The Jersey Brick Guy Posted January 11, 2015 Like the topic states, why did TLG change the color in the green baseplates? The new color is brighter it seems then the old ones. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
antp Posted January 12, 2015 Which "old" ones? I never found the green baseplates color really consistent, I have several of these since the 80s, some were bright green, some were regular green, some were a little darker, ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1974 Posted January 12, 2015 Old green baseplates where in fact green, new ones are bright green. Blue has been discontinued. Tan, or 'cool yellow' is new I'd like an ounce of that stuff they're smoking in Billund please Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
antp Posted January 12, 2015 But there were already some bright green before, no? Or maybe just as 16x32 ? As I am sure to have some, but maybe not 32x32... (though that even the 32x32 are not all the exact same green, as I said) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1974 Posted January 12, 2015 Yes Antoine, there was 16x32 brigt green baseplates in several sets starting from '98. No 32x32 as far as I know .. There was a 'medium greene' 32x32 in set 6418, maybe you have that one? And yes, I also have 32x32 green/blue baseplates that are all over the map colourwise, but they're still "green/blue" Cheers, Ole Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lady K Posted January 12, 2015 All the green 32x32 base plates my LTC uses are the same color. Nice basic green, packaged in the old plastic wrap. The new ones now at the Lego store near me are all labeled 'Classic' in a yellow poly type bag and they are bright green 32x32. Up until now all the really bright green have been smaller plates in Friends sets. I asked a store employee about the old ones and he said they all sold out. And the price increased by $2. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deraven Posted January 12, 2015 Yeah, same here in AZ. I'm also puzzled as to how a completely new product can be "Classic." I understand that the price hasn't changed much in a long while (it was $4.50 in the late 80s, rising to $5.50 in the late 90s, and the $5.99 price since I think the mid-2000s), but changing the color AND bumping the price by $2.00 seems like a pretty odd move. I'd have understood if the price was increased, even by a significant margin, and the product was still consistent. Oh well… probably another one of those things that only really matters to us AFOLs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1974 Posted January 12, 2015 We've been over this 'Classic' business before, which I think is complete bull, but I seem to be in the minority here There's nothing remotly classic about a part that's never been released before, but hey, I'm just a stubborn ol' fart, what do I know? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darth Punk Posted January 12, 2015 We've been over this 'Classic' business before, which I think is complete bull, but I seem to be in the minority here There's nothing remotly classic about a part that's never been released before, but hey, I'm just a stubborn ol' fart, what do I know? Classic is no different than calling a product premium. A marketing term that doesn't necessarily describe a product but it is used to evoke an emotional response. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1974 Posted January 12, 2015 It worked, it pissed me off! Wonder if that's what tLG was thinking? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darth Punk Posted January 12, 2015 I was waiting for that. In the 80's Coke changed their formula and came out with New Coke. It was horrible, and seemed like a complete disaster. Coke quickly discontinued the product and introduced Coke classic. It was an instant success and sales went through the roof. The only different between the original and the classic was the word classic, exact same formula. Marketers use words like classic because they work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
legoman19892 Posted January 12, 2015 It worked, it pissed me off! Wonder if that's what tLG was thinking? My guess is to get the attention of people who say, "LEGO only makes liscenced lines, you can't be creative like you used to, pieces are too specific, and they don't sell basic packs anymore!" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kibosh Posted January 12, 2015 Agreed. Why the change? An additional color might have been nice, but I prefer the old color. And base plate prices have already skyrocketed on Amazon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jodawill Posted January 12, 2015 I don't just prefer the old color. I need it to be consistent with the dozens of other baseplates in my layout. Seriously, WTF, Lego? Also, it's stupid that the picture does NOT show that it's bright green, and it is not LABELED as bright green on S@H. If they hadn't raised the price by 60%, I would have ordered a couple dozen of them like I was planning to before I saw the price (now I have to wait for a discount). If I had spent that much money just to get bright green baseplates, I would have been really pissed off. This error on the page is hilarious. It looks like Dwight cracked into their server. "Useful piece." "False!" http://i.imgur.com/RA6OMZv.png Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kibosh Posted January 12, 2015 Real grass has variations in color so I'll be able to make use of the new green, but i hate that I lost the original option. I'll just sprinkle the various plates around in different sections. A 60% increase in cost is WAAAAAAAAY to much at once. