Aanchir

I think there's a lot of resistance to the concept partly because people aren't entirely sure what sorts of uses it would have. There's a wide range of suggestions for bringing back older sets and themes, but few that really fit the "mold" established by the two to have reached 10,000 votes in Japan back before the site went global. And I'm not even sure if TLG knows how far the potential of this site reaches. I have a few things I'd like to suggest, but it's a lot of work creating presentable images that accurately represent my ideas. If I could put together real-life prototypes for them I could make those suggestions a lot more easily. It's possible the idea is just something that doesn't quite mesh on a global level the way it did in Japan. And that's unfortunate, but if so there's not much TLG can do about it.

Another question I have: Why should any of these parts be removed? I can see some logic behind it if we're worried about kids becoming confused, but keep in mind that kids and adults alike have difficulty differentiating between certain parts like Technic pins and Technic "friction pins" on LDD. But this is just a reason kids and adults need to learn to pay attention to which parts they're using in cases like this. And I'm sure no AFOL would want one of the pins removed just so they can use the incorrect part in an incorrect color as a substitute (for instance, coloring a regular pin black to act as a friction pin).

Personally, I'm OCD enough that I'd usually want duplicates to be kept. In many cases there are minute differences in the molds. In many of the ones you posted the differences are visible even from the thumbnail-- for instance, the 2x2x8 (I think) columns are very distinctly different, and I have both versions IRL. The ones on the left are from themes like LEGO Studios and the ones on the right are from more recent themes. Same goes for the 6x3x1 windscreens. One is older and has distinctly different uses (and connection points) than the current one. I'll give this a harder look later, but for now my vote is "keep all duplicates".

Interesting observations. I personally prefer building MOCs for the structure rather than the story. There can be the foundations for a story in my MOCs, such as in Rise of the Dread Colossus, but that more involves including features and functions that suit the characters than depicting a complete scene. I like making many of my MOCs as setlike as possible, and a good set lets people tell a story the way they want to.

The Series 7 image on Grogall's Brickshelf you mean? That's just because whatever site he got that from cropped it. Badly. The edges are still scratchy from it. He also has a Series 6 image from the same source-- note the scratchy edges and lack of question marks.

According to Bricker.ru, the next property to get the Kre-O treatment is Battleship, presumably to tie in with the upcoming movie. MLP Kre-o would be awesome (just was welcomed to the herd last week), but unfortunately as mentioned girls' toys and building toys currently have a rather small overlap on toy store shelves. Then again, there were the Hello Kitty Mega Bloks, and the upcoming LEGO Friends line, so perhaps for whatever reason there's an across-the-board feeling that girl-oriented building toys are worth another shot. In that case, I'd love to see what is dreamed up in the next few years, though hopefully the cute appearances of the characters wouldn't be butchered for the sake of compatibility. Now, I'm not a big fan of Kre-O and haven't seen anything to convince me that it's a "top-of-the-line" clone brand like Mega Bloks has become in recent years, with unique and non-plagiarized part designs even if they suffer more than TLG when it comes to juniorization. Some of the Kre-O parts seem to try and replicate LEGO parts where it is wholly unnecessary to do so, such as with the curved slopes that greatly resemble those used in Knights' Kingdom II constraction sets. Still, they are also not the slimiest copycats in the industry, and show the potential for improvement if the brand is successful.

I like the function-- it reminds me of things like the X-Wing Starfighter that have "attack" and "speed" configurations-- but alas, it's a real disappointment that it doesn't work as well as it seemed to in pictures. Still, it's a lovely vehicle that I think suits Kai's bold and reckless personality. I also like the sticker sheet's design. This is an instance where I think stickers do the job quite well-- printing would have been very specialized but a complete lack of decorations couldn't have given the vehicle such an intense graphic design. Instructions being split in the middle isn't new exactly-- lots of Roboriders and early BIONICLE instruction booklets had a similar format (like 8510. But in their cases it was more justified: the first half of the instruction booklet tended to be the instructions for the "main model" and the second half included instructions for an alternate or combination model. Here it's a bit baffling, but it doesn't exactly bother me-- it reminds me of the "story features" in the centerfolds of some BIONICLE comics. The figs are very neat. Kai's new costume still has a sort of traditional look rather than a futuristic Power Rangers sort of aesthetic, but at the same time it is suitably unique and fantasy-inspired to fit the theme's zany and colorful aesthetic. "Rattla" is alien-looking and menacing but still nice and cartoony. The snake shrine in this set seems to be one of the dullest ones, but thankfully it's small enough that it doesn't likely drive up the price too high.

Well, Design byMe orders were picked by hand, which means that the larger the parts palette had been, the more inefficient (and thus, the more expensive) packing an order would have been. In LEGO Universe mode in particular, buying a model would have been impossible because you were able to use parts in colors that didn't exist in real life.

