28 minutes ago, icm said:

I think that's the status quo, don't you?

Yes.  And even that makes LEGO Star Wars too stale for me.  Hence why I want TLG to push it out even further.

On 1/7/2020 at 12:44 PM, MAB said:

But yes, if LEGO do another in-house space theme there will be loads of complaints that LEGO did it wrong and that what they should have done is re-do all the old classic space sets and that they have wasted a slot on pandering to modern kids' views of space and not a 1980s view of space. They have done it before - look at AC and GS

I can sure see that - but that would not impact on "what I like". I like in-house because in inherits the freedom of building. For me, this is the core of LEGO. Replications or renditions are fine with me as well - but these are not the core of the idea of LEGO, which was always advertised as "being creative".

I do also fully agree with your judgement - but I had the impression this was not the question (It reminds me on: Should we apply for this grant when so many others do as well? Yes sure we should, because we love the idea ... that was my answer).

And lastly: SW models are surely pieces of the art of building with LEGO. I have them as well. Improving in detail through time, as more elements become available. And as they were designed at the time they came out. But with in-house, I always go nuts. I have the feeling that they call for ... changing them ...

All the best
Thorsten 

   

1 hour ago, Toastie said:

I can sure see that - but that would not impact on "what I like". I like in-house because in inherits the freedom of building. For me, this is the core of LEGO. Replications or renditions are fine with me as well - but these are not the core of the idea of LEGO, which was always advertised as "being creative".

That's how I feel as well, Star Wars will never feel truly original LEGO for me.

LEGO used to advertise with "Just Imagine" , and with their 60th anniversary sets they had the slogan Building Bigger Thinking with all sorts of questions on the box.

Also their recent Rebuild the World campaign seemed to promote free creativity with flying boats and such , I love that simple imagination.

 

 

Maybe if Star Wars kept their yellow figs I might have a different view, same goes for other licensed themes , probably because my 15 year of being away from LEGO.

Generally with Licensed themes, the fleshie figures and the usually increased cost doesn't help for me, they don't feel part of the rest.

Strictly talking about Sets here, not freedom of LEGO Star Wars parts that come with those sets.

Edited January 8, 20205 yr by TeriXeri

I am too old, I like them both (just some thoughts on this)

From many posts one can read how the 'first contact' (sorry to insert another franchise inhere) often determines what people like. Those who came of Lego-age when Classic Space was the main thing, love that because there was no Star Wars back then. And those who started out with Star Wars sets love that equally passionate. I myself am from the age when wheels were new...

When Classic Space appeared in the shops (and StarWars was a hit-movie thing without Lego representation), I was in my dark ages, but not so dark I would not stand in front of a toy store with a huge Classic Space display one evening, trying to figure out what to think of this new Lego Space stuff. I was not too impressed back then. It felt a bit like a missed opportunity to me.

Why these strange Space ships that did not look like anything I knew? They could have picked Nasa, kept everything white and used the Space Shuttle (the triangle wings seemed to hint at that) or the familiar rockets for their designs. Or, on the other hand, they could have gone the Star Wars way, with black and grey designs and shapes from those movies. This was neither.

However, I also realised that, as a kid, I would have loved the minifigs and the possibilities these new Space sets offered. Had I been 8 or 10 and seen the movie Star Wars at that time, I am pretty sure I would had wanted the Classic Space sets, if only to try and rebuild them into Star Wars like stuff. I remember even 20 year old me trying to imagine a Lego X fighter with those grey plates, the (for me than) new hinges and the trans yellow cockpits. It would have worked for me as a kid!

Looking back, I think this was the real power of Classic Space. Unlike Star Wars sets, the Classic Space sets encouraged alternative builds. The ships allowed for different builds, the rovers could easily be changed (which is why there is still a FebRovery going strong) and the bases had room for other stuff. Star Wars were 'build them yourself' toys, they invited for play, not for alternate builds.

Edited January 13, 20205 yr by jan kusters
minor errors

24 minutes ago, jan kusters said:

From many posts one can read how the 'first contact' (sorry to insert another franchise inhere) often determines what people like. Those who came of Lego-age when Classic Space was the main thing, love that because there was no Star Wars back then. And those who started out with Star Wars sets love that equally passionate. I myself am from the age when wheels were new...

