Masked Mini

You truly are Good Spirited! It's a genuine pleasure to know (well, read) you Toastie. I think it's this right here. Enough AFOLs have hired on at TLG as designers over the years. They may not be able to influence the company into bringing back this or that but they can design with an eye to increasing part and colour availability. "Fan favorite" Sand green springs to mind immediately.

It appears to be a more ceremonial role at this time. Jorgen looks to still be the one actually pulling the strings. That's a good thing in my opinion as he's the man who pulled it around as CEO 2001-2017. From Wikipedia: Jørgen Vig Knudstorp (executive chairman)[1] Niels B. Christiansen (CEO)[2]

I can't speak for TLG specifically but usually with corporations this large the "A" suite and especially the CEO or Chairman provide the vision and cultural guidance to the lower suites to implement changes. I'd expect a straight continuity between the two. That photo was carefully staged to project that, down to wearing the same shade of blue shirt. The only difference being their age.

Huh. I didn't know any of that. That's an unexpectedly large hole in my knowledge. I'll need to reevaluate my position on this.

I think TLG like any corporate entity is always in an experimental era. It's either continuous R&D and experimentation or stagnation-irrelevance in the market place-corporate death. The market as a whole never sleeps and if you take a nap you only allow the competition to gain an edge on you. You may be noticing the current crop of YOLOs more than the trial balloons sent up by TLG in previous years. Case in point, CUUSOO; kind of low visibility, didn't really work out. But revamped and re-released as IDEAS, they are making and selling blockbuster sets that fly off the shelves for the most part. You need constant experimentation to find new ways to capture consumer attention and push sales.

Ninja-went Ninja-comeback Filesharers of the Brick seas Noir-Tron I-II Magnets in SPAAaaace Extra-terrestrial Law enforcement I-III Frozen Planet Explorers Coneheads in Stone houses Coneheads on crusade Blue Falcons (huehue..) Bushmen in tights Pack of non-were wolves Lizardknights Should copy the enlighten/lepin/etc euphemism names to really steam their admins.

That would be amazing! I have a use for dozens of those. It would let me create a new visible rank for my Pirate theme Soldiers. As it is I'm only in for one or two of those Piratess figs. I made a much better one ages ago that might be improved with the combo hairpiece.

It appears PotC 6 is still in the works (after significant delays). And still without Depp. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/chernobyl-creator-tackling-pirates-caribbean-reboot-1250029 So we may just get more Pirates (of the Caribbean) in 2-3 years. Or however long they need to develop story, cast, shoot, pre and post-prod. Even if we did get Lego Pirates in the meantime it'd end up being a short(ened) release so they don't cannibalize each other. I don't really care which Pirates I get... so long as I get Pirate ships and maybe docks/buildings. I have at least one of each classic ship, five Black Pearls (don't ask how I keep stumbling into these) and two Queen Anne's. The Silent Mary was garbage for my purposes and too pricey to buy and "restore" to a non-ghost ship state. And a Destiny's Bounty. ::shrugs:: I like sail ships. Not really. Though Tie-ins were easy to ignore or weren't even marketed in many countries. That was already the case in Germany with Classic Pirates. I still have and listen to the Audio Dramas. Capt. Roger of the Black Shark (BSB), Bo'sun Willie, Rumpot the Helmsman, Lt. DeMartinez, Gov. Broadside, his Niece Camilla (Willies love interest), his sister Rebecca, Evil Capt. Baddock (can't remember the German ship name - Skulls Eye Schooner)… even the monkey and the parrot had names and a part to play. And the UK had the Ladybird books with similar story arcs and names.

That is an excellent point! I don't recall anyone else making that connection, I sure didn't. Wasn't there talk of Disney rebooting PotC without Johnny Depp after the Amber Heard domestic violence fraud/hoax? They (Disney) would be neckdeep in pre-production at the same time as TLG if TLG was going to give us inhouse Pirates in time for the anniversary. Personally I don't see PotC without Depp's Captain Sparrow to be a viable success, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't try. After all the other movies all made bank and Disney never leaves a franchise idle while it's still milkable.

Yeah, you're right. You also made an excellent point above re: passing down through folklore rather than the actual sci-fi substance. The only scenario here "already being covered by substantial amounts of sets" is space with star wars. Anyone not into Star Wars or who already owns a fleet of Alphabet fighters or who wants a spaceship that isn't DBG or LBG is brick out of luck. Especially as Star Wars is highly unlikely to be killed off until 50 years after the heat death of the universe. It never hurts to ask for or demonstrate a want for a Space theme that is not set in a Galaxy far away and a long time ago. I find it puzzling that you are arguing so hard against it. Especially since this is not a case of "It's either Classic Castle/Space/Pirate OR more CITY." You lose nothing by other people getting a revival of their fandom themes. Maybe a good idea. You seem to be taking this discourse as a personal attack and I assure you it is not. We are all fellow Fans here, though we may not see eye to eye on this topic. Utterly agree with you. I wish they'd share more of their educated guesses but then that'd be handing their competitors a free leg up. ::sigh:: Back to Plan B: Finish my M.BA and get hired into TLG management, then advocate internally for Classic Themes. Look for them on shelves around 2050, just in time for my retirement.

