xboxtravis7992

Eurobricks Counts
  • Content Count

    1660
  • Joined

  • Last visited

1 Follower

About xboxtravis7992

  • Rank
    Probably plays PS4...
  • Birthday 02/18/1994

Spam Prevention

  • What is favorite LEGO theme? (we need this info to prevent spam)
    Star Wars

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Salt Lake City, Utah
  • Interests
    Lego, duh? :)

Extra

  • Country
    United States

Recent Profile Visitors

3475 profile views
  1. xboxtravis7992

    Making Eurobricks More Active

    Yeesh, I am several months late to this topic... but I might figure I should chime in since I might offer some perspective. I have been actively avoiding this site since early this year. I have owned a new computer for several months and this is the first time I have actually signed into my account. I have stopped by not signed in a few times to look at a MOC or two, but not really to read the whole forums like I used to. Today I only stopped by to check on the rumors that Disney Series 2 is happening next year. Why have I actively stopped coming? While Lego has been the primary reason to come to this site, a lot of my other interactions had happened in the Culture and Multi Media forums during last year. It was fun to talk movies with random strangers. Then The Last Jedi came out. I left the theater enjoying it, and came to Eurobricks ready to hear the positive opinions of other Star Wars fans and see what they thought of the movie. Instead Eurobricks became the first place I witnessed backlash to TLJ. Within months it had seeped out of the Culture and Multi-Media forums and into the Star Wars and Licensed forum. I felt like I was one of maybe three members who liked the film who used this entire site, and every time I came on it seemed I was getting angry reading the nonsensical fan debates that just went on and on and on and on and on... Not to mention the "know it all-itis" so many members began to profess about Lego. It really was just starting to annoy me. The constant bickering that members made with some of the mods especially with some high profile member bans that happened at the time, you mods put up with a lot of crap and should be praised for it; not downgraded and insulted by the member base you serve. So I quit. I decided the tone of Eurobricks had become to frustrating for my liking, particularly in the Culture and Multi-Media forum. I decided Brickset would remain my primary Lego site since at least I could ignore the comments on the articles there a bit easier (although to be honest the 'Brickheadz suck' comments there started to grate my nerves to). At least with Brickset I discovered I could express my opinions on Lego sets on my own terms via writing reviews, not having to worry about starting an argument just by saying something as simple as "I liked the Last Jedi." Today, I really just dropped by a few forums after I came to check the Disney rumors just to sort of see what was going on, and that is how I came across this thread. I did not go to the Culture forum. I do NOT want to know what this site thought of Solo, and I do NOT want to know what they thought of Infinity War, and I do NOT want to know what they are thinking of Star Wars: Resistance. My opinions I want to be my own, not the voices of arguments on the internet. Now I should clarify. This is not to say Eurobricks created this problem single handed. I think this pervasive sense of entitlement and obnoxiousness in fandom has invaded our entire culture. I see it on Brickset and FBTB to... I see it on the model railroad sites I visit. I see it in Disney theme park fan forums. I see it on YouTube comments and Twitter feeds. I see it in our politicians and historical discourse. But... Eurobricks was one of the first places I saw it and recognized it. I had to cut this place out for my sanity. I am not saying though this place is overall toxic though. I have lots of good memories here, and do recall the funner forum conversations I had with members. In a way, I'm sorry it panned out like this. But the flare up of anger and arguments across all fandom sites especially after TLJ came out killed the fun in this site for me. Eurobricks was the site I was the most invested in, and sort of the one that emotionally hurt the most to see the arguments on. If there is a lesson to take from this; maybe we should all just be a little less angry and argumentative on the internet. It affects our online community in ways many of us sometimes are oblivious to. Maybe someday cooler heads will prevail in fandom in general. I'd hope to return here someday; with even a nostalgic view of my 'golden days' here. But for now, I still feel the wounds are just to fresh. Here's hoping though to a brighter future than the past. I am sorry if this isn't the opinion you guys wanted to hear, but since this thread is about improving the site and in theory winning back old members and gaining new members; I feel it is worth sharing my personal reasons as to why I quit.
  2. xboxtravis7992

