Lord Insanity

Sorry for the delay, I didn't have internet access over the week end. 1) No I think that is more me being an idiot assuming the shareholder reports were commonly available. A few minutes on google hasn't really brought anything up other than the normal news articles sharing the slightest of highlights. 2) Not that I could find easily available. But I should note that all the toy stores / sections around me either feature licensed properties (like Star Wars) or NASA inspired (though often still quite futuristic if you really scrutinize it) toys. There is hardly any original sci-fi toys like there was 30 years ago in the prime of Lego Space. Maybe you have a different situation where you are? 3) Merchandise for The Mandalorian is largely responsible for that uptick. That doesn't contradict that sales of toys for the newer cartoons and movies were well below expectations. That all comes back to the original point that kids do in fact care about those "geek things kids don't care about". The Mandalorian is routinely heralded as a return to "real Star Wars". (I haven't actually watched it yet so I can't comment more specifically.) I certainly find it amusing. The Rover Explorer is also done up in the color scheme of a modern day camper. Maybe space vacations are allowed.

The two sentences right before the part you quoted was... I realize Lego being a privately owned company doesn't release sales numbers. However most other large toy companies are publicly traded and do release regular stockholder reports. My experience matches the toy sales numbers. Many cartoon series in general have been cancelled not because the viewership ratings weren't good but because the toys didn't sell as well as expected. When it comes to things expected to sell merchandise to or for kids, it doesn't matter how "popular" a cartoon or movie is, if it doesn't actually sell toys it is considered a failure.

Sorry I was not more clear. I am not saying the movies themselves are what kids are interested in, I am saying the style in those movies is reflected in the toys available for kids today (or a few years ago). When it comes to toys (aimed at kids, not collectibles for adults) Star Trek might as well not even exist. Star Wars is in serious decline. The toys based on the newer cartoons and movies have grossly under performed. I see the claim that kids don't care about those "geek complaints" often and I can't figure out why. My kids (12 and 9) and their circle of friends are far more likely to nitpick that stuff than the adults. Consistency and details matter more to kids than adults in my experience. Watching NASA videos of shuttle and rocket launches is very popular with the kids right now. My 12 year old flat out told me all her friends think, and I quote: "The real thing is so much cooler than stupid Star Wars". It doesn't surprise me at all that the Lego 2019 Mars Research Shuttle is still available in stores. That kind of longevity in a retail Lego set is very rare anymore. Well that assessment of the box art is genius. I won't be able to not see that now. I know you don't really care for the "real world" style of the set, but the Mars shuttle is a really good "rocket ship" set in its own right. My local Walmarts have had the set at a regular selling price of $32 for its whole shelf life so far. Lego's suggested price of $40 is a little high considering the terrible print job on the main canopy. Fortunately that canopy is available on bricklink in classic trans-blue and trans-orange. I know it's not the same as a dedicated space theme but it is hard to ignore a good set when it is available and can so easily be converted to a more "classic" space themed set.

You are being fooled by the style of design and the fact that the sets are branded under "CITY". Lunar space stations and Mars shuttles are just as futuristic today as rocket bases on the Moon were 40 years ago. Half the 2019 space sets being contemporary Earth based and half the theme being rather fantastical is part of why the majority of town fans didn't really care for the theme. The aesthetic of the 2019 sets borrows design cues from The Martian much more than Intersellar. (Ironically I think The Martian was a much better movie too.) Now I don't think kids are watching those movies but rather they represent the popular sci-fi "realistic" aesthetic that kids do see used in modern kids shows. Star Trek hasn't been mainstream for years and I would argue the Lego sets have done more to keep Star Wars relevant that the actual movies have.

Keep in mind that real world space fans are usually some of the biggest sci-fi fans too. The cultural zeitgeist has moved on. The pseudo-real space program aesthetic of modern sci-fi is the classic space of the current generation of kids. Think about the 2 - 3 year lead time Lego has for theme development. The 2019 space theme was clearly inspired by movies like The Martian and Intersellar as much as the projected future plans of NASA. Which is really funny because is seems like most of the town fans can't understand why a futuristic Mars exploration theme is branded under CITY either. (Earth based buildings and vehicles obviously) Well 60226 is literally named "Mars Research Shuttle". Despite its design aesthetic it is just as sci-fi as the Galaxy Explorer was over 40 years ago. I mean I get that people in this thread may not like the pesudo-real world aesthetic of modern near future sci-fi. Personally I found the 2019 space theme to be highly useful for Mars Mission (the Lego theme) builds. I also happen to think the Apollo rocket set is by far and away the best classic space Alpha-1 Rocket Base style rocket money can buy. Would I love to see a much more futuristic sci-fi theme? Absolutely. Do I think that interest in Mars is likely to bring about that? Not so much. We already got the "interest in Mars" theme in 2019.

