Bartybum

In that case, what real serious business decisions did any clone brand make when they decided to take the low effort approach and directly like-for-like copy the Technic system? A few unique pieces isn't really taking the game to a higher level here. This is why I think it's so weird to focus on just patented pieces, when the entire building system is copied from the beginning. Again, don't really care about patents. They're based in legality not morality. Come on...

Yeah I know. I'm not saying you're not allowed to call it trash lol, I'm just saying that I disagree based on my experiences. I can't say I really care about the patents. If it's somehow a moral issue then I would extend that logic to the entire Technic building system ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I don't mean it to undermine clone brands' existence, just that I don't care about the patents for a select few pieces

GB isn't trash. I've ordered pieces from there before - they're pretty good. Great source for special gears that are otherwise too expensive to buy on BrickLink, like rotary switches and new differential housings

Might wanna go over that again, the comment you responded to didn't compare CaDA to Lego, see below: I understand wanting to avoid having a flame war about which brand is better, and I totally agree, but I was answering the dude's question about opinions of CaDA. I can't find the entire email chain so I don't remember all the part codes, but every single JH5041.01 (equivalent Lego piece 6536 in black) was loose. I had to get them all replaced (great customer service though, no problems with them at all). That being said, my comment does make it seem like I meant all the small connectors were shit (which I didn't intend, apologies), so I'll clear that up. I didn't have problems with every single small connector type, only like three or so. They were pretty important however, either due to the amount of them used, or the fact that they were cosmetic and so needed to be able to hold properly. A lot of the connectors that relied on grip were pretty decent, but a lot of them definitely had a bit less than needed to be regularly handled. I remember having to frequently push a few things here and there back into place, namely the hood panels and the doors. I'll stand by my statement that the pins in the Centenario were generally pretty awful to work with, though. I would NOT recommend building it with CaDA pins. The set was REALLY difficult to pull apart, solely because of these two bastards: They were so bloody tight I badly scraped my finger on the chassis trying to claw them out at one point. As for broken pins, about a quarter of the blue 3L pins broke when pulling apart because of how hard/brittle the plastic was. I ended up also breaking a few black 2L pins, but they were mostly fine, if a bit too tight at times (never loose, though). The blue 1/2 pins were pretty tight too, but none broke. On the whole, my experience with CaDA's pins left me with a pretty sour taste, and wanting to rebuild it with Lego pins. Another thing I remember was also that the CV joint in one of the wheel hubs didn't hold in place very well, and was very easy to pull out. The dark azure panels were absolutely beautiful however, so there is that

@aminnich Sorry, I was editing my comment. You might wanna edit your quote of me so that it reflects what I said. I can't answer that from any experience, since I haven't built the Centenario using Lego. Furthermore, the set was from 2020, so I have no idea if CaDA revised their molds or their plastic quality since then. If I could go back in time to stop myself buying the Centenario I probably would, but the part quality isn't entirely to blame. It's about a 50/50 split between the quality issues and the fact that I didn't have anywhere to put it, which made me resent its size, so keep that in mind. That being said, the poor quality of smaller pieces coupled with the complexity of the build and its functions, meant that all the functions and a lot of the smaller panel connections ended up being quite fiddly. I really don't think that I would have had the same problems if I built it out of Lego. I've only got two CaDA sets, the second being their FD RX-7. That one was mostly System bricks though, which seem pretty easy nowadays to get good quality with. I'm generally happy with it, but there's a couple parts about the build I don't really like, mainly the somewhat fragile bodywork. I blame set design rather than part quality for that though, since I reckon there'd also be fragility issues if built with Lego pieces. I haven't taken it apart yet, so I don't know how the pieces have fared over the year that I've had it built. Hope I could help.

...I'm not going to censor myself because someone might (for whatever reason) object to a comparison between the quality of two products offered by competing companies. To be honest, it's especially suspicious to see you say it. Your business partner's product quality is being criticized, and you're trying to moderate that under the guise of neutrality. Surely you can see that isn't a good look... My personal experience with CaDA, as of one year ago, was that some of their pins and connectors were as good as garbage. A significant percentage of the blue 3L pins lasted only one use before the plastic broke. The tolerances on some of the connectors were off, and they had little to no friction. To date I've had nowhere near the same amount of issues with my Lego pieces. Your relationship with them means that it's not possible for you to be a neutral party here.

Entrants know from the start what they're signing up for. TLC isn't stealing anything from Ideas designers here. As for CaDA quality, my experience is that the quality of some of the pins and small connectors was pretty garbage - I lost a tonne of the blue 3L pins after I pulled the Centenario apart. For compatibility, I'd really only recommend CaDA for the big pieces i.e. liftarms, wheels, panels, etc., as well as gears and other special pieces.

Then just design it in two snap-together parts

Why don't you buy yourself an FDM or cheap resin printer?

Excellent, very nice!

That being said it IS CaDA, and (at least as of 2021) their Technic pin, axle and connector quality wasn't that great. If it's any better now then it'd be pretty mad

Oh hell yeah I rate that, looks really nice :o

Very nice, would be interested in a video

Nobody here that can answer that for certain, but you can check the 2021 and 2020 topics to see when we first got images of those

If you think that's bad, look at the BMW So glad I ditched this hobby and moved to Gundam kits

I can only begin to imagine the manchildren booming on about how they've been scammed and should be given the new tyres for free if TLC decided to change them I feel like it's a pretty reasonable claim. - Liebherr gets delayed little over half a year before next year's 1H sets get released. - Hey, let's begin developing a 1K piece replacement set that'll only be released at earliest the same time as next year's 1H sets. I reeeaaaally don't think TLC will be adding another surprise set and risk saturating a lineup whose size they've already deemed is the most profitable.

Product cycle takes ages dude. They're not gonna suddenly divert company resources that are occupied with next year's sets to rush development of another set just because a product got delayed... You get what you get, beyond good product value you're not entitled to expect anything.

Bloody hell I know, right? I dislike the guy's soyjak expression as much as anyone else, but at least he doesn't live rent free in my head. Just live and let live...

Bloody hell, touche. My space shuttle's already baking in the UV lol

Yellow cyls worked perfectly fine on the Arocs. Perfect to contrast the red crane and add some flavour to the grey/white

I'm gonna go stab myself in the eyes with a pen. I much prefer the white

Oh hey not bad, I dig the sliding engine cowlings, good for access. I also like how fast the rotors spin, looks real good

Are these two sentences not contradictory? Just look at the photos or set description on TLG's site, there's a proper swashplate.

Very nice. There's probably people that might object to TLG producing even more parts with such specialized applications, but it's safe to say that current official transmissions are unwieldy and inefficient for play. I'm surprised that no clone company has taken this approach yet. Maybe someone can convince CaDA

I'm impressed. Despite the fact that it looks somewhere between a Barramundi fish and a shoe, I would actually consider buying this set. I'm looking forward to reviews. I doubt they'll have the main rotor spinning fast enough for the blades to generate any appreciable thrust.