anothergol

Note that Stud.io imports LDD's. With many errors, sadly, but generally for the same parts that you have to move around/realign. Takes a few minutes. Stud.io is still far from replacing the LDD IMHO, it lacks in efficiency/usability, but it has a few advantages - it looks better, it's possible (still a hack, but more possible than in the LDD) to add missing parts, and the "submodel" feature is pretty neat. I'm trying it. Pretty nice actually, and easy to set up. First attempt: https://sketchfab.com/models/96ef5277be104bceb559d76a69607c9a POVRay render for comparison. I think the only major differences are soft shadows (doesn't seem possible in Sketchfab, is it?), and some normals problems that are (I guess) in LDraw's library. While I don't see myself importing all of my projects to Stud.io, for the ones that are, it's a pretty nice option. I wish Flickr supported it. Btw, the sharpen filter seems to give good results for Lego's, however it doesn't look very good during the rotating preview. Perhaps it should be disabled until the final render? Edit: imported a more complex one https://sketchfab.com/models/3646df10b4804fc79ec4adcb91ba74a6

I too work entirely in the LDD or Stud.io, this is something I'd totally use. (only problem with renders is that the ldraw library varies a lot in quality. Some parts are dead accurate while some others are low-poly or have errors. But that's not really related)

Never got anything bad or broken in a set, except for that X-wing canopy that wouldn't close, but what bothers me are mold marks that are getting more & more common. Ex, Lego has produced clip tiles since forever, and the new ones are now showing nasty sprue marks.. whyyyyy? Another thing is that "minifig accessories" look less & less part of Lego. Ex, in the latest minifig seties you'll find a (rather nice-looking) new ray gun, and a dumbbell. How has Lego not designed the dumbell's balls not to be compatible with the existing balls, and how are the holes on the ray gun not compatible with anything? Many, if not most of the small parts that are now helping designs started as minifig accessories. Sucks when the new ones aren't designed to be part of the "system", and are produced in limited quantities only for minifig series anyway. I doubt that we're gonna see that ray gun in future sets.

I suppose it's ok here since it's about clone parts, not cloned designs. (& yeah I'm talking about parts like plates & slopes, even though it's arguable whether a copy of a mixel joint is an ok clone or a bootleg, I guess). So, looks like clone parts are sold through Aliexpress, in colors that Lego hasn't made (which is the only point, because they're more expensive than genuine parts). I'm hesitating about starting making "unpure" MOCs, but hey, with Lego you never know if a part will ever be done in a new color. On one hand it's not so different than using rare/unreleased colors and is good for prototypes, on the other hand I can't imagine posting a Lego Ideas prototype (where it would be useful) that uses clones. Has anyone bought individual clone parts yet? I don't know which brand it is (I've seen "3D" mini-levers, that must be specific to a brand but I don't know which one) and how compatible the colors are.

I like water-slide decals, but the problem is that they are more technical & don't last, and thus are not for kids. So you could imagine them in Technic sets, but not really, because stickers are generally on technic panels and are covering the usual ugly sprue mark. A thin decal would either dip in the sprue mark, or cover it and it'd break as soon as you'd touch it. Worse, Technic sets are as much designed to play with, or drive on the dirt, thin decals wouldn't even last. Lego however should really include two copies of those sticker sheets, it'd cost them virtually nothing and would allow for mistakes.

Thanks Well I'd like to have a couple of tiles printed for it, but apparently it's expensive, so I made a call in my Flickr to know who'd be ready for a group order. Knowing that each uses 8 round tiles, those would be ideal for a group order. But it could use printed panels for the sides & way more. But perhaps I will end up getting a decal sheet printed instead.

I've taken proper pictures of the latest version, and while they've been blogged in places, I figured out I'd also update its mother thread. So I'm still looking for help as for printing tiles, or people interested in a group order of tiles for this or their own AT-AT of the same scale.

I can't imagine Lego bragging about the size of boxes, though, as it's not even the result of research, it's purely marketing that was abusing that. Also, cardboard is renewable, while they still put small plastic bags of parts into larger ones, that alone isn't really useful. Numbered bags, ok, but those small ones.. personally when I open them I mix them with the rest. Are those bags even made of recycled plastic? If not, they can start here. Lego could even do without bags, actually. Instead of numbered bags, make (Ideas-style) boxes trays, all the parts already in the right numbered tray. There, you open the box, it's ready in trays and you can start building. It'd be easier to steal from sets in shops but hey, there are ways to make that more difficult. I'm sure that the volume of plastic in those bags is small compared to the actual parts.. but it's more the surface that matters, it's plastic bags that end up in birds & fish.

