Artanis I
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Posts posted by Artanis I
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...and it could have a new monorail...... an "Ice planet vs. Spyrius" revamp theme.
Considering that SP3 has been reasonably received I think there'll be at least some space next year, how much I don't know. Possibly not much. New subtheme/faction? Maybe. I doubt there'll be more SP3, other than maybe 2-3 small sets to finish it off (but there's already quite a range). A new (or renewed) faction would be a big step - are Lego willing to continue Space 2.0? edit: it kinda says "we're going to do this for a few years, not just a couple as a novelty"
Anything could happen of course.
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First bit gets a bit sarcastic at times. Beware.And that's the problem. The barcodes ruin the whole game. Getting a complete set SHOULD be difficult. In order to get a set you should either have to spend a fortune, be VERY lucky or be capable at trading your duplicates (Which is a game of social and financial skill) or to the least have a super human sense tact or psychic powers.
Nope, spaceman + robot would take 22.5 on average :)
That's the reason this theme is not for you. You better spend on something else when series 3 comes out.
I do want specifically the robot and the spaceman and these will probably cost 3 dollars when they arrive to my store if they do. I don't plan buying a smart phone and looking ridiculous scanning the packages using it (plus it is a small store so it ain't happening) so the series WILL be random for me. I'll have to live with it.
The thing is, that chances are I am not going to manage to get my robot or my space man. But it will still be fun and I'll get many figs anyway. There's always use for minifigs.
This system is not meant for you guys to just go get the fig you want easily. It is meant to be difficult. It is meant to cost. That's what makes the collectibles more valuable to people. And as afraid of "frustration" as you would be - It is exactly the frustration of not getting the fig you want after many tries which makes getting it feel very good. There is also the aspect of finding out that the fig you got and didn't want is actually good and you are glad you got it. That's how it works.
It is of course not for everyone, but chances are that series 3 figs will appear in bricklink for top 3x the cost (which is still less expensive than buying tons of bags until you get it). So, it is not a big deal... If you consider you have better uses for your money, then go ahead and buy those other sets/products.
That's the point :/
Well, then you should really just get the "Undercover Cruiser" 2011 equivalent instead of series 3 when it comes. ^^
1&6. Hey, no need to disagree with everything I say just because some of it is of a different opinion to yours, in summary of MY situation. You talk about yours too if you want, that's fine with me. That's what this place is for. But if they're not breaking any law you CAN'T tell someone they're not buying something properly, or cheating at the game if there's no written rules. (Is Lego selling something properly? Legally most certainly. But it's a pain in the backside for some! No reason enough to cry foul, but certainly enough to have a rant, as many have done.) It's all opinion, there's no right or wrong here. It's not written in the Bible or on the bags "thou shalt not use barcodes, for it's cheating the little kiddies out of their fun surprises" or "this is how it's MEANT to be played" but you know what? Apparently (I'm told) the kids are happy when they "play the game" ie (buy a bag & open it) -regardless of whether they get what they specifically wanted- because they still got a fun surprise, so if they missed out they get another one which is also a wonderful joyful occasion and open that to maybe find another one they didn't quite want (or they did want) & so on. So basically Lego wins because they have the kiddies' money, the kiddies are happy because they had fun & "got their cool surprise" & their amazingly awesome specialised minifig that can be used for so many varied applications, the evil AFOLs are happy because they got the figures they wanted via barcodes... Who's unhappy? The goose who wants to collect the series (or some of it) the hard way. (Which is actually easily rectified.) So what's the problem then? Barcodes can make everyone happy. No need to complain.
2. Haha is it? I got my probably wrong estimation in a few seconds, based on the surely-not-far-off assumption they're equally available, didn't think it would be that far off. I think I only checked 10 or so before I found both anyway.
3&7. most themes are not for me. Depends what series 3 has. I'm not getting any of series 2, because none of them fit the space theme. If there's one or two from series 3 I like I'll try to find them online. Unless the price is ridiculous, then I'll wait a few years, since the price really only goes up for sealed boxes/bags or for pieces/figs that are only in 1 set. It doesn't worry me, I'm not saying it out of protest, I'll just probably be happier doing it that way.
