danth

I'm pleasantly surprised we finally have a Classic Space themed winner in BDP, but also surprised this particular entry won. It's a very nice design, don't get me wrong. It's just funny how many people have said that they didn't vote for it. I don't remember voting for it. I remember seeing it, and thinking that it spent a lot of parts on a giant chonky train that has no track to go anywhere. Like others, I preferred the smaller space ship builds. I wonder what this means for a potential Monorail remake? If this set won a vote, that's sending a message that people want Space monorail sets. And Lego just brought back monorail track. I guess the counter argument is "everyone who wants a Space monorail already bought the BDP set" and therefore wouldn't buy an Icons monorail. But I doubt that, especially since the new monorail track is functional.

Reading the comments on the Brickset article is cathartic and vindicating. https://brickset.com/article/132548/lego-11374-arcade-pinball-machine-revealed-with-new-classic-space-minifigures! Basically a lot of people saying what I'm saying. It's boring, not enough pinball features, not actually Space themed (Classic or otherwise), and the stickers suck.

I would argue that "busy and cluttered" are good things in pinball. Seriously, go look at actual pinball games. They have so much going on! Basically, this pinball set has two spinners, one bash target, and one ramp. Where are the bumpers though? And the standard slingshots above the flippers? I realize this is Lego, but you can't leave out the basics! The fake Star Wars spaceships in the Guly set are better than nothing. The Lego set should have at least a couple small spaceship builds, or what is even the point? Stuff like that is standard in pinball games. See this Terminator pinball machine with Terminator head and vehicle. You gotta have things to look at! Also the Guly set has brick built arrows too. And they light up! I don't know about this style over substance talk when the Lego set has almost no style or substance. The ramp and the "score" count gimmick are cool but not enough. I think bumpers, some space ship "clutter", and large prints (not stickers) of something from the past 40 years of Lego Space lore (even some theme I don't like as much like Alien Conquest) would have saved this set.

Honestly, I'm almost angry at how bad at is, even ignoring the lack of tie-in to Lego Space. For an idea of what this could have been, with about the same number of pieces...LOOK HOW GOOD THIS IS: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZaus6zO6ff/

I think @TeddytheSpoon is saying Ben comes out looking the least scummy. And @Darth_Bane13 interpreted "comes out the best" as "getting the most benefit" and pointed out that Ben didn't seem to benefit at all.

And now the video I've been waiting for.

The point is that the entire set has nothing to do with Lego Space, other than the inclusion of the minifigs. Not the set design or the prints, or the basic knowledge the the air tanks are air tanks. Whimsy is fine. I wish there was even a hint of whimsy in the set. Instead it's boring AF.

I'm sure kids stuck minifigs up their noses too, but I don't want that ret-conned into official lore! 😱

Honestly, it looks boring. Here's what comes up in Google if you search for Lego Space pinball: This knockoff set looks more exciting in every way, and is roughly the same price. As a Lego Space fan, the leaked set does nothing for me, other than including minifigs. It looks like it was designed by someone that knows nothing about history of Lego Space. For instance, the prints(?) seem to show the minifig flying through space using his air tanks as a jetpack, which is weird. I would have expected some sort of reference to old themes or sets or something.

You are a man of impeccable taste! I was recently made aware of this anime (I forget where) and thought the character designs were pretty cool. I kinda gave up on any anime made after the 90's, but I might check it out.

Wait...is Charizard's crotch going to light up?

Is that a new arm part or am I just bad at figuring out what existing parts I'm seeing in pics? Looks like a rounded brick with a clip or bar at one end and a stud at the other.

Here are some others that I like: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-11/4802/Odyssey-Prime-Space-Cruiser https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-11/4616/New-Depths-Exploration (Rock Raiders!) https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-11/4498/Robo-Ranchero https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-11/5014/ExoPlanet-Scout-ship https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-11/4507/Upscaled-Space-Robot https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-11/4458/Base-Supply-Depot

Thanks for this! A lot of great designs here.

Agreed. I find the red undercarriage distracting. It really detracts from the red & white striping. Glad you like it, but "visual complexity" can be used to excuse virtually any eyesore of a design choice. Do you actually think the red looks good here? It's almost like some AI didn't understand danger striping and bled red & white everywhere.

These are all very rad!

Wow, this is a good one. I'd love more historical sets like this. Prepare to be disappointed.

I too was excited about the Italian Riviera, but agree that it lost its wow factor after the TLG treatment. As for Pirates of Barracuda Bay, I was secretly glad it was redesigned to allow building of the ship. I was already tired of the "ramshackle building" copycats, so an actual pirate ship was preferable to me.

