Unpopular Opinions about LEGO

[Feuer Zug]

On 4/16/2023 at 10:23 AM, The Brick Boss said:

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. 

 

That's not all that unpopular any more. Many people are beginning to like the buildings coming out with the Friends series, myself included. Most City themed sets are police or fire. Friends expands greatly on the options and build techniques. City is starting to catch up, but they seem like LEGO is testing the waters still.

[MAB]

18 hours ago, Alexandrina said:

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.

I thought the football stadiums were part of the ICONS range, not their own theme. And in that sense very similar to one off narrow interest sets like the Eiffel Tower and the Titanic. The fanbase of the clubs chosen is absolutely huge (as in people that buy merchandise, not actual fans that go to games), they only need to make sales to a tiny fraction of them for the set to be a success. And of course it helps bring in people new to LEGO. If a Barcelona fan buys the stadium, enjoys it and then goes on to buy an Atari 2600 then the set has done well as an advertising piece. If the fan cannot afford the stadium but goes on to buy the brickheadz instead, it has done a job of bringing in a new customer.

[danth]

20 hours ago, Alexandrina said:

The difference imo is that football stadiums are a niche within a niche.

I totally get you. I'm surprised there is an intersection of people who like a particular sports team and are also willing to drop $400 on Lego.

[Ondra]

I always found classic lego figures proportions weird.

I always wanted two seater car as kid and only viable solution back in days was 8 stud wide car, I barely know some jumper tricks as used later in official sets.Because lego figure span around four studs wide when seated.

Also there was always problems with car, there was always need for some tweaks to put figure into car without problems with head bouncing roof when used flat tile as base of car, hood and window.

Figures like Friends one definitely fix many issues I had, but Lego basic figures are so iconic for me. Its vital part of Lego.

 

 

 

[LegendaryArticuno]

AI can design better Lego sets than actual designers.

Edited May 1, 2023 by LegendaryArticuno

[danth]

3 minutes ago, LegendaryArticuno said:

AI can design better Lego sets than actual designers.

Is there an app that does this that I can use?

And I don't mean something that just scans your bricks and tells you what pre-designed sets you can build.

Or something that just does artwork that looks like a Lego set.

I mean something that can actually do full digital builds in something like Stud.io.

[Peppermint_M]

Those AI designs have fatal physics flaws. Or most of them do. There are some glaring issues even in the best of them.

[LegendaryArticuno]

I should've caveat with AI can design better concepts for Lego sets currently, that said, the tech is advancing so rapidly. I wouldn't be surprised if Lego hasn't already partnered with an AI company and are working on importing their entire library parts along with all technical specs into a learning model.

Another "unpopular" opinion, the new Dreamzzz theme will die a very quick death. The designs, concepts, and story are really underbaked and could've used a significant amount of more refining, it's undoubtedly a rushed release. This is also combined with poor pricing, original themes are supposed to cheaper relative to licensed sets, however, Lego decided to frontload all the R&D and marketing costs onto the first wave rather than spread it out over the lifetime of the product line.

Dreamzzz will be a guaranteed failure with a short lifetime. I wouldn't be surprised if it dies faster than Hiddenside.

[Feuer Zug]

1 hour ago, LegendaryArticuno said:

Another "unpopular" opinion, the new Dreamzzz theme will die a very quick death. The designs, concepts, and story are really underbaked and could've used a significant amount of more refining, it's undoubtedly a rushed release. This is also combined with poor pricing, original themes are supposed to cheaper relative to licensed sets, however, Lego decided to frontload all the R&D and marketing costs onto the first wave rather than spread it out over the lifetime of the product line.

Dreamzzz will be a guaranteed failure with a short lifetime. I wouldn't be surprised if it dies faster than Hiddenside.

I see some gems in Dreamzzz, but they're putting too much out at once. It feels like everything is already on the table. I know it's to entice the kids as they see the sets in the YouTube show, but what's left for the second wave? At least they're not using an app like Hidden Side. It might have a real third wave.

[MAB]

1 hour ago, Feuer Zug said:

I see some gems in Dreamzzz, but they're putting too much out at once. It feels like everything is already on the table. I know it's to entice the kids as they see the sets in the YouTube show, but what's left for the second wave? At least they're not using an app like Hidden Side. It might have a real third wave.

What's left? Given how whacky these designs are, I imagine plenty is left for the next wave. They seem to be being accepted quite well by AFOLs on various sites too, so let's see how well they sell. Hopefully well, if only to shut up the nay-sayers that insist that anything not aimed at them is a travesty and a guaranteed failure as they don't like LEGO doing anything new.

[BrickG]

LEGO is great. But when it comes to digital building (via program or video game) it's pretty bad.

Ever tried to use one of those LEGO building programs? Freakin' 10x more complex than mastering Photoshop. You need to take three classes to even know what the pieces are called. In real life you can use your eyes. In the programs I spend most of my time struggling with not knowing how to find the piece because I don't know it's name :).

 

LEGO's strength is that it's physical. It will never be as good of a builder in a... video game or simplicity's sense as, say Minecraft.  At least when it comes to the digital front.

