Unpopular Opinions about LEGO

[MSY-MSP]

1 hour ago, danth said:

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

I will second you on the buying a set with mini-dolls.  Though I can say it is for my girls.  

[The Brick Boss]

On 6/17/2022 at 12:56 PM, danth said:

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)

Noooooo! I'll proudly carry my Lego store bag out in the open. 

Edited June 21, 2022 by Poodabricks

[Greshi210]

2 hours ago, danth said:

 

• 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 super embarrassed if the set has mini-dolls (the colors don't embarrass me at all, it's literally just the dolls)

The good thing (among other things) about being a father of a boy and a girl is that I could always say the sets are for them. 

But I do remember feeling slightly awkward a few years ago when I bought the Destiny's Bounty at my local Toys'r'us. 

So I'd say it's a common enough sentiment.

Edited June 17, 2022 by Greshi210

[Lion King]

2 hours ago, danth said:

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

3 out of 4 points you made - Definitley not unpopular. 

As for 3rd point about mini-doll, I think mine is more worse than yours - I would be embarrassed when I got a mini-doll set as a birthday gift (I NEVER asked for that mini-doll set at all, just unexpected).

 

Edited June 17, 2022 by DBlegonerd7

[MAB]

2 hours ago, danth said:

Not sure if unpopular/uncommon:

• 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)

Why not say it is for you if it is? It is an 18+ collectable display object, not a toy.

As for the others, buy multiple at once. That way you look like a reseller instead - although for some that may be worse.

[Takanuinuva]

Even if they end up getting covered up.

I hate it when my Lego sets have random colored bricks. 
I get it's to help build it more easily. But at least keep it to 1 or 2 colors that's not part of the colorscheme of the set.

Biggest example is the recent Lego Ideas Green Hill Zone. Which has 2 unnecessary pink parts when they were already using White and Blue for the inside structure

[Toastie]

15 hours ago, danth said:

• 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

None of the above.

I played with LEGO (and with LEGOs ) all my life, except between 1977 - 1996. Never ever I felt anything like embarrassed when buying sets. In contrast: When somebody asks, sure, this is for me. No one in the family is interested to the extent of playing/building but all, both family, friends, my coworkers/colleagues have accepted that as a solid, unbreakable fact: I am playing with LEGO. And thus I when birthday or Christmas arrives - guess what happens ...

No, I am not. I contrast.

All the best,
Thorsten

[Feuer Zug]

On 6/17/2022 at 12:56 PM, danth said:

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

Not me. I carry my LEGO bag proudly from the store. Mini dolls, big-figs, dinos, none of that phases me. I do have a habit of not caring what other people think of me though. I've displayed LEGO at work for over a decade now. If others don't like it, that's on them. Not my problem/concern. If they want to make fun of me, I can easily turn it back at them.

[Kit Figsto]

I'm the same way, for the most part.  I've never felt embarrassed when looking at LEGO/buying it, but it's not necessarily something I go around telling people about loudly.  I have some sets on display in my house (some SW MBS stuff, and probably will have more when I eventually move to a larger place), and if someone outside of my family is ever over, I don't bring it up unless they ask me about it.

However, if someone is critical of me enjoying LEGO, then that's probably not someone I would particularly want to spend time with anyway, or at least that's how I look at it.

[Peppermint_M]

Heck no! I won't be embarrassed. (Which in itself is looking to be the unpopular opinion!)

Since I was a teenager, all LEGO I buy myself I will never deny. When I was 18 and someone I knew served me at a shop, my large purchase of Exo Force was met with "Is this for [Brother who was 5 at the time]?" I happily told her that most of it was for me, but I had picked up a smaller set I knew he wanted so that we could build together.

I have just returned from Brickworld in Chicago. A bit of a trip to take from old Blighty, not even once did I say it was only a holiday trip, I quite proudly said I was visiting for a big LEGO fan convention and was participating in the LEGO fan displays with my friends. 

The staff at my regular supermarket know that I build and buy (Some of them saw my display at a local Comic Con, so now I get asked about current and future projects), family, friends and my work colleagues all know about my hobby.

