Lego Helicopter Kit Cancelled 10 Days Before Release

https://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2020/07/lego-helicopter-kit-cancelled-10-days-before-release/

by rbanffy • 6 years ago

51 107 6 years ago

gizmodo.co.uk

sesuximo• 6 years ago

I’m sure this is what the world wants but....

I love the Osprey! One of my all time favorite aircraft. I probably wouldn’t have bought this, so I guess they don’t care what I think, but I thought this was super cool.

aplc0r• 6 years ago

I was looking forward to this kit, but I applaud Lego for standing by their values.

I also appreciate that they haven't taken action against companies like Brickmania[1] which cater to those looking for kits like this.

[1] https://www.brickmania.com

christiansakai• 6 years ago

Next, RPG games are banned because they use swords. Next, Action movies are banned because they use guns. Next, Fantasy books are banned because they contain catapults.

ttmb2• 6 years ago

Nothing is banned. This is a longstanding LEGO company policy that they were sort of stretching, until consumers called them out on it.

ganoushoreilly32• 6 years ago

This is a bit ridiculous though. It's not a set designed to represent a weapons mounted combat airship. By the same notion, I would argue the Star Wars series, Marvel Series, DC Series, etc. all represent violence and violent actions (to include guns, explosions, massacre etc.). Simulated or Fake violence is still the projection of violence.

We have to draw the line some where and stop this nonsense. Brushing reality under the carpet doesn't and won't change anything. Are we to now pull every toy used as a means of expression for children? How many dolls fight? How many transformers are military vehicles? How many kids have water guns and balloons?

People need to relax and get worked up over real issues facing the world like, literal ongoing slavery, child exploitation, human trafficking. But instead because those are hard, they focus on something like this to get their feel good dopamine kick.

me_me_me2• 6 years ago

"In August 2020, LEGO will release the LEGO Technic set “42113 Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey”. This is a model of a military vehicle that is deployed in ongoing armed conflicts. For this set, your company cooperates with Boeing and Bell. In 2018, Boeing sold military equipment worth of US-Dollar 29.15 billion; it is the second largest arms manufacturer in the world. Bell is number 27th of the world.

    Due to the deployment of this military aircraft all around the world, innumerable civilians were killed. That is why parents, LEGO customers and brick fans disapprove of the vehicle’s replication.

    Companies that produce weapons, which in many countries of the world cause human suffering and death, should not be cooperating with LEGO. Because of this, you stopped LEGO’s cooperation with the controversial oil company Shell in 2014. With the new set, you violate your own company’s basic principles.

    We urge you to stop the cooperation with Boeing und Bell and not to produce any further modern military vehicles."

This sound very reasonable to me.

waiseristy• 6 years ago

So this is a problem with the branding? They didn't have a presser for their F-35 clone https://brickset.com/sets/31039-1/Blue-Power-Jet

rdsnsca• 6 years ago

D&D renamed devils and deamons because of pressure from parents group.

https://screenrant.com/dungeons-dragons-satanism-controversy...

"The public outcry regarding the content in Dungeons & Dragons resulted in demons being renamed tanar’ri and the devils being called baatezu."

phnofive• 6 years ago

Can’t wait to see those few sets which escape the supply chain on auction.

ganoushoreilly32• 6 years ago

There's a bunch of them out there, I hope to snag one before they go too crazy. If you're a small shop and you got your shipment, sit on them for a couple years, thats new house money.

the-dude• 6 years ago

It seems Boeing can't do anything anymore ( not a native speaker, sure there is a canonical way of saying this ).

ethbro2• 6 years ago

That's pretty canon. I might put a comma after anything, but that's more personal preference / feel than grammar.

tantalor3• 6 years ago

Just rebrand it as a AW609 instead of V-22. Easy!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AgustaWestland_AW609

therockspush• 6 years ago

Or make it a CV-22, the Air Force variant. These things have already been used in search and rescue missions.

ganoushoreilly32• 6 years ago

The issue is apparently the BOEING name.. Because it would be funding the military indirectly.

