Cloveapple Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 That is a quite innocent way of looking at it, but I see it as a statement. Just like research institute was a bit of a feminist job equality statement. We can then have a lego melting iceberg with a polar bear set, or a gay couple getting married, or whatever moral correctness issues we want to advertise to the world, and I have nothing against any of it, except that LEGO isn't a medium I see fit for such things, in fact I see it as abusing the market. I want to see sets sold because they are good, fun, unique sets, not because they carry a message. I'd say that it is pretty common and natural for kids toys to carry a message. For example the Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings stories all have messages about morality. Likewise, I'd expect that many superhero sets give messages about heroism or right and wrong. I don't think it's possible to entirely avoid statements or messages, but Lego generally seems to do a pretty good job of picking themes and story lines that most of us are comfortable with. It's got to be a tricky balancing act for them. Quote
XAxles Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 All that jazz and the Exo-Suit will be retired forever. ____. Quote
Faefrost Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 For those that missed it Megabloks unveiled their Terminator sets at Toyfair and also announced they just picked up the Star Trek license. So assume those two will be on the verboten list for a bit. Quote
XAxles Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 Clarkson and Hammond are sad about this news now, Faefrost. Very sad indeed. Quote
ummester Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 Does MEGABLOKS sell elsewhere in the world? In stores I frequent for LEGO in Australia, MEGABLOKS is always about half the price and never seems to sell. Quote
Blondie-Wan Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 All that jazz and the Exo-Suit will be retired forever. ____. Since Ideas sets are limited-production items that get made only as long as there's not only sufficient demand but also adequate production capacity, and we know the green Classic Spacefolk happened because Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made them viable (by making LEGO already produce torso assemblies - torso, arms and hands - that were all green, and thus needed just the Classic Space emblem print), it could be that the retirement of the TMNT theme means the torsos needed for this set are no longer being made, thus automatically retiring this set as well. For those that missed it Megabloks unveiled their Terminator sets at Toyfair and also announced they just picked up the Star Trek license. So assume those two will be on the verboten list for a bit. That's too bad. Star Trek in particular deserves better (specifically, LEGO), though the nature of the franchise (with all the shows and movies dominated by crews of large vessels, as opposed to a greater mix of vehicle sizes as in Star Wars) might make LEGO less inclined to do it even when the rights are available. It's slightly interesting that Hasbro (KRE-O) hasn't retained the rights, though, especially after losing the Jurassic Park rights to LEGO. Of course that was a unique case, but I'd have thought it'd make Hasbro all that much more inclined to keep what other licenses it could. Perhaps they decided Trek wasn't worth it to them? Quote
Artanis I Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 (edited) Perhaps no one is buying Kre-o and they are reducing their loss risks, or at least not sad to see them go? Edited February 17, 2015 by Artanis I Quote
XAxles Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 (edited) That's too bad. Star Trek in particular deserves better (specifically, LEGO), though the nature of the franchise (with all the shows and movies dominated by crews of large vessels, as opposed to a greater mix of vehicle sizes as in Star Wars) might make LEGO less inclined to do it even when the rights are available. And this would put you and TLG in a conundrum: Star Wars or Star Trek? I mean, yes there are fans for both franchises, and TLG might just make shedloads more cash once they got the license for both Original and New Star Trek, but you're right about the stuff I put in bold. Part of SW's appeal as a LEGO toy theme is the breadth of vehicle choices, what with the franchise set in ONE FREAKING GALAXY MY GAWSH!, as opposed to just 25% of one galaxy for ST. Plus, ST's Earth-bound, not like SW.Though that made me think: If TLG does bag all of Star Trek's franchise and canon, I think diorama sets would be in better order, though I'm not so certain as to what's the smallest vehicle ST has in the hangar that can be used for, say, Starter Packs or something in about the same size as 75078 ITT. Back on the topic... any unique board game in the similar vein as Jason's Marble Maze that's on Ideas (not necessarily a marble maze, but like a desk toy for the smallest Idea that can be found)? Are they any good? Edited February 17, 2015 by XAxles Quote
