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About montgocloud
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- Birthday 10/14/1996
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What is favorite LEGO theme? (we need this info to prevent spam)
star wars
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Male
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Houston, Texas
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LEGO, film, comics, Star Wars, music, classic video games.
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United States
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If Rise of Skywalker fails/under performs, how would that affect LEGO?
montgocloud replied to Lego David's topic in Culture & Multimedia
But what are the actual statistical numbers? I'm not either accepting nor refuting your idea that "Marvel is doing fine" and "Star Wars is tanking," but I'd like to see the actual numbers and not anecdotal evidence. As I outlined in my post above, perception isn't always reality. Marvel could be suffering the same dip in sales. -
If Rise of Skywalker fails/under performs, how would that affect LEGO?
montgocloud replied to Lego David's topic in Culture & Multimedia
No. Though it might've been a factor, the thing is the low toy sales have more to do with a broader trend - the same trend that has Hasbro reporting lower overall earnings for years, the same trend that has LEGO reporting lower overall earnings for years, the same trend which caused TRU to go out of business. It has little (if anything) to do with a percentage of fans lost after The Last Jedi. Same with Solo's under performance - The Last Jedi's fan reception might have a bit more to do with this, but it pales astronomically compared to the weak marketing for the film. We didn't get a trailer until three months beforehand. Three months. It was clear that the reshoots bled into the marketing budget, and that had a direct effect on box office performance. Except this is simply not true. No legitimate sources have begun tracking the movie. Official tracking doesn't begin until mid-November. Now, some might argue that The Last Jedi's late-October projection was pretty close to early projections: on October 22nd, 2017, it was projected that The Last Jedi would make $215mil opening weekend, and it went to gross $220. However, the difference here is the ludicrous range of TROS' projections. Box Office Pro projected $185-225mil. That's a pretty wide net to cast. It won't effect LEGO. The film is not going to horribly bomb to the point where it's the main factor in toy sales. Perhaps a more fruitful question would be: Is Star Wars still relevant to younger (toy-buying) audiences? All I've heard is some anecdotes here or there, but there isn't concrete statistical data to back it up. I personally have no idea. And a far broader question: are physical toys still relevant to younger audiences? By the way you first asked your question, you had to have had some idea about the direction that the thread would take. If your goal wasn't to get negative opinions on the direction of the franchise, then you should've taken your own negative opinion on the franchise out of the question. It's clear by your tone where you stand, and that's fine (you're perfectly entitled to dislike the new Star Wars films), but you can't then claim that you merely posed the question and you have no blame for the direction of the discussion. -
If Rise of Skywalker fails/under performs, how would that affect LEGO?
montgocloud replied to Lego David's topic in Culture & Multimedia
Because quite honestly the relative underperformance of the Star Wars theme has very little to do with adult fan reception of the series. Toys R Us recently filed for bankruptcy. Hasbro has been taking losses for years. LEGO has been reporting lower numbers for at least two years (to my recollection). This is a mere symptom of a much larger trend that fans are using as evidence to further their personal agenda. -
If Rise of Skywalker fails/under performs, how would that affect LEGO?
montgocloud replied to Lego David's topic in Culture & Multimedia
Also Ben Kenobi's death in the original Star Wars, but who's counting. My favorite argument: "the original movies don't count as precedent unless I want them to." EDIT: also the wampa scene! EDIT 2: also the original Death Star explosion! (compare that explosion to the destruction of Alderaan and you'll see it) -
If Rise of Skywalker fails/under performs, how would that affect LEGO?
montgocloud replied to Lego David's topic in Culture & Multimedia
I recall these same conversations happening years ago when the prequels came out... and now the tables have shifted and the prequels are now regarded as misjudged masterpieces (they're not).I wonder if the same will be true 20 years down the line, when today's youth grows up and their views come into public consciousness. Yep... same as usual. It seems like people constantly ask him if it's still happening. I think Lucasfilm is still plotting out release dates and Rian is enjoying making his own films, taking a break from the franchise. -
If Rise of Skywalker fails/under performs, how would that affect LEGO?
