6 hours ago, Big_Daddy said:

Just out of curiousity, does BlueBrixx have good quality pieces? I'm looking into Lego trains again after saying my Dark Ages goodbye, but with Star Wars as my main focus that is a bit difficult money-wise (I'm REALLY sorry about missing the Emerald Night!).

Depends.

They have different Chinese suppliers and sometimes switch those around internally so one batch of a certain part can be really great and the next batch of the same part just average or more rarely below that. The same goes for most of the parts used in their own sets.

So quality is unfortunately a mixed bag but the price per part ratio is still incredible good.

Edited August 13, 20222 yr by dtomsen

Quality is going up and down with the batches, quite some designs fall apart when used as rolling stock. Also most  of the stuff is available only now and then. Buildings and trains nearly always are missing a proper interior or are even missing the groundfloor plate. Also not tested for proper running on tracks. There is simply so much you need to consider that apart from the price few things speak for them.

I might add that the 8w-stuff so far suffers from incredibly bad wheels with insane friction due to wrong axles and wheels inside the assembly, swapping them for Lego ones or ball bearings is highly recommended but of course increases the cost by a lot. 

 

But let's head back to topic and genuine Lego!

Thanks for getting me up to date guys   Excuse me for diverting your attention from the one and only building block brand. I hope they will release a worthwhile train set soon. At least I've developed a taste for steam engines so 40370 might be a nice place for me to start.

4 hours ago, Big_Daddy said:

Thanks for getting me up to date guys   Excuse me for diverting your attention from the one and only building block brand. I hope they will release a worthwhile train set soon. At least I've developed a taste for steam engines so 40370 might be a nice place for me to start.

I've send you a PM. 

Even if the new Hogwarts Express doesn’t fit on L-Gauge track, I think the one thing we can say is that XXL wheels now exist and I’m wondering whether they were produced solely for this set, or with future purpose elsewhere.

Does comparison pictures of the new h.e to any other lego train exist yet? Realy interested in how ludicrous this would look next to emerald night ect..

1 hour ago, Djmojo said:

Does comparison pictures of the new h.e to any other lego train exist yet? Realy interested in how ludicrous this would look next to emerald night ect..

From brickset: 

3 hours ago, Phil B said:

From brickset: 

Something in between would have been great :-(

I wanna see somebody reskin the Hogwarts Express loco into GWR-accurate dark green instead of red, if it's even possible. Heck, BR black with red trim might be interesting too.

Edited August 26, 20222 yr by Murdoch17

@Murdoch17 I might attempt that once the instructions & parts' list becomes available.

Should we start a separate thread to see which liveries would be cheaper to build via BL and bricks&pieces? It would be mildly hilarious to me if rebuilding this set in dark red with 2~3 extra coaches comes out to around the same price point...

On 8/25/2022 at 9:14 PM, Phil B said:

From brickset: 

Thankyou! I dont get the scale, i wont even buy it to display as it will make last years display train ( the croc), emerald night and many others look goofy in scale. i get the bigger scale for the carriage displays, but not this big

The best thing to me about this set: Trans clear windows for train doors are back

Seeing the two next two each other made me realise how little detail the 'big' engine has. 

Not trying to derail the discussion on Hogwarts Express, but a certain train project has finally made 10,000 votes on ideas. Thomas the Tank engine by @KaijuBuildz has made it this far and I'm really trying to hold out hope for the "Review Stage" minefield to come. No train has yet passed through it.. will Thomas succeed where so many before him have failed? I sincerely hope so: after all, little engines can do big things!

I also invite everyone to check out his Flickr for the other engine's he's designed, such as Toby, Percy, Lady and Diesel 10!

Edited August 28, 20222 yr by Murdoch17

22 minutes ago, Murdoch17 said:

Not trying to derail the discussion on Hogwarts Express, but a certain train project has finally made 10,000 votes on ideas. Thomas the Tank engine by @KaijuBuildz has made it this far and I'm really trying to hold out hope for the "Review Stage" minefield to come. No train has yet passed through it.. will Thomas succeed where so many before him have failed? I sincerely hope so: after all, little engines can do big things!

I also invite everyone to check out his Flickr for the other engine's he's designed, such as Toby, Percy, Lady and Diesel 10!