    21314 - LEGO® TRON: Legacy

    I like how the leak looks. A blue and an orange cycle. It looks like we are getting Sam Flynn, Tron, and Quora. Quora suffers the same issue the Star Wars Rey figures have in that her arms are a solid color when a dual mold with a skin tone on top would more accurately represent the "sleeveless sleeve" the character wears. Other than that, I can't nitpick the rest of it looks pretty solid.
  3. xboxtravis7992

    Oscars 2018

    Was she the one who kept saying she was going to faint then kept giving off some maniac laugh during the thing? My parents were watching and said, "is she, drunk?" Any attempts at political messaging were drowned out by that insane laugh. That laugh haunts me still, probably should be edited into some dank YouTube meme or something. Uh, I spent most of the awards show watching Coco. Why waste time watching the awards, when I could be watching the movie they awarded instead? Sadly, Coco finished just in time to show that crazy laugh... Dagnabit!
  4. xboxtravis7992

    Star Wars Rebels

    Well that was a fun finale; but sadly it left me with more unanswered questions than I expected. I hope Lucasfilm Animation announces the next series ASAP, because leaving on that cliff hanger is rough. Warning, full spoilers ahead.
  5. xboxtravis7992

    Star Wars Rebels

    Great episodes in my opinion (the family TV plan got changed, so now I have Disney XD in time to catch up with the season finale!) Alex at Star Wars Explained made a great video showing the voices in the "world between worlds." He included clips from the films to highlight the source of the voice quotes. I thought the segment was great fun to link the Star Wars Saga together, with bits from all the films and canon animated series. Really genius on the part of Lucasfilm Animation, and it is a testament they are batting at full strength for this finale! Also I should note, I thought time travel would be weird in Star Wars... but linking it with the mystical side of the force feels very natural. Like it was always supposed to be this way. It sets the concept apart here from the mechanical devices seen in other medium. To travel in time in Star Wars doesn't take a machine, but a wizard! Brilliant.
  6. "What kids want?" That's a bad approach for a toy company?
  7. Frankly, this sums up pretty nicely what I think. Lego is very self aware of their old themes, and love to reference back to them (heck for a bizarre example, look at the Galidor shirt guy from the Ninjago City set...). But I don't think the market for an old school sci-fi theme is out there today. I see a lot of AFOLs pining for the return of classic space; but while we do get some references to it such as Benny and his ship; I doubt kids today really want to have an entire collection of flat wedge shaped blue and gray ships! Its a nostalgia factor for a lot of AFOL's, but once we take a step back and look at current trends in Sci-Fi, I don't see kids really wanting the almost Kubrick-esque space styles of classic space (I'm of the age group that came around after classic space's era came to pass, so I really have looked at it more as "my Dad's era" then my own. Considering kids today are even one more generation removed from it then I , its probably a good bet that Benny really is their only interaction with the old space era).. So frankly, I think Lego's method of dropping some classic themed space sets one at a time, is a good approach. Enough to give AFOL's a nostalgia trip, while not being to much of a risk with kids (especially in the case of Benny's ship which was tied into a hit film too!) If Lego does cook up an in house original Sci-Fi theme, Space Police could be a good one to revive, or the maybe some other flashy outer galactic adventure. Kind of a space western, cowboys v. outlaws, the final frontier pushing back, etc. Then sprinkle in some references to old themes for nostalgia. Of course, if Lego really wants to go crazy... they could go for a Lego Space "Universe" in the same vein as a certain popular cinematic superhero franchise... Introduce new themes, but work to connect them to each other and older themes in the same way old Classic Space Factions were seen as part of the same story. I know Atlantis and Power Miners kind of did that lately... but I can see more potential in space for it. New Space Police for example could easily tie into some older themes such as Galactic Conquest, Blacktron, even Insectoid and Hero Factory could really work together in a shared setting. Focus the effort on new character's and ships, but let the old fans be surprised when a ship or character from an older theme just pops back into the story...
  8. xboxtravis7992

