Toastie

Hi @Critical thinker Mindstorms as in: RCX, NXT, EV3? Best Thorsten

Wow! That is promising indeed!!! Is there any information on the free memory lets say on the "City" (PuP 2I/O) hub? Or the Control+ (Pup4I/O) hub? The EV3 has virtually unlimited memory for robotics applications - that is not really that interesting other than having one-4-all programming language for that one as well. Also: I believe I got it wrong: When using that new LEGO Control+ (or what is it called, 3.0?) software on smart devices: Does the program run on the smart device or autonomously on the hub? I was under the impression it runs on the smart device and the BLE server is just executing commands submitted and reporting back data to the client, which in turn reacts and sends out corresponding new directions. Is that the case? Best Thorsten

The message is quite clear here, isn't it? "We will seriously ramp-up DUPLO - including a DUPLO Classic In-House Space, Castle, and Pirates Theme in the colors shown on the photograph" "And we are seriously entertaining the idea of letting Maersk taking over". That shirt color is damned close to Maersk Blue, isn't it? (Says the one who can't tell dark green from bluish whatever) Best regards and have a nice weekend! Thorsten

Oh yes, I love this graph. Mostly because I am seriously color-blind, so I usually don't have any issues with that (One of my former graduate researchers had a T-shirt with these color bubbles - the bubbled color coded text within the bubbles said "F*ck the color-blind" - and it took me hours to find out why everybody was laughing their butt off when I showed up - it was hilarious) Thinking about it: Isn't that sheer number of colors available today an homage to the LEGO AFOLs? To the modelers, who take it seriously? As already speculated - I believe most kids don't care. Best Thorsten

And already here you may start serious debates about the studs on top of the bricks. The thing is though that Technic bricks/beams etc mixed with studded parts opens up entirely new universes of building techniques never possible with studs only. In turn, adding studded elements open entirely new possibilities to Technic models. The other thing is what these Technic folks build. These are mostly highly functional cars/cranes/trucks etc. requiring a lot of reinforcement. It would never work with studded parts only as the torque on the multiple axles and moving parts would tear apart any stud-only models in seconds. And although these seem to be entirely different worlds in many regards - bringing them together was - for me - another LEGO miracle. Best Thorsten

It "means bucket sets", the "just" is not necessary. It means imagination and building is required. BTW, when I was building out of bucket sets, some 50 years ago, there were black/white/blue/yellow/red/green/grey ... and I could not care less about the colors as there were never enough bricks anyways. When I see young children building with bricks (not building sets) today - they don't care that much either. At least this is what I have experienced. So whether or not there are tons of colors may not be the most important thing. Best Thorsten True. One way to quickly check on this: Go the EB Technic forum and tell them "I like studded mixed with studless", fasten seatbelt and wait a couple of minutes to see the sh*t hitting the fan It is crazy what they build over there - with not a single studded brick. Best Thorsten

But you know what? Seeing "Classic" at all at any position better than 10 is very, very encouraging. Best Thorsten

I am also very happy. The above themes may appear classic and that is OK, but the theme "Classic" selling so well means to me that people are actually building their own stuff. Classic is the core of the idea of LEGO. That selling well means all is well Best Thorsten

Would do the same - and then add a tiny little amount of WD40 (sprayed onto a piece of cloth and then applied carefully). The same may happen to the PF remote (8879) - the same procedure takes care of the issue. Access to the dial pads is much easier though. Best Thorsten

@MABHere we go again - whether or not someone sees some kid in some store interested or not in Schleich's stuff let's look at the numbers: https://us.schleich-s.com/en/US/company/facts-and-figures/ 185 Mio Euro = 5% of TLG; of these 50% in Germany. Growth is 17%. Why was Schleich important in the first place? I forgot. But I believe we begin to compare oranges with Corona beer. BTW my daughters had the whole line of dinosaurs first and then every horse you can think of. And they played endless hours because they watched "Little Foot" and "Bibi und Tina" videos. It is again and again the same ... Best Thorsten

And you can directly gauge that by the length of the box-filled shelves at Galleria, Smyth's, etc. pp.: They are the same - sometimes Playmobil is even more attractively placed. And sometimes LEGO is. Comparing regionally resolved sale numbers with the attractiveness of a product makes sense. Best Thorsten

Know what? They don't even have stores in Bangladesh, nor on the South Pole, and so on. I believe someone not seeing something in some place is not necessarily the best reference to assess what market share they have or how they are doing. In the town I am living, there is no store with LEGO or Playmobil on the shelves. Conclusion: Both companies are going down. Or have already died ... Let's take the revenue of both: Playmobil: https://company.playmobil.com/Company/en-US/brandstatter-group-facts-and-figures 680 Mio Euro; TLG: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lego_Group 3400 Mio Euro That makes a factor of 5. Plus the strongly regional character. Both are doing fine - slight dips here and there but that's it for the moment. Best' Thorsten

The 10V power supply is for >charging< the LiPo Versions of the various rechargeable batteries, TLG is/was offering for the PF/Mindstorms devices. These LiPos have all 7.2V >output< voltage. This is very different from powering something directly. You can use up to 18V >input< voltage to charge these LiPos as they have some "sophisticated" electronics on-board. The 10V powers supply is/was not intended to power the devices directly. All PF/PuP/Mindstorms devices operated by (alkaline) batteries use mostly 6 x 1.5V = 9V operating voltage. So your best bet is to use the 9V output of the power supply. Best Thorsten

