Lego Rep Gives Information on Leaked Images

[Starwars4J]

Ben Ellermann, an Admin from classic-castle recently posted a response from the product design lead for castle 2007, Matt Ashton, about the recently leaked pictures from 2008 here on EB.

Here's what he asked Ben to post on C-C:

The images that have leaked and all been released on EuroBricks for Castle, SpongeBob, StarWars and Indiana Jones are all preliminary images, and these products have changed slightly since these photographs have been taken. These images were taken for 'selling-in' to the trade, which is prior to the finalization of the models and contain prototype elements and graphics.

During this final period of the design process, is when the last tweaks are made to the models mainly regarding colors and decorations, and getting the model to it's final price... So please expect some minor alterations to have taken place!

You can however rest assured our new Troll Warrior minifigures will have green hands, will not be wearing re-issued Viking outfits or wearing fuzzy 'Supreme' wigs! I hope this will mean you can all get a better nights sleep tonight!!! ; )

Best Wishes

Edited October 2, 2007 by Starwars4J

[hollisbrick]

Interesting.....it's almost like the pics we saw were leaked on purpose, why else would TLC give us an update on the pics.....Btw thanks SW4J for the info.

Edited October 2, 2007 by hollisbrick

[Tamaku-Dark Toa]

Yes! i thought there were actual yellow hands on them :-$

Any idea if the shadow troop is still in the battle pack?

~Ryan~

[Corvus]

Yes! i thought there were actual yellow hands on them :-$

Any idea if the shadow troop is still in the battle pack?

~Ryan~

Oh, probably. I don't see why they'd remove a perfectly good shadow trooper. What does need to be changed is the "dropship". X-D

I'm glad the trolls will have better helmets. Those were, to say kindly, ugly.

Hope they put a proper cloth on the Indie truck.

[madoka]

Any idea if the shadow troop is still in the battle pack?

~Ryan~

Was that a shadow trooper? I thought it was a TIE pilot, which would make more sense.

[LuxorV]

During this final period of the design process, is when the last tweaks are made to the models mainly regarding colors and decorations, and getting the model to it's final price... So please expect some minor alterations to have taken place!

Well, I think this was espected: rember the Blazing Falcon first pics, at Paris Toy Fair (dec 2006) I think, it did not even have the claws on its wrists; probably they hadn't molded them yet... :-D

And I agree with Mr. Mandalorian: they need to improve the "dropship" badly :-X

LuxorV

[Vader]

During this final period of the design process, is when the last tweaks are made to the models mainly regarding colors and decorations, and getting the model to it's final price... So please expect some minor alterations to have taken place!

You can however rest assured our new Troll Warrior minifigures will have green hands, will not be wearing re-issued Viking outfits or wearing fuzzy 'Supreme' wigs! I hope this will mean you can all get a better nights sleep tonight!!! ; )

Hmmm thought as much, as soon as we got pics of the yellow handed troll minifigs. Nice to hear that the troll minifigs will be getting new torso's also. I also believe that the bigger Troll will be sand green in the dwarf mining set, as much as i would like different coloured trolls it wouldn't make sense cost wise.

Looking at the Indy pics i now expect the islander to be slightly different, could also be that the naboo torsos are removed.

As for SW well i just hope that they change the RS, that thing is way to bulky.

Thanks for the info SW4J *y*

[xwingyoda]

Tks for the heads up SW4J ;-)

It was obvious that these pics (especially castle) were preliminary ;-)

If you look from past experiences, usually they do not change too much the SW line, and what is happening with Castle was what happened with Vikings if you remember !!

Lets hope the finall products are as shown for Indy, I wouldn't want that chrome gold chest and all other goodies taken away for set reduction !! Also will the N1 torso be changed ? I hope not !!

And for Castle its good to know that the torso and helmet of those goblins are just preliminary !! BUt I also hope that line will not sufer the Viking fate !! Remember the great beards on the preliminary pics and at the end of the day no beards at all !! Lets hope the dwarves will have their beards !!! To tell you the truth its this kind of post that makes me scared !!

*yoda*

[Vader]

As i posted in the castle thread, i doubt lego will remove the dwafs beards. They seemed to get a lot of flak for that mess up, so i expect them to habe learned their lessons.

