Joebot

Lego owns Bricklink, so presumably they were involved to some degree. It's a strange situation. I've been a Bricklink member for a long, long time, and this is the first time I can ever recall getting an email from them, so they must have thought it was important. The message is partly informational, to warn buyers and sellers, which makes sense. But it's also partly a threat to sellers who might be engaging in this behavior. What I'm wondering though -- as a seller, what is my obligation here? I've certainly never knowingly sold a counterfeit mini-figure. But what if I buy some bulk Lego collection off Cragislist, then sell the figures, and and later get accused by a buyer that a figure was counterfeit? I'm just not sure what I'm supposed to do, if anything, about this situation.

I was at Brickworld on Saturday, and I can say that this display was truly jaw-dropping. Easily one of my favorite things I saw there. The pictures don't do it justice. They fail to capture the sheet SCALE of the thing, especially the cliffs. So many tan bricks. Just so many. It was hard to take it all in, so I appreciate these close-up pictures showing some of the details I didn't notice. Really incredible work!

Brick Loot also sells individual lighting kits designed for Modulars and other sets. I got this one for Christmas, and it's very cool. https://www.amazon.com/Brick-Loot-Fishing-Lighting-Included/dp/B07FXTNH4N/ref=sr_1_12?keywords=loot+bricks+lighting+kit&qid=1578067854&sr=8-12 It's expensive, for sure, but very high quality parts and a clever design.

Dang. That Service Station felt like a $30 set. At 354 pieces, it probably SHOULD be a $30 set. But instead it's $50. Yeesht. That was honestly the only City set I was even a tiny bit interested in, but not at that price. Oh well.

This is true. In my experience, Eurobricks is unique in this regard, both within the Lego hobby, and across any other hobby I've ever participated in. This is a weird place. I've never seen a hobby message board where I'm so frequently told that I can't have what I want, what I want is wrong, I'm participating in the hobby in the wrong way, and that we should all just shut up and be happy with what our benevolent Corporate Masters at The Lego Company deign to offer us. As I said ... this is a weird place.

It certainly does. I'm trying to reserve judgement until we have more information, but ... this could be quite dire. Bricklink plays such a unique and vital role in the AFOL community. I could see TLG deciding that the secondary market is too much of a competitive threat, so they bought Bricklink with the intent of either jacking up seller fees so TLG gets their cut, or they shut it down altogether. Obviously other secondary markets exist, but Bricklink is THE main one. With this one move, TLG now controls a vast share of the secondary market, and that makes me very uneasy. I simply don't trust their motives.

Agreed. The non fire/police stuff is pretty solid. The mail plane reminds me a lot of 6687 - Turbo Prop 1. Anybody feeling frustrated with City in 2020 should go check out the upcoming Marvel sets for 2020. Wow, what a total shitshow. Suddenly, City doesn't look so bad.

I'm not a child psychologist, but ... I think it's different. The City named characters are now based on an IP in a different media (Lego City Adventures TV show). By using named characters from that show, Lego is, consciously or not, encouraging kids to act out the stories from that show, rather than make up their own. Just like kids do when they play with Luke Skywalker or Superman or Bilbo Baggins. Instead of a blank slate, Lego is filling in the details for the child. That undermines the unique storytelling position Lego City / Town used to have.

Yep. I see that happening as well, and I think that's a mistake. The City/Town theme always occupied a pretty unique space in Lego's product lineup. It's based on real-world locations, which allows you to recreate what you see around you. It's not based on some IP, and it's not character-driven. In my opinion, City/Town allows kids to create a generic backdrop for their own stories and adventures. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the mini-series "V" about an alien invasion (I'm aging myself here, but so be it). After watching that show, I would plop my Galaxy Explorer ship down onto my Main Street set, and the red-suited space guys would pour out, and it was game on. Sure, I had a fire station and a police station (6382 and 6384 respectively), but I also had Main Street, the Public Works Center, an Exxon gas station, an auto repair, and a paramedic unit. And all those sets were connected with ROAD PLATES (one of Lego's dumbest decisions in the past 15 years is to phase out their use of road plates in City sets), which created a cohesiveness to my town. Everything fit together into a system. Those Town sets provided context for me to create and act out my own stories set in a realistic-ish world. THAT'S the unique and fundamental appeal of City/Town. Lego has essentially turned City into just another generic conflict-driven Action theme, no different from Power Miners or Galaxy Squad or Agents.

It's odd to me to see named characters within City. I know it's been done in the past (that Chase policeman from a few years' back), but to date, it's been quite rare. I think Lego has fully embraced the fact that mini-figure CHARACTERS can drive purchases. I shudder to think of how many shoddy Superhero sets I've purchased, only to get some unique, cool superhero figure. I think this same approach in City is misguided though. I sometimes think Lego has forgotten what makes City appealing to fans in the first place (hint: it's not endless police chases, and it's not collecting named characters).

