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First of all, excellent model with a mad amount of functions put into the model! Can't wait for a video.

I agree with others on the stand though, that could look a little better (wire, hose and BB hidden better).

 

As for the price, it's steep and something I will never toss at one Lego model. If you did this with the Aston (my favorite real life car and Lego supercar) I would have a very empty shelf. Planes are lower on the ladder than the Aston for me, so I think you see where I stand on this. However, as Blakbird listed all the stuff that goes into it (and I agree on the 1500 euro bricklink estimate, it might have only 1 motor, but alot of pneumatics which aren't exactly cheap either) it is a little easier to understand. Still a little too high for my taste, but I seem to remember Paul Boratko (not sure it was him) mentioning that these prices aren't that rare for custom build projects.

 

That said, I wish buying instructions was an option, just to build it from my own parts (I think I got 70-80% of this already) and see what cool mechanisms you made for the functions.

 

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This is awesome. So many functions packed in to such a great shaped plane. I look forward to the video once you have time to do so.

Kudos for being open about experimenting with custom set sales - I genuinely hope you have success selling a bunch of them to those with deeper pockets than me! :)

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14 hours ago, Jeroen Ottens said:

Is that a Freudian typo or do you refer to the pneumatic hoses? :laugh:

that's typo - needed "those"

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I want to build this MOC and would pay some good money for plans. I'm sure I have all the parts necessary to build this. I hope you plan to sell the building instructions in the near future. Let me know if you do!!

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Wow, that is a very impressive model. I look forward to seeing a video of the functions.

Have you considered any IP infringement issues? 

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Awesome model, I love the concept with the stand, and the see-through body to observe all the mechanism in function. :thumbup::thumbup:

The intakes are spot on, and the front view is just beautiful. It transmits the words "Speed" and "Power" perfectly.

 

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Looking awesome! One question though - have you experimented with different designs for the nose? Looking at some pictures of the real thing it seems like yours’ nose is a bit stubby/blunt.

Edited by Bartybum

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10 hours ago, JamesJT said:

Wow, that is a very impressive model. I look forward to seeing a video of the functions.

Have you considered any IP infringement issues? 

The F-14 came out in 1972 and has been retired since 2006 so he should be good.

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Anybody else's jaw drop when they saw this for the first time? This is one of the most amazing creations I have seen in a while! I cannot wait for a video to show off all of the functions.

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On 11/18/2017 at 5:35 AM, Lox Lego said:

This is what I was thinking....

Yes there is tons of work put into a build, I absolutely agree. And I don’t doubt that many many hours were spent on such a build. As a pro builder, I get the sale of instructions. The price and small reward. But... as other have said.... there is 1 m-motor. And a battery box. Most expensive parts in a build are usually the motors. I just can see any justification for the price.... let alone the remaining 20 sales with a price jack. Sorry... just my 2 cents 

@Lox Lego  I love your builds and love your contributions to the community.  Your supercar builds are second to none and your have taken some building methods to near-perfection.. .. so take the following with a grain of salt. 

Your rational here is just plain incorrect.  M motors, or PF functions period may have the appearance of being the most expensive elements out there, but a well-seasoned builder such as yourself should know different.  Pneumatic pumps, cylinders, rare panels, hoses, hell, even the rare flex axles often cost similar if not more amounts.  Technic is not different than regular system bricks in that if an element is desired and rare, it will become expensive, regardless of actual size, function, or cost to manufacture it (think about the satellite disk from the 2007 UCS MF and #3 red connector). 

 

Also, and this applies to other parties as well, part of being in a community is getting to know the members out there.  Before any attack on Jeroen's pricing of the model was levied towards him, one ought to know a little about Jeroen.  As a long-time, veteran member of the community one ought to have gathered that there is likely no mal-intent behind his pricing.  He likely is not trying to gouge any buyers, has actually been a professional builder for TLG (therefore has a better understanding of pricing and what people will pay), etc., and is not guilty of anything those assuming the worst of his pricing are accusing him of.  As others have said, he will not sell all his sets, and your reasoning that led you to your conclusion of him earning a million dollars is just plain error in reasoning due to extrapolation.  I can see your frustration if the end result is making the guy a millionaire, especially in a community about toys.  But as has been a well-discussed topic in the community now for years..... no one is becoming rich off this stuff, even the popular @sariel and his wonderful youtube channel. 

A few people will pay the price, and it will help Jeroen recoup some of the $$ he has spent in the expensive hobby of Lego building. Maybe even make a couple of bucks.  Good for him. But we certainly aren't gonna see him on the front of Forbes' magazine any time soon because of this, or other Lego models he has created.......

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I know a deja vu feeling when I feel one.

2499570474_2771b71f54_z.jpg

At the first glance I thought I saw it already but then I realized that it is an evolution of the model.

F-14 Tomcat back from 2010

I wanted to double check it and BAM! The piece between the vertical stabilizers and the wing design gave you away! But I'm happy you moved from studded to studless.