Props to Lego for having turned (for once!) a not-so-amazing MOC of a boring rocket into something better that I'd buy, and (even if it's mostly small parts) to release it at this nice price. The way it's slope-tiled all the way up is perfect. Anyone spotted new parts? I've spotted: -the so-called apollo(!) stud in gold (had to be added for the pun) -flowers in DBG I think?

Still funny that we throw plastic ALL the time, a lot, way too much, but if there's one thing we don't throw, it's Lego. I know they do this for their image, but no one has asked for biodegradable Lego. Ideally, it'd be degradable, but only when you want to (like, dissolvable in something natural), and I can't imagine people getting their Lego to be degraded or recycled. How does the "biodegradable" brick knows it's in a (..non-biodegradable) plastic bag inside a kid's room, or inside a cliff of trash? Ok I'm sure Lego is thrown all the time, but it shouldn't be, it's pretty much the only toy (with Playmobil maybe) that can be passed to other generations.

It's definitely the case for minifig series parts - at least Lego is even clear about these. They're not even delayed, they're exclusive. I wish we could still find paint roller parts in grey. All the new parts are there for a few weeks now btw. A huge update it was. Very slow.. ordered the 7, they've just been sent today.

A bit too hard to look at any of these after having seen Marshal Banana's perfection, IMHO

I wish Lego would completely redesign all of their slopes. Like, Kre-o ones, you can chain them perfectly. It only requires them all to start over a full plate.

I didn't say that, -you- all did. You're all complaining about 2 different things, and I countered them both. 1. morals, and credits. As you're saying, stolen or not, authors are rarely credited, *anyway*. If Lepin had properly licensed MOCs, they would still not credit anyone. If that doesn't counter the "it's lame because they ripoff MOCers without crediting them", I don't know what will. 2. laws. "Lepin doesn't have a license agreement to recreate those designs either by Lego or Disney so they can't" You don't own China, it's them to decide what they're allowed to do or not, don't forget that. While yes, China has signed worldwide agreements about intellectual property, it's ulitimately THEM to decide how much effort they put into fighting counterfeit. And it's other countries to decide if they should penalize China for not enough efforts being made, but it's not YOU (nor Lego, nor foreign lawyers) to decide what's legal or not in China. Do you get it - your/our laws don't apply everywhere. What's a crime here isn't necessarily a crime in another, even neighboring country. Say, if north korea wanted to copy Lego sets, there would be absolutely nothing illegal about it, because your laws don't apply there, and they have not agreed with other countries about anything. If you find a Lepin set sold in a shop in your country, yeah, that's very different, and that will surely put the shop in troubles. There are things you could complain about, though. As I wrote many times, the problem is more Aliexpress than Lepin. And you may indeed wonder, if it's proven to be counterfeit stuff, why they all pass custom inspections. It's your country's customs's job to seize counterfeit stuff before it gets delivered.

So, has Lego credited you anywhere on the box, manual, or online? From what you're saying, it's all about money, Lego paid you, Lepin didn't, but none of them credited you. Edit: ah ok there are credits online (& Lego only does this for some UCSes). That's better than nothing I suppose, but there's really nothing in the manuals or on the box, where it belongs? Btw in that video the guy starts with "I designed the Imperial Shuttle". And how he's presenting it doesn't really sound like "I designed it and my friend re-designed it". ..meanwhile, someone at Lucasfilm really designed.. the Imperial Shuttle. And you're both taking credits for it. I know how hard it is, I've spent a lot of time on AT-ST's & AT-AT's. But I would never claim they're fully my design (on the other hand, I also know it's much harder to follow a blueprint than to be guided by the brick in an original design). Maybe Lepin should have called me, I'd have designed a shuttle for them, and everyone would be happy :) (except Disney I guess) Or course, if a *guy* came up and claimed to have designed something I did, I would have a problem with that. I don't think that's what Lepin does. I'd blame them for not asking permissions, for not paying anything, but not for "taking credit".

