JesseNight

That's been said many times in the past 15 years, but it's honestly never been as strong as it is now. It's not perfect for sure, we're not at a level to "plug in" our brain to a computer and have a total immersion (and that would be a scary thought tbh). Controllers remain a thing for now, but hand tracking is actively being improved. Haptic feedback exists. Devices to really walk on exist too but currently not attractive due to price and space requirement, but that's another thing that's still being worked on. As for audio, that's the same as any flat TV you buy: you get very basic audio included, and if you want good audio then buying separate high quality headphones or audio system is the way. Displays and lenses have improved a lot throughout the years. More wireless headsets have been appearing. More face & body tracking solutions. Releases of new (affordable) VR sets that felt like a serious step up have been stagnant for a while, but R&D is still very much happening.

It's true that it's niche and expensive. Meta tried to make it mainstream during covid with the affordable Quest 2, only to back down on that when the Quest 3 came. It's indeed not for everyone, things like motion sickness and eye strain are real (I can't do long sessions myself either). However I have to disagree on the last part. Have you ever been immersed into a high quality virtual world on decent hardware (not just a silly game on Quest 1 level of graphics), that made you feel like actually being there rather than just watching a screen?

Ohhh, I checked that Batmobile and I see the problem. They seem to have forgotten to add the white outline to the black parts that they normally do. Book 2 is the worst, seems to have been made on too dark settings and it really shows when having book 1 next to it. If you look at the Icons ECTO-1, it's clear that it can be done better. This model uses a black background on pages and no issues to see and recognize black parts because of white outlines, and enough color difference with other dark colors (like dark gray). Either way, that answers my question on what to vote for

Definitely not personal circumstances, this is indeed a thing. And not just Lego, other toys and even gaming consoles too. Decades ago, we learned having to make choices and not own everything. That mentality definitely changed a lot. Agreed, I miss those beautiful pictures too. Also let's not forget the box art back in those days. Most boxes would show at least 2 or 3 alternative builds with the included pieces (without instructions). I think back then, designers were given a lot more time for such things instead of just having to design new official models to release. That mentality changed everywhere in work environments I guess, there's a lot more pressure on people nowadays. I had that problem as a 1980s kid too really. There were only 6 colors, but I never had enough in the same color to make a color consistent larger build of anything. True that this got a lot worse now.

The dragon is nice, just slightly past my own Castle prime days and it never had a special appeal to me. btw what do you mean with the question about instructions being too dark? Do you have any example of what you mean?

I'm not so surprised about the Vision Pro tbh. It's crazy expensive and if it had been the best by a mile, it might have justified it. But when it's just another VR set at a high price point that's not gonna work. There are very good (or better) alternatives for professional use, and VR enthusiast have been preferring sticking to the HTC lighthouses ecosystem. As for Meta... I guess the Quest 2 just played the mainstream well during the covid lockdowns at an attractive price point. The Quest 3 boosted that price significantly, and extras on top of that price are a necessary rather than a luxury (better headstrap, better batteries, better face padding). That's been boosting it towards the lower enthusiast grade rather than mainstream. That's a good way of putting it in a single sentence It has its uses, just not for everyone. Think of professional pilot training, especially fighter pilots. Tactical training. Surgery training for doctors. It gives them an immersive way to practice without risks or extra costs beyond the VR hardware and the training software. But not just that, engineers and designers make use of it too to put things together and view their work in a true 3D environment to watch it from all directions. As for hobby/enthusiast use, I guess it is a niche indeed. It has been growing significantly over the past 10 years though, and not just during covid. Plenty of people like this level of immersion into a social environment with people they cannot be with irl (for example due to distance), or to be immersed into a game world. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if that's exactly what happened. These last few years we "evolved" fast into asking everything to AI rather than just thinking or talking to fellow people. It's just like how they started adding "smart" to every electronic device's functionality over the years, that word alone seems to attract people (big hype).

I'm pretty sure the Smart Brick will sell, even if we're all having doubts. Whether it sells to people who are actually playing with it or just want to cover it on Youtube is a different question entirely. Hype is short lived, and I never said it will survive long term. That's the problem nowadays, people jump from one hype to the next. That's what I mean when I said hype sells. Just look at new releases. Limited supply, people stand in line to pre-order products that don't exist yet (and that often end up disappointing). If marketing creates a hype that lands, and exploits fomo with artificial scarcity, it sells. Did Meta give up on VR? I haven't been following the latest VR news but last I checked the Quest 3 (and even the 2) are still selling good, being among the best standalone sets in more affordable price ranges. Their software platform Horizon is another story, that never came from the ground because they tried to re-invent a metaverse that already existed and expanded big time for years in different platforms since around 2017.

Yes, the left one is the 1980 Shovel Buggy (6821) that I was referring to. Small note, it actually has a hollow shovel part (4089). The piece used on the front of the right side one reminds me of the 1985 Space Dozer (6847). Love that last picture of your entire moon base!

It's funny you mention monetization, because that is another thing I see for a lot of people sneaking into their hobbies. Yes, hobbies are expensive and that seems to have been getting worse thanks to many limited edition products and people investing to resell. I've noticed that a lot of hobbyists do this reselling themselves, to fund their hobby without the need to pay up a lot themselves. I myself couldn't do any of all that, invest my hobby time into doing business. My hobby time is about relaxing and having fun, not about doing business or rushing. Sure, that means I can't have everything because my budget has limitations... but I can live with that. It keeps me having goals to look forward to.

