technic70s

2019 LEGO Trains - 70424

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On 2/16/2019 at 11:27 AM, TrainDragon said:

I'm interested in that weird track piece.  That "funnel" shaped piece in front of the locomotive.  Could function as an on/off ramp to tracks could be useful somehow.

From the look of the piece, I'd say it's a re-railer.   Something that kids can use to easily get the train onto the track, without needing to manually ensure that each wheelset is properly nestled between the rails.

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Hey, at least it has the prototypical wings and opening mouth in the "nose" that was typical of late generation Alco's (grin).

Seriously though, this is a set that happens to have train parts, lego is tossing the train community a bone. This is a good thing and we should be glad that they are keeping the parts we need in production. The straight track is a fantastic addition. If the other bits are attractive enough to get many to part the set out, the price of straight track will come down on Bricklink et al. Likewise, an extra source of train wheels is always nice.

 

On 2/17/2019 at 10:37 PM, technic70s said:

While it is great to see the train doors in another set in black (City Bus 60154 has some left side) it is very painful that they don' do the rounded corner train windows of old. The new Hogwarts Express was a big opportunity to reintroduce them, but I guess the moulds for the square type windows frames are not at the end of their life yet. 

It does have the old style train windows in the door... well, a new style of the old style train windows.

It looks to be an interesting theme, definitely not aimed at AFOL's directly, but there is potential for a lot of great parts. I'd be more worried that Lego has not been the greatest with the software ventures. The youtube videos show a bit off a "shoot'em up" game with various bosses to defeat. I suspect there is a narrow range of ages that will be into that type of game before hungering for something more shooty or what have you. I would think that the most successful games are ones that are games first rather than being an add on to a lego set. Which is fine. I hope it has an explore function so that you can see the ghosts without having to go shooting or gaming. I'd certainly play with that for an hour or so after the kids went to bed. As for the AR, it looks as if the loco and the track both have bright light orange 1x1 rounds as markers.

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3 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

this is a set that happens to have train parts, lego is tossing the train community a bone.

It does have the old style train windows in the door... well, a new style of the old style train windows.

No, they're really not. To me it feels as if they're making fun of us. Yes, that thing has train doors and I will try to buy those glass pieces, but that's about it. That is NOT a set that any sane person would want to part out for the train parts and since it's a rather expensive set due to it's app, the more interesting bits and pieces will end up being expensive on the secondary market. No train buffers, no train windows, no 6x28 train base in black... and I would be shocked, if the two bogie plates were black. Even that school bus would have looked way better with train doors and windows.

I just spent 200€+ on 30 tan train windows, because I noticed that prices seem to be going up towards the 10€ mark. I also ended up spending 60€+ for a full set (6 pieces) of large black train wheels, a few years ago. You still can't get them from B&P, even though they're in the new Hogwarts Express. That same Hogwarts Express that you're only allowed to buy five copies of. You may look at the picture of those wheels in the B&P listing all day long, but the "order" button is greyed out. Same goes for the tan train windows in the 10194 listing. I still need at least 16 bogie plates in black. They're 6€+/each nowadays, while the ugly yellow ones can be had for 0.65€/each. Stoked.

Edited by 3797

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Hooray, new trains! And even better, new track! Oh, and a new way of connecting wagons and keeping them connected, just like I'm anyways already doing because of the weakness of magnets when you run them for a whole day!

You know, I don't mind what they look like, from which theme they are, or which colors they use. Every train that Lego releases is just another chance for kids and adults to get into the trainhobby and become a true trainhead. And that in turn again gives Lego the opportunity to release even more trains, and new track (New track!! Even though it's a super lazy element, it's new track!!) and all those other parts that are needed to build trains. 

(even more, I remember the dark years when there was a train coming out only every three years, or trains that didn't even run on track (I look at you, timecruisers!) so having a new one within a year of the new PuP trains isn't so bad to begin with, right?

Also: Hooray, new trains! New trains! 

