Unpopular Opinions about LEGO

[The Island Chronicles]

25 minutes ago, danth said:

Encouraging MOCing is great. I'm sure I've done it before. I can't imagine you doing what I'm talking about.

What I'm talking about is, in the context of a conversation about an old theme being great, or themes you wish existed, or just someone saying "I with they would make sets like X", someone will pop into the thread -- someone who seemingly has no interest in the discussion otherwise -- and say "If you don't like Lego's current offering, just make MOCs". It's just a complete wet blanket, dismissal/rejection of the entire conversation, and a failure to read the room. And of course it's also a coded "never complain about Lego's current offering of sets." 

There's a certain toxic personality type that can never let someone hope, wish, or lament, on a forum that specifically exists for it, and just wants to dismiss, invalidate, and shut down others. I'm just kind of tired of it. EDIT: Well, maybe I'm being dramatic. It's definitely a pet peeve of mine. A micro-aggression where the annoyance builds and builds over the years.

Yeah ikr! That's exactly what I was fighting against on this forum before. I mean, allow people to talk. We're going to reminice, especially if we're older Lego fans who still have fond memories of what the old days were like. To tell us that we're "complaining" is like telling us to shut up. We know that it won't ever go back to what it once was with Lego and we also know that there are some things that Lego will never do. But that doesn't mean that we don't wishlist or reminisce. That's just a violation of free speech. 

Edited April 5, 2023 by The Brick Boss

[MAB]

17 minutes ago, danth said:

What I'm talking about is, in the context of a conversation about an old theme being great, or themes you wish existed, or just someone saying "I with they would make sets like X", someone will pop into the thread -- someone who seemingly has no interest in the discussion otherwise -- and say "If you don't like Lego's current offering, just make MOCs". It's just a complete wet blanket, dismissal/rejection of the entire conversation, and a failure to read the room. And of course it's also a coded "never complain about Lego's current offering of sets."

It depends what has gone before in a discussion. If it is "I want X" and someone says "have you tried Y as it is similar" and the response is "it has to be X", then the answer is (I think quite rightly) "then you will have to MOC it as they don't make X and Y is a close alternative." LEGO cannot make exactly what everyone wants. However, they do make a huge range of styles of sets these days. There has to be some give and take on the part of the consumer if they want LEGO branded items. For years I wanted licensed LOTR but they didn't make it. Yet like many people I got by with minifigures from Castle, the early CMFs for an elf, etc and the occasional sharpie drawn details and Castle sets for some inspiration for builds. During Pharoah's Quest, they didn't do Adventurers. Anyone wanting Johnny Thunder in Ancient Egyptian settings could have made do with Jake Raines in Ancient Egyptian settings, or they could have MOCed what they wanted. If they wanted Johnny Thunder with dinosaurs, they could have borrowed parts from Dino along with Jake Raines. If they wanted it now, they could make do with the new Indy sets. If they wanted Johnny Thunder in outer space, they could have borrowed sets from Atlantis and used the underwater craft as space craft for Jake Raines. If they wanted Star Trek, they would have to buy another brand, compromise with Star Wars or other space themes depending on timing, or MOC. If they really want previous sets, they can also buy them or the parts on bricklink or ebay, and they can also use the freely available instructions to build something close to what they want if they are not interested in any of the 500+ sets that LEGO had released within the year.

It is easy to say LEGO should make what I want, but much harder to identify what LEGO should get rid of to make that possible. LEGO could/should dump Harry Potter and replace it with LOTR or even better a fantasy based Castle theme, but of course that would probably prove to be a bad idea when it comes to sales.

17 minutes ago, danth said:

I agree. That's bad. We don't need an X-Wing every year. It's getting ridiculous. It's a 45 year old design, from a franchise that hasn't had a good movie in almost as long.

That is possibly one set they should keep on the shelves at all time, as people keep buying it. LEGO try to satisfy the market where there is high demand. Where there is large and continual demand for something it should be redone again and again, while that demand is retained. Same with police and fire vehicles in City, houses and shops in Friends, etc. They are endlessly redone but the continued high demand means that they will continue to make similar sets as they are sure to sell. If civilian cars don't sell so well for City and even if some people want them as they have enough police cars already, they will make fewer of them than police cars because police cars sell. In contrast, if sales volume for a theme are poor, they know there is not demand and should leave that theme and similar ideas for a while. Castle seemed to sell quite badly 2010-13/4 (and also got a lot of hate from AFOLs, although that is probably a minor factor) and I imagine the poor sales were why it disappeared and modern alternatives like Nexo Knights got tried instead. Anyone wanting Castle could have bought LOTR/Hobbit or Harry Potter and repurposed the figures or the occasional alternative set (like from The LEGO Movie) if they wanted some inspiration and supplemented them with older figures from the secondary market but they couldn't have a castle with Black Falcons or Crusader Knights or an unlicensed troll if they wanted to buy new at retail stores.

