Lego Galidor: The Toy that Almost Bankrupted Lego

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4 Jul 202226:40

Summary

TLDRThe script details the rise and fall of Lego's Galador franchise, a sci-fi themed toy line and TV show that aimed to innovate but ultimately failed due to misaligned marketing, lack of clear direction, and internal communication issues. Despite its unique 'glinch' feature, the toys and show were met with poor reception, leading to Lego's decision to revert to its core values and focus on improving communication and research within the company.

Takeaways

  • 🚀 Lego's financial struggles in 1998 led to a search for fresh ideas, resulting in the hiring of 30 young designers.
  • 🎨 The new designers faced the challenge of creating with Lego bricks, which was different from traditional toy development.
  • 🧩 Lego's belief that their bricks were out of fashion led to the development of a new product line, Galador.
  • 👾 Galador was a sci-fi themed toy line featuring buildable action figures with interchangeable parts, called 'glinch'.
  • 📺 A TV show was planned alongside the toys, with high hopes for success and a multimedia franchise in mind.
  • 🎮 The Galador franchise also included a unique electronic toy, the Keck Powerizer, which interacted with the TV show and video games.
  • 💻 An Alternate Reality Game (ARG) was used to promote Galador, creating an online experience that expanded the franchise's story.
  • 🎬 High production costs and creative risks led to the Galador TV show being moved around in the programming schedule and ultimately, its failure.
  • 🧩 The Galador toys did not sell well, partly due to poor marketing and packaging that failed to showcase the toys' unique features.
  • 🕹️ The video games associated with Galador were delayed and eventually cancelled, further contributing to the franchise's failure.
  • 🔄 Lego's experience with Galador served as a learning opportunity, leading to a renewed focus on their core products and improved internal processes.

Q & A

  • What was the main reason for Lego's financial loss in 1998?

    -Lego experienced their worst financial loss in history in 1998 due to a series of bad business decisions, leading to a struggle to pinpoint the root of the problem and effectively manage the situation.

  • What significant change did Lego make in their approach to product development during this period?

    -Lego laid off their top designers, who were experienced old Danish guys, and hired 30 new designers with fresh and inventive ideas in an attempt to bring new blood and innovative thinking to the company.

  • What was the initial concept behind the Galador project?

    -The initial concept behind the Galador project was to design a prototype line of toy animals and action figures that looked more organic and lifelike, without using traditional Lego bricks.

  • How did Lego plan to promote the Galador franchise?

    -Lego planned to promote the Galador franchise with a TV show, video games, and comics, aiming to make the TV show as integral to the franchise as the toys themselves.

  • Who was the producer hired for the Galador TV show, and what was his notable work?

    -Tom Lynch was the producer hired for the Galador TV show, known for his work on tween kids shows like The Secret World of Alex Mack, Kids Incorporated, and The Journey of Alan Strange.

  • What was the main gimmick of the Galador toys?

    -The main gimmick of the Galador toys was 'glinching,' which involved detachable limbs and heads, allowing kids to mix and match parts to create their own unique action figures.

  • What was the Keck Powerizer, and how did it interact with the Galador TV show and video games?

    -The Keck Powerizer was a multimedia action figure and Lego's first and only game console. It came with a small screen and could play games that were unlocked by picking up encoded audio signals from the Galador TV show. It could also interact with the video games, further enhancing the glinching experience.

  • What marketing strategy did Lego use to build anticipation for Galador?

    -Lego used an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) to build anticipation for Galador. The ARG was a website designed to look like a computer terminal, where users could enter prompts to discover clues about a secret story related to Galador.

  • What were some of the factors that contributed to the failure of the Galador franchise?

    -Factors that contributed to the failure of the Galador franchise included poor reception of the TV show, lack of significant promotion from Disney, competition with Lego's own Bionicle product line, and packaging that failed to effectively communicate the toy's unique features.

  • What was the ultimate outcome for the Galador video games?

    -The Galador video games faced cancellation due to the poor performance of the toy line. However, the PS2 game developed by Asylum Entertainment was eventually released in 2006 by Focus Multimedia as a competent action-platformer.

  • How did Lego recover from the financial setback caused by the Galador failure?

    -Lego recovered by learning from their mistakes, focusing on communication and collaboration, and returning to their roots with fewer products and more research. The success of the Bionicle line and the appointment of CEO Jorgen Vig Knudstorp helped Lego regain its footing and profitability.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Introduction and Gratitude for Support

The speaker begins by expressing gratitude for the overwhelming support they've received, particularly for their latest video on the making of Bionicle. They acknowledge the success of their small channel and the inspiration drawn from positive feedback. The speaker then introduces the topic of the video: the lesser-known history of LEGO, specifically the development of a strange and different product line during a challenging period for the company in 1998.

05:01

📉 LEGO's Financial Struggles and Shift in Strategy

LEGO in 1998 faced its worst financial loss ever due to a series of poor business decisions. The company was struggling to identify the root of its problems and believed they had become out of touch with the market. They thought that kids were no longer interested in traditional LEGO bricks and that the company needed new, youthful ideas. This led to the laying off of top designers and the hiring of 30 new, young designers, marking the beginning of a questionable phase of experimentation for LEGO.