I guess a lot of people stopped enjoying the building. Just look at all the speed build videos where people show off how fast they can rush a build. Look closely and notice mistakes being made even with modern instructions that are so much simpler than they once were. I guess people are all about destination now and forgot to enjoy the journey. Eventually they'll run out of destinations, and every enjoyment is short lived. I feel like a lot of people make rash and thoughtless purchases. Marketing departments know this and exploit this eagerly. Especially fomo is easily triggered in people nowadays, when we can see online what the whole world is doing. And yes, it's a business model that unfortunately works on the masses, therefore it keeps continuing. Not to offend anyone... but while people can be intelligent, the masses as a whole can be pretty dumb.

Sadly that puts it in line with so many things that release these days and end up having a very short life. Hype sells and businesses know it. Gets even worse when they exploit fomo with artificial scarcity. From a business pov it works. And as long as we still buy it aside from expressing our dissatisfaction, that won't change. I miss the days of quality releases that we can look back to 30+ years later and still see it was/is good.

Got any spare jet packs? Nothing beats fresh coffee! Jokes aside, are there any plans for a modern 1980 Shovel Buggy?

True... My rug is actually a thick carpet, there's a lot to explore (and possibly mine) in there

Since childhood I've been wondering about this specific series of vehicles why they had a computer brick BEHIND the astronaut... (always been one to overthink lots of details in design choices) Ohhh, very acceptable!

Just hype for a new tech to boost sales. Pretty normal thing to happen because people's interest can die out without innovation. And innovation is never without risk. Not sure what's going on about them releasing it in so few countries though... Did they ever explain that?

I've never made the transition to SNOT building. I do a lot more stud coverage and smooth surfaces for sure, just preferring to keep them facing up

Might as well remove the oxygen tanks too then And speaking of living room rugs... That dish under the small flying craft better be a functional vacuum cleaner then Jokes aside, I've always been more for keeping it realistic within the possibilities of what we have. I probably would have replaced it with a toolkit or something. I didn't like the lack of helmet visors either but I can't decide if I like Futuron better for this or not, considering how obviously their helmets look like motorcycle ones while classic space helmets look like astronaut ones. They have the holes to attach visors, we just never had any good astronaut ones for them afaik. Who knows, maybe some day someone will 3D print some good ones. Nice how you stayed consistent in the design with the last vehicle. Small question, the vehicle it's based on has this communications station on the back. That fence like piece on the side, what part is that?

Absolutely. I think Barracuda Bay is a marvelous set, being able to be either the bay with shipwreck or a full ship that's winking back to the classic pirate ship from 1989. I don't like all the licenses either... It's the time we live in now. Licenses are guaranteed income. Even some movie studios only accept sequels and spinoffs on existing successful licenses rather than taking a risk on an original new idea.

I like this too. Subtle modernization respecting the old style and sets as they were. Have to agree about the radio brick being out of place. Sound waves cannot transfer through the void of space after all.

Isn't that the case? I remember even builds based on past in-house themes weren't accepted. Then again I haven't been following the Ideas submissions closely.

The time a rechargeable battery lasts depends a lot of how it is treated during its lifetime. Rechargeable batteries allow a limited number of recharging cycles, each time you plug in the charger counts as one. Therefore recharging too often when not needed, is not a good thing. Letting them run completely empty is also a bad thing. Long term storage is possible with half a charge (both empty and full state are stressful on a battery). Of course the state of that charge would have to be checked once in a while if it's very long term. Exposure to extreme temperatures is also pretty bad for batteries. I do hope too that these bricks allow battery replacement, I just wouldn't be surprised if they don't. I think it was possible with those light bricks with built-in batteries, just had to be very careful. Personally I hate batteries, first thing I always try is find a way to connect it to a power chord. As for custom or irreplaceable battery units in general, that's just how things are manufactured for profit, to make people buy new stuff instead of sticking to old stuff because they can. And yes that's sadly at the cost of the environment, because waste is good for business. We all know we have to reduce waste, yet we do the exact opposite because once we're at work, profit comes before all else. That might in the end not be different for TLG.

Picking just one is hard, but I think I have to agree with the TS. Expert Builder (early Technic) was definitely one of the big ones, as well as the foundation of Technic as we know it. Even though I'm not always happy with the current state of it. I loved it in the 80s and first half of the 90s, when axles/pins and technical stuff mixed well with classic studs building. Nowadays with the studless liftarms, it's a bit too much on the pins for me (but things do end up looking better). But yeah, Technic was born from this and is still standing strong today, both as its own thing and as sturdy frames for other themes' larger and more complex builds. The minifigure is definitely a great one too, I don't think I have to go into a lot of detail on that one. I wouldn't lean towards themes and licenses. They come and go, that's how it's always been. Same will likely happen with the smart brick, just like previous technological integrations. It may fade, or it may stay, but it won't change Lego forever (unless it makes them stray away from the core of being building blocks).

I see good and bad, and it definitely won't change Lego "forever" because nothing lasts forever. They're just throwing around the word "smart" a bit too much nowadays, guess everybody thinks that's cool? It doesn't seem all that smart, motion detection and optical sensors aren't exactly new. I'm glad they at least kept it app free. Other than that, the mixed reactions bring me back to the mid 1980s when 9V Light & Sound made its first appearances. That had a lot of mixed reception too. And yeah the sound was quite horrible I see with the new smart brick that part won't be a whole lot better bc there's simply no room for a good solution.

Most likely smart brick yeah, perhaps some new AI stuff behind it. Nothing that interests me tbh

I'm on the opposite end. I stopped with Lego around 1995-1996, I never knew there was new grey and brown until 2 years ago. First time I heard about it was... confusing. I'm okay with there being new colors, as well as light and dark shades. It just feels a bit too much at times, sometimes having trouble telling 2 shades apart that are really close. And I know I'm not the only one, having seen threads on this board about the exact same thing before.