Might be true for me, I did grow up with some Classic Space from my family, mainly the Galaxy Explorer set and it's baseplates/parts, and later had some smaller in-house space sets from themes like Blacktron2/M-Tron/Ice Planet/UFO/Insectoids.

My LEGO Dark Age started just after LEGO Star Wars launched around 2001.

I did have 1 SW set back then, the 1999 Landspeeder, but it still had yellow figures so just saw it as another theme, and back then there were still alternate build suggestions, even on Star Wars boxes.

And I did see the prequel movies in Cinema when they were launched, it just never got me back to LEGO SW of said movies.

When I came back to LEGO in 2016 I had zero interest in Star Wars at all, never seen the newer movies beside trailers/fragments. And the Flesh-toned figures don't interest me as much either.

That said, themes like Alien Conquest , Galaxy Squad, Space Police 3, and the 2 Mars theme also have 0 nostalgia because of that 15-year no-LEGO period. I can surely appreciate the sets/designs on some of them, they just don't feel the same as the themes that I saw all the time in the catalogs in the late 80s and 90s.

I loved Ice Planet back then, I didn't have many sets, but still might be part of the reason I got back into LEGO via Nexo Knights with the connection of Blue + Neon-Orange. 

Edited January 10, 20205 yr by TeriXeri

On 1/7/2020 at 9:36 AM, pombe said:

I understand the logic behind your question, but implementing it comes with costs.

It reduces the breath and diversity of the line, if they must produce a variation of the same iconic ship every year.  It discourages double dipping into the same line, since the kid will likely only want one Millenium Falcon which will always occupy a slot in the annual wave (with an x-wing and a TIE of some sort along with an AT-ST and maybe Slave I) and over time the line is more likely to run out of sets s/he wants.  It also prevents LEGO from putting out sets that may attract AFOL collectors, such as one of the other 18 pod racers from Episode I that hasn't been produced, the Outrider, or a Mon Calamari cruiser.  Overall it contributes to the staleness of the line and fatigue for LEGO Star Wars.

I get it, though.  It's the same reason why citizens of City have to pay exorbitant taxes to fund all the new police and fire stations they get every year (even the modulars and the winter village have fire stations!).  But it comes at the cost of having a postal center, a recycling center, or schools.

A compromise could be having the iconic sets every other year (or every three years), so that the rest of the line can be more diverse and the kids don't have to wait so long to see the set they want that they are missing.

The line can already be more diverse...they release 50+ sets per year for the past few years, so having an X-Wing & MF always on the shelf shouldn’t deter new things being made.

This is where being a toy company comes into play. Other than us AFOL’s, would kids really buy all 18 other podracers? I’d love to see that personally & would very likely try to get them all. Unfortunately for us, much like City, LEGO would rather sell sets that are sure to sell rather than ones that may. 

I personally like the Classic Space better, though I don't yet have any of the original sets. I would probably have more Star Wars sets if there was a lower price point, which of course won't happen.

22 hours ago, Vindicare said:

This is where being a toy company comes into play. Other than us AFOL’s, would kids really buy all 18 other podracers? I’d love to see that personally & would very likely try to get them all. Unfortunately for us, much like City, LEGO would rather sell sets that are sure to sell rather than ones that may. 

Another idea to sort of compromise between AFOLs and younger builders would be to include less seen vehicles and places in sets with more popular ones. One such instance is including one or two podracers that haven't been released before with each new version of Anakin's Podracer. I like some of the realism of certain Star Wars sets, but also the versatility of the classic sets.

1 hour ago, BlackFalconSpace said:

I personally like the Classic Space better, though I don't yet have any of the original sets. I would probably have more Star Wars sets if there was a lower price point, which of course won't happen.

Another idea to sort of compromise between AFOLs and younger builders would be to include less seen vehicles and places in sets with more popular ones. One such instance is including one or two podracers that haven't been released before with each new version of Anakin's Podracer. I like some of the realism of certain Star Wars sets, but also the versatility of the classic sets.

That is what makes me miss out on a lot of SW too, price. There’s so much other great stuff that I want to get, sets get forgotten. 