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i dont really like the balljoint couplings either. i think they would fit on a more „special“ train like a monorail.

one advantage the balljoint couplings do have is that they make a more solid connection so if you have many train cars they dont decouple.

 

XG BC

Edited by XG BC

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8 hours ago, 3797 said:

I just spent 200€+ on 30 tan train windows, because I noticed that prices seem to be going up towards the 10€ mark

Are these not available from any of the clone brands? *oh2* 

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9 hours ago, 3797 said:

No train buffers, no train windows, no 6x28 train base in black... and I would be shocked, if the two bogie plates were black. 

This.

Even with the hideous design, if they had genuinely thrown train AFOLs a bone by using a few of the above (easy enough to do) - I would have considered picking these up just for parts.

As it is, the only useful part looks to be the black train doors and it’s nowhere near worth it just for those.

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4 hours ago, andythenorth said:

Are these not available from any of the clone brands? *oh2* 

If you don't mind the odd dabbling in heretic ways, I would only trust white or black as a colour match from clone brands, then maybe greys and blue under extreme caution.

So tan windows  = next to impossible. However, black bogie plates should be good unless you get a badly molded one.

 

Still think these hidden sets are taking away from core LEGO play-ability... as soon as the children MOD it to something else, the image recognition will stop working for the ghost things. That's if they get round to playing with bricks at all with a phone stuck in front of their faces.

 

Could be wrong but don't see how that re-railer track piece helps AFOLs, it's really what you would want for DUPLO level. Maybe it's because you have one hand stuck to your phone, which is also stuck to your face, so cannot focus very well where the wheels are going.

 

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20 hours ago, 3797 said:

No, they're really not. To me it feels as if they're making fun of us. Yes, that thing has train doors and I will try to buy those glass pieces, but that's about it. That is NOT a set that any sane person would want to part out for the train parts and since it's a rather expensive set due to it's app, the more interesting bits and pieces will end up being expensive on the secondary market. No train buffers, no train windows, no 6x28 train base in black... and I would be shocked, if the two bogie plates were black. Even that school bus would have looked way better with train doors and windows.

Yes, I'd rather have more AFOL train sets, and next to that, an honest full array of lego train cars available as single cars. But on the other hand, Lego could stop making trains altogether. So the fact that they are producing the basic parts (wheels and track) the rest can be worked around. So in short, I like the train better than the bus because it has the train parts, but I'm not in love with either of them.

Keep in mind that even if few part out the sets, the individual bricks can also be bought from lego customer service for less than the aftermarket on tan windows.

 

 

7 hours ago, bricks n bolts said:

Still think these hidden sets are taking away from core LEGO play-ability... as soon as the children MOD it to something else, the image recognition will stop working for the ghost things. That's if they get round to playing with bricks at all with a phone stuck in front of their faces

That is an excellent point, I can pull out my old lego sets from when I was a kid and they still work the same way. A little yellowed and scratched, but still completely functional. In 5-6 years the app will no longer be supported and no contemporary phone will run it.

Sadly though, often my kids would prefer to build virtual stuff in minecraft rather than physical stuff out of lego. So lego is exploring ways of trying to capture the virtual headed kids out there.

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On 2/17/2019 at 4:52 PM, Aanchir said:

And this isn't something I'm only bringing up about stuff like trains and castles and other themes...

Yeah, Scott, dude, Mr. #BronyCon 2017, I'm aware that you like to hide behind these walls of text. Whenever someone has the audacity to ask for nicer train stuff, castles or Pirate sets, you will make sure to pop in and tell us how stupid our requests are. Always trying your best to ruin it for us LEGO fans who were born before the year 1991. If you don't like these themes, then why not stay out of here and keep posting about friends sets and bionicle masks.

Just now, zephyr1934 said:

Yes, I'd rather have more AFOL train sets, and next to that, an honest full array of lego train cars available as single cars. But on the other hand, Lego could stop making trains altogether. So the fact that they are producing the basic parts (wheels and track) the rest can be worked around. So in short, I like the train better than the bus because it has the train parts, but I'm not in love with either of them.

