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Merlo

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Everything posted by Merlo

  1. Merlo
    What you mentioned in your examples is execution. And I think Lego's designers are certainly top notch and can make the details look great and utilize advanced techniques and everything. What I'm bothered with is mainly how simplified the ideas are compared to 40 years ago. It feels like we're going backwards. So, no, I don't feel particularly like some MOC out there could take the idea of this specific GE Lego made and make it much better than theirs (or even better at all!) but the idea itself is so simple even Lego can't make it interesting. They can only make it pretty.
  2. Merlo
    Well, I'm glad someone is enjoying it! You got a bit too technical for me in places, I would need comparison photos just to know what you're saying. Also, it just hit me what I find to be the biggest offense of the Lego ship, compared to the original and literally any of the MOC's I posted (and many others you can google). All of them have parts that are covered, semi-covered or suggest something else is there. And even though you know there isn't actually a huge interior in there, that makes it easy to roleplay like the ship is what the name would suggest - a big spaceship with interior space that consists of whatever you imagine. Lego's explorer looks like a simple fighter jet, with enlarged cockpit space since the ship:figure size ratio is much bigger than in real fighter jets, of course. This in turn makes it feel like it's much bigger than it needs to be to represent what it is. And while the size might come in handy to add additional detail, the central part of the ship is mostly flat and plain and only the wings bring in some diversity through the combination of studs and tiles. My opinion hasn't changed. I didn't think 6985 was particularly good looking back then and it especially isn't compared to 10497, which is very sleek and elegant. And yet... 6985 is strange and weird and wonderful and just one look at it takes me away to a world I didn't know existed. It's imagination unleashed, pure and simple. I wanna take that monstrosity and glide it through the air making pretend engine sounds (in space?), stare at all the weird and different angles, shapes and accessories it has and try to see all the places where I can put and pose a minifigure. The only thing I want to do with 10497 is put it on the shelf as a decoration.
  3. Merlo
    Can you point the specifics of where that imagination and flair is? For example, that BrickBuff version is sufficiently different to be it's own thing. I like the big glass part. The base part by Wolf Leews is great. I'd love it if that replaced the baseplate. The Alkinoos one at least managed to thicken the sides so they are not perfectly straight and dated. Elephant-Knight one is interesting, looks like it's out of Futurama or something. Science Cruiser is cute. Lego version? Kinda plain. I like that it's sporty. This is cool This is epic. This is very cool. I want this. 80035 is pretty cool, but not AFOL enough for me :)
  4. Merlo
    I don't quite follow. Barracuda bay was an original idea and it's quite evocative in both the basic idea (shipwreck base) and the execution, which captures all you'd expect from a tropical pirate getaway reasonably well. Now look at the Creator castle. This new castle is 90% copy/paste effort of that, only bigger and duller. Not only in the general idea, but also in the literal position of the elements involved. There are seemingly only two ideas in the set: the castle is irregular and the entrance will be a ramp. However, the Creator castle already made irregular combinations possible, especially with multiple sets, that proved quite popular. So either the designers had great ideas that were rejected all down to one and someone higher up said "just make the same castle more adult-y, and fine, add a ramp if you absolutely must" or Lego is so out of ideas in general that the only way we'll get anything imaginative is through the Ideas project. I didn't have many complaints about the old Lion Knights castle because it was pretty good given what was possible at the time. (brick count limitations and all) And the plain look didn't bother me as with the big bricks you had it was only too easy to make crazy new combinations and castles, which Lego further encouraged by showing images of different ideas on the boxes. However, it would be a tremendous effort to just rebuild a 4000+ piece castle in the same way, so it's reasonable to expect the new castle to reflect what is possible in 2022, given the limitations. Instead what I find is that the fans have MOC'd the Creator castle into something more imaginative or better looking than the new castle or, frankly, both. And I don't mind when fans make MOCs out of 100 000 pieces that look spectacular. That has nothing to do with Lego. I don't mind when fans make MOCs of simple ideas with incredible detail. That's just not feasible for Lego. Heck, I only half mind when fans make MOCs that are great, but can be unstable and a pain to build. That seems fixable, but what do I know. But I do very much mind when fans make better and more sound designs than Lego with the same brick count, because that tells me Lego is just not trying enough and maybe I can get more for my money elsewhere.
