Powder Monkey

Holy cow! Read the title - thought "What a crazy idea! But Studio/Mecabricks and a lot of time might make the impossible possible..." Well, then the photographs popped up

Wow! You Sir are the Thomas Slade of Lego shipbuilding

Hey @custombrickstim you're from Austria too? How cool :) Does anyone know what exactly the original material is/was? Seems to me like no one can come up with a defintive answer. Even the fabric stores I showed the sails to were puzzled by it.

I just built the 7991 Garbage Truck from 2007 to see if all the parts are there (bought it used from a neighbour). To me still the coolest garbage truck. Realistic, yet playable. As my kids can't wait to see the weekly garbage truck pass-by through the window (waving at the garbage men like mad) this'll be the perfect birthday gift for them :)

So true. Those street lamps are my personal highlight!

Ooooo that looks very nice! Great renderings too, they feel so commercial

I had the same thoughts as Mister Phes: I really think the depth of field is the secret star here. Masterfully executed!

@Alexandrina & @MAB thanks for your great thoughts on this :) I have to say though I just joined recently, I really enjoy how factual and constructive people communicate here on EB Alexandrina's post made me think of another topic: Has Lego ever tried to establish a "classic" theme (or a theme they created) for all ages (besides Town/City and AGAIN: Ninjago)? - I mean like some 4+, some 6+, some 12+ and some 18+ sets e.g. - but all within one theme. Some sets for the little ones with just a few parts and minifigs, some moderate ones and some really sophisticated sets for adults. Promote it like "fun for the whole family" or "bringing the whole family together". Would that be worth a try you think? Cause it seems to work with non-ip themes (Star Wars!!) and also City/Ninjago. I myself would buy like a madman, because I know my kids are getting sets from themes I love (and thus I would play enthusiastically with them) PLUS I know it all ads up to the collection.

Such a crazy idea, such a stunning outcome

Really fascinating discussion going on here! I think the very basic question is which target group is more profitable for Lego (short-term and long-term) in total. Does anyone here on EB (probably a Lego insider) happen to know? I can only speculate, but if I was Lego I'd say in the short-term it's the AFOLs spending thousands of dollars on sets related to the classic themes they know from when they were kids. They have money and nostalgia. This explains this for me: Which is absolutely true, and I'm happy that someone is serving our AFOL needs :) But for Lego, is it better to concentrate on them? Especially at the expense of the younger generations and future Lego customers? AFOLs age, lose interest or pass away sooner or later They can still spend a LOT in their lifetime, but does it still outweigh the potential lifetime-profits from new and future customers? If Lego calculated this it might seem smarter to target the young folks in the long-term. So in my opinion, it really depends on which strategy Lego is pursuing. I wish I'd know. For me, the absence of the "classic" themes points in this direction. Now there are a ton of people saying "But Lego IS slowly becoming expensive AFOL fan service". In terms of prices, set sizes, details I think yes, in terms of themes I think not. One castle or pirate set in years is not enough for us, or is it? Let's assume Lego chose the long-term goal: I'm wondering: Can the classic themes - for their concepts - still be interesting for younger people? This comment caught my attention: The media aspect is one that I'm very interested in. Several months ago I found this article https://flicksandbricks.wordpress.com/2018/04/24/should-lego-reboot-the-western-theme/ and I think the author makes some very good points. That was in 2018, since then I think Lego pushed it even further with digital services, series, apps etc. Recently they even announced to drop printed building instructions and make them accessible via the builder app instead, so the direction is quite clear to me: More media. I strongly believe that people buy, what they see on their smartphone, in the media, pop culture. Ninjago is a great example. The question here is: Is it all a self-fullfilling prophecy? Does Ninjago sell because of all the extended content and media presence? Does Lego just have to launch a Lego Pirate Series on Netflix with a really cool storyline, make a trading card game, interactive journeys through webcontent, apps and social media and people will start to buy? Could it be that the current generation just needs a new imagination-stimulus through modern entertainment possibilities? And all of a sudden, pirates or knights are cool again and sell like crazy? I even think by daring to establish a whole new universe based on their own IP/theme (be it castle, pirates, space or whatever) Lego could achieve something really big (since current movies, series, games etc. to me are kinda stuck either in an "according to the book" or a "recycling" approach, always going for the safe option and thus being very toothless). But sure, it's a biiiig risk for Lego. And in my opinion Lego doesn't seem to be that bold right now.

