Toastie

Hi Erik, no, nothing much new for sure - taken that "us" stands for "the experienced Technic builders". (I am not!) There are Ninjago, City, Friends, StarWars, etc. pp. mags, coming out every month or so. They all feature a/some poly bag/s. Some of these are (I believe) not so much in the public domain, others are (as the heli in this mag), some only have minifigs. One big thing appears to be these collecting "cards" featuring certain characters or devices, vehicles, being of some "value". And in "all" (I am not sure) the non-Technic mags, there are comics. Clearly aimed at age 10 with a margin of error of at least 5 in every direction. These mags are made for children or those who still feel to be that age (sometimes including me, depending on the poly bag ...). What I like very much: In all of these mags is the (as I judge it) positive feel. Yes, storm troopers are usually depicted as low minds. But they usually get away in a not so embarrassing way. Yes, things are blasted into pieces - but these are intact LEGO pieces, and no shrapnel. Friends mags are about caring for others, City is about getting it done and so on (again: My personal interpretation only!!!) Now with the Technic mag there is another twist: No comic. More so challenging young readers to find out, in which direction an axle would rotate in a (for "us" super simple) drive train. Summary: I really like this approach. Quizzes, solutions, and of course: Ads all over the place. Plus: An enormous amount of font sizes, colors, etc. pp. But it appears as if this sells. I got the last copy of the mag. The lady told me, they had 10 in stock and these mags never sell at this pace; the remaining mags were still present at some numbers. Well, this is a singular probe, of course. BTW, there is also a LEGO "Science" type of mag - that one goes all the way through. Really nice! @Lira_Bricks: Yes, magazines were always like that, I believe. All the best Thorsten P.S.: I forgot: This magazine sells at 4 Euro 50 cents. The heli clocks in at a minimum of about 3 Euro (+s&h ...) no bad deal, I'd say. Plus: I can - if I were 10 +/- 5 years old - put up this huge poster ;)

Well, I have the original - and these silver wheels add to the futuristic look a lot, IMHO only that it. A least on the original. They set the set apart from any "rugged, all terrain monsters" currently out there. (In the futuristic future, vehicles will be towed with trucks on slicks and rims usually used for race cars, as all the dirt is gone ) Other than that: A terrific job. Yout MOC looks much more futuristic than the original! Best Thorsten

You're most welcome @Maaboo35! Should you guys have any further questions, let me know. @1974 Ole, here is to feeling good! No, the text says: Research vessel (42064) "Favorite model: Research vessel, helicopter and submarine in one set. Totally cool" And at the bottom left of his column it reads: (The Volvo dumper 6x6) The first designed set. "In the beginning it was my task to design only the ladder, in the end I planned all the details of the cabin. Actually, the principal designer of the set, Michael Jeppesen, and I visited Volvo in Sweden to have a look at the gigantic real truck". Best Thorsten

OK, just back from the bike ride - 13 km each way, including a long nice off-road section! Weather is still nice - which is "good" for the people around here, who got seriously affected by the flooding. We were lucky, as we are living on a "hill". Helped out in Düsseldorf a couple of days though - it wasn't >that< terrible there. But having about 1.5 m of dirty water + mud in the basement is per se - well - bad. Now here is the mag. real,- had it. Nothing special, I believe (not that much into Technic) - and I am sure you guys found all that stuff already somewhere else. The heli is nice (30465) - you can get that polybag for 3 Euros + s&h, e.g., from JB Spielwaren (https://www.jb-spielwaren.de/en/lego-30465-helicopter-polybag/a-30465/) but also easily for 7,49 Euros + s&h from some Amazon stores. As Jeffrey said after returning from his trip to the ionosphere: He is thanking all Amazon employees and customers, as they are paying for this (stupid crap). Inside, there is also 81x54 cm2 (close to DIN A1) poster, which shows the Volvo thing on one side ("real" and Technic model) and some Technic "power" models on the other. Saved my personal PDF copy (https://uni-wuppertal.sciebo.de/s/xF7aqOZ7lOcSd44) Best Thorsten P.S.: Top right button "Herunterladen" means "download" - for those who never took German classes

Yeah, could be I'll take the bike tomorrow and see whether they have the mag at the local ALDI or Netto "grocery" stores, well the latter is in walking distance - but could bike over to ALDI or the real,- wholesale store in Wuelfrath as well. They are usually well stocked with these magazines, the whole suite. I love them - from time to time I tend to buy a copy - when the polybag looks like fun. Mountain climbers or not. Best Thorsten