Part of preferring X over Y is not liking some things about Y. And if you list what you don't like about Y, because people demand you explain your preference, you get accused of "tearing Y down" and then "see, you deserve to be unhappy because you tear others down". Fans of classic themes literally can't win.

https://www.google.com/search?&q=Is+edward+scissorhands+a+christmas+movie Still seems like you're making it personal and holding a grudge against people for having a preference. You haven't made any real distinction between preferring unlicensed sets and "OMG LITERALLY MURDERING LICENSED THEMES AND DESECRATING THEIR BODIES". Everyone always demands that fans of unlicensed themes justify their preference, and then when they do it's always "OMG WHY DO YOU HATE LICENSED THEMES AND THEIR FANS AND THE POOR SET DESIGNERS" when we say nothing even close to that.

So? You should be able to criticize something, especially something you like, especially on a fan forum. It's not the end of the world, as much as status quo defenders think otherwise. And frankly, Lego can only make so many sets. There is only so much shelf space. If that wasn't true, there would be sets from every theme every year. But there isn't. So it's okay to say "I'd rather have more sets like X, even if that means less sets like Y." It doesn't mean you hate fans of Y. It just means you have a preference.

But classic themes are not the Ideas theme. I think a Christmas Vacation house would be fine in Icons. But I'd at least like to see original ideas from Ideas! And also the sets I'm complaining about are ALL CHRISTMAS MOVIE HOUSES FROM 1989/1990. That would be like getting 3 Ideas sets all from Ice Planet 2002. It's not. It's a lower bar to sell a licensed set. It just doesn't have to be as good. Any Lego designer would tell you that. They probably don't even like it as much working on licensing sets because of it. Oh wait: Thank you for this amazingly relevant tidbit! I agree with this! Ideas submissions have be good enough, even if they are based on a license. But submissions based on an original idea have to be amazing. NAILED IT. Yes. Space was replaced by Star Wars before they had any idea what the sales would be. And they keep bringing back waves of Space when Star Wars isn't in theaters. So obviously it sells, and consumers are deciding they like unlicensed Sci Fi Space. Anyway. I really don't mean to turn this thread into another licensed vs unlicensed argument. It's really about THE SAME EXACT IDEA 3 TIMES vs Original IDEAS. In the IDEAS theme! I mean come on. Home Alone Ideas set. CHRISTMAS MOVIE HOUSE FROM 1990. Christmas vacation Ideas set. CHRISTMAS MOVIE HOUSE FROM 1989. Edward Scissorhands Ideas set. CHRISTMAS MOVIE HOUSE FROM 1990. I mean, two of these sets 5 years apart would be one thing. But two in the same year? And should we ever really get repeated ideas in Ideas? I wouldn't be complaining if this was a licensed movie helicopter. Was yours a CHRISTMAS MOVIE HOUSE FROM 1989/1990? Because if so, the idea itself is low effort, regardless of the set design. To be clear, I meant that the final sets will be "slop", not the fan submission. Lego has a way of cheapening and dumbing down Ideas sets.

I don't have much to say in response other than agreement. The parts I quoted are the parts I agree with the most! Thanks for the intelligent reply.

Oh please. Can we not do this faux concern pearl clutching about "insulting" people we don't know and will never meet? I spend too much on Lego for someone to tell me I can't be critical of the state of things, that I can't be disappointed with what's on offer. No criticism or disappointment aired here is a personal insult to anyone. Especially when we're talking about licensed Ideas. The designs are from movies, and the original submissions get totally overhauled by Lego designers. So there's no insult possible to the original designers. And then you say this: So you delight in the dissatisfaction of fellow fans you interact with on this forum because they had the nerve to make valid critique (AKA "tearing things down" whatever that means)? Seems weird for someone who is so concerned about the feelings of designers you've never met.

Disagree; slop is a term to describe things that can be generated quickly without much thought and without care for quality. Licensed sets fit this bill because you already have a design and just need to come up with a reasonably good Lego facsimile for the set. It doesn't have to be amazing because there is an existing fan base ready to accept whatever you come up with. You can just slap stickers on them, you don't need to design reasonably generic/reusable prints. With Ideas it's even worse because the initial design doesn't have to be very good. It's just an Idea. Lego will "fix it up". So you have people voting for something just because they like the idea/movie, with the reasonable expectation that the final result will be acceptable. (The situation is reversed with non-licensed sets; the original designs are often amazing because they have to be, and the official released sets are always worse because they have to be -- the budget people require sacrifices to reduce cost.) Oh, I forgot to mention. "Ideas" implies fresh ideas. "Ideas" implies your ideas. The new Edward Scissorhands and Christmas Vacation movie sets are neither. They are the same exact idea as the recent Home Alone Ideas set. "A house from a Christmas movie from around the year 1990." Edward Scissorhands is 1990, Christmas Vacation is 1989! They're all considered Christmas movies. They're all the exact same Idea! This is why I call them "slop". AI literally could have come up with these "ideas". These are not organic. Someone saw that Home Alone won, and thought "What's the closest thing I can do do that?" It's just copycats. The exact opposite of what Ideas should be.