Lyichir

The TV show was not great but the core concepts were a great deal more ambitious than a live-action kids show had any right to be. It was sort of like Ghost Writer meets Power Rangers meets Doctor Who—which meant that yes, the acting was often rubbish and the costumes looked fake and the effects were cheesy, but also that it dealt with relatively complex themes, built an elaborate universe, and was probably the closest Lego has ever gotten to a Cyberpunk theme. Despite the overwhelmingly negative reception of the theme, I've been designing a minifig-scale Galidor set to propose on Ideas just for kicks. If nothing else I hope people would look at it and reconsider whether the theme necessarily HAD to be as bad as it was. Hoping to have it able to be presented by 2017—the theme's fifteen year anniversary, which will likely go completely uncelebrated otherwise. As for other themes that could benefit from a revival... Forestmen would be neat, although I can only really see it working as a year-two expansion of an existing castle theme. The same applies to Blacktron—it really only works as an offshoot of Space Police. It's been a few years since Atlantis ended, so it might be about time for another underwater theme like that or Aquazone. I'd also be interested to see what another time-travel theme like Time Cruisers would be like (although I'd be more interested in tastefully-decorated historical hijinks than another random and zany crossover theme).

From my experience at Legoland Florida, they do not have to be CMFs. Unfortunately, that does mean that the one you trade FOR might not be a CMF—it might very well be a mismatched fig that the employee already traded for that day. Still, if you're trading a fig you don't want or need it can be worth the gamble!

The Café Corner seems to me like an example of when NOT to omit interiors. The large windows practically beg viewers to look inside, and when they do they see not a Nighthawks-esque scene but a few walls and an uncovered green floor. It's no surprise that later modulars included them to some extent, even if they're sometimes a little barebones, especially for buildings or floors without the aforementioned large windows (of the more featureless modulars, my favorite is definitely the unfurnished townhouse in the Pet Shop—very little furniture, but boxes in the attic and a painter painting the second-floor walls suggest someone will move in soon!) I rarely design my own modulars outside of LDD, and when I do, interiors are typically a primary concern. I'm just not interested in building architecture on an aesthetic level so much as on a functional level, and deciding on an interior often helps dictate what sort of architecture the exterior should have. All that said, I can understand that others may enjoy the exterior architecture more than what's inside, and I admit it can be easier to build an exterior that seems big enough for the type of building it depicts and just pretend there's something in there. If I built cityscapes and custom modulars more, I don't think I'd have the determination to furnish them all!

Pretty sure what you see as ICBM launchers are intended to be simple mobile rocket-launching platforms. The rockets clearly feature satellites/probes on the nose which would presumably be used to try to communicate between the far-flung, desolate Ice Planet and either a more hospitable world or the astronauts' planet of origin. The shape of the Ice Planet vehicles may be based on old Soviet technology, but frankly the picture you've posted doesn't really seem that similar to me. Besides, you don't really need to look so hard to find Soviet influences in '90s Space themes—Spyrius is practically bursting at the seams with Cold War-era espionage.

I think the Cloud Cuckoo Palace may be the perfect example of WHY a set shouldn't necessarily be accurate to its source material. Cloud Cuckoo Land in the movie was massive, with The Dog being one of the only real points of interest, and most scenes relying largely on massive assemblies of minifigs. The Cloud Cuckoo Palace set was one of the "girliest" sets released in the Lego Movie theme, but it seems to have sold impressively to both girls and boys thanks largely to its THREE main characters (one of them, Unikitty, being exclusive to that set in her standard depiction) and its very affordable price point. I can't imagine a more accurate rendition of the scene could have matched that. The Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! has the advantage that, rather than having to depict a fully-furnished setting (like the Sea Cow or Cloud Cuckoo Land) that in the movie has to be scaled up to allow the full cast plenty of room to operate, it simply has to seat the main characters as they travel from Point A to Point B (with MetalBeard riding on top). And unlike the Cloud Cuckoo Palace which is one of the most gender- and theme-defying sets ever released by Lego, the SPACESHIP! is, well, a spaceship—a proven seller from the get-go, with massive built-in appeal for fans both new and old.