It's ok though because anyone that has flow commercially has indirectly funded a military. It's nonsense.

doe88• 6 years ago

First, I think Lego are right to protect their brand and cancel this release if they think this project will be attacked by some groups. Not worth it.

However, on the merit, I think it is a shame, it's a fine piece of equipment, presented by Lego in a respectable use case, painted with rescue colors, not militarized at all in this role.

rozab2• 6 years ago

To be clear, this aircraft is only used by the military. Making some bits orange is a huge stretch.

I think the big issue is that this set would be directly funding arms manufacturers (Boeing and Bell), and goes against the companies own stated policy (despite the feeble attempt at circumvention). I am glad that fans are holding the Lego Company accountable.

ethbro2• 6 years ago

And I suppose these were rescue pirates?

https://brickset.com/sets/1481-1/Pirates-Desert-Island

https://brickset.com/sets/1970-1/Pirates-Gun-Cart

https://brickset.com/sets/70413-1/The-Brick-Bounty

sharken• 6 years ago

This case is similar to the discussion of online shooters and whether they should be banned or not.

It is sad that a vocal minority can sway the public opinion and force companies into submission.

Too many people are ready to be offended over small things, it sucks !

ganoushoreilly32• 6 years ago

It does, when the vast majority of these issues can be drastically reduced by education and strong adult interaction with youth.

This whole issue of peoples feelings being hurt is only going to backfire against those that think it protects them.

slap2• 6 years ago

The "cancel culture"'s new victim : LEGO helicopters. Well done everyone.

qayxc4• 6 years ago

Wait, please help me out here, if the product is clearly in violation of the company's own policy, how is that "cancel culture"?

irrational2• 6 years ago

The fact that the product was already shipping to stores implies that the company did not consider it a violation of their own policy.

slap2• 6 years ago

The mob makes the rules, not LEGO's internal policies. That's cancel culture.

cmsj• 6 years ago

Because some angry people seem to believe that no action should ever be taken, under any circumstances, to limit negativity.

MrBuddyCasino• 6 years ago

Another banger from the same folks that brought you evergreens such as "unilateral disarmament will bring world peace".

throwaway_pdp09• 6 years ago

I disagree with unilateral disarmament but I don't see there's anything bad about world peace.

kuroguro• 6 years ago

But.. why? It's a great piece of engineering and it looks cool! I couldn't have cared less if it was used by the military when I was a kid and I sure don't care now.

I honestly don't understand what's the point of these campaigns - it's not like much will change about armed conflicts just because you hide it from retail shelves...

ganoushoreilly32• 6 years ago

It's a quick dopamine kick for people to feel like they're doing something good. When the reality is they're not equipped or interested in fighting actual issues. This is easy, so they push for it. I mentioned in another response that it's dangerous logic too. By this standard all the DC, Marvel, and Star Wars sets need to be removed for creating a positive view of violence.

It's just dumb. Besides, Technic is literally a series about technical feats, of which, the Osprey is.

baddox3• 6 years ago

Maybe LEGO do care about what children’s toys represent and the consequences of that in the real world.

ganoushoreilly32• 6 years ago

They've toed the line carefully, but this is nonsense and you won't be able to convince me otherwise. Plenty of lego sets project violence and violent actions more than an Osprey.

racl101• 6 years ago

and they're now just realizing it 10 days before release? Now they realize they have values and morals?

Lol. Please!

They just don't want to be on the wrong side politically. That's all. They'd have released this thing if no one had complained, because like most companies, all they really care about is making money.

Pure pandering at its most blatant.

crtasm• 6 years ago

Reminds me that I own this helicopter, it shoots missiles and rebuilds into a spider (which also shoots missiles): https://brickset.com/sets/4895-1/Motion-Power

tantalor3• 6 years ago

Those are rescue missiles \s

ganoushoreilly32• 6 years ago

<3 Bombs are best bombs

gfodor3• 6 years ago

"Star Wars" - it's literally in the name.

rbanffy4• 6 years ago

True, but it's framed as a war between good and evil. Nobody remembers every storm trooper killed, every Tie pilot shot down is the parent, child, or sibling of someone else that'll mourn them in their home planet and condemn the terrorists who blew up the Death Star and countless other installations.

