Alexandrina

The thing is, this doesn't hold up to scrutiny when you consider that: A) Lego have happily made CMFs for Marvel and Harry Potter, both of which have run alongside regular waves of the sets. B) The core characters from Star Wars - the ones most likely to be in a CMF series - are all periodically released in cheaper sets, with the exception of Lando. Even as a kid whose budget for Lego would just about extend to one mid-range set a year and some smaller ones, I was able to acquire at least one variant of all the main characters except Yoda and Darth Vader, both of whom were available in low-end sets just before and just after the period I was buying Star Wars kits. Sticking Jar-Jar Binks or C-3PO in a blind box wouldn't have any impact on the movement of big sets for an exclusive Mon Mothma or Clone from the Clone Wars (she says, having no idea who is in the current big budget SW sets) and Star Wars is the franchise least likely to run out of characters to minifigurise.

This is the thing that's confused me most about the whole situation - in what way does deleting store listings actually help any scammers? It's not like they'd get hold of the physical bricks, Bricklink could almost certainly just restore the previous listings and even if not - the only cost would be to the store owners who have to then spend the time relisting stuff. It's a threat which doesn't materially benefit the scammers in any way. Very bizarre.

The MOC you linked is a cute looking build, for sure, but to me it's not really any better than the actual GWP at the job: namely, recreating the specific old set. The one you linked doesn't really feel like Majisto's Workshop (primarily because of the colour scheme) and also feels... MOCish? I don't really know what the term is, but it feels like one of those builds which are wonderful but also very clearly fan creations, rather than coming from Lego itself. The actual GWP definitely feels like a Lego set. Au contraire, BURPs should be used far more often than they are. I have no idea why an entire bag in the Eldorado Fortress, for example, was dedicated to building some hollow rock passages that could have been boshed together in five minutes with some judicious BURP use, and freed up parts in the budget to fix the issues people had with the set. I would actually go so far as to say that the part range would benefit from a fourth BURP, the width of the triangular one but of an even height like the rectangular one.

Everyone here upset about the build and the minifigure, and I'm just happy that there are BURPs. They're the only surviving piece from my favourites (we've lost the cypress tree, the octagonal bricks and the 1 x 3 x 5 slopes that were used for the roofs of sets in the Majisto era) and I'm terrified they'll be the next to fall - so every time a new set includes BURPs, I'm happy. Sadly I'm between jobs right now so can't afford to spend money to get the GWP but I'll probably buy a few BURPs off PAB around Christmas to celebrate!

Honestly, I was never into Bionicle so I never even remember those colours exist - they're just completely out of my experience in Lego! I think a lot more fondly on the brighter colours/more distinct variants of colours which filled the system/Belville themes. The weirdest one to me is the loss of Sand Red, almost immediately after it was introduced. It was even used in the big bucks themes like Star Wars and Harry Potter during its limited life, and had service packs of basic bricks released, but didn't last even while Sand Blue and Sand Green prospered.

Honestly I maintain that the issue in this period wasn't the range of colours at all - a lot of them (Blue-Violet, Sand Red, Medium Green, etc.) would still be useful shades today. The real issue was the insane amount of separation - so many colours pretty much only existed in Belville sets, or in Duplo sets, or in baseplates, and this meant most colours were overlooked by fans because they were functionally useless. Light Green, for example, is a lovely shade, but if you take away baseplates, Duplo bricks, Scala/Belville accessories and minifigure books, you're left with exactly three system parts which the colour even existed in. Lego's colour palette shouldn't be limited based on the idea that it was too bloated in the 2000s; they just need to commit to actually producing normal bricks in whatever colours they release, and there's no issues.

What were those prices like compared to Bricklink? I know I personally don't ever buy old sets on eBay unless it's available for bid because they're pretty much universally more expensive than buying the same set in the same condition on Bricklink (the only time I've ever found even a comparable deal is on a handful of Paradisa sets a few years back, and even that was only in hindsight because there were two unadvertised sets contained within the one I intended to buy). I just checked the price of 6769 (the only one I have in my spreadsheet to be able to compare data do) and it still seems to be holding strong value-wise. Average price of sold sets on Bricklink in the last six months is £30 up on what it was two years ago. Other sets' recent sales seem to be what I'd expect them to be based on the price of 6769 and their relative sizes, so it doesn't seem that the market has crashed. Honestly I think the biggest hurdle to a return of Western as a theme isn't its value (as you say, Lego's marketing can sell it for sure if they want to) but more the issue of modern sensibilities. Although less problematic than the Islanders, there are potential issues with Lego incorporating Native Americans into sets if they don't take the time to do it with care, so a Western theme would really be limited to bandits versus cavalry - certainly enough material for a single wave, but I have a hard time thinking of enough genuinely good ideas to make a Western theme with any staying power before you simply run out of things to cover.