I truly hope and wish that you can do that for years to come. Who knows! I had pure luck - should be blind by now, as judged from 35 years ago. They told me that back then. 25 years later, they simply fixed it. As the "cure" was there. It was more or less mechanical, as they essentially stitched my retina back together, using tech stuff, micro-surgery and lasers and so on. Not important. You have to face a completely different situation - and different kind of hope. However, there are also similarities: I do not believe in things to happen by higher authorities, I believe in progress of mankind. It became true for me. You may not have the time, as I had, but maybe you know is maybe. So maybe you have - waiting for a cure!!! It may very well happen. I truly hope - from the bottom of my heart - that you will get this cure. It is absolutely possible. Look at Covid: When people are willing to be vaccinated, mankind won. Again. Vaccination is surely not what you need to get your eyesight back, but who knows! All the very best. And keep pursuing your fun hobby!!! Thorsten P.S.: I forgot: Hakuna Matata!

Very nice review! Now, is there any reasonable argument, other than space restrictions, not to use a buffer volume with any implementation of pneumatics? I mean, it does not make sense to pressurize a comparably small volume, and then let the ideal gas law do the work. Well, better phrased, the 1st law of Thermodynamics - as the second law is far away from making an impact here. What is the rational here? Best Thorsten

Yes. Because you are challenging The Limit You need to find a "space", where you can store your pictures - other than on EB that is. There are many options. Then, in your posts on EB, you >link< to the pictures stored elsewhere. Thus, the EB site does not need to allocate unpredictable amounts of picture storage space; all there is, is essentially "text". A link is about 50 bytes, whereas a picture may well exceed a couple of Mbytes. Best Thorsten

Really nice topic! I started my LEGO building experience at age 3. Well, my parents did. Which was more than a fortune for them back then - I never realized that until ... falling into my dark ages. From 3 to 15 years of age LEGO was central to my life. I had a small bucket of LEGOs, collected during these years, I believe to remember that the small sets I got, "peaked" when I turned 10. And built whatever came to mind. It felt good. And then - I met my wife. I was 15 years old, she was as well. And LEGO was nonexistent in her world. Which in turn made me feel - at age 15 - stupid. Childish. Whatever. And that turned that light out. 1996 our daughter was born. A year and a half later I thought Duplo may be something she may like ... and as back then, "online" was like "Back to the Future", I browsed the shelves. And was taken away ... 15 years are a long time ... 1997 our second daughter saw the light ... and three months later we moved from Germany to the US - SoCal, Irvine. Not much time left to think about Duplo. 1998 BOOOOOOM. Target had the first Mindstorms set (9719) on sale. It blew my mind. Sensors, actuators, a controller. I will never forget, what happened to me, when I spotted the boxes on a shelf more or less hiding across from sleeping bags. That definitely ended my dark ages. 2021 Nothing has changed since 1998. Other than complaining here and there (solely on EB that is; I love this place for the folks posting here in the way the do). Never lost the feel. For whatever reason, 70430 simply made me recall what LEGO is all about. Forget the "Hidden Side", the cell phones, the crap: Pulling that lever and make that subway look like a monster - true LEGO. Wonderful. Best Thorsten P.S.: I forgot: My wife turned that light out at age 15 is >not< true: I turned it out. Over the past 44 years, she tells me that I have more than enough LEGOs (where do you want to put them?) - but something is odd: Other than the "spatial" issue, there is nothing else ...

@Peter Swinkels TLG = The Lego Group. Call it LEGO, which is - I believe - wrong, but everybody knows what you are talking about. Now, with regard to your tires from the past: Do you have any that feel as if they have "liquid layer" on the surface? I have a ton of 90's ... 2000's tires here - they seem to liquify ;) As I don't do cars that much, I could not care less, but I am observing :))) Best, Thorsten

Ahh, that is OK. Ole lives in paradise - so he has access to beers made in paradise. That simple. I have to live now with tough compromises - somewhere in the middle of Germany - Carlsberg Elephant is one. But a good one. For me. Ice-cold. See below ... Yeap. But: Porter is hard to get here - off the shelf. I don't like to order it online or drive >10 miles to get it. Alternatively, Flensburger always works for me. Back in the days, when still living in Kiel, the annual "Kieler Woche" (they apparently do some sailboat racing type stuff for a week or so ...) featured a several miles long "international market place" type thing :)). The Danish section was always located on the town hall square - and quite big, I must say. They had two beers from the tap: Carlsberg Porter and Carlsberg Elephant. Ice-cold. Well. After studying very hard the entire day - or smelling like a barrel of benzene because OChem labs were going a little out of control - there was nothing better than strolling down to the Kieler Foerde, navigate to the "Danish Curve" - and then ... enjoy. So there is more than "taste" when it comes to these two beers - it is much more so very sweet memories ... But back on topic : How much does an employer have to pay to the government for all sorts of things that the employee never sees? I am not talking about taxes. Best Thorsten