[Ondra]

On 4/4/2023 at 6:06 PM, danth said:

Here's a sentiment I truly hate.

"If Lego doesn't make sets you like, just build MOCs".

This is about as close as you can get to an "F you" to fans.

MOCing is hard. Some people are bad at it. Most of us aren't going to be able to come up with something as good looking and stable as a full time professional designer with all of TLGs resources at their disposal. And, any artist sees all the flaws in their own work, and every way it fell short of their vision. But you can't do that with someone else's design - you can only appreciate it for what it is. Kinda like food -- it tastes better if I didn't have to make it.

Buying parts from Bricklink is expensive and time consuming.

With a set, you get all the parts you need in numbered bags, in one package, at a price far lower than what those bricks would cost shipped from X different sellers on Bricklink. Plus the parts will be new. And you can share in the experience with all your fellow fans who build the same set, come up with alternate builds, etc.

Plus official sets give you new prints and new colors -- MOCs don't.

Also - if anyone really believes in "just make MOCs", then they're all for Lego not making sets any more and just releasing brick packs, right? RIGHT? Except no, they don't believe that.

"Just makes MOCs" is a way for people who are perennially happy with the status quo to dismiss more passionate fans.

I give up "professional" mocing, i just use pieces that I have from older sets or build alternates from sets or modifying sets.

Mocing is 3x pricier than basic set based on rebrickable list.

They have around year or two for designing big sets, they can perfected every way of set or made new bricks . No way this can be done with mocing.

[CDKiii]

Hello dear Afols, 

I don't know if someone complain about it yet, but my son get the new firefighter station, and i realize that the new neon yellow bricks are made with bad quality plastic, looking really close to clone brands ' one. It is not as shiny, smooth and flexible than other color.

Am i the only one that it bothers?

[dr_spock]

Interesting, didn't notice that before about the reflectiveness of neon yellow.  It appears not to be as shiny as the darker colours.  What did they put into its mixture?

[CDKiii]

2 hours ago, dr_spock said:

Interesting, didn't notice that before about the reflectiveness of neon yellow.  It appears not to be as shiny as the darker colours.  What did they put into its mixture?

As soon as it is lego socks....

[Aanchir]

2 hours ago, dr_spock said:

Interesting, didn't notice that before about the reflectiveness of neon yellow.  It appears not to be as shiny as the darker colours.  What did they put into its mixture?

I'm not sure about all the specifics, but I know it uses some sort of fluorescent dye, since it glows very brightly under a blacklight (on par with transparent fluorescent/"Trans-Neon" colors). It's possible that the fluorescent dye is designed to allow more light through to maximize the fluorescent effect?

The actual plastic granulate is presumably the same ABS used for other solid-colored bricks, since parts made from plastics with different properties are usually assigned different Design IDs. For example, solid-colored 2x2 bricks (including the Vibrant Yellow one) are design number 3003, while transparent ones made from polycarbonate or MABS are design number 6223 or 35275.

[CDKiii]

1 hour ago, Aanchir said:

I'm not sure about all the specifics, but I know it uses some sort of fluorescent dye, since it glows very brightly under a blacklight (on par with transparent fluorescent/"Trans-Neon" colors). It's possible that the fluorescent dye is designed to allow more light through to maximize the fluorescent effect?

The actual plastic granulate is presumably the same ABS used for other solid-colored bricks, since parts made from plastics with different properties are usually assigned different Design IDs. For example, solid-colored 2x2 bricks (including the Vibrant Yellow one) are design number 3003, while transparent ones made from polycarbonate or MABS are design number 6223 or 35275.

I think it should have some differences, like with the brown which breaks more often than others colors. What does make me think about this is that the feeling with these yellow pieces, touching or clicking it on other bricks remind me when i bought a clone brand ( i'm sorry and beg your pardon for that)

[MAB]

1 hour ago, CDKiii said:

I think it should have some differences, like with the brown which breaks more often than others colors. 

That was still the same ABS as other colours, just different dyes affecting the mechanical strength. Presumably that was why it took them so long to acknowledge and correct the issue.

[Toastie]

17 minutes ago, MAB said:

That was still the same ABS as other colours

I doubt that - there are as many formulations for ABS (percentage of the three main components + countless additives used upon polymerization - heck, even the polymerization process can be run in multiple ways to arrive at what you "wish") - as there are dyes. Some are large molecules, some are inorganic pigments, it really accounts to countless approaches. Adding a fluorescent dye to the ABS making process - keeping its fluorescent property to the extent of "shining bright" - is quite the thing.

So I guess they tried multiple - and even more - approaches to arrive at a non-fluorescent light-quenching ABS formulation and polymerization process.

