x105Black

Well, I guess I'm not sure. I've never sold on BrickLink. But I noticed that some people had to make custom listings for certain items, so I assumed it was because no listing existed. I also got what I needed through BrickLink for the same reason. I wish I could have just ordered the parts I wanted directly from LEGO.

This could fit in great with Nexo Knights! Translucent rock candy armor is all the rage. I love the general idea of expanding this theme to make a chess set.

, slicked

egrets,

I just love that it has a couple of these in Dark Brown. It doesn't interest me much beyond that.

But you can't even list the item if there's no entry for it, that's my point. And yes, one of the biggest issues with Bricks & Pieces is just that, they put up new sets but don't have the stock of new parts for long after the set release. I do agree that BrickLink's catalog is vastly superior, offering so much in the way of old, extinct, retired parts and sets that LEGO will never offer. That's its biggest advantage.

cats,

Me, too!

The reason it came up was people saying they preferred BrickLink. I was merely comparing the two and stating why I prefer Bricks & Pieces whenever possible. I'm not trying to come down on individual sellers for the way they part out their sets, to each his own. I'm just stating that I have preferences and that B&P more frequently caters to them. Also, the fact that it took so long to even have a listing for an item on BrickLink (even if none were for sale) was something I was discussing.

I'm not completely opposed to fantasy races, I just find them to be a little overdone and gimmicky in LEGO form. The problem with this is that their builds don't always conform to what a LEGO Ideas project should be. For example, the piece counts are often higher than what would be approved by LEGO. I think that's been the main obstruction, especially with Lord of the Rings projects getting approved (although the license is likely a factor as well). Also, many MOCs are built as shells of a structure, lacking a defined interior. I think that takes away from the chances of success. Another factor would be complex techniques that are not traditional, causing weak connections and structural issues. If these issues can be avoided, I think there could be much success. A medieval styled structure that doesn't use too many parts, has a full interior, and stays away from weaker connection techniques could be very successful. Using your MOCs as examples, I think that the Lakeside Temple, Inland Sea Tower (minus landscape), or Gate of Anrarr (minus landscape) are of a size and piece count that are well within the boundaries of acceptance. They are also very nicely done, and could get many votes with some promotion. And don't get me wrong, the landscapes are wonderful, but they make it less likely to be approved due to inflating the piece count.

I wasn't talking about availability, I was talking about the actual product listing. There was no product listing on BrickLink for Lance's visor (now listed as 22401) for quite some time after the Nexo Knights sets were released. Sure, I could have bought the whole minifigure, but I wanted to see the piece. Also, the fact that sellers don't often part out minifigures is a negative for me. As much as there are many minifigures I want complete, there are also several that I want only a part or 2 from, and the excess parts are waste. Lance, for example, or the Nexo Knights Ash Attacker. I ended up buying 4 Ash Attackers at one point, but now I have heads, helmets, horns, and shoulder armor that I will likely never use. To me, that's a waste of money. As for buying from LEGO, I've had more issues and mistakes with BrickLink. For example, people who list the wrong item, people who list used parts with a new condition, or fail to mention significant damage issues, people who are not accurate, don't send all of the lots, or send the wrong number of pieces, or send the wrong pieces, and people who fail to respond to issues. Also, once I got an order that was not as described (very used parts described as new). The seller apologized and asked that I send them back for a refund. Then they never responded to several questions about sending a return shipping label. In the end, I got my money back through a claim on PayPal, but had to pay to ship it back to the seller. Money spent for nothing but a headache. These issues are certainly the exceptional cases, and are not normal. I have had much more success than failure, and most sellers fix any issues very quickly (and sometimes give a discount or bonus for the trouble). But I trust the quality and accuracy of LEGO as a company more than the unknown random BrickLink seller, despite the issues with Bricks & Pieces. I have had very few issues buying directly from LEGO, and any issues are solved quickly (and never at my expense). That said, there are so many items that LEGO doesn't sell. Old pieces, old colors, old minifigures, none of these can be found from an official source, and for that I love BrickLink. And for many parts, simple bricks for example, the prices on BrickLink can't be beat by LEGO. But there's a trade-off, as you mention above. Less common parts can often be very expensive on BrickLink compared to Bricks & Pieces (if they're even available on B&P). In the end, there are good points and bad for each, but I trust the company as an official source of the product who will be consistently professional in dealing with customers. So, I would rather buy from LEGO whenever possible.

