LEGO Ambassadors

 

  • LEGO Ambassadors

    Posted by bluemoose, 03 Dec 2010 12:32. Filed under Brickset.

    LEGO Ambassador LogoA few years ago, LEGO started an initiative called the 'Ambassador Program', with the aim of improving the communication between the LEGO company and the adult fan community. Originally, a small group of carefully chosen fans helped LEGO to better understand the adult fan community. It also worked in reverse, to help the adult fan community better understand the LEGO company. You can read more about the Ambassador program and the closing 2010 round here. Huw was one of the 'carefully chosen fans' during the early years of the program, before he chose to stand down.

    Over the years, the program has grown & changed; now it is less about individuals and more about fan organisations. LEGO have also recognised the importance of the web-based communities, and for the latest round (the 8th round, covering the 1st half of 2011) the eligibility conditions have changed, and Brickset (along with many other web-based LEGO- communities) now qualifies for an Ambassador post.

    To cut to the chase, Huw nominated me to be Brickset's Ambassador for this round, and LEGO have accepted. So as of now, we have a direct conduit into the heart of LEGO. Each round has been run in a slightly different way, so it's not clear exactly how this one will operate; I'll let you all know as things become clearer. I've already been passing some of your feedback on the "Magnet-Gate" situation to LEGO, and will carry on passing information both ways as it emerges.

    For the future Ambassador rounds, we may look into opening up the Ambassador role to other members of the Brickset community; we can't promise this will be possible, and there are very strict conditions (for example age) which means that most people won't be eligible, but we will seriously look into it.

    From my perspective, my role is to represent your views & also the views of Brickset as a resource for LEGO fans everywhere.


    39 comments, latest one posted 30 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by indyman09 in Netherlands, 03 Dec 2010 13:22

Congrats! It's really great news.

Posted by natro220 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 13:24

Awesome, congrats bluemoose!! Hope you have fun in the process!

Posted by C-Fish in United States, 03 Dec 2010 13:26

Congratulations! That's a big responsibility, but hope you have fun!

Posted by broomhandle in United States, 03 Dec 2010 13:44

well, hopefully Lego can figure out that kids do not go go drive and buy the lego's by themselves. And for me, I have a only child, so I play lego's all the time, which reflects onto my kid. Tell them what we all think!!!! congrats.

and my 2 cents.... no more license legos! that takes away all the imagination for the child! star wars is different.... haha :)

Posted by Sky-guardian in United States, 03 Dec 2010 13:57

Congratulations Bluemoose!! Thanks for keeping me posted!

P.S. Technically you don't "stand down" you step down.

Posted by Pulpdiction in United Kingdom, 03 Dec 2010 13:59

Good news. Major issue lego have is the ever spiralling price. They need to get this under control as in 3 years time it will be too expensive for most.

Posted by bluemoose in United Kingdom, 03 Dec 2010 14:03

@Sky-guardian - technically, that would be one of the differences between "US English" & "British English" :-)

Posted by Matthew in United Kingdom, 03 Dec 2010 14:22

What rules are there regarding age?
And you say they now are more interested in online communities, is Brickset eligible for LUGBULK?
Read about it here http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=32288

Posted by Mabes in United States, 03 Dec 2010 14:28

Congrats, Brickset is a great resource (and excellent front page blog), so good to hear Lego is recognizing that.

Posted by brickapolis in United States, 03 Dec 2010 14:32

Glad to have someone from the Brickset team serving as an ambassador! Congratulations on the post, Ian!

Posted by Berrybrick in United States, 03 Dec 2010 14:44

Congrats, tell them that if they are not to fix the magnet situtation, that more non-Star Wars battle packs should be released.

I would also like to see the return of BIONICLE and Adventures (with Johnny & Co.). Though I know that won't happen.