MAB Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 Since Ideas sets are limited-production items that get made only as long as there's not only sufficient demand but also adequate production capacity, and we know the green Classic Spacefolk happened because Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made them viable (by making LEGO already produce torso assemblies - torso, arms and hands - that were all green, and thus needed just the Classic Space emblem print), it could be that the retirement of the TMNT theme means the torsos needed for this set are no longer being made, thus automatically retiring this set as well. Green torsos and arms have been made for ages. Is adding the hands really that much of an issue? That they wouldn't have made the classic green spaceman if TMNT were not already there, or maybe made them with yellow hands as blanks of that preassembled part already exist? In fact, the classic space torso has the neck print. So doesn't that mean that the part is printed before the arms and hands are added, so the neck print indicates which way round the torso is when the arms are added. Quote
BirdOPrey5 Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 (edited) Kre-o's Enterprise was awful. it was the first (and only) brick set I physically could not put together- it would have required substantial use of crazy glue an it just wasn't worth getting it all over my fingers. It sits in pieces in a bag somewhere. As much as I dislike Megabloks, Kre-o wasn't working out. I'll keep an eye out on what Megabloks comes up with and give them a try wen they start to release sets. I doubt LEGO will ever get Star Trek, I would bet the Star Wars agreement forbids it. Apparently Mega Bloks had a Star Trek licence before- - not bad. Edited February 17, 2015 by BirdOPrey5 Quote
Blondie-Wan Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 Green torsos and arms have been made for ages. Is adding the hands really that much of an issue? That they wouldn't have made the classic green spaceman if TMNT were not already there, or maybe made them with yellow hands as blanks of that preassembled part already exist? In fact, the classic space torso has the neck print. So doesn't that mean that the part is printed before the arms and hands are added, so the neck print indicates which way round the torso is when the arms are added. Apparently not. There've been multiple articles and interviews in which the creation of the set is discussed - here's one, right in the official LEGO Ideas blog - in which they talk about this. Classic Spacefolk are traditionally all one color, (save for the heads, which of course are always yellow regardless of what color uniform they're "wearing", and of course the printing on the heads and torsos), and the articles I've seen (such as the blog entry I've linked) say that when it came time to pick colors for this set, there were three options available, thanks to the parts assemblies already being made for other sets - blue, because of Benny (of course); black, because of Darth Vader; and green (a color previously never used for CS), because of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Peter Reid and Mark Stafford went with green since it would be a brand new color. Now, we all know they can mold all sorts of colors of torso, arm and hand, and put them together any way they want, but we also know they produce stuff in massive quantities, on production lines devoted to certain parts and sets for specific periods of time, so that a line will make a whole slew of parts in a certain color before being given over to doing a different color, or an entirely different part altogether. They also have machines that connect all the parts of the torso assemblies together, to make those assemblies that LEGO treats as single parts, and those lines are part of the same production process as everything else, meaning that at any given time they might have machines assigned to putting, say, blue arms and yellow hands on blue torsos, or black arms, hands and torsos together, but not green arms with red hands on white torsos (for example). From the articles, it sounds as though maybe it's feasible to simply swap out the pads that print on torsos for part of a run of Turtle torso prints so that they get CS logos instead, but doing things another way would mean reconfiguring the lines and machines that pick arms and hands and torsos of certain colors from certain bins and put them together for a run, and that's more disruptive to their "regular" (i.e., non-Ideas) production than swapping out a print pad. I mean, I don't know, but that's what it sounds like. It would also explain why the chemist in the Research Institute doesn't have "gloved" hands when it would make sense for her to have them (as her counterpart / predecessor in Minifigures Series 11 does), even though she does have a new torso print exclusive to the set. I doubt LEGO will ever get Star Trek, I would bet the Star Wars agreement forbids it. That's entirely possible (and deeply unfortunate if true), but FWIW there are other licensees that have held rights to both franchises at the same time. Funko currently makes figures from both, for example. Quote
