Duq

Or he could have taking up knitting as a hobby, but he didn't. He did what he did because he believed what he did was correct and he was prepared to fight for what he believed was right. Lego could have not tried outsourcing and when they cancelled that contract could have not kept their process. But they did what they did because they thought it was the right thing to do and here we are 20 years of inconsistent colours and brittle bricks later...

Clearly demonstrable it may be, but 90% of consumers would not know that Lego never produced such a part. A judge might ask if it's plausible that an average consumer would know, and the answer would be no. You and I are not average consumers.

It's not about a consumer sueing Lego over a cracked brick. It's a consumer looking at a brick with a ball bearing and some stress marks and thinking "hmm, that Lego stuff is not as good as I thought, I'll buy Cobi next time". The grey area is that I can buy ball bearings on Ali Express, push them into Technic bricks, and sell them at a train meeting to some friends, and Lego would be none the wiser. The effect is the same as what HA Bricks has done. In both cases there are now modified Lego bricks "out in the wild" that could damage Lego's reputation. What I find hypocritical about the whole thing is that their own quality isn't what it used to be. I took a MOC out of a box a few weeks ago and pretty much every droid arm had split clips. Not from illegal techniques, just from being clipped onto a bar. I've load of broken parts, not just brittle brown (and I don't keep everything, I regularly bin the broken stuff). They can't produce consistent lime green parts. Five minutes of sunshine on a white brick and a few years later it's light tan. That is what is damaging their quality reputation for me, and it's why I wonder why I'm still paying premium for the real stuff. And yet they go after a guy who modifies a few hundred bricks in a year. That's less than Lego produces in a second. As for the out of court settlement proposals, I don't know the details, don't know which side was more flexible, which was more stubborn, but it's really sad it's come to this. On paper their case is correct. But they forgot to look at the bigger picture. "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should".

Nope, it's not the mentioning of Lego parts on the box, it's modifying parts. About the marking, Technic bricks don't have a Lego logo on the studs. You'd have to look very closely inside the brick to find the logo. You can use your bricks any way you want, and modify or print them any way you want. It's when you start selling them that you have a problem. The points about Lego supporting/ endorsing events with 'official' engraved or printed bricks are interesting...

@Toastie You meant "So long, and thanks for all the fish" ;-) Yes, you are dependent on the judge to a degree. When I separated, the judge ruled that my ex could keep my computer because she had two text files with a diary on it, and some IT expert had blinded the judge with science, and told him that it's impossible to delete those files beyond the point where they can be retrieved. That was a PC I'd built myself with 100k of my files on it... Anyway, if I understand the ruling correctly, this means all custom brick printers will have to shut down. They alter Lego bricks without explicit permission, and using a process TLG has no control over.

Right now his website is gone. I'd imagine he's going to take a few days (or longer) to consider what's next. Appeal won't be cheap. He may well decide that he's had enough. Time will tell.

We are a niche, but trains are always popular at shows. Lego hasn't completely pulled the plug on trains for adults. You can look at that the other way as well: is it worth going after that niche within a niche? HA Bricks probably sells less in a year than Lego in two minutes. Is someone who sells a few dozen or even a few hundred custom sets really damaging the brand? There's a lot of room between carte blanche and killing off a small business. I don't know what was proposed either way before it got to court, but I do wonder if there really wasn't a better way out. I've been critical of the mothership for a while; the ever rising prices and the continuing quality issues don't go well together. This affair with HA Bricks has left a very bad taste in my mouth. I'm not about to put my entire collection on eBay, but something will change. And no, I'm not an outsider, and not entirely unbiased. I've known the guys who designed that Dutch loco for years, and I've met Hein (HA Bricks) a few months ago in the Netherlands. Maybe that's why this is hitting me harder than a lot of other AfoLs.

All I can say is [censored] you, you [censored] greedy corporate [censored]. This is total BS. It does not hurt the brand. Their own inferior quality is hurting them. To go after a one-man shop that's generating business for them, not costing them a penny, and put him out of business? Is that really what LEGO has turned into? Time to reconsider why I'm spending the amount I spend on a company that cares so little about its customers anymore.

Download issue 1 of Railbricks here: https://brickmodelrailroader.com/index.php/download-railbricks/railbricks-issue-1/ Was that 17 years ago? Damn, time flies... On page 22 you'll find an article by Cale Leiphart describing how it's done. And there's a lot more to read in those old magazines ;-)

I've never considered it to be honest. There is some wear on plastic parts but it's not enough for me to worry about. If it's strength then as @supertruper1988 suggested you'll keep chasing the weakest link. I do however use Lego axles in brass tubes on some trains and metal bearings on others. For the rolling resistance that makes a big difference.

Higher resolution versions of the images? And your other pictures. I was curious what else you've built.

I love that tram! I see your images are hosted on Flickr, but you haven't posted them as clickable links - is that on purpose? In Flickr, if you go to 'Share - BBCode', copy and paste it here, you get this: See my photos 30 by Duq, on Flickr

I'm curious: why does it say "Salt Industries" on an oil car?

I wouldn't say useless... I was also hoping that without the jumper they would work like the old 9V switches. What this means is you need a connector to each track in the yard ladder. I also means Fx should hurry up with their connectors because the old ones are going for stupid money on BL and the rubber wires are crumbling...

I'm curious to see what you're building. Most Lego train builders use "minifig scale" which of course isn't an exact scale but is generally between 1:40 and 1:45. This makes train 7-8 studs wide and is what's known as "L-gauge". Some builders use the normal Lego track as narrow gauge which makes the trains 10 wide or bigger. At these scales the flanges of Lego train wheels are already exagerated. You're using 1:64 which will make your trains 4-5 studs wide. That means the flanges will look even more exagerated than in "normal" L-gauge. Using Lego for such small scale trains will be a challenge that comes with many compromises. At the end of the day, go with what looks good to you. That's the most important thing.