If they do remove them then many members including me will be really pissed, we need new beards now more than ever.

[xwingyoda]

I dioubt it also BUT the viking line is the perfect example of taking a great line and sets, and releasing something NOT to par with it !!

The preliminary set were better in a lot of ways !! Thats why I hope Castle won't suffer that fate !!

I really can't imagine a dwarf without a beard :-P

After all, for once Lego is producing loads of beards !! You have one in the new Hogwards, one in the skellie attack ship, one on the evil wizard, one in the future impulse set !!

I think that TLC is set on bearfd mode X-D

*yoda*

[Vader]

The sells on the viking line seemed to suffer from lack of face fluff :-D If lego want to up the sells then they are a must IMO.

I remember seeing the prelim viking pics and being so excited, then we got the proper pics and it was such a big let down.

[xwingyoda]

I remember seeing the prelim viking pics and being so excited, then we got the proper pics and it was such a big let down.

Exactly !! With the prliminary pics TLC went really far in the norse stereotypes which gave a great feeling of fantasy as well !!

What shocked me apart the taking away of beards is that small boat !! If you remember, it was only a small fisherman with a giant squid and net !! And that was such a perfect set !! and they changed that to a way bigger okish boat with shitty dragon >:-(

Also I remember that the Midgard serpent really looked more frightening !!

Also, the fort was a big lt down asw ell !! The prelim had a water fort with a dock inside !!

Oh well, the final product was definitly NOT to standards to the prelim !! This also might be a reason for that line failure !!

*yoda*

[Shadows]

What this says to me, more than anything else, is that LEGO couldn't give a flying flip about leaked photos and some places have a stick too far up their 'integrity' to just admit that they don't respect anything any more than we do.

If anything, leaking pics gets them some free test marketing from users of varying degrees and types, and no company will turn that down.

Oh, and if they screw up that beard thing, I'll be megablocked! >:-(

[natelite]

so TLC has decided on trolls. then they shall be known as trolls and ogres (vs orcs and trolls).

i am still hoping for green trolls rather than sand green trolls. i think they look hipper in green. :-D *sweet*

[Vader]

so TLC has decided on trolls. then they shall be known as trolls and ogres (vs orcs and trolls).

i am still hoping for green trolls rather than sand green trolls. i think they look hipper in green. :-D *sweet*

Nahhh it's gotta be sand green all the way for me, they just look more natural....well for a Troll at least X-D

[xwingyoda]

Nahhh it's gotta be sand green all the way for me, they just look more natural....well for a Troll at least X-D

what what what ?? Are you assimilating our dear *yoda* with a troll ?? X-D

*yoda*

[Asuka]

What this says to me, more than anything else, is that LEGO couldn't give a flying flip about leaked photos and some places have a stick too far up their 'integrity' to just admit that they don't respect anything any more than we do.

I guess once the retailer catalogs

[Vader]

what what what ?? Are you assimilating our dear *yoda* with a troll ?? X-D

*yoda*

Well........

Nuff said *vader*

Asuka Posted Today, 02:40 PM

I guess once the retailer catalogs

[ellerb]

Ben Ellermann, an Admin from classic-castle recently posted a response from Lego rep "Matt" about the recently leaked pictures from 2008 here on EB.

Here's what he asked Ben to post on C-C:

I assume he'd want us all to know X-D This talks about castle specifically (prolly due to the audience), but mentions all themes so I figured I'd post it here. Most of this was already figured out, but it's great to hear from an official source!

Link to Original Post

Just to add a bit of clarification to Starwars4J's post, Matt is Matt Ashton, the Product Design Lead for Castle 2007.

What this says to me, more than anything else, is that LEGO couldn't give a flying flip about leaked photos and some places have a stick too far up their 'integrity' to just admit that they don't respect anything any more than we do.

LEGO does care about leaks because the competition (notably clone brands from China) can and have illegally duplicated sets in a very short amount of time. This latest feedback was a favor to let fans know that the final products will not be exactly the same. This way fans will not be as upset if something changes, like we were when Viking beards (in Viking prototype pictures) did not come with the sets.