We know. These are kids' toys, they're designed for kids, etc., etc. ... we know. Does that mean that we shouldn't come here to Eurobricks and TALK about them? I've been as critical of Lego City as anyone in the past few years, but even I could admit that the City sets were very well designed (even if they weren't anything I was interested in buying). But these?? Ooof. I can't even make that argument this year. Two questions: 1) Why is every bad guy car red? 2) What is the deal with Lego's fetish for "trucks hauling another vehicle?" I've never seen a helicopter being carried by a semi truck ever in my life, and yet Lego has been churning these things out for 25 years. I know everyone always makes fun of the way Lego shoehorns in catapults and helicopters, but for my money, the "trucks hauling another vehicle" sub-theme is even more bizarre.

I don't know about "trashy." I think "snarky" would be more accurate. My enduring frustration with Eurobricks, and the reason that I almost never post here anymore, is that most criticisms of the Lego product line are met with one of the following: 1) Legos are for kids! 2) If you don't like it, don't buy it! 3) If you don't like it, change it! That's what Lego is all about! We know. Everybody knows. We got it. Rehashing these same three rebuttals over and over again is reductive and insultingly obvious ... but even worse, it's BORING. It makes for boring discussion because there's no way to refute any of those items. They're right. Of course they're right. But those rebuttals are designed to shut down the conversation, which seems a strange thing to do on a message board that lives and dies by the level of its conversation. Would EB be better served if every discussion in every theme went like this; EB Member A: I really like all the new Lego sets! EB Member B: Me too! I think they're awesome. EB Member A: Yep, so awesome. EB Member: Yep! .... Is that really what you want? Criticism of Lego's product line is not a criticism of the people who like it. That's the key point that so often seems missed.

At this point, any criticism of Lego police sets is just screaming into the void. All criticisms of Lego here on Eurobricks will be met by the armies of the Lego Apologist Corp, who will swiftly swoop in to bravely defend the company from all attacks. Lego themselves are going to keep pumping the police sets out because presumably they sell well. Nothing ever changes.

The building is fine, especially the interior (although what's up with that exterior-facing fireplace?). However, I find the mini-figs very off-putting with their flat heads, dead eyes, and creepy smiles. That's less "Christmas cheer" and more "nightmare fuel."

Even if it IS a fake list (which seems likely), I gotta hand it to whoever came up with those names. "Nature Mech" gave me a good laugh. If I were going to create a list of fake Elves sets, I'd go with something more plausible, like: - Elvendale Police Station - Farran's Helicopter Transport - Azari's Catapult Battle We all know there's nothing Lego likes more than police sets, helicopters, vehicles that transport other vehicles, and catapults.

As is typical these past few years, I'm way more excited for the Friends sets than the City sets. An art studio, a cupcake shop, a riding stable, a campsite ... and what does the City theme get this year? Another police station, and another fire station. The City theme has officially become a parody of itself. That art studio is really sharp, and stands out for how different it is from the typical Friends architecture. It reminds me of the Friends grocery store from a few years back, which was itself a standout set.

I don't know if this is definitive proof, but ... I was at the Lego Store in Schaumburg, Illinois over the weekend. I noticed that they had NO Elves set for sale. The last time I was there (maybe a month or two ago), the had two or three sets, all marked down about 15% off. Now, they're totally gone. I asked one of the retail clerks about the status of the Elves theme, and she sadly confirmed that the theme is discontinued. One of the downsides to being a Lego fan for as long as I have (40-ish years), is that you get bored with Lego's repetitive product cycles. Elves was the freshest, most innovative product line they've produced in probably 20 years. I bought more Elves sets than any theme in many, many years. I've very sad to see it discontinued when it felt like it still had so much life left in it, and other things and places to explore. The retail clerk did note that the theme was never a big seller for them, which likely explains why it got axed.

Huh. Interesting. I gotta say, as someone who firmly believes that Elves is the best Lego theme in years .. these are kinda not that great. I don't like those giant animals at all, and the bat creatures are way to reminiscent of the goblins. I do like the small building, and the tower is ok, and I'm down for the new characters. The rest though?? Nope. Did the Elves designers move to a different theme or something? I'm struggling to reconcile the beautiful, creative, innovative sets from the past two years with ... this.

Hey everyone, After redesigning all of the figures and dragons in my Elves village (see here!), I decided to tackle the buildings next. Here are the first three buildings I finished. First up, this is the redesigned shop from 41182 -- The Capture of Sophie Jones. IMG_3604 by jkgross, on Flickr IMG_3606 by jkgross, on Flickr IMG_3605 by jkgross, on Flickr And then the interior ... IMG_3607 by jkgross, on Flickr Second, here's the new blacksmith from 41176 -- The Secret Market Place IMG_3609 by jkgross, on Flickr IMG_3610 by jkgross, on Flickr And the interior ... IMG_3611 by jkgross, on Flickr And third, the bakery from 41074 -- Azari and the Magical Bakery. IMG_3613 by jkgross, on Flickr And the interior ... IMG_3617 by jkgross, on Flickr I would have liked to have made some of these towers taller, but I was limited by my shelf space. It's been a fun project though! I really like the Elves "style," and it's been fun to try to create some bigger, more complex structures, while still retaining that style. Thanks!