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lady K Posted January 12, 2015 I agree about the marketing ploy here. I remember those Coke days well! They are not fooling anyone. With the massive train layouts we do at shows, everyone contributes baseplates, we need them to match. The new green won't look right. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
antp Posted January 12, 2015 Yes Antoine, there was 16x32 brigt green baseplates in several sets starting from '98. No 32x32 as far as I know .. There was a 'medium greene' 32x32 in set 6418, maybe you have that one? And yes, I also have 32x32 green/blue baseplates that are all over the map colourwise, but they're still "green/blue" I checked, indeed the bright green that I have are 16x32. The 32x32 are more or less regular green : out of four plates, two are slightly brighter (but still closer to regular green than to bright green) and one is slightly darker (the oldest one, from the 80s, same kind of darker green as my baseplate from http://brickset.com/sets/6374-1/Holiday-Home) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deraven Posted January 12, 2015 For what it's worth, I have about 20 opened and 5 sealed, and the color is all very close (and the regular green). The only variation is so slight it could easily be chalked up to shadows or lighting, but I don't think any of them are from particularly recent production runs. In fact, I just noticed that 2 of the sealed ones are actually set number 813 - from the late 80s/early 90s - and they seem to match just fine with all the rest. I would assume color variation would be from the new coloring process they started using which makes sense. Of course, I'd much rather have that level of variation than try to mix in these new bright green plates! I wonder what their thinking was… maybe the same line they gave us when they changed to the bleys: Kids needed more vibrant colors! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonty14 Posted January 12, 2015 White ones would be nice to go with the Christmas/winter sets Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheLegoDr Posted January 12, 2015 Definitely new colors would be great...outside of the Modular line. I'm talking official sealed sets like this, but with more variety in color. LEGO was not thinking discontinuing BLUE with a brand new PIRATES line coming out in a few months. No one would possibly want water for their layouts... The bright green took me by surprise when I saw them at Target. Definitely not working for me. I much prefer the regular green. Tan, I'm okay with. Although not at that price. You can basically buy a small set for the same price as a baseplate. I'd rather get the pieces/figures than just a blank slate to put nothing on since I spent all of my money on the plate... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deraven Posted January 13, 2015 I must agree with that- tan in addition to green and blue would have been great, and I could see there being a small price bump across all of them (even a dollar, perhaps) as there would be more overhead… but changing the green for no obvious reason, getting rid of blue (as TheLegoDr said, right before the launch of new Pirates!??), and adding tan instead along with a $2 price increase is just bizarre. Maybe TLG has something amazing planned for us that will cause this all to make perfect sense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kibosh Posted January 13, 2015 It's a $3 increase in the US. Green and blue were $4.99. Bright green and tan are now $7.99. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_spock Posted January 13, 2015 It's a $2 increase in Canada to $9.99. That's about $8.50 in US Dollars. Many AFOLs seem to use trans-blue, trans-light blue and trans-clear studs for water now instead of blue base plates. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1974 Posted January 13, 2015 Many AFOLs seem to use trans-blue, trans-light blue and trans-clear studs for water now instead of blue base plates. Yeah, but as TLG like to tell us; kids > AFOLs No blue baseplates = fail Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jodawill Posted January 14, 2015 Lego responded to the price increase: With the 626 Green Baseplate the original price of $4.99 was unchanged from 1996-2014. In order to be able to provide this element to builders we had to increase the price of this item since production costs have significantly increased in the past 18 years as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
