ShaydDeGrai

It would have been back in May of this year, and feel free to take it with a healthy grain of salt. He freely admitted that he wasn't an expert on all things CuuSoo and that the internal lines of communication often left something to be desired.

Three or four thousand certainly isn't trivial, but the real question is what are you willing to _do_ for it? I hear internet porn pays better than that for a single video and at the end of the day you'd probably embarrass yourself less than BQ has done with her YouTube campaign at this point. I asked a Lego Community Rep about that at an event actually and while he admitted he wasn't sure and wouldn't speak for Tim's group, he thought that the follow-on Minecraft kits did NOT pay royalties to the original designer (since they were developed in house) and that there were only two 10K runs on the original kit. Hayabusa was a slow mover, but their contract under CuuSoo rules required them to pay the designer based on the MSRP and the production runs are small enough that there's not a lot to be gained by discounting a weak offering just to clear it out. I guess we'll see how BTTF does, I'd expect it to do well, but again, ultimately you'd probably have more money in your pocket by taking a summer job flipping burgers at McDonald's (would be as much fun, or have the bragging rights of being a "Lego Designer" but still...) I think my original point is still valid, the payoff is trivial compared to the arrogance, abuse and vitriol some users are posting all over the web over this "controversy". Far be it for me to decry computers are terrible things (since their existence pretty much pays for my Lego habit) but I do think that they have taken a terrible toll on basic civility and interpersonal behavior. The WWW has become a screen people hide behind while engaging in cyber bullying, propaganda campaigns, and the deliberate distribution of misleading data posing as facts. If people gave two seconds to think through what they'd post as if they were actually standing in a crowd of strangers speaking aloud, they'd probably dial back the rhetoric. If people actually ENGAGED in a debate rather than BROADCASTING an option and blocking all dissenters, there'd probably be more people on the sidelines walking away in disgust over how embarrassing the behavior of the main players are than enflaming the situation by running to champion one side or the other based solely on a cult of personality. (and yes I KNOW people being universally respectful and civil on the Internet is a utopian pipe-dream that will never come to pass - that's not an excuse for making things worse, however) As I said before, I'm not taking sides on the whole question of the banning (largely because I don't care, to be honest) but I do care about the aftermath for CuuSoo and the online FOL community in general and the longer this goes on the less sympathy I have for BQ. Hell, I had LOTR MOCs posted on line years before there _was_ a LEGO movie tie-in theme, and since I posted my ideas on CuuSoo, I've lost track of the number of others proposing their own variations on Fellbeast, Minas Tirith, Architecture style microbuilds, Orthancs, etc. There was even one project (gone now I think) that tried to copy my Minas Tirith Microbuild as an LDD model and when LDD couldn't make all the connections, they proposed a simplified model and then posted to MY project that 1) they TRIED to copy it exactly, 2) that I had to be using illegal building techniques in my actual build, 3) that everybody should go support their LDD version instead because their was "legal", and 4) hthat they "deserved" to "win" because my SNOT building techniques were "cheating". Somehow _I_ managed to resist the temptation to start a flame war, release tearful videos on YouTube or have my vast sea of minions (okay, well, my two cats and a couple kilos of mini-figures) threaten to rain chaos and death down upon everyone who didn't recognize my awesome power. I don't know how I ever managed to exercise such self control - oh, wait a sec, now I recall, I let it go. It wasn't worth the rancor. Supporters that are worth having aren't going to be so fickle as to be motivated by that sort of crap and if _I_ were to resort to that sort of response I'd not only be embarrassing myself, I'd be betraying everyone who'd supported me up to that point. If anything, I think it's a shame that BQ (regardless or whether she's been wronged or not) doesn't see that part of the equation.