10:02

🌌 The Genesis of Galador: A Bold New Direction

LEGO embarked on a new project, initially titled 'Project Genesis', aiming to create a line of toy animals and action figures with lifelike parts, moving away from traditional LEGO bricks. The concept evolved into creatures, then aliens, and eventually led to the development of a new sci-fi theme. Despite the initial success in test groups, the development phase was blurry and stressful, with high expectations and big plans for the project, including a TV show, video games, and comics.

15:04

🎬 Production and Promotion of Galador

LEGO hired producer Tom Lynch, known for his work on kids' shows, to helm the Galador TV show. The show was to be a significant part of the franchise, with production beginning in 2000. The show's main protagonist, Nick Bluetooth, and his companions were developed, with a focus on the 'glinch' ability, which allowed transformation of limbs into parts of machines and organisms. The toys were designed with detachable limbs and heads for mix-and-match play, but this also led to some awkward and unappealing outcomes.

20:05

🎮 The Keck Powerizer: A Multimedia Action Figure

The Keck Powerizer was a unique toy that combined the features of an action figure with a multimedia device. It was designed to interact with the Galador TV show and had a screen and games that could be unlocked during the show. The toy also interacted with a website, galadore.com, which used an alternate reality game (ARG) to build anticipation for the franchise. Despite the innovative concept, the execution was flawed, with a small screen and unresponsive controls leading to a frustrating user experience.

25:06

📉 The Downfall of Galador

Galador faced numerous challenges, including competition from LEGO's own Bionicle line, poor marketing, and a lack of understanding of the product's unique features. The TV show was criticized for its plot and visual effects, and the toys failed to sell due to similar issues. The franchise was ultimately a failure for LEGO, leading to a reevaluation of the company's strategy and a return to its roots under the leadership of new CEO, Jorgen Vig Knudstorp.

🔄 Learning from Failure: LEGO's Comeback

The failure of Galador served as a learning experience for LEGO, highlighting the need for better communication, collaboration, and research within the company. The success of the Bionicle line and the appointment of Knudstorp as CEO helped LEGO recover and return to a focus on its core product: the LEGO brick. The company's turnaround emphasized simplicity, research, and effective communication across departments, ensuring that the mistakes made with Galador would not be repeated.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Galador

Galador is a sci-fi themed toy line and media franchise developed by the LEGO Group. It represents a significant attempt by LEGO to innovate and revitalize their product offerings during a period of financial difficulty. The concept centered around buildable action figures with interchangeable parts, known as 'glinching'. However, it ultimately became a notable failure for the company, serving as a cautionary tale about the importance of effective marketing, product differentiation, and understanding the core appeal of a brand.

💡Bionicle

Bionicle is another LEGO product line that was being developed around the same time as Galador. It represents a successful venture for LEGO, with a focus on a unique storyline and innovative construction toys. Bionicle's success contrasts with the failure of Galador, providing insight into how LEGO managed to turn around its fortunes by focusing on products that resonated with their core audience and brand identity.

💡LEGO

LEGO is a renowned company known for its interlocking plastic bricks and a wide range of construction toys. In the context of the video, LEGO is navigating a period of financial difficulty and is experimenting with new product lines like Galador and Bionicle to regain its footing in the market. The company's history, design philosophy, and business decisions are central to understanding the narrative of Galador's development and eventual failure.

💡Glinch

The 'Glinch' is a central feature of the Galador toy line, referring to the ability of the action figures to transform their limbs into parts of machines and organisms, thereby gaining new abilities. This concept was intended to be a unique selling point for the Galador toys, allowing children to mix and match parts to create customized action figures. However, it failed to resonate with consumers as expected and became a symbol of the product's lack of clear and compelling appeal.

💡Marketing

Marketing in this context refers to the strategies and tactics used by LEGO to promote and sell the Galador product line. Poor marketing is identified as a significant factor in the failure of Galador, as it led to a lack of clear messaging and an inability to effectively communicate the unique selling points of the toys. This highlights the importance of understanding the target audience and delivering a cohesive and compelling marketing narrative.

💡Product Development

Product development refers to the process of creating, designing, and testing new products before they are released to the market. In the case of Galador, the product development process was marked by a lack of clear direction and communication, resulting in a product that did not meet the expectations of the target audience. This keyword underscores the importance of thorough research, understanding consumer needs, and effective team collaboration in creating successful products.

💡Financial Loss

Financial loss refers to a situation where a company experiences a negative financial outcome, often due to poor business decisions or market conditions. In the context of the video, LEGO's financial loss in 1998 was a critical turning point that led to the company's decision to innovate and take risks with new product lines like Galador. This keyword is central to understanding the desperation and urgency behind LEGO's attempts to turn their fortunes around.

💡Interdimensional Travel

Interdimensional travel is a concept often used in science fiction that involves moving between different dimensions or parallel universes. In the video, it is a key element in both the Galador and Bionicle narratives, serving as a central plot device. This keyword illustrates the creative efforts of LEGO to incorporate appealing and imaginative themes into their product lines to capture the interest of their target audience.

