New LEGO Forma

[TechnicRCRacer]

7 minutes ago, zux said:

will be bough by investors/scalpers and will later go for crazy money because of exclusivity.

I will probably do that 

[Bartybum]

9 hours ago, knotian said:

 

Maboo35 - I agree with you. Really detracts from tradition. TLG recent moves baffle me - diversification and new formats spoil the heritage.

 

Lol heritage and tradition are almost as buzzword-y as the fluff they wrote on the Indiegogo page. They really don’t mean much and shouldn’t be followed for the sake of being followed. I see no reason to not try new themes, otherwise TLC will go stagnant. This theme in particular (assuming it’s for kinetic sculptures) is one I’ve wanted Lego to do for a long time now imo.

What recent TLC moves have baffled you in particular? I sorta agree on that point but I’d like to know either way specifically what it is that baffles you.

On 9/30/2018 at 6:40 AM, Maaboo35 said:

I mean that I just don't understand the idea or why TLG is doing it. "Creativity"? Appeal for adults? TLG has all this already. The Forma concept just isn't making sense to me. 

I’m willing to bet that they just wanted to do a kinetic sculpture theme but are trying to play it safe since they’re not sure if people are gonna be interested in them.

Ignore all the buzzwords and paragraphs about oooohh creativity and oooooh expression on the page tbh, that’s just them trying to play up to investors or something.

I have a strong suspicion that Forma exists because many adults are embarrassed to be seen playing with Lego because it still holds its reputation as a kid’s toy, so they wanted some professional/artiste looking Lego instead of just the regular sets. To the average office worker a Lego kinetic fish on the desk probably looks way more professional than a Millennium Falcon.

Edited September 30, 2018 by Bartybum

[deraven]

3 hours ago, TechnicRCRacer said:

will be bough by investors/scalpers and will later go for crazy money because of exclusivity.

They're limiting it to 1 per account, probably to discourage that as well as to gauge actual interest.

3 minutes ago, Bartybum said:

I have a strong suspicion that Forma exists because many adults are embarrassed to be seen playing with Lego because it still holds its reputation as a kid’s toy, so they wanted some professional/artiste looking Lego instead of just the regular sets.

This is what I was getting at earlier myself (maybe in the other thread)- I think that's also the reason it's on Indiegogo instead of being sold direct: it has that more "hip," quirky, non-toy feel for the people they're trying to connect with.  I've seen ads for it coming up in my social media feeds, and they don't even mention Lego or show the logo anywhere.  Clearly trying to break into another segment of consumers and play up the limited run appeal and whatnot.  I think it rubs some of us on this board the wrong way because we're obviously already well past such contrivances.  

[Bartybum]

@deraven Pretty much, this set isn’t targeted for the masses, it’s targeted at a specific group that’s too embarrassed to be part of the masses 

[BrickbyBrickTechnic]

I like the set. It's a nicely executed kinetic sculpture, comparable to JKBrickworks' very simple sculptures to some extent. The brand on the other hand, makes no sense to me.

Edited October 1, 2018 by BrickbyBrickTechnic

[Johnny1360]

I don't much care for this at all but I don't hate it and I don't understand why so many do. If someone likes it and buys it good for them, LEGO is doing many more other things I do like, so why shouldn't they try something a little different. I really do hope very much that this "skin" thing doesn't spill over into other lines though, I would hate that. It just seems like an easy out to actually skillfully defining shapes with existing parts. 

[deraven]

22 minutes ago, BrickbyBrickTechnic said:

comparable to JKBrickworks

I disagree, personally.  I would rather Lego worked with JK and put out some enhanced versions rather than doing this.  As has been noted before, I think the movement is sloppy and that's something that JK always gets very right.  But maybe this is a first step into that kind of thing which would be awesome.

13 minutes ago, Johnny1360 said:

I really do hope very much that this "skin" thing doesn't spill over into other lines though, I would hate that.

100% agreed on that!  It's like Jack Stone juniorization all over again if it's used for anything else outside of this very limited scope.  I can segment in my mind and find value in the "true" Lego part of the experience being building the Technic mechanism and then the skins just being to "pretty it up" a bit for this different target audience they're aiming for.  It's a bit like the old Technic where you'd build all the awesome mechanics and then they had just the few swoops of flextube to suggest the rest of the shape of what you were building, and with limited use this feels a bit like that to me.  So long as the skins thing sticks only to similar projects, perhaps all in the Forma line, I don't think it'll bother me.

[J_C]

why is the targeted to adults? 

6yo would get bored with it in 30minutes (that includes 15minutes of building).

maybe I underestimate the aging hipsters market and its desire to buy knick knacks and dust-collectors, but I just do not understand this. This does not bring anything over conventional LEGO, neither for adults nor for children.

[Bartybum]

@J_C It does though. It looks far more professional sitting on a desk than any other set because it looks like an art piece.

Also, I’ve figured out why it looks like it’s flopping around - it’s a symptom of fixing the middle joint in place. As a result the fish can only rotate and so you can’t get the side-to-side sweeping motion of a real fish. I replicated it using a graphing tool, and no matter what I did, constraining the middle joint made the fish look like it was just flopping around.

 It’ll be worth trying to mod this set to allow the middle section to translate sideways as well as rotate.

[TeamThrifty]

Interesting that nobody seems to have mentioned the obvious angle thats repeated in the video - relaxation. Especially when, in the thread on here about why you build with technic, many people myself included, said we found it relaxing...

...so if i were TLG, and i spotted the relaxation sub-niche, how would i target that market? Smash it with a Bugatti and an Off road crane? Nah, cos that already has a market and would be dumb.

They needed a new angle, and this is it. Its not meant to appeal to the technic builders because, to be blunt, they've already got us!

Its new people they're after, different angle, different demographic. We're not intended to be the buyers... Simples really. 

[Void_S]

@TeamThrifty, it sounds very reasonable. Personally, when I was reading your text I imagined a bit different kinetic sculpture - the Koi model that is made of levers and counterweights and moves (in the same manner, probably) by the air movement (wind or breath), not by a number of gears and lever. Just stays somewhere and moves independently while you're just watching.

[Seasider]

As I’m sure I’ve said before I like to build, especially from instructions, to calm myself, relax and switch off.

i guess a bit like adult colouring books that were “on trend” a year or 2 back here in the uk with the aim of adults relaxing while colouring.

im looking forward to this even if it ends up being just a 1 off limited collectors item

[Kristel]

I can see the appeal in this set - the relaxation of building, being able to customise a skin and it's a nice small set to display somewhere.  What I don't like is the price and that it is not available in Australia (although at the current price that is less of an issue).

[Seasider]

Not sure where Forma should live. I think most probably “Special Themes”.

Here’s a link to my new post. I may “review” it tomorrow (Sunday).

 

[Square]

Lego Forma got gutted for global release: 

 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lego-forma-add-a-splash-of-creativity-to-your-day#/updates/all 

 

 

 

[Gray Gear]

Why do they mention creativity so often in the video? You are following the instructions the way you do with any other LEGO set. There is nothing creative about that. The weird Fish skinn pieces only fit this model, and they even tell you in the vid to put it on a shelf and leave it. They don't even want you to MOC or modify, which would actually being creative with LEGOs, and thats how you can really create something you can be proud of. 

[Maaboo the Witch]

...meh.