Jump to content

NickLafreniere

Eurobricks Citizen
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    129

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by NickLafreniere

  1. NickLafreniere
    I hope that the 737 MAX can save its reputation within the next few years so that less people have fear!
  2. NickLafreniere
    The dark blue roof with the 2 yellow stars is honestly the part that pops the most! I love that color, it looks mighty fine.
  3. NickLafreniere
    Thanks! My other priority was to make it affordable so that people don't think twice and just buy it!
  4. NickLafreniere
    I have supported and loved this one I love the minifig artwork in the windows as well. Making prints/stickers for the glass pieces really takes it to the next level. Looking at the picture again, I have now noticed that your roof shingles are all made of flag pieces! Wow!
  5. NickLafreniere
    I'm glad it was the interiors of the cabin that really sold you on it! No one has ever made diagonal, "pod" shaped business class seats like this in LEGO before: I'm so glad I was able to make it work. There is juuuust enough head room for all the minifigs to sit down. I followed the standards from set set 3181 Passenger plane from 2010, so it's legit! As for the competition on LEGO Ideas, there is barely any aviation models. Only 2 airliners have made 10K, they are both from BigPlanes on Youtube. He makes big planes, I make medium planes! So it is totally different category. I like the Concorde LEGO Ideas projects that are out there. I believe there was one from 2014 that hit 10k but was not approved. Currently, there is one Concorde project that is approaching 5K. Still not too bad, comptetition-wise! Not many people on LEGO Ideas have incorporated minifigs into their models though. I tried to create a hybrid between playable toy for kids/LEGO City and aviation display model for a shelf, and it I think it satisfies both markets pretty decently ;)
  6. NickLafreniere
    Thanks! I understand that it looks like an Embraer due to the 6-wide cockpit piece. It would be great if LEGO could make 1 new mold piece for that cockpit to make it look more like a 737 MAX. The winglets really make it stand out. They are modern and look wicked cool! Wow thanks! That's great to hear. Although there are some nice 3000 piece airliner models on LEGO Ideas, they are just too big for many people to purchase. I made mine to be affordable and not take up too much space. And it is nice and smooth, unlike the chunkier 3000 piece planes. You can pick it up with one hand and "swoosh" it if you wanted to :P Get it for a kid as a souvenir, or get one for yourself to put in the office. Piece count is 657 pieces. I imagine it would cost USD$60, CAD$80. I think the LEGO Ideas team could dig that ;)
  7. NickLafreniere
    I recently finished building a LEGO City/Minifig scale plane that offers more details than your usual airliner. I have submitted my creation on LEGO Ideas. See more pictures and vote for it here! My model also has its own display stand which can also be used to display the minifigs. This plane is built using brick-built solutions instead of relying too much on pre-fabricated plane pieces. This plane has quite a nice cabin on the inside and can accommodate many minifigures. To see pictures of the Economy AND Business class cabins, please see my LEGO IDEAS project page.
  8. NickLafreniere
    Amazing job. Supported! I can see it getting approved :P
  9. NickLafreniere
    At first I thought it would be like $500-700, $1250 USD is a lot! That's like CAD$1678.23... I could by another LEGO train for less than that and get EXACTLY what I want. This product has to compete with other LEGO products, or people's own imagination of what they can build themselves with $1250. I recommend just selling PDFs of the instructions.
  10. NickLafreniere
    I think these are great and have supported already on LEGO ideas. I appreciate the look as well as the stability of a model like this. As for the rubber feet, which pieces are those?
  11. NickLafreniere
    I wouldn't mind if nearly all the pieces I intended to be printed were stickers. I know that some people totally detest stickers in LEGO sets, but they are probably in the minority. There are also a few pieces where it would be nice to get in a new unique color, but will probably have to go with a more common color. While designing the VIA sets, there were some pieces that were not in that color at the time. But some new sets in 2020 actually did bring some of the pieces in colors I needed! So I hope that there will be some pieces in new colors for 2021 that could be used for the VIA train sets.
  12. NickLafreniere
    I love the use of the dark green curved roof pieces at the ends of the streetcar. I don't mind the windscreen that you used. I think it matches up to real train quite well for this scale!
  13. NickLafreniere
    As it is right now, making instructions isn't a viable idea since The Canadian requires about 30+ pieces to be made in new colors that aren't currently available. But if the project fails the review, I may consider it, who knows. I hope that LEGO can professionally redesign the coupling and bogie system so that it is fully tested to run well on tracks. LEGO always has new pieces every year, so perhaps some new piece in 2021 can improve some parts of the model.
  14. NickLafreniere
    I hope this can prove that 6w can be detailed and deliver all the details + functionality you'd ever want. I agree that many of LEGO's trains from LEGO City simply don't offer much in detail, or looks. They're simply just rectangular boxes on wheels. I tried to make the train as different from that as I could :P
  15. NickLafreniere
