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MAB

Eurobricks Archdukes
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Everything posted by MAB

  1. MAB
    I received plenty of orders during that time in 2017, so it could have been coincidence that you did not. I found BL didn't really change (operationally) when the Jezek family sold it. Later on it did as they tried out new things, most of which seemed to fail. The community aspect did change a bit when it was sold, and of course the new BrickOwl coming along due to the sale. I agree there have been a lot of errors recently. It is far from perfect.
  2. MAB
    I can sort of understand it for sports teams, although even some of those have global appeal.
  3. MAB
    They have, but then a LEGO owned company is allowing them to do something that LEGO says is not possible. We don't know, that is why I said the"if it is true". They say they cannot, but then often when a company says that it is because they choose not to rather than they are not allowed to. Only they (and any licensing partner) know.
  4. MAB
    Not only could they be the biggest seller, but they also have access to records of how much inventory all their sellers have, and how much they are selling it for, including any stock held in stockrooms not accessible to the public. Plus they have records of what their sellers have sold, in which quantities and again how much they have sold it for. I imagine they wanted the AFOL sets programme, as something that can be combined with unsuccessful IDEAS projects or other popular but not retail worthy (for them) projects. They collaborated with BL on that and saw that it was a useful idea, at least for US buyers in the first instance. It just happened to be at a time the current BL owner is selling up a lot of his businesses.
  5. MAB
    I don't think LEGO will be able to argue that bricklink is for adults only. You only need to look at COPPA and what it is doing to youtube content providers. They can say that the content they produce is aimed at adults, but children may be interested in it. LEGO is a toy and as such any LEGO site is attractive to children. That said, there is nothing wrong with producing things such as toy guns. It is LEGO's own decision not to do modern warfare. It is because if someone can buy just the minifigure of whoever, then there is no reason to buy the set. Plus, if it is true about LEGO not being able to sell individual licensed parts themselves, then why are they allowing the sale of them on their own site?
  6. MAB
    Have they? I know they supply parts for LUGs, but all the parts I have ever bought that way have come from existing parts rather than specifically produced parts for LUGs. Plus I think manufacturing parts that are rare so other sellers can sell them is somewhat different. If there is a case to make them, then surely they would put them in their own sets rather than let others profit from selling rare parts (at inflated prices).
  7. MAB
    That is great. World War 1 ended over 100 years ago, so should we expect to see LEGO doing WW1 sets? First of all, sellers on BL are retailers if they are buying stock to resell. Plus there might be leverage from the license holders to have certain items removed from (or not inserted into) the catalogue. So for example, if Disney (or LEGO) does not want individual Luke Skywalker minifigures sold at bricklink, they could have them removed from LEGO's bricklink catalogue. It is their catalogue now, they choose what goes into it.
  8. MAB
    The other problem is that if LEGO are not allowed to or choose not to sell individual licensed minifigures and parts, then do they try at some stage to stop the independent sellers on BL selling them too? If they do, they will be shooting themselves in the foot, as those sales will just move to ebay but it is still a consideration. Brickarms parts were allowed to be sold on Bricklink for many years, dating back to when Dan Jezek was alive. He made the decision that customs could be listed for sale on BL. The only difference made a few years back was that they were formally added to a part of the catalogue meaning their prices could be tracked. Many people seem to forget that it was Jezek that first made the decision to allow customs to be sold there and that they had been sold for many years without their knowledge until the new BL formalised them in the catalogue.
  9. MAB
    There are different types of ABS, depending on the composition and chain length. Manufacturing LEGO in China meant using Chinese sourced ABS which would have been slightly different from European and slightly different from North American, and so on. Plus the dyes would have had a different source. However, LEGO must have OK'd the quality of production. Some of the earlier parts did look a bit translucent when held up to bright light.
  10. MAB
    Yes, if you put them in the 4x4 places, you will always get the same angle. However, if you separate them instead at 4x3 or 4x2, you will get different angles possible. Of course for larger plates / builds, you get many more possible angles to join the plates together. You can always use a tile near the corners if you need extra support in that area (but not clutch).
  11. MAB
    I don't think the size matters so much - the build is always going to be small compared to the real thing unless you have an incredible amount of storage / display area. I like the way Helm's Deep has a bit of scenery each side, as it gives some context to the location and if you have gone maximum size for your display area, then you have all the details you can fit. I like that it actually has something to protect inside - unlike the official LEGO set!
  12. MAB
    Would it actually matter if they brought back a classic theme such as Castle but had tie-in cartoons, comics and books to go alongside them. It wouldn't really bother me if the characters were named and they had stories written about them. I can choose not to follow them if I so wish but still buy the sets for the parts and minifigures I want. Now if they had name tags on (like a lot of the Emmet minifigures did) then that would restrict their use for me, but if they were otherwise generic knights or soldiers, with some heraldry, then they would not be any different to other unnamed characters, even if LEGO named them as Barry, Gary and Larry on the box.
  13. MAB
    The CMF are ABS and have always been made in China.
  14. MAB
    Very nice. I like the way you have the key features of Minas Tirith shrunk down to a more manageable size. Now you just need some Gondor soldiers to defend it! Although I think I prefer Helm's Deep overall, but only because of the random edge based and landscaping compared to the rectangular one for Minas Tirith.
  15. MAB
    Why would it risk their job? If they can be personally identified by such a leak, then this implies that LEGO feeds each of their employees different stories about what is coming out.
  16. MAB
    That hasn't stopped them in the past! I have bought loads of licensed parts via B+P. Unfortunately they are getting better at keeping licensed parts off there, but some still slip through.
  17. MAB
    When you consider that ebay is a massive collection of sellers, it does not make sense to say one is better than anywhere else. There will be good deals on all sites, and bad ones on all sites too. Plus, no doubt, you have a fee for the VAT being added too. For example, in the UK our limit is £15 before VAT is applied. If something costs £16 to import, then we have to pay £16 + 20%VAT (£3.20) + £8 processing fee. So that £16 item actually costs £27.20. The VAT is small compared to the additional fee charged to process the VAT.
  18. MAB
    Bricklink sellers do :-) Paper bags are fine, so long as they are not torn when being processed. Plus the other good thing about the plastic ones is that they are clear, so you can see parts inside before opening them.
  19. MAB
    It varied depending on location. Google lego k-boxes and you might find an answer for your country.
  20. MAB
    I don't think it is anything to do with the political correctness and war. I think it is essentially down to advertising. Movie franchises sell toys. LEGO knows that.
  21. MAB
    Nice design especially around the front / hood area although I am not a fan of the door hinges. But I know having opening doors in such a small space is tough without using the old style door piece. I wondered why there were arches sticking out of the front windows!
  22. MAB
    They are the boxes used to supply the PAB walls. LEGO stores used to sell complete boxes.
  23. MAB
    Yeah I know, but they get everywhere.
  24. MAB
    It is mainly useful for parts sellers. Some people have an allergy to animal hair, hence some stores state that they do or do not have pets. Smoke can cause bricks to smell, whether it is caused by the smoker touching the parts or by them being in storage in a house where the seller smokes.
  25. MAB
    I think the problem there is the number of licensed CMF sets, especially Super Heroes, that do not sell well in Europe and especially in Germany (compared to other LEGO sets). That should be EU countries, rather than European. :-) It matters for us! We'll still be European, but not in the EU, soon (or in 2 or 10 years, however long it takes to sort it out).
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