snefroe

I don't think that's what the community means with this term. I think most people refer to "<insert that tiresome argument> themes" as themes/sets that are too simple to fit the standards of the system line all together, because of simplistic designs, very large pieces,... I think the late 90s city sets come pretty close... I don't think there's a direct reference to the Junior line as such. That kinda reopens the discussion, doesn't it? X-D

oh we've discussed "juniorisation" several times before (just as the disappaerance of old grey, but, let's not get into that again, since we do have some highly sensitive members on our boards :-P ;-) . Evidently, the opinions are mixed about this matter. For me, it's not so much "juniorisation" that's changed. Lego has always been designed for young people and many sets of the past were most definetely not detailed; Take the "galaxy explorer": the thing has a huge building on top of its grey wing, but what's really inside? Not even a seat! Only two computers and a steering wheel, I believe... Compare that with the yellow sub of the AR theme. The current city sets, like the cement mixer or the big yellow dump truck, the fire truck,... they're all nicely detailed... I agree with your remarks on the castle theme, but then we come to what has really changed compared to the old days: Playability has become far more important than building sets. Sets are now part of pre-fabricated stories, stories that put everything, including minifigs, in a specific context. Shooting mechanisms are now even part of the sw sets. the same goes for the castle theme: the idea behind "castle" is no longer a classic King Arthur story or a knight's tournement, castle these days, is far more focused on conflict and on army building. Mind you, that is exactlty what many castle fans have been asking for... In a broader economic context, i'd say that the consumer has become very lazy and wants some direct output from whatever product he buys. He doesn't want to spend hours of figuring out what goes where, he buys it, plays with it and throws it away... he doesn't want to have to put too much effort in it... Same with Lego: the company not only provides the product as simple as possible, but also creates everything around it, so the poor customer doesn't really have to do much extra, then basically to put it out of the box and to play with it... That's different compared to the early 80's when Lego was still perceived as a construction toy, even though many sets didn't have more bricks than today's sets... Sure, many sets today are very very very large. I think that's part of our modern world too. Sets have to be noticed, they have to impress potential customers. However, it does not mean these sets are <insert that tiresome argument>. I wouldn't say that Lego's airplane is only for very young kids, too simple for older ones, like us... ;-) I also don't like the manga styled minifig heads, still, that's part of exo force, as long as they're limited to that theme, i'll live with it...

you know, I was going to mention the absence of this theme at toyfairs as well, but then remembered the photos of the toyfair in France a few weeks back... so yep, we've seen fairly low-quality photos.... still, 'Castle' is already mentioned in the current catalog, space is not, even though they're supposed to be released at around the same time. we also haven't really seen any official anouncement of the theme...

don't you just love these Lego marketeers? :-| first, they refuse to give us female minifigs, then they refuse to give us non-profitable City sets and now they're turning Lego into lottery... :-X If you consider the fact that Lego Belgium alone sells more than a million Lego sets a year, and you can bet quite a lot is sw, then 10.000 figs worldwide is really not a lot...

well it seems several parts on that car look brand new. we need some decent photos of the sets to really figure out what's new...

seriously, I don't expect high sales, but it may be around for 5 years or so, just to give people the time to save some money for this, very much like the UCS ISD.

as i said, i've told the admins I cannot give tags to people so it's up to them to fix the problem first...

550 euro? i'll let this one pass... thank god i'm not a sw collector... :-X :-P

thanks very much! where's that 6-wheeler gone?

actually, i was in Paris yesterday and he said this to me: "you know, I wouldn't be surprised if right now, Sam or any body else posts great news like pics of the MF on EB, now that I'm not online! It's always like this!" so "pissed" doesn't even begin to describe his state of mind when he sees this! thank God I'm far away from Paris right now, and if you are there... hide... :-P hm... come to think of it... maybe we should prevent him from getting online ever again... g... BIG news every day on EB! :-P we also talked about the canopy of this new MF set. we kinda agreed that a great canopy would seriously improve any MF set. I'd like to know what he feels about Lego's solution for this MF.

:-$ :-$ *sweet* *sweet*

looks pretty cool. still i'd replace the canopy with the one from the second minifig version... :-/ i wonder if there's any interior . there's no point in adding the other minifigs if you can't put them inside... :-| hm... what is this thing going to cost? :-X btw, yoda is going to be so pissed! everytime we get big news, he's not online...

honestly, this is a very standard reply. in fact, they're saying exactly the same thing in any catalog that mentions prices... It doesn't help you much I'm afraid... :-X

well city is after all constantly available in massive numbers. no wonder that it sells pretty well. Lego technic... well ... at some point there was hardly anything left but those technic sets... :-/ Actually, these reports made by Lego are deceiving, given the way they deal with toy shops...

g... Greece makes even Bricklink look like a bargain!

g... did you guys curse the Gods or something? :-P i think it's a combination of factors. Lack of demand due to too high prices compared to wages in Greece and high distribution costs... :-/ :-X

looks fantastic!!!! 8-

great find sam! don't know why they built the tie crawler... Is it in one of the films or part of the expanded universe? i'd like the sponge lighttower! interesting parts i can use... not all that much on castle theme, unfortunately... the skeleton arms don't look all too great though. hands can't be rotated... :-X

why am i not surprised that you replied? :-P

i think it's a very old article though, let's say 1979... pretty nice in any case... look people: old gray!! lots of it 8-

ah yes, but you were replaced by a swedish viking because you had the nerve not to show up! >:-) :-P

before i sign up, i'd like to have some sort of idea on hotel costs... I believe the Lego hotel is not exactly cheap... what do you guys have in mind?

606 euro?! are you kidding me? g...