  5. Merlo
    Honestly, this just sounds like you don't care for the set, but you care that the set is original Lego, because that's what matters for some reason. There is no difference between the "official version" and "fan version" for new products. They are both made by Lego designers, only one of them is employed by Lego, and the other one is not. And what Mike Psiaki said speaks a lot of the problem Lego has that I seemingly have to mention in every post. Lego has no imagination anymore. Or designers are not allowed to make imaginative ideas anymore. It is very possible to make an obvious remake of the Galactic Explorer that has some imagination and flair, neoclassic space MOC's are perfect example of this. And this goes not only for models that stray from the original which, as you've said might have ended up disappointing a lot of people, but also for models that are closer to the original than the Lego offering.
  6. Merlo
    Yes, I guess what I actually meant is "forget the set, remake the idea". For example, in case of the Forestmen hideout, who is the new set for? The relatively small percentage of adults who wanted that specific set, but never got it? Or the even smaller percentage of people who already have the set, but are such huge fans of Forestmen it's a must they have two? If Lego assumes there are grownups out there that are still interested in the Forestmen, wouldn't it have been better if they just pretended the original Hideout never existed and made a new one? How many castle fans out there are actually opposed to new Forestmen sets and just want faithful remakes? The wonderful part about this would be that a) they could use all the modern bricks and building techniques to make a stunning set the likes we've never seen before b) it wouldn't have to be a huge expensive set at all. Forget the new castle, even the $150 Blacksmith is absolutely huge. Items with noticeably less than half the size and price of that set could fit both adult tastes and parents' wallets. I don't know what to say to things like that, opinions that I often find mirrored on different Lego channels I watch. It's like Lego has become the opposite of what it used to be, like they're fervently against imagination.
  7. Merlo
    Something more imaginative than putting make up on an old set. Any huge classic space fan probably made a version of this ship from the internet and maybe even made their own.
  8. Merlo
    If there's many castle fans, there's no reason Lego doesn't keep making these one offs. We did go from Blacksmith to Creator castle to a huge *** castle after all. Battle pack would be a hit. I would love reimaginings of old sets, but something with way more effort than "this old set, but with new bricks, and worse". Barracuda bay quality would please me. Let me be brutally honest for a second, tho. Wolfpack tower is amazing. Someone made that in 1992, with the bricks available in 1992. That thing feels like a tower on a big lake, with a long bridge and an imposing entrance and a rough cliff even though it's made from like 12 bricks or something. I can imagine the torches burning and the wind waving those flags. The color scheme and the figures are among the best Lego ever had. The four grey slopes on the entrance are everything. That's how you make evocative sets. I am 100% convinced no one at Lego today can make something like that and the "let's make the creator castle bigger and grayer" is the biggest proof of that. And I don't say that because of nostalgia either. I never had the wolfpack tower and it came out soon after my dark ages started, so I didn't even know it exists for many years.
  9. Merlo
    It's quite possible to make a more female-looking figure without exaggerating much.