💡McDonald's Toys

McDonald's Toys are promotional items often given away in fast food chain McDonald's happy meals, frequently tied to popular franchises or brands. In the context of the video, a set of McDonald's Toys was produced to promote Galador. These toys were designed to incorporate the 'glinch' feature of the Galador line, aiming to leverage the popularity of McDonald's' marketing reach to boost the visibility and desirability of the Galador brand.

💡Electronic Toy

An electronic toy refers to a toy that uses electronic components or technology to offer interactive or multimedia features. The 'Keck Powerizer' from the Galador line is an example of an electronic toy, as it includes a screen, games, and sensors that react to the audio from the Galador TV show. This keyword highlights LEGO's attempt to integrate technology into their products to create a novel and immersive play experience.

💡Alternate Reality Game (ARG)

An Alternate Reality Game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media channels to tell a story that may affect or be affected by player actions. In the video, the Galador ARG was a marketing strategy employed by LEGO to build anticipation for the Galador franchise. This keyword showcases the innovative and immersive promotional tactics that companies can use to engage their audience and create a buzz around a new product.

Highlights

The speaker expresses gratitude for the support received by their channel, particularly for their latest video on the making of Bionicle.

The Bionicle product line is noted as having played a significant role in saving LEGO during a challenging period.

LEGO's worst financial loss in history occurred in 1998 due to a series of poor business decisions.

LEGO believed they were out of touch with the market and that children were no longer interested in traditional LEGO bricks.

LEGO hired 30 new designers with fresh ideas, replacing many of the experienced designers who had been with the company since the 1970s.

The experimental phase at LEGO led to the development of a new product concept, Project Genesis, which would evolve into Galador.

Galador was a sci-fi themed toy line with buildable action figures and interchangeable parts, a concept that tested well with focus groups.

LEGO's marketing executives at the time believed that the LEGO brick had become obsolete.

The Galador project was ambitious, with plans for a TV show, video games, and comics, indicating LEGO's high hopes for the franchise.

The Galador TV show was co-funded by major players like Disney, showing the level of investment in the project.

The main character of the Galador TV show, Nick Bluetooth, had the unique ability to 'glinch,' transforming his limbs into parts of machines and organisms.

The Galador toys had detachable limbs and heads, allowing for customization but also leading to some awkward and unappealing appearances.

The Keck Powerizer was a multimedia action figure and LEGO's first game console, incorporating a screen and games that interacted with the TV show.

The Galador ARG (Alternate Reality Game) was an early marketing tactic that aimed to build anticipation for the franchise.

The Galador franchise ultimately failed, with the TV show receiving poor reviews and the toys not selling well.

LEGO's focus on the Bionicle line at the same time as Galador led to internal competition and a lack of shelf space for the new line.

The Galador toys were poorly marketed, with packaging that did not effectively communicate the unique 'glinching' feature.

The failure of Galador was a significant learning experience for LEGO, leading to a renewed focus on their core products and improved inter-departmental communication.

LEGO's recovery after the Galador failure involved returning to their roots and focusing on fewer, more well-researched products.

