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MAB

Eurobricks Archdukes
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Everything posted by MAB

  1. MAB
    I agree, the clutch on a 1x1 right angle triangle would be next to nothing. I would like another variant of the 2x2 right angle though - a plate version. Of course they could do one full stud, but I'd really like a version with one full stud and two half studs where they have been "cut" in half. They would be a great addition to the existing wedge plates for landscaping paths and so on.
  2. MAB
    The downside is that LEGO already knows that the LOTR movie series has a lot of fans and they have data on how well their own line of toys for that sold. They also know other TV series like Game of Thrones have a lot of fans. Having a lot of fans doesn't necessarily translate to good LEGO sales. Having the right fans does - the fans of the license have to overlap with the target age of LEGO, and in large numbers. And it appears that the fans of Batman, City, SW, etc are the right fans.
  3. MAB
    I'm pretty much of a similar view. Although I don't mind the Taj Mahal re-issue. In that case, I imagine it was re-release the TM or release nothing, rather than the re-release actually stopping the design and sale of something else. They probably just decided they could make money by re-issuing it with no design changes. No doubt they could have made some design changes, but if it was the same scale, it would have looked similar as it is based on a real buulding so they might as well just go with what they have. Whereas with the modulars, any re-release probably would take up a modular slot stopping something new, and could be redesigned as it is not depicting any real place so the designer has much more creative freedom in the design. I was quite pleased with the UCS MF Update. It was overdue, and clearly wanted by the buying public and they updated it significantly. Much better than a re-issue of the old. The odd one or two flagship sets, I'm not too worried about. They could do things like Imperial Flagship and Emerald Night and probably please more people than they annoy. But if they cycle through the Modulars, repeating them to give new buyers a chance to get the old, I think they do detract from the new. Give everyone 2x new, rather than 1x new and 1x old. I'd prefer they did a new ship like IF and a new train like EN, but at least re-issues there are unlikely to affect other new sets as they are not making similar sets currently.
  4. MAB
    "When my eyes were stabbed by The flash of a neon light" "And the people bowed and prayed To the neon God they made" Nexo Knights and the end of Castle predicted by Simon and Garfunkel?
  5. MAB
    Some of it is in the book "Classic Lego Mindstorms Projects and Software Tools: Award-Winning Designs from Master Builders". You can see a limited preview of it at google books: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_l7rUCDmMiMC&pg=PA280&lpg=PA280#v=onepage&q&f=false
  6. MAB
  7. MAB
    Do you like this or this? Would you play with this or this? Those are often the questions asked at such focus groups. It is this against this. Not just do you like this. Give a kid a toy and ask if they like it, chances are it is a yes. Give them another one, they'll like it too. But ask them which they prefer and they need to choose. That is probably why trains never do that well at focus groups. Especially as to do a train well you need a lot of track. Running a train around a simple loop is boring after a while. Whereas a set with no track gives more play freedom, even if similar. For example: vs Even though they are all transport systems, there is much more freedom for play in the top row compared to the bottom. Driving the train is fun for five minutes, but all it can do is go round and round, unless the parents have a big budget for track. As for Parisian Restaurant, the box gives a clue: 16+. It doesn't have to play test well with kids, as they are not the market for it. LEGO has (slowly) discovered there is an adult market for the Modulars, which have evolved significantly since Cafe Corner. They are finding there is a market for other adult sets like the fairground rides, which again are slowly evolving. Both of those ranges didn't need large developments or expensive parts up front. A monorail will differ. They have to get all / most of the parts developed for the first set before they can test the profitability based on real sales.
  8. MAB
    Come off it, they are both rail based transportation systems; one has one rail, the other has two. They clearly have overlap there. Obviously when used as a roller coaster, it is not a regular transit system like trains but LEGO is showing they can also be used for other things (mine carts) and clearly they can be used for smaller scale trains too. And as to Star Wars and Space - that is the argument many people use to explain why Classic Space hasn't come back - due to SW. So of course other track based systems have something to do with the subject of this thread, the question is there in the OP - "Also, what would it take to make a successful Lego monorail Ideas project?". In my view, the answer is nothing while LEGO are still making trains. Yes, I think that is true. There are simply not enough adults that would buy a LEGO monorail, and it is not interesting enough for kids (compared to what else is available) unless tied into a license they follow. Even trains seem to be dwindling in popularity based on how much LEGO releases now, and any (City based) monorail sets would fight for shelf space and purchases with that. I would imagine any space based monorail would also compete with trains, whether or not the people (probably adults) buying them end up theming them as space or city. The same is true of Classic Space. Kids these days don't share the same vision of the future from 40 years ago. Much like kids from 40 years ago. Nostalgia isn't enough to sell large ranges. Moreover, anything based on a monorail system needs to be a range, not a single set. They won't go to the expense of developing new parts for a monorail just to put it into a single smallish set.
  9. MAB
    Yes, three different ones in the Chima range. Not plain, but wipeable.
  10. MAB
    It is very easy, once opened.
  11. MAB
    Any theme is fine, so long as you stick to thread rules. So if it is a purist thread, only post figures using LEGO parts only. If it is a Marvel thread, don't post DC. And so on. And no selling. Your name suggests that you are here to sell, so don't mention your store, prices, links to it, etc at all in the regular forum. This can only go in the trading / sales section.
