blueandwhite

LEGO's been pretty non-political with it's sets. While war has been depicted the factions are pretty mucn non-descript. We have Knights, but they have fanciful heraldry. The Wild West has soldiers but they stay away from Union vs. Confederates. The Ninja line is similarly generic. The closest I think we'll get to an actual war line is the soldiers from Indiana Jones. I wouldn't expect real military vehicles any time soon. Heck, other than special licences, cars the firetrucks and police cars that make up the LEGO world are non-descript too.

Destroy as needed. I'm a brick vulture, so almost any set is subject to my wrath.

Actually, the original post simply asked for the type of element distribution people would like to see. Fortunately, the last time I checked, minfigs and minifig accessories are treated as parts on the pick-a-brick system. While I very much doubt LEGO will take note of specific requests (for parts of any kind), it's probably still not a bad idea to voice one's opinion. I still think a wider range of minifig parts probably appeals to more fans than anything else. Also, since when was the town line unpopular? With the possible exception of Star Wars, I've always understood that the town line was the most popular of LEGO's themes.

Minifig parts (Castle in particular) and accessories. Rationale: Simply put; this is an area where LEGO could truly edge out Bricklink. While bricklink store owners part-out sets, minifigs on Bricklink usually carry an obscene premium. Popular old torsos like the BF torso go for $1.00+, while some torsos sell for $3.00 or more. It's a market which LEGO can easily undercut the aftermarket competition. Considering that LEGO has been offering classic figure packs, why not throw up excess elements directly onto Bricklink? Black Falcons and "bluecoat" pirate figs are highly covetted. Moreover, LEGO can easily run parts and accessories in colours not readily available through sets. Hairpieces and other minifig accessories are desireable across themes and people seem more willing to pay higher prices for them. I'd love to see a variety of hairpieces offered in tan and other colours not typically found in sets.

Let's get to it. First, to increase the height of the staircase you neeed to remove both the top and bottom mounts. These shouldn't be considered when adding a 1/2 revolution on your staircase. Each staircase assembly is 11 & 1/3 high. This includes both the top and bottom plates ( & ), two stair axles ( ) which are held together by a technic pin, and 16 risers or stairs ( ). The assembly without the bottom and top plate/tile with pins is 10 & 2/3 bricks tall. Each axle is 5 & 1/3 bricks tall. A single axle with a set of 8 stairs is a 1/2 revolution and the smallest spiral possible. This means that for every 1/2 revolution you add, you must raise the hight of your next floor by 5 & 1/3 bricks. These stairs are incredibly easy to use and work perfectly for medieval/pirate MOCs.

Honestly, LEGO is pretty good about replacement parts. I hope that people don't get in the habit of asking for parts they've destroyed or parts they simply want though as LEGO's policy could easily change. In my many years of collecting sets, I've only had 2 instances where I've needed a replacement part and both parts weren't exactly high-demand bricks. Abuse the system too much and it won't be there when you (or others) actually need it.

Elbow - Starlings

The British sure do love their Mercedes'. Well it's nice to know that after your PC fails when googling for BBC news about an emergency scare on British Airways you still have a reliable set of LEGO bricks to fall back on for entertainment. Go LEGO!

I was joking about the "nobody's picking up their garbage" bit. Essentially I was proposing a paradox. Garbage collectors being on strike because 'their' garbage isn't being collected. Also, isn't the issue is the horrible deal the city made in the last collective agreement? As I understand things, city workers under the previous agreement could 'bank' 18 sick days (essentially collecting up to six months of six leave) per year. The city wants to dispose of this provision. Obviously this would cost workers who have banked several years of sick leave big-time so people are unhappy. As for garbage workers; they're getting the attention because people are noticing their absence. I believe that paramedics are an 'essential service' which prevents them from walking off the job entirely (like other health workers).

With the online content currently available, I just don't have much need for Brickjournal. We've got several forums and websites dedicated to set inventory, building and displaying MOCs. I'm not saying that the publication isn't well-done. I just have no interest in it.

These days everything is a "clue". Clues for elves; clues for a new monorail; clues for bluecoats. While I think it's possible that LEGO might introduce bluecoats next year, I certainly don't see the classic minifig packs as being a clue. It certainly isn't a clue for the return of the Black Falcons, Western or Classic Space.

I don't quite get the gist of it, but I think they're on strike because nobody's picking up their garbage . But I think it actually looks something like this: the city made a horrible deal. Now they want to break it so the city workers are unhappy. Garbage is everywhere and everybody else is unhappy too.

Congrats. It's nice to see that LEGO made efforts to get such a diverse group of Ambassadors.

I'm guessing that Castle is probably going to continue in some form or another. After Steve's comments though, I'm not betting on Elves. I'm not certain if the Castle theme is particularly popular with children (it certainly is big with AFOLs) but it is certainly unique. The Castle theme is one that LEGO constantly drops only to resurrect shortly thereafter. It almost seems like a waste to simply drop the line again given that it will inevitably end up coming back anyways. Outside of Town, it seems to be one of the most consistent non-licenced themes LEGO has.

