Unpopular Opinions about LEGO

[Johnny1360]

Agree and even though I never planned on selling my LEGO, I can see now, I need to do exactly that and I am currently looking at the best way for me to do that. 

Anyway back to unpopular opinions.

[Murdoch17]

I'm gonna get crucified for this:

I, actually enjoyed the Galidor TV show (most* of the toys sucked badly to me, though) and was sad it was cancelled. I didn't understand at the time it was considered campy and had over-the-top acting. Then again, Batman '66 has just about the same levels of both those elements at the time it was released, (Sorry Bat-fans!) and it's considered a classic and an era-defining series. So, maybe given another 15 years, it will get it's due with a reboot as a mini-figure based theme and an animated TV show. (like Ninjago)

*I did like the main bad guy set, though, and had him put together for a long time. When Makuta Icarax was purchased in the summer of '08, I used the Mask of Shadows on him by using technic connector for a head... it didn't look very good aesthetic-wise, but it did look rather sinister. (I wish I had pictures!)

Edited August 5, 2022 by Murdoch17

[The Brick Boss]

People will prolly argue and say it's the high speed passenger train. But the school and supermarket are the best 2022 City sets in my book. Those are city related topics that have never been covered in the City theme before. I actually see hope for this theme. I wonder what they've got in store for next year. 

[koalayummies]

1 hour ago, Murdoch17 said:

I'm gonna get crucified for this:

I, actually enjoyed the Galidor TV show

LOL nah you'll be fine, because you're the only person who actually watched or even knew about that.

[Toastie]

29 minutes ago, koalayummies said:

you're the only person who actually watched or even knew about that.

 

Well, I have never heard of that series, but that is true for almost any series :D

BUT: That these LEGO figures exist, was completely off my radar. OK, 2002 was Mindstorms for me, so I got seriously sidetracked here.

No, as @koalayummies said: No chance to get crucified, I believe as well. Which is good!

And: You like what you like, there is absolutely no, zero, reason to get "whatever" for that! I am happy that you had and have fun with that theme. Does not get any better.

Best,
Thorsten

[Peppermint_M]

I watched the show! It was on CBBC on Tuesdays when I was staying with an Aunty after school. My sister and I watched it because we ate up anything vaguely SciFi/Fantasy. The Bad Guy was called Gorm and we had a real witch of a Deputy Head Teacher (Vice Principal) who was Ms Gormley so our private joke was she was his wife (ah, childhood). I couldn't afford the sets and really, If I had the money, I spent it on regular system sets. I would still like a few bits for my completism in collecting.

(Un)popular opinion: Bring back Modulex! That stuff was ace.

[dr_spock]

On 7/31/2022 at 10:56 PM, Maple said:

I don't know where this idea of banning plastic toys comes from. That's just not going to happen. It's really that simple. 

They could switch to making toys out of wood.  That's more green and sustainable?  You can compost them or make woodchips for your garden.

 

8 hours ago, Johnny1360 said:

I simply have no more room for display, all my display space has become storage space. Which doesn't really matter as I live alone and have no visitors, ever. I have become a hermit hoarder, lol.

Sounds you need a bigger residence.     I do all my displaying at events.  At home, they just sit in transport storage bins awaiting the next show.

 

[LegendaryArticuno]

The real Lego space theme are Space Police, Ice Planet, Spyrius, Roboforce, Exploriens, and UFO.

In comparison, classic space is significantly inferior in design, creativity, and build engineering.  

[MAB]

On 8/5/2022 at 6:06 PM, Murdoch17 said:

I'm gonna get crucified for this:

I, actually enjoyed the Galidor TV show (most* of the toys sucked badly to me, though) and was sad it was cancelled. I didn't understand at the time it was considered campy and had over-the-top acting. Then again, Batman '66 has just about the same levels of both those elements at the time it was released, (Sorry Bat-fans!) and it's considered a classic and an era-defining series. So, maybe given another 15 years, it will get it's due with a reboot as a mini-figure based theme and an animated TV show. (like Ninjago)

*I did like the main bad guy set, though, and had him put together for a long time. When Makuta Icarax was purchased in the summer of '08, I used the Mask of Shadows on him by using technic connector for a head... it didn't look very good aesthetic-wise, but it did look rather sinister. (I wish I had pictures!)

I'm the opposite. I thought the show was rubbish but the toys are pretty decent. They provide some really good parts for MOCing humanoid action figures with brick built limbs and heads, good for customising (cheap, so good for cutting and painting). The only bits I don't like are the human arms, the hands are rubbish.

[danth]

On 8/5/2022 at 3:45 PM, LegendaryArticuno said:

The real Lego space theme are Space Police, Ice Planet, Spyrius, Roboforce, Exploriens, and UFO.

In comparison, classic space is significantly inferior in design, creativity, and build engineering.  

Interesting.