4. You don't need a smart phone or barcode scanner. You can use your eyes and your memory. That's what I did. I was really really hoping I'd got it right, but couldn't find out until much later when I opened them, so it was very tense! Very exciting, and a huge relief when I was right. Phew! No cheerleader. Ahh breathe. (Would've been REALLY p*ssed if I'd got it wrong, haha!) I bought them from a small toyshop (only place I've seen them so far), the already opened box was right next to the cash register, 2 ladies standing behind the counter watching me curiously. School holidays were on, so a few kids there with their mums. Incidentally, if you were to get your 2 figures by "playing the game" you'd spend an extra $61.50 (3x 22.5-2) for a bunch of figures you don't care much about & 30 seconds of not looking ridiculous. That's pretty expensive? I personally think you'd look more ridiculous continually going back for more figures until you get what you want. I know I'd feel more ridiculous being diddled out of my money!
5. That's fair enough for you, if you want to do it that way.
8. Don't know why you said that, nor why I got a ":/" ... I thought Mac-K had some good points there, (probably forgot to say that) but added that for some kids it's not relevant.
9. Yeah I'll get what I want if I can, if I can't then I won't. If I don't want something, I won't get it. If no series 3 minifigs appeal to me I won't touch them. If there's more SP3 I'll probably go after it anyway, but thanks for the recommendation!
Happy building/collecting whichever you do. I do a combination of both, but under strict purchasing guidelines. Gotta draw some lines, or there's no money left for food on the table haha!
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I agree that that may be the case. I haven't seen many impulse sets for sale in general, which might be the cause or result of low sales. So far I've still only seen one local shop with SP3 impulse sets in stock (an independent book/hobby store) & I only saw the K9 Bot there once. Pity, because I'd buy 2 or 3 more, I want more officers for the new base.It could be that the Impulse sets haven't been selling (e.g. Atlantis and traveler) and so a decision has been made not to continue with the line further. -
or 16 if you "cheat"BTW: The current distribution makes it so you'll need 58.1549 bags on average to complete a set (without "cheating" (please notice the quotes) ) whereas if all minifigs were equally available the average number of purchases required would be 54.0917
I collect space. I wanted a spaceman and a robot. No way I would try and get these "without cheating", on average it would take 16 tries. That's 14 figures I don't want (and won't use) x$4 (for some reason Lego is more expensive here) = $56 extra. I could buy another Undercover Cruiser + Raid VPR with that (on special this week that is).As I see things, this still comes down to the fact that many AFOLs are not really into spending $100s of dollars on collectables. Certainly a builder who wants a specific figure or two probably doesn't enjoy dropping a small fortune just to get the Spaceman and Robot; the only figures from the line that he will ever use. The funny thing is, if these were theme-specific I couldn't care less about blind packaging. If it were castle for example, I would be content with pretty much any figure. Conversely, if the entire line was space I would probably forego the line intirely. The difficulty is that as builders we are always looking for that one element or figure to enhance our MOCs. I just don't feel like forking out a small fortune for a single figure. If blind packaging comes along, I'll either stop collecting these, go from bricklink or buy a few boxes from the shelves and liquidate the remaining figures to recoup the cost.
Unless (as many kids do with collectibles and similar toys) you trade with someone else for one you want. I didn't like trading, and always regretted it later.I know people should be held accountable for what they buy, especially a product with random chance included as a factor. Inherently there's nothing wrong with that. What I have a problem with is its targeting of younger children. You mention the "happiness of the surprise aspect", as if it's a widely shared feeling. I'm not sure I can agree with that. Surely most children have varied interests, and would naturally prefer one, or two, or more minifigs over the rest of the bunch. What happiness is there in being continually disappointed when you draw the one you don't want? Even if you remove the factor of AFOLs possibly taking an entire type of fig from a box, there's still a distinct chance that a kid will not get what they desire. To me, the process feels like it inspires luring back to the product if you don't get what you want. That smacks of taking advantage, in my opinion. -
Oi! Haha. No excuses for USA: in a country of 300 million there's got to be plenty left over for soccer after all those other sports are taken! Not many other countries have anywhere near that many people.That's no excuse Artanis I, since all our talented blokes go to American football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, etc.
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If you look at the photos (or replay), you will see the reason for the red card was because the ref's pants were up too high, and made him more agitated than usual!Ha - it could as well have been 7:0.I have to admit the red card was unnecessarily given. A yellow one would have been right. But the referee was very 'generous' yesterday.
