MKJoshA

No one on the Staff wants to say "who cares what the community thinks, lets just go with #4." We're taking all the votes, and discussion, into consideration.

Here are my thoughts in a separate topic. It's one I've been planning to share for weeks. Since it's longer I'm linking it here instead of reposting.

Chapter 1 I have been playing with Legos since I was 3. 35 years later I'm still playing with them I discovered Eurobricks when I was at university and have a part of the Lego community in various ways for my entire adult life. I have been part of a LUG, presented at Brickworld, and been a moderator here on EB. I say all this to point out that I have the credentials to back up what I'm about to share. From the beginning I considered myself a Lego brand purist. I had a bucket of Tyco bricks when I was a kid and even child-me could tell they weren't as good as the Lego brand. I was later given a Megablocks western set and while some of the unique pieces and accessories were cool, they weren't as well made as Lego. So my loyalty to Lego continued to grow. This continued until about 3 years ago. I received and reviewed the Viking Village, a set designed by one of EB's own members. It was my first set where I noticed how bad the quality of Lego elements had gotten. Here is the letter I sent to TLG Customer Service: And here was their response: I knew my one email conversation wasn't going to do much. But 3 years later I have seen Lego's quality get worse, not better. I find this behavior appalling as their company motto is "Only the best is good enough." To me it seems clear the best is no longer what they are striving for. Chapter 2 This realization opened my eyes to the reality that being a Lego purist didn't hold any value. In the past other companies like Lepin stole MOC instructions and Lego sets and sold them for profit. So there used to be a moral high-ground to being a Purist. And quality kept me from legitimate brands like Megablocks. But with my new-found realization that TLG wasn't worth staying loyal to simply by past efforts alone, I began to think about alternative options. I started with something simple. I bought a BRICKSMAX light kit. This is not a brick alternative, but rather an alternative to Lego lights. As a purist I had bought a number of Technic lights. But those are expensive and limited in their use. These lights are cheap and easy to use in my MOCs. I dipped my toe in the waters of non-Lego and now I want to know what else is out there. I currently have a Lumibricks set waiting for me to build it. Lumibricks uses BRICKSMAX lights in their kits. After I build it I may find out I still don't like the quality of bricks from other brands. But I already know I'm going to love the lights And who knows, maybe I'll even be open to mixing my Lego with Lumibricks. And with the floodgates opened I'm also looking at non-Lego accessories. If Lego doesn't make it, why can't I buy them from someone who will? Chapter 3 And that leads to my closing thoughts. I am convinced that my Lego Purist position may have been the right one in the past, but it's not needed today. Gone are the days of Lepin stealing IP. I have yet to test it out, but I've heard from many people that the quality of other brands today is on par with Lego. I have been impressed with the selection of sets from Lumibricks and Pantasy. These companies are making sets that interest me. They show creativity and rely on storytelling instead of name-brand IPs to interest you. They feel like Lego used to when they had me drooling over magazines wanting to tell my own Alpha Team story. I'm ready to give them a chance. And I hope you will too. There are also companies like Barweer who selling unique designs, but are closer to the moral edge. I bought (on Vinted sealed, but used) a Barweer Star Wars set, The Trailblazer. I'm planning to build it right after the Lumibricks set. But I'm still not sure how I feel about buying something Star Wars when I know Lego has the IP rights. Obviously Barweer has their legal bases covered and uses no trademarked names. So the set is called The Pathfinder Freighter and has no reference to Star Wars. But if you've played the Star Wars Outlaws video game then you would immediately recognize it. Other companies do the same. And what about re-colors of existing Lego parts? Lego has never released a Rodian head in red. But I can buy one from another company. It's not that company's IP, but Lego has never made it before. Same with the castle armor and weapons. Just because Lego has never made it before, is it okay for other companies to use the same design like the raven shield and put it on a breastplate? And then there's the discussion about retired parts that go for crazy prices on Bricklink but can be bought for a small amount from a different brand. I don't have all the answers. But I'm ready to explore these uncharted territories. And I look forward to seeing what others discover and how they feel about it too.

We're still waiting for other users to have a chance to log-in, get up to speed, and leave their feedback. Plus we're discussion things as staff. So I don't have a time estimate for you, but it's not going to be a change made quickly. The best thing you can do right now is let others have a chance to share their thoughts and be patient as we work through the possible options.

