Lego David

Unpopular Opinions about LEGO

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17 hours ago, koalayummies said:

What this Eurobricks member witnessed on a young Lego builder's birthday. Behavior like that should be unpopular. Hit up the Lego store then list it on Bricklink.

Damn, just read it and that's pretty terrible. It's already pretty shitty enough that he's doing what he's doing (grabbing all the stocks of a new set shortly after it's released to artificially inflate the scarcity). And it's one thing to not have the decency to leave out one for the kid but to have the balls to tell them that they should've gotten there sooner and then attempting to sell his mother the very set for a much higher price afterwards? I know he's most likely preying on the desperation but seriously?

Friggin' scalpers...:facepalm:

Edited by JJ Tong (zfogshooterz)

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Lego as a company are a-holes. There... I said it.

Lego has entered a European design protection on the 1x5 plate.

https://justbricks.de/news/2021/01/hat-lego-die-1-x-5-plate-als-geschmacksmuster-schuetzen-lassen-5264

While Lego doesn't even use a 1x5 plate, cobi has that and it also makes up part of the logo of alternative brick seller http://www.steingemachtes.de

This just makes the various hostile lawsuits in Germany over minifigures look silly.

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Here I thought everyone could just drop in and have a bit of a rant. :hmpf:

58 minutes ago, amorti said:

Lego as a company are a-holes. There... I said it.

 

LEGO took the original plastic brick idea from another toy manufacturer and buried the truth for decades, only acknowledging the fact in an 80s lawsuit against Tyco and only presenting it in their history in recent memory. So yah, totally agree!

Other brick companies exist and they are creating some great stuff.

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1 hour ago, amorti said:

Lego has entered a European design protection on the 1x5 plate.

https://justbricks.de/news/2021/01/hat-lego-die-1-x-5-plate-als-geschmacksmuster-schuetzen-lassen-5264

While Lego doesn't even use a 1x5 plate, cobi has that and it also makes up part of the logo of alternative brick seller http://www.steingemachtes.de

Might that indicate that Lego plan to introduce the 1x5 plate and brick in the near future? It seems silly to me that they've never delved into that size, since while 5 is an odd number it's no less rare as a dimension for Lego structures than 3 - and 1x3 has been around for decades.

 

Anyway, to contribute an unpopular opinion: I'm disappointed that baseplates seem to be on the way out. I'm young enough that my childhood was just a few years removed from the era of having a small baseplate in most sets, but baseplates weren't unheard of. I used to look at the catalogues with all the cool raised baseplates in themes like Alpha Team and Adventurers, and later still Indiana Jones, and long to be able to afford them. Alas, I never seemed to be able to save up enough for a big set before it was discontinued (throughout my childhood the biggest set I ever had - aside from a copy of the 2010 Fire Station I won in a competition - was the 2006 X-Wing). I've basically quadrupled my collection of baseplates in less than a year just through buying old job-lots and vintage Paradisa sets - the modern day equivalent of which would have been built on two or three smaller plates and not been as cool.

I've always been a filmmaker - that's what really got me into Lego, and it's what has sustained my interest and prompted my emergence from a second Dark Age a few years ago. For me, baseplates are a godsend. When it comes to making a film set, 16x16 is not big enough - you'd have to be shooting a super-macro shot for that to cover the whole frame. In a world without baseplates, the first step in building a film set is fabricating a base out of larger plates (and let's face it, most people don't have a huge supply of 16x16 plates in the same colour, so we're likely talking 8x8 or smaller). Alternatively, plonk down a 32x32 or even 48x48 baseplate and you're there. I got away with a lot of barebones film sets by sticking a couple of trees and BURPS on a baseplate and sticking a blue background for the sky. Even now coming back into making my films, it's far easier to do my test shots on a baseplate than a behemoth of joined plates.

I would argue, also, that baseplates are useful for sets with any number of minifigures larger than have a designated place in the set (by which I mean, say, a Star Wars ship with one seat in the cockpit but two minifigures). What do you do with the extra figures and tiny side builds? In my case it seems to be "balance them on a flat surface for their few months' display life, hoping they don't fall off and get carried by the dog to who knows where". Much easier to plonk them on the baseplate, where at least you know they're secure.

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Nice thread.  Here is something I did not see, but admittedly I did not read the whole thread. 

The QUALITY gap between Lego and clone brands is narrowing. 

The VALUE gap between official Lego and clone brands, considering price, what they offer in additional colors, etc. is RELLY NARROWING. 

Or worse, may be reversed altogether....