LEGO is in my CV, both my hobby of building and the Moderator work I do here on EB, it has actually come up as a positive point in interviews: Creative/technical skills and thinking are proven by the building of sets and MOCs and working as part of a team to run a website from the Moderator role. Now, when I pick up quick on the technical parts at work (things outside of the requirements of my current role... Trying to leverage this and a little else into a new position in the company...) my managers and even the bosses will cite my hobby as a beneficial part of the reason for that/

I think since LEGO Masters has been on TV and the LEGO Movie introduced the idea of "serious" MOC building to those outside of the fandom, things are a lot more known about, accepted and even admired. LEGO artworks are in museums and galleries, the fancy sets are advertised on channels or in programming blocks not aimed at children/families. Sure, some critics are wailing on about "infantilising society" but history has not often been on the side of those type of critics (everything from Books onwards have been decried by some parties). 

[MAB]

35 minutes ago, Peppermint_M said:

The staff at my regular supermarket know that I build and buy ...

You are meant to buy and build not build and buy! Building in the store before you purchase is the sign of a real addict. :-)

[Peppermint_M]

7 minutes ago, MAB said:

You are meant to buy and build not build and buy! Building in the store before you purchase is the sign of a real addict. :-)

I am that hardcore I can build in the box!! 

[KotZ]

I'm not embarrassed to buy. My local LEGO stores recognize me usually. I also just got back from Brickworld and told people why I'm going to Chicago. They thought it was cool.

There's a lot more embarrasing things to spend money on. LEGO (even before their recent push into the AFOL market) is not one of them. Anyone who says as an adult you should not buy LEGO has not seen some of the awesome MOCs people  make.

[dr_spock]

On 6/17/2022 at 12:56 PM, danth said:

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

Not if you're older than dirt.

 

[astral brick]

- Collecting minifigures, which has become an obsession for too many customers and also an easy alibi for pricing a set. Even reviewers are giving minifigures an excessive relevance while analyzing a set. Minifigures were born as a nice bonus and they should have stay that way.

- Moccers should release for free the instructions that are no longer sold for some reasons (improved versions of the moc, parts no more available or too rare, minor flaws). I think the whole community could benefit from these acts of generosity, not to mention designers' reputation.

- Plant-based parts, too many concerns about durability and, in a certain way, heritability, both elements that have always been among the strongest Lego pros. Ecology claims are a fig leaf to justify the fact that the consequence of lower durability is to discard old parts in order to buy new ones, finally leading to a profits' increase. Let's not demonize plastic itself but the incorrect use of it (especially its disposal). 

 

 

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

1 hour ago, astral brick said:

- Collecting minifigures, which has become an obsession for too many customers and also an easy alibi for pricing a set. Even reviewers are giving minifigures an excessive relevance while analyzing a set. Minifigures were born as a nice bonus and they should have stay that way.

We are all obsessed with something Lego! But of course, we all collect with different goals. For some fans, minifigs are nothing more than something to populate their buildings with, and that's cool! Other fans are crazy about minifigs and have walls dedicated to them. We have diversity among the Lego fanbase, with some being crazy for space, others for castle, others for Bionicle, and so on. Some people like keeping sets exactly as they are, while others immediately dissassemble them and use them for MOCs.

Minifigure pieces often have some of the most intricately detailed pieces in a set, with detailed prints or molds that seek to either represent a character well or simply to give it more detail. From that standpoint, it makes sense reviewers give attention to minifigs, just like some reviewers pay attention to special pieces in the set or special sections. Minifig design is quite an art. Heck, we even have a full theme dedicated to minifigs. The thing is, if it sells, it means people like it. Can you blame Lego for catering to its customers? And I don't think we can tell other fans what they should or shouldn't like. Our tastes are diverse!

Edited June 22, 2022 by 1980-Something-Space-Guy

[Celeri]

2 hours ago, astral brick said:

- Moccers should release for free the instructions that are no longer sold for some reasons (improved versions of the moc, parts no more available or too rare, minor flaws). I think the whole community could benefit from these acts of generosity, not to mention designers' reputation.

In the same way, I think that winners of EB contests should commit to publish PDF instructions of their MOC — or at least a LDD/LXF/IO file thereof — and receive their prize only when this has been done.

