MAB

I doubt very much, as things like this can be easily faked. Heat up a thin wire and poke it into a brick and you have a wire sticking out of the brick.

I think it is more that they have the POBB set on shelves now (with the alternate design being a complete ship) and if they want to follow it up with another ship, then they will do it themselves. Like what they did with Ghostbusters ECTO-1 and the subsequent Firehouse.

It has probably come to the point now that this this is split into two. Niche as it is anyway, it has become two niches. Monochromes that can be made from officially released parts (whether wiped or not, or maybe that is a third strand) and monochromes made from parts manufactured out of hours and unofficially. The latter is then just what people are willing to pay high prices for with no limits to colours and just down to what workers are liberating from the factory, whereas the former is still only what LEGO has released.

I'd go the bricklink route. Get 16x curves (part 53400) and maybe four or six straights to create an oval. The curves are typically 50p or so each, straights you are looking at £1.50-£2.00 each. Or maybe one box of 60205 from amazon or wherever, then get the extra curves you need from BL. I'd avoid the flexi track, especially if a younger kid is pushing the train around.

You missed out this guy, perhaps the funniest of all: https://imgur.com/a/WIBLRPN

Many castle figs are cheap enough on bricklink or ebay, probably better prices than etsy.

Yes, it is reasonably common in old sets. There are reports of items stored for years, put away when white but coming out yellowed.

Yes, over time aesthetics change, especially from the first yellow castle. However, without a Castle at similar scale and detail the IDEAS set does not fit. Joust was a castle. Just like the IDEAS Fishing Shack is not a City harbour or sea based set, Blacksmith is not Castle. As elsewhere in the thread, it comes down to fans of one thing telling others what they have to accept.

You could always try contacting them via no win no fee injury lawyers. :-)

It is quite sad to think that Bladerunner is now set in the past.

The Blacksmith doesn't fit in very well, not even well, with established castle builds. The scale and detail are completely wrong. That's like taking a series of quite basic open backed City buildings and saying a Modular fits into the same theme. Or taking some Classic Space builds and putting in some Star Wars sets too (minus the figures) or Bionicles and adding in some Mixels, mechs or CCBS parts from superheroes, SW or Chima. They are a bit the same but not really.

Sales seem to say the opposite. LEGO struggles to keep up. Richer people spending more time at home, more disposable income and wanting something to do. Poorer people are more likely to be affected financially but they don't buy big sets.

Colouring, creative art, planting flowers, etc supposedly does so I don't see why not. It doesn't need a study. If it works for you, it works.

Exactly. If one fan group can say another group should be happy with what they have received as they think it fits, that is spot on. You have split castle fans right there, historical vs fantasy.

A castle, pirates or a classic space set would also be unique among LEGO 18+ sets. We don't have any of those.

Not if you live in the same country.

So why give images at all if nobody pays attention to them. They haven't appealed other groups any more than Bionicle though. Bionicle got Mixels, for example. You might not think Mixels are Bionicle but they are buildable articulated figures, ball joints, so close enough if other people get to decide what you should be happy with. If people can say others should be satisfied with what they've got even if they are not, then so should Bionicle fans. And why would this set be unique? Something unique would be doing something they haven't done before. That seems to be precisely the opposite of what LEGO wanted here.

Because LEGO have exclusive sets that amazon do not sell.

Why don't you learn a bit about the community first before posting about your IDEAS submission. Same as at Brickset. There is a specific thread in the forum that you will learn about if you become a member and learn about the community there. My earlier answers was because many people just wanting to promote themselves / their idea don't really care about the community, wherever it is. They just want to promote an idea and never visit again.

Yes. Search for RIT Dye LEGO. I depends on the parts. Minifigure parts paint well and don't chip. Anywhere you are not connecting studs is fine.

But actually look at what they chose to picture the supposedly different themes (not subthemes, as you could also add what subtheme you were interested in if you wanted to): For Classic Castle, they chose a castle with some knights on horses. For Lion Knights, they chose a castle with some knights on horses. For Black Falcons, they chose a castle with some knights on horses. For Forestmen, they chose a castle-like structure in a tree and a horse. For Black Knights, they chose a castle with some knights on horses. For Wolfpack, they chose a haunted castle. No horses! For Dragon Knights, they chose a dragon shaped castle, with a knight on a horse and a dragon.

Because there are site guidelines. They asked about promoting an IDEAS submission, not posting a MOC and discussing it. This is the thread for people that want to come, promote IDEAS and go ...

IDEAS set marketing tends to be fairly low key though, compared to the budget behind the Monkie Kid theme and the associated TV series.

Not here.

And POBB and Blacksmith are IDEAS sets, not Pirates and Castle. Or, they didn't really put much thought in before the poll was released and made a stupid mistake.