Kenn

My wife spends hours in second hand shops, that's how we get our used Lego. We then sell the stuff we don't need to support the rest of the habit. There's often funny biz on Bricklink though. One clue came when a seller had 200+ Maersk ships before they hit the market. Clearly not right but then no one ever said life is fair..... Ken

Sorry, I thought as admin of this board you were more up on the AFOL community than the average AFOL. I'll try to be clearer next time. That doesn't make it wrong. Key word being might, it hasn't worked that way for the competition though. Mega bloks is however penatrating it which is why their financals look so rosey. Every financal story that came out when they dumped the parks dissagrees with you and this is so far off the original thread that this is the last I will address it. The policy used to be no violent toys untill they got called on it. You may find arrows and swords warm and fuzy, I choose to call them weapons. I also find that hypocritical. Sorry if you don't. I have no idea where that came from or what it's supposed to mean. It didn't come from anything i said. sorry you missed it here it is again... You can continue to read into my words whatever you want, that doesn't however mean I said it. You should worry less about what I insinuated and more about throwing insults like...

So perhaps the better question I should ask is that when you say 'world is governed' are you speaking in a strictly politicals sense, or in the broader day-to-day inteactions of individuals, which is to say how one individual and another interact is governed by force? Which is to say, is such a statment limited to a broad political view, or are you stipulating that it governs more personal interactions. This is a request for clarification, so I might better understand the points you presented. It's simple without the application of force there would be no laws, borders, suppression of evil. Should you shoot you neighbor because his dog walks on your lawn? No Mega Bloks has had huge growth while LEGO corp has done everything it could to wipe it'self out. There's many reasons why the one is succeeding while the other flounders, and I'm not saying military models could save LEGO, however they certainly helped make the competition. Your point about quality is an excellent one, LEGO has a lock on superior quality. That is exactly why fans of the brick wish they would make military models, I stand by the word as I used it. There is a right. There is a wrong. There is good. There is evil. You can disagree but it is a unyealding fact of life and to disagree with it is foolish. Within generalizations you always find the truth. We can't get in trouble with that unless some one want's to read into it what's not there.

So you haven't spent enough time there to connect Brickshelf ID's with Lugnet/Eurobrick/Bricklink handles. I have. Just because you are not aware of what's what doesn't make my point "invalid" I wasn't addressing the market I was responding to the question originaly posed by this thread. Someone else took it that direction but, if you insist the military model has made Mega Bloks. Many other building systems have military theams and are doing quite well. LEGO stays the hypocritical pacifist and continues to struggle. It's fair to extrapolate that if LEGO had a military line it might not make them but they certainly could not do any worse. Any thing is possible if you choose to read into it what's not there, even the guy with whom you originally agreed took back his words. Just read what's there and try not reading into it what's not.

Funny a cruise through the pages of Brickshelf will show that MOST of the finest military/LEGO models made are comming from European AFOLs. Don't read into it what's not there, I never said such a thing and I stand by it. If someone chooses to read into it what's not there, that's not my fault.

Money makes trade possible and has nothing to do with governence. You can have all the money in the world and the guy next to you with a gun is going to take it. Read what I said and stop reading into it. It's been proven it just that some choose not to acept it. Take away all the toy guns and a kid will pick up a stick and pretend he's got a gun. This however will not turn him into a violent adult. That's absurd as Mega Bloks has made a fortune on it's militay theams while LEGO's poor managment has turned a gold mine into dust. Again your reading things I never wrote. I merely responded to the question asked by this thread. It doesn't bother me at all as I have no financial intrest in LEGO whatsoever. As a consumer I along with every kid with an imagination will figure out how to make Military models no mater what they put out.

Nothbrook (city of) and Northbrook mall are north of Chicago. The Chicago store is at a place called "The Shops at North Bridge". It's as downtown as you can get.

Where to begin. First off: should they have a military line ? Maybe, becasue there are a number of liberal mothers in the world who buy their children lego but would boycott the moment they saw lego as going the route of war toys. Its one market versus another, and thats something TLG probably weighs very very carefully. As for the second sentece there, you realize that there would be no danger of of slavery or other such atrocity if military force weren't on the side of wrong. While your poin has some merit, so does the opposite side of that equation. In the long run, it comes down that there are some things that are touchy subjects, modern war and the things that go along within are one of them. Whether its because some parents are too busy (or lazy) to teach their children right from wrong, and what the proper application of force means, or becasue violent toys do promote violent behavior in children (I'm advocating neither position), TLG has decided against stepping into that particular public relations nightmare. Yes and no, at its core all of those fall in the realm of 'fantasy violence'. Which is to say western culture has romanticized it and sanitized it to the point that though the events and cultures were violent, there is not the baggage of it being real put on such things. This is an issue with Western culture, not an issue with TLG. After all, we aren't watching versions of Star Wars that look like Saving Private Ryan. For many, fantasy violence is all right, but where that line blurs into realisitc violence, a lot of people gt uncomfortable or unhappy with. Also, wars at their bloodiest and most horrific really came into its own after the introduction of gunpowder (and more accurate weapons) and before the medical improvements of the crimean war. this is due in part to larger numbers of men on battlefields and sheer destructive capability. While I'm not unfamiliar with the troubles and travaisl of ancient warfare, in many cases, it just got worse. Lastly: Returning to your last sentence there, a couple of points. One, with your lampshade reference, you are making a very direct correlation (and a flippant one at that) to the events of the Holocaust. Two, your choice of words seems to be linking the diredctors and designers at lego with the jewish people, which I'm not so certain is a valid nor viable link. Three, in referencing such things, you might want to be a little less flippant in going about it, as it indicates a great lack of respect on your behalf, which would be unfortunate if that was not what you were indicating. Akkh Our world is governed by the application of force. In the absence of good, evil takes over. To suggest that if all good men laid down their arms everything would be ok is foolish. I know LEGO has used this absurd argument. The crossbows, long bows and broad swords were the weapons of some of earths most horrific wars. At what point will history whitewash it to make it fun that wars were once fought with M16

Why? because the memory of WWII is still strong with in those running LEGO. Should they have a military line? YES! Unfortunately what they fail to realize is most of them would be a lampshade or a slave if it wasn't for military force on the side of right. It's obviously hypocritical. Imperial army VS. Pirates, Knights VS Forestmen, Cowboys VS Indians, Star WARS, Bionicles. their toys are ripe with war with the middle ages being the bloodiest and most horrific. Bottom line don

There's 3 LEGO stores in the Chicago IL USA location. I just went into detail under the "LEGO STORE CHIGAGO, REALLY STINKS!!!" thread. You can see the details there. If your headed this way feel free to e-mail me and I'll try to give you an update or awnser specific questions! Ken knandjn<remove>@hotmail.com

Sorry you had such a bad experience. Lego is very poorly managed and their retail venture is no different. There's 3 stores around here and the Chicago location is very small and a very poor choice of where to put a store. Parking fees alone are enough to keep me away for all but the most special occasions. The Pick-a-Brick here is an after thought and a joke. If they had the brains to pick a better location and roll all three stores into one super location like in Minnesota they could clean up but... Oh well. Woodfield is about 30min from Chicago. You'll find few AFOLS here as LEGO has chosen to chase them all off as the service you received shows however the quality of help at Woodfield isn