Unpopular Opinions about LEGO

[Johnny1360]

19 hours ago, Karalora said:

I hate it as much as anyone, but the unfortunate fact is that children's narrative imaginations have come to be dominated by the characters they see in movies and TV shows. Nowadays when kids play "let's pretend," they almost always pretend to be the characters from their favorite movies and shows, rather than unique characters that they make up. Toys that feature recognizable named characters and familiar scenarios are going to attract more attention and interest than toys that just present a basic unformed idea.

Hmmm, this got me thinking, being over 60, my earliest memories as a child, pre-school age, I would pretend to be Superman and later even Batman, so not sure about this narrative. Unless of course you are talking about before LEGO even was around.

[Yperio_Bricks]

4 hours ago, Johnny1360 said:

Hmmm, this got me thinking, being over 60, my earliest memories as a child, pre-school age, I would pretend to be Superman and later even Batman, so not sure about this narrative. Unless of course you are talking about before LEGO even was around.

I am sure even before LEGO was around children pretended to be "someone" when playing, be it a general or military hero from the latest war, Napoleon or Achilleus, or the world's strongest man they saw in the circus. That's actually an very interesting topic me thinks.

Edited August 18, 2023 by Yperio_Bricks
typo

[Horation]

10 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

That comparison doesn‘t really work. First off, the various space themes had their own branding, whereas all SW sets are branded under the same banner. Secondly, the SW subthemes all co-exist whereas the Space subthemes replaced one another with little overlap. Thirdly, remember the vote for the 90th anniversary set, where even TLG themselves considered the Space subthemes to be their own thing?  Sure, they changed it later to appease the outraged Space fans, but their first impulse was still to look at them as separate themes.

Except that it does, each movie had it's own branding as well, and while it's true that none of the themes had direct overlap, things like blacktron 1 and 2 sure were not at all similar  

They didn't change it because of "outraged fans'' who were angry that all of the subthemes were separate, but rather because TLG felt like it would split the space themed votes too much so...

[BrickBob Studpants]

7 minutes ago, Horation said:

They didn't change it because of "outraged fans'' who were angry that all of the subthemes were separate, but rather because TLG felt like it would split the space themed votes too much so...

You think it‘s a coincidence they changed it AFTER people were loudly complaining about the votes being split?

[Horation]

14 minutes ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

You think it‘s a coincidence they changed it AFTER people were loudly complaining about the votes being split?

Nah, that's when they realised they had made a mistake. They did this AFTER having given people the choice to pick the one which they prefer because it was clear there was no favourite and it would leave a popular theme in the dust. Then again they've always kept star wars as one big thing and have never split it for say, the clone wars or something...  

[Yperio_Bricks]

2 minutes ago, Horation said:

Nah, that's when they realised they had made a mistake. They did this AFTER having given people the choice to pick the one which they prefer because it was clear there was no favourite and it would leave a popular theme in the dust. Then again they've always kept star wars as one big thing and have never split it for say, the clone wars or something...  

Star Wars is one big thing. To me a lot of the magic comes from that one galaxy with its hundreds of suns, planets and moons, with thousands of characters and a vast lore where everything is interwoven.

[Black Falcon]

13 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

That comparison doesn‘t really work. First off, the various space themes had their own branding, whereas all SW sets are branded under the same banner. Secondly, the SW subthemes all co-exist whereas the Space subthemes replaced one another with little overlap. Thirdly, remember the vote for the 90th anniversary set, where even TLG themselves considered the Space subthemes to be their own thing?  Sure, they changed it later to appease the outraged Space fans, but their first impulse was still to look at them as separate themes.

Did Space themes really had their own branding? If you look into old catalogues there are themes like Duplo, Fabuland, Town, Train, Castle, Space and Pirates. Nowadays they are sorted into own Themes because poeple like it tidy, but actually Futuron are Classic Space men with updated Design, Blacktron are just another faction (you could say Blacktron were the bad guys and the Futuron Classic Space men were the good ones). And other good example is Space Police 1, where the same Minifigures are used as in Futuron, just using an other visor, so you can see they are policemen. Not to mention, that blacktron minifigures were in jail, 

[Classic_Spaceman]

 

[SpacePolice89]

@Classic_SpacemanThose catalog dioramas are true works of art. I can look at them for hours!

[danth]

19 hours ago, Black Falcon said:

Did Space themes really had their own branding? If you look into old catalogues there are themes like Duplo, Fabuland, Town, Train, Castle, Space and Pirates. Nowadays they are sorted into own Themes because poeple like it tidy, but actually Futuron are Classic Space men with updated Design, Blacktron are just another faction (you could say Blacktron were the bad guys and the Futuron Classic Space men were the good ones). And other good example is Space Police 1, where the same Minifigures are used as in Futuron, just using an other visor, so you can see they are policemen. Not to mention, that blacktron minifigures were in jail, 

Right. It was one theme.