Pff come on, there is a market for chinese crap, and there is a market for high-end stuff. The only way Bose could disappear would be if they started to do crap themselves, relying too much on their brand. Has Rolex disappeared? For how many decades have there been fake Rolex? Yeah, and? I don't see anyone having argued about this. You put your trash bags on the street before 8PM the day before, you're a "criminal" as well. BTW, since you seem to care more about the legal aspect: Legally speaking, I'd say Lepin does 2 things wrong, they copy the manuals, and the minifigs. Surely they can be legally attacked on this. However they could simply get rid of both. Manuals are unnecessary when you can check them online, and their minifigs suck anyway (the prints do). What's left: bags of random parts. That's really what you get, bags of random parts (they don't number them btw, that sucks as well). Can't be attacked on that. And I will remind you how everyone now consider Megabloks (or whatever it's now called) "not a ripoff", ONLY because they are now LEGALLY allowed to produce copies. Like a Megablock brick isn't the same as a Lego one.. So much about morals, when it's laws that dictate yours. Lepin is lame for ripping off designs. Megabloks is lame for ripping off Lego. Lego is lame for ripping off Kiddicraft. And none of them ever credited authors of the sets. The only difference between Lego & Lepin is that Lego paid the designers. Morally speaking they're all equally lame to me. But that also to do with the fact that, over a certain size, a company doesn't care about morals. It's all about making money, not exactly "legally", but by all means that allow you to get away with it. Like, tax evasion. Or producing in countries where it's cheaper. Legal, yes. Not all. Because, not mine. I don't even understand what you're saying, they copied it based on your design, and the designer is a friend of yours(?) Anyway, the imperial shuttle.. well don't forget that there IS a designer behind it, that is, behind the "real" one. Does Lego even credit him? Let me check... I can't find anywhere, box or manual, where it credits 1. the artist(s) behind the imperial shuttle 2. the designer of the set. Oh, the irony! Crediting "Lego" and "Disney", yeah, like that's fair. You can talk about money losses, that's fair, but don't nag about crediting authors when none of these companies do. And that's how the industry works, generally all the credits go to 1. the producing company, 2. the producer, 3. the actors. All the rest who worked hard, they're lucky if they get their name in tiny in the middle of a credits scroller that absolutely no one cares about. And it's normal, they can't all be known. This is why I'd be honored if Lepin used any of my designs (& btw, I've shared them with whoever asked, this is also why I wouldn't be pissed - I'm not selling them): they wouldn't credit me directly, -just like Lego-, but it would still be known, for whoever wants to know, thanks to the internet.

I've bought one Lepin set, the super star destroyer that Lego isn't selling anymore. So Lego, not hurt. If anyone is hurt, it's so-called investors, but even them aren't, because I wouldn't have shelled 700 for it. But let's pretend they were hurt, I'm happy with that. And if they think doubling an investment in only 5 years these days is without risks, the risk of people going for a counterfeit instead of the original one they're sitting on, they were wrong. I was working on software. IF something is hurt by piracy out there, it's software! But you know what, despite what I was doing being actually purchased by 1 out of 100 users maybe, there was still enough money for me to live, so I don't care. Could be much richer without piracy, but it was a fun job. And as my boss was saying, if someone has enough money to buy the software and isn't, he's an a**hole. But if he only has enough money for food, we shouldn't be taking his money, there are priorities in life..

I'm surprised that city stuff still sells. Even as a kid, I was finding it boring. I mean, whatever is too close to reality, I find it boring. I find it weird that castles are gone while city is still there, but hey, Lego probably knows better. Although, everyone says that Nexo Knights is a great theme & that kids love it, but they're still the sets that are the most heavily discounted out there. Surely they must not be selling that well.

I'm sure you're mixing things. The second richest in China that you're talking of, it's Jack Ma - the owner of Alibaba/express, which I was talking of, and he's indeed the one responsible for the real problem, making chinese crap easily available to everyone (but well, that's internet). And yeah, he surely has influence, with the money he has. Now -perhaps- Lepin also belongs to Jack Ma, I don't know, but I can't find anything saying it. No one has justified Lepin's business, all we're saying is that it's old & common. Lepin isn't doing anything special in China, it's one of the country's main business to counterfeit. It's certainly lame, but how are you surprised about it, have you never heard of other counterfeit brands than Lego? I'd say this applies to pretty much all brands. I don't know, let's check my desk. Bose QC25 headphones. They're pretty expensive, and Bose is more or less a luxury brand, they're sitting on their name. The chinese counterfeit their headphones. Should I care? -Yeah-, because when I got to buy it on the internet, I had to pay attention to who was selling it, because unknown vendor+low price was a too high risk (unlike with Lego, headphones are harder to counterfeit, & Bose copies are shit). Other than that, do I care for Bose? Hell no, it's their problem. When they sell replacement earpads for 40eur!, while they tear up after a couple of months, I'm not gonna cry for that company.