Which certainly may end-up in a non-glossy (that is a result of running the polymerization process in a certain way) etc. surface. Among other things, we may discover after 1+x years of aging, x ranging from a negative number to 50 and more. The latter is what some expect, I guess.

Best,
Thorsten

[MAB]

14 hours ago, Toastie said:

I doubt that - there are as many formulations for ABS (percentage of the three main components + countless additives used upon polymerization - heck, even the polymerization process can be run in multiple ways to arrive at what you "wish") - as there are dyes. Some are large molecules, some are inorganic pigments, it really accounts to countless approaches. Adding a fluorescent dye to the ABS making process - keeping its fluorescent property to the extent of "shining bright" - is quite the thing.

So I guess they tried multiple - and even more - approaches to arrive at a non-fluorescent light-quenching ABS formulation and polymerization process.

Which certainly may end-up in a non-glossy (that is a result of running the polymerization process in a certain way) etc. surface. Among other things, we may discover after 1+x years of aging, x ranging from a negative number to 50 and more. The latter is what some expect, I guess.

Best,
Thorsten

Yes there are multiple ABS formulations. Different factories have different formulations too, depending on what is available locally. This is why early parts from the original Chinese factories were slightly translucent as they were using their locally sourced ABS pellets. From what I understand the different coloured parts made in an individual factory use the same source.

[Aanchir]

21 hours ago, CDKiii said:

I think it should have some differences, like with the brown which breaks more often than others colors. What does make me think about this is that the feeling with these yellow pieces, touching or clicking it on other bricks remind me when i bought a clone brand ( i'm sorry and beg your pardon for that)

You don't owe me any sort of apology for that! Your experience is your experience. And it's not like this sort of quality issue is unheard of.

The issue with the brown parts, as explained here, was a defective batch of colorless ABS granulate. Reddish Brown and Dark Red were not the only colors affected, but most other colors of brick produced from this batch of granulate were noticeably discolored (like these "brittle blue" bricks) whereas the Reddish Brown and Dark Red dye masked the discoloration better and made it harder for LEGO to isolate and dispose of parts that were made with the faulty granulate. As of a couple years ago, LEGO has finally managed to resolve this issue and get rid of all the defective Reddish Brown parts, but needless to say, it's still a risk you'll run into with older parts and sets.

[Peppermint_M]

I have checked my neon-yellow parts against some of the popular alternative brands and it is slightly similar to the current MEGA produced parts but has a little more shine to it. Something like a smoother finish really. 

I can see a close match, but so far no cracking or damage issues like reddish brown or colour consistency problems like dark red. 

[Ondra]

Seeing all these icons 18+ sets, and I cannot barely see logic in it. They are seemingly throwing everything big into this range and most of them are on huge sale few months after.

Its just waste of human resources, it takes time to design it and then its mostly instantly rejected and put into sale and after year and half they end set life.

Only positive side it has, that Im buying more of these big sets on clearance because its steal after all. I never buying it in first months.

[Lyichir]

4 hours ago, Ondra said:

Seeing all these icons 18+ sets, and I cannot barely see logic in it. They are seemingly throwing everything big into this range and most of them are on huge sale few months after.

Its just waste of human resources, it takes time to design it and then its mostly instantly rejected and put into sale and after year and half they end set life.

Only positive side it has, that Im buying more of these big sets on clearance because its steal after all. I never buying it in first months.

All I can say to this is that it's very much not the case in the U.S., where clearances on larger adult-focused sets are still extremely rare. I wouldn't mind clearance sales like you seem to describe if they did exist here but apart from a few isolated examples (the Barcelona football stadium, Queer Eye set, Black Panther bust), 18+ sets over here seem to be holding their value and rarely seeing substantial discounts.

[Ondra]

3 hours ago, Lyichir said:

All I can say to this is that it's very much not the case in the U.S., where clearances on larger adult-focused sets are still extremely rare. I wouldn't mind clearance sales like you seem to describe if they did exist here but apart from a few isolated examples (the Barcelona football stadium, Queer Eye set, Black Panther bust), 18+ sets over here seem to be holding their value and rarely seeing substantial discounts.

Well I bought mighty bowser for around 160 euro brand new this monday. Local eshop have huge shop birthday sales and they are throwing big sets that are selling poorly on huge sales.

Quinjet for 70 euro another interesting sale.

[MAB]

On 4/13/2023 at 6:52 PM, Ondra said:

Seeing all these icons 18+ sets, and I cannot barely see logic in it. They are seemingly throwing everything big into this range and most of them are on huge sale few months after.

Its just waste of human resources, it takes time to design it and then its mostly instantly rejected and put into sale and after year and half they end set life.

Only positive side it has, that Im buying more of these big sets on clearance because its steal after all. I never buying it in first months.

