nhk

Given the increased complexity of Technic set functions in recent years, I'm surprised that more of them don't have some sort of gear/axle issues. Was always wondering how those small gears can take the necessary amount of force. On the subject of availability - it looks like the local retailers put this set on sale a week before August 1st and it was cleaned out immediately. On a related note, what's the most appropriate Lego email contact in cases like this ? Those of you who tried, what did you use ?

My first thought upon watching the video was 'beautiful'. Very clean panel work and excellent detail give it a great deal of realism. This is something that could very well work as an official set.

Where was this ?

Just checked eBay Germany and there were some sold at 4000+ Euro by a Lego® Authorized Seller. I wonder what TLG would have to say about that.

I've been pretty aggressive in my stance against Lego, because this is the first Technic set in over a year that I've been interested in. Now that I've cooled off a bit, I have to say that they're probably not as malicious as I painted them to be, but their lack of transparency still stands as a serious question mark against them. - Precisely my thoughts on point 1, although admittedly there could be another explanation. If they were anticipating or still debating the cancellation, Lego could have opted to not send review samples in case it was recalled as it transpired in the end. That would could also explain how some sets made it to retailers. But why send them if they're close to cancelling it in the first place ? The equally plausible alternate version is that they cancelled the set internally long before it was announced, but by then they had produced a certain amount of sets. Thus they could have pulled this current stunt in order to have a excuse to offload their stock to retailers and in reality have nothing in storage. - TLG don't have an anti-military contractor point in their policy, just anti-military sets. In fact it is stated that they support all military personnel if I'm remembering correctly. It's absolutely true that they haven't been woken up from anything, they just miscalculated how their own language will be used against them. In fact, the poor writing of said policy is what got them in trouble, since they have been treating it as 'will not produce military themed' for years, but the text didn't reflect that. Instead of admitting this they opted to uphold the appearance of stricter values than their actual standard. Also it's very likely that an internal dispute did take place, as suggested, and likely a SJW executive made the final decision, where obviously a lot of people were fine with it, since the set got produced in the first place. - It's going to be pretty unfortunate if Sariel isn't allowed to post a review of this set. Lego's legal and/or PR teams have been overreacting a huge deal in the past months.

Exactly my thoughts. I'd like to see the look on their faces when they realize that their appeal didn't produce the desired effect and they got a harmless toy cancelled for nothing.

Exactly, because in the end of the day, that's the most they can accomplish. I don't think they're afraid of e certain president, they just know how powerless they are, so they use every opportunity they can. And Lego handed them one on a silver platter. They are two-faced already, but they're good at spinning things so it appears differently to the general public. I think we'd all rather have them admit that their actual mistake in the poor writing of said policy and amend it to reflect their intent. That way we can get the generic unlicensed sets and the licensed non-militaristic Osprey. But despite appearances TLG isn't the type of company to admit a mistake of such magnitude. They're just another rigid corporate entity. Or maybe someone just needs to write them an email about it ?

You're trying to pigeonhole me into something I don't mean. No, Lego didn't recall the set for that reason, they knew its history in advance, after all they worked with Boeing on it, and proceeded all the way to production anyway. They are withdrawing it to avoid the appearance that they're not following their own guidelines and in the process they're exposing those guidelines as insincere. I hope I've made myself clear now. It's also evident from the sequence of events - the anti-war group simply requested that TLG should refrain from working with Boeing, remove the branding and issue a generic tilt-rotor aircraft. In response Lego cancels the Osprey outright, but there is no mention of cutting ties with Boeing - if that isn't proof enough, then I don't know what is. The majority of fans already realize the pretense of TLG's 'values' on some level and don't hold it against them when they bend the rules to the point of breaking, because it gives us variety in the sets they create. The rest are in denial because they like certain things, be it Star Wars, Marvel or whatever. But now that a line has been crossed into something they don't like, they become vocal about it, not realizing their own complicity in the matter.

The nuance came through just fine, you simply don't understand that Lego didn't make choice A. It's all choice B, which they thought they could get away by ignoring. They didn't, but now they pretend to be making choice A, which you are buying into. You might have seen through the original issue, but you're not seeing the current one. Meanwhile Lego has been making choice B for years and will continue doing it, but mask it by quoting a pretense policy with zero ethical value. If they admit that, and vow to never release another violent or military inspired set, that would be a show of integrity, but also a severe limitation in the diversity of their catalogue impacting both them and us. As a matter of fact, their pretend policy has long outlived it's purpose, and should be further adjusted to cover specifically modern military themed sets, which is how they have already been treating it. Then the Osprey would be fine, as it has a rescue theme. Problem solved to the satisfaction of all parties but those asking for cutting ties with Boeing, which isn't happening even now, so that point is superficial.

You had me rolling on the floor here. Lego has no integrity, they were just called out on what they've been doing for years, but this time their pretense values in written form didn't protect them. Of course they wouldn't outright admit that, so they put the necessary spin to come out clean of this situation and you, among others, bought it hook line and sinker.

TLG has never put out such a statement, but amid the smokescreen nobody realizes the primary purpose of this 'protest' isn't accomplished. They'll just do pure civilian sets and Boeing will still get their cut, to the chagrin of the German Peace Society, who will have no backing in that case.

Maybe, but Boeing isn't the reason TLG cancelled the set, it's because of the Osprey's exclusive military use. If it had a civilian version, or if it was a different civilian craft from Boeing, it wouldn't have been cancelled, regardless of the amount of defense contracts the company holds.

That's funny, they practically state they're anti-licensing in this case, not anti-military, probably taking advantage of specific language in Lego's policy. If this was a Boeing model in civilian use they would have nothing to stand on. So their anti-Boeing argument is utterly flat. Also it sheds light on the fact that they contacted Lego months ago, but TLG did nothing up until the last moment possible and then some. This definitely appears to be some kind of stunt designed to get away with releasing a set they knew violated their fake policy from the start, or gain some goodwill by pretending to concede to the protest. Either way TLG wins. Emperor Palpatine would be proud.

There's enough indication that this isn't the case - you don't spend over a year in licensing, development and production because of stupidity. Simply put - TLG doesn't really care whether they put out military sets or not. They only care whether they can be called out on it, which is why their policy, created in the post-Star Wars license days, is specifically written to allow them the greatest flexibility possible in creating military sets, including real-world ones, with the narrow exception of modern times. The confidence they built up by producing thinly veiled or 'fictionalized' military models tripped them up here, as it led them to believe that re-badging the plane as rescue would be enough. They didn't realize until too late that the licensing would put them into the narrow exclusion created to appear as though they have an anti-military policy. The question is - where were those same anti-war groups were when Lego was releasing Blue Power Jet and Sonic Boom, which are painfully obvious military craft ? And why should an interesting and quality set be recalled to support the appearance of some superficial standards that Lego obviously doesn't even follow anyway ?

Sounds like a conspiracy theory when you put it like that, but if you consider that if it were fully released, any statement they made would sound even more hypocritical. Currently the majority are actually giving Lego credit, instead of pointing out how self-serving their policy is in general.