MAB

Just because you don't have enough imagination and cannot see a licensed minifigure or its parts outside of its theme does not mean others do the same. It is no different to using a Dreamzzz character outside of its theme expecially if you are a Dreamzzz fan and know the associated media. Here is the actor behind your night hunter figure ...

Now this is the subjective scores thread... ICONS The Lord of the Rings - Rivendell Creativity: 10 Displayability: 10 Minifigures: 9 Colourscheme: 10

Do you have permission from Capcom or whoever the IP rights holder is? As the designer would be selling something based on the rights holder's IP. If you have a 3D digital model, you can usually run it through pixelation software to obtain a plan for 2x4 bricks which usually looks OK at that large scale.

It may also be that they are eventually retiring both, but have large stocks of one of them so it doesn't appear to be retiring. Back in PF days, I bought a load of the M-motor then a few weeks later went to buy more and it had already been marked as sold out then retired. Yet they still stocked and sold the L, XL and servo for quite some time after that.

Indeed, not every character has to or can fit into every other theme as if it did then that would mean they are all very plain. I was pointing out that sloth torso one as a rebuttal of Boba Fett not fitting into castle - there are plenty of unlicensed figures that cannot fit into Castle (or Space, or any other theme). Not every figure can fit into Castle, whether it is licensed or unlicensed. However, most licensed and unlicensed figures could be used to fit into some other theme but not all themes. I've also used very identifiable characters like Darth Vader and Simpsons in CITY MOCs - the whole of Vader in the windows of a Collectables Store, as well as in a cinema foyer, the Simpsons heads as masks in a fancy dress shop, a storm trooper and cyber man outside a petrol station (there is a real one near me that has daleks too).

I'd probably go for four wheels so vehicles can be built, a couple of windscreens that double up as windows in buildings, a couple of larger plates maybe 6x10 and 4x8, then a combination of smaller bricks and plates in maybe 4 different colours. When I travelled a lot, I used to take some lego with me but with different constraints. To keep down the volume and weight, I used to take an old tobacco tin full of parts for making MOCs. Obviously at that size, it was microscale all the way. I had a 6x10 plate in tan, then all the other parts were no larger than 1x2. I could still get in a good number and combination of bricks, plates, tiles (inc black 1x1 round tiles for wheels), headlight bricks for SNOT builds and windows and doors, cheese slopes, etc.

It looks like I'll be doing a PAB purchase rather than a set purchase.

I wonder if some of the hype is dying down and collectors and resellers are not hitting all stores as heavily now. I was in a department store at the weekend and scanned and picked up one wolfpack, then yesterday in a supermarket I saw a newish box with only a few taken out and a half box and found another 4.

These licensed figures could all make good bounty hunters for castle ... and many others. Boba Fett would not as he doesn't have the right look. However, neither does this Dreamzzz figure. I wouldn't use this torso in a medieval castle setting.

So what is the point, and what is stopping you from marking the stores that you don’t like as 'least favourite' and hiding their items when browsing or using wants lists?

Some of the minidoll themes have become pretty good for action too. Elves was great. I imagine if they had a bit more variation abd done a few more male characters, it could have turned the heads of stalwart collectors of minifigure based themes.

There is also another realm of LEGO creativity, in what you do with a set once it is built. When I was a kid, we (and I think many families) did not have huge amounts of LEGO and very few actual sets or instructions so we would build what we wanted to (not very well with limited brick types), then play with what we had built, then tear it down and build something else next time. Whereas many kids today seem to have lots of LEGO, enough so that they don't need to tear down to build something else. Plus parts are much more specialised than a pile of 2x2 and 2x4 bricks plus a few wheels and windows so it is harder for them to tear down a house and turn it into a train or a plane. So for them, creativity can also be more about play and not just building and rebuilding. My daughter has had the Heartlake Grand Hotel built for probably 8 years aside from once when we broke it apart and rebuilt it during covid. But she has frequently played with it, making up stories about the guests and staff even though the main build is essentially a fixed doll house. It is a different type of creativity but creative nonetheless. And that type of creativity is possible with both unlicensed and licensed sets.

It is not a very good asylum if inmates can escape.

I would probably go for the older one if I wanted to make it truly vintage using only vintage parts, but the new one if I was also using modern parts in the build. It really depends what the build was for. Most of my builds are modern part based, even ones inspired by old sets. For those I nearly always use new parts rather than vintage even if the vintage parts exist. But I wouldn't really call them a restored set. If you want genuine LEGO rope/string then you are often better off looking for longer lengths on bricklink than the exact length you require. It is often cheaper if a long length came in a common set. Then cut it down. It is the same with tubing, often better to buy longer and cut it down.

And that is fine if it meets your collecting goals. When I restore old sets, I prioritise authenticity over appearance. I aim to go for only genuine LEGO parts and ideally of the right era so long as they are not too expensive so I'd take used genuine snickered parts over modern reproduction stickers that aren't genuine. Large stickers across multiple parts can be especially problematic.