Australia sucks so much at soccer because all the talented blokes play this brand of football:
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I set my alarm to wake me up for the 4:30am kick-off... I should've stayed asleep! What a disgrace! 4-0! How embarrassing!I
vuvuzelas! I'm surprised that the Australians couldn't handle the Germans. I was expectin 1-0 or 2-0, but 4-0 is insane!
In all honesty I was expecting a 1 or 2 goal deficit as a reasonable result. The only hope for a salvaged humility is for New Zealand to have a bigger loss haha.
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Still haven't read an acceptable answer on what the barcodes were "intended" for (and therefore "abused" when you use them to pick which figure you want). A computer scanner can't read them, as the flap covers the bars that are actually different (someone else has already said this) & also, why would they go around checking each box manually? That'd take forever, so it can't be for Lego to tell how many of each they're putting in a box. Besides, surely boxes would be filled the same as when a factory makes those boxes of assorted wrapped chocolates/sweets/lollies/candy/whatever you say: machine in factory puts some from this conveyor belt, some from that etc or similar.
Or are there Oompa Loompas working in Lego factories sorting the pieces into bags?
I see no purpose in having barcodes on there, other than the one some people have used: to buy what they want with the money they want to spend. I'm NOT saying they were put on there FOR THAT REASON, but I'm yet to hear a different (& valid) reason. Anyone?
I'm talking logic here, not opinion.
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Then what is the purpose of the barcodes, if not to individually identify the bags from each other? How is it abusing the barcodes if that's what they're there for? What else could they possibly be for if not that?That's ... exactly my point.If by "abuse" you mean that people are going too far and buying out all the Xs and leaving all the Ys, sure that's annoying, but how different is that to turning up at a shop during a sale to find all of the blue toasters are gone, and there's nothing left but green.
Maybe Lego want to remove the barcodes because they have decided how many of each figure they're going to make, and want to sell them all despite the varying consumer demand for each. It means they don't have to predict which ones are going to be popular (and therefore which ones to make more of) because you get no choice on what figure you get. With barcodes there might be heaps of unsold cheerleaders for example, but without barcodes everything would sell evenly until all were sold out.
Let it be known, that I will not be purchasing any of series 3 if it does go down the "lucky dip" road (ie no barcodes or anything else identifying). I don't want any Lego I don't want. Captain Obvious...
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Seems like the barcodes will be removed from the minifig packaging for series 3.http://www.brickset.com/news/article/?ID=732
Got to say im pretty dissapointed with this. As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, its a bit of a con to not know what you are buying.
I finally found somewhere yesterday with the minifigs in stock. They had ONE box, on the counter. I had memorised the barcodes of the 2 figures I wanted, and found them. I most certainly did not want any of the others, so I'm really glad for the barcodes.
If you want a random figure as a surprise, don't learn the barcodes. If you want a whole heap of the same figure, be nice to the random buyers and get them online or buy entire boxes and sell the extras.
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1. No. I don't buy these sets due to cost (and because I only buy Space Lego now) but if I did it would stay built and not be used for parts.
2. If I bought any World Icons set it would be because I like that particular one, not because I collect them all. I do however collect all space sets including the ones I don't really like.
3. Some ornate palace/castle/cathedral it's all the same to me, I wouldn't buy it anyway.
4. A massive ship, spaceship or castle full of minifigs.
5. New monorail for space! New (or revisited) civilian space subtheme (but not down-town Coruscant resembling - real space like the subthemes of old ie pre 1997).
Thanks for asking!
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I already had Duplo and Lego but the first set I received with a minifig was the 6848 Futuron set Strategic Pursuer.
Don't remember the first set I bought with my money, but I remember buying brand new sets released in 1990.
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I found this comic a week ago. I read it all in 2 days, apart from the last 2. I thoroughly enjoyed lots of it, but some dragged on & on. I prefer when it's set in space, and made of Lego (hence the name of the comic) and not just photos of your toybox contents or other sets you've bought or built, somehow wormed into the story. I'm not really into the dacta "let's break down the 4th wall again" segments either.