 

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On 8/23/2019 at 2:45 AM, deraven said:

Market Street doesn't count as a Modular Building.

I agree Market Street didn't have as many details as many other modular buildings, but since it's a fan designed $90 set, I think the set is pretty decent.

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16 hours ago, koalayummies said:

What this Eurobricks member witnessed on a young Lego builder's birthday. Behavior like that should be unpopular. Hit up the Lego store then list it on Bricklink.

Yuck. That really sucks. Do stores not have a policy where it’s only one item per customer with sets like that?

- I enjoyed animated stuff like The Yoda Chronicles and the Holiday Special more than the Lego movies released by Warner Brothers. 

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Compatible brand baseplates are better value than the LEGO ones. Exactly the same quality, greater variety in size and colour.

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15 minutes ago, Tariq j said:

- I enjoyed animated stuff like The Yoda Chronicles and the Holiday Special more than the Lego movies released by Warner Brothers. 

- I agree with this! The Yoda Chronicles was much more charming than any of the Lego films. 

- Also, not an unpopular opinion, but a sad fact. We have no official Lego Store in Ireland. But maybe that's actually a good thing, because the one I did visit in Leicester Square was an over-heated, over-packed pressure cooker. Anyway, most non-essential retail is closed here most of the time because of Covid, so browsing in shops for Lego is off the agenda...

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29 minutes ago, Retro said:

Also, not an unpopular opinion, but a sad fact. We have no official Lego Store in Ireland. 

Also none in the two last countries I lived in of Gibraltar and Malta. Even better, Lego doesn't ship to them, so if you want an Exclusive set, you get to buy from scalpers or wait a year or more until it goes general release, if it does. Not ideal for stuff like the gingerbread house which is (as much as toys can be) time sensitive.

Edited by amorti

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15 hours ago, amorti said:

Lego as a company are a-holes. There... I said it.

Lego has entered a European design protection on the 1x5 plate.

https://justbricks.de/news/2021/01/hat-lego-die-1-x-5-plate-als-geschmacksmuster-schuetzen-lassen-5264

While Lego doesn't even use a 1x5 plate, cobi has that and it also makes up part of the logo of alternative brick seller http://www.steingemachtes.de

This just makes the various hostile lawsuits in Germany over minifigures look silly.

I'd hope that LEGO fails to win any protection claim based on that, especially when a company is already using and can prove that they have been using for some time something that LEGO later invent for themselves.

1 hour ago, Tariq j said:

Yuck. That really sucks. Do stores not have a policy where it’s only one item per customer with sets like that?

They do. Sometimes it is 1, sometimes 2, sometimes 5, sometimes 20 or 50. However, a store can always refuse to sell their stock if they wish to keep it on the shelves. Most stores won't refuse a full priced sale though, as their intention is to sell it rather than display it.

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18 hours ago, koalayummies said:

What this Eurobricks member witnessed on a young Lego builder's birthday. Behavior like that should be unpopular. Hit up the Lego store then list it on Bricklink.

Yikes. *huh* Don't think any one would disagree that such behaviour is unaccetable. Scalpers really are the thing lately for electronics lately such as graphic cards and the new xbox and playstation.

16 hours ago, amorti said:

Lego as a company are a-holes. There... I said it.

And on that note Lego had no fricking right to buy Bricklink if they were gonna kick out third party parts from being sold there. I have no complaints about what Lego makes for kids since I'm sure they know what they're doing to make stuff kids will like and that's all that matters really, but if that's what they're gonna do for adult fans then just stay away. :angry:

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9 minutes ago, Trekkie99 said:

 And on that note Lego had no fricking right to buy Bricklink if they were gonna kick out third party parts from being sold there. 

At a fundamental level, it's very much what Lego does.

Lego wants to be the only seller of building block toys, at least in the profitable markets of Europe and North America.

Sadly for the consumer, they don't want to do it by having the best designs or best quality or value products, they want to do it by making it impossible for anyone else to do business in the sector.

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2 hours ago, Trekkie99 said:

And on that note Lego had no fricking right to buy Bricklink if they were gonna kick out third party parts from being sold there. I have no complaints about what Lego makes for kids since I'm sure they know what they're doing to make stuff kids will like and that's all that matters really, but if that's what they're gonna do for adult fans then just stay away. :angry:

It's an interesting point, but I imagine it is what many BL users want. There was huge outrage when BL decided to add brickarms parts to the catalogue, so they could be added to wants lists, be compared between sellers and have prices of sales recorded. It was probably more than 99 to 1 people complaining to people supporting. Many people claimed things like Admin Dan would have been spinning in his grave at what they had done and didn't even realise that they had always been allowed to be sold there when it was run by Admin Dan as custom items and just were not in the catalogue. It is a pain as I used to sell brickwarriors and brickforge parts there, although I reckon less than 0.1% of my sales were non-lego parts. At the same time, Brickowl was profitting from it by attracting new users by making it clear they were pure LEGO only, and that no custom items could be sold there, only genuine LEGO.