    I also do have the idea to make some additional alternate builds (instead of a baggage car, a dining car - instead of a sleeper, a regular coach - instead of the Skyline car, a Park car) and that would absolutely give the set more value. The Emerald Night's biggest flaw is that you only got 1 passenger car. So if you wanted a 4 car train, you will have 3 extra locomotives. That is a huge complaint from the community, and I agree that was huge problem. I think LEGO should never ever do this again, since the customer could buy 4 of the same set and still not be satisfied. Although my VIA Rail The Canadian will be about $250ish, I think the hardcore train fans will buy it and see tons of value in the set. LEGO hasn't really made a $250 train before, so this would the first time they try something like this. I think if consumers spend a huge chunk of cash on UCS Star Wars, this may be an appealing set. I don't think the Crocodile set is too inviting to new comers, but I think the VIA Rail sets will entice people a bit more. My other train, VIA Rail The Corridor is 1402 pieces, about the same as the Horizon Express. That would be about $150. I also think that the Corridor will present a lot of value, as it is even more playable than the Horizon Express.
  16. NickLafreniere
    I'm glad you're able to see the full potential of this set, not just as a model but also as a product for VIA Rail. James Mathis also said that The Canadian is a bit of a modern-day reboot of the Santa Fe LEGO. I couldn't agree more, that's what I was originally going for. I personally think that The Canadian should come with cars and there shouldn't be separate sets just for the extra cars. Although it sounds like a great idea, I know LEGO isn't interested in having too many SKUs on their shelf. As for the piece count of 1500, The Canadian is 2312 pieces. I have already optimized the piece count, it can't really get lower than that. My other train, Via Rail Canada - The Corridor, is 1402 pieces. The Canadian will cost more than The Corridor, so some may opt for the cheaper Corridor train, or the more "deluxe" Canadian train.
  17. NickLafreniere
    I used studio to design the whole thing.
  18. NickLafreniere
    Today my project has hit 5000 supporters, and it has been just 8 weeks since it was submitted. I have checked all the train projects, and mine is currently the fastest-supported LEGO Ideas train project of all-time. The results so far are looking quite hopeful now.
  19. NickLafreniere
    The old crocodile Ideas projects above could have gotten more support if they were presented more professionally, incorporated stickers, etc. If they were tied to some real-life brand, it would excel on LEGO Ideas like any other licensed success. As for the Queen train, I'm not really sure if it will get produced. LEGO Queen is definitely a popular idea, as it's been on LEGO Ideas multiple times. Will they do an expensive $100+ train? Probably not. Maybe a much smaller version, or just the Queen minifigs - that's what the people want most. The Back to the Future train didn't pass review, since it was niche and quite large. It also doesn't have the traditional details you'd expect from a typical train set - it was wacky. I think only the realistic trains will get approved.
  20. NickLafreniere
    It has to be real. If someone actually had the talent to built that crocodile, they would either put it on LEGO Ideas or sell custom kits themselves. It's confirmed to be real.
  21. NickLafreniere
    I agree, having the real straight track pieces instead of the rails that are included in the set would be better! Even if the display stand was simply just 4 pieces of straight tracks with a train buffer stop at the end, that would be useful and still look nice for display.
  22. NickLafreniere
    It's not a huge issue, I just think it could have been optimized a little better. I still think the set will sell, but it could have performed a little better if it was a tad bit cheaper. I hope the set would sell well so LEGO makes more :) Although I don't think the stand is the best idea, I do like the simple plaque included. I think if just the plaque as well as a few pieces to brake the train (some bricks or a rubber piece underneath) so it doesn't roll off your shelf while in display would have been a great compromise.
  23. NickLafreniere
    The crocodile's piece count and packaging is similar to the 21054 The White House, which is also coming soon. The White House retails for USD$99, and CAD$149... If the crocodile is going to cost that much, I can see quite a few people being turned off by that steep price. The more I look at the picture of the set, the less excited I get. Although the train looks great, it doesn't look like it has many play features, which is totally understandable as this is an 18+ set for display. Aside from opening the cab roof, you can't really "do" much. I have to purchase an additional new motor, which is ok (I could use a new one), but that's still a bigger pill to swallow. The display stand looks nice, but certainly adds to the price. I like the stand, but I don't require it to enjoy the set. It is made of quite a bit of plates, tiles, and rail pieces - about $20 worth of parts that the consumer is forced to buy. I think making the set cheaper and boiling it down to the most essential parts would have been more well received. Most people buying the set either have track to put it on, or could make their own stand made of plates and rails from Bricklink.
  24. NickLafreniere
    For the crocodile, I think it's to save space on the inside of the cab and to reduce the sound it makes(as a bonus, not in any way a requirement). My theory? The inside of the cab may already have the entire battery box inside, so there is no more room to put a small technic motor + gears. Perhaps that was the simpler way to get it done?
  25. NickLafreniere
    My prediction for the new Powered Up Train motor is one that is specifically made for the large train wheels. Every single steam train LEGO has made in the modern era has relied on using a tender for the train motor, along with putting the battery box right on top. This new motor might be similarly shaped to the standard train motor, but with anti-studs on the underside, more technic holes, and other connections. It also might not have the bogie plate with technic pin built on top. I also think the spacing of the motor axles might be slightly different. I'm excited, as using a small power functions motor on the emerald night was so noisy... Steam trains need are more elegant solution.
×
×
  • Create New...