Matoran had two toes for a long time, from 2001 to 2006 (as did a few Shadow Matoran as well in 2008). Additionally, that foot design is one of the most well-suited to a figure that size, but so far it only comes in black. I've taken his Matoran design and am working on tweaking it somewhat to create a diverse set of six Matoran of different elements, all of which use only parts in existing colors so far.

The cheese slope issue seems far more likely to be an engineering issue than a materials issue. Otherwise, we would be seeing more of those sorts of cracks in all parts—not just those with thin walls. And the reason you didn't see that issue in older parts is because those parts (cheese slopes, baby bows, and the like) didn't exist back then. Older parts had quality issues as well, including fragile designs as well as natural color variation and a greater tendency to fade or yellow when exposed to pollution or bright light. So it's much less an issue of "everything was better back then" and more of an issue where the old problems were fixed and new problems have accompanied new innovations. So pick your poison. From my perspective, having been a Lego fan for much less time than yourself, I've still seen various quality issues arise and then later be addressed. So when I see a cracked cheese slope or a slightly discolored part, I shrug and think "this too shall pass". I'm much too fond of the amazing and useful designs of modern Lego to want to limit myself to the older stuff, especially when the latter is expensive, limited in quantity, and generally no less susceptible to defects.

Hmm... it's tricky to modify large figures like that, especially with purist methods, since their parts are mostly designed to work with each other and not anything else. Given that the bulk of the Rancor's body is hard to modify I don't know how much you could disguise its origins as a Star Wars creature. I have a few ideas, though. Just be warned that I don't have the Rancor myself, so my suggestions may or may not all work, since I haven't tried them personally. Firstly, its arms seem to attach with the same connection typical of Galidor parts. Unfortunately, Galidor predated the color used for the Rancor (Reddish Brown), but perhaps you could make something work with the Dark Red parts of the Ooni. I believe the Rancor's jaw is the same size as several other Lego animals' lower jaws, so maybe you could make something work there. Again, there's not a lot in Reddish Brown. But the Dark Orange or Olive Green T-Rex jaw might work, or even the Olive Green and Dark Green jaw from CHI Cragger. The hands aren't the most distinguishing feature of the Rancor, so changing them alone might not work that well. But if you do decide to, replacing the fingers and/or fingertips is an option. This part comes in Reddish Brown as well as several other clawlike colors, and this one comes in Dark Brown and will soon come in white (which, combined with a shorter finger like this one in Reddish Brown could give a creepy "exposed bone" look). Beyond that I don't know what advice to give. Look at the Animal Body Part category on Bricklink in some of the colors I've mentioned, and if it comes down to it don't be afraid to create something brick-built.

Great MOC! I like it better without the windscreen; perhaps you could attach something else to those clips in its place. And for that matter, I think you should actually switch the black lever for another dark gray one; that way they'll be identifiable as levers the fig is holding instead of blending into the fig itself.

I have a problem and was wondering if the more experienced MOCists or collectors here on Eurobricks could help me with it. A while back, inspired by my love of My Little Pony and Lego, and by the financial opportunity of selling my own MOCs, I designed a large-scale (46 studs long/18 studs wide/31 bricks tall) sculpt of one of the main MLP characters on Lego Digital Designer, with the idea that I could potentially order the parts to build and even sell the model. The problem was that the main color for this character was Medium Lavender, and while I made sure that all the parts I used existed in that semi-rare color, I didn't check how many were available or how much they cost. When I finally went to try and calculate how much this model would cost, I found that I had inadvertently used 345 2x2 corner plates—not only an expensive part on Bricklink, but one that wasn't even available in those quantities from all the sellers combined! I want to try to make this model a reality, and ideally I'd want to cut costs to the point where I could buy the parts to make duplicates and sell them at a profit. But to do soI have to rebuild the model completely, keeping the same exterior surfaces but using only those parts which are available, and of those, the ones which are the cheapest option. Unfortunately, the only way I've found to do so is to try building each single-brick layer of the model using as many possible combinations of parts as I can, and then calculate to find which version is the cheapest—all while keeping in mind that there is a maximum number of parts I can use in that color. Given the size of this model, this is a long and tedious process. So I was wondering if there were a more time-effective way to build a model while taking individual part quantities and prices into account. Does anyone know anything that would help me in this endeavor?