In academia we had an adage "the battles are so bitter because the stakes are so small." Even properly attributing the quote is fiercely debated to this day, Henry Kissinger, Woodrow Wilson and Wallace Sayre each have their own die-hard fan-boys...) I think too many people try to justify really bad behavior in the name of protecting their "big chance" at a 1% royalty payoff as if their idea were going to fly through review and bring in millions of dollars in royalties. Let's face it, CuuSoo is many things, but none of them are a get rich quick avenue to an early retirement. If you had a dollar from everyone who voted to get your project to 10,000 support, you'd probably make three times as much money as you'll actually see from that 1% royalty IF the kit actually makes it into production. It's not rocket science here. Historically, CuuSoo kits have a run of 10,000 units and Minecraft and BTTF each sold for 35USD, that translates to a 3,500USD payday for the designer, or about the cost of a dozen high-end LEGO kits. Moreover, just getting to 10k doesn't guarantee you a penny. Historically most projects fail review and (quietly or not) die. Seriously, do YouTube, CuuSoo and the online AFOL communities really need to be rending themselves into bitter little factions over this? I'm not going to takes sides over who did what, when and to whom other than to say, in general terms 1) plagiarism - bad, 2) creativity - good, 3) inspiration can come from anywhere, and 4) no idea is as unique or original as most "conceivers" think it is. There are probably extenuating circumstances that we'll never know the truth about (and dozens of supposed "insiders" who will push their own opinions as fact whenever given the opportunity) but unless you personally happen to _be_ one of the parties wronged (or duly punished) or one of the CuuSoo team trying to clean up the mess - does it really matter? It's done and it weren't for all the whining, accusations, threats and other internet excrement most people wouldn't even notice it ever happened. Let's just move on and let this issue suffer the quiet passing it deserves. The only thing a Court of Public Opinion usually proves is how uninformed the general public is and how powerful charisma and propaganda can be.

If I'm bothering to apply the stickers at all, I try to do it as neatly as possible. As for logo alignment on the studs, I need my reading glasses just to see that there IS a logo on the studs I'm not so OCD that I'd put on glasses just to align the logos on the studs, but I have broken out a tray of tiles on occasion to hide them entirely. It usually looks better and it makes dusting easier.

Maybe I just don't appreciate the modernist movement in architecture, but the Marina Bay Sands would not have made my top ten list for upcoming desired sets. I'm not really a fan of Moshe Safdie's work when it comes to translating things to Lego. It's not a criticism of his work in general (though it's not to _my_ tastes) there's nothing inherently "bad" about the original buildings, but even really good attempts by talented AFOLs at MOCing things like Habitat 67, The Peabody Essex Museum and The Kaufmann Center just didn't "pop" as great display models. I don't see why The Marina Bay Sands would be any different. I worry that it might end up looking like a child's attempt to build a short, fat cricket wicket with a few block columns and an oversized plate on top. Again, I don't mean to debase Safdie's creations or their significance to the field of architecture in general, I just think that by the time they boil down into Lego Architecture Style builds, they don't translate into interesting display models with broad appeal to people who aren't familiar with the original structures.

I don't know about LEGO Stores in general, but the one I frequent is selling _most_ Monster Fighters sets at 20% off. By "most" I mean everything EXCEPT the haunted house, which is still full price (and also the one kit I wish they really would discount). They pretty much had at least one of everything but the train and claimed that they had no plans on restocking once their existing inventory was depleted. I asked one of the more informed sales guys I know there about Halloween and he just shrugged. He's heard nothing official but assumes that there will be some sort of offering and that it won't be MF related. His money is on a polybag and his guesses are usually pretty good.

I've never been one to obsess over mini-figures but I've always been something of a Dr. Doom fan so I decided to pick this set up. To be honest, if it weren't for Dr. Doom I wouldn't have looked twice at this one. Sure, the building has a number of play features (which mean nothing to me) but as a display model it falls pretty flat and I didn't expect a particularly complex build. Still, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Aside from the two dozen "bonus" parts, this kit is actually has a fair number of terribly useful SNOT related parts, turn tables, and a lot of just "generally good to to have" parts in general. If you factor in the ridiculous prices some people are asking just for Nova and Doom on eBay, and Bricklink prices for some of the elements in this kit, it turns out to be a very reasonable value. I'm half tempted to pick up another just to scrap for parts.