Earth Orange (or Light Orange Brown as you've called it) is I think a weird one because it was clearly only ever intended to be used in System sets for food/animals/hair. In its lifespan it only existed in two 'regular' parts, and both of those were introduced as part of the Tygurah creature build (their only subsequent appearances in the colour were in the Creator boxes from 2004/05 that had loads of weird parts and I'm convinced were Lego clearing out excess inventory after they contracted their range). On the contrary, I think the palette is still too small. Lego buying in 2023 is a different proposition to Lego buying in the 1990s - we're no longer limited to standard sets and a handful of service packs. Instead, there are Lego stores all over the world with Pick a Brick walls, and Lego's very own website makes it trivial to order pretty much any currently-produced part in whatever quantity you need. Young kids might well not have enough bricks to make monochromatic creations in obscure colours (for what it's worth, I don't think there's been any drop in the amount of easily-available bricks in the 'core colours' that can be attributed to an expanded palette rather than Lego's design philosophies preferring more detailed builds rather than the blocky constructs of yesteryear) but young kids generally aren't fussy about colour. I know I've seen far more crazy rainbow warplanes and technicolour pyramids in the creations of both my friends when I was young, and relatives in recent years, than I've ever seen colour-cohesive builds by KFOLs. When it comes to adults, though, I don't think there's much cause for complaint, specifically because it's so easy to order a large amount of bricks in whatever colour we need. Currently, you can buy 1x2 bricks in 42 different colours, 2x4 bricks in 33 different colours, 1x4 bricks in 40 different colours, 1x2 plates in 45 different colours, etc. - in short, the majority of the solid colour palette is easily available in the standard bricks. (Sidenote: I can get on board with the notion that every colour should be available in at least the standard bricks and plates, on Pick a Brick if not in sets) This is ideal. You the consumer can buy a set if you like the build, or you can buy bricks if you just want bricks. (Or both; I buy a lot of sets for the variety of parts and exposure to techniques I hadn't considered, then supplement this with Pick a Brick for the parts I need in great plenty.) Except now, the sets look a lot better than they did in the past, because the colours are available to make them look good - for the most part. Unfortunately there are still gaps, some of which were previously occupied. We don't have a dark yellow, or a light orange, or any muted red/pink/orange equivalent to sand blue and sand green. I'd much rather see the colour palette expanded to fill these gaps, rather than contracting at the expense of some of the colours we're already enjoying - especially since you're going to be hard-pushed to find any sort of consensus as to which current colours are the most dispensible.

I don't think it is a new shade, at least beyond the natural variation that all Lego colours have even within a set. I've basically spent the last four years sorting constantly, to the point where I can tell even very similar colours like old/new light grey or the two variants of the original pink apart even in poor lighting - I still can't separate old and new turquoise parts unless the moulds were only produced on one side of the colour's hiatus. If it is a different shade, the difference is so slight that - functionally, to the extent it matters to the consumer - it's no difference at all.

Unlikely but crucially not unprecedented - Dark Turquoise successfully returned after an exile of several years, and while I believe it's the only colour to return after being formally discontinued, it does set the precedent that Lego can bring back a colour if they feel the need is there. I agree with you that Lego aren't likely to bring back a colour just for a tribute set (be it trans-neon green for M-Tron, or blue-violet for Knight's Kingdom, or medium dark pink for the people who really loved that one Basic bucket back in the 90s) but I do think there remains the possibility that the colour could be returned independent of its use in a tribute set.

Perhaps I'm going against the grain here but I'm disappointed that there appears to be rogues/knights in the village set. Knights are uniformed and the parts readily available on PAB, so it's not like every one of us has the army of Lion Knights and Black Falcons we want already, but it feels like every minifigure-at-arms is taking the place of a civilian in what's supposed to be a civilian set. Especially rankling when medieval civilian minifigures have always been lacking.

Presumably the same as trans-neon orange on a slightly later timescale, the colour appears to be being phased out. Lego do have the ability to bring back any colour they want, should the need arise (I still have hope for a Sand Purple return) so the discontinuation of the trans-neon green/orange colours means probably no faithful M-Tron release next year - but shouldn't preclude them releasing an M-Tron set in an unspecified future time.

Honestly the rumour that Lego haven't been allowed to make individual minifigures of Star Wars characters predates Funko, and I'm fairly sure predates even Collectible Minifigures in their present form. The story I used to see when I lurked this forum back in 2008/2009 was that Lego had got into hot water when they released the Star Wars minifigure sets back in 2000/2001 (as they did for a lot of other themes, such as World City and Rock Raiders; figures on a square base with a collectible card) which might go some way to explaining why that particular product line never resurfaced. Having said that, I don't believe the battlepacks were an attempt to get around this. To me it's more a case of Lego holding the Star Wars licence until 2008 but having run out of sets to produce. If you look at it, 2006's range is basically a "fill in the gaps and add some greatest hits for effect" - V-Wing, Sail Barge, Star Destroyer and TIE Interceptor for the first time, plus X-Wing and Y-Wing because they always sell. But when planning the 2007 range they would have had no more movies to make sets from (don't forget: when the Clone Wars film came out in 08, some companies didn't do cross-promotion because they had no idea the film was coming). I'm convinced the battle packs were Lego's attempt to fill the last two years of their licence with new products. Of course, Clone Wars happened then Disney happened and now the idea of not having new Star Wars is unthinkable, but those were different times.