It's great to see so many people sharing their views. Just a reminder, this poll and the comments are just to gauge member interest and opinions. The poll is not binding in any way. Keep posting your feedback. That is the most helpful for us as staff. I think the best illustration is not cars or handkerchiefs, instead I think it's car parts. There are people who restore old cars and use only original parts sourced from junkyards, old cars, and collections. There are others who repair or restore cars using only brand name parts. And there are others who fix a car with any brand as long as the part works. The current discussion is about changing EB's forum from being about name brand parts only to possibly including other brands. I don't buy VW brand oil filters for my car. I buy the cheaper alternative. I don't knock those who pay for the expensive brand. And I'm interested in hearing how that brand could extend the life of my car if I too bought and used it. But I'm also happy to share why I use a different brand. It's that kind of change we are talking about here. The SW forum is staying the SW forum. But even there we have people that currently post MOCs with 3rd party blasters. Lego may not lose the license to Star Wars. But what do you do about other companies that produce parts Lego doesn't make anymore? For example, I could pay $100 for a used Lego brand Rancor. Or I could pay $30 for a alt-brand version. Is that ok? I don't know, but it will have to be part of the conversation. This is well said. Also very well said. I believe EB will continue to favor Lego purist MOCs. Just because the site may open up to other brands does not mean it's going to become chaos here. We have a great, established community. Some self-enforcement of norms is going to happen and will help curb any craziness.

It is rare to see such a detailed behind-the-scenes build log. Well worth a 2nd frontpage for an amazing MOC.

I want to give a huge shout-out to @Jim who has been keeping this forum running for years now. The ads help, but without people like Jim keeping the site running, @aFrInati0n helping with IT issues, and the rest of the Moderator team keep everything running smoothly Eurobricks would not exist. I love being a part of this community and am excited to see what the future holds. TLG dropping their support is not going to slow us down. I would like to note that TLG never controlled us. We followed certain rules such as only allowing Lego elements for contests and avoiding leaked photos. But EB has always been it's own site. Regarding leaks, I will reach out to someone on Reddit who manages the leaked photos sub-Reddit to see how they handle things. @Agent Kallus for the mean time I think it's safe to allow direct links in the Star Wars forum. That is something we avoided in the past so that EB wasn't seen as a source or traffic to leaked photos. But allowing people to link directly to Reddit or Instagram shouldn't pose any problems for us now. I'll be sharing more of my thoughts in the Future of Eurobricks topic later.

I will look back through some of our old topics to see if I can find where it's from. We partnered with a guy doing custom capes and pauldrons. It's probably from him though I don't remember more than that. I'll let you know if I find out more.

If you haven't been following the progress on this MOC, drop what you're doing and go look at it now!

Seeing your progress is inspiring.

[Free build] Garden of Tranquillity - Barqa Kaliphlin

I've been reading the notes on The Art of... books for the ST. Over and over again they state that during the brainstorming meetings the team kept saying, "what worked in the OT? Ok, let's copy that." I think that mentality of "We have to copy what worked before" coupled with naustalgia for the OT led to the lack of creativity in ship design for the ST. And to keep this comment on topic ... that led to boring Lego sets.

Hi, I've moved your request to the Buy, Sell, Trade section of the forum. There's not a lot of traffic here right now, so if you want to also post a link to this topic in the General Star Wars discussion thread that would be allowed.

[MOC] - The IT Crowd

[MOC] Redwall Abbey

[MOC] Mr. Men Little Miss

[MOC] Revolutionary War Battle

Underworld winner: @Sentinel_Brix The Droid Gotra Alphabet winner: @The Sarge Yag'duhl Spaceworks AN-2A M-Wing Interceptor Size Matters winner: @Taj - Brick Minstrel Strength of the Rebellion

Thank you to everyone who participated this year. We had 19 great entries across our 3 categories. Congratulations to all the winners! Underworld winner: @Sentinel_Brix The Droid Gotra A fantastic combination of parts to create a group of droids feared throughout the underworld. In second place for this category was @Glitch System The Kyber Smugglers Alphabet winner: @The Sarge Yag'duhl Spaceworks AN-2A M-Wing Interceptor Smooth lines, greebling, and a pilot with a story stood out to bring this subtly shaped M-Fighter to the winners spot. In second place for this category was @Graham Gidman with his Rebel Alliance F-Wing Size Matters winner: @Taj - Brick Minstrel Strength of the Rebellion Action, detail and a compelling story brought this compact build to the front of the list. In second place for this category was @--pichu-- Ork base on Tatooine First place in each category wins their respective prizes as well as a contest tag. 2nd place will get a tag as well. Winners will be notified shortly to arrange prizes.

Orzel Outpost Moc

[MOC] Imperial Star Destroyer

You only need to copy and paste the URL from flickr.

Welcome to Eurobricks and thanks for your help with this project! EB isn't meant to be a photo hosting site which is why you hit the limit so fast. I recommend using a free Flickr or Bricksafe account for photo hosting. You can copy and paste the URL from either site here and it will auto embed.

Northern Cardinals [MOC]

Buick GNX 1987