Unpopular Opinions about LEGO

[Lion King]

My unpopular opinion: I dislike brick-built creatures like T-rex from Jurassic World or dragons from Ninjago. 

For me, I do wish there would be molded dragon. Sadly, no molds for dragon since 2005 that we had seen Hungarian Horntail in Harry Potter theme. Quetalcoatlus from Jurassic World does remind me of dragon. 

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

6 minutes ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

My unpopular opinion: I dislike brick-built creatures like T-rex from Jurassic World or dragons from Ninjago. 

For me, I do wish there would be molded dragon. Sadly, no molds for dragon since 2005 that we had seen Hungarian Horntail in Harry Potter theme. Quetalcoatlus from Jurassic World does remind me of dragon. 

We had dragons more recently than that. Smaug (who is currently expensive) and a dragon that came in a Castle set in the Dragon Mountain set (2014). Still, those were released a while ago.

[MAB]

10 hours ago, zoth33 said:

I'm not a fan of the minidolls either mainly becaus of articulation

I prefer minifigs because that is what comes with most of the themes I enjoy. If they did Castle or LOTR or fantasy with minidolls I'd probably switch allegiance to minidolls.

[Lion King]

10 hours ago, 1980-Something-Space-Guy said:

We had dragons more recently than that. Smaug (who is currently expensive) and a dragon that came in a Castle set in the Dragon Mountain set (2014). Still, those were released a while ago.

Ohh I competely forgot about them! Yeah.  I just don’t get it why Ninjago keeps using brick-built dragons if the theme is going on over 10 years now and there is some enough budget.

Oh well…I will wiat for molded dragon then. 

[MAB]

2 hours ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

Ohh I competely forgot about them! Yeah.  I just don’t get it why Ninjago keeps using brick-built dragons if the theme is going on over 10 years now and there is some enough budget.

Presumably because there is far wider creative freedom for brick built than molded large creatures. If they are going to do a few different dragons in a theme they can vary them in style or size by using existing parts rather than having each one the same but varying the colour only. Also in Ninjago (and Elves) dragon sets, the dragon tends to be the set. LEGO is a building toy so it makes sense that the major item in the set is brick built.

[Lion King]

2 hours ago, MAB said:

Presumably because there is far wider creative freedom for brick built than molded large creatures. If they are going to do a few different dragons in a theme they can vary them in style or size by using existing parts rather than having each one the same but varying the colour only. Also in Ninjago (and Elves) dragon sets, the dragon tends to be the set. LEGO is a building toy so it makes sense that the major item in the set is brick built.

I respectfully disagree with you - Take a look at Jurassic World theme’s 2022 wave. There are so many new dinosaur speices with some existing parts. I do not think dragon will need same parts in different colors.  Ninjago dragons only have head and wing molds but not counted as a molded creature - I imagine that some of them use modified T-rex body and legs

As I mentioned earlier, Quetalcoatlus does remind me of dragon. I’m quite opposite about molded dragon eventually but not this year or next year or 2024. 

Now I say no more. 

[Aanchir]

5 hours ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

Ohh I competely forgot about them! Yeah.  I just don’t get it why Ninjago keeps using brick-built dragons if the theme is going on over 10 years now and there is some enough budget.

Oh well…I will wiat for molded dragon then. 

I don't think it's a matter of budget — after all, the Ninjago theme tends to introduce a LOT of molds per year, including for its dragons. Rather, the brick-built dragons genuinely seem to be one of the Ninjago theme's major selling points.

Unlike brick-built dragons, molded ones wouldn't really make sense as the primary build of a set, just as a secondary feature of a larger building or vehicle set. Molded dragons also generally wouldn't allow for nearly as much articulation, nor for mechanical "action features" like flapping wings or swinging tails. And they'd probably be less appealing to older buyers who are drawn to the theme specifically for the complexity and detail of its builds.

That's not to say molded dragons can't work for the Ninjago theme, let alone for other themes! After all, the dragon from the 4+ set 71759 Ninja Dragon Temple is only slightly more complex than a typical molded dragon — in fact, it has exactly the same piece count as the one from 70403 Dragon Mountain, and is made up of fairly specialized torso, leg, wing, head, and tail molds, plus some more generic parts to fill out the back and connect some of those molded body parts to the torso. You could probably come up with an even simpler and more streamlined dragon design using a lot of those same molded body parts.