Just got home with my new Opera House 10234. It's a shame I have to go to work in the morning, otherwise I'd crack the seals and start building, but I know if I start now I won't want to stop until I'm done and that could seriously cut into my beauty rest

This was the tax holiday weekend in Masachusetts (the one time a year when the "normal" 6.25% state sales tax is suspended to encourage shopping at local businesses rather than buying on-line) and I couldn't resist dropping by my local LEGO store. I got: 79111 Constitution Train Chase 79006 Council of Elrond 21015 Leaning Tower of Pisa 21050 Architecture Studio 5 K-boxes of bulk bricks 1 PAB Cup -and- 30230 Galaxy Squad August Freebie Bag (3x) No special sale prices or anything, but just the tax break saved around 42 USD and they rang things up in a couple separate transactions so I got multiples of the free polybag Not bad for things I was more or less planing on buying eventually anyway.

Cool contest. What's the official stance on custom fabric elements (capes, sails, string, etc.)? It this purist purist (i.e. if it didn't come from TLG it shouldn't be in your MOC) or "plastic and printing" purist (no mods to ABS parts, no painting, no decals but non-Lego string and (plain) cut-to-fit cloth elements are okay)?

My sincere apologies, I realize it was a collaboration and didn't mean to slight your very significant contributions from concept to execution. I cited GlenBricker simply as a 'refresher' to those reading the thread in that he had recently made multiple postings on the feasibility of FTL passing review and one the dynamics of CuuSoo in general. Again, I'm sorry for the oversight, no offense was intended and I wish both of you best of luck with the review process.

Hmm... Fleshies => Licensed IP Yellow => Lego's own IP Licensed figures with yellow skin... I was just getting used to SpongeBob.

I had a friend who used to work for customer service at Target and she told me about one time a guy came in to return ten "unopened" copies of the same Lego Star Wars set. It struck her as odd that someone would buy out what was probably their entire inventory of that particular kit just to return them all (according to the receipt) four hours later, so she took a closer look at the boxes and a couple of them looked like someone had carefully sliced between the layers of cardboard with a thin knife or razor blade and then resealed it with a few dabs of hot melt glue. She didn't challenge the "customer" or anything, but he noticed her taking a close look at the boxes and when she told him that she'd need to get manager's approval for a cash refund (a stalling ploy, she actually wanted her manager to inspect what she thought was tampering), he abruptly changed his mind and decided he wanted to keep them after all, bagged up his stuff and walked out. Since hearing this, I've always been careful to check the tamper seals and glued edges on any kits I pick up at non-Lego Store venues. I'm more trusting of the official outlet stores, as the clerks I know locally tell me they explicitly train new employees to watch for these sorts of scams before accepting a return in so-called "restockable condition".

I'll admit I'm not a big CMF collector, but looking around at some of my MOCs that could use some residents, I'll suggest: 1) Evil Sorceress - something with a classic D&D vibe going on 2) NASA Astronaut - I've got an Apollo-Soyez link-up that's just waiting for someone to go EVA 3) Court Jester - what good is a king's throne room without a fool to fill it? 4) Female Pirate - let's have a little gender equality on the high seas, it would do the likes of Ingela Gathenhielm Anne Dieu-le-Veut, Anne Bonney, and Rachel Wall proud 5) Penquin suit guy - who _doesn't_ need a guy in a penguin suit at one point or another? 6) Fashion Challenged Golfer - especially if they could print tacky mismatched plaids and give him/her a tam with a pom-pom 7) Less than "super" hero - not so much a generic superhero as much as a nerdy comic fan cobbling together a costume for Comic-Con 8) English Longbowman - lightly armored and off to Agincourt for St. Crispin's Day 9) Carpenter - with tools and toolbox of course 10) Scottish or Norse Pikeman - you never know when a schiltron will come in handy 11) Stage director - we've had dancers, actors, mimes and clowns - it's about time someone showed up to put them in their proper place 12) Wood nymph - Dryad (oak), Meliai (ash), Epimelaid (apple) or Caryatid (walnut), whatever, I'm not picky and most people wouldn't know the difference anyway 13) Town Crier - with tricorn hat and bell to get the word out about the next CMF series

