TLG's stupidest decision?

[john cleese]

I'm rather surprised we havent done this yet but what do you think TLG's worst or most ridiculous decisions were? One has come to mind recently. Ofcourse the whole Bley grey thing is just a joke but something thats been annoying me lately is how they dicontinued and replaced it with I just hate the rigidity of the click hinges.

Rant on! >:-)

Edited January 17, 2008 by john cleese

[Hinckley]

Do you always have to have something to rant about? Sometimes I wonder if you like LEGO at all...

[LuxorV]

I'm rather surprised we havent done this yet but what do you think TLG's worst or most ridiculous decisions were? One has come to mind recently. Ofcourse the whole Bley grey thing is just a joke but something thats been annoying me lately is how they dicontinued and replaced it with I just hate the rigidity of the click hinges.

Rant on! >:-)

I wouldn't worry too much about that, since I have some of the older ones (and can get more on BL if needed ;-) ) and I quite like the rigidity of the new ones, very useful in some MOCs as they can bear more weight.

LuxorV

[Siegfried]

I just hate the rigidity of the click hinges.

You are such a negative nancy for your age! 8-

[KimT]

This has been mentioned in another thread, but the new version on the pin joiner round is hideous and the slot makes it nearly unuseable.

Old version

New version

That's an annoying change. As for the hinge brick, I like the new one. :-P

KimT

[Hinckley]

Also, the new hinge brick fights gravity so we have techniques we couldn't use with the non-click hinges...

[Freddie]

The new creator house also has a new 1x2 clip-hinge (used for the satelite dish) that could be seen as a spiritual succesor to the old 1x2 non-click hinge, with the massive advantage that it's quite solid and far more versatile.

Personally, the dumbest decision LEGO ever did was the introduction of Town Jr. We all know the misery and agony that followed in its wake, so I doubt I need to go deeper than this.

[iamded]

TLC's stupidest decision in my opinion is... well, the colour change. I just prefer the old colours and don't like the fact that now we won't get any more old grey. :'-(

Also, an annoying IMO decision was the release of Jack Stone. X-D I can see why it was released though, as Sinner said once, it's an in between to Duplo and system.

~Peace

[Starwars4J]

Also, the new hinge brick fights gravity so we have techniques we couldn't use with the non-click hinges...

Shh! Don't say that or Sinner will be all over you :-|

[Siegfried]

Shh! Don't say that or Sinner will be all over you :-|

After all these years you still don't understand. :-| I have no problem with the fighting of gravity. We fight gravity on a daily basis, and in the end it almost always wins. It wasn't until we launched probes to the moon that we finally beat gravity... only to be defeated by the moons gravity. X-D I just don't like the creation of gravity via artificial means...

[gylman]

The colour change. No doubt.

From own point of view killing JT and the Adventurers was even worse, but overall in terms of impact on LEGO fans everywhere, killing old gray was worse.

If we are talking about changes in parts, I would say that the Technic change to using liftarms and farings instead of Technic bricks, has largely turned me off Technic, as has the abandonment of useful pneumatic functionality.

I am curious also about how NXT is doing sales-wise. I think they made a big mistake creating a product that does not actually look like LEGO, with awkwardly shaped motors and the new control unit. My impression is that sales are slow on this - I remember speaking to the manager at one big LEGO-affiliated store in Ontario who said that they had sold about 6 of them in nearly half a year, whereas they could not keep the Mindstorms stuff on the shelf at the time that that had come out. I, for one, gave up on NXT. I had a moderate interest in Mindstorms, but NXT killed it.

[snefroe]

If we are talking about changes in parts, I would say that the Technic change to using liftarms and farings instead of Technic bricks, has largely turned me off Technic, as has the abandonment of useful pneumatic functionality.

well i never cared about the colour change to be honest, but Gyl's point about technic is a very good one. I find that lego technic has seen some decisions that just keep on annoying me every time i see a big technic set. the most annoying one is the use of these non studded technic bricks in the sets. Old technic bricks were so easy to use in any moc you wanted to build, and you could even use them as classic bricks, but the modern technic bricks make it impossible to add normal bricks or plates.

[Lost Viking]

I am curious also about how NXT is doing sales-wise. I think they made a big mistake creating a product that does not actually look like LEGO, with awkwardly shaped motors and the new control unit. My impression is that sales are slow on this - I remember speaking to the manager at one big LEGO-affiliated store in Ontario who said that they had sold about 6 of them in nearly half a year, whereas they could not keep the Mindstorms stuff on the shelf at the time that that had come out. I, for one, gave up on NXT. I had a moderate interest in Mindstorms, but NXT killed it.

Yeah, I was thinking of the NXT right when I entered this thread. I have been a big Mindstorm fan for a long time, so I was very excited for when the NXT was announced, but when I finally purchased it, I just found it awkward and hard to build compared to the original. The programming is also a lot simpler, although I am somewhat neutral to this as it is cleaner and well organized, but takes longer.

[john cleese]

Also, the new hinge brick fights gravity so we have techniques we couldn't use with the non-click hinges...

