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howitzer

Eurobricks Dukes
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Everything posted by howitzer

  1. howitzer
    Hmm, I might have misunderstood what this was about, just to make sure we're on the same page, is this only about the seller fees, or also about the customer VAT? The latter shouldn't be changing at all. The former on the other hand, is apparently being affected by TLG acquirement, as the seller fees are now subject to danish/EU tax laws. So BL sales fees now get an added VAT, which is dependent on their location, but that only affects the sales fee and not the whole price of the purchase. Customer shouldn't even see it, as they are not seeing (now a bit bigger) sales fees either. In theory, the VAT should be collected according to the buyer's location, but this is quite a complex process and I'm guessing that in the end it's the seller's location that decides which VAT percentage is being used. So for example an order totaling 100€ has 3% (= 3€) seller fee, which wasn't previously subject to VAT but now is. For a Finnish shop this means that with 24% VAT the actual fee is now 3 * 1,24 = 3,72€. The buyer still pays 100€ but the seller must now file additional 0,72€ in taxes which means that this additional cost must be covered somehow, probably by raising their prices slightly. From customer's perspective the increase isn't huge though, what they were previously buying for 100€ would now cost maybe 100,5 - 101€ depending on how much the seller decides to raise their price. Sellers outside the EU shouldn't be affected, as they aren't subjected to VAT anyway.
  2. howitzer
    Why is it mandatory now but was not before?
  3. howitzer
    If TLG decides to raise seller fees, then of course yes, but it has nothing to do with the VAT. Beyond that, why would the application of tax laws change with TLG acquiring BL?
  4. howitzer
    VAT is a complex issue but at least technically, TLG acquiring BL shouldn't affect anything at all, as it has no effect on by who and how the taxes should be paid. I've been doing other sort of international online business for years, and I have to charge (and then pay) VAT for every EU order but not for non-EU orders, which of course means that either I can keep the same prices for everyone and then get more profit from for example orders from USA and less from those within the EU - or I can have different prices for different buyers, depending on their locale. Still, the relevant tax laws have been around for at least a decade so I'm not sure what would change regarding Bricklink? Of course, secondhand sales are not subject to VAT at all, at least where I live so they shouldn't apply to BL sellers either, at least not as far as used bricks and sets are concerned.
  5. howitzer
    Check this out.
  6. howitzer
    If you're talking about 16T gears, they mesh as do the pictured 12+20T gears, so chain is not an option. Chain would also make the gears turn in the same direction, unlike two meshing gears. Other than that, two 16T gears could be used, assuming there's enough clearance around the 12T gear and the change in gearing ratio doesn't become a problem.
  7. howitzer
    You're right, thanks! It's fixed now.
  8. howitzer
    This year's new panels have finally been added to Bricklink so I updated the list. Notify me if you find any errors and I'll fix them.
  9. howitzer
    Something like 8868 with a trailer, combined with Arocs-like depth of functionality. It should of course include a pneumatic crane with long-stroke cylinders, especially the thin one, which is long overdue for reuse. Now there would be a proper flagship. I also have to wonder why fire response vehicles are so underrepresented in the Technic line, as they have always been very prominent in City, and would offer many opportunities for interesting functions. Of course many functions for them are essentially the same as your general mobile crane, but a firetruck would still stand out from the current lineup.
  10. howitzer
    Yeah, the prices are only ridiculous in the Lego's own online store. Apparently 42099 and 42100 flooded the secondary market with PU parts so you can get about four hubs from BL for the price of one from Lego.
  11. howitzer
    It's not about tooth profile design, there appears to be a manufacturing defect in some of these tan 20-tooth double bevel gears. Many people have experienced problems and for others they work fine so it might be an issue with the moulds from a certain factory. You can ask for a replacement from Lego customer service. In the topic linked by Zerobricks you can find more discussion about the problem.
  12. howitzer
    I'm not personally very interested in motorcycles and don't own any good wheels for them, but I'm sure such a contest would draw a lot of attention and interesting entries. GBC contest would be interesting too, though I suspect it wouldn't get nearly as much entries.