My grandpa fought in WWII as the commander of an anti-aircraft artillery group. He never talked about it. After Alzheimer's took over and his memories came back vividly and uncontrollably, I learner how much he was haunted by the people he killed while protecting his land.

gfodor3• 6 years ago

My point wasn’t that they should support war based toys, it’s that if your argument is that LEGO should not produce toys that glorify violence and death, then Star Wars clearly qualifies.

coleifer• 6 years ago

Anecdotally, my Aunt had banned all guns and violent toys from her house. One morning, after serving breakfast, she noticed that my cousin had bitten his toast into the shape of a gun and was making "pew-pew" motions. They laugh and laugh about that. It is what it is.

wetmore• 6 years ago

Toy guns of any form were banned in my house growing up and I just made them out of Lego.

TheSpiciestDev2• 6 years ago

Is this helicopter exclusively for war, though?.. are these not used for rescue missions or other humanitarian things? If not then should anything that is used for battle or violence be retracted?.. I had a lot of Legos with guns (westerns), blasters (star wars) and other tools.

ganoushoreilly32• 6 years ago

It's not and it's a Transport vehicle. That's why this is nonsense. An apache would make sense because it has one function, this is a utilitarian vehicle. It's just stupid all around. The fact that a large company like lego bows to this ridiculousness is stupid. I'm an AFOL and probably spend around 5k a year on Lego. I've been a pretty consistent purist with exception of some Moc Cars (mould king). All this does is push me away from the brand.

TheSpiciestDev2• 6 years ago

And I'm over here imagining a Max Max Lego set :)

boublepop• 6 years ago

... just put some laser cannons on it and give the pilot a lightsaber and it’s perfectly within their regular branding.

codezero7• 6 years ago

It says a lot that I'm turning 40 and it never occurred to me that I never played "war" with my LEGO bricks... I owned GI Joe, so it's not as if I was unaware of the possibility. It never occurred to me that the lack of weapons as built-in components would have such a profound effect on how I played with them. It's obvious in hindsight, I guess.

Obviously, if I were more creative I could have created things that were weapons/war like, but wow, without being prompted, I guess I didn't.

I made a lot of airplanes, boats, and exploration type vehicles.

ganoushoreilly32• 6 years ago

Interesting, I was of the other side. I often had space battles with the space sets (White vs Blue) as well as my pirates sets (often colored blue or red based on their sails). Both sets came with weapons of sorts with pirates having over guns, cannons, etc. But I also built giant dinosaurs, volcanos, and everything else. I was a kid and I was playing.

As an adult I build giant battle scense from Star wars. Recently I build a Pirate combat moc with the re-released Pirate bay set (one assembled as the boat, the other as the cove).

None of these have made me more or less violent, just as I assume you playing with GI Joe didn't you. Playing with things is a healthy way for the mind to work through right and wrong, to conceptualize thoughts in your mind. I would argue repression of these behaviors is far worse.

Lego has never made modern war items, I totally get that and am fine by it. They do however make toys that allow you to play out violence. Jurasic Park, Marvel, DC, Star Wars, hell even Minecraft, all have components of violence. I don't believe in the slightest that any child playing with these toys is predisposed to turn out violent. Just as I wouldn't expect a kid playing with a VTOL craft too.

I would argue part of our problem over the past 15 years has been the result of too much limitation of how we raise children and allow them to interact with the world around them. It's why every thing is blown into a huge issue, because to them it is, when the reality of it is that it just isn't.

I will say being of similar ages, our experiences may have been different than the more younger HN crowd, but I'm glad you had legos and enjoyed them the way you saw fit. I would imagine the creativity and ability to be rewarded for solving challenges played a great impact on you.

Maybe i'm misplaced in thinking that proper parenting is a key to everything. Besides, I would argue kids are exposed to way harsher or riskier things on television / movies / the internet, than they ever would be by building the Osprey.

hatsunearu2• 6 years ago

Violence has always been a part of "play"--and we as a human race seem to have survived thus far without breeding a massive army of cold, unforgiving, killing machines who see murder as childplay.

Lego Helicopter Kit Cancelled 10 Days Before Release

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