But again, that's a 4+ set, tailored to beginners who need the build to be much simpler than a more typical Ninjago dragon. Whereas most of the Ninjago theme's dragons and mechs alike owe a lot of their enduring popularity among older kids (as well as teens and adults) to the level of complexity, articulation, detail, and variety they get from being brick-built.

[danth]

I really like brick built dragons/dinosaurs.

I really don't like large molded dragons/dinosaurs.

My thinking is, if I want a large junior-ized reptile, there are plenty of Fisher Price and Playskool options out there. Why make Lego ones?

[RichardGoring]

10 minutes ago, danth said:

I really like brick built dragons/dinosaurs.

I really don't like large molded dragons/dinosaurs.

My thinking is, if I want a large junior-ized reptile, there are plenty of Fisher Price and Playskool options out there. Why make Lego ones?

Agreed. The Jurassic Park T. rex breakout brick-built dinosaur looks much better than the moulded ones. Although I also realise that it's far less practical for play to do this.

[Peppermint_M]

Don't forget Imaginext and Playmobil. There are some excellent options for Dinos there.

Also, My brother in law supplemented his LEGO Ghostbusters with a Staypuft figure from Playmobil, it is not exactly Movie accurate scale, but it looks quite fun next to the Ghostbuster team minifigures.

[Johnny1360]

2 hours ago, danth said:

I really like brick built dragons/dinosaurs.

I really don't like large molded dragons/dinosaurs.

My thinking is, if I want a large junior-ized reptile, there are plenty of Fisher Price and Playskool options out there. Why make Lego ones?

Sounds like a popular opinion, certainly the way I like it anyway. Seems to me the smaller an animal is, the more it benefits being molded, the larger it is the better it looks brick built. I mean the little brick built dragons look rather abstract and chunky while a rather large molded dragon, to me would be completely ridiculous for a building brick company to make. Not to mention I thoroughly enjoy building the large dragons and I believe it was mentioned, if I buy a large dragon set called Lloyd's Dragon it better contain a fair amount of bricks, not a five piece dragon and four Minifigures.

[Lion King]

2 hours ago, danth said:

I really like brick built dragons/dinosaurs.

I really don't like large molded dragons/dinosaurs.

My thinking is, if I want a large junior-ized reptile, there are plenty of Fisher Price and Playskool options out there. Why make Lego ones?

I think your opinion is leaning toward “popular” not “unpopular:” Guess you are in a wrong place then. 

[danth]

1 hour ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

I think your opinion is leaning toward “popular” not “unpopular:” Guess you are in a wrong place then. 

Probably. I didn't intend to offer my opinion as unpopular, just sort of chiming in with my preferences.

If you say your opinion is the unpopular one, I won't contest that.

2 hours ago, Peppermint_M said:

Don't forget Imaginext and Playmobil. There are some excellent options for Dinos there.

Yeah not to disparage kids toys at all; some of those Imaginext toys are freaking rad. Like enough that I kinda wish I had a little kid...but not really.

Also Imaginext is Fisher Price. But I didn't know that until just now...

[MaximillianRebo]

Not wanting to tip the scales too much from unpopular to popular, but another vote here in favour of brick built creatures (apart from dogs, cats, mice etc.) Especially in the case of the recent Jurassic World sets, where the moulded dinos seem to have caused an enormous increase to the price (or maybe that's just Legoflation). I can't imagine that a brick built dino, even with the increased piece count, would increase the set price as much. More importantly another brick built model would increase the build experience, which to me is what Lego is about. I think this all plays into the 'accuracy' debate around Lego builds. Sure a large pre-moulded part is going to be more accurate than something built out of smaller square and rectangular pieces, but there is a point where it starts to cross over into action figure territory and I wonder if I'm buying Kenner, Hasbro etc. or Lego.

[Lion King]

2 hours ago, danth said:

Probably. I didn't intend to offer my opinion as unpopular, just sort of chiming in with my preferences.

If you say your opinion is the unpopular one, I won't contest that.

Well, good to know…

[Ondra]

Lego prices increase in half of 2022 is just bad scalping of buyers.

Ok, how interesting it will be when they charge every set with one or two euro increase. Logical or boring isnt it...

No they are charging sets, that will sell with various price increase, probably bigger seller, bigger increase.

They are not even hiding it and inflation is really high here, so good luck with our local nonsense prices....

[Aanchir]

My feelings on brick-built vs. molded animals often depend heavily on what sort of theme and/or genre we're talking about.
 