Here you can typically get 20% off most 18+ sets by waiting for another store to stock it and discount it. But then that is the same for kid sets too. And not so different to buying at full price from LEGO with VIP points.

If your analysis is correct and they all need huge discounts before they sell, then LEGO will stop doing them. Whereas if they don't stop doing them, then your analysis is likely incorrect.

[Quandale Dingle]

We need some more City restaraunt and stores.

[Alexandrina]

On 4/13/2023 at 11:36 PM, Lyichir said:

the Barcelona football stadium

I never got why Lego would make football stadiums in the first place. They're big models, most football stadiums look ugly, and the thing with football is that if you're into it enough to drop that amount of money on a stadium set, you're either a fan of the team or you don't like them at all. I'd have thought most big football fans wouldn't be interested in more than their own club's stadium, and the sets struck me as too expensive to be good as parts packs for people who don't care at all about football.

[MAB]

9 hours ago, Alexandrina said:

I never got why Lego would make football stadiums in the first place. They're big models, most football stadiums look ugly, and the thing with football is that if you're into it enough to drop that amount of money on a stadium set, you're either a fan of the team or you don't like them at all. I'd have thought most big football fans wouldn't be interested in more than their own club's stadium, and the sets struck me as too expensive to be good as parts packs for people who don't care at all about football.

That's why they have chosen clubs that have a huge international following. Ask a random person somewhere in the world outside of the USA to name a football club (or a soccer club if in the USA) and it wouldn't surprise me if the most popular choices align with what LEGO have produced. They are missing Liverpool and possibly Juventus, PSG and maybe now Manchester City. It wouldn't surprise me if many of the stadium sets didn't sell to fans that attend matches, but to followers of the club that have never been.

[Alexandrina]

4 hours ago, MAB said:

That's why they have chosen clubs that have a huge international following. Ask a random person somewhere in the world outside of the USA to name a football club (or a soccer club if in the USA) and it wouldn't surprise me if the most popular choices align with what LEGO have produced. They are missing Liverpool and possibly Juventus, PSG and maybe now Manchester City. It wouldn't surprise me if many of the stadium sets didn't sell to fans that attend matches, but to followers of the club that have never been.

Oh, I get that, but even then, it's got a limited audience. Disregarding people who have no interest whatsoever in football, for any given team the amount of fans is going to be dwarfed by the amount of people who would never ever buy merchandise of that club. I support Chelsea, and would buy a Stamford Bridge set because I'm a hypocrite, but there is no chance in hell I'd ever touch Manchester United or Barcelona because I actively despise those teams. In the same vein, fans of those clubs would never buy a Stamford Bridge set.

[The Island Chronicles]

Another unpopular opinion that I know will face opposition, but I don't care!  Friends is better for town builders who want to utilize the simplified building technique than City is. While City did come out with some good buildings in 2022, thus that being my favorite 2020s City wave, some of the Friends version's of those buildings (i.e. the school) just looked better. 

 

[MAB]

3 hours ago, Alexandrina said:

Oh, I get that, but even then, it's got a limited audience. Disregarding people who have no interest whatsoever in football, for any given team the amount of fans is going to be dwarfed by the amount of people who would never ever buy merchandise of that club. I support Chelsea, and would buy a Stamford Bridge set because I'm a hypocrite, but there is no chance in hell I'd ever touch Manchester United or Barcelona because I actively despise those teams. In the same vein, fans of those clubs would never buy a Stamford Bridge set.

How many people buy the Eiffel Tower, Titanic, Coloseum, or Queer Eye, or the botanic collection, or Marvel or Star Wars or any theme. Everything is niche in that more people won't buy something than will buy it. So long as enough buy it, it is fine.

[Peppermint_M]

Those Football teams have global appeal, fans the world over would buy their stadium.

I remember old reports about places in China dedicated to Manchester United. Villages in Africa where the fans would update their David Beckham figure according to his latest hair-do... 

Which is why I might have to build my own Highbury or Emirates. 

 

[Alexandrina]

5 hours ago, MAB said:

Everything is niche in that more people won't buy something than will buy it. So long as enough buy it, it is fine.

The difference imo is that football stadiums are a niche within a niche. For most things, you've got fans of the IP and people who aren't fans of the IP. For instance, there's people who like Star Wars sets and people who don't.

The thing is, football stadiums are the theme, not the specific stadium. Within that niche, it's the minority who support that team. Imagine if people rooted for their favourite Star Wars ship and only that ship - a world where if you like the Millennium Falcon you dislike the X-Wing and vice versa, or where the Republic Gunship and the TIE Fighter were bitter rivals whose fanbases were always at loggerheads. Star Wars would struggle to be a profitable license if everybody who collected the sets only ever bought the sets of their favourite ship and nothing else.