I completely agree, simple as in: Nailed to the point. Clean. I really enjoyed this review! Thank you very much! Best wishes, Thorsten

So no dirt, dust, hairs, sweat, crap allowed! Stacking 1000 bricks for testing - only in a class 7 (and better) clean room, right?) ;) Best Thorsten

Oho, for sure! I have worked with these silly websites - uhmm folkes from such companies asking silly questions - they are not >that< silly by the way, their job is totally silly. In the end though, you land in a ballpark - silly or not. It is a start - as if you play mini golf and the first stroke goes NOWHERE but lands somewhere (man, there is one on Fanoe - though one :)) BTW, they also have a mini golf type thing you do with a soccer ball - totally cool - but well out of control for me ...). Cut TLG's payroll cost by a factor of five (although: Not all folks of that company work in China, right? Also, what the "pay" is not what their "costs" are - you know all that Ole, particularly true for Denmark and then closely followed by Germany ;) - When I am successfully applying for grants, I am always surprised about the "huge" numbers ... coming in (and then being praised for that) compared to what is going out, paid to graduate students or postdocs. And you know where the rest is going. Whatever ... And this is the point. (BTW: Carlsberg Elephant here - I love that stuff. Found a glass with the Elephant (https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/carlsberg-elephant-25l-beer-glass-537391372) last year on a yard sale Soenderho, seasoned glass by the winds of the North Sea, for Kr 5. For me, it is worth €1000+++) Best Thorsten No you are not ignorant. Hit CR/LF after the quote a couple of times. Mark everything from end to begin, including the quote, hit delete. Works for me, as I am as ignorant as you feel to be ;) Best Thorsten

That is a very nice calculation, you made! Thank you! And a very nice conclusion! Now here is some more math - well, not really math - it is more or less multiplying one number with another: TLG's revenue in 2020 was about 5.9 billion $ (https://www.statista.com/statistics/282870/lego-group-revenue/) The average employee's salary was 130000 $/year (https://www.comparably.com/companies/lego-group/salaries) The number of employees was about 17400 worldwide ( https://www.statista.com/statistics/292314/number-of-employees-of-the-lego-group-worldwide/) 17400 * 130000 = 2.6 billion $ for the payroll. The fraction of employee cost and revenue is then about 40%, which is a bit on the high side - and may be well off, because I am using wrong numbers. There is a say that 25 - 30% is what you see on average, but that number is highly dependent on the industry sector. Of course. Nevertheless: My conclusion remains the same as before - and I believe there is also broad consensus here: It is not the cost of a mold, that renders the resurrection of an "old parts" mold unattractive, it is the "amount of sets selling (with molded pieces)". New pieces = selling better (in volume) than old pieces. I mean, they have to rake in 2.6 billion for the payroll. Then the Gods of TLG want to see some money and then the entire "machinery" - from buying bulk ABS (which is certainly drowning in the rounding errors) to the buildings/plants etc. (keeping them up and running and up-to-date, not only building them, including all the molds) - needs some bucks to not get hiccups. Because that would be bad - as we have seen before. But that all has been said before, I believe. Best Thorsten

A heartfully welcome to reality. Once upon a time, 10k votes - cast in the "public domain" - which at that time was not really the public domain, but rather a club of folks having access to, toying with, or having heard of IDEAS - was recognized as sort of huge or even unreal. Next stop: Reality (you need to push the exit button). 10k votes ... with how many humans having access to the internet? Wanting to engage? 10k votes sounds to me as the equivalent of 16 kBytes of memory. In 1980, that was a number only accessible to the Justified Ancient. With the means and mechanisms of today's public domain - 10k - when knowing how to play the strings, are well within the noise level. BTW I find this submission absolutely not terrible. Maybe the stakes for submissions to IDEAS have gone a bit out of control - because the whole idea of IDEAS has become "uncontrollable". Oh well, things move fast these days ... very fast. Best Thorsten Edit: @TeriXeri Just saw your post after I posted ... I believe you are saying the same as I do. Did not want to copy your assessment! Well, I believe that monkey is not that random: https://www.gamestop.com/clothing/mens/t-shirts/products/monkey-business-t-shirt/11106290.html Best Thorsten

