Unpopular Opinions about LEGO

[zoth33]

3 minutes ago, Toastie said:

To be clear: I was only talking about two sets I have (so far) - the Black Pearl from (I forgot - I don't even know whether there was a company name) and the Flying Dutchman from Mould King. The former is 2 years old, mostly -  well black, modded with original LEGOs, and yes still good. I am not a fan of minifigs, so I can't tell, as I gave them away to kids). The FD is only 4 and 1/2 months old. No minifigs, as tihis is meant to be a "model". Both sit part of the day in the sun during summer in my attic, but I like seasoning, so no worries. Should some bricks become brittle ... well some LEGOs do as well. On the Pearl we'll see: Maybe only the original LEGOs will survive. It is tough up here. But honestly? I doubt that. As of now it is as it was when I opened the box. Regarding the FD I can assure you that both color and clutch power are perfect. The latter for modelling, as the FD is not supposed to be played with but displayed only. Nice building techniques, which would be never be approved by TLG: Too flimsy. I don't care as I want her to part the waters up here on a shelf.

What is really important: Mould King is what I am referring to as of even or maybe even better quality - for modeling(!!!). I am not the only one feeling like that. Youtube has some videos of "Held der Steine" - it is in German though - he is pretty much independent and talks about TLG sets and others as well. In an educated way, I'd say. Maybe not, I am just working here

Oh well - time will tell.

All the best
Thorsten   

That's my point though if these clone brands don't hold up to my Lego what's the point in buying them.  I  do use Brickwarriors accessories and i like their quality.  I'm not going to buy off brands just because they are cheaper, the quality has to be there and for me I love customizing minifigs so if the parts aren't useful then it's not worth it.  I have sets that are still in together mainly LOTR and the Hobbit sets.  The rest I use the parts for MOC's so the parts and colors need to be good.  If parts are flimsy it doesn't work for me as they just don't sit on a shelf somewhere.  I'm using parts for builds they need to be sturdy and good clutch power if they are flimsy the build won't work for me anyway.  

[Lord Insanity]

 

1 hour ago, zoth33 said:

How long have you had the Mega sets?  Do the colors fade?  Does the clutch power hold? 

I had some D@D sets and wasn't impressed with the quality at all and the figs are horrible.

The figs for Masters of the Universe still look wonky to me.  Maybe the quality is better I might pick up a set to see for myself.  But I was not Happy with the Drizzt fig and the parts were just bad and felt cheap and flimsy.  

The first Mega Bloks set I bought after Mattel bought them and switched to the higher quality ABS plastic was the Assassin’s Creed Gunboat Takeover.  I found it a Target on clearance for $11.  (Its MSRP was $50, like what a similar size LEGO set would have been).  Suffice to say after my previous experience with Mega Bloks the only reason I took a chance even at that price was the "rumored" massive quality jump Mattel ordered.   It was based on a smaller hull sections that LEGO themselves grossly underused and I wanted a good merchant vessel for my pirates to attack.   I was blown away at just how much better the quality was.

I have had that ship (MODed to my uses as a trade ship) assembled and played with for several years now.  There has been no noticeable degradation of color or clutch power anymore so than the LEGO parts they have been also played with.

The Mega figures are easily the weakest part of the line.  They are basically miniature action figures, I am not really a fan of them.  However they do work really well for Masters of the Universe which was an action figure line in the first place.  This is of course purely subjective.  Many people on the more generic toy and collectible forums actually like the miniature action figure concept and consider it far superior to LEGO minifigs.

 

24 minutes ago, zoth33 said:

That's my point though if these clone brands don't hold up to my Lego what's the point in buying them.  I  do use Brickwarriors accessories and i like their quality.  I'm not going to buy off brands just because they are cheaper, the quality has to be there and for me I love customizing minifigs so if the parts aren't useful then it's not worth it.  I have sets that are still in together mainly LOTR and the Hobbit sets.  The rest I use the parts for MOC's so the parts and colors need to be good.  If parts are flimsy it doesn't work for me as they just don't sit on a shelf somewhere.  I'm using parts for builds they need to be sturdy and good clutch power if they are flimsy the build won't work for me anyway.  