All my Classic Space, Futuron, Blacktron, Space Police 1, and M-tron sets say "Legoland Space System" on the box. So it's very, very official that it was one theme.

After that they got rid of the Legoland banner and the boxes said "System". But in the catalogs all the space sets were shown together, with minifigs from different factions interacting. SP2 would arrest Blacktron 2 minifigs, Spyrius would steal data from Ice Planet, Robo Force would face off against UFO, etc.

[Autumn]

Is this controversial? I really don't care about trans-neon colours being retired, especially trans-neon green. They were good in their prime but these days I think they tend to look gawdy especially when practically every space set in the 90s was adorned in trans-neon green. The non-neon replacements look similar enough without being too overpowering and look a lot better in my opinion.

[Aanchir]

2 hours ago, danth said:

Right. It was one theme.

All my Classic Space, Futuron, Blacktron, Space Police 1, and M-tron sets say "Legoland Space System" on the box. So it's very, very official that it was one theme.

After that they got rid of the Legoland banner and the boxes said "System". But in the catalogs all the space sets were shown together, with minifigs from different factions interacting. SP2 would arrest Blacktron 2 minifigs, Spyrius would steal data from Ice Planet, Robo Force would face off against UFO, etc.

Even after the "LEGOLAND" era ended, "LEGO System" era sets from the 90s were also generally color coded by theme on the top, bottom, and sides! Space boxes were black, Castle boxes were yellow-orange, Pirates boxes were purple, Paradisa boxes were pink, Aquazone boxes were blue-green, Trains boxes were grey, and Western boxes were brown.

With some new themes from the the mid-90s onward, LEGO began to do away with this straightforward approach in favor of backdrops and textures that wrapped around all sides of the box (Time Cruisers and Adventurers boxes are some good examples of this), and by the turn of the century they'd abandoned the old color-coding entirely in favor of more specific wrap-around box art even for new subthemes of Town/Castle/Space (like Space Port, Knights' Kingdom, and Life On Mars).

But throughout much of the decade these color-coded box borders were maintained fairly consistently, at least for the classic evergreen themes. In one of the more surprising examples, Ninja boxes shared the Castle theme's yellow-orange sides, even though ads and catalogs rarely drew any connection between it and the more conventional, European-inspired Castle subthemes that preceded it. Also, the Boats theme (which at the time encompassed all minifig-scale sets with floating boat hulls) shared the Town theme's blue borders in the 90s, even though they had previously been placed outside even the overarching "LEGOLAND" category, much like Trains sets.

[MAB]

On 8/17/2023 at 5:55 PM, Karalora said:

I hate it as much as anyone, but the unfortunate fact is that children's narrative imaginations have come to be dominated by the characters they see in movies and TV shows. Nowadays when kids play "let's pretend," they almost always pretend to be the characters from their favorite movies and shows, rather than unique characters that they make up. Toys that feature recognizable named characters and familiar scenarios are going to attract more attention and interest than toys that just present a basic unformed idea.

I was a kid of the 70s, and it was similar then. Kids playing named characters such as Robin Hood or stereotypical Cowboys and Indians or Cops and Robbers. Making up a story around a character that they understand is much easier than making up a story about a character they know nothing about. Even if someone makes up a story about a generic Spaceman they will be basing it on other stories they have heard.

On 8/18/2023 at 6:11 PM, Yperio_Bricks said:

Star Wars is one big thing. To me a lot of the magic comes from that one galaxy with its hundreds of suns, planets and moons, with thousands of characters and a vast lore where everything is interwoven.

To me, Star Wars is many things, not one. There is the OT, the PT, the ST, the EU, the CW, the various TV series, and probably other things I know nothing about. I'm interested in some bits, but not all.

[Yperio_Bricks]

I don't get all this GWP shenanigans. Is there really somebody out there who thinks they are gifts? In my opinion GWPs should stop.

[Toastie]

4 minutes ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

I don't get all this GWP shenanigans. Is there really somebody out there who thinks they are gifts? In my opinion GWPs should stop.

Uhmm - I never thought they were gifts but the usual "for free" thing, did I get that wrong? The "Get one - get one for free", "25% off if you purchase 2", or "the GWP will make you rich beyond your wildest dreams" (OK, heavily copied from GB, the original, of course).

Thorsten

[Yperio_Bricks]

Just now, Toastie said:

Uhmm - I never thought they were gifts but the usual "for free" thing, did I get that wrong? The "Get one - get one for free", "25% off if you purchase 2", or "the GWP will make you rich beyond your wildest dreams" (OK, heavily copied from GB, the original, of course).