For example, in Creator 3-in-1 sets (even minifig-scale ones), I think the brick-built creatures (whether real or imaginary) are a natural fit regardless of their size— particularly since that approach lets the designers use the parts for the animals in very different ways between the A, B, and C models! And I'll even tolerate much more blockiness or abstraction there than I'd expect in a City or Friends set, since it's usually in accordance with the general aesthetics and design philosophy of the theme.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, in "real life" themes aimed at young kids like City or Friends, I pretty much never have any expectation or preference for living creatures to be brick-built — not even in the case of huge creatures like elephants and mammoths. Sure, it'd likely allow for more articulation, and would certainly offer a more interesting building experience! But if I really wanted a "real life" inspired set that offered animals with those sorts of traits, I feel like I might as well just look to the Creator 3-in-1 theme!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I really love the Ninjago theme's brick-built dragons (and its other brick-built fantasy creatures like giant serpents and spiders) for their detail, complexity, and playability. That goes for both those with brick-built faces and wings (like the Fusion Dragon from 70627 Dragon's Forge) and those with more specialized wing and head pieces (like 71754 Water Dragon). Even in Ninjago, though, I usually prefer horse-sized or smaller critters to use more specialized molds (like Akita's wolf form from 70671 Lloyd's Journey, or Monkey Wretch from the Skybound sets) so that they fit in with the detailed molding and printing typical of many Ninjago minifigs and accessories.

Likewise in themes like LEGO Elves and Disney, I feel like "horse-sized or smaller" is a good threshold for determining for which animals make sense as brick-built ones and which should stick to more specialized molds. But I do feel like specialized wing or head pieces are more essential for larger creatures in these themes than they would be in themes like Ninjago, in order to maintain consistency with the mini-doll's higher level of lifelike molded detail.

With that said, even in themes where I have a high expectation of lifelike detail, I'm often willing to make exceptions for various sorts of fantasy and sci-fi critters! After all, it's no problem if a skeletal/undead creature has conspicuous gaps in its body, or a creature made of rocks/ice/crystals has jagged edges, or a creature with armored/cybernetic body parts has contours and motifs that look man-made or inorganic!
 

Finally, I feel like "historic themes" like Castle or Pirates can pretty safely go either way. A lot of sets in these themes are aimed at a similar age range to City and Friends sets, so molded fantasy creatures often make a similar amount of sense there as far as complexity is conceerned. But if a Castle or Pirates set that did have a higher target age happened to include brick-built fantasy creatures like a dragon, sea serpent, or kraken? Well, as long as it had an impressive enough design, I can't say I'd complain!

Naturally, this is all my personal preference! It's totally okay if other people don't draw the same lines in the same places as I do, or have preferences that don't really vary from theme to theme! But it's stuff I've certainly thought about quite a bit, such as when planning Elves MOCs and trying to decide on what sort of brick-built creatures do or don't "fit in" with the theme according to my preferences.

[Johnny1360]

7 hours ago, Ondra said:

Lego prices increase in half of 2022 is just bad scalping of buyers.

Ok, how interesting it will be when they charge every set with one or two euro increase. Logical or boring isnt it...

No they are charging sets, that will sell with various price increase, probably bigger seller, bigger increase.

They are not even hiding it and inflation is really high here, so good luck with our local nonsense prices....

That is indeed a truly unpopular opinion!

[MAB]

7 hours ago, Johnny1360 said:

That is indeed a truly unpopular opinion!

It is a popular opinion isn't it? If others agree that LEGO are scalping on their top end adult sets, the opinion is popular. 

If the opinion is that LEGO are doing the right thing by targetting increased prices on adult sets, it would be unpopular.

 

 

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

6 hours ago, MAB said:

It is a popular opinion isn't it? If others agree that LEGO are scalping on their top end adult sets, the opinion is popular. 

If the opinion is that LEGO are doing the right thing by targetting increased prices on adult sets, it would be unpopular.

Hard to gauge whether or not it's a popular opinion since all we have are our perceptions of what others are saying, I think. For me, it makes sense for them to target price increases more towards bigger sets, since those who buy them have more disposable income. If they were to introduce big price increases for their smaller sets, that would price a lot of kids and people with smaller budgets out of Lego.

I don't think they are happy about increasing prices, since that will surely result in loss of customers or sales, especially with people budgeting more their expenses. For Lego, it makes sense that such losses are minimized by focusing the increases towards sets that are already expensive, since they are bought by wealthier customers.