Galidor. They may not have been what you expect when you buy a Lego set but look past that and you'll find that they're higher quality than most action figures aimed at children. And the show wasn't that bad either. I've been kicking around an idea for a minifig-scale Galidor project for Lego Ideas for a while now. Hoping to have it done in time for the theme's fifteenth anniversary in 2017.

You can certainly never have too many white curved slopes!

You mean how do you post links that say something different than the URL? It's easy. In the rich text editor (which, being the default, is what I assume you're using), click the button you normally use to post links (with an icon of a chain) when you have text highlighted and enter the URL of the link you want into the box as you would normally. Voila! The text you highlighted will now link to the text you entered. Want to get crazy? Okay. Click the lightswitch button in the upper right of the editor after you've posted a link like that. Now you can see how the code for the link works. For reference, the code for opening a link is [ url=the URL you want to link to ] (without the spaces inside the brackets). Then you type the text you want your link to display. Then you close it with [ /url ] (again without the spaces). You can use just this code for links in either mode of the editor. I often switch to the bbcode editor for posts like my last one, that have many links with similar text, just to make sure I didn't accidentally include one link twice and omit another, then switch back to look at what my post will look like. Okay, back on topic. The Rancor parts could definitely be neat for a mutant overlord, but make sure to mix it up a bit, either by accessorizing it or replacing some of its parts with other parts. Otherwise when other people (especially Lego fans who are familiar with the origins of parts) see your model, they'll see your "mutant overlord" as just a rancor.

Greenpeace is pretty deplorable in a lot of ways and Lego should NOT tolerate them using Lego products to support their agenda, but I do think that the question of whether Lego should continue creating Shell-branded products might be worth consideration. For the most part, Shell-branded Lego products aren't sold because the brand itself is popular with kids, but rather so that Lego can maintain a working relationship with the company and get its products into Shell gas station convenience stores and similar venues. I'm certainly not privy to how many new customers are gained through this, so I can't judge what exactly Lego would have to lose by cutting ties with Shell (and what they'd have to gain in PR if a massive environmental disaster muddied Shell's name the way the Deepwater Horizon spill did to BP in the U.S.). The issue is that for the most part, Shell HASN'T earned that kind of reputation among the general public. They have done their share of environmental damage, but for the most part it's been through accidents far from the public eye—not the same as BP's poor handling of a massive leak that threatened a huge part of a highly populated coastline. Sadly, the general public doesn't care enough about sea life or Alaskan wilderness to make a fuss over a company that doesn't directly harm them (and provides a much-needed service to a world still highly dependent on petroleum products, to boot). So while I can see the benefit of Lego someday cutting ties with Shell, at the moment Lego probably still has more to lose by doing so than they have to gain.

One part I might recommend is this: the arm from the Power Miners rock monsters. It's not quite like the pictures you posted but a large, knobbly club-like arm is a great starting point for a mutated fig. It fits onto regular minifig torsos just like a normal fig arm. I think some other parts that might be useful would include minifigure parts from the Orcs in the LotR and Hobbit themes. This, this, and this are good options if you want the character to still have some hair. This might work if you don't want hair but still want to shape the head somehow. And don't forget about faces—many Orcs have wonderfully gruesome faces, like this fellow. If you want to give your mutants a more animalistic appearance, consider Chima parts as well. All Chima figs actually have faces (usually double-sided) underneath their "masks", so adding a hairpiece or something to cover up the other face can offer some very freaky appearances. These three headsfrom the crocodile tribe are quite menacing. This gorilla tribe head is less threatening but might still look appropriately brutish. And there are plenty of others—I've simply picked some of the less animal-like, but if you want, say, a spider- or wolf-person, Chima has options for that as well. The last bit of advice I can offer you is to try to use color effectively. Muddy earth tones like Dark Brown, Dark Tan, Olive Green, or even just regular Tan are all great. Ordinary flesh tones work too, especially if the decoration is sufficiently gruesome. Try to maintain color consistency (with parts adhering to a limited color scheme), but if you need to branch out, feel free—just make sure the colors you use look appropriate next to each other. Hoping this helps!