I also believe that the more "traditional" Castle themes seem to be aimed at a younger audience (as far as the ages on the boxes) because of the relatively simple design aesthetic when compared to Ninjago and Nexo Knights. The latter two are very busy and full of action, whereas the former is usually rather plain and straightforward (especially the latest iterations). I guess what I'd really like to see is more exploration into the Kingdoms subtheme of Castle, which seemed to have a more mature design aesthetic. Darker colors, more emphasis on medieval like and villagers, less of the absurdities prevalent in Fright Knights and Knights Kingdom 2. Kingdoms also tends to have less fantasy elements like trolls, elves, dwarves, skeletons, and such. I feel these things are usually overdone when they appear. If there are to be fantasy elements, I think a little subtlety would be beneficial. Of course, dragons (molded always a preference), wizards, and other fantasy elements like these can be done in such a way that they work well with the more realistic feel of Kingdoms. Kingdoms seems to be more rooted in the spirit of the Classic Castle theme, or even Classic Classic Castle, updated to be more modern, which is something I'd like to see more of. I think LEGO should be exploring that side of things. They could take some of the better ideas from the last run of Kingdoms and Lord of the Rings like minifigure design and color palette. They could use newer pieces from Nexo Knights, Elves, and the Minifigure series, among others. They could expand upon lesser used fan favorites like Forestmen and Wolfpack. They could do all of this and present it to a higher age bracket by producing larger and / or more complex sets with modern building techniques and highly detailed modern minifigures. Also, a stronger focus on structures over vehicles and siege machines would be nice. I think that this would be great, not only for AFOLs, but for kids aging out of the juvenile Nexo Knights theme. I mean, I watched one episode of Nexo Knights (just to see what it was all about), and that show is definitely for babies (OK, small children). By comparison, the show before it was Teen Titans Go, and while that show definitely targets children, I can enjoy it as an adult because the style and comedy skew older than Nexo Knights. Adventure Time is another show that is intended for children, but skews older and is enjoyed by many adults as well. It also has many medieval elements (although there are futurist and absurdist elements that make up a decent portion of its post-apocalyptic world). It feels like LEGO went for the same age bracket as those shows, but aimed a bit too low. It won't be long for kids to age out of at least the television show, if not the theme as a whole. Just a few thoughts.

Less favored. Not necessarily less popular.

against

It can also take a while to update all of the parts when new sets are released. I was looking for specific minifigure parts from Nexo Knights, and it took around a month or so before all of the minifigures had updated inventories. As far as Bricks & Pieces goes, it's a similar complaint. It takes a while for things to become available. I've been waiting for certain parts from Nexo Knights to become available, and have not seen them yet (specifically shield tiles and pyramid bricks). There's also the complete lack of certain minifigure parts (like Jestro, the Ash Attacker torso & legs, or Lance's Visor). It's not worth buying the whole set for the few good pieces contained within, and it takes a while for both BrickLink and Bricks & Pieces to get up to date. Also, I'd rather buy directly from LEGO when possible.

vomit,

, choking

Drinking

iodine

I think it definitely belongs in Licensed, just like the Disney CMF thread.

, bottled

I agree, but I also expect at least a few Batsuit variants in the series.

They certainly could. And they've proven with the polybag version that they can do C-3PO's side leg printing and arm printing as well. I'd love to see a classic version of C-3PO in full detail like that. But some will say that they only do high detail minifigures for CMF, polybag, and expensive sets due to production capacity and exclusivity.

Yeah, I had expected some printing on the tail. This tail piece looks so bare, which really makes the seam stand out.

gorgeous