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Although they state that this is no April Fools Joke, I still can't believe what I see on that website. If this is true, this is a must have for me...... And I don't care about the missing ape, I have lot's of them on stock

First, I'd like to say thank you that you are taking your time to explain to us what had been given as information to you on the inside tour. Second, I have to "enhance" that argument a little bit. We do get lots and lots of new molds every year, sometimes just for 1 or maybe 2 to 3 sets. For example just look at the new molds (and colours too!) we have in 2020 for the Trolls sets! So why do other themes and new IPs get new molds and colours? Because there you can possibly offset the hidden costs you mentioned. TLC is not willing to divert labour and material for something which is pure fan service. They are aiming for the big audience, where big money can be made. That's it. So, I'm sorry to say this, but this display piece will not find a new home in my flat. I rather spend my bucks on old used LEGO sets than buy something from the current lineup (which doesn't serve my needs) just to get this iconic model. Sometimes you just have to restrain yourself

@Alban Nanty Hello Alban! Justed wanted to drop by and express my gratitude to you for making this tool available to us for free.... and still investing free time to add features or straighten out bugs! Thank you very much! So far I have created lot's of virtual layouts with your software, still waiting for that bigger flat or house to build them in

I happened to drive by that bridge 2 years ago. Actually, the bridge has been painted in 2011, if I recall it correctly. The colours don't look that brilliant nowadays

Well, I'm pretty sure the "list" is not weighted at all. This was all just an educated guess at what might be another reason to not do dioramas anymore And heck, just as you said it: Polybags haven't been in the catalogs and so they have not been in the dioramas back in the days, so no reason to include them anyway. (BTW: If I recall it correctly, they are still not in any catalogue today) I can't recall if that sentence "Each set sold seperately" was in any German language catalogue. I'd wager it was not, definitely didn't notice it back in the days. Hmmm....

Well, the same thing ran across my mind when I read that comment. Couldn't have put it better. Hm, 2 hours and 45 minutes until Friday

Forget about the train, but can you show us more footage of the cats? Honestly: Try to bring more rails next time. A closed loop would have been awesome on that rooftop cafe. Otherwise a perfectly fine video, not too LEGO centric and not too less of it.

Uuuh, looking sweet. Have you tried her on the tight LEGO curves already? Hm, that's a nice train collection BTW

I was pondering about that topic a lot lately. A lot of valid points have been made. And yes, I too think that it is about money why LEGO discontinued showing dioramas. And another yes, I too think that nowadays dioramas are not suitable for the target group LEGO has in mind. But I think the issue is: Look at how many sets have been made back in the 80ies and 90ies. I may not have correct numbers, but the instruction listings over at brickinstructions.com are as follows: Year - Sets - Catalog style 1992 - 73 instructions - lots of dioramas, each set has it's own product box 1995 - 66 instructions - Uff, even Belville and Paradise have their dioramas. And hell, they are good! Product boxes still there. 1998 - 201 instructions - one or two dioramas, but mostly digital backgrounds, product box concept weakened but mostly still there 2019 - 397 instructions - CGI backgrounds, front to back So, according to the numbers, my guess is that it's not making sense to build dioramas anymore because of the shear volume of new sets every year. What do you think, might this be a factor too?

I have just finished episode 1. Wow. So far I'm pretty impressed. This is more Star Trek than anything that happened since 2009. Even the title music gives me that ST feeling. Looking forward to the next episodes. Live long and prosper, Picard!

Yeah, that will work out if you make it DIY. But my point in case was: I wouldn't buy any storage system with open drawers (pre-fab, that is). BTW, at the moment I'm using these: Keeeper (or OKT) Crystalbox Cornelia The lid is easily removable and a bit of a loose fit, but even so it keeps out dust just fine!

I'm getting closer to have my Model Team car line up finished. The Bigfoot 5561 arrived today

Hello @cescpistol! The blue round part is refered to as a "Boat Stud", look here: Boat Stud - Bricklink The next part that sits right on top is: Slope Inverted I think you get the idea from here. Just go and hit the search field. The others might be found as variants of "plate" or "plate modified". And it's always helpful to add the dimension in studs, for example "2 x 1". Regards, Chris

Yepp. Although I'm not that much into Star Wars, but if they decide to do the Nebulon-B I'll buy it anyway. The sheer mass of greebles is worth it!

Oh, you just wait. Juuuuuust wait..... You'll be having your LEGO avalanche sooner or later I got some of those drawer thingies for free, someone wanted to throw them in the trash so I was out on a rescue mission. I'm still pondering if containers without lids make any sense. In my flat dust is a real problem so I don't want to clean out those bins every now and then. Well, and off go the drawers to the basement where my wood working area is...

Uff. Your technic creations never cease to amaze me That's true "German engineering", hehe.