Whether or not I like it, it makes sense to me.

Edited June 5, 2022 by 1980-Something-Space-Guy

[Vindicare]

18 hours ago, 1980-Something-Space-Guy said:

Hard to gauge whether or not it's a popular opinion since all we have are our perceptions of what others are saying, I think. For me, it makes sense for them to target price increases more towards bigger sets, since those who buy them have more disposable income. If they were to introduce big price increases for their smaller sets, that would price a lot of kids and people with smaller budgets out of Lego.

I don't think they are happy about increasing prices, since that will surely result in loss of customers or sales, especially with people budgeting more their expenses. For Lego, it makes sense that such losses are minimized by focusing the increases towards sets that are already expensive, since they are bought by wealthier customers.

Whether or not I like it, it makes sense to me.

The part that irked me was how they highlighted that they had the customers best interest at heart...I think it would’ve been better to do a slight increase across the board personally. Looking at the list on Stonewars & assuming it’s the same list as we’re gonna see in the States, I’m gonna take a quite a hit, which will almost certainly lead to less LEGO buying from me. Fortunately for me though that all the sets I want are pretty much in the 5-10 euro increase, but still that times a lot is still a decent hit to the wallet. 

While I would never say a company could make too much money, having the record profits year after year makes me feel like they could eat this higher cost of materials and still come out on the other end with a big profit. But, that would be if they did in fact have their customers best interest. I understand the move, just pretty weak from where I’m sitting. All because of how they framed it. 

[Pasta Dish]

I want to throw my two cents into the "molded vs brick built creatures" -discussion by saying that as much as I admire creative creature builds, I really like the distinction that living creatures are mostly consisting of specific parts. Seeing a minifigure next to something like that brick built Fawkes from the Great Hall Harry Potter set just looks weird. One of them looks soulful as the other doesn't. If the Fawkes was a robot, it'd work though. 

To me it's also dependent on the size. If they actually made something like that huge 6 or so piece Brachiosaurus from the Lego Jurassic Park -game, I'd be pretty disappointed. However if they retained the same piece count/amount of plastic ratio from the smaller dinos, I'd be fine with it. They'd never make anything requiring that many specific moulds though.

Bonus unpopular opinion: I like the officers in the LEGO Star Wars battlepacks. I can never have too many of them. 

Edited June 16, 2022 by Pasta Dish

[BrickBob Studpants]

While I’m usually on team #mouldedAnimals because brick-built creatures often look robotic (not helped by the grey joints), hybrids can be a decent compromise. The new leonopteryx for instance looks great

[TeriXeri]

It's definately a matter of size and what scale.

3-in-1 animals are usually a bit comical if meant to be minifig scale (see the 3-in-1 treehouse giraffe/lion), even the small dogs, but the detail has gotten better with more small piece types available. 

The larger animals are quite a bit better, some still fit into minifig context as "monsters" like the green dinosaur, red octopus/lobster, big shark from last couple years

Elves animal heads were moulded for most builds, and the eye style was different, but the whole style of theme was a bit of fantasy/anime/cartoon so it does fit with other Elves sets and Friend animals.

For smaller animals I prefer minifig moulded, and minifig horses have been a bit rare after 2013, but getting a bit more common again recently with the Tan and now Dark Orange horse, and darkbrown saddle.

So overall, I won't choose 1 side, it really depends on what the goal is.

Overall the larger moulded LEGO animals certainly are a lot more pricey compared to other toys, including even Playmobil etc, if I had to gift a younger kid a toy I'd probably either gift a 3-in-1 animal to get into LEGO building, or one of the non-LEGO animals for play.

3-in-1 animal sets have some of the biggest number of alternate builds on Rebrickable too, so even AFOL have gotten really creative with them, turning larger animal sets like the Tiger into Dinosaurs or Sharks etc, or combining 2-3 of the smaller animal sets into even more variants, also the official 3-in-1 set descriptions even suggest to make more custom builds.

 

Edited June 17, 2022 by TeriXeri

[danth]

Not sure if unpopular/uncommon:

• I'm somewhat embarrassed to buy Lego at the store (will usually ask for a bag to hide them when walking back to the car)
• I'm less embarrassed if it's a black boxed 18+ type set (e.g. the succulents set that I can just say is for my wife)
• I'm super embarrassed if the set has mini-dolls (the colors don't embarrass me at all, it's literally just the dolls)
• I'm super embarrassed if the set has large junior-ized dinosaurs or big-figs