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astral brick

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Everything posted by astral brick

  1. astral brick
    How long does it take to assemble a minifigure? Interesting consideration, we live in a world of image.
  2. astral brick
    That's precisely the problem. The brand demands to be recognizable, hence specific parts may be produced, leading to less creativity and playability. In fact, necessity is the mother of invention.
  3. astral brick
    Many customers probably share the same thought. I believe that licensing was not that beneficial to Technic, in fact it was the beginning of caring more about form than substance. Exactly, the denial of Technic essence. Not to mention playability.
  4. astral brick
    If Lego keeps playing safe we will never know the answer. Another potential market that will remain unexplored. Intriguing question. I believe that the solution is price range, scale and inherent number of parts related to various segments of markets. Coexistence of various scales is possible, for instance I think of Harry Potter theme. Interesting suggestion, although I am not convinced about its final price being reasonable.
  5. astral brick
    I think you are totally right. It was so difficult to make a selection, there were so many great models from which to choose. They deserve so much to be released as official sets. I think you are underestimating people's inclinations. In fact, isn't Lego all about abstraction? After all, people don't build things but their representations, according to their own perceptions of the reality and using bricks. What are bricks if not small plastic cubes? Maybe, without realizing it, Lego users are contemporary cubist artists :-)
  6. astral brick
    Buildings https://www.flickr.com/photos/149907857@N08/42837702835/in/album-72157696463379272/ Landscapes https://www.flickr.com/photos/eliwillsea/46122200074/ Vehicles https://www.flickr.com/photos/35385165@N05/28388115109/in/album-72157622954488902/ Space https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctormobius/6838574257/in/album-72157629125887455/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/159870105@N07/38714855110 Architecture https://www.flickr.com/photos/moriartus/33846740511/in/album-72157651060593006/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/138986803@N03/29919199558/ Pirates https://www.flickr.com/photos/corvusauriac/46677045731/in/album-72157689034236564/ Castles https://www.flickr.com/photos/henjin_quilones/29240310818/in/album-72157695381075822/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/moriartus/43533126791/in/album-72157661966413032/ Trains https://www.flickr.com/photos/112058573@N02/24741281511/in/album-72157664035701991/ Licensed https://www.flickr.com/photos/momabrick/48913997746/in/album-72157711378249261/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/138986803@N03/49707913618/ Modulars https://flickr.com/photos/144373023@N02/44921317682/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/140672705@N08/34902180195/ "Technic" http://www.tilesorstuds.com/2014/02/famous-technic-sets-in-micro-scale.html https://www.flickr.com/photos/isaacsnyder/49049736612/ Call it microscale or miniscale, there is something for every taste below minifig dimensions. From tiny models made of few parts to larger creations, the possibilities are endless, far beyond commemorative sets or feeble architectural attempts. No excuses, amounts of small parts shouldn't cost a fortune. For instance, from a business perspective and considering the younger customers' market segment, wouldn't it be better, at a price of a minifigure polybag, to buy some small pieces in order to actually give life to something? A first step, at an entry-level cost, in a new world. We ran out of shelves - nanoblock anyone? - but space-saving priority does not mean giving up on elaborate buildings. There is nothing that can't be achieved by microscale.
  7. astral brick
    Basically Technic evolved into what Meccano was already doing one century ago, and using metal instead of plastic. Instead of becoming a plastic-meccano, in my opinion one proper evolution of Technic would have been the massification of computation and robotics, however the aforementioned themes were relegated to a niche, both because of the expensive prices and the "educational" marketing choices. Raspberry proved that it was possible to offer a cheap but full featured hardware platform, the outcome was a well-deserved worldwide success. Lego had the know-how years before but it was too greedy and missed the boat.
  8. astral brick
    3d games evolved from wireframe models to textures, Technic had a similar evolution, first with studless beams, then introducing panels. Undeniably more realistic, in my opinion sets lost that distinctive Lego “touch”. In fact, where is the fun of making an effort to reproduce a certain shape with the available pieces if new beams and panels with every kind of dimensions, angles and curves are continuously introduced? Has creativity become a memory game in which it is mandatory to recall some obscure part because of the need of a premade design? While Technic builders seem to be in denial of their origins in favour of aesthetics concerns, System official sets and moccers embrace technical structures to support their biggest models. Cyclical patterns, I guess.
  9. astral brick
    Foreseeable One Piece moddings incoming.
  10. astral brick
    By the way, despite not being the main model, isn't it the first - proper - Vic Viper ship released by Lego?
  11. astral brick
    "Space" check Pirates check Castle...
  12. astral brick
    The model is one step away from classic space colours. Just.
  13. astral brick
    In my opinion Jay and Stani's model was worse than theirs, a plain tower with an unconvincing braid, as also noticed by the judge. Given that I don't really believe in the so-called reality shows - everything is staged - I found that Brickman was too fussy and unnecessarily harsh to them, their castle was beautiful in my opinion. I agree, the transparent cheese slope, if I remember properly, was a brilliant idea. So far my favourite team has been Jackson and Alex, especially their first model, the steampunk one, was magnificent. I hope they win.