I don't know why, but I have bought another convolute.... About 2 or 3 months ago, when I was nearly finished washing and sorting the last one, I decided to never ever buy convolutes again and stick to the boxed stuff. Well, that "New Years resolution" didn't work out for long. At least not when you can get 2 boxes of about 15 kilograms for 15 euros

Yes, but that was back in the 80ies, wasn't it? I wonder why that idea was never revived. Lot's of cargo trains have come and gone, and most don't have adequate possibilities to load "gravel" or the like. Reminds me of that fully automated train layout, where the cars are loaded infront of a building, go around the tracks, come to the back of the building where they are unloaded. Conveyors then transport the load back to the loading area. Hell, this is sure great fun with balls too! Would love to see that as a GBC.

@Roadmonkeytj Hell, this is awesome! I think I can make out the mechanics without a file. Congratz on this genius solution! Wonder why LEGO hadn't come up with a system like this in the past years, would add so much fun and play value to those cargo trains. What I totally forgot to add: I found a GBC "module" from 2013 that is using the same principle of mechanism: http://technicdelicatessen.blogspot.com/2013/03/self-explanatory-lego-gbc-module.html

Hmmm. Have monitored sentiments on severals forums and been holding back my own comment on this so far. Interestingly, most fans happen to have some ressentiments against this deal. First, I'm neither a fanboy nor a gruntling clone-bricks-buyer. I'm an avid collector, and sometimes I have fun building stuff with my little one (or on my own... hehe). So, when I think about the possible changes coming in the future (and there WILL be changes, that's for sure), I mainly think about it from the perspective of someone who buys old sets, old instructions and old parts mostly out of nostalgia. And I don't think what I do on BL will be affected on short or even long term. However, I can see the possible downsides to this too. Lots of cons to this deal have been posted here, I agree with some but will not repeat any here. I do sincerely hope that BL happens to stay the way it is: A great place to buy and sell used or new LEGO, wherever it may come from / which lorry it dropped off *cough*, and an awesome database to support this. I am not interested in buying from LEGO directly anymore, the sheer mass of promo items and, of course, regular sets is overwhelming. No sense in collecting here, at least not if you aim for a half-way completeness. I am no Bill Gates, sorry LEGO. That's what has driven me to flea markets, whether online or physical, and to BL. There are lots of sets out there from the past, some haven't even been released in my country back then. And sometimes I just go and browse the database for some hours, just for fun. Lot's of sets to be had for pocket money. No need to wait for any promotion or Black Friday Deal... So, if LEGO screws up BL there will definitely be other places to fullfill my needs. No need to panic. One last note: I do not know how big a factor like nostalgia drives people to buy on BL or elsewhere. But it sure would be nice to get some "Legends" sets again, as happened in the past with the Metroliner or the Guarded Inn. I think there are lots of niches like that one that need to get filled. And now that LEGO has relevant sales data from a second-hand market, LEGO will know whether or not this is backed up by data...

Take a look at time mark 14:04 here... That company is a local player here in Germany, I wonder what's stopping TLC from releasing at least a fraction of it. The only thing stopping me from buying any of these is because they are not made from genuine LEGO bricks. God, I'm lamenting, ain't I? Better I stop myself right now. I'm so sorry

Wonderful creation and a true "re-invention" of the original. All 3 thumbs up for this! And that comment about "Heart of Darkness" sent me into my movie library, been watching "Apocalypse Now Redux" the last 200 minutes....

But we did get a lot of decent trains recently. Most of them are still on sale and the christmas train will surely come back this year around. So I can't complain with that. It's just that there is nothing besides trains that is available as a single set, not even a darn Train station or a sole wagon...

Oh, I think it definitely will. Why do I belive so? Well, one reason is that TLC releases a lot more sets every year than they did back in the 70ies or 80ies. The other thing to consider is, that you can get a lot of sets nowadays with a respectable rebate if you just have the patience (and good timing, of course). And third, old LEGO klodser just don't go away. Most of it is kept and given to the next generation or sold at flea markets or via the net. So the used market just keeps growing. @knotian Hehe, yes. That's the way to go! And that's also the reason why I always keep coming back to Creator 3-in-1 sets or the Creativity boxes. Having a big pile of useful bricks gives me (and my little one) so much more than building by instructions. I think part reusability should be top priority for TLC when designing new parts. It seems to me they are on the way to repeating the same error from way back in the crisis around 2000, when their parts assortment got out of hand...

I do think those projects broaden the possible audience. Those projects get publicity on different channels which hadn't have any interest and/or relation to Train stuff until now. At least that's what I can see around here in middle europe. I have to admit that I don't know how these projects fare outside of Europe... It's not hard to see why kids do like large displays, it's the sheer size of it. And that's maybe the biggest drawback when you got LEGO trains as your hobby: You need a rather big house or flat if you want to setup a serious layout where you can do some shunting and throw your switches. Not everyone likes to attend meetings or has time to do so, let alone the budget and material which is needed.