Posted by bluemoose in United Kingdom, 03 Dec 2010 14:50

@LegoCoastGuard - No, LUGBULK & The Ambassador Program are entirely separate; unfortunately Brickset does not qualify for LUGBULK. Both Huw & I participate in LUGBULK through our LUG, the Brickish Association ( brickish.org )

Posted by fff in Spain, 03 Dec 2010 14:56

Congratulations! Hope you make remember people in Spain & other countries no-english-spoken
Best of luck to you ;-)

Posted by rainstorm26 in Europe, 03 Dec 2010 15:06

Congratulations Bluemoose.

I would like to have a direct line to TLG sometimes. The biggest issue I would like addressed is the quality control issues on the figures/components coming out of China. I realize they are trying to reduce production costs, but along the way they may alienate customers who have come to expect quality products from them.

Posted by Superkalle in Sweden, 03 Dec 2010 15:09

Congratulations from Eurobricks :-)

Posted by atkinsar in United Kingdom, 03 Dec 2010 15:09

Excellent news Bluemoose, it will be very valuable to have someone from Brickset with a direct communication channel to TLG.

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 03 Dec 2010 15:10

Congratulations bluemoose!

Posted by minifig051 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 15:11

What I really want is the Western theme back. I didn't get to see the first one while it was out, though.

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 03 Dec 2010 16:38

Really cool news! Congrats bluemoose!
LOL on the term "Magnet-Gate". :P

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 03 Dec 2010 16:51

Congrats, Bluemoose!
And I second the return to Fort Legoredo! :o)

Posted by starfire2 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 17:48

What do the moderators here on Brickset do for a living if I may ask? You don't have to give company names.

Posted by Uno Brick in United States, 03 Dec 2010 18:28

Congratulations, Bluemoose! Best wishes to you! :)

Posted by Cam'n'Stu in United Kingdom, 03 Dec 2010 18:53

Congratulations. One thing I would love to see Lego implement is bulk discounts on PaB!

Posted by robbiew in Hong Kong, 03 Dec 2010 20:59

Congratulations bluemoose!

Posted by Cygnyx in United States, 03 Dec 2010 21:18

Congrats, Bluemoose!

Posted by the_real_indy in United States, 03 Dec 2010 23:03

YES... Tell them we want more Non-Star-Wars battle packs! Even $20+ would be a fair price for 4 figs and a vehicle!!

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 04 Dec 2010 01:47

I believe we're all mild mannered reporters at the Daily Globe.... :o)

Posted by starfire2 in United States, 04 Dec 2010 02:11

Are you sure you're not a comedian? ;)

Posted by richselby in United Kingdom, 04 Dec 2010 04:06

Seeing as you are 'our' ambassador, can I suggest you post a little more real-world info about yourself in the member section. It's nice to know a little more about our representatives.

Posted by Matthew in United Kingdom, 04 Dec 2010 05:12

Can you suggest, slightly related to Cam'n'stu's point that Design By Me is far too expensive and there are too little parts, especially minifig parts. It's even more expensive that PAB, why would that be?

Posted by Matthew in United Kingdom, 04 Dec 2010 06:42

Sorry for the double post and off topic but I have an idea for Brickset that would eliminate off topic posts: Make another home page on the site, blog style like the main page is at the moment but anyone can post on it. You can swap CMs, make offers for sets, and anything else. You could have moderators (I could be one) and you would never need to delete another off topic comment again. Another idea is to have a 'I have 1 to sell' on the sets so that when people look at your sets if they are interested they can get in touch. You could also have '532 want this set, see who wants this set' instead of just the number.

Posted by bluemoose in United Kingdom, 04 Dec 2010 08:53

Thanks for your comments.

A quick request though - please don't send me set or theme ideas; I won't be passing them on. LEGO have a long standing policy of not wanting set or theme ideas from the public. There are legal reasons for this, and any suggestions they receive are thrown away, unread. Occasional they will ask for suggestions, under controlled conditions; the last time I'm aware of them asking the Ambassadors to help coordinate this was over two years ago.

