Todd McFarlane tries to make "construction" toys.

[1974]

.. scale of 1:35. There are no model production companies that work to that scale so getting extra accessories to suit your diorama would be next to impossible ..

You're kidding right?

[Rick]

Can a friendly mod please merge the two threads?

Done.

[Modelmaker]

Cool! What sort of stuff do you do? Anything we might have seen in films or on telly?

I believe they're prepainted.

I mostly do models for museums and architects some for various military forces. Our workshop is just around the corner from some film/tv studios so we do sometimes have to help them with their models and props when they get to busy to handle the workload. You may well have seen some of our work, but the whole point of movie/tv models is that you don't notice them.

Lately we've done stuff for The tudors, game off thrones, vikings, and some vampire related show... i forget it's name because i don't really watch any off that type of stuff. we also do stuff for adverts but they are very locally based. The last big screen sci fi movie i can remember doing stuff for was space truckers and that was about 20 years ago and i don't think it was that popular.

I would expect the new stuff to be supplied unpainted because most builders would prefer to do their own painting.

You're kidding right?

I'm talking modular scale. The only model production company (as in completed accessories like cars, people, animals and so on) that i can think of that work any where near 1:35 would be Britians and they do 1:32 scale stuff but mostly only farm related stuff.

The older lego system/city stuff would have been closer to 1:43 scale which is one of the most popular sizes available in the modelling world.

Edited July 14, 2014 by Modelmaker

[Faefrost]

The irony of Todd McFarlane arguing that stuff built with Lego is not realistic enough for his tastes? Todd McFarlane!?! The guy that gave us Venom and Spawn? Who's primary contribution to comics was scribble vaguely tentacle like sketchy everything? With an overal feeling that the artist just knocked an ink bottle over on his drawing and left it that way? And people seriously lacking in noses and proper musculature? That Todd McFarlane? Is it April 1 already?

I don't know if what we are seeing are prototypes or actual production sets. But I can tell from looking at them that what the stuff in those pictures is made of is dog poop quality plastic. These are styrene kits, not ABS. They are meant to be built once. You can tell from how translucent the tone of the plastic is, and how the parts trees look in the one picture. Lousy quality styrene hidden with some color washes. These are "Snap Tite Kits" not building or construction sets.

[Faefrost]

I'm a modelmaker. I spend all day in work making models from scratch for all types of reasons. If that guy Macfarlane thinks the models in those pics are realistic then he needs to check his scale ruler again. The figures are way too small for most of the surroundings they have been placed in. Check the size of the holes in the chainlink fence..the sheer hugeness of the door in the tower, the over sized crash rail on the road side....I could go on.

I guess there will be a market for them but anyone who already makes their own models will notice the figures are about 25% to small as they are. the paint finish on them is just ok if you are a wargamer type of painter but he doesn't say if they are prepainted or the builder has to paint them. The Lego grid system suits the Lego world but when was the last time you saw asphalt laid in a grid in a realistic model.

He sounds like he is expecting people to by his stuff and use it with their existing Lego system but i don't see that happening. If i wanted my Lego floors to look more realistic and like old worn wooden planks it would be real easy to do. But then they are stuck being planks. If he thinks model Makers will buy his stuff and combine it with Lego to make dioramas, he has another problem, and that goes back to scale. The average door in the real world measures just a tad under 2 meters high (2000mm) the average Lego door is 57mm high, 2000 / 57=35.08 so giving a scale of 1:35. There are no model production companies that work to that scale so getting extra accessories to suit your diorama would be next to impossible unless you scratch build them yourself. So if you have to build the stuff anyway, why bother buying the stuff in the first place? Makes no sense to me.

I don't think he realizes just how fussy model makers can be, and as a fussy builder i already know i would have no use for any of the stuff I've seen in those pictures.