  13. howitzer
    I'm quite sure that even if the set is re-released in some form, it'll be modified in some ways and that means the original release will retain its collector's value. Nobody would buy the set for that absurd price anyway if they just wanted a cool Technic set.
  14. howitzer
    I don't need the licenses either, I can do very well without them, but for many people instantly recognizable branding appears to be an additional reason to buy the set. I feel that this is especially true for the average consumer, us AFOLs are generally more interested in novel functions and new parts, though for some of us licenses might still be of some value - especially for a set that doesn't appear to have any other novelties in it. Of course no set (except maybe the supercars) _need_ to be licensed but some of them like flagships, might still sell better when licensed. 42113 is of course a special case, as the license seems to have made the set unfit for sales. And yeah, some of the licensed sets are truly among the all-time best of Technic.
  15. howitzer
    I feel that the reason for licensing is that almost every conceivable generic model has already been done to death and it's very hard to think of anything new for the Technic line. So they have turned to licenses instead, as a way to bring additional value to the sets. 42056 didn't bring much on the table that 8070 or other non-licensed supercars didn't already have, but the license certainly helped to make it stand out. Even the Osprey wouldn't have been entirely new, in 2004 there was a generic tiltrotor, though Osprey would've certainly been much more functional and interesting. As for entirely new machines, 42055 was something, but I wonder which set was the previous entirely new thing? It's been a long time, maybe you could count 8110?
  16. howitzer
    That doesn't even look like V22 though, it's much more similar to AW609 (cockpit shape, tail, etc.)
  17. howitzer
    Thank you for this. This set really sits in a place where no official Lego set has ever been, and while it is indeed a gray area, this set probably goes over the line as it seems to satisfy every condition that is required to make a set unacceptable. I'm saddened to see it being pulled, as it seemed to be easily the best set of this year in almost every regard. But at the same time I totally get the argument that @Erik Leppen made about it being a toy in the end of the day. I just wish that TLG had decided to stuck by their ethical principles from the start and had never even considered making a licensed Osprey, but instead had either released it unbranded, or obtained a license for AW609.
  18. howitzer
    So many new DBG panels which are going to be exceedingly rare if the set gets canceled. I guess some of them might show up in B&P if TLG wants to put them on sale without being included in a set, but still.
  19. howitzer
    This would be cool indeed, but I don't see much incentive there for them to do that. From PR point of view, they are still an arms manufacturer so there's no win in there, and I don't think it matters really one way or another in the TLG's decision, no matter what they decide. For me this whole debacle seems to be about virtue signaling. TLG of course should've never gotten into cooperation with Boeing unless they were willing to stick to it, and whoever were accusing TLG of letting down their principles because of this aren't obviously concerned with military toys in general, considering that they don't raise hell on Cobi or all the other numerous companies making military toys. So the reason they're are attacking TLG is just because they know they'll get a reaction and with that, get free publicity.
  20. howitzer
    Lime rotor blades, anyone? I wonder what will become of the new parts/colours if the Osprey really does get canceled for good. Will we get a few collectors items from those sets that inevitably make it into the general market or will those parts be released in some other set in the future?
  21. howitzer
    New box, new instructions, new sticker sheet... not a trivial change to made when all that has been manufactured already, but better than outright cancellation. And we'd still get what we actually want, a good model with interesting parts and functions.
  22. howitzer
    While there are good arguments on both sides on if this kind of set should or shouldn't be released, what baffles me most is how they could allow the development, marketing and manufacture to get this far, before the decision of canceling it? I mean, they couldn't have chosen a worse moment for cancellation, if it had happened earlier, there would have been less wasted money and if it had happened later, they could've discontinued the set prematurely, made an apology statement and donated some money into anti-war charity or something and still come out looking like the good guys. But this just seems to be a some sort of panic reaction with no real consideration whether it's good or bad.
  23. howitzer
    Yeah, I'd also like to see the essential parts released in some format, as for most people it's next to impossible to replicate the image database or the recognition algorithm for their own use...
  24. howitzer
    There was of course this...
  25. howitzer
    42030 bucket was reused in 42081 though.
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