JesseNight

Not so sure about that. For example, a hardcore Star Wars collector might not be a LEGO fan but still buy LEGO Star Wars... because it is Star Wars. They definitely attract a broader audience with licensed sets.

Obviously this isn't a problem at all, just an observation. And you're right about LEGO targeting a much broader audience than in the old days, and that is great. How many LEGO stores were there in the old days? I wouldn't know tbh, bc I've never seen one. Have to admit I've always lived in a low population area where there's never been a lot of specialized stores of anything at all. Even today there's only 2 LEGO stores in my country. Ok it's a small country, still have to drive 100+ km to get to the nearest. There's 2 sides to that. For example, I'm a Space fan. Recently we had a City Space sub theme that was quite good. I found out about it very late because I'm not following City releases closely. Had I heard about a new Space theme, I would have been on top of it. And let's not forget that LEGO Space was a long-lasting branding once. Still remembered by many, and pretty self-explanatory to everyone else. LEGO is a business and will make what is in demand. If today's youth wants more licensed stuff, we can hardly blame LEGO for supplying that demand. Most AFOL probably have strong nostalgic feelings towards what we grew up with. Didn't our parents have that too towards what they knew from their childhood? Or our grandparents even? I remember them not liking my "modern stuff" in the 80s-90s I think licensed is often the "safe bet" when going for a franchise that already has a name and popularity for itself. Higher cost (licenses) but guaranteed profit. In-house themes are a much higher risk. There's development cost and no guarantees it will be a hit. That's probably why it's often a smaller percentage.

I wouldn't say the ratio really matters all that much. But I have to admit when I walk into a LEGO store nowadays, there's only a tiny bit of the store that interests me. Where in the older days, it would be a lot more. Are we lacking set releases? Definitely not. There's so many more sets releasing per year than in the old days, that even the small percentage of unlicensed sets hardly feels like "less" in absolute numbers compared to the old days. The amount of licensed sets is just overwhelming large nowadays. I just happily ignore it all.

Didn't mean it that harshly, more like everyone should at least think and make their own conclusion that it MAY not be a great deal if you want a good amount of LEGO for your money. And true, Light & Sound went for a premium price too but at least that system is durable and still works 40 years later. Personally I would call any system with an irreplaceable battery and special bricks and chargers not sold separately a bad deal. Pure e-waste in the long run.

In an ideal world, everybody would indeed think and consider and conclude this isn't a great deal. But reality tends to be different. Kids want the newest and the coolest. If the smart brick is appealing to kids, it will work. And then the parents will just have to consider whether they really wanna watch their purse and risk their kid being less cool among their friends. I agree that Light & Sound was better in many ways. Not just the application, but also that it still works today and will work as long as we have access to replacement 9V batteries. Once the smart brick's internal battery has lived out its life and its recharge cycles, it's over. That's typical 21st century attitude I'm afraid. We're all aware we gotta reduce our waste, and yet manufacturers keep feeding us more to throw away.

Channel monetization, so they need to have something to show because people want to see actual products and not just a talking head for 10-20 minutes. The answer there is again "money talks". And all those content creators and influencers (especially the bigger ones) are the main and cheap way for manufacturers to advertise their goods nowadays. Even if a review is negative, it still works to some extend.

Sweet irony, right? Money talks, and if people who publicly state not liking it already buy 3 of each... that's how nowadays many product failures still turn out to be financial successes.

@aFrInaTi0n I think the link you've used is a private one that only works for you as the owner. We are seeing this: (kinda funny in a way... ) I've been sticking to imgbb myself. Very easy and no account required.

Think that has more to do with the fact that these specific franchises have been milked dry (especially Star Wars and Harry Potter). A few improved versions of older sets is okay, but you can't keep people forever entertained re-releasing the same stuff over and over without new movies/series introducing new content to the franchise.

These are not scams, just regular marketing trickery that every business in the world does and that's perfectly legit. And that you are perfectly fine to refuse to buy from them. I don't like it either, but it's how business works nowadays with the amount of competition there is when trading on a worldwide scale. Use the tools you have. Blacklist stores that you don't agree with prices or practices, and move on to the best deals for your wishlists. And if all offers disappoint, be patient and wait for better. If you want something really rare, you may have to accept paying premium or not getting it at all.