It is a bigger issue for things like capes where people used to sell fakes/customs individually or list minifigures that were missing these but added fake ones (or customs, or clones, or replicas, or whatever you want to call them). But of course these items are often exactly the same size and shape as LEGO ones and were not only infringing LEGO's IP, they were also keeping down the prices of genuine items and may not have been safety tested. LEGO cannot allow the sale of items on it's bricklink site to be sold if they are not safety tested. LEGO knows all the items that are allowed are approved for sale with full safety testing. For third party items, it does not know this. Similarly it cannot vouch for painted or modified items, that may have dangerous paints or sharp sections, and hence these are also banned now.

It is also difficult to allow some custom parts. So for example, if they allow brickarms, why not brickwarriors and brickforge. And if they allow those from American companies, why not Chinese companies too?

And some of those parts will be modern warfare related items, which is something LEGO does not support so it would seem odd for them to take a stance against it by not manufacturing their own modern warfare items but allow third party modern warfare items to be sold on a LEGO owned site.

So while it is a pain that we cannot sell / buy good* customs, I think the reason is clear why. *Good as in not infringing on LEGO's parts, such as the various brick arms/warriors/forge items.

 

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It brings me to another question. Let's say any company decides to create "lego" with parts different from the parts TLC makes. For example, I'd like uneven bricks. Especially uneven bow shapes like bow 1x5, 1x7. And bigger bows. In short, more variations. 

If that happens, would you use these 'fake' parts in your MOC? And how far do you want to go with that?

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18 minutes ago, Pinnacle said:

It brings me to another question. Let's say any company decides to create "lego" with parts different from the parts TLC makes. For example, I'd like uneven bricks. Especially uneven bow shapes like bow 1x5, 1x7. And bigger bows. In short, more variations. 

If that happens, would you use these 'fake' parts in your MOC? And how far do you want to go with that?

Personally, no. I'd use two existing half arch pieces plus a filler in the middle to make it an odd length, if that is what you meant by bow. I'm OK with customs for minifigure parts, but only those.

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On 1/12/2021 at 10:50 PM, Alexandrina said:

Might that indicate that Lego plan to introduce the 1x5 plate and brick in the near future?

It might, but that seems unlikely as at this point it's almost a matter of policy not to have a 1*5. Even if they do introduce that, they didn't invent it and have no right at all to protect it.

It's like they never heard of Aesop.

https://fablesofaesop.com/the-dog-in-the-manger.html

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Entirely missed this topic as well (nice one, @Lego David!!!)

Would this be the right place to talk about a 160€ Pirate Ship Model from BlueBrixx? It's Mould King's Flying Dutchman. Which you can get even much cheaper, when let's say digging in (which I do not like at all). No idea whether they stole that design from somebody or from LEGO Ideas or designed it themselves. So this is why I am reluctant to brag about it.

Spoiler

Point is: The model is a blast. I have never ever had so much fun in assembling a brick built model. It is a model, not a toy. She sits (since December 27, 2020) right in front of me. Rigged her up a bit also, as they have provided pieces, I was looking for ages, when it comes to sail boats: These "blocks" (pulleys) to either fasten or route lines. They attach to pieces providing "clips"

But I don't want to go up in flames here ... it is a true clone thing.

Best
Thorsten

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On 1/13/2021 at 11:16 AM, Pinnacle said:

 

If that happens, would you use these 'fake' parts in your MOC? And how far do you want to go with that?

I try not to use them, but I use them if they are necessary.

Edited by JintaiZ

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On 1/13/2021 at 5:40 PM, MAB said:

Personally, no. I'd use two existing half arch pieces plus a filler in the middle to make it an odd length, if that is what you meant by bow. I'm OK with customs for minifigure parts, but only those.

That is the same I do. But is is not always what I really want. Indeed, I meant arch, of course. Sorry for the wrong word..

15 hours ago, JintaiZ said:

I try not to use them, but I use them if they are necessary.

For me, the same. So far, I have not used fake parts, mostly because there are no counterfeit parts I can use. But I’m afraid that I cannot withstand the temptation if there are useful parts with the same quality as real LEGO-parts and TLC do not make them.  

