MAB

It meant they could use one search across both services. The old B+P search was tedious to use.

I prefer minifigs because that is what comes with most of the themes I enjoy. If they did Castle or LOTR or fantasy with minidolls I'd probably switch allegiance to minidolls.

They tried wall extensions with LOTR and The Hobbit. In both cases, they were wall sets with army building minifigs aside from one named character, a bit like a King would be in a generic set. They didn't seem to be that popular at the time. If they do things like that, it might be better to be 2 in 1 - a decent stand alone build for those without the big set, and an extension build for those with the big set.

It isn't a set. It is made from parts from Build A Minifigure.

I think there is a key difference between the single set they have done so far and other ideas. The Optimus Prime set is not really a toy. It is a collector-focused model based on nostalgia rather than a play thing. People buying it are likely to be into LEGO or Transformers or both. If they are Transformers collectors, one set is not likely to stop them buying other Transformers toys, so no real risk for Hasbro. Whereas MLP is a current toy. Sure there are still some Bronies but are enough of them going to pay multiple $100s for an adult collector model. Unlikely. And if they do smaller child aimed LEGO play sets based on MLP, then this would cut into the current MLP market so a negative for Hasbro.

There is a really simple solution to this. Don't use the parts that you think are superfluous. If you buy sets and have these parts then sell them on, or buy only the parts you want. I do that with my parts, both part type and colours. For some colours, they don't have enough part variation in that colour, so I tend not to bother keeping any parts in that colour. Especially in the blues, where there are plenty of similar colours.

Or increase prices! :-)

If Ninjago is Ninjas then Nexo Knights is Castle.

There are plenty of white spaceships in Sci Fi movies too.

Very nice. I'm not a fan of the tubes, I prefer the necks. The use of the leaves is brilliant, they really add a lot to the monster.

No doubt lots of people are waiting for a price crash to buy LEGO originally bought as an investment. Which keeps the price up.

I wonder if they are still going off data from ten years ago. I remember buying a couple of dozen of each of these two blister packs: These were £10.99 RRP but were being sold to clear at £3.99 each in late 2014 / early 2015. Either people just didn't want them or they made too many blister packs compared to the demand for them. They have of course shot up in value but that is probably because there has been no castle. Make similar packs again, and LEGO might think they will not sell well again. Even better deals were to be had on the ultimate battle packs - with one king and queen, knights and an army for each side. Again, these were clearanced in large numbers for about £25. Presumably they also have sales data on how well battle / blister packs sell for Ninjago, Harry Potter, Minecraft and so on when they are out at the same time as the main theme. It may be that the BAM stands in stores affect their sales. These blister packs tend not to get sold with as much availability as regular sets, I typically only see them online and in-store at LEGO, hence sold at full RRP. In-store at LEGO they have competition from the BAM, as they are cheap and kids get to make their own designs. There is the issue of will people buy soldiers to go with a castle, if they have no castle.

I like the black boxes. I think the totally different design helps the adult sets stand out from kiddy sets. You probably read the wrong reviews. I've not found any clutch problems recently. The last one I remember was the princess hat in the CMF. Colour inconsistency is often discussed in reviews and fan forums. So is pricing, although this is highly subjective. What is expensive? What do you compare it against? Personally, I think one of the best things lego has done in the past 40-50 years is to have more and smaller parts, allowing the creation of more detailed models than studs up, square block built designs of the past. Creator is still close to the old style, but of course also uses some modern designs. For anyone wanting an old school build experience, you just have to restrict your parts and colour palette. I've tried doing that in the past - as in what could I build if I only had parts available in / up to 1980. I found it quite frustrating to build like that, knowing there where now more modern parts that I could use to make it look better.

I wouldn't touch the tree house for investment. It has been around ages, during a period of high popularity of LEGO. I know people say it is the next Old Fishing Store, but even though it was just a few years before that one was a completely different time for LEGO investing. So many non-LEGO people are investing in LEGO right now, popularity is at an all time high while the set is out. Of course, I'm not sure how many more new people will get into LEGO in the coming years but I doubt the increase will be anywhere near as big as over the covid period. Instead of the behaviour over covid times - people being at home and not able to spend money on large purchases like holidays - now people are spending on holidays, there is the cost of living increasing, rising energy costs, etc. These are not things that are going to help bring in new people to LEGO, wanting to buy overpriced sets of the past. I have no doubt you can make a little on selling the tree house when it finally retires. Whether it is enough to be worth it depends on what returns you are willing to make.

It is good for you that you find aligning the largest of their stickers easy and the least challenge. Other people find it quite difficult to align them perfectly with equal margins first time without having to adjust them which can lead to creasing. I know a few people that have given LEGO feedback about it and one person that has had to request a replacement (for a UCS set) where they have been damaged on application. Who knows if they are acting on that feedback, or if they continue to use stickers for the UCS sets.

I wouldn't take appearing on a gift bag, a T-shirt or any artwork as a guide as to what is "official". LEGO have shown numerous figures in artwork i nthe past. Some exist, some don't.

I guess that was the problem with the structures built on their backs in the movie too. They looked so unbalanced that no wonder they were easy to bring down by cutting a strap.

Yes, it gets very complicated. For example, some hats and hairpieces have multiple moulds. Even though the exterior look the same, some earlier ones won't have the LEGO logo inside and later ones will. Worse, some of these overlap by many years, depending on which location the parts were made in. I find a better way to age a collection is to look for unique / uncommon pieces, whether they are part types or prints, that were specific to a small number of sets and/or dates rather than trying to identify small differences in common parts that otherwise spanned decades.

Who is to say what the main function of LEGO is? The main function is different to different people, including the company itself. There is an issue, especially if you put photographs or videos online, that other people will complain if you build something in the wrong way - even if you highlight it is a MOD of an official set and point out why you made the changes.

I've used bricks and pieces (or the replacement parts service as it was called first) since before it was online and you had to phone to ask about part availability. The search and filter options for the new combined system was a vast improvement over the old way, which itself was better than the phone only service. I don't think they shut it because it was made worse, just that they had a massive backlog dating back a couple of months. To me, the only way it is worse is that it is easier to find and easier to use which means more people will use it. And this will hit processing times unless they invest in more staff processing the orders. It may also mean popular pieces go out of stock quicker and parts listed by mistake get removed quicker. It may also mean bricklink sellers find it harder to make money, which isn't a big deal now but might be in the future if people give up parting out sets if there is not enough money in the set overall when common parts don't sell so well.

Read the relevant thread on the brickset forum, all the details about upcoming ones are there. Or pick one off the shelf each month and look at the back. They often say what is coming with the next issue of that theme.

How aligned to you like them? I like mine not only straight but also aligned so there are equal gaps at the edges both left/right and top/bottom. It is a pain to have to spray and slide if you want them perfectly aligned. If prints aren't aligned it is not so noticeable but with stickers it is as you see the edges of the sticker. Whereas I'm not bothered by moulding marks.

The Vikings sets of the past were much more fantasy than history.

Looks great. Can it be posed on its knees with Legolas sliding down the trunk? :-)

So true. Eurobricks is dying, and has been for years. But it is still surviving providing a service (for free) for those that want that service. I also like Eurobricks because there are words written here. If all people want to do is post images and see how many people click on a thumbs up sign while trying to avoid looking at too many adverts, there are other places to do that. If EB tries to become one of them, it will still die. Probably quicker. It will lose the people that come here for the discussion. And it won't attract the people that want to look and click a thumbs up.