Keep in mind that even if few part out the sets, the individual bricks can also be bought from lego customer service for less than the aftermarket on tan windows.

The problem is that they aren't selling the essential pieces on their webshop. There would be much less criticism, if they did. I don't need City trains to be on the same level as the Creator Expert trains. Also, it remains to be seen, if they will actually sell the glass pieces for the doors on B&P.

Here's a nice example:

33277584648_5c3175918a.jpg

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7 minutes ago, 3797 said:

The problem is that they aren't selling the essential pieces on their webshop. There would be much less criticism, if they did. I don't need City trains to be on the same level as the Creator Expert trains. Also, it remains to be seen, if they will actually sell the glass pieces for the doors on B&P.

Ah, okay, yes, that sucks, but maybe a month or two after the VR train comes out the parts would be available.

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7 hours ago, bricks n bolts said:

If you don't mind the odd dabbling in heretic ways, I would only trust white or black as a colour match from clone brands, then maybe greys and blue under extreme caution.

So tan windows  = next to impossible. However, black bogie plates should be good unless you get a badly molded one.

I wasn't going to talk about clone stuff on here anymore, but since this is about spare parts and not about cloned sets...

Before spending 200€+ on those 30 tan train windows, I got some from China. I only replaced them, because I didn't want any Lepin in my otherwise pure LEGO collection. I'm glad that I had bought close to 200 brand new glass pieces about a decade ago.

7,50€ LEGO train window to the left. Lepin train window (and glass piece) to the right.

47152963081_79bfb7cc2e_c.jpg

47100736622_9617c99129_c.jpg

46429487004_568f6d05cc_c.jpg

Sorry about the lighting. It's 6:20 in the morning, so no natural daylight, yet.

11 hours ago, ElectroDiva said:

This.

Even with the hideous design, if they had genuinely thrown train AFOLs a bone by using a few of the above (easy enough to do) - I would have considered picking these up just for parts.

As it is, the only useful part looks to be the black train doors and it’s nowhere near worth it just for those.

Same. I bought five of the Hogwarts Express sets mainly for the large wheels but I also liked the figures. Now I'm not sure, if I should open them or not.

Edited by 3797

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1 hour ago, 3797 said:

I wasn't going to talk about clone stuff on here anymore, but since this is about spare parts and not about cloned sets...

Before spending 200€+ on those 30 tan train windows, I got some from China. I only replaced them, because I didn't want any Lepin in my otherwise pure LEGO collection. I'm glad that I had bought close to 200 brand new glass pieces about a decade ago.

7,50€ LEGO train window to the left. Lepin train window (and glass piece) to the right.

Oh wow, pretty damn close, perhaps a shade lighter, I haven't dabbled in Lepin but they do seem to have gone the extra mile in making more exact clones.

I did forget about Lepin, I was going more off what Enlighten and Ausini come out with in my comment.

I wonder what the Lepin Horizon Express orange is like, even if it was slightly off though it would drive me nuts mixing the bricks with LEGO stuff.

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Boy, that is the lamest preview video ever - kid sits in front of Lego set staring at a smart phone. I hope 'interactive' lines like these flop.

Edited by ProvenceTristram

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3 hours ago, 3797 said:

I bought five of the Hogwarts Express sets mainly for the large wheels but I also liked the figures. Now I'm not sure, if I should open them or not.

You bring up an interesting point here. One of which only Lego knows the answer, but for us always is a black box: How much do we actually buy, and how much of the turnover and profit at Lego actually comes from us? In the creator expert line this obviously is a big chunk, but I'm inclined to believe that his isn't the case at all when it comes to sets like the Hidden theme. So, it makes sense to not tailor this train to us, since we are simply NOT the core demographic for these sets, not even so that we would buy them as parts packs!

