing nearly 5,000 Japanese to be stranded. That's just one example, but that sort of thing would be impossible in Japan. The Japanese government might revoke a license, but they'd make damn sure the people were taken care of and could get home first.


The Chinese government? I don't know what to think.


It is for this reason, and the related causes and symptoms, that I do not believe China can ever be number one. The social fabric of that country has come apart and there is no respect for private property and the concept of social responsibility has virtually disappeared. 


Mish Shedlock has his own comments about this video. He wrote:

There is quite a difference between failing to act out of 


fear for yourself or life vs. complete indifference as to 


what happens to a little girl run over by a van. 


The video represents the tragic state of everyday affairs in China.

The Yuan will not become the new world reserve currency.

China does not have deep enough capital markets or deep enough bond markets. China does not respect human or property rights, and contrary to popular belief there are so many problems with being the world's reserve currency that Chinese leadership does not even want it.

Mish has more at: 

Must See Heart Wrenching Video of Moral Deterioration in China

and 

Feedback on China Video Story from Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Sculptor Hopen, Others

Japanese people say that China is a very "恐ろし国"

　(very scary country). Things like this video do 

nothing to dispel this kind of thinking. 

I am also very saddened to report that this little

girl has died due to her injuries.

May god bless her soul.

More details: http://duke1.tbo.com/content/2011/oct/21/210905/chinese-toddler-dies-after-getting-run-over-ignore/news-breaking/

The Child of Domestic Violence

This is a very difficult post to write and it makes me sad that I feel I must...


Someone needs to speak the truth. Because this sickness has struck again and another small child lay dead. I wrote about the child the other day. Now I know what happened. There is a sickness that happens behind closed doors of what seems like everyday, happy, healthy homes. This sickness is truly evil and it is called Domestic Violence.

ELVIS COSTELLO - BOY WITH A PROBLEM

The children of these homes live in suffering and their victim parents live in total fear. Fear for their safety, fear for their sanity, fear for their lives and the lives of their children.


The children of the homes of domestic violence go to school and see friends. They try to forget.


I know. I witnessed it only two or three times when I was a child. But it was ugly and quite frightening when I did. I thought he was going to kill my mother once. I am ashamed to admit that one time, when I was a 5th or 6th grader, my brothers took up baseball bats and threatened him. We said, "We don't want to do this, but if you hit mom, we will hit you back." 


Thank god, he calmed down and backed down.


I never witnessed domestic violence from my father ever again.


I am even more ashamed to admit that, in my first marriage, I repeated the evil. When I was having an affair with another woman, I was so ashamed of myself and so frustrated with my life, and so confused, that I committed domestic violence against my then beautiful wife. This went on for a year or two. I was completely mad, sick and out of my mind.


She didn't deserve that from me. I went blind and hit her. From then on, I committed domestic violence, on and off, of the sometimes physical, but mostly the psychological kind. She became sick and depressed. I pushed her away. She ran to someone else.


We wound up getting a divorce... to my regret.


I went to seek psychological help, for the divorce and many other things. My life was a mess of my own making. With help, I never committed domestic violence ever again. That was nearly two decades ago. It's too bad that, after the cows have already left the barn, we often decide then, when it is already too late, to do something about the broken door.


Please, dear God, forgive me for what I did and help me to be a better person. Please, my daughters, forgive me for the unhappy childhood I gave you. 


Oh, how many other children must suffer for this domestic violence? Why does this domestic violence rear its ugly head and ruin the lives and childhoods of so many seemingly happy and normal children?


If the children survive, in many cases, they grow up to repeat the errors of the parents and the vicious circle of domestic violence continues.


Some children, though, do not survive. 


In Japan, some mothers are pushed to the limits so far that they take their lives and the lives of their children. Of course, the monsters living inside of those committing domestic violence can never imagine that the wives would ever conceive of double suicide, but they can.... And they do.   


Domestic violence. It happens way too often. Husbands beat their wives physically or mentally. They push these women to the limit of their wits.


Then then women break. They come to where they can't take it anymore.


In Japanese society, there's nowhere for these women to turn.


They confide in their closest friends, but that's all. This domestic violence is a shameful thing in Japanese society. But the friends all talk in hushed tones....


When it gets too bad, then the talk turns to divorce... The laws have recently changed... Wives no longer have the trump card for child custody. Nightly, they fear for their lives and the lives of their children.

The husband is the breadwinner. The wife goes into depression. She seeks professional help. The husband, the cause of this malady, whistles along on his merry way acting as if there's nothing the matter. Then, at court, the husband can tout his wife as having "mental problems."


The only people who know the truth are the husband (if he realizes the extent of his evil and his illness), the wife (and a few very close friends) and the children.


Sure, the wife has mental problems. Wouldn't you? Who wouldn't have mental problems if their partner abused them both physically and mentally over and over on and on for an extended period of time?


The abuse continues... It's occurrence is unpredictable... Does he do it because he having and affair? Or is it stress? Or is it a hatred of himself? Or just because he is mentally sick and abusive? Who knows?


The wife has nowhere to turn.


She loses her mind. Sick, is she. There's no doubt.


So sick that, one night, she goes so crazy that she kills her child. She then attempts suicide... She succeeds with the child, fails with herself.


The husband then later proclaims to the world that he "doesn't blame her for this tragic case, she is mentally sick.... Depressed..."


Sure she is sick... Mr. Husband... How much did you help her to become that way?


This poor lovely child, with their entire future ahead of them, dies because of what she did and the result of the way you treated her for so many years. You can act like you were the good husband and didn't harm anyone....


But there are many of us who do know the truth. She told us. 


When I see you, you'll be able to read it in my eyes, if you have the courage to look.... And the eyes of the others she confided in.


In this case, the child dies. The circle of domestic violence is broken. The child will not grow up seeking help for the illness his father caused nor will he abuse his wife. 


He is dead. The child of domestic violence. 


If this post hits too close to home, please seek help. http://www.helpfordomesticviolence.com/