Merlo

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Everything posted by Merlo

  1. Merlo
    How so? There's nothing taller than that teal tower.
  2. Merlo
    C'mon son. 21340 looks a lot like the idea, I don't think anyone can deny that. Compare that to so many other sets where the idea was "instant buy at full price" and the final product was "not interested enough to buy at all".
  3. Merlo
    Technically correct, but that's like saying: I tried this canapee and it was quite modest, mostly just bread. (4 studs width) So I went and bought a footlong (30 studs width) and this one is literally all bread, just empty inside. The walkways were never the highlight of NC sets, quite the opposite, but they are too narrow to have much detail. If you look at any wide open public space you'll see it can be mostly empty while keeping the interest with small architectural details, little bits or greenery or, very common, just a different color thrown in there to break away with the boredom. The closest that comes to this feeling are town squares that are left gray and devoid of any design, but they are all visibly tiled, not just flat concrete, which would be horrendous. But even those have a purpose and are used to match the minimalist look of the buildings or, in older cities, a more rustic version is used not to take attention away from the architecture. When looking at the Markets environment, I can't even tell what that floor is supposed to represent. It needn't even be that different. I don't want just this particular walkway to be everything, everywhere, all at once just because it's bigger. But it would help a whole lot if it had something, somewhere, at least once. I like the functionality. Processing plant likely wouldn't be an attractive build to include. But we literally have people fishing in Ninjago City. If you're grown up you're thinking: "well, this is just all kinds of stupid". If you're a kid, you can now play with your characters accidentally catching poop instead of a fish and than having to taste it on a bet. (lol) This is not really something I wanted to associate with Lego. And by that I don't mean my particular silly poop scenario, I meant any poop scenario. We also have restaurants. "hmm, what a lovely crab. I had my doubts about crab /w chocolate, but it's wonderful" - "Guess what? The 'chocolate' - is poop! haha" Actually, scratch the complaint... I want to MOC my city to have someone drowning in poop now. My kid would only be sad to think we're filling an animal's home with feces :\
  4. Merlo
    But... there's poop. Does poop have a role in the cartoon? Doesn't seem like a fun gameplay element to insinuate everyone is catching fish in raw sewage.
  5. Merlo
    Well, as I said in my post, it's not a problem that it's "empty". All the sets are packed and a little breathing room brings a nice contrast. But precisely because the sets pack a lot of details per square Legometre, that part looks barren. It serves little purpose and has little content, yes. But city square are often like that, so it's not a problem. But it also has no texture, it's just flat and gray, which always somewhat brings to mind an empty space that you're yet to build upon and it's all the worse contrasted with the other details. Look at the water in the sets, for example. It does not possess "insane MOC" levels of detail. But it does have some in terms of different colored plates below it, occasional plant, differently orientated tiles, etc. So where in real life I would find more details on the concrete on any city square, even if it's just dirty, than I would in the water, it's the complete opposite here, and thus it feels unfinished. The other gray walkways were too narrow to expect much from them and they were broken with stairs or adjoined architectural details, this is just... plain.
  6. Merlo
    Nice mock-ups, but I'm curious about how many would display all these sets in a straight line. ZMG (don't really know what that stands for :)), despite being shown in that configuration, I feel is clearly made to facilitate different connections, and is great at doing so. (Popped between the bigger builds it looks weird and out of place.) In fact, if you're willing to add a bit of custom made water or are not bothered by irregular edges (Lego obviously isn't in all their landscape sets that come without baseplates), there are many more interesting combinations possible.
  7. Merlo
    Ah, well... I'm going to buy the Markets I guess. But I have to say this is the first NC set that doesn't look amazing to me. Ninjago City was such a pleasant surprise. Docks were made to the same standard, if not better, even though they're not tackling a city part that is equally exciting. Gardens undoubtedly look good, although a big part of it feels like a remake of Ninjago City rather than it's own thing. Markets seem to have noticeable problems with the composition of the scene. As mentioned, the bottom center looks empty. For me, it's not even empty in the "there should be some more builds here" but it's empty in the "in the city this detailed, seeing a surface with no texture on it instantly breaks the illusion" way. The right side is not presentable, ditto for the entirety of the rear. Docks is wonderful on both sides, so much so it's hard to tell which one is better. Ninjago City presents a bare look that works, as it really feels appropriate for that part and we've all likely seen city parts reminiscent of that vibe. So everything except the elevator is on point. Gardens perhaps doesn't have enough detail in the rear to look fully finished, but it's not that bad. Markets just have that flat look you get when you take a Lego building and cut it precisely in half, showing the inner structure, if you know what I mean? The level of details and textures feels more appropriate for Minecraft than Ninjago City. I also wonder where all the pieces went. All into width? And I have to wonder what it will look like without the stickers. City absolutely doesn't need them, but will this seriously lack detail without them? So even though I enjoy flipping my NC around in different configuration, this feels mostly like something I would stick in the center and then surround on all sides. Btw, I'm not sure if I'm seeing it well, but is that red bridge just connecting two parts that are connected anyways, for no particular reason? As a final note - seemingly dumping poo into the main waterway is a terrible decision. We have people actually catching, selling fish and eating fish grown in raw sewage now??
  8. Merlo

