LEGO Purism

[the enigma that is badger]

I suppose my "purism" ship sailed years and years ago. I use and/or have samples of custom accessories from pretty much every vendor is and ever was, and I'm more than happy to use accessories from any source that matches the quality and feel of LEGO.

That said, when it comes to sets, I ONLY collect LEGO. I'll pick up the random set of another company here and there to see what the quality is like, but every time, it just shows me that when it comes to bricks, LEGO just can't be beat for quality and consistency.

I have seen minifigs equipped using Best-Lock and other non-Lego (one or two even in promotional pictures on Brickarms!

Aside from the Sluban/Oxford M1 Helmet, NOTHING on the BrickArms website is clone brand. I realize this might seem strange to some, but you'll be hard pressed to find someone who respects and loves the LEGO brand more than Will Chapman, particularly in the quality of their production and product. It's also the reason why you'll never see anything from BrickArms that has a stud; to Will, that's solely LEGO property and all BrickArms exists to do is to compliment a brand Will has loved all his life and give builders the chance to enhance their LEGO building with custom accessories they'd never see from LEGO and never, ever replace it.

I believe you might be thinking of a few of the Megabloks and Stikfas products that are featured on the Brickforge website.

[Peppermint_M]

(apart from that being quoted from a rather long time ago...)

I certainly did see a Sluban/OXFORD beret (a red one) on the front page, with a minifig in tan (it was either the workman's clothes from city, or the jumpsuit that the original A-Wing technician wore in when Star Wars sets still had yellow figures) this was on the front page and the slideshow of different weapons posed with minifigs. It was a while back now (it was months before I even posted that particular post) I couldn't tell you what gun it was carrying, but the head was one from the Dino 2010/Dino Attack theme, camoflage grey facepaint and the grumpy expression.

I had never even heard of brickforge when I saw the pictures on the Brickarms website.

So, I did see one.However, you have misunderstood my intent. I wasn't using it with negative connotations, I am a huge fan of all building toys and I adore comparing and contrasting Lego with clones (not bootlegs, those I won't touch with a bargepole accept by accident or if the theme promisses chrome parts and such) for both the accessories and brick quality. Therefore my intnent with that post: Clones are fine, if you are going to use "aftermarket products" then you can use the accessories from clones too and "Hey look, a popular website uses them too, it's a perfect combination of custom weapons and headgear manufactured by clone brands" nothing bad was intended.

I still stand by the "use whatever you like" principal of building and minifig customisation.

[the enigma that is badger]

(apart from that being quoted from a rather long time ago...)

Sorry about that; I meant to post a reply in this thread when it was still hotly active, but my non-LEGO left kicked into high gear several weeks back, and I'm only digging out from under it now!

So, I did see one.

I'll ask Will about it, but I don't recall the fig you're describing. It may have been an MOC of a BrickArms fan Will was spotlighting or a picture of a figure at a convention. I'll certainly look into it, but when it comes to official BrickArms promotional material, Will only uses official LEGO accessories (aside from the exceptions of the Oxford M1 and Minifigworld stand)

if you are going to use "aftermarket products" then you can use the accessories from clones too and "Hey look, a popular website uses them too

Like some have already said in this thread, some builders make a distinction between custom accessory vendors and clone brands in that custom accessories are solely meant to compliment the LEGO brand, not replace it. Like yourself, I'm happy to sample products from a variety of brands in the search of useful accessories for my minifigs, but for many builders, a clone brand that competes with LEGO for retail shelf space is strictly verboten, especially when it comes to the actual bricks. Quality more than brand loyalty keeps me away from clones, but I can understand the philosophy behind that thinking, just as I can understand why some don't use anything that isn't LEGO in their building.

Like this thread shows, the various levels of orthodoxy when it comes to building are interesting to explore, and so long as you clearly and politely explain your building philosophy ("I use custom accessories, but not clone brands." "I only use LEGO." "I use anything I like!"), it's been my experience that most in the community will respect those guidelines you've set for yourself.

[ziljin]

For a while, I was considering picking up some brickforge cows, and maybe some armor and helmets(seeing as how expensive they are at bricklink). But I have reneged that consideration. Definitely going to buy only from lego. Not sure if I want sets anymore aside from impulse sets and battle packs. The rest will come from pick a brick and brick buckets. Which no doubt limits my brick collection severely, but then again there are so many bricks I think I would go crazy if I tried to have some of everything. And looking at other lego sites has shown me that merely using only generic bricks you can make quite a lot of stuff.