Edited by Pinnacle

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On 1/14/2021 at 11:34 PM, Toastie said:

Entirely missed this topic as well (nice one, @Lego David!!!)

Would this be the right place to talk about a 160€ Pirate Ship Model from BlueBrixx? It's Mould King's Flying Dutchman. Which you can get even much cheaper, when let's say digging in (which I do not like at all). No idea whether they stole that design from somebody or from LEGO Ideas or designed it themselves. So this is why I am reluctant to brag about it.

  Hide contents

Point is: The model is a blast. I have never ever had so much fun in assembling a brick built model. It is a model, not a toy. She sits (since December 27, 2020) right in front of me. Rigged her up a bit also, as they have provided pieces, I was looking for ages, when it comes to sail boats: These "blocks" (pulleys) to either fasten or route lines. They attach to pieces providing "clips"

But I don't want to go up in flames here ... it is a true clone thing.

Best
Thorsten

It hurts to say: The last gew Bluebrixx self-designed MOCs from their historic line such as the mill, the blacksmith, city gate or the half-timbered house are better historic models than Lego has ever made. For half the price. 

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On 1/16/2021 at 3:34 AM, Pinnacle said:

For me, the same. So far, I have not used fake parts, mostly because there are no counterfeit parts I can use. But I’m afraid that I cannot withstand the temptation if there are useful parts with the same quality as real LEGO-parts and TLC do not make them

I don't use custom parts as a matter of principle, I understand some custom minifigure printing and accessories, because there really isn't an alternative, but to me other 'regular' parts just feel like cheating.

To me using a part that is not official, and is not offered or made by Lego seems to defeat the whole purpose of using Lego, which is to use creativity to build something.

On 1/14/2021 at 2:22 AM, MAB said:

It's an interesting point, but I imagine it is what many BL users want. There was huge outrage when BL decided to add brickarms parts to the catalogue, so they could be added to wants lists, be compared between sellers and have prices of sales recorded. It was probably more than 99 to 1 people complaining to people supporting. Many people claimed things like Admin Dan would have been spinning in his grave at what they had done and didn't even realise that they had always been allowed to be sold there when it was run by Admin Dan as custom items and just were not in the catalogue. It is a pain as I used to sell brickwarriors and brickforge parts there, although I reckon less than 0.1% of my sales were non-lego parts. At the same time, Brickowl was profitting from it by attracting new users by making it clear they were pure LEGO only, and that no custom items could be sold there, only genuine LEGO.

. . .

So while it is a pain that we cannot sell / buy good* customs, I think the reason is clear why. *Good as in not infringing on LEGO's parts, such as the various brick arms/warriors/forge items.

I have to agree, no sound minded company would facilitate selling other versions of their own products. If the custom parts were not safe (though they probably are) and something occurred, it would be a massive headache for them.

 

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9 hours ago, Stuartn said:

I have to agree, no sound minded company would facilitate selling other versions of their own products. If the custom parts were not safe (though they probably are) and something occurred, it would be a massive headache for them.

I agree, and such inevitability means they should've never bought bricklink in the first place, kicking customs from their home.

However with what you said in mind, that's probably one of the reason Lego bought Bricklink in a broader sense. When something unofficial becomes so popular that it might be mistaken as something official to the uneducated, that's a problem waiting to happen. What if say a security breach happens at Bricklink and victims blame Lego? "Oh it's not a buisness you own? Well maybe you should have told people that or had that buisness do a better job of letting people know that! I WANNA SPEAK TO THE MANAGAER!!!" If it was with something like that in mind and not to yeet some customs from having a popular place to sell that Lego bought Bricklink them I'm fine with it. 

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32 minutes ago, Trekkie99 said:

I agree, and such inevitability means they should've never bought bricklink in the first place, kicking customs from their home.

However with what you said in mind, that's probably one of the reason Lego bought Bricklink in a broader sense. When something unofficial becomes so popular that it might be mistaken as something official to the uneducated, that's a problem waiting to happen. What if say a security breach happens at Bricklink and victims blame Lego? "Oh it's not a buisness you own? Well maybe you should have told people that or had that buisness do a better job of letting people know that! I WANNA SPEAK TO THE MANAGAER!!!" If it was with something like that in mind and not to yeet some customs from having a popular place to sell that Lego bought Bricklink them I'm fine with it. 

A big reason lego bought BL was the engagement  with the AFOL community and BL's experience with doing the AFOL design program sets.  They will never stop custom parts, but that is such a small amount of the secondary market anyway. It was also clear that BL was not owned by lego before the sale. It said unofficial right under the logo.

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