That said, it's your comic, so you do what you want. I think most of it is really good. I like the way you've come up with so many characters and threads, and used different minifigs for most of them (helps with the identification). Your backdrop idea is awesome, I think it really sets the scene and looks great.
Valkyrie is HOT.
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I was into Lego sets as a boy, there is nothing unusual about that sort of thing! Once you get to the high school age, girls seem to "mature" or something, and toys are apparently uncool. "Do you still play with Lego? Hahaha. Why don't you grow up and watch these (stupid) TV shows and listen to this (awful) pop music instead? That's what all the cool people do" they say. Some boys get into cars or sport, but some of us are still interested in Lego etc despite the bad attitudes we get for it.
I stopped buying Lego in my teens, for that reason & because I'd get dirty looks in shops. "What an immature young man, he'll never grow up or become a real responsible adult, he'll obviously be an unemployed burden on the rest of society" they tell themselves. But I kept building castles in my room and playing wars with my knights and forestmen. My parents didn't say much, they'd just frown and hint "you're a bit old for that aren't you?"
Fast forward to adulthood where hobbies are allowed again. I discovered Bricklink, then eBay, & then Paypal opened up the whole world's Lego supplies. I later found out I was an AFOL (and also, not the only one). Having only recently discovered an active Lego forum, I can talk about it with others who share the interest. My friends know about my Space collection, but not many have actually seen it. On talking about new acquisitions one time, one girl asked "how old are you" (she knew my age) "old enough to not be too cool for Lego" "haha, okay then" from that point on it was always "you and your Lego *shakes head*" (which is almost nothing compared to her bizarre obsession...) But noone else seems to think ill of it.
I'm not embarrassed about collecting or building Lego, but I still hate being watched when I'm looking at it in shops. It's hard to pretend you're buying it for your nephew when you keep buying big sets haha... I do often get dirty looks if I'm walking through town with a big set! These people probably spend all their money on "grown up" things like getting drunk...
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Hehe! I cannot weigh the Lego boxes, they don't sell them in supermarkets together with the minced meat
But you are right, there is more detail in new Lego sets which means more smaller pieces. However still, given that the Undercover Cruiser sells with the same price as the Container Heist in Europe, I don't have reasons to complain. Apparently in Australia things are different. Maybe the Container Heist ships in containers to Australia whereas the Undercover Cruiser has to cruise all the way there Haha.
Going to get another one of these sets, Target has 25% off the price of selected sets (including this one) from Thursday. (Brings it down to the price it should be, but hey, that's better than a punch in the face.)
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Okay, so you've all seen my previous comments in this thread about SP3 (which I still stand by) but right now I make my first comments on this particular set after having purchased and built it.
Lots of fun. Not too many stickers, (although 0 would be better) at least 4 printed pieces from memory, not too much repetition during the build, Craniac is A+++, I could go on for hours, but I'd just be repeating what everyone else has already said. So instead I'll talk about some things from a personal viewpoint.
I like bases (and ships/vehicles) to have lots of space for multiple minifigs. Message Intercept Base & Monorail Transport System are awesome in this respect. Explorien Starship, Galactic Mediator, Galactic Enforcer, Spectral Starguider & that Futuron one I can't remember the name of (it looks awful and has 8 wheels) - Interplanetary Rover maybe - are also good examples. Space Police Central? Room for a dozen or more police figures. Excellent. 1 each on the little flyer ships, 1 each in target practice, 1 on controls at the pod storage, 1 in the truck, 2 or more in the lounge area, 2 near the guns in the front up top, 2 or so inside the dome, plus others standing or wandering around everywhere else. Package only comes with 2, but hey, where are you going to put all the officers that came with your K9 Bot squad? Not to mention Lunar Limo, Container Heist & Smash n Grab.
Prison pods SP3: This set has 2 prison pods, with 3 places to put them. Galactic Enforcer had 4. SP2: Galactic Mediator had 2, but you could fit another 1 or 2 in the back. SP1: Mission Commander only had 2, no room for any more. Space Lock-Up Isolation Base had 2, with room for more (I forget exactly). Mission Commander was the only disappointment. This base has a good amount, plus a good solid transport vehicle for them - you can truck the pods around between all the SP3 sets that have them.