Yes! I'd been hoping you'd do this! In terms of critique, I'm not quite as fond of the facial sculpting on this one as I am with Dream's. There are some nice contours along the sides of the face but it quickly peters off once you reach the front, which is mostly a flat surface. And from my recollection, that's not quite consistent with many depictions of Delirium, who often seems to have fuller cheeks and a generally younger-looking face. The hair, however, is spot-on, along with all the little things living in it. The torso section is also great and I like how you did the eyes (which, being more realistic than Dream's, I can only imagine were much harder on this model). Are you planning any others? Death would obviously be a popular choice but I imagine her beautiful face would be even harder to depict adequately than Delirium's. Destiny would be interesting, and possibly one of the easiest, given how much of his face is covered by his hood. Whatever you do next, I can't wait to see it!

I can only really think of a few differences between BZP and Eurobricks that would explain the different treatment. For one, Eurobricks is older, larger, and more active than BZP, so it has more bargaining power. Lego likely has more to lose by cutting off ties with Eurobricks (which is one of the most prominent AFOL online communities, and an effective avenue to directly interact with fans) than it would have to gain (since a non-endorsed Eurobricks would be even less beholden to the limited control Lego has over their policies). Contrast BZP, which not only is a smaller and more narrow-focused community but also lost a lot of size, activity, and prestige after the one-two punch of Bionicle's end and the Great Downtime. If Lego cut ties with BZP they'd lose only a tiny audience (many of whom would not truly be lost due to being active on other Lego-related sites like this one), while BZPower would almost certainly slide further into obscurity. The alternative answer is that the same rules regarding age restrictions that keep Lego employees like Greg Farshtey from interacting directly with BZP's userbase somehow also affect how much scrutiny BZPower receives from Lego regarding things like leaks. This would not suck any less but it doesn't make as much logical sense as the simple balance of power argument.

I think the use of the plates in the Simpsons House set are because the bowls would otherwise be "hanging" from the roof segments, being attached to the underside of the segment rather than on top, the way Lego models are commonly built. The plates likely provide a bit of extra stability. Either way I hope that at the very least basic Duplo bricks are someday added to the software. Not only would it be nice for, say, if you want to design a model with one of the old promotional printed 1x2x2 Duplo bricks in it (one of the few types of Duplo that has commonly been marketed toward fans of all ages), but larger AFOL models (especially things like mountainous landscapes with large raised sections) often use Duplo bricks for a light, cheap substructure. Specialized Duplo parts would just be the icing on the cake, for when you REALLY want an NPU.

Yeah, I doubt that's the real thing, or even a prototype. Look at the round parts around the wings. The "corners" of those appear to be the old 3x3x2 angular quarter domes, a part that is not only a poor choice for that part of the ship, but has been discontinued for more than a decade (and replaced with the new quarter dome, which is itself not an ideal choice for that feature). My guess is someone found an old MOC of a UCS Slave One and photoshopped it to look like a blurry leaked catalog photo. I can't find the source pic myself but I'm sure it's out there.

You might have to change the way the arms are built significantly if you want to make your design as stable as the one in the set. The ones in the set (by my understanding) have a core constructed of a three-module Technic axle and a four-module lightsaber blade, connected by a Technic connector inside the barrel and bowl. Your solution may be slightly looser, which would be fine for display (like the original proposal) but seems like it'd be slightly flimsier for posing and play.