LEGO building apps and video games just aren't intuitive enough, and that's because they can't be. LEGO has like 100000 different pieces, doesn't conform to a grid necessarily, blablabla...

 

It's kind of odd to me how some of the video games that were meant for small children had modes where you could build ridiculous stuff with a ridiculous amount of pieces in ridiculously complex ways. I think it's just been too much for the vast majority of people, let alone kids!

 

 

 

LEGO is great. But in a similar sense the complexity and sheer amount of elements and colours... makes organisation a pain. That's why one of the biggest and most used forum threads here is about the organisation and storage of LEGO. Honestly, it's almost a full-time job to organise the stuff. I haven't had time in over a decade! Most of my collection is in piles that would take me a few weeks to properly organise!

Edited May 2, 2023 by BrickG

[Alexandrina]

5 hours ago, BrickG said:

Most of my collection is in piles that would take me a few weeks to properly organise!

Honestly if you're starting from scratch and you have any sizable Lego collection it's a far bigger job than a few weeks! I'm about three years in to a sort, with a smaller collection than a lot of people here (130k pieces, of which about 25k are still in sealed sets) and I still don't have the end in sight!

[MAB]

14 hours ago, BrickG said:

LEGO is great. But when it comes to digital building (via program or video game) it's pretty bad.

Ever tried to use one of those LEGO building programs? Freakin' 10x more complex than mastering Photoshop. You need to take three classes to even know what the pieces are called. In real life you can use your eyes. In the programs I spend most of my time struggling with not knowing how to find the piece because I don't know it's name :).

 

 

Have you tried Bricklink's stud.io ? I find digital building boring (I use a computer all day, so like a break for hobby time) but I found stud.io quite easy to use when i needed to create a file to share. I never read any manuals. I did watch one youtube video for a couple of minutes, but I cannot remember what feature that was for. I have used BL for ages, so part names and colours are not an issue for me.

[MaximillianRebo]

21 hours ago, BrickG said:

LEGO is great. But when it comes to digital building (via program or video game) it's pretty bad.

Ever tried to use one of those LEGO building programs? Freakin' 10x more complex than mastering Photoshop. You need to take three classes to even know what the pieces are called. In real life you can use your eyes. In the programs I spend most of my time struggling with not knowing how to find the piece because I don't know it's name :).

Like any software there's a learning curve. The search bar comes in handy a lot. I find myself typing terms like 'clip', 'bar', 'wedge', 'grille' a lot as it's much faster than trying to find the right piece in the 'Shapes' menu. One common piece that was tricky to locate at first was the 2x2 modified tile - the one with two studs on it that's regularly used in seats - is it a plate with less studs or a tile with more studs? One of the strengths of set design - Nice Part Usage (tm) - definitely makes digital design tricky as the point of NPU is using pieces for other than their intended design e.g. I found a MOC with a nice engine intake and was completely stumped where that piece might be found in stud.io until the designer pointed out that it's a wheel piece ... Like a lot of things Lego design and pieces are their own language, and like all languages it's one where new words are constantly being added.

[Kit Figsto]

On 5/2/2023 at 10:26 AM, MAB said:

What's left? Given how whacky these designs are, I imagine plenty is left for the next wave. They seem to be being accepted quite well by AFOLs on various sites too, so let's see how well they sell. Hopefully well, if only to shut up the nay-sayers that insist that anything not aimed at them is a travesty and a guaranteed failure as they don't like LEGO doing anything new.

Yeah, unlike properties based around licensed themes, in-house stuff isn't restricted at all by what's on screen.  I would assume in this case the sets come before the show, or at least are designed in collaboration with those developing/writing the show, so they can pretty much just make whatever they want and incorporate it into the show.  It seems like, based on the trailer, they've covered all of the main characters and a lot of the major vehicles/locations so far, which makes sense, because it would be odd for an in-house theme to be missing some major characters from the show.

Sidenote, I also quite like a lot of the builds, and I was smiling the whole way through the trailer.  It seems like it has fun potential, and I hope it's a hit with kids and AFOLs.

[Johnny1360]

21 hours ago, Alexandrina said:

Honestly if you're starting from scratch and you have any sizable Lego collection it's a far bigger job than a few weeks! I'm about three years in to a sort, with a smaller collection than a lot of people here (130k pieces, of which about 25k are still in sealed sets) and I still don't have the end in sight!

Oh man, how depressing, lol, I have about the same size collection, in dire need of sorting and storage, will be moving this summer. I guess I better get cracking.

My problem is whenever I start sorting, within ten or fifteen minutes I start experimenting with different parts, then next thing I know I am moccing and digging out already stored bricks, lol.

Edited May 3, 2023 by Johnny1360

[Alexandrina]

3 hours ago, Johnny1360 said:

My problem is whenever I start sorting, within ten or fifteen minutes I start experimenting with different parts, then next thing I know I am moccing and digging out already stored bricks, lol.