For me, the biggest impact of the freebies is on the _timing_ of my purchases rather than significantly "increased" sales. In July, I made two trips to the Lego Store (normally about a half hour from my house, but in both of these cases I was "in the neighborhood" for other reasons so it was just a couple miles out of my way to get there). On both occasions I bought just enough stuff to qualify for the freebie, but I was mostly buying things that I was planning to buy _anyway_. I just decided to knock a few items off the list, now, _because_ of the extra incentive. I remember the mini Sopwirth Camel promotion was a big motivator for me (I needed a few of 1x3 sand green tiles for a MOC at the time so it was a happy coincidence). In the end I think I got about 9 or 10 of those, one shopping trip at a time (and largely got caught up on my wish list for new kits at the time). I think the free polybags are a good way for TLG to get me to give them a steady stream of income rather than just making "binge" shopping trips a few times a year. Besides my wish list, the more times I walk in the door the more likely I am to make a small impulse buy that wasn't on my radar and I rarely walk out without at least one PAB cup, so it's worth their while to get me to drop by as often as possible. I can't be the only person who does this and I imagine extra foot traffic and impulse buys can only be a good thing for the shops.

I was supporter #9996. I'd never even heard of FTL but I supported it in part because I thought the micro-build space ships were cool and, after 14 years of SW models, refreshing. More to the point however, I supported it because I was tired of the on-going culture of AFOLs withholding support for quality projects (even if they are likely to be killed off in review) for one nit-pick or another while at the same time complaining that non-AFOLs fly in like locusts and push projects like Perdue Pete and Atlas through (seemingly) effortlessly. Votes are cheap. I think AFOLs should spend a bit more time supporting each other and less time bickering with each other and trying to play omniscient gatekeeper for TLG.

-N13OS-'s and GlenBricker's collaborative FTL project just topped the 10K threshold, so I guess we'll see how things fair with the IP issues in the next quarter.

Thanks for the great review. From a pure parts standpoint I think I may already own this set, give or take a couple wedges and sufficient numbers of the 4733 4-stud 1x1 in white. When I first heard about this I really wasn't sure what to think of it; "A monochrome basic brick bucket for adults? Could be okay, but where's the value added over a Bricklink order?" Well, thanks to you, now I know. I'm warming to the idea and will probably pick one up. Perhaps if this set succeeds, they'll consider making one in 95% tan, light bley or other suitably muted "architectural" color, with the other 5% of the kit consisting of reasonably sized earth green plates and 1 by X black tiles to make Architecture-line compatible bases for our creations. I'm curious to see how this concept does in the long run and I think I'm actually looking forward to getting a copy of that book. Thanks again.