  10. Merlo
    Agree. First thing I noticed. Lego is not historically accurate so if they want to give me an entire castle populated by fighting women, I don't really care. But it's weird how the female minifigures always look like they have make up on. It's like Lego is saying: "Girls can grow up to be whatever they want! Assuming they're pretty enough, of course. We don't want no unshaved women here in Lego, yuck." Nice try, BlueBrixx :)
  11. Merlo
    I agree. All of these castles make me think about medieval fantasy life, Lego castle just makes me think "yep, that's a castle". I think for quite some time I came to expect Lego sets to be worse than most of the best crowd suggestions, even when taking into account similar brick size and number of details. And that just saddens me tbh. This castle is pretty cool on it's own. If I made it myself, I'd proudly say "look at this castle I made!". But for Lego themselves to make such a castle for 400 euros? That's nowhere near enough. Nowadays most I can hope is that someone will be selling the instructions for "how to make this Lego castle more Lego than Lego made it themselves". And I don't mind the interiors, on the contrary... but you can have interiors and a more interesting exterior as well. Like this one: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-101775/Madewithbrix/black-falcon-knights-castle-31120-medieval-castle-alternate-build/#details I think I wasn't clear enough when I mentioned dollhouse style. It might have sounded like I'm against the "you open it up and play with it" thing. I'm not, I think that's wonderful. In fact, it's too bad the castle designers of old would have their interiors cut out in order to make the brick count. What I meant weren't the beautiful dollhouses from hollywood movies, but the kind we could afford back in the 1980's - where the entire front side was mostly one single colored mold with flashes of color here and there and with only the interiors being more decorative. What I would hope for when someone enters my room and sees the castle is more of a "holy ****, bro, that thing looks amazing!" rather than a "oh, you have a Lego castle? neat" That seems to be Lego's thing for a while now. What's worst, even though it'd be awful difficult to have a 5 star display item and a 5 star toy in one, 4/4 is definitely achievable so I'm a bit irked that Lego peaks out at 3.5/3.5.
  12. Merlo
    This is ok, but eh... it's like the many MOC's we've seen of the same ship but worse. It's funny how Lego is recently taking sets that were kinda imaginative and cool despite the limitations and makes them exactly the same, even though the limitations are now gone. I'm not sure what to hope for really. Maybe someone makes something more interesting on rebrickable because I love classic space colors.
  13. Merlo
    I mean, maybe it is if you compare it to older sets 1 vs 1. But in terms of expectations given what was possible in each era, this is rough. There's simultaneously a whole lot here, and really not a whole lot here. Tbh Lego designs sets of various qualities and some are more inspired than the others. I agree with all your gripes. I would buy this if it was half price because I find half of it great, and half of it just filler :)
  14. Merlo
    If Lego had a real world castle that looked detailed and imposing then yes, it wouldn't matter much that it's gray and blocky. There are a lot of MOC's where just the detail on castle walls is enough, you don't need the shaping. However, detail is expensive and would raise brick count too much so it's easier to play with shapes and colors instead. And, as I said, this castle already plays with a shape a bit and that I find to be by far the most interesting part. And while it's not bad or anything, it just looks plain for what it is. Like someone was supposed to make a castle, they did a decent job of enlarging 31120 and making it more serious and that was it. Old castle sets had a certain blocky charm with simple figure uniforms and everything was obviously brick-made on first sight. So you could take one look and say "that's Lego". And nowadays we have amazing MOC's that don't look like Lego of old at all, but the art and presentation of it are something to behold. And this is kinda sadly stuck in the middle. It doesn't look blocky and playful (even compared to 31120) as it lacks sharp edges and exposed studs and it doesn't look like detailed MOC's. It's kind of failing at two things at once.
  15. Merlo
    I'm very disappointed with the castle. Irregular shape is great, size is impressive, shields and figures are nostalgic. That's about it. It's like Lego thought "AFOL's liked big gray blocky things when they were kids, so they'll like enlarged versions of it now". When actually those sets were like that because of severe limitations put on the designers, that new sets don't need to have, at least not self-imposed ones. I don't need "more size" now that I'm older (even though it doesn't hurt), I need more sofistication. And yes, obviously Lego is expensive and you can't make a castle with MOC detail levels, but you can make it look imaginative and evocative, just like some old sets used to. Lowenstein castle had no trouble doing that, despite the odd look that it had trying to incorporate details into such small scale. This is just a big plain dollhouse. The lack of imagination while making this is so striking it's unbelievable. They just remade creator castle, but bigger and more serious. -some terrain left of the entrance? check. hey, give it a ramp, why not -tree right of the entrance? check. -that little window thingy on the tower? check. -some plants on the wall to the left, followed by wattle and daub and a watermill? check. -the shape of a couple of creator castles connected together? check. I really don't see how can you put less effort than this and still call it something new. And the Galaxy Explorer got the same sad treatment.