Oh, I was TERRIBLE for that! Part of the reason it's taken me so long (that and a little thing called buying more Lego ) but recently I've just been powering through. On a good day I can get 1500-2000 pieces sorted into the right containers, so over time the pile is getting less terrifying.

[Ondra]

Lego makes me angry with upscaled minifigures, because Pirate Captain is Lego House exclusive and this basic bland figure is widely avaliable.
This exclusivity is wrong on so many levels, because scalpers will only win and everybody loose. Just look at bricklink, sellers location and prices...

I think its unpopular, because I think people seek more minifigures set. But I found lego set version of everyday appliances like TVs or consoles really apealling to me, albeit these set doesnt make price wise so much sense, because some of these appliances can be bough cheaper as real thing second hand. These sets are something like out of legoland or old tv commercial, where most thing were lego build.


And last one, hidden side fail because people are stupid. These sets are good to be played alone without mobile, but based what I read people sees them like useless without mobile. Seriously its lego not QR code... Dreamzzz looks a lot like hidden side, so lets hope they fix this mistake with mobile app and made my point true.
 

 

[MAB]

1 hour ago, Ondra said:

Lego makes me angry with upscaled minifigures, because Pirate Captain is Lego House exclusive and this basic bland figure is widely avaliable.
This exclusivity is wrong on so many levels, because scalpers will only win and everybody loose. Just look at bricklink, sellers location and prices...

I think it is much better that the "basic and bland" figure as you call it is widely available and the pirate one is the Lego House exclusive than having it the other way around. The basic one with a normal face and regular arms and legs can be adapted into many other figures as required by the customer whereas the pirate one will always look like a pirate (especially the face). I don't really mind that the Lego House as a Lego owned attraction gets an exclusive (and more niche) set either.

 

1 hour ago, Ondra said:

And last one, hidden side fail because people are stupid. These sets are good to be played alone without mobile, but based what I read people sees them like useless without mobile. Seriously its lego not QR code...

Rather than people being stupid, I'd say it was the marketing of it that was stupid. Every time I saw it advertised, it was with a phone/tablet and the app. The box art was not really very clear either, unlike other LEGO sets.

[Ondra]

59 minutes ago, MAB said:

I think it is much better that the "basic and bland" figure as you call it is widely available and the pirate one is the Lego House exclusive than having it the other way around. The basic one with a normal face and regular arms and legs can be adapted into many other figures as required by the customer whereas the pirate one will always look like a pirate (especially the face). I don't really mind that the Lego House as a Lego owned attraction gets an exclusive (and more niche) set either.

 

Rather than people being stupid, I'd say it was the marketing of it that was stupid. Every time I saw it advertised, it was with a phone/tablet and the app. The box art was not really very clear either, unlike other LEGO sets.

Some online shops here have amazing amount of Hidden Side sets still readily available. And these sets are really nice still in sale and for old lego prices.

This is kinda weird on so many levels, because all ghost lego theme were always sold .

 

[MAB]

2 hours ago, Ondra said:

Some online shops here have amazing amount of Hidden Side sets still readily available. And these sets are really nice still in sale and for old lego prices.

This is kinda weird on so many levels, because all ghost lego theme were always sold .

 

Yes, some places have Hidden Side still available. I think that it is LEGO's fault for the way it was marketed rather than because people are stupid.

[Alexandrina]

7 hours ago, MAB said:

Yes, some places have Hidden Side still available. I think that it is LEGO's fault for the way it was marketed rather than because people are stupid.

Not to mention, it's not universal that Hidden Side is warming the shelves. There's a shop near me that marks up its Lego so it always has stuff after retirement, but hasn't had any Hidden Side for years despite still having Nexo Knights, Lego Movie 2 and Star Wars sets from when The Last Jedi first came out.

[TeriXeri]

10 hours ago, Ondra said:

Some online shops here have amazing amount of Hidden Side sets still readily available. And these sets are really nice still in sale and for old lego prices.

This is kinda weird on so many levels, because all ghost lego theme were always sold .

 

Still, the last wave of sets definately had low spread production, especially for the Mystery Castle set, exception seems to be the Fire truck, that probably just sells poorly so it's still around.

A whole bunch of the LEGO Movie 2 sets are also still available online with discounts, even some from wave 1, but just like the Mystery Castle set, a set like Sparkle Babies from the final wave seemed to have low production compared to the rest.

 

Edited May 5, 2023 by TeriXeri

[Ondra]

Lego tv series, doesnt feel like based on lego because its cheap CGI.

Lego at least needs to use "lego movie" cgi, which feels like made from true lego.

I think its not problem anymore in these days.

[Alexandrina]

On 5/6/2023 at 4:07 AM, Ondra said:

Lego at least needs to use "lego movie" cgi, which feels like made from true lego.

The problem with that is that The Lego Movie had Hollywood budget and was a labour of love specifically designed to recreate the feel of stop-motion animation. On the budget a TV series is working with, the best way to get that feel would be to actually do stop-motion animation, which itself comes with the problem that any new sets and figures would need to be in production (at least one example made) so that they could be used.