@Carrera124 I think you're off on the Model Team launch, it's been around since 1986 with sets 5510 (Offroad 4x4), 5540 (F1 Racer), and 5580 (Highway Rig). And I'm from Europe too.

This is what I meant when I said "mixed" values. Numeric values that are aligned to the right have to be strictly numeric. The ID column contains both numbers and occasional letter prefixes or suffixes, therefore it is handled the same as text unless specifically defined otherwise (it's the same in Excel). Not much you can do besides workarounds, if the developer isn't going to add format options.

If you prefer not to swap columns, maybe a very narrow empty column between Quantity and Item ID can create some spacing.

I don't have a direct solution, but I recognize the same formatting that Excel (and similar tools) have by default. Columns defined strictly as a numeric value (like Quantity) are by default aligned to the right, so that big and small numbers are perfectly aligned underneath each other. Text & mixed values (like Item ID) are by default aligned to the left. I am not familiar with the Brickstore tool, but what you're looking for is "Align" options or buttons. If those aren't there, it's probably not possible. Alternatively, if the program is advanced enough, an "Indent" option might be there to create spacing between the content and the edge of the cell. Again, this is all stuff I know from Excel, I have no idea how advanced Brickstore really is when it comes to custom formatting of its tables. As a last resort, perhaps swapping columns could be an option (like putting the picture between them).

Maybe not the best place but didn't wanna start a whole new topic for this. What's the deal with Bricklink listed parts like this 4x4 triangular tile, that don't seem to actually exist in any set?

Same. Had no luck with thrift stores yet aside from a small bag of random Duplo and a few Fabuland figures, neither of which I have much interest in. But there's a lot of thrift store hunters in my area, always after good deals just to resell it again on eBay. So I just keep theme switching (and somewhat upgrading) sets in Studio, seeing which theme gives me the best deals to build it in. I will stay true to the themes of course. If it's SP1, it's gotta have their jail cell on it. If it's M-Tron, it's gotta have magnets.

I do remember the early days of internet purchases well! But yeah, I've missed out on a lot still being affordable. Nowadays prices of wanted sets are crazy. And if it contains rare/unique parts in those colors, it's often cheaper ordering loose parts and building it in another theme's colors. Which I honestly don't mind doing as long as it fits.

Oh so it really IS a round plate, that cap! Does the bottom actually fit on it, making them stackable? I envy you, finding BL as early as 2001. I stopped my youth Lego hobby with my final big Technic set in 1996 before moving on to other things in life. Haven't looked back to Lego until 2-3 years ago. And a lot of those 80s-90s set have been seriously rising in price over the years.

Very nice little set! The front and the large canopy instantly reminded me of the Mega Core Magnetizer, that's really fitting to the theme! But... no actual magnets?

Well you did a great job at it. If it's still sturdy enough to move around when it's completely assembled, it's impressive! Are you planning on making a longer video showing off the actually built model in detail?

Why can't I 'unsee' that bottle cap as a 1x1 round plate...? Maybe I've just spent too many hours in Studio this week... I have no connection to this specific set myself but I can appreciate what you're doing, I've been doing some crossovers from existing sets to other themes as well lately (mostly to Blacktron 1 and Futuron).

Wow, this brings modularity to a whole new level! Feels like needing an assembly plan to get it all back together into the big ship

Very good to have around, there's bugs in every time period

I wonder if it's even an official thing, if the number isn't shown on the promotion pic or instructions. I couldn't find anything in GWP lists online in the range 2015-2019 that looked like it, nor in lists of all John Ho's designs. Maybe the mystery is the real surprise inside...

A lot has changed in society too. Decades ago, parents would still join their children in play or help them build stuff, but wouldn't talk about it in any other context than a parent-child moment, while I am sure parents had fun doing that too. But even then, on expositions we'd see massive scale high detailed buildings in Lego which I'm sure weren't built by little kids. Nowadays it's okay to publicly show it and talk about it and Lego would have been a fool if they hadn't played into that market because adult stuff is obviously aimed at much higher budgets.