That's part of the issue you are not seeing anyone else's point of view on. There are no similar themes to pirates, nor are there better ones. There are two similar themes to Space if you count Star Wars and City Space. Those being better or worse is entirely subjective to the individual. If Star Wars was the definitive best iteration of a Space theme, you would not have ANY City Space. Since it isn't and since Space is a temporary setting for City there is definite room in the lineup for an inhouse Space Theme that can co-exist with the latest iteration of X-Wing, Sandspeeder, Snowspeeder, AT-ST, Tie-Fighter and 15 Millennium Falcons. There is no theme similar to Castle. Harry Potter comes the closest but aside from Hogwarts being a "Castle" it has nothing to do with what we mean when we talk about Castle. It has been useful as a source of parts for Castle MOCs here and there but that's about it.

Well point one is refuted by point two isn't it? Star Wars is "futuristic views from 30-40 years ago." albeit "broken down Diesel Punk" futurism instead of more Trekkian "everything clean and neat utopian" futurism. Mind you, it's a small jump from the Mars exploration sets to exploring the moon or Jovian moons, and we're right back to classic space including the crater baseplates. Your Harry Potter point is literally true. Absolutely no argument.

Alright. If we stipulate that the assumption is correct for Castle and Potter, it breaks down right away with City Space competing with Star Wars. And there is no analogue for Pirates. PotC hasn't been on shelves in years. TLG is indeed the only entity that can shed true light on the subject. The rest of us poor mortals can only try to inform guesses based on TLGs actions in the market place and to some extent the moves of the other Titans in their sphere. Fantastic discussion lads! You've made my day.

Absolutely stipulated. They ALL do. It's a core tenet of my argument above. And it's the source of my questions. The crux of the matter is this. What does Lego see that makes them say no to Castle and Pirates while direct competitors for the age group say yes? Is TLG prescient here or are their methods overlooking a market segment.

So there was interest in Knights by kids 15 years ago? And in the 90s? And in the 80s? And ofcourse in the 70s. Maybe there is still interest in Knights by kids in the 2020s. Maybe a Castle theme needs to be released to capture that enthusiasm. Or maybe we can continue to ignore a market segment and let them get their Knight fix with competitors like Playmobil. So because you read people bashing a theme's execution that kid-you anecdotally liked, we are out of touch for arguing that there should be … more castle?? This seems twisted around in conclusion. I'd say your conclusion would have been apt that those bashing KK2 (and I suppose it's possible Nexo Knights) are out of touch with what kids actually want out of a Castle theme. But I don't see how you conclude that people wanting a Castle theme option for kids are out of touch, based on your related experience.

Way to not address the argument there champ. Can you prove that assertion or back it with a citation or atleast some argumentation? How does this system work? You don't know because you don't have access to it. Is there even a system or a series of oneshot surveys? You too are arguing based on anecdotal evidence of being in a survey once as a kid. You said Lego HQ, that means everyone will assume you speak of Billund. How does the US location make a difference to Billund (Lego HQ)? So swap Billund for Enfield, Ct. (US regional HQ), does the argument collapse? Every single toy company out there does what you are alleging TLG does. Their direct competitors FOR THEIR TARGET CHILD DEMOGRAPHIC- MALE AGED 5-10 do the same surveys. And yet those direct competitors continue to have Pirates and Knights in their portfolio. Why? Why does TLG not? And why is their answer different than TLGs if they are surveying the same demographics and studying the same markets. I bolded the above for you since you missed it. I have not been arguing about adults being TLGs average consumer. Instead I have gone to pains to argue that TLG's actual target demographic IS interested in those themes despite TLG not providing them.

Lego may have an intimate market survey process in or near Billund but that will only give you data relevant for the greater Billund area. You might be able to extrapolate for communities with a similar culture but you introduce assumptions that will need to be tightly controlled for. Or you risk assuming that because, for example, the Billund boys age 5-10 aren't interested in Pirates that no boy in any market would be interested.

I disagree with your conclusion though I am in lockstep with you on the first part. If Lego is more in touch with their target consumer demographic and that is why there is no more pirates or castle... Then by corollary all their competitors for that demographic that are supplying pirate and Knight products are out of touch and should be losing sales. Yet the fact that there continue to be those products for sale year after year shows me that can't be the whole truth.