Interesting. So one of the most useful things they should be able to do (market research) they can't?! Well I wouldn't bother complaining to the customer service reps at all. They have no real power to affect the necessary changes and any thing they pass up to the people that could would be filtered to uselessness. Lets be realistic here, the number of third party and bootleg product on Amazon not just Chinese sites like Aliexpress is frankly alarming. Covid related production problems aside Lego is going to have to step up their game in order to not be seriously knocked down by the competition. Here on eurobricks we are the die-hard brand loyal fans. (or mostly anyway) The vast majority of casual fans have no problem buying the alternatives especially since in the last few years the quality gap has become almost non-existent. In fact many legitimate competitors are approaching or have achieved superior quality levels. I have had many Lego 1x1 parts hairline crack upon putting them together for the first time in the last 2 years. I haven't had any of the Mega Construx Masters of the Universe sets I picked up in the last 2 years have that problem. No lame stickers to apply either, the parts are all printed. Ignoring the competition and what they are doing better is a very dangerous game to play in the business world.

I was lucky enough to catch the deer available the other day. I ordered 24 of them. 8 to add to Santa's sleigh so he has all 9 reindeer (including Rudolph). 8 for my elven knights and 8 for my forest as a wild herd. Ideally herd animals would be as common in sets as horses used to be. I am not taking that chance with deer after what happened with goats and the fact that cows are still stupidly rare too. When it come to "army building" figures I would consider 24 to be the bare minimum to even bother ordering. Really aside from "just make more" what they need to do is enforce the "not for resale" rule and start banning accounts from Bricks and Pieces when they just turn around and list the parts for sale on Bricklink. Now that Lego owns Bricklink and can compare addresses there really is no excuse not to do that. I would put that at the top of the list of things to do, not the last resort. Punish resellers, not those of us who are actually using the parts we buy.

Wow. Flower Fruit Mountain is fantastic. That is exactly the sort of mythology based set I was hoping for when I first heard Lego was making sets based on Journey to the West. The Monkey Kid theme is not anything remotely historical fantasy normally though. That set could drop right in a Castle and/or Elven fantasy layout rather easily too. Here's hoping we see more historical Chinese mythology based sets in the future.

I don't think you quite understand that their are Lego fans that happen to like Star Wars and then there are Star Wars fans that happen to like Lego. Here on Eurobricks being Lego purist is a badge of honor. On many general toy and collectible forums being Lego purist is viewed as being an intolerant fanatic. I think you would be surprised how often I see Star Wars fans express the hope that Lego loses the Star Wars license so Mega Construx (based on their Halo sets) or Cobi (based on their military sets) can finally offer some "real" brick based "collector's sets" that are actually to scale. What you consider an unimportant constraint is actually quite important to a certain market share that Lego is basically ignoring right now. Well actually look at the Cobi 1:300 Titanic. The thing is 2840 pieces and almost a meter long. Cobi has far surpassed Lego at making scale models rendered "in the brick". The only set Lego has ever made that comes close to that quality is the Apollo 11 rocket. Cobi and Lego have two entirely different design philosophies. Cobi focuses on making a model to a specific scale and then sets the price accordingly. Lego focuses on making a model to a specific price point and often uses illusion scaling to achieve the desired aesthetic. Look at Lego's Coliseum set. At a casual glance it looks right but if you start to really stare at it you realize the proportions are all a little wacky. Lego's design style is brilliant for their own made up designs like Ninjago City Gardens or the upcoming Blacksmith Shop. It often leaves a little to be desired when dealing with objects (real world or from works of fiction) that already have defined sizes and proportions. As Lego has never made any scale model "boat" at the quality level Cobi has, I remain highly skeptical that it will be as good as the one already for sale. I would love to be proven wrong though. You know what would be really funny. If this entire discussion proves irrelevant because the set winds up being a mosaic picture in the Art line or something.

See that is where I disagree, the UCS fighters should be scaled to the UCS Falcon. Cobi already having a line of 1:300 scaled brick built ships including the Titanic makes this interesting. Is the rumored Lego Titanic going to capture the non-AFOL market when Cobi already has a Titanic on shelves that may very well be viewed as superior? Lego has a really high bar to clear on this specific model to capture the general non-AFOL market.