    10497 Galaxy Explorer 90th anniversary set

    Merlo replied to R0Sch's topic in LEGO Sci-Fi

    I got this after finding it discounted at a price of 60 euros. That's a great price for a set of this size, if you ask me :) I wanna say the build is nothing short of amazing. There's nothing spectactular in it per se, but it really puts all my efforts into perspective. It's professional through and through and has that "hold my beer, I'm an official Lego designer" feel that I wish all sets would have. Major props to the designer. Even better, it didn't have those steps where you have to put a million 1x1's in a row - and it didn't even need them to look sleek. It's really a crying shame that such superb work went into a model that is so very plain. Pretty much what I've seen on the pics - that's it. Just a boxy look, two canopies, clumsy to hold, too big to play with unless you're a grown up, not intricate enough for a prime spot on the precious shelf real-estate. The most attractive parts of it, subjectively, being the striking color scheme and the rear end opening to let the buggy out, are so old they just might be older than I am. On the other hand, if the point was indeed just modernizing the old model and nothing else (as seen from replicating many of its details), that's not been done very well. The new ship looks more like a fighter plane than a vessel to explore galaxies. It doesn't have the more closed-off feel or the double deck look that made it seem like what you had was an attempt to convey a big spaceship with many limitations, but still successfully enough to let your imagination take over. Quote the opposite, the new Galaxy Explorer feels like a small scout ship, but one where brick count was of no issue, so it could be depicted with as much detail as needed.
  9. Merlo
    After driving me crazy with either butchering the original idea or throwing out sets with insulting pricetags, I have to say that 21340 Tales of the Space Age looks pretty good! It's colorful, it's not pretentious and it's affordable as far as Lego goes. I might buy a Lego set once again for the first time after I switched to other brands completely not so long ago.
  10. Merlo

    LEGO Ideas Discussion

    Merlo replied to The Real Indiana Jones's topic in General LEGO Discussion

    I have the same take on the cabin as I do on most Lego sets: the idea was stunning. I would be crazy not to instabuy that. The final product is... fine, I guess? I'm definitely not buying it, but I'd be happy if I was gifted one. It's perfectly understandable why they chose to omit some things, I would do the same in their place. And of course, they had bigger limitations on some other things. But those two aside, that still leaves stuff that is just... bad. Like, bad design choices that make the final product look like the work of a vastly inferior designer. Also, one random thing I noticed buying non-Lego bricks is that they can make any possible brick in any possible color for any set. And yet Lego designers can't even pick from existing bricks and colors to make a set that is more than adequately aesthetically pleasing.
  11. Merlo

    10497 Galaxy Explorer 90th anniversary set

    Merlo replied to R0Sch's topic in LEGO Sci-Fi

    Indeed, it is. This one had me chuckling: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-125875/ao-ka/starfleet-voyager-10497-style/#details
  12. Merlo
    I'd be much happier with this one if it was less colorful, the rear part wasn't such a mess and that colorful line on the side didn't jump in height all of a sudden. Something like this: https://ibb.co/3B2M1x3
  13. Merlo

    10497 Galaxy Explorer 90th anniversary set

    Merlo replied to R0Sch's topic in LEGO Sci-Fi

    "Galaxy Mech Miner" and "Planetary Explorer" on Rebrickable are pretty cool. Not 100-euros-cool, but still :)
  14. Merlo