  12. MAB
    You seem to be blaming the current generation with a desire for licensed sets - "no longer popular enough without a famous brand attached" - for causing a problem with LEGO. Yet your idea is to create "the best possible monorail set with a compatible theme", is doing exactly the same thing, just with an in-house theme rather than a licensed theme. Linking it to Classic Space, for example, to feed off people that also want a Classic Space revival. That is not really any different to wanting a Monorail attached to a Disney property. It is using the theme to sell the idea of a monorail. Yes, and I just hope they stick with this now. They have done other narrow track in the past and not really done a very good job with expanding it, making curves and ramps but not even a straight piece. It will be good to have a decent and reasonably complete range of narrow gauge track.
  13. MAB
    That feed is pulled from "missing parts" rather than "buy parts", so there is no guarantee the parts will be available for purchase.
  14. MAB
    ^ Would that really help? If LEGO sets the price to be say 2x RRP for a retired set then although that sets the upper price a reseller can get, they can still buy and make a profit on the set but it will just be capped at whatever LEGO charges. And they will have the original, whereas yours will be a modern variant maybe in different packaging (or are you expecting them to supply the original box exactly as it was issued in the past). If they are expected to pack inventories, stickers and instructions and package sets in original boxes on demand, then you are likely to need to be paying top reseller prices for the service not just 2x RRP, as that is not a volume business. If they are going to store hundreds of thousands of sets, again, there will be a premium as they will need a vast warehouse somewhere, plus eventually they will all be sold. LEGO is a time-volume sales business. Even they clear out sets from time to time at a discount as they want them gone. I also think it would be a dangerous route. If you could buy, let's say a Cafe Corner, there is no incentive for them to keep redesigning more buildings. Once they get to about 20 modulars, they could just say buy the old stuff. The money made from people new to lego buying old sets at higher prices would outweigh the need to sell new sets to old buyers. As for the if you lose a piece idea, they do this through bricks and pieces. Lose a piece, you can buy it. There is just a time after which they run out of parts. They cannot keep every part in stock, forever.
  15. MAB
    I wonder about the significance of it now. The only anniversary I can spot is 180 years since he published The Wild Swans.
  16. MAB
    I like the underneath of the sewing machine, nice design.
  17. MAB
    If it was a phone order, then I'm not that surprised. They think you are after one colour that appears as in stock on their screen, when you know you said something else.
  18. MAB
    On BL look for "3mm hose"
  19. MAB
    It's a lovely MOC, especially when lit up. And fully deserving of its place at the exhibition. Although I think that it is way too big to be compared to the official LEGO architecture range. If it was done in that range, I expect all windows would be changed from 2x2 to 1x1 profile to make it much smaller.
  20. MAB
    Yes, once tax is included, CMFs are a bit cheaper in the UK. £3 seems a lot, but they sell at that price. I don't know if it is mainly collectors or kids, or a combination. But they do sell. Then there are the left overs that get reduced. They could of course drop the price, but I doubt that would actually lead to that many more sales. Personally, I have only bought one from the whole series 18. And it is the one I like the least - the policeman. But I saw a new box being opened and for £3, he is worth getting if only to sell on to someone that cannot find him.
  21. MAB
    Your role here is completely unofficial, is that right? So these are really just wants-lists like in the other thread, and no more likely to be taken seriously than anyone else writing to LEGO saying they should make this or that. I don't mean that to be rude, just clarifying that although these ideas have "been sent to designers", there is no actual formal communication channel with LEGO. The "sent to designers" phrase is usually just Customer Service speak for ignored.
  22. MAB
    It is a business offering a service. You pay a little extra for the polybag, but get to go and build it there. If you don't want the service, go to a different store and buy the polybag and take it home and build it on your own. LEGO selling has changed a fair bit recently. Easy to find stuff is easy to find and sell on. Older LEGO can be harder to find now (at the right price) due to everyone knowing it is worth its weight in gold and they can make fortunes selling it on ebay. Although the reality is that it can be a lot of work for not much profit (if anything) if it turns out the good parts have been removed and it is just bulk junk being sold on.
  23. MAB
    4! Might as well count down 3 .. 2 .. 1 .. made it. (Come back in the future and read this).
  24. MAB
    Concerning artwork for minifigures, yes! Many minifigures in renders don't "work". The arms are usually bent out of place or at the elbow, legs splayed out and / or twisted so they are not an integer number of studs wide, heads often at an angle compared to the neck piece. Although they are more realistic now than they used to be. Try bending the arms and legs of Aragorn and getting two hands on his sword like this ... And as for Gimli's legs, the real minifig cannot even sit down.
  25. MAB
    A series of parts I would love ar the half arch type pieces that were inadvertently shown in the NYTF HP sets. So in the same style as those white parts and equivalent parts to do larger semicircular and gothic arches, with the base / impost just 1 wide for multiple side by side arches. Also, plates with open studs (or full holes) woudlbe useful. We have lots of plant / grass type pieces with stems now (carrot top, etc), being able to put them directly into a plate would be good.
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