Thorsten

Actually, that is what i was implying. These gifts are not free! We all pay for them.

[Toastie]

7 minutes ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

We all pay for them

Yep.

It appears to be an essential part of the GoG (game of grift )

Best,
Thorsten

 

[The Island Chronicles]

39 minutes ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

Actually, that is what i was implying. These gifts are not free! We all pay for them.

Yeah! I realized that when I used to buy sets that were up there in price. I noticed that whenever they would ring up the gift, there would be added money to the price. So eventually, I would have to insist that I do NOT want the GWP packs. I can't believe they call them "gifts" but yet, you TECHNICALLY still have to pay for them. In my blunt honest opinion, I think they need to just give up already. 

[Yperio_Bricks]

10 minutes ago, The Brick Boss said:

Yeah! I realized that when I used to buy sets that were up there in price. I noticed that whenever they would ring up the gift, there would be added money to the price. So eventually, I would have to insist that I do NOT want the GWP packs. I can't believe they call them "gifts" but yet, you TECHNICALLY still have to pay for them. In my blunt honest opinion, I think they need to just give up already. 

Sorry, my English, but what do you want to say?

[TeriXeri]

2 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

I don't get all this GWP shenanigans. Is there really somebody out there who thinks they are gifts? In my opinion GWPs should stop.

Exactly, but they probably still do drive a fair part of sales. 

GWP / exclusives is the way LEGO.com tries to compete with big online retailers where many of the generic (not exclusive) sets can be found on some discount at pretty much Day 1. (this varies a lot per regions of the world however)

Now, I do not like the concept of GWP at all either, but if it's the only way sets like Forestmen Hideout or Blacktron Cruiser can be on the market it's still better then none at all. 

 

While LEGO also has a few official stores in my country since 2020 , generic physical toy shops are on a big decline, even one of the last dedicated toy store chains that currently gets some LEGO exclusive sets is going to try to sell off to another owner (and already had a restart after a "Bankruptcy" case a few years ago).

Physical stores rent/heating/worker wages cost etc + LEGO selling at higher prices compared to big online retailers that ship directly from their warehouses, just cannot compete in this type of economy. (Western EU)

And then LEGO themselves even had trouble moving some sets, as even now LEGO has a bunch of sets at 20-30% off, and previously even 40% off on some 18+ sets.

Edited August 28, 2023 by TeriXeri

[SpacePolice89]

8 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

I don't get all this GWP shenanigans. Is there really somebody out there who thinks they are gifts? In my opinion GWPs should stop.

I completely agree with you. Although many of the GWP sets are amazing and should be offered as regular sets instead of being GWP.

[BrickBob Studpants]

I’m afraid I don‘t get the argument. GWP sets are for free, or are you implying that we pay for them indirectly via higher prices, meaning regular sets would cost less if GWPs didn‘t exist? Let‘s take Gringotts as an example. It costs $430, and the GWP is worth around $20. I highly doubt they‘re selling Gringotts for $410 in a parallel universe where GWP sets don‘t exist

Or is the argument that you need to spend money, so it‘s not a gift? Well, if you spend the same money elsewhere, you don‘t get anything

So it might technically not be a gift, but a bonus

[MAB]

10 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

I don't get all this GWP shenanigans. Is there really somebody out there who thinks they are gifts? In my opinion GWPs should stop.

They are incentives to place orders at certain times. I don't mind waiting a couple of months to buy a set if there is a decent GWP.

[Yperio_Bricks]

1 hour ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

I’m afraid I don‘t get the argument. GWP sets are for free, or are you implying that we pay for them indirectly via higher prices, meaning regular sets would cost less if GWPs didn‘t exist? Let‘s take Gringotts as an example. It costs $430, and the GWP is worth around $20. I highly doubt they‘re selling Gringotts for $410 in a parallel universe where GWP sets don‘t exist

Or is the argument that you need to spend money, so it‘s not a gift? Well, if you spend the same money elsewhere, you don‘t get anything

So it might technically not be a gift, but a bonus

Of course we pay for GWPs indirectly via higher prices. But it is more like 50 cent per set or less Or do the designers work for free on these gifts? Do the logistics companies work for free when they ship the gifts? I mean, Lego is smart of course, GWPs are just treats for people who need a stimulus to buy a set for its full price insteadof getting it cheaper. Either because they "need" the GWP for their collection or because of the fear of missing out on the GWP.

And if i don't spend the money i still have it

[MAB]

10 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

Actually, that is what i was implying. These gifts are not free! We all pay for them.

No we don't. LEGO customers pay for them. If you don't buy anything from LEGO then you don't pay for them.