MAB

Hands act a bit like a spring grip in this case so being slightly out doesn't really matter. If you wrap some tape around a handle or paint it, it still works fine. And the rest of the object doesn't matter either. Whereas bricks need to be correct all over.

Indeed, although I do like it when there is some sort of link. For example, my boar knights and scorpion knights (Vladek's lot) are allies, for not other reason than they are red and black. I'd like to see maybe a ram's head done in similar colours. Similarly, the shields of stags (S3 elf) and the trees (Forest Maiden) go together again due to colour.

It is a little more than that in that the mould can wear out more and still be usable or even not be manufactured to such high precision in the first place. Quite a few CMF parts, especially early ones, had little bits of flashing or bad sprue marks on. And also, as they are not building bricks going next to each other, I doubt the moulds for some of those parts, especially ones where it is a hand held object and has only a bar as a connection point (like a shield), cost anywhere near what the ones requiring higher precision do.

I don't see the point. There are plenty of cheap molded plastic drawers available. And you really need space around the parts to make them easier to pick out, especially if mixing colours in one bin. Where the part is almost the same dimension as the bin, you also need to be neat when putting them in.

Remember also tolerances can be different for different parts. Lego needs very high precision moulds where the connection point is a single stud and it is a building part, as it needs to be high clutch enough to grip but not too tight that it doesn't come off. Whereas for a part with many connections, a slightly lower clutch is acceptable and probably preferable. And a minifigure accessory can typically have quite poor precision (relatively) since the parts are not used for butting up against others so it doesn't matter so much if the mould is worn. The CMF Princess had a lot of complaints as her headgear was poorly made, and kept falling off. Presumably there they went just a little too big on the antistud in the headgear.

Two of my favourite figures for making castle figures are the S8 actor and TLM Shakespeare. Their clothese are great for nobles. Many not Castle figures can be made into Castle quite easily, but then the poll would become too big.

There has been a mixture where the belt is above and below. The worst is where they do the design across the torso and legs, since there they have to be used together in many cases, or sometimes the torso is just about acceptable but the design looks silly on the legs in isolation. I find the belt on torso looks too high when standing next to a figure where the belt is on the hips. For example, if the Gryphon and Kraken knights stand next to each other, it looks like one has long legs and a short body, whereas the other has short legs and a long body. I think the Kraken torso will look OK on plain legs. Whereas if you put the Gryphon torso on plain legs, it looks weird having the belt up so high and not on the trousers. Yeah, it does mean losing the continuous print onto the legs but personally I don't mind that. A lot of my (modern) Black Falcons have plain black legs and I find it gives them the 'old school' look and it allows them to be posed without the print getting messed up. I will probably do the same here, buy just the torso and then use plain legs and existing helmets.

They could do with a steer as to who their allies might be, whether that is done through colours or heraldic symbols. At the moment it is not clear whether factions are allies or if there is one big battle royale with each faction for themselves. But then, we do constantly hear how fans of unlicensed themes are more imaginative than fans of licensed themes and don't need to have a back story or be told what should be built, so maybe this is LEGO's response to that!

I think the kraken will look good with either dark green legs, or switching the arms out for reddish brown. As above, I have a load of the helmets from the Aquaman sets, and the Viking helmets will go to Rohan soldiers. I like the idea of the generic print for the Griphon as they can be just soldiers but that belt is horrible. Why do they need to do that on the torso. It looks silly so high and also limits the legs that can be used.

The only way I have found to filter them out is to add the user to your ignore list. You still see the thread but if you click it then it doesn't show. I do it for anyone with low post counts that are here just to post threads with links for IDEAS votes, BDP votes or paid for instructions at rebrickable (those offering free instructions is not an issue). It is not so bad if a long time user posts it as a MOC and has a discreet link at the end. But for people that only post to get votes / sales, I just stop reading or looking when I come to the link. For rebrickable links, I think there should be a rule that the user has to at least put the price of instructions into the post as they are here to sell so should be upfront about it. Other trades and sales have to be in the right place, and these posts are really just sales posts. At minimum the costs should be made clear.

I haven't bought a molded dinosaur for a while. But aren't the T-rexes fairly big compared to this? The Balrog shouldn't be much bigger than a big fig and there you only get articulated arms and wrists.