I would be fairly indifferent but saddened that they failed to get anywhere near full potential again, even though I haven't bought any new sets . I have the original sets and a lot of MOCs, so the new releases don't do a lot for me. Rivendell is beautiful but I didn't buy it as I already had a smaller MOC that fits my display space although I did use LEGO 's design to add the white gazebo type structure. The minifigs did nothing for me. Barad-Dûr is again great but I already have a MOC and the ony thing I bought from that set was Sauron. I like the new ringwraith so I bought some torsos and capes and use Wolfpack's hood to add variety to my existing ringwraiths. The Shire is a massive disappointment for me as I already have an extended Bag End , I think the only thing I'll take from that set is the printed window frames and maybe a minifigure part or two. I would buy a decent minifig based Minas Tirith as it would provide long needed minifigures. I have a bit of a MOC that I never completed partly as I thought we'd never get the minifigs for it to look complete. Denethor was easy, but prints for others are really necessary to fit in with the styles of other figures. And of course the Witch King's helmet.

Yet play will still follow a fairly conventional path with these unlicensed sets. Most kids with a forestman set will have played out a Robin Hood style storyline with the forest men being on the side of good, probably rogue like characters. Similarly a kid with a City police set will have the crooks do something bad and the cops chase them. These sets work because kids know how to play with them. The characters they invent will likely be stereotypes based on existing books, movies and other stories. This is no more creative than coming up with stories based on licensed characters. There is a huge amount of fan created fiction around Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Disney, and so on. Yesterday my daughter and two of her friends were playing something to do with Disney Princesses, but not acting out any storyline I recognized. That is just as creative as a cop chasing a robber. Whereas if you try to build a theme where there is no reference material for a kid to fall back on, then I expect they will struggle to play with it rather than be able to come up with truly creative characters. That is why kids and especially adults want printed minifig parts, because it tells us what the character is and partly how to play with it. You have been reading too many conspiracy theories on reddit. That is not a point, it is made up nonsense. LEGO is not going to kill off one of its best selling themes in CITY, it will not be killing Creator, it will not be killing Friends, it will not be killing off the Modular buildings, and it will probably be creating at least one new unlicensed theme in the next five years. I hope Dreamzzz ends fairly soon, as if it continues it will become boring like most unlicensed themes based around a fairly specific gimmick. Ninjago proved to be different because it was not constrained so narrowly by a single idea and could evolve to cover multiple ideas.

What are they doing wrong, and how exactly are they destroying "the community", whatever that is. If a seller is charging high prices for common stuff, then buy from a cheaper seller.

It depends what you want to do with your sets. If for personal use and will never be for sale, get reproductions. If selling, don't do it. If it is possible they will be sold in future the stickers should indicate that they are not original. Any company producing exact replicas is probably breaking the law. An alternative is to buy the used parts with stickers on bricklink. For many sets the snickered parts are quite cheap, especially compared to an unused sticker sheet. But of course it depends on the set.

They may be similar, but the originals were definitely better in the past! Before they were licensed by Reddit.

The alternative view is that some people don't value minifigs as much as they should! The reality is different people value minifigs (and parts) in different ways. People valuing minifigs is great for parts collectors as they pay high prices for them. I've bought multiple copies of a set in the past and sold off all but one set of minifigures to enable a bigger build with the extra parts. If you buy in at the right price, the extra parts can be free thanks to the people that value minifigs so highly.

It's actual value is what people will pay for it at the time it is sold. I imagine the value of the Smeagol GWP is quite high because of the poor perceived value of the main set to get it. Some buyers wanting those exclusive minifig heads or the packaging but not wanting to pay the rather high value for the Shire set may be willing to go higher than others. If I had one to sell, I probably wouldn't let it go for less than $70 US, just to offset the high price of the set. And buyers will decide if that is justified.

Or, alternatively, you are completely out of the loop on what other customers want and you make stuff up to justify your own stance.

We have more unlicensed sets now than in the 80s and 90s. So the increase in licensed output is not at the expense of unlicensed as there is more of it. It is just that LEGO has changed direction for the unlicensed output. I find it a little strange that some people complain that LEGO is not creative / imaginative as in the past, when their current unlicensed output is way more creative than the stereotypical castle, pirates and to some extent space. If anything their output is too imaginative for these people.

Because it doesn't fit with what you want to collect / display or because you cannot really afford the big set but can if you can offset the cost a little by selling the GWP. It is possible to be a fan and not have everything. It may also be someone is a richer fan and wants two or three different hobbit holes to make a better Shire and they sell off the additional GWP they are given and the minifigures from the additionalsets. Just because someone sells something doesn't make them greedy, money loving scum like they are often portrayed here.