  14. astral brick
    Impressions after three episodes: - Overall level of challengers is higher than season 01 - Brickman improved his scenic presence - The second episode regarding models' explosions was a boring repetition of last year's one - The two young girls may fulfill a target market requirement but, so far, they are not up to the other teams - Annie and Runa did not deserve the elimination
  15. astral brick
    Great models. I don't understand why Lego doesn't believe in microscale aside special occasions, a consistent line of microsets like yours or related to iconic models of classic themes could be a gold mine, entry-level prices, great visibility in bookshelf dimension, both nostalgic fans' and new customers' potential markets. Win-win for everyone.
  16. astral brick
    I was wondering the same thing. Unfortunately I am afraid the answer is very simple, after so many years of enforced Sw sway, Classic Space fans' generational renewal has been lost.
  17. astral brick
    Aside the intentional rhetoric of the title, judging by the replies, the thread is risking to derail (again). I apologize if I weren't clear enough. As I stated in the conclusion, the point that I would like to stress is that forums are being left behind by blogs. Sadly, this is the same thing that already happened to newsgroups, and on each passage people lose a bit of freedom of speech, that is an essential feature of democracy. From the maximum liberty - bordering of anarchy - of the non-moderated newsgroups (in my opinion the only possible form of ng and the true essence of usenet) to forums - naturally moderated and where a minority has the power to limit or close a discussion - and nowadays to comments, often sterile soliloquies whose topics' order is decided by a handful of people or maybe only one person, more and more exposed to the risk of becoming an echo chamber of a company instead of giving voice to fans/customers (or the opposite? and today is there a difference anymore?). The future appears even darker, if the world wide web hemorrhage of homepages/sites/blogs - or whatever you want to call them - in favour of social networks, where the various page-owners, if not-aligned, will have to face, in a sort of poetic justice, the irrevocable judgment of a founder (an entrepreneur, not a hobbyist, fan of anything but profits growth). At the same time, I also understand that it is very difficult to resist to the sirens of this so-called progress, in which internet democracy is at stake. Forums had colorful graphics and easier access than newgroups and they won. And now dropping comments or participating to a poll in a blog is even easier than subscribing a forum, reading the rules, learning how to use its tools, starting a discussion or debating with someone, ultimately having a personal opinion about subjects not decided from above. Apparently many people are happy to let the burden of choices to others, without realizing that this act implies to lose their liberties day by day.
  18. astral brick
    And wouldn't it be better if these polls were held in a forum, a more democratic instrument than a blog?
  19. astral brick
    Resuming the considerations related to the current role of blogs - please refer to my previous post “Are forums still relevant when compared to comments” - and hoping that this time the discussion will be kept on-topic, noticing blogs’ periodic polls I can’t help wondering what I am looking at. An indirect message addressed to a company? A childish plea that wants to emphasize customers’ wishes for the release of a certain product, fantasizing about to be heard, hoping to modify millionaire investments and long-term business strategies? Or am I in front of a market survey with a friendly appearance, a cheap way to test the appeal of potential new projects? As I mentioned, popular blogs will always give rise to these doubts, regarding who is really deciding the agenda of the posts. And yet, it is so difficult not to be tempted to push that vote button.
  20. astral brick
    Transformer Pirate Ship! What a crossover
  21. astral brick
    Maybe, but this is also what every generation thinks about the previous one. You are absolutely right, monopoly worsens the whole situation. Forgotten due to the volatile nature of blogs, not necessarily forgettable. Aside fluctuating quality, my main concern is quantity. In fact, if a blog is able to generate hundreds of comments over a post, that blog is actually creating a trend in the scene when not indirectly influencing it. Readers may participate to this process on different levels, writing comments or not, but at the end the ones who decide the agenda of posts are the true leaders, and the temptation of a vested interest is evident.
  22. astral brick
    Paraphrasing, this question reminds me the debates held years ago on usenet, about the the decline of newgroups in favour of forums. Nevertheless I can’t help thinking about it, considering that the most interesting analyses I have recently read are comments to articles or news in websites. This concerns various topics, including Lego obviously. I wonder what the reasons are, apparently forums can’t keep up with the endless news flow, been based on the time and the commitment that their users choose to dedicate to their passion. And probably passion is the key in this matter, a site may be more active or more updated – especially if it receives exclusive previews or products, that is the case of the most important Lego blogs – but the limit between being part of the fandom and making a profit is a very thin line. The corollary is clear, if the (semi)professional aspect is involved, a comment moderator will have the tendency to act with more strictness, limiting controversial opinions. And speaking of conformism, commenters will be tempted to express basic or demagogic considerations, in order not to be moderated or to receive more “likes”, in a vicious self-feeding mechanism. Finally, commenters are inclined to avoid replying to others’ comments, a solipsistic attitude which causes an impoverishment of the discussion. The lesson of what occurred to newsgroups was not learnt, history repeats itself.
  23. astral brick
    I quote every single word.
  24. astral brick
    Or, in other words, he was the embodiment of Lego itself. It would have been so interesting to have this piece of information thirty years ago, today everything is so easy thanks to the internet, no true effort is required to have so many bts' knowledge. When the connection between a passion and a job gives an amazing result in terms of personal satisfaction and profits for a company. Probably this is the difference with current Lego executives, cold managers who could't care less about selling Lego sets rather than mortgages . Hopefully Lego will honour his memory too, but then I remember that they didn't even celebrate Space 40th anniversary. Let's wait and see.
  25. astral brick
    What if the costs of creating a new or a reboot line of classic themes from zero (or so) are higher than just buying some licenses and then replicating models already designed by others? Not to mention the longer preparation time and the greater risk of a complete failure.
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