For me, the old question of color v. shape has really evolved hand in hand with questions of scale and functionality. I used to sort everything by shape, but as my collection grew I found I was doing too much rummaging trying to find, say 20 instances of a particular part in a particular color (particularly with small parts). When I was dealing with a collection of just a few thousand parts, I thought that just having, say, a dedicated tub of just 2x3 plates would suffice; but when it got to the point where I had several thousand 2x3 plates I realized my system had failed me and I needed to refine things. Having already vested man months in sorting by shape, I thought a simple secondary sort by color would improve things, but as I did more with MOC'ing I found that sorting by shape and then by color had me running around all over the place gathering parts. My MOC's usually feature a very limited color scheme but a very wide array of part types. My "system" was getting in the way of my creative process and complicated sorting to return parts to their rightful "home" as I broke down early drafts and prototypes. When I factored in the extra time using and maintaining a shape-then-color storage scheme, I felt it was a net loss over not having the secondary (color) sort at all. That was about the time when I realized that one "consistent" system for all parts under all conditions probably sounded good on paper and was unlikely to succeed in practice. I started thinking about how I liked to work, what things I found annoying/distracting about the "filing and retrieval" process of my system, and where I was wasting the most time/derailing my train of thought when I should/could have been building. I realized sometimes I needed a hierarchy of sorting, sometimes a single layer would do. Sometimes just getting parts I almost never use out of the way was a plus, sometimes rummaging through odd parts was the best way to overcome Builders' Block (akin to writers' block - it's when you you either can't decide what to build or can't come up with a satisfactory way you realize your vision). And so evolved the constrained chaos that is my current collection. Now, the only shape-first/mixed color storage I do is for technic parts, mini-figure accessories, and highly specialized elements. For technic, function trumps color and I often don't care about color-matching internal gears and couplings. The color palette for most of these parts have been pretty limited in the first place so a secondary sort by color is rarely useful. As for mini-figs and their various parts, I don't tend to do much with them and while I do find the occasional clever use for a spear, telescope or light saber, etc. they're not a regular part of my MOC'ing palette; they are more for set dressing after the fact. They get pulled off to the side mostly to get them out of the way unless I'm specifically looking for something. Specialized parts (Exoforce swords, excavator buckets, various Bionicle bits, Rock Raiders drills, etc.) don't even warrant a fine degree of shape sorting for me - I usually just look at a part (of which I only have one or two), wonder briefly what I'd ever make with that, and toss it in the white elephant bucket. Surprisingly, my "white elephant bucket" does not actually have any white elephants - and if I did own any, I would have filed them with the minifigures (which also includes rats, cats, eagles, horses, cows, dinosaurs, cave trolls, etc.) For everything else, I have master bins sorted by color and, within those, sub-bins for major part categories (plate, brick, modified brick, tile, wheel, etc.) and then within each sub-bin, individual parts sorted by shape as well as a 'misc' pile (not enough to warrant its own baggie) and a 'to be sorted' (probably belongs somewhere other than the 'misc' pile but haven't had the time to sort properly yet) bucket. I draw the line between "misc" and dedicated part-color specific storage at about 200 studs worth of volume (200 1x1s, 100 1x2s, 50 2x2s, etc.) I works for me because I find myself more often looking many parts in a single color than I do for a particular piece in any color. When this latter case does arise, say I need a 1x1 brick with studs on all four sides and _know_ I don't have one in earth blue (or whatever) I usually just look for it in black, white or light gray. I know my collection well enough to know which colors are most likely to yield a particular shape and within each go-to color, the parts are sorted finely enough to allow me to resolve a search (successful or not) quickly. I always have a large bin of completely unsorted parts (pick-a-brick finds, set "extras", parted out sets, "retired" display models, etc.) kicking around. This is one part me just being too busy to sit down and sort things and partly an inspiration bin. I'm expected to be a disciplined and organized person professionally, so it's vitally important to be able to kick back on a whim, dump out the bin and play like a 5 year old every now and then. It's good for both my stress levels and my creativity, and since the bin was unsorted in the first place there's no vested time lost in just dumping everything back in the bin when it's time to check back into real life. Now if I could only find a storage solution that's a) as compact and flexible as Zip-Loc baggies in a plastic bin, b) as easy to sequester as crates in a closet, but c) as readily accessible as parts cabinets, printer's trays, tackle boxes, etc.... I think I need a Lego room TARDIS - a small box that fits easily in a closet that's actually a thousand square foot workroom with fully stocked parts walls on the inside.