I think the issue here is that people voted for the scene that the original submission painted and not the fact that it is a blacksmith shop specifically. I think a lot of people were just as interested in the landscape and wildlife as they were the actual building. One of the big draws of the idea (both the original and final production version) to me is the fact that the building is so useful for other things besides just being a blacksmith shop. With some minor changes this could be almost any type of medieval building or indeed any building that uses similar architecture from pirate port towns to modern day legacy medieval buildings. It is the best historical building parts pack in years. Now don't get me wrong, I think the designer did a fantastic job of realizing an actual blacksmith shop, but that is somewhat secondary to what the original appeal of the submission was to many. People wanted a catch all medieval themed set because we haven't had anything but scraps for a long time. I would have happily bumped the price up to $200 if it meant getting more landscape and animals (like goats) to go with the set. I certainly understand the decision to keep the price point at $150 and focus on the building though. I am just glad we got that awesome apple tree and a tan horse. (Seriously people look up what a real apple tree looks like, that is by far and away the best looking official apple tree build ever.) But it isn't the fall foliage tree with goats under it that people voted for.

I did specifically say the UCS fighters are not to scale to one another. Many of them are "close enough" but some are just obviously "wrong." I would never expect a fighter to be in true scale with a Star Destroyer. Even Cobi doesn't use the same scale for airplanes and ships. I agree that would be silly.

Calling Cobi a "knock-off" brand is like calling a Ferrari a knock-off of a Porsche. In many regards Cobi is a better quality brand than Lego. Their real world vehicles are often made to a specific scale like conventional model kits. They build the set to the scale and set the price accordingly. Cobi has a whole line of 1:300 scale ships (mostly battleships.) Contrast that to Lego that builds a "collector's" model to a price point and has no consistent scale between sets that should be consistent to each other. Look at the so called "Ultimate Collector Series" Star Wars fighters that are not to scale to one another. Lego has never made a set of a scale model ship anywhere near as good as the ones Cobi makes. If this rumor is true, they have a seriously high bar to clear to avoid looking like Lego is the cheap knock-off.

What a strange rumor. Cobi already makes both a 600 piece Titanic and a 2840 piece Titanic. The larger one is done in 1:300 scale like many of the battleships Cobi makes. Lego would have a really tough act to follow on that one.

Star Wars has "space ships" the same way Harry Potter has "castles." Neither have astronauts or knights. Ironically Star Wars minifigures are more likely to be useful for castle civilians than they are for space astronauts.

Thanks for those links. Everyone needs to really look at some of those pictures of real slate roofing. Regular blue may be a bit "bright" but it is closer than the "too dark" dark blue. I think the mix of regular blue and dark blue works as well as you can get in Lego to replicate that look of natural slate roofing. Apparently most people just don't know what that actually looks like. I think it is really funny that the "dark/gothic fantasy" appearance of the original submission is considered more realistic than the final product that better matches real slate roofing. Overall, from the leak picture I thought this was a good parts pack. From in depth reviews I think this looks like a fantastic parts pack. Anyone wanting to build medieval styled buildings (in any setting from actual medieval times to "pirate era" port towns to modern day legacy buildings) should be jumping for joy at this set. I actually like the roof building technique better than the original submission. I value stability as much as appearance in a Lego build. Anything that "looks amazing" but is also really fragile is a fail in my book. The final version hits that perfect balance between looking amazing and being solidly built. Minor nitpicks (like the lack of goats) aside, this is by far and away the best Castle themed civilian structure ever released by Lego. Any Castle fan that isn't planning on buying at least one of these for any reason other than financial inability is being really silly.

Well that is how I always treated Futuron. Its the culmination and pinnacle of Classic Space tech. I consider Space Police, Ice Planet, Mars Mission, and the handful of newer minifigs to be specialist groups of Classic Space too. Its all about the logo. I voted for Classic Space, Blacktron, and Black Knights. I just hope the final set isn't a stupid gift with purchase and is actually something we could buy multiples of.

Sorry but saying "Space has Star Wars" is as silly to a Space fan as saying "Castle has Ninjago" is to a Castle fan. You might as well say Nexo Knights was the perfect theme for both Castle and Space fans. As a fan of both, I found Nexo Knights useful as parts packs on clearance but not as an actual theme. As for the poll, I voted for Black Knights, Blacktron, and Classic Space. I would have voted for Black Falcons instead of Black Knights but we are getting those in the Blacksmith Shop so l am aiming for something else. Pirates just got an Ideas set. Adventurers just got a mansion disguised as a fairground ride. Bionicle is of no interest to me at all. My biggest concern with this is that the resulting set will only be a stupid gift with purchase that can't be bought in multiples. That would completely defeat the point to me.

