Bensch55

Eurobricks Vassals
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    64

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Bensch55

  7. Posted

    28 minutes ago, LvdH said:

    Doesn’t the W14 have pullrod suspension in the back?

    Yes, the real W14 has pullrods in the rear, so does the LEGO model. The only disappointing thing is that LEGO still uses rocker arms acting on traditional springs instead of something like the x928cx1 piece to mimic the torsion bars like the real thing has. Also, with this amount of space an anti roll bar and a heave spring aren't too much to ask for.

    The W14 model does a lot better than the McLaren, but compared to the CaDa Alfa Romeo it still feels a lot cheaper.

  10. Posted · Edited by Bensch55

    So, from the image it looks like the W14 (sidepods).

    The good:

    Finally slick tires

    Accuracy: Sidepods, wings and suspension (pushrods in the front, pullrods in the back) seem like the prototype

    HOG

    The Bad: 

    Front and rear tires seem to have same width

    Wings above front wheels still solid mounted / don't move with the front hubs

     

    I would say it's an improvement from the bodge job McLaren (that was a 2022 car with 2021 livery which never existed). Yet the CaDa Alfa Romeo Sauber has the wider rear tires and used more system bricks. Will be interesting how Lego implements the wheelcovers.

  15. Posted

    So, to summarize all of this:

    After the debacle about the big scale HogEx Lego knew, whatever train they will release, it has to work on their standard track. They knew how fans felt, yet they agreed on an ideas project that would never be able to accomplish this without a big amount of modifications. They also agree to do this with a licence partner that wants to be very involved with the set, limiting the design choices even more.

    And what came out of it? A fictional locomotive that wouldn't be motorized due to Lego's standards, two fancy looking coaches that look really odd when rolling through the tight R40 curves and to add insult to injury, a markup on the prize for what is essentially a big marketing exercise of the licence holder.

    At the same time, some other manufacturer managed to get close to the original design from Lego Ideas and finally even provided track with bigger radii.

    The argument about the "very small amount of train enthusiasts" also perishes when you take a look on the portfolio of certain german retailers that have been successfully in business for years.

    You still like the set? Good, go buy it and have fun. But be aware that praising every set TLG puts on the table and defending them for every design choice they make is just turning a blind eye on the situation and will never encourage them to do better. 

    And that's my final contribution to this discussion.

  16. Posted

    17 minutes ago, Murdoch17 said:

    I wouldn't blame LEGO if they give up making steamers entirely, as this is ridiculous!

    Well, if you compare it to the rods they managed to make in the 12V era.. the new ones do stink a bit in comparison. 
     

    Quote

    Where do you live?

    Austria.

    And as glamorous as the OE might be, I still can’t believe that the percentage of people that are interested in it outnumbers the amount of people who have a general interest in any kind of train (and/or Lego-trains). 
    The provided links are also mostly from trip/holiday advisors that put out articles about any kind of attraction, so it doesn‘t really proof a point of its popularity.

  17. Posted

    1 hour ago, Phil-B259 said:

    And yes, these sorts of folk DO outnumber the people who like model trains once you step away from forums like this!

    To be honest, in the 24 years I got to live on this world now I never heard anyone mention this train once. I barely knew of its existance before the Lego set. So please forgive me but before you can back this statement with any numbers, I highly doubt it (the outcry about the set also implies that most supporters were backing the locomotive, rather than the concept of the OE)

    Quote

    Calling something like the locomotive in this set "Duplo-like" is honestly bizarre to me

    This is mostly about the new connection rod pieces, they are pretty thick and weirdly shaped, similar to some duplo pieces.

  18. Posted

    4 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

    new adult-targeted train set in 2023

    Why does it have to be adult-targeted? 

    5 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

    you would have been much happier with a generic, unlicensed vintage train

    How do you come to that conclusion? I'm not saying Lego can't have licences, I said that in this case the licence produced an objectively worse set that is too expensive for what it is.

    13 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

    Seeing a lot of buyers willing to drop $300 on a LEGO train

    I really don't want to encourage Lego to drop more "trains" without motorization for that amount of money.

  19. Posted

    26 minutes ago, Phil-B259 said:

    There will be a large number of people who couldn't care less about railways and especially couldn't give a toss about Lego trains but who would potentially be attracted by the set specifically because of the IP tie in! That could be because they liked the films, liked the book, have travelled on it, want to travel it in future, like the 1930s period in terms of decor / fashion etc

    So there are more OE enthusiasts in the world than people who like Lego trains? I beg to differ.

    42 minutes ago, Phil-B259 said:

    Therefore the its quite likely that the rights owners to the 'Orient Express' IP will have not only charged a hefty fee, they will also have wanted far more involvement in the venture

    Exactly this is the problem with licenced models. 

  21. Posted

    15 minutes ago, Space78 said:

    They were all $40 each as I recall, which I thought was a good price at the time

    *excluding the 9V Motor

    16 minutes ago, Space78 said:

    In either case, you get the same basic model.

    And that's the problem. In case of the OE, the licence holder apparently had a big amount of influence on the final set, which gave us some nice coaches with a locomotive to laugh at. Might not be a big issue for all 5 die-hard-OE-fans out there but it certainly is for everone else.

    tl;dr: This set could have been way better and cheaper without a licence.  

  22. Posted

    8 hours ago, something_fabulous said:

    When it comes to the price its most likely because of the Orient Express license

    The big question is: Why does every Lego set need a damn licence or IP behind it? 

    I don't get it. Yes, 1 flagship Technic model with a licence partner is ok but now even the smallest 20€ tractor can't be sold without a John Deere logo. The only ones that benefit from this are TLG and the licence holder, while the consumer has to compensate the markup for an entirely irrelevant name of a train.

    And in the case they absolutely have to do it, why do they not partner up with an active railroad company?

  24. Posted · Edited by Bensch55

    Hi, Ben from TF-Engineering here,

    I just want to answer some topics raised here about our hubs:

    1. Yes, we use the standard 92909 or 6219840 piece, as the small CV is still widely used, espacially in smaller scale cars. This allows the hub to be small in size to give the builder as much mounting options as possible.

    2. The flange pieces are mounted the same way as in the original Lego hub but there is an additional friction fit that keeps them in place. Just as an example, one of our customers uses our hubs on a car that has a recorded speed of 50kph, with the wheels still attached. (We can also glue them in place if desired)

    3. While the "standard" hub is listed on our page, we also offer custom design work along printing. Since we already had the request for additional designs, we can offer some variations:

    IMG_3856.jpg

    (Also available with pin holes instead of the technic balls)

    And for everyone that is interested, we are currently developing a Macpherson hub with RC springs/dampeners.

  25. Posted

    14 hours ago, Fingolfin said:

    There are several good points made in this video (and a handful of bad ones), but the spiteful and sarcastic tone that creeps up throughout the video completely sinks any effective arguments that get made.

    I think you'd have a much more compelling video if you took a more moderate approach to folks who had differing opinions to yours.

    Only thing I could really take away from this video is that the background music was way too loud and I had a hard time listening to what was actually said.

    Regarding the whole topic: I think this model has shown the true issues of the lego train system, mainly the R40 radii and bad switch designs. If we had a variety of curves (or the standard ones being R56 or bigger) we could have a much more realistic steam engine with more complex chassis that still perform well, even with long coaches like the one from OE.