I am pretty sure he is referring to the build itself (The Mould King Flying Dutchman) being on the flimsy side relying on the quality of the parts to hold together correctly.  The build itself is not meant for play because of its fragile nature.  The parts quality is by necessity top notch.

[Toastie]

55 minutes ago, zoth33 said:

That's my point though if these clone brands don't hold up to my Lego what's the point in buying them.

And that's my point as well : I have to find out. And as said: I don't do minifigs. So far: Mould King: Clutch power better. Colors perfect. What else can I reliably say? Nothing.

And: There are about 600+ LEGO sets here - and countless single/multiple items (PaB, PUp, PF, BL, etc pp.) - and >two< sets are from competitors, of which >one< I call not only competitive, but maybe better. My judgement, maybe nothing of value for others. However, when it comes to gauging competition (TLG should do, and maybe some folks around here), don't take the worst or flimsiest as the challengers. Take the best. And then arrange and instruct your defense/mid-field/offense.

Best
Thorsten 

   

11 minutes ago, Lord Insanity said:

The parts quality is by necessity top notch.

@Lord Insanity thank you very much for clarifying that! This is exactly my point (sorry for not being clear enough!): Without that even tighter clutch, you may have a much harder time to assemble the sections. I would be very happy to show these, but I will never do that here. There are for example these one-knob connections (I called wrongly flimsy), with some bricks attached further down the line, particularly in the "mouth region" of the ship. These need clutch power at max. Also ball joints - LEGO uses them to "move" things, MK uses them to fix things at weird angles.

It all depends, I guess.

Best
Thorsten

 

[zoth33]

@Toastie I will look into trying them again.  I just didn't like what i had gotten before.  The real deterrent for me is the figs.  I mean I can easily get parts I need on bricklink or B@P.  I'm just not going to buy sets that have useless figs.  So it might be awhile until I find something that looks good enough to buy.  

[The Stud]

I don’t think Lego necessarily needs to worry about the competition, as in  other legitimate building toy brands like Mega Construx, because each brand has their own identity. They exist in their own little bubbles and do their own things that distinguish them from another. It’s not like you can go buy a Mega Bloks Star Wars or a Lego Halo set or anything, so they’re not exactly substitutes for one another. Lego just needs to continue focusing on doing their own thing, as they’re already on a whole different level than these other building brands. They are arguably the most iconic toy brand ever and are still very relevant in pop culture. Collecting Lego as an adult is becoming more and more mainstream, and you don’t see that with these other brands. While brands like Mega Construx may be improving in quality and uniqueness, you don’t see people going to the Mega Construx Store or Kreo-land or anything like that. I’m not saying Lego should rest on their laurels and start being lazy because of their brand recognition, but I don’t think worrying about one of these other brands draining sales away from them is or should be a big worry for them. But that’s just my two cents. 

[Toastie]

21 hours ago, zoth33 said:

So it might be awhile until I find something that looks good enough to buy.

Absolutely! And there is certainly no need, none, to rush things or even go there. My motivation was very different from yours. I like that: Careful gauging, assessment, and decision. Best approach.

All the best,
Thorsten

[Toastie]

1 hour ago, The Stud said:

But that’s just my two cents

Worth a lot more!

See, if I would work at TLG headquaters (I know, "if" ... if a had a hammer ... I'd hammer out a warning) no one would like me there. I'd be the nervous guy looking at the quality of other - well - clone brands. And carefully follow their progress of improving that quality. The moment I'd find a competitor with almost comparable quality bricks, I'd hammer off every alarm bell I could possibly find. Why? Because one of the strongest arguments (of many) is becoming ... meaningless.