Incredibly well-made project, but the fact that Mattel currently owns the Thomas the Tank Engine franchise might be a significant licensing barrier. And I don't think Mega currently has any sort of equivalent train system if they wanted to release a set like that themselves.

Again, though, as a MOC it's great, as are the other trains on their Flickr!

Edited August 28, 20222 yr by Lyichir

20 minutes ago, Murdoch17 said:

Not trying to derail the discussion on Hogwarts Express, but a certain train project has finally made 10,000 votes on ideas. Thomas the Tank engine by @KaijuBuildz has made it this far and I'm really trying to hold out hope for the "Review Stage" minefield to come. No train has yet passed through it.. will Thomas succeed where so many before him have failed? I sincerely hope so: after all, little engines can do big things!

I also invite everyone to check out his Flickr for the other engine's he's designed, such as Toby, Percy, Lady and Diesel 10!

TLG got a license on it but didn't go far from a few Duplo models :\
And yes sad thing about trains on ideas. They have got a category but always have no go all any kind of approval and etc.

1 hour ago, Lyichir said:

Incredibly well-made project, but the fact that Mattel currently owns the Thomas the Tank Engine franchise might be a significant licensing barrier. And I don't think Mega currently has any sort of equivalent train system if they wanted to release a set like that themselves.

Again, though, as a MOC it's great, as are the other trains on their Flickr!

Don't forget about Harbro / Tomy have a partnership with LEGO over Transformers, and Mattel wouldn't want to be left out in the cold with a similar deal. But who knows? All past bets could be off on this one...

1 hour ago, Darkkostas25 said:

TLG got a license on it but didn't go far from a few Duplo models :\
And yes sad thing about trains on ideas. They have got a category but always have no go all any kind of approval and etc.

As someone who bought a Duplo engine at age 12 because it was a steamer and Lego hadn't released a proper one yet, I agree it was a missed opportunity. But maybe the contract said "only duplo"? Only LEGO would know that answer, and they aren't talking.

Edited August 28, 20222 yr by Murdoch17

I hope Thomas will make it! Big part of my childhood, this man!

19 hours ago, Murdoch17 said:

Don't forget about Harbro / Tomy have a partnership with LEGO over Transformers, and Mattel wouldn't want to be left out in the cold with a similar deal. But who knows? All past bets could be off on this one...

As someone who bought a Duplo engine at age 12 because it was a steamer and Lego hadn't released a proper one yet, I agree it was a missed opportunity. But maybe the contract said "only duplo"? Only LEGO would know that answer, and they aren't talking.

I think that might be optimistic. Unlike Mattel, Hasbro doesn't really have a successful building toy system of their own currently. And I can't help but think that particular factors helped allow for the Transformers partnership, including the Lego designer behind the set having formerly been a Transformers designer for Hasbro. But we'll see. I would certainly be interested in getting a set like this if it is successful in review!

As for why the previous Thomas toys were Duplo-only, in the U.S. at least Thomas and Friends is very much a "preschool" brand, especially as far as toys are concerned. That's not to say that a System-based project like this couldn't be successful as a more sophisticated display piece for nostalgic adults (like the Sesame Street project before it). But back in 2005-2009, when Lego previously had the license for Thomas, they were much less confident in the adult market for Lego and lacked resources like Lego Ideas which could help to predict that sort of niche demand. A lot has changed in the decade and a half since then!

Edited August 29, 20222 yr by Lyichir

I wouldn't hold my breath.  Mega Bloks has Thomas and Friends toys these days, it would be remarkable to see a Lego Thomas set concurrently with a Mega Bloks one.

It’d be a real kick in the pants if TLG struck a deal for TTTE, but then could only make sets based on the current iteration of Thomas & Co…

1 hour ago, M_slug357 said:

It’d be a real kick in the pants if TLG struck a deal for TTTE, but then could only make sets based on the current iteration of Thomas & Co…

Damn...

That just killed my mood. 

Also Thomas had blue wheels! It's great to have black and red wheels, but imagine blue green brown etc!

14 hours ago, Polarlicht said:

Also Thomas had blue wheels! It's great to have black and red wheels, but imagine blue green brown etc!

and more sizes and colours *_* and proper half beams/parts of Teknik to use as piston rods