    [MOC] C-9979 Landing Craft

    I saw the video pop up on my YouTube suggestion feed the other day and watched a bit of it. Very very cool looking model! Its a ship rarely seen in Lego form, so I think you did a great job creating it. I would love to build it myself one day.
  9. xboxtravis7992

    Marvel Cinematic Universe

    Yeah I agree, Enoch was a great addition. My earlier guess that he was a Skrull was way off but I liked what we got. In a way he was a counter argument to Aida and Ultron, where previously we had seen these androids bent on evil Enoch was more of a robot focused on observation and preservation. The Kree were part of what made the pod grow long in the tooth for me. I hear we are seeing more of them in Captain Marvel though... so I guess I gotta get used to them sticking around the MCU for much longer!
  10. xboxtravis7992

    Marvel Cinematic Universe

    I finally got around to catching up with Agents of Shield's latest episode and the end of it's space pod...
  11. xboxtravis7992

    Future Star Wars Minifigs

    An R4 head would be great! To be honest though the old nose cone piece is already about the right shape and size, although it is a bit longer than I would like; Lego could probably use it with some new prints to start pumping out some R4's. Considering how long the Star Wars theme has existed and the lack of any classic R4's in nearly 20 years is kind of strange.
  12. xboxtravis7992

    [MOC] Mini Kessel Run Millennium Falcon

    I like how the front pops out as a module. I figure that area is "streamlining" of some sort, like a shell placed over the original hull to make the ship look sleaker so having it come off makes perfect sense to me.
  13. xboxtravis7992

    Future Star Wars Sets

    Who else wants that Monorail seen in the Solo teasers as a set?
  14. xboxtravis7992

    My LEGO technic youtube channel is being MURDERED!

    Why not just work on cross promoting on another social media website such as Twitter, Instagram or Facebook? I and a few friends work on a Facebook page we made, and after some time we are finally nearing our fist major milestone; 1000 likes. Its not a big number, but its been steady growth to that point achieved through things such as sharing our content repeatedly to other like minded groups on Facebook. Many platforms allow you to pay them money to advertise your content, so if you are willing to make an "investment" paid advertisement can carry your content further with the option of making the money back down the road when your channel grows. Taking that into account, it makes me believe that promoting a YouTube channel requires successfully moving it onto other platforms. Promoting it on forums such as Eurobricks isn't going to find you an audience, we are too small of a community to really be more than a drop in the bucket in the bigger scheme of things. Posting a few videos here and saying "help me please" ain't going to draw more traffic than an occasional word of sympathy, if you want to promote your videos here to grow an audience it needs to be regular posts on new MOCs as an active community member (i.e. look at Sariel or Just2Good's participation in these forums). You need to get on a larger platform and use it to boost traffic to the YouTube channel. The alternate platform will also allow you to post content that isn't in video form, such as WIP photos that will also draw interest to upcoming videos, and get you connected to fans. Also ask yourself, is making Lego mocs on YouTube a career move or a hobby move? If its for the hobby, who cares what YouTube does with its money plans; just work hard and use whatever cash comes from YouTube to just finance your hobby. Make the videos for fun because you enjoy it. If its a career move though, think long and hard if becoming a full time YouTuber really is going to provide you the cash and money you need to live, especially with the likelihood demonetization rules are to get even more strict on that website as time goes on.
  15. xboxtravis7992

    Type E Coupler for LEGO Trains

    Would it really need to be self centering though? In real life most full size train couplers need a little nudge to center them. Sure self centering is something we are used to in Lego and the scale modeling world, but its not really needed for it to work. I'd say more important is ensuring that it decouples easily, like it magnetically decouples or if you put a bamboo stick in through the coupler and wiggle it about it will come apart (the bamboo stick is what I do with my HO trains, works great!)