And then I see these competitors rendering the IDEAs initiative slow, unfair, and this and that, because they a) simply steal IDEAs ideas, b) know what it means to show stuff in the public domain (you can copy it without any serious legal threats), and c) bring these ideas - ruthless - in an apparent breathtakingly short time to market - which is only apparently so short, because all the procedures and the IDEAs idea of pumping up the jam at TLG are - well simply bypassed. And that would make me very nervous as well.

How much is the share of IDEAs with regard to the overall revenue though? I'd say next to nothing. Yes: TLG should continue to do their own thing. Selling sets to kids. "Through" their parents. As they do. And this is where the money is.

Nevertheless: What if a clone brand producing comparable quality bricks and pieces, because they are done with that, target the next level? Rechargeable batteries for all products (so far, TLG relies on alkaline batteries, as per their print on the boxes, and they chickened out of 8878 and still have no replacement). Oh, they have to test this and that, to eventually crank out the best possible product - but so have cell phone manufacturers as well. What if a clone brand hires builders in the public domain on a per model basis? As they do already? Not the super designers working at TLG, but the brilliant people all over the world? I know that TLG does that as well, but there seems to be always a big fuzz about that. Moving to Billund and all that. That is so old school. BTW TLG is hiring, head over to the Technic forum .

I bet things will change in very short time. The pandemic is radically accelerating that, as far as I am concerned.

But then again: I'd be the nervous guy - nobody likes. And is fired in no time

Best regards,
Thorsten

 

[The Stud]

7 minutes ago, Toastie said:

Worth a lot more!

See, if I would work at TLG headquaters (I know, "if" ... if a had a hammer ... I'd hammer out a warning) no one would like me there. I'd be the nervous guy looking at the quality of other - well - clone brands. And carefully follow their progress of improving that quality. The moment I'd find a competitor with almost comparable quality bricks, I'd hammer off every alarm bell I could possibly find. Why? Because one of the strongest arguments (of many) is becoming ... meaningless.

And then I see these competitors rendering the IDEAs initiative slow, unfair, and this and that, because they a) simply steal IDEAs ideas, b) know what it means to show stuff in the public domain (you can copy it without any serious legal threats), and c) bring these ideas - ruthless - in an apparent breathtakingly short time to market - which is only apparently so short, because all the procedures and the IDEAs idea of pumping up the jam at TLG are - well simply bypassed. And that would make me very nervous as well.

How much is the share of IDEAs with regard to the overall revenue though? I'd say next to nothing. Yes: TLG should continue to do their own thing. Selling sets to kids. "Through" their parents. As they do. And this is where the money is.

Nevertheless: What if a clone brand producing comparable quality bricks and pieces, because they are done with that, target the next level? Rechargeable batteries for all products (so far, TLG relies on alkaline batteries, as per their print on the boxes, and they chickened out of 8878 and still have no replacement). Oh, they have to test this and that, to eventually crank out the best possible product - but so have cell phone manufacturers as well. What if a clone brand hires builders in the public domain on a per model basis? As they do already? Not the super designers working at TLG, but the brilliant people all over the world? I know that TLG does that as well, but there seems to be always a big fuzz about that. Moving to Billund and all that. That is so old school. BTW TLG is hiring, head over to the Technic forum .

I bet things will change in very short time. The pandemic is radically accelerating that, as far as I am concerned.

But then again: I'd be the nervous guy - nobody likes. And is fired in no time

Best regards,
Thorsten

 

Hey, it’s good to have a “nervous guy” around! I’ve filled that role myself many times. You helped spark an interesting discussion!

[Peppermint_M]

Ah. The quality is much better than before. I had a box in the 90s, I bought sets in the 00s and most recently picked up a Hot Wheels car set. The newest set is excellent quality, I was very impressed.

TLG need to pay attention to this. Not relying on litigation to squash other brands.

[MAB]

12 hours ago, The Stud said:

I don’t think Lego necessarily needs to worry about the competition, as in  other legitimate building toy brands like Mega Construx, because each brand has their own identity. They exist in their own little bubbles and do their own things that distinguish them from another. It’s not like you can go buy a Mega Bloks Star Wars or a Lego Halo set or anything, so they’re not exactly substitutes for one another.