I'm gonna need some examples.

[Murdoch17]

On 8/5/2022 at 5:45 PM, LegendaryArticuno said:

The real Lego space theme are Space Police, Ice Planet, Spyrius, Roboforce, Exploriens, and UFO.

In comparison, classic space is significantly inferior in design, creativity, and build engineering.  

To give CS credit, it was developed in the mid-1970's and was the first mini-figure-scale space theme when released in 1978. SP I & II, Ice Planet Spyrius, Roboforce, Exploriens, and UFO were almost a decade (almost two!) later. So, of course things would change from 1978 to 1997... but I wouldn't say for the better, as the dreaded Junior-ization took effect in most themes by 1998. (see the last gaps of Classic Town) Don't forget: LEGO posted it's first earnings loss in 1998 for fiscal year 1997, the very year UFO and RoboForce came out. (Roboforce was also only ever released in the USA, too)

My popular opinion is CS and SP I / II kept LEGO in the black, while Spyrius, Exploriens, Roboforce, and UFO helped drag it into the red due to being so different to what came before - or since. (Ice Planet was ok, because it gave us trans-orange chainsaw memes!)

Edited August 7, 2022 by Murdoch17

[Lyichir]

1 hour ago, Murdoch17 said:

To give CS credit, it was developed in the mid-1970's and was the first mini-figure-scale space theme when released in 1978. SP I & II, Ice Planet Spyrius, Roboforce, Exploriens, and UFO were almost a decade (almost two!) later. So, of course things would change from 1978 to 1997... but I wouldn't say for the better, as the dreaded Junior-ization took effect in most themes by 1998. (see the last gaps of Classic Town) Don't forget: LEGO posted it's first earnings loss in 1998 for fiscal year 1997, the very year UFO and RoboForce came out. (Roboforce was also only ever released in the USA, too)

My popular opinion is CS and SP I / II kept LEGO in the black, while Spyrius, Exploriens, Roboforce, and UFO helped drag it into the red due to being so different to what came before - or since. (Ice Planet was ok, because it gave us trans-orange chainsaw memes!)

The point at which you separate the themes seems odd to me personally, since while Exploriens and UFO certainly started to rely heavily on bulky, limited-use molds, I never really saw Spyrius as having those particular issues. I disagree with the above poster that the earlier eras of space weren't as good (as you point out, they were the necessary foundation that all later space themes were built upon), but as somebody who grew up with both the good and the not-so-good of '90s space themes, I'd easily rank sets like the Saucer Centurion and Robo Guardian up there with some of the greatest sets from earlier space themes.

[Jiesdeo]

On 8/6/2022 at 12:45 AM, LegendaryArticuno said:

The real Lego space theme are Space Police, Ice Planet, Spyrius, Roboforce, Exploriens, and UFO.

In comparison, classic space is significantly inferior in design, creativity, and build engineering.  

Galaxy Squad had some of the most creative and ingenuitive designs of any space theme.

[LegendaryArticuno]

All official Lego retail stores feel like souless husks, it's depressing that you can travel to another continent and the lego stores, uniforms, displays will all look identical.

Every Lego store should have their own unique look. If located in an area known for breathtaking nature (i.e. Vancouver), it should have classy wooden furnishings, dim rustic lighting, and lots of natural light; or if the store is located in an upscale luxury mall it should have a marble interior, etc.

The yellow aprons also don't make much practical sense compared to workers that wear them in food service, or in hardware/gardening stores like Home Depot.

[Karalora]

44 minutes ago, LegendaryArticuno said:

All official Lego retail stores feel like souless husks, it's depressing that you can travel to another continent and the lego stores, uniforms, displays will all look identical.

It's almost like they're...perfectly interchangeable bricks...

Actually, you're kinda right? I don't know if it would be feasible, much less desirable, to have uniquely styled fixtures and lighting in every store, but the area a store is located in should be reflected in e.g. the Pick-a-Brick wall, unique builds on display, etc.

[MAB]

6 hours ago, LegendaryArticuno said:

All official Lego retail stores feel like souless husks, it's depressing that you can travel to another continent and the lego stores, uniforms, displays will all look identical.

 

Go to Leicester Square in London.

It used to be that lots of LEGO stores did have displays made by local LUGs or AFOLs and they could be based on something local even if the rest of the store was the same furnishings. Now, they seem to display / advertise only what is for sale. Maybe they get too many requests to buy the MOCs as they are better than the sets that are for sale!

[koalayummies]

13 hours ago, LegendaryArticuno said:

All official Lego retail stores feel like souless husks, it's depressing that you can travel to another continent and the lego stores, uniforms, displays will all look identical.

It's called brand, it makes it instantly recognizable and literally every retailer does it. Walgreens, Target, McDonalds, Toys R Us, Best Buy, Walmart, your regional grocery store, Chase bank, Mobil gasoline they all look pretty much identical. These are businesses, for-profit companies; they're not in business to have a soul they're in business to make money. Corporations are not people.