Transcripts

00:00

hello everyone and thanks for stopping

00:03

by i know you're here for galadore so

00:05

i'll make this quick i just wanted to

00:06

give a brief thank you for the

00:08

overwhelming amount of support i've been

00:09

given over the past month i know it

00:12

sounds funny coming from such a small

00:13

channel but the amount of positive

00:15

comments i've received from my videos

00:17

have been truly inspiring especially for

00:19

my latest video on the making of

00:21

bionicle which covers lego's early

00:23

development of the product line

00:25

for those of you who have subscribed for

00:27

part 2 of that series you'll be glad to

00:29

know that it is on the way

00:31

in the meantime i'd like to cover a

00:32

different side of lego a side that

00:34

revealed itself to me during my research

00:36

for the bionicle video

00:38

i came to learn that while the bionicle

00:40

team was busy working away on the iconic

00:43

toy line that arguably saved lego there

00:46

was another team far off in a dark

00:49

corner of lego headquarters building

00:51

something

00:52

far

00:53

far stranger

00:59

let's start with some pretext the year

01:01

was 1998 and lego had just experienced

01:03

their worst financial loss in history

01:06

due to an unfortunate series of bad

01:08

business decisions lego was flying full

01:10

tilt into the new millennia with each

01:12

blunder building off the other with so

01:15

many issues piling up legos struggled to

01:17

pinpoint the root of the problem and

01:19

that made it that much harder for them

01:21

to get a grip on the situation

01:23

one problem lego thought they had was

01:25

that they were growing out of touch

01:27

they started to think kids just weren't

01:29

into lego bricks anymore and who'd

01:31

blamed them

01:32

everything in the late 90s was high

01:34

octane edgy and ridden in limp bizkit

01:37

font

01:38

maybe lego just wasn't cool anymore

01:40

maybe they needed new blood new ideas

01:43

from younger minds to help usher lego

01:46

into the new millennia yeah that was it

01:48

lego wasn't showing up to y2k and old

01:51

hand-me-downs no sir lego was showing up

01:54

with frosted tips jinko jeans and a

01:56

brand spankin new razor scooter

02:00

i really wrote that in okay well

02:03

let's go with it the point is lego

02:05

didn't think they were cool anymore they

02:07

thought they needed a change and this

02:09

led the company to lay off their top

02:11

designers we're talking old danish guys

02:14

who'd been working there since the late

02:15

70s guys who knew their stuff and how to

02:18

create amazing products with lego

02:20

in their place lego hired 30 new

02:22

designers all young minds with fresh and

02:25

inventive ideas

02:27

now there's no doubt lego hired talented

02:29

new staff but designing with lego was a

02:32

completely different beast than

02:33

traditional toy development

02:35

how would their ideas compete with the

02:37

years of experience lego's previous

02:39

designers had with the company

02:41

that was the moment when lego asked who

02:43

said anything about building with lego

02:45

what ensued was one of the most

02:47

questionable phases of experimentation

02:49

lego ever underwent

02:51

of course the vast majority of lego

02:53

products were still made with lego but

02:55

after the turnover that was no longer

02:58

really at the top of their checklist

03:00

maybe this will put it into perspective

03:02

in 1998 there were high-level marketing

03:05

executives that genuinely believed that

03:07

the lego brick had gone out of fashion

03:10

essentially proclaiming it to be

03:11

obsolete

03:12

this was an observation made by niels

03:14

milan peterson one of lego's design

03:17

veterans that thankfully got to keep his

03:19

job

03:20

now it's important to note niels was not

03:22

one of the employees that thought this

03:23

but he was eventually forced to

03:25

participate

03:26

just before the turn of the millennium

03:28

lego approached niels with a brand new

03:30

project the company challenged niels and

03:32

his team to design a prototype line of

03:34

toy animals and action figures

03:37

the challenge was to design them to look

03:38

more organic with more lifelike parts

03:41

aka without traditional lego bricks

03:45

turns out the marketing team was getting

03:46

excited over a new product concept that

03:48

was working well in test groups

03:51

this concept incorporated the idea of

03:53

buildable action figures with

03:54

interchangeable parts a concept

03:57

popularized by chris faber who had

03:59

proposed something similar to the

04:00

company in 1995.

04:02

more on that in my bionicle video

04:05

the project was initially titled project

04:07

genesis and went through a rapid series

04:10

of developments during the concept stage

04:12

the initial idea of toy animals quickly

04:14

evolved into creatures and creatures

04:17

quickly evolved into aliens somewhere

04:19

along the line the name galador was

04:21

thrown into the mix and now lego had a

04:23

brand new sci-fi theme in the works

04:26

unfortunately the process around the

04:28

toys development phase really is that

04:30

blurry and there aren't many in-depth

04:32

details about the product's early stages

04:35

what is known however was lego's near

04:38

manic level of optimism towards the

04:40

project

04:41

big plans were being put in place to

04:42

make gallador success including a tv

04:45

show video games and comics

04:48

pressure was building for niels and his

04:49

team to make the toy a hit and it proved

04:52

to be quite stressful although the toy's

04:54

initial success in test groups helped to

04:56

ease the team's fears

04:58

interestingly galador sheds some light

05:00

on how large of a company the lego group

05:02

really is

05:04

while an entire promotional campaign was

05:06

being built for bionicle a completely

05:08

separate multi-million dollar budget was

05:10

being carved out for galador

05:12

it was quite impressive actually

05:14

two somewhat similar action figure toy

05:16

lines releasing at almost the exact same

05:19

time by the same company i mean

05:22

what could go wrong right

05:26

right that wasn't important lego was too

05:28

busy planning the next big move for the

05:29

project and that was the tv show

05:32

from early on it was decided that the

05:34

galadore tv show was going to be just as

05:36

much a part of the franchise as the toys

05:38

were and for that to work production

05:40

needed to start yesterday it was late

05:43

1999 when all these decisions were being

05:45

made and lego wanted to release the toys

05:47

with the show by 2002 at the latest so

05:50

they had better get a move on

05:52

lego ended up hiring a producer by the

05:54

name of tom lynch known well throughout

05:57

the industry for his diverse portfolio

05:59

of tween kids shows including the secret

06:02

world of alex mack kids incorporated and

06:05

the journey of alan strange

06:07

tom's original pitch for the show truly

06:09

impressed lego and captured the

06:11

company's vision for what the galador

06:12

theme could be

06:14

this gave the company a new surge of

06:15

confidence all over again and in january

06:18

of 2000 production began for galador

06:21

defenders of the outer dimension

06:23

now it's important to note that lego was

06:25

only partially invested in the

06:27

television show which is to say they

06:29

weren't the only company funding the

06:30

production with big players like disney

06:33

throwing their hat in the ring as well

06:35

regardless this was still quite the

06:37

financial risk for the company producing

06:39

television shows wasn't cheap and

06:41

finding networks to pick up the show

06:43

wasn't simple either

06:44

thankfully tom was an industry veteran

06:46

and was committed to making the show a

06:48

success

06:49

right out the gate tom became directly

06:51

involved with the lego team working

06:53

alongside designers to build the story

06:55

and characters in tandem as to somewhat

06:58

sink the production of both the show and

07:00

its toys

07:01

after a flurry of brainstorming sessions

07:03

tom would emerge with the story a wide

07:05

array of characters and of course its

07:08

main protagonist

07:09

galadore centered around a 15 year old

07:12

boy named

07:14

nick bluetooth who utilized

07:16

interdimensional travel by means of a

07:18

spaceship called the egg

07:20

but he didn't travel alone joining him

07:23

on his journey was the skittish robot

07:25

jens a furry blue alien named nepal an

07:28

anthropomorphic frog named europedis and

07:31

his human sidekick allegra zane who in

07:34

typical 2000's fashion used karate as

07:37

her secret weapon and as for nick

07:39

bluetooth's special skill

07:40

well

07:41

allow me to show you

07:44

[Music]