Faefrost Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 That's too bad. Star Trek in particular deserves better (specifically, LEGO), though the nature of the franchise (with all the shows and movies dominated by crews of large vessels, as opposed to a greater mix of vehicle sizes as in Star Wars) might make LEGO less inclined to do it even when the rights are available. It's slightly interesting that Hasbro (KRE-O) hasn't retained the rights, though, especially after losing the Jurassic Park rights to LEGO. Of course that was a unique case, but I'd have thought it'd make Hasbro all that much more inclined to keep what other licenses it could. Perhaps they decided Trek wasn't worth it to them? Actually from the way the MB Star Trek announcement is written it sounds like they are going more for adult focused limited edition "collectors edition" type sets. So I am hoping for something between their CoD and Signature level stuff. Which while not Lego is probably the closest to UCS Star Trek that we will ever see. Quote
Faefrost Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 That's entirely possible (and deeply unfortunate if true), but FWIW there are other licensees that have held rights to both franchises at the same time. Funko currently makes figures from both, for example. It was rumored for many years that the Lucasfilm's toy license had specific non competes that excluded certain other licenses such as Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers. Supposedly that stance has softened in recent years as the license holders have come to figure out that they gain more from cross brand synergies than they lose via competition. It is likely that the Star Trek exclusion was dropped in the last SW license renewal. But it is also likely that after so many years of being a competing property Lego's license people are really not looking too heavily at it. Besides ST has always been an erratic toy license. Mego did great with it back in the day with the classic stuff. But the movie stuff bombed. Playmates thrived on TNG stuff for years, but the new movie stuff went straight to discount bins. Quote
ummester Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 (edited) Besides ST has always been an erratic toy license. Mego did great with it back in the day with the classic stuff. But the movie stuff bombed. Playmates thrived on TNG stuff for years, but the new movie stuff went straight to discount bins. Star Trek has always been a more cerebral, character driven enterprise (oops) than Star Wars - it doesn't have X Wings and Tie Fighters buzzing around making pew pew sounds at each other - so it's not hard to understand why one sells better as a toy. I have always wanted to design a LEGO Enterprise for display - large enough to accommodate minifigs in the bridge and shuttle bay - the shape of it would be an interesting challenge from a structural integrity perspective. Edited February 17, 2015 by ummester Quote
Blondie-Wan Posted February 18, 2015 Posted February 18, 2015 I have always wanted to design a LEGO Enterprise for display - large enough to accommodate minifigs in the bridge and shuttle bay - the shape of it would be an interesting challenge from a structural integrity perspective. The shape of it has always challenged modelers of all sorts (including the makers of the actual effects models used to produce actual Star Trek itself), particularly with regard to the warp nacelles, which have a tendency to droop if not well-strengthened (and sometimes even then). The curvatures in the designs add additional challenges in recreating them with LEGO, of course. Quote
XAxles Posted February 18, 2015 Posted February 18, 2015 The shape of it has always challenged modelers of all sorts (including the makers of the actual effects models used to produce actual Star Trek itself), particularly with regard to the warp nacelles, which have a tendency to droop if not well-strengthened (and sometimes even then). The curvatures in the designs add additional challenges in recreating them with LEGO, of course. Don't say that if it's built to fit the globe thing. Oooooo-kay, maybe you would. I take it back. Quote
Robert8 Posted February 18, 2015 Posted February 18, 2015 (edited) 364 days after it was posted, a new project has reached the 10000 supporters: Disney Princess Frozen: Elsa's Ice Palace https://ideas.lego.com/projects/58608 Edited February 19, 2015 by Robert8 Quote