  16. Merlo
    Love this, great effort.
  17. Merlo
    I'm not sure how much golf is worth it considering it probably won't be fun to play for ages. Marine animals look great, but the kid in me wants a viking village.
  18. Merlo
    The sets I would potentially buy: The Forestmen Secret Inn (if it ended up looking better than the idea, as the theme appeals to me) Steampunk Airship (it's somewhat unique and attractive) Tales of the Space Age (simple, effective, evocative, surely a hit?) Santa's Cottage (might be a cool display piece) Magical Village over the Bridge (same) Hanging Flowers (great decoration gimmick) The Legend of the Sea Serpent (looks amazing)
  19. Merlo
    I thought the issue is only when you have a whole bunch of small magnets?
  20. Merlo
    I'm surprised anyone is taking it seriously. That is just a generic castle with parts from Creator castle. Lego has never done anything as baffling as releasing a $350 version of a castle with slightly updated 80's aesthetic to a modern audience would be.
  21. Merlo
    Looks rough, with the level of detail that would be great on a much smaller scale and the color scheme is neither realistic nor pleasing.
  22. Merlo
    If it'll have an interesting more grown-upy design, I'm all for Lego robbing me of 350 euros. Unless it's just a regular *** looking castle like the Creator one, but bigger :)
  23. Merlo
    Agreed. Not so much about Benny's spaceship (although it was pretty good for what it was), but a base/vehicle combo is the best way to satisfy everyone. Maybe resurrect one of those legendary baseplates in brick form? But it would be hard to capture the imagination of classic space and not just make it like a city moon base, but in different colors. That's the main part. I think this would tie marvelously with what I've said in the previous paragraph... make a moon base and throw in some wild looking vehicles like the MCM, make it really look "out of this world", but with more detail than we've had before. They wouldn't have to look far in terms of inspiration, there are simply wonderful MOC's in this regard. Because the same thing has been happening for god knows how long already? :) Me: "Wow, if they make this it'll be great, and if they make this it'll still be great in a different way, there's no way it cannot be amazing in some way." Lego: "Hey, you want this thing that's a mashup of every possible idea we could have realized but each of the ideas in here is only like 20% developed to make room for all the others?" Me: "..."
  24. Merlo
    Are you saying it would make more sense to put out a castle set than a space set because we got two castle sets that were 9/10 at best? That does not track for me, but even if it did, who's to say the next one wouldn't be only 7/10? Blacksmith is not a traditional castle set, but it definitely scratches the same itch and even for me it was unthinkable such a detailed set would happen in a currently non-existent theme, yet it did. And Creator castle is every much as a detailed re-imagining of castle as Barracuda bay was with pirates, albeit with the exception of a cool double build. Just compare it to previous Lego castles and it'll become obvious. Also, Barracuda bay is still only a hideout or a ship, not both, unless you buy it twice. Castle has a sadly lacking history when it comes to civilian buildings, I know since I've always wished for more. It's no wonder Medieval market village attained a legendary status. Minifigs and animals are great for MOC-ers, but I'm not sure they are a huge chunk of the entire Lego fanbase (citation needed?). All of mine are stuck in a big box somewhere and rarely see the light of day :) Also... err.. that crowdfunded castle in the forest thingy? Having said that, something like Medieval market village would be great, but it would be a shame to miss a chance for a legendary one off classic/throwback space set.
  25. Merlo
    What about creator castle and blacksmith shop? Both good and recent and covering all ages and tastes.
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