07:46

that's right nick's superpower granted

07:48

him the ability to transform his limbs

07:50

into parts of machines and organisms

07:53

gaining their abilities in the process

07:56

this mutant power was dubbed the glinch

07:59

and apparently gallador invited you to

08:01

experience it

08:03

glinching was the driving force behind

08:05

galador not only did nick utilize this

08:08

power throughout the tv show but it also

08:10

served as the main gimmick behind the

08:11

toys

08:12

all galador figures had detachable limbs

08:15

and heads allowing kids to mix and match

08:17

parts to create their own glitched out

08:19

action figure unfortunately that meant

08:22

you could do things like this

08:24

and this or this

08:27

and that's not even the worst of it

08:29

galador's own commercials showed off the

08:31

glitch and even that looked ridiculous

08:34

it was almost as if the producers saw

08:36

sid in toy story and just said that

08:39

let's let's do that but who were we to

08:41

judge apparently the concept performed

08:43

flawlessly among test groups and lego

08:46

was fully confident in moving forward

08:47

with the project having mapped out 15

08:50

unique toys for its initial release

08:53

meanwhile somewhere in montreal canada

08:55

production for the television show was

08:57

well underway

08:58

tom lynch approached the project with an

09:00

extraordinary level of enthusiasm laying

09:03

out multiple story arcs intended to span

09:05

five seasons

09:07

it was quite an ambitious and optimistic

09:09

undertaking considering the show was

09:12

starting off with just two seasons under

09:14

quite a conservative budget

09:16

those two seasons would span 26 episodes

09:19

with an air date set for sometime in

09:21

2002

09:22

production of the show leaned heavily on

09:24

green screen with an emphasis on cgi for

09:27

the show's visual effects

09:29

turns out much of tom's enthusiasm for

09:31

galadore translated into rather

09:33

enthusiastic writing making for some

09:36

pretty expensive scenes

09:38

one of the challenges of screenwriting

09:40

fantasy shows is developing an

09:41

entertaining body of work that still

09:44

adheres to the limits of a predetermined

09:46

budget it's akin to walking a tightrope

09:48

with entertainment on one side and

09:50

bankruptcy on the other there's a

09:52

balance to it and once tom's colleagues

09:55

got a hold of the scripts for the first

09:56

few episodes they realized what

09:58

direction tom was leaning

10:00

when they tried to push him in a cheaper

10:02

direction tom assured his team that he

10:04

could make it work

10:05

ultimately the galadore show was forced

10:08

to cut corners in a few places certain

10:10

scenes eventually had to be reworked and

10:12

the budget was set quite low for

10:14

character costumes

10:15

this meant that many of nick's alien

10:17

companions and his enemies would be

10:19

accomplished with actors in rubber suits

10:22

something that the production team

10:23

thought nothing of at the time

10:25

besides power rangers was filled with

10:27

rubber suits and that franchise was

10:29

pulling in hundreds of millions in

10:31

revenue every year

10:33

and as a matter of fact galador actually

10:35

had something power rangers didn't turns

10:38

out tom and the lego team had one final

10:40

piece of movie magic up their sleeve

10:43

during production of the television show

10:45

a sound engineer by the name of lao

10:47

kirsten worked closely alongside

10:49

galadore's audio department

10:52

lao's goal was to embed discreet bursts

10:54

of white noise into certain parts of the

10:56

show

10:57

this white noise was actually an encoded

10:59

audio signal hidden strategically

11:01

throughout galadore episodes and

11:03

surprisingly enough this was not a

11:05

sequence of well-placed subliminal

11:07

messages

11:08

turns out lego was utilizing

11:10

cutting-edge technology to send signals

11:12

to an electronic toy they were

11:14

developing for the galadore theme

11:16

this strange new toy was dubbed the keck

11:19

power riser

11:20

the keck powerizer was a mechanical suit

11:22

of armor that enhanced one's ability to

11:25

glinch

11:26

the toy however was a sort of multimedia

11:28

action figure and in a weird way lego's

11:31

first and only ever game console

11:34

along with swappable limbs and

11:36

headpieces the toy also came with a tiny

11:39

screen embedded into the figure's back

11:41

the cat came pre-loaded with 22 games

11:43

many of which needed to be unlocked as

11:45

kids played with the toy

11:47

the games were played by utilizing the

11:49

keck's arms and legs as a sort of

11:51

controller there was also a sensor that

11:53

detected when the toy was being rotated

11:55

which served as a function for many of

11:57

the games as well

11:58

essentially the toy would pick up the

12:00

encoded audio signals hidden throughout

12:02

the tv show and trigger an appropriate

12:04

response whether it be by unlocking a

12:07

new game that went along with the

12:08

current scene or activating a voice clip

12:11

ready

12:14

these vocal responses would even change

12:16

depending on which parts were connected

12:17

to the toy kids could attach the head of

12:20

jens one of nick's companions or attach

12:22

the head of gorm his sworn enemy this

12:25

would make it so the toy either cheered

12:26

nick on during the show or shouted evil

12:29

bad guy lines when he was in trouble

12:31

this proved to be a genius move by the

12:33

marketing team because it encouraged

12:35

children to tune in to every galadore

12:37

episode to unlock new prompts for the

12:39

toy

12:40

kids could even log onto galadore.com

12:42

and download new games directly to the

12:44

keck power riser as demonstrated in this

12:46

astoundingly cheesy commercial

12:49

download new missions from the web

12:52

reach higher levels

12:55

win new missions

12:57

[Music]