I wonder what it would look like if it was done like a (small) dinosaur or a bigfig. At best I imagine it would have rigid legs that are articulated at the waist, and similar up/down articulation for the arms and an articulated neck, and up down for the tail and wings. That is nine molded parts (8 different if the wings are symmetric). Maybe better still if they did articulated wrists. At worst, it could be one completely rigid body with articulated wings and arms (so 5 parts in total, 7 if they articulated the wrists). I think I'd prefer it to be brick built rather than like a cave troll with wings and a tail.

Why would yes have sufficed? You explained using a number of words why you think it is cartoony, so I'll use words to explain why I think it is OK.

I think it looks OK for a LEGO model where heads tend to be oversized compared to bodies. All LEGO figures look a bit cartoony, and that is part of their appeal. If I wanted a screen accurate model, I wouldn't buy one made from LEGO.

The concept and the design/detail put into it are different things. I'm not a fan of the concept as I don't see the point of book nooks but I still like the detail they have put into it even if it has to be a book nook. The implied lighting was also effectively done in Barad-Dûr. I don't really get the link to a Mixel. Totally different size and build style. I think the Balrog is quite well done for the upper half but rather chunky for the lower half. To me the lower half is more mech like, but presumably this is necessary for stability. A heavy mass on narrow legs often doesn't work so well.

That sofa will seat precisely one minifigure! I don't have the room for the set, but I think I might pick up Sideshow Bob, Squeaky Voice Teen and possibly the new Krusty. I've still got a few Marge and Maggie from last time, so I'll put the price up for those now it is clear we are not getting them again. No doubt other sellers will follow suit as this set becomes known about and the cheaper ones sell out so buy them now if you didn't get them first time around.

If many smaller models got more positive feedback and fewer large ones did, then maybe they would shift the balance of large vs small sets that they choose. This is kind of an extension of what karalora was saying - that people tend to sway to big and detailed because they are big and detailed at the expense of smaller designs.

I think the function got removed / broken in an update, so no longer exists for new posts. However you can do this ....and use white text and it won't show up unless someone changes the background colour or highlights the text.

I know one person's vote makes no difference at all, but I'm only voting positively for BDP designs under 1000 parts, and 'not for me' on anything above that.

The car is from "Homie the Clown". The roof looks pretty accurate to the cartoon but obviously the building is a lot smaller. I don't think the sign is that bad, given it is built so has to have some depth rather than a flat piece.

I don't think CMF factions count as Castle here. If they do, then my vote would be for the S3 elf.

Sale price, manufacturing cost and perceived value are three different things. Sometimes they are proportional but often not. The missing cost price is probably in a lot of little parts. The perceived value of a brick built Balrog might seem lower to some people than a large molded one piece lump of plastic but to others the point of the set will be that it is brick built.

LEGO made Notre Dame, an actual real life cathedral used for religious services.

I think it looks OK, but I don't get the point of it being a book nook. It almost looks like they want to do small sets but feel they have to be adult oriented so turn them into one off display objects rather than traditional play sets. If they had sold this opened up without the need to fold, lost some of the bricks to make the background, and made the Balrog more action figure like with poseable joints it would be a perfect mid-range set of a theme. But alas, they are still only after the big money sets. Freudian slip?

Designers of (successful) large sets make significantly more money than designers of (successful) small sets. LEGO make more money when they sell out the quota of large sets than when they sell out the same quota of small sets. It is no wonder that bigger sets get promoted more and LEGO allows piece counts to increase with time and recently even break their published thresholds. As for getting feedback, new (or old) designers/builders can post on sites like this. However, some people ask for feedback even though they have already submitted to IDEAS or BDP. In that case, asking for feedback is just promoting their submission. I think both programmes have grown too much, although really it is the money behind them that has grown too much especially for BDP, that has turned it into being a competition for independent designer/advertisers making it a full time or almost full time job for some. They are not really fan designers doing it for enjoyment but essentially freelance workers that need to maximise publicity by posting in as many forms and get as many blog mentions as they can to promote their submissions. I think that is just as damaging to "fan designers" that work on a design and submit it, as they are up against semi-professional designers submitting multiple designs every time.