JesseNight

Ohh good, can't have too much Blacktron running loose!

Very cool design, I love it! Did you keep the original's modularity as well? (or shall I just ask... will there be more coming?)

Nice! I'm not a fan of the tracks but the DeLorean looks really good! Which parts did you make the black louvres on the rear from if you don't mind me asking? I've been modifying my Icons BTTF DeLorean to a regular one, and still not entirely happy about that part.

That's good. I'm no seller myself so wasn't aware of it. Are we really surprised about people either not knowing or just ignoring it though...? Oh I brought up those terms just in a general context about selling, not specifically about BL or even LEGO at all. From your description I can only tell that BL's terms are very clear. But again, I'm not surprised with people either not knowing or not following it.

Amazing build! Both on outside looks and functionality. Good luck on further progress! Shame those arches don't exist in white... (fingers crossed for the future?)

Totally agree. The interpretation of "new" varies a lot, and obviously sellers and buyers use a different interpretation. In my own language, we make a distinction between "new" and "as good as new" (literally translated), the latter meaning it's been barely used and in nearly new condition but opened and handled nonetheless. While true new is either MIB (mint in box, unopened) or MISB (mint in sealed box). But even with those clear distinctions, I see stuff misplaced as "new" all the time. And if you report or question it, it's just a case of "oops, misclicked". Also I wonder how much a "sealed box" means nowadays considering equipment to reseal stuff is easy to get access to and not expensive anymore. Therefore, I have to agree that I would most likely never pay premium for something "new" out of the hands of a third party other than an official store. Very true. At the same time, such trust can be easily damaged by a couple of bad experiences.

It can happen, and on ebay too. BL has a feedback system too so that is one thing that can surely help a lot. Detailed photos is always a good idea, but in case of a sealed set unfortunately impossible because a seller wouldn't unseal it for that. Another reason I would prefer not buying a sealed set if the content is what I'm interested in.

That's my childhood right there! (if only I had a room and a budget that size when I was a kid...) Amazing job making it all fit so well together while staying loyal to the designs. Looking forward especially to your idea of more greenery, it looks quite busy already so something like a park would be a great addition.

Oh well, we can't have it all. Still a great showpiece!

I love this build! Brings me back to the old Technic days when bare builds showing everything were the norm! Great functionality and love the slight transformation when raising/lowering the buggy. How is it holding up on actual rough terrain?

No, we just don't share the same experiences. Which by logic tells me it was just an unlucky incident. We are not associated with LEGO or BL directly so we can only share experiences and discuss the matters.

I do it simpler. I try to keep it visually accurate, but I won't go as far as spending time into researching all possible variations or what could be the precise year of my bricks. If it looks accurate, it's good enough for me. In some cases I am not afraid to stray away from being accurate, if it makes a set better without using newer parts that are out of place for the time.

What year did you first start playing with LEGO? Must have been around 1983, when I look back at the runtimes of my first sets. I was still very young. What did you think of LEGO compared to other toys in the early 2000s? I can't say. The early 2000s was past my childhood Lego phase (that ended around 1996) and before my AFOL phase that started only 2 years ago. If I were to apply that question to my childhood years, I find it hard to compare bc Lego was just... different. Other toys I had were lots of fun, but were just about playing and not so much about building and challenging creativity. With Lego, I always challenged myself to build my own visions and preferably at a larger scale than anything available at the time. [Edit] It just came to mind that I often combined Lego with other toys. If I were missing important vehicles or a base in my other toys that I either didn't own yet, or didn't even exist, I'd try to make them out of Lego to use in play sessions with these other toys. What LEGO themes/sets did you like back then? Before I was 10, I loved the Space themes. Classic Space, Futuron, Blacktron, Space Police, M-Tron. I was appealed to Blacktron II and Ice Planet too but didn't have any of those sets. In my teen years, my interest shifted towards Technic. What changes have you noticed in LEGO products over the past 20 years? Again hard to answer, considering the past 20 years I haven't been active with Lego. Comparing what I've seen the last few years compared to my youth, things have changed quite a lot. There's way more colors, there's different building techniques (like SNOT), there's lots of new parts, and a lot more products based on movie and game franchises rather than in--house designs. Were the changes for the better? Hard to say. More colors is something I like, even though sometimes it feels a bit too much (making it hard to tell some shades apart). Techniques definitely have improved. I'm no fan of movie/game franchises myself but I expect it works in modern times.

That's a possibility. Or some stuff got mixed up, like keeping a complete train set separate and not noticing missing 1 sleeper (or it was a spare/extra), unaware it was still somewhere in the rest of the bulk.