12:58

when the inevitable video games were

13:00

released for galadore kids could play

13:02

alongside their keck powerizer which

13:04

would interact with the game in much the

13:06

same way as the tv show keck power

13:08

risers could even communicate with each

13:10

other allowing kids to play two-player

13:12

competitive games

13:14

on paper the idea actually sounded quite

13:16

interesting but in reality it was

13:19

somewhat disappointing for starters the

13:22

screen was incredibly small and in order

13:24

to play the games kids needed to

13:26

actively swing the toy's arms and rotate

13:28

the keck to control it many users point

13:31

out that the toy isn't incredibly

13:33

responsive and this can result in having

13:35

to perform exaggerated movements to get

13:37

the game to register your inputs

13:39

trying to accomplish this while playing

13:41

a mini game on a postage stamp size

13:43

screen just makes for a frustrating

13:45

gaming experience

13:47

early on it was clear that the ambitious

13:48

nature of the product was a risk for

13:50

lego

13:51

not only did the keck powerizer use

13:53

electronic components it also had a

13:55

multimedia feature that needed to embed

13:57

itself into all aspects of the franchise

14:00

for it to be effective

14:01

most importantly the keck had to release

14:03

alongside the tv show which wasn't due

14:06

to air until 2002

14:08

with so much of the franchise's success

14:10

relying on the release of the show lego

14:12

had to find creative ways to promote

14:14

galador until its official launch

14:16

this was around the time when the

14:17

galadore website would go online

14:20

after securing the domain for

14:22

galadore.com lego moved in quickly to

14:24

start promotion

14:26

this kicked off with a fairly new

14:27

marketing tactic for the time known as

14:29

the arg or alternate reality game

14:33

args were quite popular throughout the

14:34

2000s and were primarily used to build

14:37

anticipation for a certain release

14:39

they were some of the first viral

14:41

marketing campaigns and were used by

14:43

multiple franchises including halo to

14:46

promote their ips

14:47

the idea behind the arg was to use a

14:49

platform like a website to craft a world

14:51

that appeared as though it truly existed

14:53

in real life

14:55

let me explain the website for galadore

14:57

was designed to look like a computer

14:59

terminal with prompts that users could

15:01

enter to discover images of newspaper

15:03

clippings strange schematics and journal

15:06

entries this was meant to give the

15:08

impression that users were exploring

15:09

someone's personal computer and

15:11

discovering clues to a secret story

15:14

the site would be updated a handful of

15:16

times to reveal more clues as galadore

15:18

neared its official launch

15:20

eventually users would learn that most

15:22

of the clues were in reference to a man

15:24

named dr bluetooth and his plans to

15:27

travel to an alternate dimension via a

15:29

spacecraft called the egg

15:31

this would segue into the tv show's main

15:34

story where nick dr bluetooth's son

15:37

would inherit the egg and embark on

15:39

adventures of his own

15:40

development of the ark went smoothly and

15:43

was released in late 2001 by producer

15:45

gabriel walsh with the help of tom

15:47

lynch's visual direction

15:49

sometime after the launch of the

15:50

promotion gabriel would start exploring

15:53

external links to see how the website

15:55

was being received

15:56

while gabriel was exploring these links

15:58

one very peculiar website caught his eye

16:02

it appeared to be some sort of internet

16:04

forum and many of the users were

16:06

conversing strangely referring to

16:08

something known as phase 3

16:10

they appeared excited stating that they

16:12

were ready to begin their travel into

16:14

the alternate dimension and that users

16:16

should be ready

16:18

upon further investigation gabriel

16:20

learned that the forum was regarding

16:21

another alternate reality game called

16:24

ong's hat

16:25

turns out aung's hat was one of the

16:27

first args ever created and felt so real

16:30

and true to life that many users

16:32

believed it was

16:34

coincidentally many of the themes

16:36

surrounding long's hat coincided with

16:38

galadore's story

16:39

both args mentioned a spaceship called

16:41

the egg and both spoke to the topic of

16:44

interdimensional travel

16:45

these eerie similarities sparked a

16:47

frenzy among conspiracy theorists

16:49

leading them to believe that this was

16:51

some sort of sign and that the idea of

16:53

the egg and interdimensional travel had

16:56

made its way into popular culture this

16:58

became one of the factors that led to

17:00

aung's hat being shut down as many

17:02

internet fanatics would take the story

17:04

so seriously to the point of camping

17:06

outside the creator's house demanding

17:08

answers

17:09

some but not all believed that the

17:11

creator of vong's hat was withholding

17:13

information regarding interdimensional

17:15

travel and they were starting to become

17:17

aggressive this eventually led to a

17:19

threatened lawsuit by the creator of

17:21

aung's hat which for reasons unknown was

17:23

never filed thankfully the bad publicity

17:26

didn't find its way into mainstream

17:28

media and gallador could proceed with