So it seems I will be a lego purist for life. Why spend 5 bucks on a brickforge cow when I can make my own out of plates/bricks? The selfmade one will probably be more posable too. Sure it will be ugly looking, but hey they can be taken apart and be reused.

[Corvus]

I don't use clone brands simply because they don't fit with what I'm building- the color/quality just doesn't blend in. However, I did see a really neat MOC that Dr. Scorpio on Flickr made out of clone brands. I have no idea what it's made out of, but it's very clever, especially the scout trooper.

Link

I love customizing figs, and while I'm pretty limited to cutting up an official sticker/printing of a sticker from my computer, some people have a real talent of making an incredibly accurate fig.

Stores like Brickarms/Brickforge/etc. are all really neat, and I understand that their primary interest is in complementing LEGO figs and accessories. If I could get my hands on some, I'd buy 'em.

As for sails and whatnot on pirate ships, I think it's necessary. There's only so much that can be done with LEGO 'rope', and official sails are even worse- they're all either too colorful, too stripey, or too small/big to use on the majority of MOCs we see now.

As for MODDIng parts for a MOC, I get hesitant. Sure, there's only so much that can be officially done with a minifig, but that's the challenge of a MOC- finding a way around that obstruction, and using ingenuity to come up with a clever way around it with different parts.

[Omicron]

I try to stick with Lego as much as possible. However if Lego does not make what I need, then I will substitute and/or improvise with what I have.

And because I customize figs, I have to resort to a lot of minifig custom accessories such as Brickforge, Brickarms, MMCB, etc.

-Omi

Edited September 22, 2009 by Omicron

[blueandwhite]

Like this thread shows, the various levels of orthodoxy when it comes to building are interesting to explore, and so long as you clearly and politely explain your building philosophy ("I use custom accessories, but not clone brands." "I only use LEGO." "I use anything I like!"), it's been my experience that most in the community will respect those guidelines you've set for yourself.

I think you've hit the nail on the head with this one !

Most fans will accept your approach to the hobby even if they don't abide by the same set of rules. I haven't seen too many people put down a builder for using clone brands or custom accessories or stickers. It's unfortunate that there are always a few who make mountains out of mole hills on issues like this.

[Peppermint_M]

Wasn't trying to be snarky.

I also think I mentioned that I don't combine clones with Lego earlier, however in repetition: I am carefully seperating the two (Apart from the most useful accessories) and do not use clones in my Lego MOCs and viceversa, the other day I made a Batmobile out of clones for my minimate Batman (C3 construction made some great sets when they were allowed to). I do have to say that I have come across some surprising things when using clones, including parts that Lego should make, colours that could be used more often and designs that use less specialised parts. Anyone who dislikes TLG's use of large moulded sections should try picking up a clone set of some sort as they are entirely made of bricks.

Sorry, purism confuses me, but then I have loved building toys of all kinds for years so I am happy to try to use all of them (I seem to have settled on robot model kits and brick based free form building around twelve years ago) but not all together.

[the enigma that is badger]

I think you've hit the nail on the head with this one !

Thanks! Really, while I might be willing to use custom items and the occasional clone accessory, I completely appreciate the challenge and fun some builders give themselves in only working with official LEGO product. Like you said, this is a hobby for the vast majority of us, so we should all feel free to build how we like and respect the building choices of others, whatever they might be.

I certainly did see a Sluban/OXFORD beret (a red one) on the front page, with a minifig in tan

Double-checked with Will on this, and I can confirm there's never been a fig like your describing on the BrickArms front page. Still, I've certainly see many others using that accessory on figs that also are equipped with BrickArms accessories, so no doubt you could have seen something like that elsewhere online. Like I said before, Will has a tremendous respect for LEGO, and as such, you'll only ever see LEGO brand building products on the BrickArms website (apart from the exceptions I mentioned above).

[Omicron]

Double-checked with Will on this, and I can confirm there's never been a fig like your describing on the BrickArms front page. Still, I've certainly see many others using that accessory on figs that also are equipped with BrickArms accessories, so no doubt you could have seen something like that elsewhere online. Like I said before, Will has a tremendous respect for LEGO, and as such, you'll only ever see LEGO brand building products on the BrickArms website (apart from the exceptions I mentioned above).

She may be talking about the vignettes you guys usually used to showcase on the front page made by members.

-Omi

[the enigma that is badger]

She may be talking about the vignettes you guys usually used to showcase on the front page made by members.

I did ask Will specifically about that possibility, but he made it clear nothing on the front page, official or fan MOC, has ever featured that item.

As that addresses the matter, probably best if we stick to discussion about purism and its role in the community from here on out.

Edited September 24, 2009 by the enigma that is badger