In GlenBricker's blog yesterday, he made some interesting observations about what does and doesn't stand much of a chance passing review on CUUSOO. In particular, he was very skeptical of The CUUSOO Division (TCD) ever being able to approve a kit built around an existing licensed theme that involves mini-figures. The more I think about it, the more I feel he has a point. By legal analogy, in the USA, there is a legal term dubbed the doctrine of inevitable discovery. The US Constitution expressly forbids unlawful search and seizure of a person's property. This law (normally) requires the police to show probable cause, justify their presence at the point of discovery, get court approved search warrants, etc. before attempting to gather evidence or confiscate contraband. Inevitable Discovery is the one exception to this rule, in a nutshell, it says that evidence collected, technically illegally, but in good faith (without malice - honest procedural mistakes, clerical errors, etc.) CAN be admitted into a court of law if, by following normal procedures, the police would have found it anyway. As CUUSOO evolves and we have more data regarding what sort of projects fail (and pass) review, it seems TCD has its own doctrine of eventual discovery with respect to IP and MOC proposals; who cares where the idea came from, if it's something one of our existing teams _might have come up with anyway_ it probably won't pass review. As Glen points out, why would TCD fight the Lego Star Wars group to market a SW vehicle and pay royalties to an outside party when the argument can be made that (eventually) the Star Wars group would have gotten around to designing a model of said vehicle themselves? This same argument can be extended to pretty much any of their licensed themes and probably Modulars, Architecture and Technic as well. If it looks too much like something TLG is marketing today, it probably won't be a CUUSOO kit tomorrow. If "inevitable discovery" is one of the litmus tests a project much pass, it pretty much guts a huge backlog of proposals. When last I checked, there were about 4600 active proposals. I wonder how much is left if you write off everything that involves minifigures/battle packs/minifigure scale builds from existing IPs, Architecture, Trains, Technic and Modulars. I'd bet that pretty much takes out 90% of the Star Wars, LotR and Superhero proposals and generally diminishes the chances of most projects from ever seeing the inside of a Lego store. Further, it would suggest that, if an idea becomes successful, it closes the door behind it (so to speak) for follow-on ideas. Take Minecraft for example, now that TLG has the 'idea' they can argue inevitable discovery for all follow-on kits as they now have people on staff whose job it is to (potentially) design Minecraft related kits. The future of other Minecraft proposals on CUUSOO seems bleak. The same could be said for Back to the Future, if that kit succeeds, they could argue that things like the train from the sequel and a UCS Delorean are "obvious" follow-on kits and those projects (still struggling to reach 10K) are pretty much dead in the water. Now I certainly don't _know_ that there is a "TCD Inevitable Discovery" test, but just thinking about it makes me question the long term viabaility of CUUSOO. There are certainly plenty of good ideas there that truly are novel and "outside the (existing LEGO) box" but is seems like a lot of the "regular supporters" visit the site for the SW, LotR and other licensed content/mini-figure proposals. Who would be left to vote for the "outsider" ideas, if fan-favorites keep getting rejected (under inevitable discovery) and disillusioned voters drift away? When I first heard of CUUSOO, I embraced it as a really cool idea that had the potential to make a difference extending and enhancing the LEGO brand. I put together proposals, checked out the new projects every day, offered praise and constructive criticism to both the proposals of others and the site itself, took the time to write detailed essays about the merits of every project I was supporting; but after two years of watching CUUSOO in operation, my enthusiasm has waned. I still have (old) proposals there and watch it with something of a morbid fascination, but far from being the incubator of the next great LEGO idea, I've come to think of it more as the ant farm of the LEGO Universe - occasionally interesting to watch, sometimes pleasantly surprised by what I see, but overall not expecting much in the end.

