astral brick

I was able to watch only the first two episodes and the finale, anyway I liked it. I am not much into reality shows, but this one was both compelling and instructive. Probably thanks to Brickman's suggestions, the showrunners managed to offer to the general public an interesting insight into afols' world and advanced Lego buildings, some models were really impressive (by the way, I noticed in a short clip that one design was clearly inspired by Jk Brickworks' Idea Pursuit of Flight, I hope that Jason Alleman was properly quoted in the inherent episode). Moreover I appreciated that the overall atmosphere was far away from the trashy arguments and trivial tones usually connected to this kind of tv productions. I definitely look forward to catching up on the episodes that I missed and if there are any participants who are reading this thread, I would like to thank you for the good tv show that you contributed to produce.

Thank you very much for the detailed information and for the alternative model. Anyway I was referring to the truck next to the excavator.

Nice moc. What is the black part used for the truck frame?

I would like to see a Great Ball Contraption. Not necessarily an Akiyuki's huge set, but something smaller, with the possibility of being used both in loop or linked to another Gbc. The potential of this modular design could be endless, not to mention a hypothetical crossover with Mindstorms.

Very interesting considerations. Given that there are various types of art forms, with different levels of costs, perhaps the intrinsic limit of Lego is its ambivalent nature, a commercial product which has transcended into a way to express imagination, id est art. Middle-class art probably, restricted by the number of parts in the artist's collection (although this aspect could also represent a resource to encourage creativity). Again, really good analysis.

Yes, this is an essential point. I wonder if high level afols are willing to share their knowledge with the public. Some do it, even for free, some don't. But in the latter case, can we blame them? Another rethorical question, whose answer is no. And precisely for the reason that you have mentioned, they are artists, they don't have to explain anything to anyone, and if they do it, they take the risk that their works could lose part of their "magic". Nevertheless, releasing the instructions implies that many people would not limit themselves to appreciate a picture - and maybe forget it the next day - but they would try to reproduce it, spending time and money to buy the missing parts. Therefore the piece of art would be enjoyed on a totally different level. Isn't it the greatest satisfaction for an artist? As an afol, are you willing to share your specific techniques with other people?

Before starting a flame, it is a rhetorical question, and the answer is, of course, no. Still, I cant help thinking of the amazing models I admire every day on flickr and the failed Ideas (due to lack of votes or non-approvals) lost forever, and I wonder if those afols realize that making one last effort to create instructions or to record a brief video tutorial could give their works the immortality they deserve. However, remembering Andy Warhol's controversial lessons, if there is the technical possibility to reproduce a piece of art, can we still consider it art?

Which is, in fact, what is already happening. We are witnessing the birth of a self-regulating market. I am in agreement with you. Precisely. Your ending summarizes the whole point of my original post.

And I really would like to know what is the logics behind the choices regarding licenses' purchases. Macross was just an example among many others. Starting with the classic ones, such as space, castles and pirates. About the latter case, I am curious to see what is going to happen to the pirates' idea which reached the ten thousand votes.

But this is not what we are discussing because Brickling is selling limited edition of the sets. Moreover in the crowdfunding model it is essential to have backers who preorder a project in order to start its production. And why not? Lego is not infallible and many decisions may be dictated by incomprehensible reasons. It is interesting to highlight that, amongst Bricklink's models, the classic castle is already sold out.

I never thought or wrote that this new business could be addressed to mass market. We would always talk about small numbers, but certainly higher than few fans who try to or manage to build advanced mocs. Exactly, and the designers who failed to receive the votes or the approval should be the first one to benefit from this new opportunities. Variety implies freedom of choice and this is never a downside.

I am in agreement with you, this should be the spirit.

Thinking of recent initiatives such as Lego Forma or Bricklink's celebration of the 60 years anniversary of Lego, I wonder if crowdfunding represents a true opportunity for afols. In fact, whilst Forma is a means to test a new product, minimizing the risk and using a different marketing strategy, Bricklink’s case is much more interesting. First of all which is the limit between an afol and an entrepreneur or, better said, between a passion and a business? And when a passion, taken to the extremes, becomes a way to earn money is it still a hobby? But let us not kid ourselves, the amount of hours that a high level afol invests to conceive a model and then to build it will never be repaid, neither by Bricklink nor by the tip that Lego may allocate to him if his Idea becomes a catalogue’s product. Therefore Bricklink’s attempt constitutes a fascinating mix of the (narcissistic?) will to show off and share with peers a hobby mastery, and a business in its purest form, spontaneously born to fill a gap. Whereas Lego, in spite of its formal approvals, cannot or simply don’t want to listen, then afols will step forward, kickstarting their own models, thus creating a parallel market. It is a win-win situation, at least for both Bricklink and afols (creators and supporters/buyers). How many times people gave up on building complex afols’ designs shown on Rebrickable, despite having the instructions for free, due to the impossibility or the high difficulty to find the proper parts? Maybe in the future Bricklink and Brickowl will take charge of this tedious procedure and, being paid for the trouble, they will sell their own sets regularly. Perhaps this hypothetical new market will also become the second chance for many rejected Ideas.

Given that I am not sure if it is a good idea to reply to this thread, why do you need to receive comments in order to feel appreciated? This is a narcissistic childish behaviour. You are the first judge of your work and, sharing it or not, you should be happy doing what you like, and that should be enough, regardless of the amount of feedback. This kind of attitude based on the number of "likes" or "views" or "followers" is dumbing down the internet. I cannot believe what I am about to say but sometimes I miss Usenet.

Maybe there is truly no hope for a Space theme comeback, which is surprising, considering that a neoclassic starship could intercept two different market segments at the same time, attracting both old customers, who will recognize the essence of the original model, and new ones, who will appreciate the modern snot design. Regarding this matter we should not have afols proposing ideas, Lego itself should make an attempt, at least with one model or two and then check the sales feedback. But then I think of the Macross model which reached the 10k votes and was dismissed.