More critically, LEGO began foundering within its core product line as well. Top management had given free reign to the firm’s designers to develop more imaginative creations for kids to build with LEGO bricks. The designers happily embraced their new freedom and developed many increasingly complex and artistic designs. Unfortunately, those complex designs incorporated thousands of new components, many of which were not interchangeable with those of other products in the line. As a result, parts inventories exploded and supply costs went through the roof. To make matters worse, many of the new designs did not appeal to the kids who are the firm’s ultimate consumers, and sales of the company’s core products went down hill.