Edited by Omikron

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13 hours ago, nerdsforprez said:

@Lox Lego  I love your builds and love your contributions to the community.  Your supercar builds are second to none and your have taken some building methods to near-perfection.. .. so take the following with a grain of salt

Hi Nerdsforprez,

Yes, I may have been irrational. And I do agree with your points and would like to provide an apology to the community and Jeroen. It really is not my business regarding the pricing of anything anyone makes, and for that I am sorry. 
The parts for the build are indeed expensive, and you are correct about certain parts that have much more of a price due to how rare it is perceived. I just thought of all the folks that would love to build it, but will never get the chance. But that is perhaps what makes it such a rare set.
This is my fundamental idea of Lego, build and share. That way others can enjoy the build.
I do wish that Jeroen gets a few sales as I know the time and effort to build such a masterpiece is extremely time consuming and hundreds of hours spent.

Edited by Lox Lego

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This is a very beautiful model.  I love that you can see the insides and the mechanisms, yet it still looks like it has a shape.  Excellent work, Jeroen!

I made an Excel sheet for @Lox Lego and anyone who would like to see why custom sets are so expensive compared to official sets.  I used numbers close to the ones mentioned in this topic.  There's a bunch of assumptions in the calculations, and you can play with the numbers to see how it affects the sale price.  The labor rate that's in the sheet is not very realistic - it's about half of what a business would charge.  And yes, it is a business - just look at the number of employees required to complete this project in one year.

Good luck with your venture @Jeroen Ottens, I hope you are successful.

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18 hours ago, Lox Lego said:

Hi Nerdsforprez,

Yes, I may have been irrational. And I do agree with your points and would like to provide an apology to the community and Jeroen. It really is not my business regarding the pricing of anything anyone makes, and for that I am sorry. 
The parts for the build are indeed expensive, and you are correct about certain parts that have much more of a price due to how rare it is perceived. When I first looked at the pricing it just seemed so disconnected from reality. I thought of all the folks that would love to build it, but will never get the chance. But that is perhaps what makes it such a rare set.
This is my fundamental idea of Lego, build and share. That way others can have a cool set on their wall and be proud.
I will refrain from discussing the price of an item in future, it is really not my business as you (and others) have said. 
I do wish that Jeroen gets a few sales as I know the time and effort to build such a masterpiece is extremely time consuming and hundreds of hours spent. 
My apologies, Loxlego

Not  a problem at all.  But wonderful response nonetheless.  We'll put the issue to bed and get back to Jeroen's wonderful build.  

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Wonderfull Design !

To answer some point to the price, it is a bit expensive but easily understood.

Personnaly, when people ask me to build something, we talk often in k€ and not €, because even with 20h of works plus parts + margins, we goes over 1000€. And what I do with 20hours of work ? Mailny machine, car, truck etc (<2000parts). at the end, after the taxe, it remains less than a third for incomes to live. So have to sell many project in month to get a correct salary, and of course spend time to make instructions, order parts, sort and repack and make proposal (how to announce a price for a customer without make some lego before ? -> always no paid time). That is why I prefer sell a unique model, with no building instructions (mainly for industrial because they understand the cost of this), only design, order, check and delivery. But of course, I have already the sale of the building instructions which help.

I have a regular job, and make this only for interesting project from serious people (because on my spare time), but I trully understand the price of this tomcat. I certainly would have put a bit less, but not goes too far. People do not realize the cost behind a company.

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Congratulations to @Jeroen Ottens! This build looks awesome!

But if I may say I second the other opinions expressed above. I do not appreciate the business model, which I consider almost a robbery. Instead of sharing cool ideas and interacting with the community; this is just a rip off. My mere opinion is that eurobricks should have just taken down the page at first place, since the whole post is just a commercial advertisement of an overpriced product. Although, I believe the provocative pricing would prove quite inviting for Lepin and other companies in the end...

Anyway I guess my opinion is not that important, since the exclusive community may feel differently. In this regard, I wish @Jeroen Ottens successful sales and would like to congratulate him on more time for his wonderful build.

 

Edited by Mysh

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38 minutes ago, Mysh said:

 I do not appreciate the business model, which I consider almost a robbery. Instead of sharing cool ideas and interacting with the community; this is just a rip off. 

Do you understand how a business works? Prices are not pulled out of thin air. Labor, materials and operating expenses get added up, a profit margin is applied, and you end up with a price.

Affordability is completely separate from the cost of manufacturing. It is only a factor in the amount of potential sales. 

If you or others cannot afford to pay this price, move along. There is no need to disparage what Jeroen is doing. Do you walk into Lamborghini dealerships and declare that "this is highway robbery and a ripoff"? 

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Thanks @Jeroen Ottens for sharing this with us. On the pictures it doesn't look as big as it is in reality. Looking forward seeing a video which would clearly help undestanding all the described functions.

Regarding the price and topic discussions: I'm fine with the price @Jeroen Ottens asks. It might be too high for my personal taste but I don't have to buy it. And if he doesn't want to sell instructions that's also up to him. There are many other topics with unique models on eurobricks where we will never have a chance of building them because of missing instructions or details. And just pull down a topic because of the asked price of the finished model is not the right thing to do in my opinion since then equally we would need to tear down all topics asking even a price for instructions. Although I would appreciate if instructions are for free I realize that making a wonderful moc takes a lot of time. And not everyone want's to then give instructions away for free because creating them takes another amount of time. And I fully respect that. These are my two cents regarding this :) 

It's actually quite sad that the discussion about the price of the moc is more prominent that than the appreciation given to this wonderful moc. Event in my post...

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Very impressive model with a lot of functions.

Not for everyone, but work is unique and definitely cost its price.

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