I think the question is... how important is it to you? Or anyone buying it? The answer is just personal. Some people would be bothered by it, others wouldn't be. I know in case of those plates with hollow studs, they often got mixed in the transition period and they have no different number. The use is not different either. I would personally only be bothered if it were visible and ruining the symmetry of a model. In case of 1x1 with a clip, the model numbers are different and you notice it in use too. The thick ones (C) are obviously sturdier and therefore I'd prefer them on a connection that often gets separated. I've had some old thin ones (A) break on frequent use. But those were great to allow a tool like a minifig radio to freely rotate, something you couldn't do on the thick ones. The newer ones (D) are the best of both worlds. Guess that's just evolution. As you already noticed yourself, for clips you can check on the model. For tubes, don't worry about it. No Bricklink store or even Lego themselves would make a difference between the 2. I'd only do it if it's very obviously visible in the finished model, or if a buyer specifically asks about this.

Good question! But since it appeared only in Trains, it shouldn't be too hard to track? Unless it was left behind by accident by someone else in your collection? What's the other dark gray part lying next to it? Maybe that's a hint, because I don't think that color was used for much else besides railroad sleepers and minifig tools at the time.

I suppose that depends a bit on potential buyers, but I can imagine collectors preferring parts to be accurate for a model and at least consistent (not mixing old and new within a single model). Can't talk for everybody though. Which parts specifically do you mean with the tubes? (or better yet, do you have pics?)

That's correct, it's a sleeper for 1980s railroad tracks (the old 12V system). The switch from old grays to bluish grays was made in the early 2000s if I'm not mistaking.

Can you link me those specific instructions and what the commenter said about an error? I can probably find out, since I have the original model without any issues of the hatch closing. But originally the exhausts are short and deep under the model and don't go anywhere near the hatch at all. [edit] I found your YT channel and your build video. Your hatch looks completely fine. Considering how the hatch is built, there's no small change you could make to make it close further, and I doubt that was intended. As it is, the long horizontal beams are in closed state a perfect extension of the horizontal beams of the doors. The top beams are stretched to their maximum length. And the lowest bricks on the back rest just on those 2 slopes.

Oh, you're right, I hadn't noticed book 1 still being v1.5. Just downloaded it again, only to notice book 1 still being v1.5 actually. [edit] Now I have 1.6, thanks again!

This is very true. And that's also what the title of this topic suggests and my personal opinion... I don't mind licensed themes but I feel overdosed by the endless repetition of some of those. If classic space and the following themes had persisted, I would have been bored within a few years of it too. But did I appreciate the recent Galaxy Explorer and Renegade releases? Absolutely.

True, I remember that well during their releases. Personally I liked them, but I was already a generation younger than those who had seen the original trilogy in the theaters in the late 70s and early 80s. Generation might be a thing. Or maybe some people are a bit too trigger happy on complaining first, learning to appreciate later? At the same time it suffers from something that every sequel or prequel suffers from... It's no longer an original thing when we first see it, and yet it has to somehow live up to (or surpass) expectations that are unrealistically high after the original being a major success.

Me neither. But I am sure they have people in-house analyzing such statistics. Well Disney sure is keeping the franchise much alive with all the new series and talk about upcoming new films, even if the fans of the original Star Wars stuff aren't liking it. Maybe it appeals more to the younger crowd? Also don't forget that the new trilogies may have a lot of bad reviews, that never stopped any fans to still go and see it. It was a commercial success and that's what matters to a business in the end. That everybody pays to watch it just to trash talk it on Youtube later isn't their concern. Bad reviews don't hurt any business (unless there's direct competition for a same product), only undermining profit does.

I think the fact they keep up those licenses proves that they must in fact sell well, enough to keep a decent profit after fees. I'm no fan but I'm not everybody in the end. I guess in the end nostalgia plays a role too for many adults, having a special place for the themes we grew up with. I loved the old Town more than the modern City. I loved old Castle (which was more of a historical non-fantasy setting) more than more modern attempts. I loved 80s Space themes more than the new City Space, even though I admit that one was a breath of fresh air. Just for franchises that I love, I'm way more appealed to buy an accurate model than a Lego one. And I'm just really bored of the amount of superhero themes we got nowadays, but that's just my personal (dis)taste. No offense intended to anyone! @imposter Oh small note about that modular City set that you posted. I would surely define that as creative, and I love modular builds in general because it offers a grade of variety we otherwise wouldn't have. However... this set feels weird. City was always a realistic theme, and the way this was executed it just allows to change realistic builds into unrealistic and rather weird ones... I guess accuracy of themes is a whole different discussion though. Unless it's licensed accuracy

Of course, and maybe my wording is a bit wrong. To stay on the castle example... If you have an open Castle theme, there's a lot of variety. Look at all the different castles we've had through those years. Sure it still has to look like a castle, but it leaves a lot of freedom within the rules of the theme. If you want to make the Harry Potter Hogwarts castle however, people expect accuracy to what they have seen in the movies. You can still make a different castle that will fit that world, but people have high expectations on what they know and will all try to replicate it rather than creating their own interpretation of "a castle". That's the difference. I feel I'm starting to sound like my grandpa when I was a kid That's a good point, I suppose I haven't seen a lot of these mocs yet. I guess the SW universe has grown a lot beyond the movies nowadays (but that's where I lost my interest a bit).