I agree. I think they both have advantages, which is why both should still be in production. And maybe I am being too negative. Next time it will be TLG's best decision. :-D

[The Brick Rat]

Things like click hinges and color changes are mainly AFoL concerns. They're mostly below the radar for members of TLGs target audience. With that in mind, I think one of the stupidest decisions TLG ever made was Galidor. IIRC, TLG bought not only the license to make Galidor construction sets, but full licensing rights - meaning anyone who wanted to produce a Galidor product had to go to TLG for the license to do so. TLG was hoping that Galidor would be the next Power Rangers and potential licensees would be lining up to buy the rights to make Galidor products, but their gamble backfired. The TV show tanked, the Lego line tanked, the licensees never appeared and TLG got burned.

[Aramis]

Ok since I am realatively new back in the LEGO scene [gone for 20 years] and an AFOL, what is this about color changes, the AT-ST I bought had old grey as did the AT-AP

[john cleese]

Ok since I am realatively new back in the LEGO scene [gone for 20 years] and an AFOL, what is this about color changes, the AT-ST I bought had old grey as did the AT-AP

in 2004 lego made they're traditional grey's a new grey with a bluish tinge. If you compare any grey piece in a new set to one in an old set the difference is obvious. We refer to the new one as bley. They also changed the shade of brown they use for pieces and we generally refer to this new color as frown.

Edited January 17, 2008 by john cleese

[Starwars4J]

we generally refer to this new color as frown.

Hinckley refers to it as frown. The rest of the civilized world calls it rewn :-P

[Capn Frank]

Hinckley refers to it as frown. The rest of the civilized world calls it rewn :-P

Or rown. :-P

I use the click and non-click hinges equally.

My preference depends on the purpose of the hinge.

The click hinge is stronger and stays put.

The non-click hinge is much easier to hide and moves easier.

In my Blackhawk i have made recently uses both click and non-click hinges.

P

[blueandwhite]

The dumbest/stupidest decision is always going to be the one that affects you individually the most.

For me, that decision was/is bley. The colour change brought my LEGO purchases to a crashing halt in 2004. I've picked up a few sets here and there, but my overall LEGO buying habits have been dramatically impeded by what I feel is an incompatability issue. I'm a castle fan first and foremost, so this colour change couldn't have been worse. EVERYTHING I build relies on grey. The death of old (earth toned) grey was pretty much the death of my LEGO purchasing. I still buy sets for figs and occasionally just for the build (UCS falcon), but my brick collecting has really hit a wall.

The thing is, if your a train fan the stupidest decision was undoubtedly the end of the rail system. If your a technic fan, changes in technic ccould be a source of major disappointment. In the end, it all depends on how the changes impact you personally. I don't view Galidor or other LEGO misfires as being fatal, simply because they don't impact me as a builder. I don't collect Bionicle either, but its existence hasn't hurt my building routine whatsoever. Galidor or some of LEGO's dud lines are undoubtedly poor decisions, but they never really had a lasting impact on me or LEGO as a whole. The colour change and some of the other permanent system changes are a completely different story!

[Brickmaster]

Frankly my biggest grief, like many others, was the color change. Im managing, though.

I also thought the large, action, KK and Galidor figures were complete flops. I saw them going all over clearance shelves. Even I, a diehard lego fan, didn't want them at severe discount.

[Brickadier General]

Switching from 9V electric trains to battery powered trains. 9V may have been expensive, but electric trains are generally not very cheap. And even then, Lego train sets were still cheaper than Lionel train sets. And batteries are a great inconvenience.

Also, I think destroying the molds for monorail track was not a good idea, especially when they were only used in 3 sets. I think it still would've had more potential.

[Lt. Veers]

TLGs stupidest decision? Exo-force.

Now before you start chucking random things at me, let me explain myself.

When I first saw EF, I though it seems kinda cool. When the second line came in 2007, it really didn't generate any intrest in me. Infact, I have no EF 2007 sets. The first quirk was that they replace the joints from the previos year with bionicle parts, which didn't seem very creative. Second, the took out the light brick. Third, there were a lot of <insert that tiresome argument> pieces. Exo-force just no longer appeals to me.

[Brickmaster]

The first quirk was that they replace the joints from the previos year with bionicle parts, which didn't seem very creative.

The new bionicle joints are much easier to play with, being much smoother and more poseable. The new 2008 are primarily ball jointed except for at the waist, where they need alot of support. I am frankly very impressed with Exo, it is one of my absolute favourite recent lines :-$

For more on the bionicle joints, they simply use the ball joint, theyre basically 2x2 bricks with a ball and a socket, so theyre not true bionicle, just elements made useable for basic lego elements ;-)

I think the mecha line is definately a new step for lego, in creativity, and its making them a nice hunka cash :-P

[hewkii9]

The TV show tanked, the Lego line tanked, the licensees never appeared and TLG got burned.

What??? I always thought the show was based on the Lego sets. You've turned my world upside down.

Hinckley refers to it as frown. The rest of the civilized world calls it rewn :-P

I don't mean to stick my nose into this [but I will anyway], I call is nown. New brOWN.

I'm a castle fan generally now, but for me, their worst decision was the Mahri and removing gear functions. Gear functions made them something other than Lego action figures- wait, that was effectively Galidor, right? And the Mahri [and Barraki somewhat] were poorly designed stickmen with no sense of continuity and seemed rather stupid. Why would you strap multiple rockets to your shoulders, or a vampiric squid to your thigh?