That’s a good idea. To give a bit more variety, they could one with Sebulbas. It’s probably nearly as popular & equally as well known as Ani’s. Or, price wise which would be in usual LEGO fashion, they could do add two other podracers with the each of the well known ones. 

On 1/7/2020 at 5:36 PM, pombe said:

I understand the logic behind your question, but implementing it comes with costs.

It reduces the breath and diversity of the line, if they must produce a variation of the same iconic ship every year. ..

Not having popular ships on the shelves also has costs too. If a kid wants a MF or X-wing and none are on the shelves, they might well just turn to a manufacturer that does make MF or X-wing toys and forgets about buying into LEGO SW as they don't make the popular items (at the time the kid wants them).

 

The line is what is on the shelves at any particular time. LEGO cares about sales now, not sales of what was on the shelves 2-3 years ago. Having two different X-wings at the same scale reduces the diversity of the line. Always having one doesn't.

During the last Trilogy (movie 7,8,9) they did make a lot more x-wings  of a similar scale, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 4+, 2020, most of those did have very different colors as well.

Compare that to the mid 2000s there was a big gap between 2006 and 2012 with no x-wing.

Now the question is, will they make 1-2 yearly X-wings for 2021-2030? maybe, maybe not. 

For me, with the latest one being priced at €99,99 here, that's more of an issue then the ship itself.

Edited January 14, 20205 yr by TeriXeri

1 hour ago, TeriXeri said:

During the last Trilogy (movie 7,8,9) they did make a lot more x-wings  of a similar scale, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 4+, 2020, most of those did have very different colors as well.

Compare that to the mid 2000s there was a big gap between 2006 and 2012 with no x-wing.

 

Yes, although if you look at the system scale ones ...

2020 Poe's orange / white, RoS.

( 2019 chibi Ep 4, not really comparable)

( 2019 one off Christmas employee gift (not retail) )

2018 Ep 4

2016 blue / grey, TFA

2015 Poe's orange/black, TFA

2012 Ep 4

 

The Ep 4 X-wing has a 6 year gap in modern times too. Of course, this gap was filled with other X-wings, to tie into the then current movies. Bad for anyone wanting an original trilogy colour scheme but having both the original and current on the shelves at the same time is probably too much.

And of course the SW sets also coexisted with the in-house Galaxy Squad (2013), Alien Conquest (2011), SP3 (2010) in the last decade.

8 hours ago, MAB said:

2020 Poe's orange / white, RoS.

( 2019 chibi Ep 4, not really comparable)

Phew.

OK. I do get the "Ep" bit: That is the acronym for "episode", right?

Now, "RoS" ... Wikipedia says:

Organizations

• Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale, the Anti-organized Crime Branch of the Italian Carabinieri
• Reparti i Operacioneve Speciale, a former Albanian special forces unit
• IL ROS, Norwegian football team

which does not help that much.

But why "chibi" in Episode 4 is not really comparable (with what?) leaves me in the middle of nowhere.

I do admit that I am not a hardcore SW fan, but I do have 7 "Ep" DVDs and clearly declared the missing DVDs as birthday present.

This is meant to be funny ...

All the best
Thorsten   

 

6 hours ago, Toastie said:

Phew.

OK. I do get the "Ep" bit: That is the acronym for "episode", right?

Now, "RoS" ... Wikipedia says:

Organizations

• Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale, the Anti-organized Crime Branch of the Italian Carabinieri
• Reparti i Operacioneve Speciale, a former Albanian special forces unit
• IL ROS, Norwegian football team

which does not help that much.

But why "chibi" in Episode 4 is not really comparable (with what?) leaves me in the middle of nowhere.

I do admit that I am not a hardcore SW fan, but I do have 7 "Ep" DVDs and clearly declared the missing DVDs as birthday present.

This is meant to be funny ...

All the best
Thorsten   

 

Allow me to interpret.  Chibi, I believe, is referring to the 4+ X-Wing. RoS is Rise of Skywalker. 

17 hours ago, Vindicare said:

Allow me to interpret.  Chibi, I believe, is referring to the 4+ X-Wing. RoS is Rise of Skywalker. 

Ahh - I really appreciate that - thank you very much!

Best wishes
Thorsten