Thanks for the compliment! I actually agree that a baseplate is probably likely - honestly a big factor in my decision not to use raised baseplates was the fact that Stud.io doesn't really have much of a selection, and I don't own any that would be suitable for the theme so I couldn't build it physically either. I might reconsider this, as and when I get hold of an appropriate baseplate!

No problem If it helps, this is a list of every set that contains those orange 3x2 slopes. Might be something there that looks familiar to you.

That configuration of parts doesn't appear to be from any actual set. The bar clip wasn't released until 2006, and there are no sets released since 2006 which contain both multiple 3x2 orange slopes and a black 1x4 tile. (I didn't check basic buckets here, but I've also never seen a basic bucket with one of those bars)

Yeah I definitely think our individual circumstances play a part. For instance, I'm of an age where the Golden Era was over by the time I was getting into Lego, so all of my sets from that period I've bought second-hand since. And I rarely rebuild sets after I'm done with them, so some sets I have no real memory of. For example I have very fond memories of building 8382, but I was also six years old at the time (without high standards) and owned a grand total of five other sets, three of which were basic packs. On memory alone I'd rate it higher than something like 7663 (which I bought for Darth Maul, built really quickly and immediately dismantled for parts) but I'm not sure if that's a genuine fair ranking.

I can see your point on the music ones but people tend to get into football when they're young (if they come from a culture where they're immersed in it). For instance, I know that my interest in football and Lego went hand in hand because one of my first sets was the old Blue Bus from the Football sets back in 2002, and everyone I knew at school either got into football around the same time as me or never got into it at all.

It's genuinely a really hard question to answer, and (at least for me) always evolving. Like, I'm fairly sure I've already responded to this thread once (not going to check) but I bet if I made a top ten now then it would be very different. And that's not factoring in sets I haven't had a chance to build yet (for instance, Arachnoid Starbase or the OG Chamber of Secrets), sets that will come out in the future (such as the rumoured Medieval Village) and sets that I've not built for so long that I can't be sure my memory of them is fair (all the Star Wars sets I had as a kid when I was more interested in minifigures than the quality of the build). You have some iconic sets in your list though - I must say I'm a little jealous!

Star Wars sets survived the prequels and somehow survived the Clone Wars series too. Disney would be hard pressed to find something worse than those.

Is there a continued disinterest in the Star Wars franchise? There's still plenty of interest in the TV shows, and Star Wars as a property remains as strong as ever (and in terms of quality of the production, the recent years are the best it's been since the 70s)

Honestly, that just sounds like generic customer service chatter. I've said similar things (admittedly not regarding products as expensive as Rivendell) in my past life behind a shop counter. "Your 50p chocolate bar is out of stock and we've just started selling a £3.99 'luxury' bar that's the same flavour? Must be destiny - you were meant to have the expensive bar!"

I absolutely adore the concept but imo there's just too much for Lego to make Doctor Who sets based on specific stories (and a lot of those stories won't have a broad audience appeal). I suspect if a Doctor Who licence ever did come, it would be a combination of iconic playsets (the TARDIS) and generic settings featuring Doctor Who villains. For instance, we might get a futuristic city with some daleks, but we're probably not going to get Skaro c. 1964

While I'm not interested in getting into a long debate about whether comments are good faith or not, I do want to point out that you haven't mentioned DOTs or outliers at all (at least, not in this thread during the recent discussion). In fact the only time DOTS sets were mentioned was by MAB. I don't think anybody has suggested at any point that everyone should by DOTS sets because they're good PPP - they've only ever been used as examples to illustrate one extreme of PPP. In fact, as it goes, I'd personally consider DOTS sets not worth it even at the PPP because I have very little use for the types of parts normally included in DOTS sets, and they usually go for pennies at most on Bricklink so I'd have no trouble ordering loads if ever I did need them.

"Jacked up" is one way of putting it, but I think if Lego were to release any set from before 2005 again exactly as was, it would inevitably come at a premium. (Obviously this doesn't apply to PoBB) The older sets have obviously got a lot of discontinued moulds and in some cases discontinued colours that would need to be revived. The Black Seas Barracuda, for example, would need to have about 100 pieces reintroduced even making allowances for where the moulds have been updated (eg. the grooves at the top of 1x1 cones) and five lost colours restored.