You make a good point. But I disagree with the assertion that it is true in this instance. My reasoning is thusly: Town Space seems to sell well, Saturn V die for sure, ISS is hotly anticipated. Star wars continues to sell the same 20ish sets. There most certainly appears to be appetite for Space Prawns from children and adults. Harry Potter sells like a champ. LOTR didn't do as well but is now highly sought after. There appears to be appetite to an extent amongst children and quite a bit more amongst adults for fantasy/castle prawns. Pirates we have not had in recent child memory. Some of you guys mentioned PotC but aside from the one shot display silent Mary we've not had any PotC sets in years. But I will state that there remains a significant appetite amongst children and adults for peglegged prawns. How? Look at Playmobil. The Germans will know of course and Playmobil is aggressively expanding in the US. Playmobil is a direct competitor in Legos target child age groups. Playmobil has never stopped selling pirates and castle. Space comes and goes though. The same financial reasons given for why Lego does not do those themes apply to Playmobil. Yet they continue to see those themes as profitable. That leads me to conclude that it is not that prawn cocktails have fallen out of favor but rather Legos interpretation of the recipe.

It's hard to bring something back successfully that you do not understand. It is clear they do not understand what made them successful if you look at their last attempts to clone classic pirates with less and less success. You can reheat a great dish in the microwave but it will be less good every time. You need to actually know how the recipe worked and be able to recreate the dish from scratch to be able to recreate the success of the original dish and to improvise and expand on the original without sacrificing quality. The proof may lie in the blurb about Jens Nygaard Knudsen's passing, him being the main design force behind the classic themes and his retirement in 2000, coupled with the big restructure TLG did around the same time to avert bankruptcy. They may simply no longer have the base design philosophy culture that drove Classic Space/ *-tron/ Pirates/ Castle. That flows directly into the bean counter argument. If you attempt to release a reheated theme and it does poorly it is hard to justify releasing another reheat or a re-re-reheat of a theme. Of course you could argue that they should then pour in the resources to understand WHY it failed to capture sales, address those issues and try an improved release. BUT why bother when another wave of Ninjago or whatever generic licensed theme will be successful of the bat. TLG does not need to understand Harry Potter movie set design, only needs to copy it as faithfully as the budget allows to be successful. Ninjago is the brainchild of the current design philosophy at TLG, it has been proven and iterated upon for a decade(?) or so. Why invest resources in trying to teach the current crop of designers a different design philosophy from 40 years ago? How is that profitable when Legends "proved" that the 80s sets don't sell well. Yes I know that is a hotly contested statement and I find fault in it myself. But management (in my experience) look only at numbers and rarely how time has impacted the context of those numbers.

Awesome! I was wondering if it made it yet. Mission successful! Yeah the 10$ MSRP is nuts.

My order from feb 2nd finally arrived on the 19th. No tracking info and it never showed up in my order history. I counted my parts for the first time. Short on several lots by a brick. Oddly I don't recall ever noticing anything except a rigidly correct piece count before. Over a brick on silver and dark metallic grey ingots, extra torso, extra shako and backpack. It's irritating because I only ordered exactly what I needed of one of the shorted lots. I'm happy because I got an extra Prussian Artillery Soldier for free essentially. So I consider myself ahead.

In my limited experience buying more or less blind bulk... it's a toss up. The more you can see of the lot the better a guess you can make. A lot of ebay sellers will comb out minifigs and specialty bricks to resell separately for more money. If they then combine the rest into a remains bin (to sell by weight) it will lose it's era cohesion quickly. The best luck I've had at estimating eras was in person buying Ziploc bags of lego at antique malls and consignment stores. Since their sellers generally do not bother to sort or mix lots you get baggies of classic heavy, 2000 ish star wars or modern stuff more than mixed lots.

Well. That explains the lack of success for TLG's classic theme releases post 2000. Lightning in a jar is almost impossibly to capture again. What a tremendous loss to us all but especially his family. I will build something from each Classic theme in his memory. And of course I have close to a thousand of his plastic children in my family. God preserve you Jens. Thank you for my childhood dreams.

It sounds like it'll be a fairly accurate spangen/nasal helm. No horns at least. Ofcourse if the beard is attached to the helm it may lower it's army building usefulness. But I suppose a sharp knife may help there, if you're not as squeamish as I am. I'm quite excited for this series, only the price per bag is a bummer. I noticed that large quantities of bags from the last 3-4 series are still on shelves locally. I think TLG finally hit a pricepoint where they no longer sell out and a good bit of stock ends up on clearance. That'll be how I get my army builders this go around.