I think that, practically speaking, a ceiling of ~5000 parts and a price tag of 400 USD puts a cap on what we're likely to ever see in a high-end set; but price (within reason) should not be the sole limiting factor as it is the nature of a "flagship" kit to command the biggest price tag and likely sell a smaller volume than the low-end "bread and butter" kits of the line. TLG has been in this business long enough to have a good sense for what the market will support and will always constrain its designers accordingly. That said, 5000 parts as an upper bounds is still nearly double what we've seen to date, but I think the real question isn't about piece count or price, so much as it about about features and value. Technic has always had broader appeal to a slightly older audience than 'traditional' LEGO, so "play features" take on a slightly different meaning than flick-fire missiles, hidden compartments, posable horses, etc. I think of technic "features" as more a measure of fidelity to the details, range of motion, and automation of the real-world designs that inspired them. Can Technic flagship models continue to increase that fidelity without driving the part count through the roof. I believe they can and I certainly hope they do. As for value, a price per part ratio is not always the best metric. With most large models what the part count really reflects is how many bags of connector pins you're going to be getting - where's the fun in that? I've already got bins of pins - yes, they are an essential part of the build, but they're not where the perception of value lies. I, for one, find value in complexity. I'm more interested in discovering a new linkage, transmission or drive chain design than I am in how many parts it took to implement it. By building bigger flagship models, this opens the door for designing to a level of complexity that simply doesn't fit in smaller models. I find value in novelty as well. One of the reasons my personal consumption of higher end Technic models has slowed in recent years has been due to redundancies in the design; I look at the latest car or truck and think to myself, this thing has a V-Block piston engine, rack and pinion steering, strut suspension - been there, done that, what's new? I've been buying Technic kits since they were first marketed as the "expert builder" series back in the 1970's so I expect a certain amount of repetition at this point. Still, it gets a bit tedious seeing the same techniques, same parts and same sub-assemblies repeated over and over. Perhaps if flagship models were built to a grander scale, it might encourage TLG to mix things up a bit in the guts of the models as well; to use the extra space as a gateway to introducing newer, more interesting internal "plumbing". The value in novelty also extends to the the subject matter of the kits themselves. I now have a fleet of super-cars, 4x4s, mobile cranes, etc. I thought the Unimog was kinda ugly actually, but it was _uniquely_ ugly and its aesthetic was consistent with the actual vehicle it was trying to model. Could larger flagship models enable TLG to tackle subjects they haven't revised three or four times over (or at least haven't done recently)? I'd certainly hope so and would happily spend the extra money for something that really stood out on my display shelf rather than just being another excavator, or whatever. I'd love to see a larger, updated remake of the space shuttle or a Mars rover that felt like a real, all-terrain mobile science laboratory. A flagship fire truck could be interesting (yes, it's basically a mobile crane in red, but it's an excuse for lights, sound, pneumatics and power functions and fire-fighting equipment has been under represented in the Technic line compare to, say construction equipment.) So I guess, in summary, I'd say that yes, flagship models can keep getting bigger, provided that there is a _reason_ to be bigger. The best reasons I can think of are to provide a level of fidelity, complexity and novelty above and beyond what has come before, and I, for one, hope that they do.

You know you have a problem when you're seriously considering digging a multi-story sub-basement / bunker/ fallout shelter under your house to store the overflow...

I'm not sure I even know how to begin to answer that question... I suppose one's collection reaches critical mass when one has so many of one part that they start spontaneously replicating on their own and you have to thin the herd or risk and ABS explosion as your closets and storage racks exceed maximum packing density. It hasn't reached that point for me yet, but I swear every time I turn my back on my tray of technic pins, they multiply. I haven't a clue how many pieces of Lego I own. My (non-AFOL but very understanding) wife occasionally points out that I have a lot, and I must concede she has a point. I do know that the most LEGO I ever purchased in a single day was just over 20,000 parts (boy that was a good day... ) I've been building my collection for over four decades at this point and I still find that I have "all the wrong parts" whenever I sit down to MOC something (wrong color, not enough of X, didn't even realize Y existed - now I need 100 of them, etc.) Maybe it's all in my head and I'm subconsciously _designing_ my MOCs to exceed the bounds of my collection. But whatever, now if you'll excuse me I have a bricklink wish list to put together...

I like the carousel and the overall color scheme, but this set really pings one of my biggest pet peeves with TLG of late: too many "little builds" bundled in a big box rather than a genuine "big build" for your buck. I don't mind spending $100 on a nice set, but when I'm done I want to feel like I just put together a $100 kit, not box-full of $10 polybags. I don't know if TLG did a survey and found out kids today have short attentions spans and little builds will sell better or what, but when _I_ open a big kit, I really prefer it if all the parts ultimately connect to all the other parts to form a single structure; I like something more mechanical than a common theme and a table top to hold the various sub-assemblies together. I know it's not the way WV sets are marketed, but I think I'd like this set better if it were just the carousel (for half the price or so) with the other stands/vignettes sold separately for $5-$10 each. It just _feels_ more honest about what you're getting that way. I don't mean to pick on this set. It's nice. I'll probably buy one, I just wish it wasn't continuing the trend of collected little builds pretending to be a mid- to high-end "model".

Hello and welcome! I've always had a fondness for Lego "Age of Sail" creations, I look forward to seeing what you come up with for your pirate MOC.