Well. If that really is the case (as the entire approach of TLG announcing new (AFOL) sets - through the board - appears (to me) to be), I'd like to hear from the so-caring-about-the-ground-folks at TLG, how they see this. There will be no answer, never, I know. You know, occasionally, and recently more frequently with noticing that sort of behavior really showing, I am losing ground with TLG. But then: Entirely my problem. And: I am one in a countless number; so who cares. Good to know that there are some alternatives. All the best Thorsten

Done as well

Wow. Congratulations Sven - this is a truly >outstanding< "Scale Modeling" MOC. What I like the most (apart from being so accurate) is that your MOC is based on a studded design, tiled so nicely. Of course, with some other parts as well. But this very nice model shows in a brilliant way, what can be accomplished stud-wise. I love it. Thank you (again!) very much for sharing Best wishes, Thorsten

Wait, wait. We are getting too far away from the original "keeping the myth alive" turn, @Mylenium and others were addressing. There is no doubt, none whatsoever, that a huge for-profit company as TLG resembles (simply gauged by its revenue and foremost: net profit) will have the >smartest< business people on board, the most powerful software packages running, and the best market analysis folks, programs, and (indirect) "polls", i.e., the full suite of what set sells at what margin around the globe in stores. And you all laid it out very nicely! This is the sole one thing I really do not like, and believe me, a good part of my private life and fun is >dedicated< to TLG's products: Don't tell me, it is the cost of a mold that renders production of a piece from the past virtually impossible. That is utter nonsense. Instead, please tell me, it does not make sense, profit-wise. And I am very happy, as I do understand that argument very well. I would do it the exact same way, if I were to run the joint. That's all there is. Best, Thorsten

Here is another reference to what are the costs of IM: https://rexplastics.com/plastic-injection-molding/the-cost-of-injection-molding-materials Also, just google injection molding, browse to the major Chinese manufacturers (it is there where it happens) and see what is offered in 2021. Best Thorsten

Here is a link from this very forum, where Michael Gale lays it out for track molds - the entire thread is quite informative in this regard: Such a piece of track is certainly not small nor simple. Best Thorsten

Oh heavens, no! But it is not that hard to find out the cost for "molds". There are guys here on EB (e.g., refer to the TrainTech forum) who have their molds made - of course by Chinese folks - precision top, clutch top, durability top - as reported by users. These pieces are not necessarily small, rather big. And the numbers reported are close to what @Mylenium was saying. And: These numbers are of course steep for individuals or small businesses. Nevertheless, there are now numerous products on the market made by such small businesses, e.g., refer to the reported quality of BuWizz devices (BLE nubs, motors). Huh? Liars? Preserving a myth and lying is something very different. I did not say they're liars. Never. They are way too smart. No, this has nothing to do with lying. And I never said that. I quoted the "We should do away" section of @Mylenium's post as preserving a myth naturally involves us. Yes. This is the core of the matter. But certainly not caused by the towering costs of remaking old molds for sure. They have calculated it all the way through - again for sure. Most of the customers want new stuff. And I do understand that - I believe - very well. We are collaborating with two companies with about the same revenue as TLG is making. Yes, these folks have certainly figured it out. New stuff sells better than old stuff. That's it. Not the molds. I do not expect that for a second. Otherwise, they would have never come close to the 6 billion dollar revenue mark. All I am saying is: Resurrecting old parts is not attractive, because they won't sell as good as new parts. It has nothing to do with the cost of a mold, it has to do with sales. Best regards and have a nice day, Thorsten

I totally agree on this, particularly with the "do away", as "molds costing a fortune" actually sounds more than a bit off the rails in the years 2000+ The competitors in the market mold whatever they see fit ... with ever-increasing quality. It really is a well-preserved TLG myth. Which in turn is a nice twist for TLG to run their business as they see fit (which is entirely a must for a for-profit organization!) and let people believe the resurrection of old parts is more or less out of reality - and if TLG takes that route, it is perceived as a gift - and: That it really hurt to do so. Myths need to be carefully kept alive. Molds ... yes they were expensive, back then. In the olden days. As were dual in-line TTL chips. Or washing machines. Best Thorsten

Yes, exactly! And it has the layer feature, numerous CAD programs and the like have. That is very powerful, as you can simply "blank out" layers to focus on particular items positioned on one selected layer. This makes all the difference for me. And it allows you to import your very own designs. Best Thorsten