Ben Ellermann

Edited October 2, 2007 by ellerb

[Starwars4J]

Just to add a bit of clarification to Starwars4J's post, Matt is Matt Ashton, the Product Design Lead for Castle 2007.

Thanks for the clarification, I'll edit that into the first post

[Asuka]

This way fans will not be as upset if something changes, like we were when Viking beards (in Viking prototype pictures) did not come with the sets.

Ben Ellermann

He he.... no matter what Matt Ashton or somone else at TLC

[natelite]

LEGO does care about leaks because the competition (notably clone brands from China) can and have illegally duplicated sets in a very short amount of time.

Ben Ellermann

the quality is so shoddy, i wouldn't worry about them. besides, i think they clone using the part list from the original set rather than working off of pictures. at least based on the few popular ones they were selling. and they were all lego sets from the 80s/90s like forestmen, wolfpack, etc.

[Batbrick]

This can be taken as good or bad news, I have decided to take it as good news. :-)

I know we are all worried about the dwarves losing their beards like the Vikings, but come on! A dwarf is practically known for two things:

Short height and big beard. And mining. But I meant the look.

Vikings are known for beards, but ot huge ones that come down to their pants. They are far more well known for their horned helmets (actually a common misconception ;-) )

I think it would be impossible for TLC to take away the beards, its impossible to make a dwarf without one! ;-)

Also, I think that some of the Viking sets had good things that the promos didn't and vice-versa, but the overalll result for me was a great theme. *sweet*

TTFN! >:-)

[Shadows]

LEGO does care about leaks because the competition (notably clone brands from China) can and have illegally duplicated sets in a very short amount of time. This latest feedback was a favor to let fans know that the final products will not be exactly the same. This way fans will not be as upset if something changes, like we were when Viking beards (in Viking prototype pictures) did not come with the sets.

The legit competition right now seems to be devoted to completely unrelated lines *cough*Pirates*cough* and the Chinese aren't actually doing it illegally, as they have such shoddy laws that it's legal there. They seem to devote their efforts to the older lines (someone say Pirates again?) and personally, I've never seen one of them for sale anywhere but online. If they're having any effect on TLG, I'd be surprised, but that's something they'd have to fight on a region by region basis, since they can't stop them from being made.

As for the online fans getting upset when something isn't the same as the prototypes, sure, that'll happen, but we get just as mad when something isn't made the way we imagine it in our own minds, and sometimes the prototype pics help us get a slightly better idea of just what to expect, instead of those wild ideas we come up with on our own.

I think the very bottom line of all is that as soon as quality returns to it's previous levels, combined with what seems like a lot of very good design work, LEGO will be more secure in it's position as the permanent leader in it's field, instead of always having to look over it's shoulder and worry about what the lesser brands will do.

Until then, we'll keep staring at grainy pictures of what might be and buying whatever comes out anyway. :-)

Thanks for the clarification *y*

[xwingyoda]

LEGO does care about leaks because the competition (notably clone brands from China) can and have illegally duplicated sets in a very short amount of time. This latest feedback was a favor to let fans know that the final products will not be exactly the same. This way fans will not be as upset if something changes, like we were when Viking beards (in Viking prototype pictures) did not come with the sets.

I can understand that compny policy but I think it suffers from flaws !!

Having prelim pics before, can really help TLC to see what fans like or dislike !! IF they did that with Mars Mission, I think that line, lets put it in a nice way, may have been better ;-)

Sites like Eurobricks can be a real asset to TLC to see first reations on future products !! A huge scale free market study !! That is something really usefull for a brand I would imagine !!

Also regarding castle and fantasy competitors such as Megablocks already have similar stuff before TLC so I don't really get the point there !!

Now if we take the really wanted pirate line, both Megablock and Playmobile have one, and if TLC were to release one, I sure hope they would stay faithfull to their company trueself and not to upcommong products from competotors !!

And my last point is regarding licenses !! Since they are exclusive to 1 or 2 brands, this de facto excludes competition, so I don't really see the point of not showing those pics to greedy SW fans always craving to see new products.

Tks Ellerb for all these information ;-) Its greatly appreciated !!

*yoda*