Space Police commandos: I have also had trouble with some of the helmets not going all the way down. I couldn't figure out why this is. I'm a little disappointed that the visors don't pivot up and down (however these days it's rather impolite to not take your helmet off when they aren't in use). All the same I much prefer the 2010 figures to the 2009 ones. That goes for the aliens too. Craniac is a ripper, and Jawson suits as a henchman really well.
As far as its "Spaceness" is concerned, it looks very different to all other Space subthemes but I have an imagination, and can pretend it fits in the same world. Or galaxy/universe whatever.
That's all I have time for, this set is fantastic, although it costs a lot of money it really makes the subtheme worthwhile.
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Fiddlesticks, haha.
I used to love playing with my cousins' Fabuland when I was very young, I didn't have much myself. They were girls btw, and they had heaps of it. I think today's duplo looks like it's aimed at an older audience than it was. Is there still a market for Fabuland? It seems that with so many specialised pieces these days standard Lego is slowly turning itself into some variation of Fabuland. Also, look at all the SP3 villains, Toy Story figs, & the regular appearance of new creatures and so on.
I'm unsure, but I'll say yes bring it back (for the girls and the younger market - send duplo back to the little kiddies)... but no I wouldn't buy it personally.
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Finally found & bought this set the other day. It's fantastic. Some obs:
Brick Daddy is never going to glow in the dark unless he gets out of the limo, pretty much no light gets in there.
There's one bit during construction where you're building with black & trans yellow: I had one of those faux deja vu moments where the indescribable awesome Blacktron I vibe hit me really hard. It was an awesome feeling! (Just wait until I can unpack and set up the MIB again... oh yeah!)
Long. This ship is LONG! It looks evil. In a good way, if that makes sense.
Purple Lego is pretty cool, the colour is really vivid - like standard green. Purple & black is a great colour scheme.
Most SP3 from 2009 looked better on the box than in reality. This set (like most 2010 SP3) looks better in reality than in the pictures.
The boot/trunk whatever YOU call it has a conveniently shaped space perfect for carrying a "body" which is cool. It means that you can kidnap or dispose of victims. Or an officer or commando can stow in there to discover the secret hideout base.
A few people have referred to Brick Daddy's head, and the "squidlike tentacles" on the back. I think it might also be possible that it's braided hair (like Coolio)?
Good to finally see the Big Boss of this operation, whose head has been on all the buckles, insignia etc.
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damn, no sale on the one SP3 set I might be tempted to buy (the limo)The limo is quite something! The 3 sets on sale are well worth those prices though.
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I checked the price in LEGO Shop and for most European countries the price is €29.99, exactly same with the Container Heist, but it has more pieces (317 to 282) and a very nice design and function, so honestly speaking it doesn't seem very expensive to me. I mean... hey, with over 300 pcs, in the old Space days, this would be considered a rather large set and nowadays it sells like a below average model
Okay, maybe in Europe it's fine. Considering our increasingly more favourable exchange rate at the moment, Lego should be a lot cheaper here this year, not more expensive. Here, for AU$59 it's more than the $44 or $49 price we had for Container Heist / Space Truck Getaway, plus these days piece count is (in my opinion) irrelevant since it seems most of them are those cheese wedges or other similar sized tiny bits! If you want to compare quantity fairly between new & old sets, compare the grams, not # of pieces?
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Use tweezers mate, best solution.Why didn't I think of that?..
Good morning Australia.............yawn !Just to tell you all that Target will have the following sets on sale from Thursday this week -
7596 : Trash Compactor Escape - $ 70
7789 : Lotso's Dump Truck - $ 29 (dam it I brought mine for Kmart the other week for 39 bucks)
5981 : Raid VPR - $ 12 (another dam it - paid 16 a week ago !)
5982 : Smash 'n' Grab - $ 22
5983 : Undercover Cruiser - $ 44
Oh, plus there is a Duplo pet shop set for 34 bucks for the real littlies !
I'm a conformist! !
Bugger. Oh well, looks like a 2nd Undercover Cruiser is on the way then! And more Raid VPRs... will keep at least one sealed.
Might grab another Smash n Grab and turn it into something else.