13 hours ago, LegendaryArticuno said:

Every Lego store should have their own unique look. If located in an area known for breathtaking nature (i.e. Vancouver), it should have classy wooden furnishings, dim rustic lighting, and lots of natural light; or if the store is located in an upscale luxury mall it should have a marble interior, etc.

So they should ask the mall, which they lease from, to bust out the ceilings and get permitting from the city for skylights, install pointless wooden furnishings and dim rusting artisanal lighting so you can't see anything. You go to a Lego store to purchase Lego, it's not a local heritage site.

13 hours ago, LegendaryArticuno said:

The yellow aprons also don't make much practical sense compared to workers that wear them in food service, or in hardware/gardening stores like Home Depot.

It's the brand's color. You can immediately identify an employee unlike the Apple store.

[danth]

1 hour ago, koalayummies said:

It's called brand, it makes it instantly recognizable and literally every retailer does it. Walgreens, Target, McDonalds, Toys R Us, Best Buy, Walmart, your regional grocery store, Chase bank, Mobil gasoline they all look pretty much identical. These are businesses, for-profit companies; they're not in business to have a soul they're in business to make money. Corporations are not people.

I can only think of one well known counter-example, Fry's Electronics. But they went out of business so...

[koalayummies]

Haha touche. All those cheesy plaster flying saucer props, dusty old Willys MBs and general mid-20th-century tchotchkes cluttering up their stores couldn't keep Fry's afloat.

Lego does local homages with Lego-built display pieces. They don't need to source Sequoioideae for baseboards in San Francisco, concrete from the Berlin wall, or shelf steel from old London buses for regional nods.

Lego store Paris:

New York:

London:

Beijing:

[Peppermint_M]

I love the new Neon Yellow, I want a lot more parts in this colour and quickly!

[Lyichir]

11 minutes ago, Peppermint_M said:

I love the new Neon Yellow, I want a lot more parts in this colour and quickly!

Out of curiosity, what sort of MOCs do you have planned for it?

I've only got a few pieces in that color so far (Mei's new torso from Monkie Kid, and some Dots parts), and while it seems like a neat color, I'm not totally sure what I'd use it for. It's hard to plan a MOC using it digitally like I tend to when the distinctive "glow" it has doesn't really come across accurately on the digital building programs I use.

Edited August 12, 2022 by Lyichir

[Peppermint_M]

2 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

Out of curiosity, what sort of MOCs do you have planned for it?

I've only got a few pieces in that color so far (Mei's new torso from Monkie Kid, and some Dots parts), and while it seems like a neat color, I'm not totally sure what I'd use it for. It's hard to plan a MOC using it digitally like I tend to when the distinctive "glow" it has doesn't really come across accurately on the digital building programs I use.

Spacecraft, Mecha, Racers of all kinds. I am a ScFi fan and I adore the vibrant work of Chris Foss and other artists like him, the current Neon aesthetic of the New Retro Wave movement and the comic art of Jack Kirby and Jean Giraud. 

If I could have bar plates, bars, lightsaber blades, clips, grills and all those sort of features they would be excellent for detailing a build. Setting out a pinstripe in plate or a stripe from a brick is possible now, bars and clips would allow for maximum vibrant greebling. Paired with the newer blue shades, coral and other less favoured colours, I could make something pretty fun.

[Toastie]

2 hours ago, koalayummies said:

They don't need to source Sequoioideae for baseboards in San Francisco, concrete from the Berlin wall, or shelf steel from old London buses for regional nods. 

They could though.

But they don't. With all their creativity talk and you know what - they could. It would give it a twist. But they don't. They just cash in.

They do it as any profit oriented, make-the-most-out-of-it company or business would do. IMO, they should just shut up on their oh-so-care and we do it because we believe in creativity talk. That is all what bothers me with TLG. Their trash talk, when the release of a new $500+ set is announced as the creativity bomb.

I'd love to see them - on 18+ sets - talking straight.

Spoiler

 

"You have enough money to spare for something different? We care about you. How about putting a ... toy (haha) ... beautifully designed, with matching colors, covering even your favorite theme ... in your living room? Making you young again? Crazy enough? Bringing to life all the memories - or - if you missed out, because you made enough money early on - the LEGO family company feel? The "you did it on your own" feel, at age 18+?

Call Total Recall now at 1- 800-TLG18+

 

Why not? Why camouflaging it? I strongly believe, the $500+ folks will love it.

And there would be no reason at all to do something creative to a store.

Best,
Thorsten

 

 

[dr_spock]

Why is neon yellow so hard to photograph without screwing up the exposure?

[Lion King]

5 hours ago, Peppermint_M said:

I love the new Neon Yellow, I want a lot more parts in this colour and quickly!

Same!