Read the quote carefully, it is phrased a little oddly. I think that setup looks fantastic. I love the wild height differences, that is way more interesting to me. The only thing I would change is connecting the walkway over the pagoda section between docks and gardens. Fortunately it comes with that extra "wrap around" piece to make that MOD if you so choose. Then again connecting the gardens with pagoda to the other side of the city may look really good too. I am sure we will see that picture once somebody tries it out.

Sorry for the confusion. That was my personal take on the submission when I voted for it. That the building could easily be adapted for other time periods with minimal to no modification. That is merely a side effect of that real life style of building continuing on through multiple eras up to the modern day. The original submission being highly run down and in disrepair really drives that home to me personally. If anything I think the final version is more solidly in the medieval period with the suggestion that it could be older if you want with the lichen covered roof.

1. Yes I voted for this set. 2. Primarily because civilian castle themed builds have been grossly under represented. While I like the building itself, I would have preferred something other than an actual blacksmith shop. I already have one of those from the Medieval Market Village. So right off the bat I expected to MOD this into a different shop or straight up house. The animals and fall foliage tree were rather instrumental in drawing me into the scene the original submission picture was setting. While I would have preferred a fall foliage tree I do really appreciate what the designer accomplished with the final apple tree. That is about as close to a real apple tree as I have seen built using legal connection techniques. I really didn't expect to see the goat show up in this set. I don't fault this set specifically for the absolutely absurd corporate decision to not make farm animals in general extremely common amongst Lego sets regardless of theme. (Goats, pigs, chickens, and cows should all be as common today across sets as horses used to be. At least put the darn things on Bricks and Pieces for sale. Again I don't hold that against the Blacksmith Shop specifically, that would be silly.) I do like that the designer managed to get a recolor of the horse. Having that in tan is long overdue. I can forgive not having chickens and pigs if it meant we would have missed the recolored horse. One of the things I liked about the original that I feel carried over to the final very well, is that it could easily be used in whole or as a parts pack in medieval, pirate themed port town, or modern day layouts. I find it funny that some comments I have read pointed that out as a negative. I thought that was one of the features of the original submission in the first place. Honestly the figures are better than I expected. I think it is hilarious that many of the pirate fans thought that green vest torso was too "castley" and now here it is being called too "piratey". I am glad to see it reused as I find it generic enough to look good in either instance. I also like the idea of "the blacksmith's daughter" not being the typical stereotype, even if that would be more historically accurate. I really like the new falcon torso too. I also like that one of the falcons is a woman using the same gender neutral shirt as the man. I can't wait to see a better picture of that face print with the circlet. I find it interesting that so many have completely misjudged the size of this building. While the surrounding terrain has been cut back the building size itself has not been significantly changed. This is basically the modular building equivalent of a stand alone medieval building. I suspect once people see this in person they are going to realize that it makes classic castle sets look like children's playground equipment by comparison. Overall I am very happy with the final result. This is easily the best civilian medieval building Lego has made. It looks to be a fantastic parts pack for making a medieval village or pirate theme port town. I rather expect I will probably get at least two of these if not three or four.

I don't get it. How are AFOLs so terrible at casually assessing the scale of a Lego build from pictures? Look at the side by side comparison picture at the top of this brickset article. The final design had the terrain significantly reduced but the building itself has not been significantly reduced. Count the studs and bricks. The chimney is still 4 studs by 4 studs, the steps are still 2 studs by 5 studs, the windows are still 4 studs x 3 bricks. The roof peak is 24 studs long. The buildings in the Medieval Market Village are only 16 studs by 16 studs. Both the original and the final Blacksmith Shop have a similar volume as both Medieval Market Village buildings combined. I seriously can't figure out why everyone seems to think the Blacksmith Shop has been downsized by any significant margin.

Lichens do come in multiple colors. The most common lichen color I see on roofs around me looks like copper corrosion color. (sand green was originally created for the Statue of Liberty after all) Moss also likes to start growing on lichens so I would say the Blacksmith Shop looks exactly right. (If you follow the link for the below image you have to scroll down past the treatment options to find the hi-res original)

Has everyone seen the Canadian Catalog scans for the Marvel Eternals sets on Brickset? The main spaceship is pretty cool looking and it has trans-purple windows. Remember that is the Canadian price not US. I have never heard of that particular Marvel comics property but that thing is a seriously cool spaceship. The other sets could wind up being useful parts packs too. Slap some helmets and gloves on those figures and they could make some great sci-fi astronauts.

It is actually quite common for lichens to grow at the roof peak and work down on slate roof.. Moss can do that on slate roof too.