Lego seems to have solved that problem by simply not making buildings anymore. [rimshot] I too lament the death of 4-wide vehicles. I don't like 6-wide vehicles, let alone the 8-wide stuff that we see now. If you look at that new Dirt Bike Chase set for next year, I think the police truck is actually 10-wide if you include the fenders and wheels. That's just madness. I also take issue with Lego's unquestioned assumption that "more detail" is "better." I think Lego has long ago lost a lot of the style and charm that was unique to Lego Town sets. When I look at the two police trucks that koalayummies posted above ... I gotta say, I love that old set 6533. To me, that's what Lego Town looks like. It's cute and charming and approachable in a way that the current Lego City line lacks, with their huge, aggressive vehicles. I also grant you that I'm old, and nostalgia is possibly a factor in my viewpoint. Now get off my lawn!

I think that's what annoyed me so much about the original dragon heads. The Elves dragon bodies are pleasantly chunky and Lego-like. Then they plop those silly heads on top, and it's kind of jarring. The Ninjago dragons originally did the same thing, but at some point in that theme, they switched over to using brick-built heads, which look great, and open up a huge range of design possibilities. Every Ninjago dragon is distinct from the others because they all have different heads. It's weird that the Elves theme went back to the single-purpose head molds. I suspect the reason was because they wanted the cutesy print, with the big eyes and the swirly tattoos. Seems like they could have used some stickered slopes to accomplish that. Lego dragons have come a long ways over the years, when you look back at the Dragon Knights castle theme, or even the Vikings theme. The Vikings dragons used mostly Bionicle parts, which gave them an odd robotic, skeletal appearance that I always associate with Bionicle. The current batch of Elves and Ninjago dragons are really impressive.

I really love the Elves theme except for two things: the same five mini-dolls in every set, and those big dumb dragon heads. So I decided to swap out the mini-dolls with mini-figs, which gave me a lot more options to diversify my Elves population. And, while I was at it, I replaced the dragon heads with brick-built heads. Here's the earth dragon. I like the blunt snout on this one. I think it looks like a chameleon. IMG_3320 by jkgross, on Flickr And then here are some earth elves: IMG_3325 by jkgross, on Flickr Next up is the fire dragon. This one is patterned off the Ninjago "Green NRG Dragon (70593)" set. IMG_3327 by jkgross, on Flickr And some fire elves to go with it. There just aren't nearly enough "dark medium flesh" mini-fig heads. IMG_3329 by jkgross, on Flickr And then here's the wind dragon. This one went through a lot of iterations before I was finally happy with it. IMG_3331 by jkgross, on Flickr And of course, some wind elves. The one on the right with the snarly face is on of my favorites. IMG_3333 by jkgross, on Flickr And lastly, the big white dragon. This one is based on the Ninjago "Titanium Dragon (70748)" set. IMG_3336 by jkgross, on Flickr And some more elves figures ... IMG_3339 by jkgross, on Flickr And then, just for fun, here are some bad guys. IMG_3340 by jkgross, on Flickr I hope to tackle the water dragon and the goblin dragon next, but I need to get some pieces first. Thanks for looking! Let me know what you think!

That's kind of where I'm at with them too. I've replaced all of the big, dopey dragon heads with brick-built heads like the Ninjago dragons, and I like them a lot better now. I would probably do something similar with these new animals. Nocturna's tower looks promising, and I'm very curious to see the final version of that. Likewise, the wind dragon set looks interesting. I don't know about that lion thing though. And the bat creature minions look too similar to the goblins in my opinion.

43-year-old male here, and Elves is hands-down my favorite theme at the moment. I will say though, that I eventually got tired of the same five mini-dolls over and over. I've now embarked on a somewhat pricey project of replacing all the mini-dolls with custom mini-figures. I've been buying up all kinds of fun torsos from LOTR, Ninjago, and Star Wars, and turning them into Elves figures. Some more hair / pointy ear pieces would be welcome, but between Elves and LOTR, there are enough to make a diverse community of figures. I think they look great.

Very well said, monkles. The same is true for other themes too, notably Superheroes, Star Wars, and City. It's interesting to note that the themes aimed at girls (Friends, Elves) have large, interesting builds that give the themes some context and a sense of place. The Friends jungle theme from a few years back was terrific. Presumably Lego has some market research to back up their product design decisions, but I find it ridiculous to have an Arctic theme with almost no scenery.