14 replies to this topic 1 votes

[Calum]

LEGO Finds Spare Discontinued Set So Boy Who Saved Up For 2 Years Wouldn’t Be Disappointed

A sample of the article said:

We’re used to dealing with companies that seem to take joy in foiling their customers, so when a company comes through, really performs above and beyond, we jump at the chance to warm a few hearts. Like say when an 11-year-old boy saves up his money for two years to buy a LEGO train set only to find out it isn’t being made anymore and is now a collectible, completely out of his price range. You better believe this one has a happy ending.

Read more at The Consumerist.


My comment:

This made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, especially the comment from LEGO.

[spacer]

That was very awesome of Lego to send this kid the set he wanted so badly. I'm really happy to see companies that still have a soul.

But I'm left wondering why in the world the parents just didn't buy this for their kid 2 years ago? Even if the family was on a tight budget, he had two birthdays and two Christmas/Hanukkah/Winter-Holidays between then and now. Either he got zero presents in those two years or he has the most inattentive parents in the world.

[LaP]

spacer, on 04 December 2012 - 21:33, said:

That was very awesome of Lego to send this kid the set he wanted so badly. I'm really happy to see companies that still have a soul.

But I'm left wondering why in the world the parents just didn't buy this for their kid 2 years ago? Even if the family was on a tight budget, he had two birthdays and two Christmas/Hanukkah/Winter-Holidays between then and now. Either he got zero presents in those two years or he has the most inattentive parents in the world.

I remember when i was a kid one of the boy needed a hockey stick to play with us. Back in the days a stick was around 10$. The boy was around 8 maybe 9. His parents did not want to buy him a hockey stick. Not because they did not want him to play just because they did not want to spend money on that. It took him one month i think to gather the money from consigned bottles to buy himself a stick to play with us.

Some parents simply should not have kids ...

[+Phouchg]

spacer, on 04 December 2012 - 21:33, said:

But I'm left wondering why in the world the parents just didn't buy this for their kid 2 years ago? Even if the family was on a tight budget, he had two birthdays and two Christmas/Hanukkah/Winter-Holidays between then and now. Either he got zero presents in those two years or he has the most inattentive parents in the world.

Bah. I remember my first System sets that consisted of many simple pieces, with pretty complicated and clever instructions. Then somewhere along the way, at least the smaller ones, became shameless prefabs - come on, whole chassis of a three-axle lorry in one piece? Of course, such contraints resulted only into way more crazier designs, but it also kind of ruined it. Being an impatient kid and having working class parents I couldn't afford the big sets - they were expensive as hell ($100 for a train here? Set of such a size used to cost here five times more, I'd wager) and then... I got older, I guess.

[BGM]

i'm nearly 30 and i still soemtimes buy lego. it's cool!

[+Lingwo]

This is why everybody should love Lego.
It is a great toy. I still wish i had a massive box of it.

[spikey_richie]

LaP, on 04 December 2012 - 21:40, said:

I remember when i was a kid one of the boy needed a hockey stick to play with us. Back in the days a stick was around 10$. The boy was around 8 maybe 9. His parents did not want to buy him a hockey stick. Not because they did not want him to play just because they did not want to spend money on that. It took him one month i think to gather the money from consigned bottles to buy himself a stick to play with us.

Some parents simply should not have kids ...

The problem with this is if the kid says I want a hockey stick and gets on the next day, then what next? The kid will just want something else, whereas if they work for it they're more likely to realise its value.

Agreed on the Christmas thing though; they could have hooked him up.

[InsaneNutter]

Calum, on 04 December 2012 - 21:19, said:

This made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, especially the comment from LEGO.

Very i loved logo as a kid, especially the Lego trains.

Great article / video!

[Arceles]

I wish I worked at LEGO...

[+remixedcat]

This is AWESOME! but his parent's shouldn't have been such tightwads....

and something epically LEGO I saw at the Columbus Museum of Art about 2 weeks ago:



BIG EPIC LEGO CITY!!!

I would have loved to have that LEGO city as a kid!

[+Blank]

Legos are expensive period. I had to quit playing with them due to the price, and my laziness to pick them all up after i was done.


nice for the boy though.

[HawkMan]

spacer, on 04 December 2012 - 21:33, said:

That was very awesome of Lego to send this kid the set he wanted so badly. I'm really happy to see companies that still have a soul.

But I'm left wondering why in the world the parents just didn't buy this for their kid 2 years ago? Even if the family was on a tight budget, he had two birthdays and two Christmas/Hanukkah/Winter-Holidays between then and now. Either he got zero presents in those two years or he has the most inattentive parents in the world.

Lego train sets are really expensive. and maybe these parents where actually trying to teach the kids something as well as not having the cash for a very expensive lego train sets.

[NateB1]

spacer, on 04 December 2012 - 21:33, said:

That was very awesome of Lego to send this kid the set he wanted so badly. I'm really happy to see companies that still have a soul. But I'm left wondering why in the world the parents just didn't buy this for their kid 2 years ago? Even if the family was on a tight budget, he had two birthdays and two Christmas/Hanukkah/Winter-Holidays between then and now. Either he got zero presents in those two years or he has the most inattentive parents in the world.

It's good for kids to realize the value of working hard and not having things given to them on a silver platter. I think the parents just didn't realize how quickly Lego tends to pump out new sets and discontinue old ones - one solution I can think of would be for them to get it, and hold it until the kid earned enough money to pay for it.

I had to mow lawns for several summers in order to buy myself a bike - it was one of the best things my parents did, because it taught me the value of working for things I wanted, instead of expecting other people to work and get me stuff. I had to work to earn money for my first computer, and I've paid for my entire college education by working - I'm in my sixth year of going to college part-time/working fulltime (currently as a DBA/data architect at Intel), and compared with a number of my peers, I think I'm in better shape than they are, both financially and motivationally (since I'm footing the bill for my college education, I'm highly incentivized to spend my time there learning instead of goofing off). Without having to work for what I wanted to buy, I have little doubt I'd be in a much worse position than I am now.

Of course, I'm not saying parents should withhold necessities like food/clothing/essentials, and of course presents are great, but, IMHO, it should never be assumed that whatever the kid wants, he gets without putting forth effort of his own.

[jnelsoninjax]

BGM, on 04 December 2012 - 21:51, said:

i'm nearly 30 and i still soemtimes buy lego. it's cool!

I'm 34 and play the lego games on the PC! Given a chance I would play with the legos as well! Also reading a story like this just shows how much some companies really do care about the people who buy the products!

[Growled]

Lego is awesome and now they show us another reason why they are.