I would love to know what percentage of Legos revenue is now from adults buying the incredible large, complex and expensive sets to build themselves. Lego is so associated as a toy for children just as computer games are, but gaming is a larger industry for adults than children.
My wife and I now regularly buy these large lego sets for each other (birthdays, Christmas and anniversaries) and do them together in the evenings after the kids are in bed. Its such a lovely way to relax.
I think 1980s kids who grew up and got well-paying tech jobs are their largest customer demographic now. Kids play Minecraft instead.
That's what my oldest son said, at least; he doesn't see the point in Lego now that Minecraft exists. Breaks my heart. I mean, Minecraft is fantastic, but it's not Lego.
An alternative viewpoint: Minecraft is Lego, and Lego isn't.
When there were fewer themed Lego sets, Lego was a sandbox. You had a mish-mash of generic pieces and your creativity. Modern Lego sets are extremely tailored, both in theme and with sets having bespoke pieces - even if you throw all of your newer sets together in a pile (which people tend not to because each is supposed to be a thing), the pieces aren't as modular, allow for less extension of your imagination.
Minecraft is blocks and what you do with them. Minecraft isn't a digital extension of Lego, it's serving the experience Lego did a few decades ago but no longer does.
There are a lot fewer bespoke parts than you might think. Creating new molds is expensive and if you look closer you'll see that odd shapes are reused for different purposes in different sets.
For some firsthand examples, I have a few of the "botanical" sets, and they have things like Technic wing/fin pieces for leaves, flowers made out of car hoods and trunks, and pink frogs used en masse for cherry blossoms.
They're very creative at reusing pieces. One of the Lego Mario sets has a bomb on a parachute, but the parachute is made out of a white version of the old 3-flower-stem piece.
Overwhelming majority (but not all) of kids I know have parents that limit how much they can play on computer or tablet. They play with legos regularly (among other things).
I'd also wonder if their cost per part on the bigger sets is higher or lower.
I've been building the adult sets over the last few years and you're right it's a nice nondigital way to unwind. Unlike my job everything works, has a place, and is all neat and organizable.
Interestingly my mother who is retired has gotten into lego. Initially she got into it because she decided to resell all my childhood sets which were stored in a large bins. I had kept all the instructions so she just build lego sets one at a time and sold them off. It got her hooked, and now she regularly buys used or new sets, assembles, and then resells them. It's interesting to see someone get into lego rather late in life with no childhood nostalgia of them what so ever.
There was an average price by piece comparison a few years ago but I can't find it back.
The gist of it was that price by piece didn't change that much, while sets are getting bigger and more complex. I'd also wagger that we now have a lot more smaller pieces that make these kind of calculations more flawed.
It is not even that sets would be universally bigger. You can buy middle sized, small and super small sets still. Lego sets literally start from small bag for 5e that builds something super small.
> I would love to know what percentage of Legos revenue is now from adults buying the incredible large, complex and expensive sets to build themselves.
> I would love to know what percentage of Legos revenue is now from adults buying the incredible large, complex and expensive sets to build themselves.
If you have a Lego store nearby, stop in, and it's mindboggling how many $100+ sets they carry. Not great for shopping for a Lego Friends set for my daughter, but if I wanted to drop $300 on a Ninjago set they'd be able to help.
Exactly, thinking though what lego we have brought each other and the kids (3 and 7) in the last year we could easily be spending twice as much on "adult" lego than on the kids, and we get it for them even more regularly.
Lego is working hard to make it an adult thing too. See the many Lego Masters tv programs in many countries, were it is mostly adults competing. I would say the have unlocked the adult market, and this is why the had such good results lately.
I don't have a number for you, but I recently read an interview of their head of the "adult division". He basically said that it was their fastest growing segment. All the IDEAS sets are targeted at adults and they seem to be doing very well.
My wife and I now regularly buy these large lego sets for each other (birthdays, Christmas and anniversaries) and do them together in the evenings after the kids are in bed. Its such a lovely way to relax.