 

Interestingly enough, it also seems to depend a bit on the set designer; Mark Stafford (nabii) has said several times iirc that he on purpose added certain bricks in for example the Ninjago sets he was designing so that we as afols saw them as parts packs, in hopes of increasing sales.

 

 

(Also, I think none of you have ever had a show where you have to put 4 8-wide carriages plus loco on tracks. If you had, you would be just as enthousiast for that re-railer as I am right now.. I can tell you, last year was hell without that piece. You don't want to know how much time an otherwise simple tasks as putting an train on track costs when there are like 100 kids around you that want to see that train running instead of seeing you fiddling around and trying to actually get it on the track properly)

Edited by raised

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53 minutes ago, raised said:

Also, I think none of you have ever had a show where you have to put 4 8-wide carriages plus loco on tracks. If you had, you would be just as enthousiast for that re-railer as I am right now..

Well, but now you've just showed the case when AFOL would be indeed interested in buying that set for parts - at least till it shows in other sets.

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7 hours ago, 3797 said:

7,50€ LEGO train window to the left. Lepin train window (and glass piece) to the right.

Eh the Lepin pieces looking pretty good.  From the pictures, the quality is obviously a bit lower, but not bad.

Brick purity is over-rated.  I just get an itch about businesses making profits from nakedly copying Lego's intellectual property.

Got no problem buying 3D printed parts from hobbyists though. 

Stuff changes eh :classic:

I've been around Lego internet forums for about 20 years, pretty much same-old same-old for train AFOLs. 

Lego just aren't going to give you what you want, so why not go 3rd party?  :classic:

 

Edited by andythenorth

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I don't know how a LEGO Hidden Side Train thread "derailed" into a Clone/Bootleg part thread... but going by the guidelines this isn't the place for it.

I am not a moderator, but it still says any discussion if at all should be at the Community section of Forum.

This isn't a jab at people, just doesn't feel like the right place to me.

Edited by TeriXeri

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11 hours ago, 3797 said:

Yeah, Scott, dude, Mr. #BronyCon 2017, I'm aware that you like to hide behind these walls of text. Whenever someone has the audacity to ask for nicer train stuff, castles or Pirate sets, you will make sure to pop in and tell us how stupid our requests are. Always trying your best to ruin it for us LEGO fans who were born before the year 1991. If you don't like these themes, then why not stay out of here and keep posting about friends sets and bionicle masks.

A few things. My name is Skye, I'm not a dude, and I'm not "hiding" behind walls of text, I'm just not very good at expressing myself concisely, which I'm not proud of . And frankly, you seem to be reading my comments pretty selectively if you somehow haven't noticed that I have made plenty of posts of my own — including in this very thread! — suggesting stuff I'd like to see in future Castle, Pirates, Space, or train sets.

I absolutely don't think that other people's wishes for more or nicer sets in these categories are inherently "stupid", though sometimes I do get frustrated with the way that people act like LEGO can't possibly have any valid reason for not giving them exactly what they want from a particular category — even when set designers have explained some of the reasons why this stuff isn't as practical as fans might think.

As I've said in this very thread, that applies just as much to when I encounter that kind of stubbornness in discussions about the themes that ARE my favorites, like Bionicle, Ninjago, and Elves. "How to bring back Bionicle/Why LEGO should bring back Bionicle" threads on some of the other sites I frequent are often downright obnoxious compared to the threads about the future of LEGO Castle or LEGO Space or LEGO Trains here on Eurobricks!

So again, I'd like you to drop the attitude. YOU'RE the one who seems to think it's worth making entire posts or wasting entire paragraphs talking down to me or telling me I'm not welcome in this discussion. MY previous posts in this thread have just been sharing links, facts, and opinions about the same train-related topics everybody else has been discussing.

6 hours ago, raised said:

Interestingly enough, it also seems to depend a bit on the set designer; Mark Stafford (nabii) has said several times iirc that he on purpose added certain bricks in for example the Ninjago sets he was designing so that we as afols saw them as parts packs, in hopes of increasing sales.