[LegendaryArticuno]

My unpopular opinions:

1. Once you run out of display room, Lego becomes a stressful hobby and can lead to mental illness i.e. hoarding
2. Jangbricks is the only good reviewer. He's the only reviewer I've seen call out obvious flaws, such as, weak arm printing on the Spiderman in the Daily Bugle set. Brickset, Jaybricks, and not a single other Lego Youtuber raised the issue.
3. 18+ sets needs to actually utilize 18+ themes for once, i.e. Mad Max: Fury Road

[Murdoch17]

Here's an opinion that might ruffle some feathers: "I don't have a Lego problem. I can stop anytime I want.... OH! Look: a (Insert any LEGO product here) set!"

 

(This is coming from from a guy with more trains than my local railroad museum)

Edited June 22, 2022 by Murdoch17

[MAB]

3 hours ago, Celeri said:

In the same way, I think that winners of EB contests should commit to publish PDF instructions of their MOC — or at least a LDD/LXF/IO file thereof — and receive their prize only when this has been done.

So only people willing to use digital tools can enter/win? I build MOCs with physical bricks for fun, there is no way I would dismantle a MOC, virtually building it backwards brick by brick, just so others can build it (and copy and/or sell on the design). 

1 hour ago, LegendaryArticuno said:

1. 18+ sets needs to actually utilize 18+ themes for once, i.e. Mad Max: Fury Road

Those would be 15+ sets here ...

 

5 hours ago, astral brick said:

- Collecting minifigures, which has become an obsession for too many customers and also an easy alibi for pricing a set. Even reviewers are giving minifigures an excessive relevance while analyzing a set. Minifigures were born as a nice bonus and they should have stay that way.

I've never really understood the obsession about what other people collect.

If you go for licensed or character-led in-house themes, then minifigs are usually important. Whereas vehicle and location based themes like Creator and Creator Expert, with the Modulars and so on, tend to have generic minifigures that are not sought after. Builders win in both cases. In the latter, minifigs are just decoration. In the former, if you don't want the figures then sell them for 75%+ of the set price, giving you a cheap build!

[Darkdragon]

6 hours ago, Celeri said:

In the same way, I think that winners of EB contests should commit to publish PDF instructions of their MOC — or at least a LDD/LXF/IO file thereof — and receive their prize only when this has been done.

 That's funny. No way. Design and build your own creations, that's the whole point of the product being bricks and not glued together plastic bits. Building somebody else's creation doesn't take any creativity or cleverness and there is absolutely no reason EB would require anyone to provide instructions for a creation they made.

[Peppermint_M]

Many don't use digital LEGO tools, they are un-intuitive and most of them are badly limited or really just plain frustrating to use. (Why can't any one of them just have a Pan tool? Really, is that so much to ask?) Not to mention how terrible or downright bad the instruction creator on LDD and Stud.io can be. 

[danth]

5 hours ago, LegendaryArticuno said:

Lego becomes a stressful hobby and can lead to mental illness i.e. hoarding

I feel personally attacked...

[Toastie]

48 minutes ago, Peppermint_M said:

they are un-intuitive and most of them are badly limited or really just plain frustrating to use

Ever tried MLCad? There is no clicking into place or screaming "violation" - it just does what you tell it to do. If that is not intuitive, I don't know. 

As you are a hardcore builder, it even lets you place one brick literally into another - if that is not hardcore, I don't know.

For me, everything in MLCad is intuitive - doing crazy things, violating the laws, and mostly important: Make illegal connections. And as a sidekick, it lets you make very nice - legal - models. It is up-to you ...

What I like the most is, that MLCad always remains calm - telling you: Try it, apprentice.

Best,
Thorsten 

[MAB]

I've used stud.io a few times and didn't find it to hard to use. However I use a computer all day and it felt like I was working rather than relaxing. It also took me 3-4 times longer to build something than if I had physical parts. And at the end of it, I didn't have anything to display.

I can understand it is a useful tool if you don't have many bricks, or are travelling or want to make instructions, or explore connection of new parts, and so on. But for full MOCs, physical building only for me.