Do you focus on two out of many (you call "both", which is a difference) arguments? In any case: It is not "not matter" - it is "probably less than AFOLs wish". That is a big difference. I simply don't like the shortcuts made in your reasoning followed by a bold conclusion. Again: Your conclusion implies that you have "heard" it right. It is a 6 page long thread. As far as I am concerned, you have drawn your conclusion from your focused observations. I don't see any evidence that this is "obvious" nor that they are "ridiculous". I have no clue where your self-confidence originates - mind to share that as well? Best Thorsten What exactly does that mean? Best Thorsten To be honest, I am losing the story in this thread. Care about what/whom? Best Thorsten

Hee hee - me too. But as I said: It is some sort of very last resort. And: It was meant to cartoon the present EB discussion(s): Students = selected EB power members; teacher = TLG. Exam = sets TLG sells - as they see fit . All the best Thorsten

I bet it is - renumbered for whatever purpose - maybe to polish it up a bit. 8887 is old. TLG makes only new stuff Honestly, they should be the same. Best Thorsten

Well, if that number issue proves to be true: The binary to decimal conversion @Pdaitabird suggested is very clever but may have serious restrictions. The hexadecimal notation used in VB6() may work though, where you put the "&H" first and the hexadecimal number. VB6 development came to an end 20 years ago - I firmly believe that no TLG bot catches "&H2AF9" as set number "11001". "&H" is totally weird by itself ... and you can use the native Win10 calculator to easily convert the remaining hex numbers. That way you'd make the TLG bots look dumb AND you can still use the number to find your sets ... Just kidding. I liked the 25 very much. Best Thorsten

Ahh, wait wait! The RCX as well as the CCI + II came indeed with very simple AC/AC transformers. I do have them as well. I was talking about the new 10 V/DC power supply #45517. Here's the German LEGO Store picture: https://www.lego.com/de-de/product/transformer-10v-dc-45517 (Don't worry about the "wrong" plugs - they are American, but they don't care at LEGO at all - for years now. I guess simply nobody took a picture for an EU type device OR they can't even tell the difference, as the Chinese put these plugs on - regardless of the electronics inside, which works from 110 V AC to 240 V AC) TLG call this device the "Mindstorms power supply" - it is supposed to be good for recharging the #8878 LiPo (not available anymore) as well as the LiPos for the NXT and EV3 PBricks and the WeDo 45302 LiPo. All these devices "need" to be charged with 10 V DC - which is not true, see here: It needs to be that way, otherwise people could sue the hell out of TLG because the charging sockets are very generic types - fitting almost every wall wart output. I believe it is hard to swallow such a wall wart, but you can certainly use a similarly looking one and plug it in. So I am more interested in learning about the output voltage of that #45517 thingy. All the best Thorsten

Holy guacamoly. Are you sure about the AC? Best Thorsten

Not as long as you are do lighting with LEDs; it would take quite a huge amount of LEDs to go that far up. When you want to power other things like motors and the like, then it depends. In that case you can go to all the amperage you want/need - just make sure the voltage is right, e.g., a notebook power supply 9V / 1.7 A ($20) Best Thorsten

Is there anything that Ali does not sell? Best Thorsten P.S.: Does anyone have a 10V wall wart from either LEGO or Ali? If so, is there a chance to measure the open-circuit voltage?

Absolutely! The dial usually goes from 3.0V to 12V: 3 / 4.5 / 5 / 6 / 7.5 / 9 / 12V ... since these are voltages, devices presently use on Earth. The 10V LEGO wall wart is for devices >not< from Earth - >in addition< to LEGO devices, which run perfectly fine on either 9V or 12V You can get a regulated 3 - 12V wall wart with a rating of about 0.5A for less than 10 bucks. All the best Thorsten

It will work. LEGO is the only company in the world who sells 10V DC power supplies - at ridiculously high prices. 9V works beautifully well - as 12 V does (running for years on my layout). Just make sure that when you get a (cheap) wall wart, as @dr_spock has suggested that the output is really 9/12 V. The cheaper they get the more "unregulated" they are - some of them do provide their nominal voltage only under nominal full load. The LEDs draw only very little current - and thus the applied wall wart output voltage may be way higher. I'd invest a few bucks more for a regulated power supply. Best Thorsten

I absolutely agree with you. See my post above, just edited it. We can get more input as well - we will have to pay for it though. A lot. It's for the professionals All the best, Thorsten P.S.: This one lists LEGO explicitly ... $3500

Exactly. Exactly. All we do here is pure speculation. Database: Our very own personal experience and hearsay. At least this is what I am reading. Give me 2500 bucks and I'll get a copy of this 120 page toy market analysis thingy: "Global Toys And Games Market 2020-2024" to tell you more bits. It will only be bits though. 3 years ago I did some consultation for a pretty potent German company - they wanted to assess the market situation in the mass spectrometry sector. They paid €20000 for four such market reports and gave me a copy. It was an interesting read. But nowhere close to answer any question of "why do they do this and that". You really do get a nice overview though. There are so many of these analysis companies - it feels foul. Nevertheless: TLG for sure has those, their own and so much more of data input for their decisions. We have close to zero. All the best Thorsten