Toastie

Oh yes - at that time most alternatives, along with the ever and rapidly increasing demand for almost "everything" (Homo sapiens on a roll), were really becoming much less competitive. For one, "military" and "expansion" was, is, and as it appears will be always strong motivation for some folks to deeply think about idiotic things. In addition, after all the medieval centuries of nonsensical pseudo-science, some folks were really at it; in addition to applied science came basic science (the stuff that just goes into books and tables, without knowing for what - other than having this touch of sophistication - that's what I do for a living ). Carnot literally developed an entire theory (Thermodynamics) to make steam engines more efficient (and for what did he do that? Yes, to make France win a war ... sigh), which was then further propelled by Rankine, Clausius and Thomson and others. Around 1850-60 a full-blown theory turned the steam engine simply into an engineering challenge. It was all there: Just make the "hot" heat reservoir as hot as possible, the "cold" heat reservoir as cold as possible and put a nifty mechanical machine in between. Without blowing the thing into pieces, which happened quite often, those days. Same holds true for steam locomotives, which became comparably efficient machines, outperforming almost every other means of generating useful motive power. Until the arrival of the internal combustion motor - just another fall-out type thing of Thermodynamics . And a bad one, I believe ... I have the LEGO Saturn V here on my desk. I sometimes think: What idiots would a) actually make such a thing and b) what idiots use an elevator to get to the top and then blast off to the moon, in hope to return safely. Oh well, what do I know. It is for the sake of our future, I guess. Best, Thorsten

Well, the "Held of Steine" (Thomas Panke) frequently speculates that the TLG websites are run by apprentices or interns - it pretty much looks like that. Cutting costs I guess. As they do all over the place. 2022. And counting. Some realize that the internet has arrived. Best, Thorsten

Yes. But a) for stationary operation only (no trains, cars) and b) for a considerable price tag, as far as I looked, at least when it comes to different battery sizes. The City PUp hub runs on AAA's, the remote as well, the Technic hubs etc. on AA's. But these are nice; I made one using old AA's - only to find out that a spot of solder works as well. Not for the purists, though! Best, Thorsten

No, because "presumably" should be replaced by "for sure". These rods make such a huge difference; in my opinion, a steamer becomes a steamer through its diverse rods and valve gear. Yes, black, boiler, cabin, all of great varieties, and so on. But in essence, a "steamer" is a steam engine on wheels, requiring quite a lot of (re)direction of water vapor. I love thermodynamics - and thus naturally Carnot machines. Which don't exist in reality. And along the line of "imperfect" Carnot machines, the steam engine is maybe one of the worst, but the most powerful. Putting such engines on wheels, and making them move forward >and< reverse, requires a lot of - gear. Driving rods, connecting rods, valve gear ... Your market insight is (as you know) clearly supporting your analysis regarding the "1" folks on your log scale. Best wishes, Thorsten

Again: Thank you very much for these insights. The whole "train thing" really makes much more sense, when all these very valuable and almost "secured" sources are put together. I always just speculate, as I am just sitting here under the roof and think about this and that. I also do share your "suspicion" (which is much more than that, for sure) about that exponential curve - along with the "trend". And for sure, this curve is affected by third party acceptance. I am again only speculating, but I believe there is much more than these "exclusives gaining attention" happening. Your fantastic rods, track of others, etc. etc. are mostly "exclusives" in my view - TLG does simply not make them. But this market also provides very nice and diverse locomotives, rolling stock, buildings, etc. Which are in full range of TLG, but 100% uninteresting to them, as you and others pointed out. I was not surprised that even Emanuele ( @LEGO Train 12 Volts), in my view a LEGO Train Super MOCer, reaches out to 3rd party (not for exclusives but competing products). This goes all along your reasoning. Personally, I simply don't care anymore. Nowadays, I browse the BB website way more often than TLG's. As an example: Their 10-wide BR89 is a blast - it is intended to be a shelf model, slightly elevated on the (very nice!) tracked stand, so that even a PF medium motor can turn the wheels. I believe I am now months into converting this thing (was an XMas gift - $70). Rough estimate: There are now 20% LEGO bricks replacing the original stuff - to make in run on track. It now features a TLG City hub (the BB PF compatible controller sucks badly!) and TLG color sensor. The plan is to make it run back and forth on straight track autonomously, using colored tiles, as I have limited space up here. And running the Legoino software from Cornelius on an $10 ESP32 dev board. Almost done. Conclusion: Yes, TLG is massively missing out; ideas-wise, and building experience-wise. Certainly not revenue wise, as all that above does not make any sense for a (greedy ) company. None whatsoever. Thanks again and all the best, Thorsten

True. Way too dangerous. Man. Best, Thorsten.