montgocloud replied to Lego David's topic in Culture & Multimedia
Correction: Bob Iger. Iger was the one who burned bridges with Lucas, Iger was the one who rushed The Force Awakens and ultimately compromised the foundation of the ST (Iger wanted May 2015, Kennedy wanted May 2016, they compromised at December 2015), Iger was behind Solo's rushed release. Iger has been a much worse influence on Star Wars than Kennedy ever has. Also, you may not like The Last Jedi, you may even hate it, but to call Rian Johnson a terrible director is ludicrous to say the least. Watch Brick. It's one of the best movies of its decade and might have you reconsidering your opinion on him. -
I love all of your small tweaks and changes - where did you get Sprout's cloth skirt? Did an extensive look through Bricklink to no avail...
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Got the Clock Tower yesterday and built it with my modifications - the gear system that I had in the studio file doesn't work, it catches pretty regularly. I got it to work after some more trial and error, I'll post the file sometime tonight or tomorrow afternoon.
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That sounds awesome, whenever you can snap some pictures I'd love to see it. That's really cool that you were able to place it behind the DADA classroom, I didn't even think of that. Last year I made a pretty big DADA classroom in a MOC expansion to the Great Hall (with the building's exterior based on the long gallery), so I immediately decided to gut that section of the interior out of the Clock Tower. So it sounds like yours will be motorized?
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Sure, here are some screenshots with the some of the more drastic changes outlined below: The entrance is wider (partly so it feels a bit more grand, partly because if I'm going to go through the trouble of adding a pendulum, I'd like it to be readily visible). Entrance now has doors which are not obstructed by the pendulum. The midsection is taller The roof section is much shorter so it'll be slightly better proportioned to the Great Tower (or, at least my incarnation of the Great Tower - I added another floor to it) The color scheme should fit better with the existing buildings from last year. I added more dark flesh and less dark tan. The floors have been tiled over (and there are a few nods to the 2004 clock tower with the furniture). The hospital wing is now divided into two vignettes, separated by some of the pendulum's gear mechanism. I'm not sold on the little table with the skelegrow and the potions. I'm also not sold on the vegetation on the sides of the building, I'll have to see what that looks like in person. I'm not sure if I want the pendulum to move slower or faster than the hands on the clock. I've bought gears to accommodate both options.
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I've spent the last few weeks preparing for the US release by MODing the Clock Tower on Studio (gutting most of the interior, adding the iconic pendulum and linking it into the gear system, fixing some proportions). It's pretty extensive, ordering the parts on Bricklink cost me ~$50. I'll post the file after I can get my hands on the set. I'd like to make sure it all works and that I'm happy with how it looks in the flesh before putting it out here.
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I'll be honest, I'm pretty disappointed with the lack of a swinging pendulum in the Clock Tower. The complicated mechanism behind a synchronized spinning clock and swinging pendulum was the only thing holding me back from MOCing my own Clock Tower. Hopefully someone a bit more adept at Technic than me comes up with a MOD that adds in the feature.
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LEGO Star Wars 2018 Set Discussion - READ FIRST POST!
montgocloud replied to MKJoshA's topic in LEGO Star Wars
That sounds a little "wishlist-y" to me, especially since the "leaker" said that the Praetorian battle pack would include four guards... and that's ludicrous. -
LEGO Star Wars 2018 Set Discussion - READ FIRST POST!
montgocloud replied to MKJoshA's topic in LEGO Star Wars
That's because many of them are based on old Doug Chiang concept art for Episode I/II. He's a brilliant designer, one of few bright spots of the prequel trilogy. -
LEGO Star Wars 2018 Set Discussion - READ FIRST POST!
montgocloud replied to MKJoshA's topic in LEGO Star Wars
Yeah, but considering that piece has been around since 1999 and has been molded in all sorts of different colors, I doubt that's the reason why. That being said, I don't know why the Medical Droid's legs are DBG either.