17:30

the launch

17:32

it was late 2001 at this time and

17:34

galador was steering steadfastly towards

17:36

a release for february of 2002. as

17:39

production was wrapping up for the show

17:41

the lego company and roughly 150 team

17:44

members were treated to a private

17:46

screening of the first two episodes

17:48

and this was the exact moment when

17:50

things started going downhill

17:52

to put it bluntly the show was bad

17:54

galadore's special effects and wow

17:56

factor were not to the level that lego

17:58

had anticipated with one of the main

18:00

issues being the rubber suits

18:03

product designer niels milan peterson

18:05

describes his initial reaction to seeing

18:07

one of the characters he created on the

18:09

big screen quote

18:11

it was the first time we saw him the

18:13

character and it was this man in a

18:15

rubber suit it really looked like some

18:17

of those old horror movies from the 50s

18:20

we really felt like oh this is not what

18:23

we expected end quote to add to the hurt

18:26

tom lynch had recently been informed

18:28

that disney a partial investor in the

18:30

galadore show had just purchased the

18:32

family channel

18:33

this was catastrophic news for tom and

18:35

his team because at the time family

18:38

channel was airing power rangers a

18:40

franchise that was pulling in 150 to 200

18:43

million a year in licensing revenue tom

18:46

being an industry veteran knew this

18:48

meant disney was going to pour the vast

18:50

majority of their promoting power into

18:52

power rangers and galador would be left

18:54

to fend for itself

18:56

this news was received only two months

18:58

prior to the show's airing and would

19:00

severely impact the outcome of the

19:02

launch

19:03

regardless of the fact lego trudged

19:05

forward and on february 9th of 2002

19:08

galador released to the world to add to

19:10

the promotion of the launch an online

19:12

game called galador quest was released

19:15

which had players roam across dimensions

19:17

solving puzzles and completing tasks to

19:19

further glinch their character

19:22

there would also be a promotional set of

19:23

mcdonald's toys which looked

19:25

nightmarishly bad but still cleverly

19:28

incorporated glinching into their play

19:30

features

19:31

as for the television show the first

19:33

episode of galadore would air on ytv in

19:35

canada and on the now defunct fox kids

19:39

in the usa

19:40

reception for the show was less than

19:42

favorable

19:43

critics were confused by the story's

19:45

plot and the visual direction made the

19:47

show look cheesy and amateur

19:50

it wasn't long before galadore was being

19:51

moved around in the programming schedule

19:53

which was a very bad sign for any

19:56

television show

19:57

additionally lack of significant

19:59

promotion from disney didn't help the

20:01

show's chances either and it was slowly

20:03

becoming apparent that galadore's launch

20:05

was not what lego expected

20:07

to make matters worse the toys were

20:09

simply not selling this was most likely

20:12

due to a multitude of different factors

20:14

for starters lego launched galadore near

20:17

the peak of bionicle's popularity this

20:19

resulted in a competition that gallador

20:22

would ultimately lose

20:23

since both toys were in development at

20:25

roughly the same time it was difficult

20:27

for lego to anticipate bionicle's

20:29

success which would ultimately leave no

20:32

room on the shelf for the galadore theme

20:35

additionally the toy lines were just too

20:37

similar with both products incorporating

20:39

science fiction themes along with

20:41

buildable action figures

20:43

it quite literally put lego in

20:45

competition with itself

20:47

another issue was the way the toys were

20:48

marketed on shelves

20:50

not only did the packaging cover half

20:52

the toy with box art but it also failed

20:54

to explain the toy's driving gimmick

20:57

strangely enough the back of the box

20:58

never actually showed that the toys had

21:00

interchangeable parts

21:02

leaving kids to wonder why the figures

21:04

looked disjointed and broken inside the

21:06

packaging

21:07

looking at some of these images now it

21:09

wouldn't be a stretch to think this the

21:11

presentation is quite poor and fails to

21:14

explain what makes the toys fun in the

21:16

first place it's especially unfortunate

21:18

because the idea behind galadore was

21:20

actually pretty unique

21:22

most online reviewers enjoy the

21:24

glinching gimmick finding it to be

21:26

clever and fun to mix and match with

21:28

some of the character designs are really

21:30

creative as well with nepal and his pet

21:33

shimmel commonly being a crowd favorite

21:36

but the damage had already been done

21:38

unfortunately lego ended up making a

21:40

series of big marketing mistakes that

21:42

wound up costing them dearly with the

21:44

toys selling poorly and the show

21:46

receiving less than favorable reviews it

21:49

was starting to become clear that the

21:50

launch wasn't what lego had built it up

21:52

to be

21:53

they could only hope galadore's debut

21:55

video games would come to the rescue and

21:57

save some of the company's profits

22:00

the galadore series was set to release

22:02

two games published by ea one of which

22:05

was a home console title by asylum

22:07