You guys should hang out in the TrainTech forum from time to time. Probably mostly boring (as judged from a train head = me) - but when it comes to any kind of automation - this is a serious resource. RPi is nice, but PyBricks runs >on< the TLG hubs as well - and you can revert to using a web interface. And then there is Legoino ... get a $10 ESP32 and do what you were never even dreaming of. And use your cell phone for what cell phones are for. And again: All this is basically for some sort of autonomous operation rather than remote control. As discussed elsewhere. Best Thorsten

Wow! Industry standards - and global safety standards. I believe they should at least include the planets of our solar system as well. There is only a very slim chance that "meets solar system standards" will be challenged from folks living on Venus or Pluto. I guess now they got me - the screwdriver made it. BTW - they should define "tested for heat" Not for me, no chance to get $180 approved for another train set here Family seems to adjust to BB pricing (12 straight tracks, DBG: €9,99 - other than missing LEGO bit - no difference). Best Thorsten

I believe this is very related, as it is first-hand experience - and you delivered original data. Sure, "just" single point data from you, but they perfectly match with the third party "observations" or conclusions from others. I believe that the posts of @emm , @andythenorth, @zephyr1934 (and others) in this regard should be pinned and used as a reference for all those speculating why TLG is not cranking out rolling stock like crazy because they then will become even richer than in their wildest dreams (not from me, but from Dr. Venkman). I also very much like the "explosion" of @emm's world, when he was/is resorting to other brands or to non-LEGO "electronics". Exactly the same happened here. It is total fun to break out of the serious suffering caused by the limitations TLG has sentenced. Because they are not "giving" us, what we so desperately wait for. Giving as in coming from heaven. Or beamed down from another universe. Very nice insights @andythenorth, thank you very much!!! All the best, Thorsten

You not only said that very well, you provided and discussed multiple "paths", eventually culminating in just your final assessment. I am all with you. In every detail. Thank you very much - and all the very best, Thorsten

And that nailed it as well, as @dr_spock nicely illustrated! That is why I picked the 9V "block" type battery ;) Best, Thorsten

As far as I am concerned, you do not offend anyone here, but more so nailed it 100%. Thank you for your in-depth analysis! Could not agree more. One (minor) thing that bothers me personally: What TLG pretends to be with all that woo-hoo and tries to tell with all that blah-blah - and what it actually is/has become (or had to): A totally profit oriented enterprise. But then: This is why they sell like crazy. We should not take the "almost going bankrupt twice" as reason for making profit beyond belief. When profit goes through the roof, then, for a so much caring company as TLG pretends to be, there actually is a "window" to just make 0 profit on a certain line. However, tell that a 2022 bachelor or master of business. And these folks operate TLG. And along that line: They have their zero or even negative margin lines, preventing any nice-being; we all know them. So in essence: I believe you are right. Best, Thorsten

Stimulating is a very nice and proper description! This was also very stimulating: The capacitors of good old excimer lasers are charged to about 30kV before they discharge that energy to produce a decent pulsed beam of laser light. As an assistant professor, I always tried to fix my excimers myself - the laser company folks charge insane amounts of money for just showing up and talking trash without fixing anything. When they fix "something", regardless what they do, the bill is never <10k. Never. So one day, one of the capacitor banks discharged through my index finger. It's just a pulse, but an extremely stimulating one, leaving a small deep hole in your "skin" + some bodily excitement. Lessons learned: Always discharge the banks before tinkering with the HV supply of an excimer laser. OK, back to 9V DC. What exactly appears to be the safety concern here? These are really cool (and still available at the masses): Just lick both contacts at the same time - quick check for full/half/almost empty. The advanced user will notice that one can stack them very nicely ... Conclusion: I believe 9V batteries are a deadly threat for Homo sapiens. The metal contacts should thus be covered with some plastic/insulating material. Or made from ABS. Would be cheaper to manufacture as well! Win-win! Best, Thorsten

I believe you need to decide on what best describes the purpose/is the main aim of your MOC, as cross posting is not necessarily the way to go. This one is easy, though: It belongs to the [GPC] (Great People Contraption) category of the TechniC++ forum . Furthermore, as the TechniC++ forum now covers Technic, Mindstorms, Model Team, and Scale Modeling, you just need to decide on 1 out of 4 (instead out of 5) forums. Wonderful build and wonderful layout!!! Best, Thorsten

@Jim , I sure will! Particularly with the proper tagging - but even without it is entirely OK!!! Now, my personal opinion is that "[ROBOTICS]" is much more accurately describing what "Mindstorms" tries to convey. The latter appears to be another cool name for something uninteresting to many; the same holds true for "PoweredUp", which is apparently different from "Mindstroms" (which it hardly is, particularly with the arrival of PyBricks) but is so much more than PowerFuntions. On the other hand, "Mindstorms" has been there for decades ... Nevertheless, to me, it appears as if the common denominator for Mindstorms and PoweredUp is Robotics. Just my 2 cents. Best, Thorsten

So true. However, in all their stupidity, they do know how to reach lawyers, by phone, Whatsapp, and Whatsnot - and tell them to sue ... Suing doesn't need any common sense, nor much sense at all. So I guess this is all on "us" ... Best, Thorsten