I disagree here. While the licensed sets are not going to be confused (LEGO Star Wars collectors are not going to accidentally buy a Mega Star Wars set as they don't exist and vice versa with Halo), unlicensed sets can be. And how often do non-LEGO items appear on shelves interdispersed with LEGO items. I find quite often in supermarkets and toy stores, there is LEGO branding on the shelf edge, but non-LEGO products on those shelves, where staff have just filled in gaps with other items. There is significant overlap between the brands, even through the franchises they do are different.

[Johnny1360]

I have enough LEGO and will never buy more.

[Pdaitabird]

Old-style finger hinges should never have been discontinued. Change my mind.

[Toastie]

37 minutes ago, Pdaitabird said:

Change my mind

Well, I'll try: Old-style finger hinges should never EVER have been disabled. And the folks who decided on that should have been punished : Retool the moulds with their own money. I have no clue why that happened, maybe too many kids ate them? No idea. They are not only nice as hinges, but taken apart also for many design purposes! 

Does that change your mind a bit?

Best
Thorsten

[JamesBenjamin]

10 hours ago, MAB said:

I disagree here. While the licensed sets are not going to be confused (LEGO Star Wars collectors are not going to accidentally buy a Mega Star Wars set as they don't exist and vice versa with Halo), unlicensed sets can be. And how often do non-LEGO items appear on shelves interdispersed with LEGO items. I find quite often in supermarkets and toy stores, there is LEGO branding on the shelf edge, but non-LEGO products on those shelves, where staff have just filled in gaps with other items. There is significant overlap between the brands, even through the franchises they do are different.

I don't think I've ever seen a non-licensed Mega Construx set in a store in the USA. The only exception was some filler plant sets for $3 at a bargain store (that only sells old stock). Target and Walmart in the USA don't sell anything Mega except MotU/Halo/Pokemon.

 

As a side note to add to the previous conversation: I picked up the Mega Castle Greyskull on super clearance, and it was my first experience with Mega outside of throwing away blocks in used lots of Lego. Quality is really good, and I ended up picking up the rest of the MotU sets. The biggest difference I see is QC of parts in the box, I end up with a lot of extra parts (not just little ones) with Mega sets.

[Aanchir]

7 hours ago, Toastie said:

Well, I'll try: Old-style finger hinges should never EVER have been disabled. And the folks who decided on that should have been punished : Retool the moulds with their own money. I have no clue why that happened, maybe too many kids ate them? No idea. They are not only nice as hinges, but taken apart also for many design purposes! 

Does that change your mind a bit?

Best
Thorsten

I know from my own childhood experience that some types of finger hinge were prone to breaking after repeatedly being connected and disconnected. The style of finger hinges used for Homemaker figure arms or Space and Aquazone robotic arms were especially bad about this, but the "modified plate" style used for windscreens, vehicle roofs, crane arms, and carriage hitches (or the vertical style used for window panes and shutters) weren't immune, either.

I remember my family ending up with a lot of broken parts in all those styles that had to be thrown away (especially ones that were already heavily used hand-me-downs from other builders via eBay or yard sale lots). Considering how many times LEGO had to redesign other parts that were prone to breakage like Ø3.18mm clips and Bionicle sockets, I wouldn't be surprised if the finger hinges were discontinued for the same reason.

That said, there are still a few parts that use finger hinges (like the classic 2x2x2 "post box", or the book covers introduced in the 2016 Nexo Knights and Elves sets). So I suppose it might have been possible for LEGO to develop a breakage-resistant version of the finger hinge if they'd taken more time to explore those options instead of just replacing them with other hinge types. My understanding of engineering-type stuff like that is extremely limited, so I can only speculate about what would or wouldn't have been possible in that regard.