When designers (particularly designers who are AFOLs themselves) do stuff like this, I don't know if it's as much about improving the overall sales numbers of the set/theme so much as trying either to leverage their role as a designer to give back to the communities they came from, or just to introduce stuff that would have appealed to THEM back before they became designers.

After all, introducing a new recolor or mold usually doesn't just make it available from that set alone, but also from Bricks & Pieces, LUGBULK, or any future sets that other designers decide to include them in. The big hurdle is bringing the element into existence, and how AFOLs wind up obtaining them isn't quite as much of an immediate concern.

In fact, designer Nick Vas recently sent a tweet to let AFOLs know when some of the recolors he introduced for the rare-ish Dragon Dance set were added to Bricks & Pieces:

 

2 hours ago, andythenorth said:

Brick purity is over-rated.  I just get an itch about businesses making profits from nakedly copying Lego's intellectual property.

Got no problem buying 3D printed parts from hobbyists though.

I can't say I care much about either clone brands or hobbyists copying individual older parts like these train windows — I suspect by now they've already lapsed into the public domain, since patents tend to expire after 20 years, trademarks can lapse if a company stops using them, and copyright on toy designs only applies to ornamental characteristics rather than functional ones.

This last bit has been the cornerstone of a lot of IP litigation involving copies of the minifigure or mini-doll, since it often comes down to LEGO's legal team demonstrating that the same functional uses are achievable without an identical or near-identical ornamental design. The only real ornamental aspects of the train window frame and pane are based specifically on the real-life subject, not ones original to the LEGO piece.

Third-party parts and sets do sometimes unnerve me for other reasons, like when they copy more recent parts/sets or ornamental aspects of part/set designs, but I don't see any problem with clone brands or customizers copying nearly 40-year-old functional elements that LEGO has stopped producing. Let alone with the customizers like ME Models who produce stuff like L-gauge rail pieces with different lengths or radii that are based on the same standards as older, still-in-use LEGO parts, but not specifically copying parts LEGO has made.

Edited by Aanchir

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One word from me about Clone brands and 3rd party brick producers.

I think we can agree to some points already pointed out: There is nothing wrong with producing old and abandoned elements originally made from TLC. Also there is nothing to say about using new elements which simply don't exist (yet) from TLC.
If you call yourself a hardcore purist (like me) - well, then just don't work with those parts and everybody is fine. But please be gentle to those who have a wider understanding of building with bricks.

BUT

when it comes to clone brands - and here especially LEPIN has to be named and blamed - who copy IP from TLC and (in my view even worse) from AFOLs alike, we ask everybody to write/talk about there wherever, but not here on EB! :hmpf_bad:
They are making profit by stealing the ideas! :damn: That's a fact that should be taken care of at court to stop this illegal behaviour!
These brands don't deserve neither attention nor support from our side.

 

That on the other hand does NOT mean that we don't appreciate criticism about TLC. :wink:

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22 hours ago, bricks n bolts said:

 

Could be wrong but don't see how that re-railer track piece helps AFOLs, it's really what you would want for DUPLO level. Maybe it's because you have one hand stuck to your phone, which is also stuck to your face, so cannot focus very well where the wheels are going.

 

I for one will be getting this set FOR the re-railer, as it will make  putting my 4-8-8-4 Big Boy with Centipede tender back on the track a breeze! Not to mention all the other good train parts like the doors!

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6 minutes ago, ALCO said:

I for one will be getting this set FOR the re-railer, as it will make  putting my 4-8-8-4 Big Boy with Centipede tender back on the track a breeze! Not to mention all the other good train parts like the doors!

Im with you here. I have big 8 wide diesels and rolling stock with detailed side frames and such. It makes it a pain to put trains on the rails. I will probably build a single bay workshop that hides this piece inside it but is easily removed for setup or re-railing at shows. 

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