The new Ambassador session doesn't officially start until next week, so things should start to get clearer then.

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 04 Dec 2010 12:03

@LegoCoastGuard (latest post), Email Brickset with those suggestions. There is an option to specify that if you didn't know.

EDIT: Um....Bluemoose? Your name isn't on there. It is Ian right?

Posted by bluemoose in United Kingdom, 04 Dec 2010 12:27

Yes, it is Ian, but what do you mean by "your name isn't on there"?
If you mean the link at the top, that's for the '2010' round, which finished yesterday; I'm on the 2011 round, the details for which haven't been posted on Lego.com yet. Early next week we've been told. The list for 2011 is a lot longer; there are now around 70 ambassadors from around the world.

Posted by sidneyleejohnson in United States, 05 Dec 2010 13:11

Well if you are an ambassador representing us to Lego please pass the following along... As an adult who likes to keep the boxes of my Lego sets(either in mint unopened condition or just due to the fact I like them) I'm tired of seeing the escalation in box size relative to the number of pieces. The recent castle sets as an example have seen HUGE boxes and yet only 300-500 pieces.. I think this also has impacted some Star Wars sets... Why oh why do they have to play these Jedi mind tricks on us by increasing box size... Frankly I'm all for smaller boxes so I can store them easier. Perhaps the strategy is to let us build the thing and then have enough space in the box to fit the finished product... interesting approach yet I think its the marketing department behind the conspiracy of bigger boxes fooling the younger child into thinking if the box is bigger it must be better... Frankly It would be funny to see the toystores taking the Grocery store approach and showing little stickers on the shelf showing price/piece sort of like $/ounce to stop this nonsense. Pass it along please... Lets get back to reasonable box sizes...
also the latest castle Kingdoms has stickers for arches and vines unlike the original castle set with actual imprinted art work on the walls. I boycotted the Knights Kindgom line and I'm boycotting the current Kingdom line.. coincidental naming situation but I find the use of stickers on my castle walls intolerable. The combination of ridiculously oversized boxes and use of stickers put me over the edge... Keep in mind I basically own all the other castle sets except the yellow ones.... so this is pretty damning feedback. Frankly I liked the LOR like monster/dwarf approach of the last line up sad to see them go. If anything Lego would be wise to franchise D&D from WoC and go to town like they have with Star Wars... I also hate the "helmets" on the new lineup of kingdoms...
also patiently waiting for Star Trek licensing to commence[ ok ok I realize the franchise is almost dead]

Congrats,
Sid

Posted by aidenmoyles10 in United Kingdom, 05 Dec 2010 16:35

@bluemoose - that should be "technically that is the difference between "US English" and "English" :-)

Posted by Nikola Bathory in Bulgaria, 05 Dec 2010 16:40

Congrats to bluemoose and Brickset as a whole. The site is great and Huw (the admin) is doing a great job, I fon't know why he doesn't waht to be an Ambassador... Probably he's too busy?

Posted by WhiteFang in Hong Kong, 05 Dec 2010 20:13

Congratulations bluemoose for representing Brickset! I am very certain that with this new given appointment, you will definitely do your best for the site and the community.

Posted by jpmanalo in Australia, 06 Dec 2010 06:37

Glad to see that Brickset will be represented within the LEGO Ambassador programme. The Ambassador Programme is an excellent conduit of information both to and from the company. Most people whould be surprised at how serious LEGO is at taking some of the suggestions put to it through the Ambassador channel and implementing those suggestions into sets. (A good example is the recent Tower Bridge set). Congrats to Ian (bluemoose) on taking on this role representing (dare-I-say) an important section of the online LEGO community.

@starfire2 - Probably best if I don't reveal what I do in my offline life here, suffice to say that I don't get paid to do reporting/moderation here, and that I don't make money from LEGO ;-)

Commenting has ended on this article.