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However I still didn't understand exactly -when in SP mode- if it can stand on its engine module or it will fall on its back... this is crucial because as an adult collector I would have it displayed and I'd like to know if it can stand with the fuselage in the air and parallel to the ground. I guess that also children after swooshing it around they would want to have it properly landed. Can someone give me a responsible answer to this, please?It doesn't, it falls over backwards. Looks ridiculous fallen over. UNLESS... you fold the back part down like a motorbike kick-stand. This is not in any picture I've seen, as all of them have the back folded up in line with the cockpit part. It looks fine bent down for display or landed, but I would have it up when in flight for play. You could put some clear perspex under the back to hold it up if you really wanted, though.
I bought this set the moment I (finally) saw it in a shop. When I first saw photos, (that didn't show the undercover mode) I wasn't looking forward to it. As soon as the transformation was revealed a month or two ago I was very keen on it. I really like this set, and I'm GLAD it only has Jawson, and not another new alien. Bad guys need henchmen, they can't all be different and exclusive. Plus it brings down his price on Bricklink! It's expensive for what it is, but it's a fun set to build, look at & play with.
Some obs: this and Gold Heist are the biggest SP (1, 2 & 3) ships/vehicles without a prison pod. I don't see it as a negative, after all, the Galactic Enforcer makes up for it with 4!
The mini Jawson ship is much more "solid" than the previous SP3 sets' secondary craft - some of them are little more than flying carpets with handles, this one could be sold separately as a cheap set.
One of my disappointments about SP3 in general is that it's difficult to get bunches of the same vehicle without having to put up with all the extra stuff that comes in that set. (eg if you want 5 of those jetski looking hoverbike things, you get 5 Squidmans too ... you want 3 of the police ships from hyperspeed pursuit, you get stuck with 3 of the BHG ships and 6 Skull "Twin" minifigs too ... however if you want 4 Rebel Hunters, you simply buy 4 Rebel Hunters.) But this set you could buy a few of, you could have a handful of undercover ships in convoy, and you could have a handful of the smaller ship too without having to make up some silly story about why.
Not as many as last years' sets had, but I'm still not keen on putting stickers on a set.
A MUST HAVE for SPACE, SPACE POLICE or SPACE POLICE III fans/collectors. You young fellas, save your money now and buy it cheap in 10 or 20 years time off ebay like I've done with most of my lego, haha, because this set is expensive for what it is.
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Not necessarily. Besides the charming references to Blacktron and other old space themes in SPIII, there's nothing tying it to the LEGO Space days of years past. So the idea that there's a breathable atmosphere sits perfectly well with me.Or hey, perhaps these spacemen aren't even human to begin with. After all, in the olden days when the only minifig heads were the standard yellow smiles, there were several things referring to Blacktron figs as "aliens".
Besides, this is a kid's toy. Kids don't care so much about such details as they do about the idea of cops vs. robbers in the future! If Space Police III had been called something else like, for instance, Future Police, it would have made just as much sense (though calling it that in-universe would be preposterous, and anyway the lunar landscape looks pretty awesome).
Perhaps the problem isn't that LEGO has been making SW sets for too long, but rather the fact that Hollywood has been making sci-fi movies for long enough to realize that most people don't actually care about scientific details. In this kind of theme, it's the story that matters, and the setting is just a backdrop.
I don't have big reservations, I just think it's strange. For 20 years, all the way from Classic Space until the "space theme wilderness" the same mindset of "colonising or exploring desolate planets with no breathable atmosphere" was held... but now when the Space theme is officially reintroduced - "Space Police" is as you say more like "Future Police", the mindset resembling more a post-modern civilisation on already settled and terraformed planets. Which is legit, but a strange move.
It's like canning the Pirate theme for 10 years then reintroducing it in a modern setting with speed boats, automatic weapons, mobile phones, helicopters & motorbikes. The fans of the old sets in the theme would feel weird about it being called "Pirates" despite it being a perfectly reasonable name. (Extreme example, I admit.) The continuity is gone; you can't easily put these sets side by side in the same story - they're from a different era, which in turn alienates the subtheme from the rest of the theme.
Does that make sense? (Is SP3 a subtheme of Space or is Space Police a new theme on its own?)
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brickdaddy just needs a couple of Twi'lek space girls to follow him round nowHaha. Aayla Secura minifig not far away from release, but getting two would be an expensive venture!
LEGO Collectable Minifigures General Discussion
in Special LEGO Themes
Posted · Edited by Artanis I
Edit:
what he said