No one has excused Lepin, and it's not about Lepin, it's about loving the Lego company so much to be blinded about everything. Lepin steals, that's obvious. What's weird is how you are discovering this now, while it's a common practice in China to counterfeit luxury, to the point that it's simply normal there. You're seeing this with your european (or american eyes), but it's China. You're using a naive speech about "legality" when there is no such thing as a worldwide concept of legality. While it's true that China is part of the "WIPO" (& only since the 80's, apparently), it's eventually up to their country to decide to fight counterfeits seriously or not. If it's not a priority to that country, it shouldn't be you to judge, you're not chinese. Yeah, surprisingly enough, the laws of the country you live in, don't apply everywhere. Even your morals don't apply everywhere, surprisingly. And the chinese have many other, much more legitimate reasons to be blamed about their morals - talking about the way they treat animals, for ex. And freedom of speech. Surely China isn't a perfect country & has better to care about than intellectual property. If Lepin sets were being sold in european stores, yeah, things would be moving pretty differently and there would be more serious lawsuits. So, again, the real source of the problem here is Aliexpress, which makes it easy for everyone to remotely buy counterfeit. Perhaps another reason for Lego to care is that China is starting to become a real market itself, some parts of it are rich now, and they're missing on that. As for the poor Lego company who has invested sooo much and is now threatened by Lepin, let's read this together https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news-room/2017/march/annual-results-2016 ..and we'll get back to it in 2018 to cry about how Lego's profits only increased by 7.8% instead of 7.9% for this year. Lego certainly has reasons to care about this, but I wonder what your reasons really are. Surely you're not concerned about Lego being threatened to disappear because of Lepin, are you? All I know is that I'm certainly not the fanatic here, because I'm not on either side. They're both companies & their #1 goal is to make money. If one has a problem with the other, it's their business.

I don't know for others, but I know I'd be honored. It's for that reason that I've put stuff on Lego Ideas - certainly not for what Lego pays (doesn't seem to be much). I'm pretty sure many would be honored. It's like music.. a few famous musicians are getting paid for what they do, while all the rest would be ready to pay just to be heard.

sources? I've tracked Lepin being owned by "MZ Model", couldn't find much more info. There's a difference between being a fan of Lego parts (which I am) and a fanatic of the Lego company, and being blind about Lego's history & practices.

..which makes me remember, when I was a kid, my bad guys were kinda punk-ish (the 80's..), and my good guys were often ninja's (using peasant cowls). So, while I don't care much for Ninjago nowadays, I can understand the appeal for kids. Even though.. ninja's, that was very 80's as well, weird that it's still going on. to be fair, it was already the same when we were kids. Transformers.. MASK.. and many others, were shows purely made to sell toys, from the beginning.

It's not fine, but it's only of Lego's concerns, it shouldn't be yours. Lego stole, Disney stole (a lot!), having mercy for them on this subject only reminds me of a cult, which scares me. It's a toy company, mainly there for your money, and which has enough lawyers and doesn't need your mercy. And to some here, it really looks like Chinese's view on intellectual property is new.. It's very old, and it's only happening now to Lego because Lego allowed a black market to inflate the price of something that costs nothing to produce. Costs nothing to produce bug is worth a lot? That sounds like luxury. And who's the best at producing fake luxury items? China. & why has this been going for so long? Let's face it, the one who buys a fake Rolex, wouldn't have bought a real one. The one who buys a fake, retired Lego set, wouldn't have shelled 10x the price for a real one. There is no loss for Lego or Rolex here, all they care about is their image. It would suck for Rolex if every poor ghy was wandering with a fake that's undistinguishable from a real one, because rich people wouldn't wanna wear one anymore. Lego is worried about its image here, not losses. It's not like Lepin sets would start selling in your local toy store. What could Lego be scared of, here? Mmh let's think about it. The family who has bought Lego for so long, now realizes that another company is able to put (nearly) the same thing on the market, for 10x less, and still make a profit. They start to wonder why Lego costs so much, only now realizing that the production costs are negligible. That is what sucks for Lego. The real problem here is not so old, it's Aliexpress. It's what allows you to buy all the crap that was previously hard to access. Otherwise, you'd have to be an a** to worry about Lepin selling in China itself, allowing chinese kids to possibly buy something they would normally not be able to afford. Lepin is doing it all for money, but so is Lego. When I was a kid I didn't own one brick separator (nowadays I must have 30 lying around), because Lego only puts them in large sets & my family was too poor for those. I quite hurt my teeth & fingers - yeah thanks for that, Lego, you do care so much about poor kids more than money :) I don't see why an european would go buy a Lepin set that's a copy of a recent set, *when he can afford the real one*. Lepin is quite good but nowhere near Lego, plus I would never trust a Chinese company as for the toxicity of toys. Yet, when I was a kid, if that was Lepin or nothing, a large Lepin set or a 8eur Lego set because that's all my parents could afford, I'd have picked Lepin (which, again, wouldn't have happened, because custom taxes put the price of a medium Lepin set near a Lego one, anyway). And as a kid, I wouldn't have cared about intellectual property or whatever. Sucks for Lego, but hey, when you're in the luxury market, you've picked your side.

I quite like it, but here's the reason I'm not gonna buy it, at least not from Lego itself (or never if it remains a D2C): the price. It's one thing to cost 200eur for 1700 parts, that's already high, but ok. Sadly, it's not what it will cost here in Belgium, no! It's 230eur for us. 200eur for germany, 230 for a neighbor country. And 220 for France. Sorry Lego, I don't wanna be milked even more for no real reason.