    [MOC] Return to Spanish Armada Fort

    Merlo replied to Master0889's topic in Pirate MOCs

    I mean this is just beautiful. It makes me want to live there as a minifigure, lol
  15. Merlo

    [MOC] Everhold Castle

    Merlo replied to kodlovag's topic in LEGO Historic Themes

    This is amazing. The contrast between the two sides, that tree, the port... this is all I ever wanted and Lego never delivered.
  16. Merlo
    Vampire version by Nathan Fewkes. Want!
  17. Merlo
    Why? For anyone who doesn't go through the hassle, sets such as those described are just imperfect sets that will bug you when you look at them :)
  18. Merlo
    Ah, but doesn't that imply you have the time and the money to change things? Because that makes those sets a much bigger luxury than they even are now.
  19. Merlo
    I'm kind of in both demographics. I'd love original Lego themes with small sets because that would be cheap for me and I could have a diorama that grows over time. And I also have excess income that I can splurge on big sets. Despite this, I seem to be in nowhere's land ATM. There aren't really any original Lego themes or lines that would appeal to me as classic themes did. And the fact that bigger sets are so visually inconsistent and cannot tie together pushed me out of that group as well. Eventually I just kept the few sets that I like enough as standalone items (Blacksmith, Barracuda Bay, etc.) and stopped buying others. So I'm now at the absurd situation where I won't even buy a castle as a castle fan. If it was a crown item in a bunch of smaller sets - sure! But I don't need another one-off in my collection. Basically the only thing I'll buy if it ever comes out is another Ninjago City, as those fit together perfectly and combine in many different ways. This is all a reflection of the modern short-term thinking, where everyone tries to instantly squeeze the most cash they can from the fans ATM, not really bringing any new fans or even reigniting the fire of old fans, since there's not really anything they can do other than buy that one-off item.
  20. Merlo
    I can only speak for myself, but when I think of classic themes I think of smaller sets that fit together both visually as a part of a larger theme and mechanically, where it's possible or even encouraged to combine them, with no limitations on imagination except the limitations brought by bricks themselves. Instead we got things like the Forestmen GWP, Creator Castle, Blacksmith and Lion Knight's Castle, that go from expensive to crazy expensive, differ in scale and visual style and would be quite difficult to combine. The cherry on top is the fact that when looking at older sets, things like classic space especially, I can't help and think that whatever I think of them now, I have to admit they were pretty cool and imaginative back in the day given what was possible with the bricks they had and non-existent history of the theme at that point. And I am to think that the absolute best we can do now, with vastly superior brick choices and brick counts, a whole four decades later, are well-built, yet impressively vanilla looking rehashes/reissues of those old sets? I can't believe that for a second. I don't see the love for Lego in there. All I see is: "Fans older. Got money. Sell nostalgia." By now it's a sadly familiar scene of companies trying to guess and please the market with one-off solutions without any thought going into planning, coordinating or developing something that can grow into its own thing. There were no original castle/space/pirates lines for ages, so no harm if there are none in the future, right? There will always be new IP's to sell.
  21. Merlo
    Like I said, the specific details are irrelevant. You can make a more interesting castle in countless different ways and with much less than 4000 pieces. And 30% is a huge difference.
  22. Merlo
    Still less bothersome than the original's flags in two different styles and three different colors and sizes.
  23. Merlo
    This variant (among a myriad others) would've been enough for me to instabuy this castle. And I don't mean the size (smaller sets can be great too) Or the style (early medieval with some fantasy flair to it would've been great too) Or the design (Lego designers are very skilled) It's just that... well... this is not plain and Lego castle is :(
  24. Merlo

    O.G.V ORBITAL GUARD VESSEL

    Merlo replied to Operacion Saturno's topic in LEGO Sci-Fi

    Love it! Any more pics?
  25. Merlo
    I forgot to say the other day. Even though Madewithbrix' design has been compared to a house and an ornate castle, the basic part is just in the style of a square medieval keep with some added fortifications. The blue parts that make up the roof were obviously utilized because there were a lot of them and because they constitute quite an attractive build, but it is actually incredibly simple to just plop them off and replace them with battlements or the like.