I agree that the old-school finger hinges are remarkably useful parts, and that there are a lot of ways they can be used where other types of hinges like clips, locking hinges, or Technic pins are less effective due to their slight vertical offset (Mixel joints are a good substitute in some of these cases, since their hinge is aligned with the vertical center of the plate, but their limited colors and thicker hinge design present an entirely different set of limitations).

[1974]

I never broke any of the finger plates as a kid, which btw were re-designed shortly after they were launched (from two to three fingers as the two finger type got loose very quickly)

I did break a number of 4081s though. Back then TLG liked to stick an antenna, or a tool, through the hole and that was a recipe for disaster! The part got re-designed with a thicker ring but that is problematic in a lot of builds. I wonder why it took so long to launch the 6019 with horizontal clip?

Now, why the 4085 was re-deigned so many times over the years, I don't get? Never broke any of them and they're made of softer plastic anyway

I wouldn't really put the "post-box" in that category though. Agree on the Homemaker arms, very usefull parts and nothing quite like them today

The new click hinges were due to SW, can't have those X-wing wings flapping around

Cheers,

Ole

 

 

[TeriXeri]

Those Homemaker / Aquazone arms (and variants like the claws/magnets/insectoid wings) were rather fragile, and I can see that might be the reason for retirement, but I agree that the magnets and claws have no real current day replacements.

When the sets were new, they worked great, however over time, they just get loose, or crack entirely.

 

Over time, we got the mixel joints, which could potentially still be expanded, for example pieces that originated as "ammo" (nexo knight crossbow) are now more frequently used for the towball itself , but it still doesn't fully replace the old magnet or Claw, but does allow more interconnectivity with either bar, axle or pin , or more recent plates with hollow studs.

Currently in use : 

Not in use : 

 

Now another part, but still in use (probably most commonly known as the Classic Space Robot Arm as also seen in Benny's Space Squad) is the 4735, surprisingly never got a bigger clip.

 

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by TeriXeri

[1974]

But that one doesn't break. However, Wasn't there something about the mould being worn down and that's why a 3L bar was needed to ensure the arms stick to the body? I'm sure I read that somewhere ..

Anyway, back on topic!

Modern Technic is not LEGO, it's an entirely different construction form and personally for me, completely irrelevant

[Flak Maniak]

19 hours ago, Johnny1360 said:

I have enough LEGO and will never buy more.

A+; this is easily the most unpopular post in the thread. You win. None of us can compete with this post.

 

[Aanchir]

11 hours ago, 1974 said:

But that one doesn't break. However, Wasn't there something about the mould being worn down and that's why a 3L bar was needed to ensure the arms stick to the body? I'm sure I read that somewhere ..

Yeah, the anti-stud was very loose by the time that sets like the Exo-Suit used it. I think they've since replaced the mold, but I'm not 100% sure if I'm remembering correctly.

[Agent Kallus]

Hulk style squatting bigfigs are very non lego like and should be replaced, Something more like the technic bigfig. made of more separate-able parts with more articulation. and the looks more like a minifig.

[MAB]

31 minutes ago, Agent Kallus said:

Hulk style squatting bigfigs are very non lego like and should be replaced, Something more like the technic bigfig. made of more separate-able parts with more articulation. and the looks more like a minifig.

I'd prefer perfectly scaled up minifigs. So exactly the same shapes, just 2x bigger, or whatever.

[Agent Kallus]

2 minutes ago, MAB said:

I'd prefer perfectly scaled up minifigs. So exactly the same shapes, just 2x bigger, or whatever.

That could also work well and look much better. much like those torch figures but actually scaled and designed to fit with lego connection points. though if they had 2x2 sized footprints they'd be a bit too huge and if not they'd have to 1/2 stud measures. 

[The Island Chronicles]

I think an unpopular opinion of mine is also the fact that I think road plates should be sold separately like the baseplates were. 

[Johnny1360]

21 hours ago, 1974 said:

 

Modern Technic is not LEGO, it's an entirely different construction form and personally for me, completely irrelevant

And yet Technic elements seem to find their way into virtually every LEGO set, lol.