It's possible that the plate and brick I attached the piece to were older varieties. While I'm a stickler for that sort of thing on LDD I'm afraid sorting out my physical collection is a daunting enough challenge without distinguishing newer versions of what is more or less the same mold. With parts that would be too tight a connection, the lack of connectivity is understandable (even if it's not always obvious from the renders of these parts on LDD). But parts where there isn't enough clutch power should still be able to be positioned as if connected, since all it takes to connect most of those parts (specifically, those 2x2 parts with a center tube) is to place two 1x1 round plates on the inside of 15395 to "connect" the parts via the center tube of the part on top. Indeed, from my experience this technique is used to strengthen the connection of 15395 with even most of the parts on the left of your image (an example being the "lights" on the underside of the roof of the Simpsons House). The fact that this sort of connection needs to be programmed in individually, meanwhile, is probably the main reason Duplo parts are not yet available on LDD (since the connections in both of these situations are based on the inside geometries of bricks, which are not themselves programmed as boundaries). I can only hope that if LDD 5 is ever released it might make these sorts of connections simpler.

The loose ends can still be tied up without having to open with them or even dwell on them too long. If the contents of the serials become relevant at some point, their resolutions can be told through flashbacks or summarized through exposition without slowing down the story too much. Picking up exactly where the story left off, on the other hand, would probably just render the story inaccessible to newcomers—a bad move for a theme that's been absent for five years.

The real problem is not that they don't connect, but that they literally collide if you try to place them as if they were connected. This is a huge problem, since all it takes are two 1x1 round plates to position even most parts which would normally be too loose as if they were "connected". If there's not a collision in real life, there shouldn't be one in LDD. And for the record, I tried with both the 2x2 plate and 2x2 brick and BOTH worked without any substantial stress on the parts. I didn't test all of these physically (that would take days, given the current state of my collection) but I would certainly expect the majority of them to work without issues.

Yeah, it seems to me that part 15395 turns out to need connectivity with all sorts of parts. The top rim ought to be able to connect to just about any 2x2 part, even square ones. But it seems like connectivity is only programmed for a few round parts. And it's not just a situation where you can float it into place—if connectivity isn't programmed, the rim will interfere with connections between parts. I'm going to try to make a list of parts which ought to be able to connect to the top of 15395. Most of these issues also affect part 2489, which has a similar rim: 2397 (the 2x2 section) 2399 (the front 2x2 square) 2422 2460 2622 (the front 2x2 square) 2680 (the center 2x2 square) 2904 2972 (the twelve 2x2 squares) 3003 3022 3039 3043 3045 3046 3068 3176 3300 3678 3685 3688 3729 3730 3787 3788 3956 (both the vertical and horizontal sections) 3961 4151 (the center 2x2 square) 4285 4598 (the vertical section) 4729 4858 (the front 2x2 square) 6032 6153 (the front 2x2 square) 6216 (the center 2x2 square) 6219 (the four 2x2 squares) 6232 15456 15647 17114 30000 30033 30094 30145 30151 30165 30389 30390 30499 30592 (the center 2x2 square) 40902 41751 (the front 2x2 square) 43713 43719 44375 45705 (the front 2x2 square) 47407 (the front 2x2 square) 48183 48933 (the front 2x2 square) 50990 51739 57908 57909 62712 63082 75341 75937 (this connection is used in the upcoming Exo-Suit, which is what led me to realize the extent of the issue) 87580 90194 92013 92582 93348 (the front 2x2 square) 93606 (the front 2x2 square) 94148 94531 (the front 2x2 square) 98284 99206 This is far from a a complete list. I only have time now to check categories up through modified plates (the plate with clip category) and even then I may have missed some. As you can see, this is a wide-ranging issue. I hope for this sort of connectivity to be added in future updates.

Probably for completion's sake. After all, if a kid in the U.S. gets one of these (even as a gift), they might want access to things like instructions, which are linked from product pages.