Oh dear. At first I thought you might be being overly picky as a professional. Than I looked at all of the pictures. Ugh! The figures heads can fit through the holes of the chain link fence. That's how far off the scale is. And the tower door looks to be two stories tall compared to the figs. I can forgive the shoddy painting and obvious brush marks on prototypes to show the press. But those molds aren't going to change. Those are just horribly off. Someone above was talking about the uncanny valley, and how often little things will break the illusion more than big? Getting the scales wrong is a sure fire way to kill the illusion.

[Brickdoctor]

[snip]

I wonder if this picture shows the manufacturing process or what you do at home.

The 2x2 tiles come on sprues?!?

I mean, I would understand if because of the ridiculous amount of tiny bits on these 'bricks' they had to be protected in the package by leaving them on the sprues, but these are just 2x2 tiles.

Also, the basic 1xn bricks don't look that realistic so much as they look as if they were thrown in a kid's bin for a few years, then left on a dirt road to be driven over.

[Faefrost]

I think McFarlane might be in for another shock. he has said he spoke with the "construction toy buyers" for the stores, and they all say that construction toys, brick toys is where the growth is. Where they are all looking. And that Halo and CoD proved that Adult themes work. OK I'll give him Halo (which falls more under young adult action theme), But by all accounts the CoD sets have been barely moving. All the reviews for them are good. The action figure people love their new minifigs. But the sets just sit there? It seems to be the same with much of the other brands. There is a reason why Megabloks and K'Nex now have exclusive deals with TRU. It's Walmart and Target aren't buying them anymore. or at least not much of their product.

Going into that environment McFarlane is going to get slaughtered. His three products will be relegated to a dark shelf way in the back at TRU and then clearanced out. The only other stores even mildly interested will be Comic Shops (really not big McFarlane fans these days) and Barnes and Noble. So yeah these might be worth a forensic examination when the price dips down to $10 shortly after they release.

[legoman19892]

http://toybox.io9.com/game-of-thrones-is-getting-its-own-lego-for-grown-ups-1715208173

[Mesabi]

http://toybox.io9.co...-ups-1715208173

I think it looks cool, but there isn't any imagination to it. With lego, you get a bunch of parts that you can use to build anything. With these you get a bunch of parts to build one thing. I'm sure it'll have some market though.

Additional Random thoughts:

-Really George R. R. Martin? First you take forever on the winds of winter and now an off lego brand? For shame!

-All I thought about when I saw the title of the forum was Seth Macfarlane. Far better creator.

[Captain Dee]

TLG is probably secretly smirking over the free publicity he's giving them. I doubt if they're shaking in their boots. He comes across as a bit of a jerk in those quotations; however I don't want to stoop to name-calling and insults, and he's just exercising his freedom in the world of commerce.

Good luck, buddy. You're gonna need it.

It sounds like his big gripe is the lack of realistic detail in Lego. But that's purely intentional, because of the one important thing he doesn't seem to understand: Lego is a child's toy first and foremost. The AFOL world is just one small part of the Lego experience. He speaks from his adult perspective about something designed for single-digit ages. Does he really think we don't already know these things? I don't think the average 6-10 year old cares one bit about the lack of realism. They just want something fun to play with. Besides, his poor scaling is no more realistic than, say, the arm-length Lego banana (unless you figure the minifigs are all really small children!) I just think he's preaching a very conflicted message, and I think the marketplace will react accordingly. Sure, he'll sell a few sets but it won't register on TLG's radar.

Edited July 16, 2015 by Captain Dee

[fred67]

Agree and, to an extent, disagree with a lot of posts - I agree that he's not going to take over any LEGO territory which his "realistic LEGO," and I also agree that there's not much use for most of it once it's put together... but the grass and road parts on Daryl's motorcycle display are kind of neat, and I noticed the wood flooring from the governor's office a while back... too detailed? Probably... but pretty cool.

But no, I would not buy one of these sets, as big of a Walking Dead fan as I am, and you'd have to buy an awful lot to make use of those parts.... and they certainly could look out of place.