Blondie-Wan Posted February 19, 2015 Posted February 19, 2015 I agree with Sven F on this - LEGO isn't the right kind of medium for expressing political or moral ideas. Further, it's like an old discussion regarding the representation of women in LEGO. I remember one father mentioned his daughters just pluck the female minifig head off and put it on the construction worker if they want a lady construction worker - that's the power of LEGO as a product, the child can tailor the toy to their own play desires. If a child has a disabled relative or something and wants to make a LEGO minifg to represent that, I'm sure the child can arrange the pieces themselves to do so. Ideas indeed isn't the place for political ideas, but simply wanting sets that reflect people isn't merely political. People in wheelchairs do in fact exist, as do women, wheelchair ramps, etc., and yet these things are seldom represented in sets. That's actually a perfect reason why there should be a set of something like that. We certainly hardly need any more sets of cars and planes, but there's no shortage of those on Ideas; why shouldn't there be sets that portray a range of people as they really are, but are seldom seen in other sets? Quote
ummester Posted February 19, 2015 Posted February 19, 2015 364 days after it was posted, a new project has reached the 10000 supporters: Disney Princess Frozen: Elsa's Ice Palace https://ideas.lego.com/projects/58608 haven't TLG made a set of that? Ideas indeed isn't the place for political ideas, but simply wanting sets that reflect people isn't merely political. People in wheelchairs do in fact exist, as do women, wheelchair ramps, etc., and yet these things are seldom represented in sets. That's actually a perfect reason why there should be a set of something like that. We certainly hardly need any more sets of cars and planes, but there's no shortage of those on Ideas; why shouldn't there be sets that portray a range of people as they really are, but are seldom seen in other sets? Good points, I guess, if you think LEGO should focus strongly on the human (minifig) type elements. Personally, I think it is already too heavily focussed on the little LEGO people and how they are little plastic representations of either human characters or real life humans - it's a construction toy and the minifig is specialised, allowing far less deconstruction and reconstruction than a combination of other bricks. So, though I agree it is fair to display a range of people as they really are, if LEGO is trying to accurately display people, I do not think LEGO should try and accurately display people, they should just include human construction elements in sets that are about general construction related ideas more than anything specifically human. Quote
Faefrost Posted February 19, 2015 Posted February 19, 2015 haven't TLG made a set of that? Sadly yes. so it likely goes into the Ideas bin alongside the Helicarrier, The Tumbler, etc. Not to mention all the astonishing Star Wars Episode VII sets that people keep proposing as Ideas projects... because they saw the ships in the trailer... and somehow miss the point that "Lego already has those in the works and ready for distribution". Quote
Robert8 Posted February 19, 2015 Posted February 19, 2015 (edited) Sadly yes. so it likely goes into the Ideas bin alongside the Helicarrier, The Tumbler, etc. Not to mention all the astonishing Star Wars Episode VII sets that people keep proposing as Ideas projects... because they saw the ships in the trailer... and somehow miss the point that "Lego already has those in the works and ready for distribution". Well... The Ice Palacer itself won't pass the review but maybe they could release just the brick built Marshmallow, like this: Edited February 19, 2015 by Robert8 Quote
Dorayaki Posted February 19, 2015 Posted February 19, 2015 (edited) 364 days after it was posted, a new project has reached the 10000 supporters: Disney Princess Frozen: Elsa's Ice Palace https://ideas.lego.com/projects/58608 Just in a general view, .it has a very big chance to be rejected due to license conflict. But at the same time it's also a proof to show LEGO that they could have done Frozen as a 2013 product line. Hope that LEGO can make more Frozen sets (as an imdividual theme series) to fulfill fans' need. Personally, I think this project creator waste a chance to make it pass by changing the characters from the official version. Although the snow monster is great and the castle is amazing, I think he could at least add Kristoff/Hans/army and change all of them into minifigures. As long as the targeted girls mostly got Elsa as minidoll, they would less likely want to obtain this set. Edited February 19, 2015 by Dorayaki Quote
Faefrost Posted February 20, 2015 Posted February 20, 2015 It looks like that gorgeous Douglas DC-3 is nearing the home stretch with about 500 votes to go https://ideas.lego.com/projects/17534 Also we are 68 days out from the great purge. It looks like a couple of interesting projects will make it a race. Quote
Blondie-Wan Posted February 20, 2015 Posted February 20, 2015 It looks like that gorgeous Douglas DC-3 is nearing the home stretch with about 500 votes to go https://ideas.lego.com/projects/17534 That's a nice one indeed, and I'm supporting it myself. Also we are 68 days out from the great purge. It looks like a couple of interesting projects will make it a race. I've been meaning to start a countdown for the Great Ideas Purge. A lot of projects are going to be archived in it, many of which really deserved to at least get the votes to get considered, even if many would have no chance of becoming sets. Quote
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