Alright, thanks for the explanation I'm kinda amazed, that whole decal thing was completely below my radar - until now. Had to watch some youtube vids to understand how this is done and what possibilities open up... Totally understandable, they are so iconic one just has to use them (plus there is no real color problem)

I had this set too and I loved it so much! Need to look for the parts, maybe I could reassemble it again... Anyway, for me I think the first one I got just for myself was this one, or at least this was the first set that I remembered extreeemely well. My dad and me playing with this set on a sunny sunday morning... memories which last forever NAME: Backhoe (6662) YEAR: 1992 PARTS: 85 RATING: ***** out of ***** (yes, totally biased by nostalgic feelings )

So cool man! Absolutely love it, especially the sand green tile in the roof, be it placed there on purpose or not How on earth are there no color differences in the grey tones? Aren't to those printed panels from the "Grey-Age" ? Or are there newer version in light bluish grey? Or is this just the rendering yet?

How nice is that! Creative building technique you used for the legs. I also like the MOC for its retro-feeling, although I can't say what it is exactly that makes it feel like an Adventurers-(AFOL)-Set of that time. Maybe the reduced color palette, or the lack of a lot of "new" bricks? Anyway, good work. My little son loves it too

Thanks @Admiral Bejaune for bumping this, because everything you said is true and those builds really opened my eyes to Lego craftsmanship back then! Now as I'm finally a participating member here on EB, I absolutely wanted to let @Legostone and @Sebeus I know that

Two factors are limiting my options for storing my bricks in an organized way: 1. I don't have a spare room I could use solely for building etc. 2. My kids also want to build and they just start bricking in whatever room they are in at that time. So, it needed to be transportable boxes, but I wanted it with smaller trays (2-3 "storeys" per box), consisting of different subdivisions inside. I did a lot of research, most of the boxes were too small for me and just when I gave up on it I came across the Really Useful Boxes. I bought it via a local Office Discounter, but it seems they have a - crappy - website/shop too. These boxes (I have one big and two small ones) allow me to bring all my bricks to whatever room I like in no time. Grab the boxes, spread the trays and go. Needless to say the other way round it's even better (We all know - sometimes the bricks needs to be gone instantly) Since I don't have too many bricks I order them by category or type (depends on the amount and logic). The different colors are always visible because the trays/storeys aren't that high. I also know I'm more the type of person who needs to know where a part is (primary for its shape/function). If the right color is not available, I might still find another fitting color in that spot, before changing the specific building technique for example. Kids are also pretty happy with this system, If necessery I'll add boxes in the future and do a little re-sorting.:)

Wow, what a massive thing! Still it's the ideal scale for my taste - realistic but playable. I like

Hey broomhandle! May I ask what you needed the box art for? The reason why I'm bumping this is because I'm thinking of a project concerning Lego box art, also vintage stuff...

Thanks for the welcom Yperio_Bricks! I'll definitely show some of my MOCs sooner or later, but I need to get a better camera and studio lamps/soft boxes or so first In the meantime I try to get a feeling for this forum :)

Hi fellow Lego fans, Powder Monkey here! How's it going? Some words about myself: I'm Austrian, born in 1991 as the second of five kids, loving parents, fantastic childhood. Graduated in graphic design, worked for design agencies, started my own advertising agency in 2014. I'm married and father of a boy and a girl. I love being creative. Be it drawing, designing, modelling, music, writing, developing story scripts or new business strategies. In fact, I'm so interested in finding new ways of expressing myself that sometimes I just don't know how to reconcile it But I think it's all part of that process, and it's definitely one constant in my life that keeps me going. And I'd say I'm an open, warm hearted, and very, very interested person. In everything. You have a topic to you wanna talk about, I'm in :) Now how's Lego fitting in? Well, technically I had a lot of Duplo (which was and is great, loved the sets back then, and Toolo - wow, screwdrivers!! - you guys also wonder why they cancelled it after 2,3 years?) but that was just the prelude for my Lego adventures. I was lucky to "inherit" some of the 60-70s Lego from my mom and a lot of 80s Lego from my older brother. With me and my younger siblings a constant flow of Lego was ensured for more than two decades. And I was so addicted to it - because it just hit the right spot at the right time. Sometimes I wonder if Lego was just the perfect tool to fully unleash my creative side, or the root of it :) I might never find out. Anyway, once the "new toy every day" concept really kicked in it was THE thing for me that gave me the most pleasure. I built Castle/Pirates/City/Aquazone/Adventure/Space/StarWars/Dinosaur based things, some Technic creations and I had Slizers (in retrospective I find them super visionary) and - of course - Bionicle. 00s baby Even with my first self-earned Euros I still ran to the closest toy store to buy a Lego set. But after some time, guess what, the Dark Age cast its menacing shadow over my bricking future. 15 years later, probably through the Covid19 pandemic and my own kids, it was all back in a flash. BAM. I started MOCing again, somehow a lot of Pirate inspired MOCs. Recently I got increasingly interested in Lego Box Art (or Packaging Design). Especially for me as a graphic designer this is a whole new universe to discover in terms of how to present sets and play with imagination. There might be a thread to this when I know how to move here on EB :) That's it, thanks for your kind attention and I'm excited about the things to come. So, what to do next? Any recommendations?