When pigs fly... Companies can ask legislators for whatever they want. It doesn't mean that they're going to get it. This is essentially asking governments to change the ownership rights associated with your property (which includes the right of resale) to a licence with a strict set of conditions that you never agreed to on initial purchase. Can you imagine the international outrage that would be associated with any such legislation? Essentially such a move would pave the way for companies to lobby for further retroactive restrictions on the resale of personal property. Want to sell your car? Forget it. Have some old furniture or other chattels your looking to move? Too bad. This is a slippery slope that no rational legislator would dare to meddle with.

That's a nice little castle you've got there. I think you've hit what alot of castle builders experience: A MOC where the sum of its parts is greater than the whole. What I mean is that there are loads of great details, yet the MOC just feels like it's missing something. This happens alot when your collection fails to live up to your ambitions. The MOC starts out incredibly ambitious, yet as you approach the end the parts disappear and your vision is left on the drawing board. The outer ward and surrounding walls were quite well realized, however the keep itself seems to have presented a problem as pieces were in short supply. Unfortunately, this is not an easy thing to remedy. It reminds me very much of Bilbo Baggins when he describes himself as being like a bit of 'butter being scraped over too much bread'. When you have a finite number of bricks, often size becomes a big issue. I've found interiors are extremely parts-intensive. I've actually been stuck working on a castle for the better part of three years now. The majority of delays have been owing to money and parts shortages. Perhaps building an attractive exterior structure and then building a series of interiors is the way to go. I appreciate that it isn't as 'authentic' as a castle that has both, but it could make for a more coherent structure. Many castle builders simply forego the interior for an elaborate exterior. Just a thought. In any case, I like the work you've put into this castle. It definitely had great potential and was a nice piece of work. It's a shame you had to dismantle it so soon.

People tend to do that on their own. One piece of promotional art does not a new line make .

It's possible, but I just don't see LEGO dropping the Castle theme anytime soon. I expect that the line may be significantly different in the next few years, but it's been a reoccuring theme for a long time and historically seems to have done pretty well with fans. Alot of themes tend to slow down a bit every few years. I suspect it has more to do with the fact that many buyers haven't purchased some of the earlier sets (King's Castle Seige, etc.) which would in turn canibalize the sale of newer sets. Also, while nothing new has been anounced for Castle for 2010; the Castle line has been a summer line these past few years. It's very possible that we won't hear anything concrete until the winter holidays.

How about a Mk I GTI?

Look carefully at the pricing on Bricklink. Many highly expensive items don't sell frequently (if at all). You can actually look at Bricklink's price guide for an idea of what you could get for any given brick. Look at the average price and how frequently the item sells for an idea of how to price your bricks. Also if your selling worn or whethered bricks, tell the buyer before hand. Nothing will upset a customer or damage your reputation faster than selling worn or damaged bricks without notice. Good luck.

I think the two statements are quite separate. I don't really see that Indy is a contradiction to the war toys statement. Conflict has existed in LEGO for far longer than the Indy licence, and the Indy nazis aren't really that different than your standard pirate red coat in terms of historical accuracy. The Indiana Jones theme may have generic soldiers in some of the sets, but I don't really see an overreaching military theme within the line. The thing that surprised me is that Steve's statement is so blunt. I can't imagine a company representative being so direct on a non-politically charged topic only for it to turn out to be an outright lie. My guess is that while Elves may appeal to several AFOLs, there may not be the same demand for the fairy folk from children. As AFOLs we sometimes forget that this product is still targeted at a younger audience. With trolls, skelies, knights and dwarves would children really gravitate towards an Elf-focused product line? I get the distinct feeling that this is something LEGO has probably already looked into. Oh well; forestmen for 2010 .

Why am I smiling on the inside . In all seriousness, I'm sorry that the fantasy fans aren't getting their wish for elves. It's not a line I was interested in but if these forums are any indicator, there is definitely a serious interest in such a line amongst AFOLs. I still hope that Castle moves forward in 2010 though. It seems we've seen a decline in the number of Castle sets this year. I just can't imagine another year without LEGO Castle sets.

This reminds me of the Elves illustration that caused a stir in the History forums. While a background illustration could be a clue to something on the horrizon, it could also simply be a nod to one of the greatest sets in LEGO history. I love the idea of a new monorail but I just don't see it happening.

The same could be said of any number of toy lines from videogame systems (Playstation and Xbox in particular) to action figures and toy cars. Whether this is a question sex (physiological) or gender (sociological) is probably a question best left to a psychologist or sociologist. As AFOLs we already represent an aberrant group when it comes to this topic which makes it exceedingly difficult to come to an objective opinion when it comes to anything LEGO. We simply love it too much.

The big difference is that with the Simspons yellow=white skin only because some other ethnic groups are coloured brown. LEGO never took this approach (prior to Star Wars). If LEGO had stuck to its guns and made Lando yellow there would have been no distinction. Also; I'm not sure if the word realism really is appropriate when discribing trolls, zombie skeletons or any other fantasy folk.