Well no. This may appear as such when the "different electronics" in a "Mindstorms" set is used with the bricks'n'pieces provided with these sets. And they can be nicely combined with more technic pieces. I see Mindstorms much more so as an ever evolving "programming environment" for operating microcontrollers. Within Mindstorms "remote control" using "remote controllers" is at best uninteresting (this is what I read over and over in the Technic forum: PoweredUp is sort of bad because there is no decent "remote control" and cell phones suck for controlling race cars, trucks, cranes, whatever). My MOCs are hardly Technic builds - they are almost always brick-builds with some technic elements to hold axles, gears and so on. As @Lok24 siad: Head over to the Train forum to learn about automation/autonomous operation of PoweredUp devices. It is all there. Entire programming environments are provided, along with individual solutions. Mindstorms aims at automating stuff. Recognizing things and respond properly. Automation. Autonomous operation. In the Technic forum world, the microcontrollers (called hubs for whatever reason) are mostly reduced to "motor controllers" using hand-held remotes. Call them PoweredUp, BuWizz, or whatever, even the entire Chinese stuff is aimed at that: Push a lever, press a button and something begins to spin. So yes, exposure will surely go up. Personally, I will then have to learn to browse more than one page to get to true Mindstorms entries - and pay much more attention to content, as I am far less interested in learning about another truck/supercar/backhoe/excavator/racecar/harvester ... which is no problem at all! Best, Thorsten

This - I sometimes wonder, how much more safety is required, to save Homo sapiens from extinction by Accidental Misusage Of Whatever (I can see the title of a future Nature article in 2084: "Homo sapiens populations in over-developed countries drastically reduced by AMOW"). Best, Thorsten

Well. Maybe a change of perspective may at least shed some light on TLG marketing strategy - but this is entirely a shot in the dark ... Just follow the money. "Creator Expert in Black Box" from two years ago, the Croc: Aimed at rich adults. The display folks. Test balloon and maybe was a success. 10 years ago, the world was spinning much slower - and what the profit for TLG was (these were not necessarily display models) - who knows. Everything before that: Different world. A 500 dollar HP train set is not a full monty "HP train set", it is a full monty "HP set". Aimed at HP folks. They'd buy whatever claims to be HP stuff. HP author got rich with books = good indication for very big fan base. TLG plays along - and hopes to bolster revenue - and their numbers for other sold HP sets will tell them. From this perspective, it becomes rather clear what they are doing, over in marketing: They do what marketing folks do; they try to maximize profit. And trains per se are not good for that goal. Ib also believe TLG is (perpetually) fishing for new customers (moms and dads etc.), so a $20 rolling stock item - make it $50 - does not make much sense for the marketing folks: New customers don't have track, engines, nothing. So better crank out another $20 - $50 ... plane. Or truck. Or car. No need for more than that (a self-contained set) to make a new kid on the block happy. A two axle freight wagon, however, may raise some very young eyebrows ... Oh well, who knows. Best, Thorsten

Uhmm - 100% down for April = 100% which leaves 0% for later than that :D Oh: If we see it later than April, it does not "look like it's been postponed" - then it is postponed, 100% down . The theme is: Making maximum profit for TLG. Best, Thorsten

And that's - the point. Best Thorsten

Four hundred and sixty-nine dollars??? This is almost on half of a thousand dollars. Sorry, I am much more than out. Better ways to spend my income. But then: Just do it! No bad feelings, just have fun. I recently bought a 10 wide BR89 from BB for less than 70€. That thing is so much fun, as it is brilliantly designed and there is space - added a LEGO city hub, a LEGO remote, a LEGO turntable, operated by another city hub, two LEGO color sensors, and an ESP32 running Legoino. Total from BL: $80. Whatever, just play well. Best, Thorsten BTW: I frequently read "what TLG is giving us" here on EB. TLG is "giving" us nothing. They are selling sets. They are asking for an insane amount of money. We are willing to pay. Giving is something else.

Oh well, "As you are probably aware, plans for the development of the outlying regions of the galaxy invoke the building of a hyperspace express route through your star system. And your planet is one of those scheduled for demolition." Here is to Xerox Best, Thorsten

No. I can't. For sure. On that scale, detailing is central. In 4-wide, it is abstracting. Two - more or less - almost diametral - approaches (or preferences ;)). Best, Thorsten

Wonderful!!! This is really cool. The most difficult part is, as far as I am concerned, opening a 9V device without "breaking it" to the extent of not being able to reassemble them. So the clue is how to do this. Brute force always works - and then one may even figure out from the debris how it was holding in place. I thus would be so nice to show how to open a 9V device, as you did. The rotation sensor for example is a rather delicate piece - I ruined one to see how it is clamped. Videos showing the "opening" of 9V devices are of rather high value - maybe even for more folks than just me. Thanks (a lot) for sharing! Best, Thorsten