entertainment and the other a game boy

22:09

game by tier tech studios both titles

22:12

would incorporate the keck powerizer as

22:14

well with dozens of unique audio cues

22:17

hidden throughout levels

22:19

unfortunately since the games weren't

22:20

slated for release until late 2002 the

22:24

development teams got a front row seat

22:25

to galadore's flop

22:27

nick ferguson a producer for the

22:29

galadore ps2 game recalls a trip he took

22:32

to e3 during the wrap up of the game's

22:34

development

22:35

having flown to los angeles to attend

22:37

the convention nick made a brief tourist

22:40

stop at la's disneyland before the show

22:43

there he encountered a lego store where

22:45

his worst fears were confirmed

22:47

nick recalled seeing a huge bargain bin

22:50

filled with galador toys alongside a

22:52

promotion that offered a free galadore

22:54

figure with any purchase over thirty

22:56

dollars

22:57

at this point nick made the responsible

22:59

decision to withhold his discovery from

23:01

the team as he knew they were all back

23:04

at the studio working hard to get the

23:05

game done

23:07

besides the developers working on

23:09

galadore already knew the toy was a flop

23:11

and weren't entirely thrilled to be

23:13

working on the project at that point

23:15

they had even gotten a chance to see the

23:17

tv show before its release and just like

23:19

the designers at lego they weren't all

23:22

too impressed

23:23

everyone was more than ready to put the

23:25

game behind them and move on to the next

23:27

contract

23:28

but unfortunately that wasn't exactly

23:30

how it would play out

23:32

as the game was nearing completion

23:34

asylum's entire development team was

23:36

called into a meeting where they were

23:37

informed that the game had been

23:39

cancelled

23:40

unfortunately galador was performing so

23:43

poorly that lego didn't find it a

23:45

worthwhile investment to sink more money

23:47

into the distribution of a game that was

23:49

more than likely going to flop

23:52

it was a soul-crushing experience for

23:54

the entire team at asylum

23:56

the developers had sunk roughly two

23:58

years into the development of the game

24:00

only to learn they would never get the

24:01

closure of seeing it on store shelves

24:04

yet strangely enough through some

24:06

awkward hot potato exchange of property

24:09

rights the game would eventually see a

24:11

belated release in 2006 by a company

24:14

named focus multimedia

24:16

galadore by asylum entertainment would

24:19

launch as a fairly competent action

24:21

platformer with some decently engaging

24:23

gameplay

24:24

had lego taken the chance of releasing

24:26

it in 2003 maybe it would have helped

24:29

ease the inevitable fall of the toy line

24:32

but unfortunately that wasn't the case

24:34

lego would call it quits with galador

24:36

only six months after its initial launch

24:39

with the final episode of the tv show

24:41

airing on august 24th 2002

24:44

the franchise would be remembered as an

24:46

abysmal failure for the lego group one

24:48

that helped to nearly bankrupt the

24:50

company

24:51

looking at the situation from a sort of

24:53

post-mortem viewpoint it's quite clear

24:55

that lego had become a victim of their

24:57

own ingenuity their decision to shake up

25:00

the very foundation on which the company

25:02

was built on ended up costing the

25:03

company dearly and their lack of

25:06

direction communication and research had

25:08

run rampant throughout every department

25:11

at lego

25:12

this was clearly demonstrated with

25:14

galadore where designers and team

25:16

members never got a chance to see the tv

25:18

show until it was about to air leaving

25:21

no room for external creative input

25:23

the same went for the marketing

25:25

department and how they neglected to

25:26

showcase the main feature of the toys on

25:28

the packaging

25:30

the entire development process was a

25:32

disjointed unorganized and very very

25:36

expensive mess

25:38

thankfully lego would learn from their

25:40

mistakes

25:41

the bionicle toys would introduce a new

25:43

standard for lego's production one that

25:45

ensured communication and collaboration

25:48

were at the forefront of the process

25:51

a little over a year later lego would

25:53

hire jorgen vig nudestorp as the

25:56

company's new ceo nudestorp would work

25:58

to dissect the issues surrounding lego's

26:00

downfall and construct a roadmap for how

26:03

the company would return back to the

26:05

brick

26:06

a mantra that would illustrate the need

26:07

to return to the company's roots with

26:10

fewer pieces more research and better

26:12

communication between departments

26:15

with the help of nude storp and bionicle

26:17

to save the company's profits lego would

26:20

see its return to the top and the brick

26:22

would become more relevant than ever

26:24

before

26:25

galador was part of the process

26:28

it was a sign for the company to slow

26:29

down learn from their failures and

26:32

figure out what worked

26:34

and it most certainly was not the glitch

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Verwandte Tags
Lego HistoryGalador FailureToy IndustrySci-Fi ThemeMarketing MisstepsProduct DevelopmentTelevision FlopInnovation AnalysisBusiness LessonsNiche Market
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