Well, I'm pretty sure the reason Cars got kept around and Toy Story did not just boils down to sales. Cars has been a major merchandise-mover for years, whereas Toy Story merchandise dwindles when there's not a new film in the spotlight. And besides, toy cars are something that have been successful for years and years, even visible in LEGO with the Tiny Turbos. In contrast, scaled down versions of fictional toys don't have the same perennial charm from a merchandising perspective.

I think the wings are not meant to be his cape-- if they are, they're probably meant to be a more specialized cape, since it has a jetpack attached. Now, with that said, I think it's silly to assume TLG should have included a cape as well. Honestly, that's like saying that any Indiana Jones set with Indy in an alternate outfit should also include all the parts for Indy's more "iconic" outfit with jacket and hat. It's excessive, and it's unnecessary for the scenes such sets are meant to depict. The same applies here-- clearly, Batman isn't meant to be wearing his regular cape in the scene this set depicts, and it's irrelevant whether his outfit here matches his most iconic depictions.

Personally, I see more value in that well-designed sticker sheet than in those rather lackluster printed grills (even using printing for the headlights!) that remind me of the Town Jr. era. I'm sure other people feel differently, but personally if I had to choose between using a printed grille in a MOC and using that lovely stickered one, I'd choose the stickered one hands-down. Meanwhile, even when stuff is available for free in a digital format, there's still value for some people in having a hard copy. Even though I pretty much only listen to music using my iPod, I have yet to actually purchase music in a digital format, preferring to have a CD with the full liner notes and plastic jewel case. For kids in particular, some might find it easier to read instructions from a hard copy that they can flip through physically than on a computer, although this could change as technology continues to increase its presence in our lives. Clearly this didn't really work out for Design byME, but your post makes it seem as though without unique elements LEGO sets have almost no value, and frankly I disagree. In my case, when I buy a set I feel I'm investing in the quality design, not just the parts. Even if the design can easily be built from existing parts and visualized in photos and digital renders, I feel paying for a hard-copy product is a good way of showing my appreciation. Perhaps this is just sentimental on my part, and I do sometimes buy sets for the parts, but if unique parts were all there was to a set's "value", then so-called "<insert that tiresome argument>" and overspecialized parts would be TLG's most reliable means of success, and we as AFOLs probably agree that's not true.

What do you mean? Like releasing town/city sets year after year after year? Because seriously, that's about what that sort of statement is like. This is a brand-new dinosaur theme; how is it a redo?

The info I have on Dutch names for the planets comes from catalogs. I spent a long time looking at foreign catalogs to learn more about the stories for older Space themes and the names for certain sets in other countries. It's interesting to see how the themes varied between countries-- for instance, the Dutch names for M:Tron sets often included the word "reddings" (rescue or salvage), the meaning of which is ambiguous in the context of this theme. "Salvage" could fit in with the explanation I've heard before of M:Tron being a mining organization, whereas "rescue" would imply something very different. Official story briefs I've seen on M:Tron mostly just describe how they have advanced magnet and computer technology that the Blacktrons want to steal. And unfortunately, like several Space themes, M:Tron was before my time as a LEGO fan, so I only know about its story through what I can find online. In the Dutch catalogs, the minifigures of Ice Planet 2002 are indeed called "IJstronauten" (translating roughly to "Icetronauts" in English).

While the new figs of main characters like the Batman villains are very nice, I think it's nice that TLG went above-and-beyond in creating new and unique "henchman" figs in the Two-Face set. I like the sets this time around as well. The Batwing is a bit more reasonably-sized than the previous one, and with less of what I'd consider superfluous detail distracting from its overall bat shape. It's not quite as brilliant as the one from the Tim Burton films, where it was a perfect match to Batman's then-current logo from above, but it's still nicely designed. The Batmobile is also very nicely sculpted for the most part, even though the wings end up seeming a bit oversized on this smaller design. The Batcave is also very tastefully-designed, as I've said before. It feels dark, gloomy, and cavelike, and yet it also has a greater degree of color as you might expect from a comic-book-based property.

I can see how "users" might be more appropriate in some respects, but there's also a place for calling ourselves "LDD Fans". After all, a fan will wait anxiously for new updates, speculate about possible improvements to the interface, and find great enjoyment in designing using the software. A user might just see the program as a tool. "Enthusiast" is a good middle ground that probably covers a wider range of "users", but that doesn't mean there aren't "fans" who go that one extra step in their devotion to the product. Think of it this way: if you can be a "fan" of a video game system, video game, computer operating system, web browser, or smartphone brand, why can't you be a fan of design software? All that being a "fan" entails is a certain extraordinary amount of dedication, and I think a lot of the people in this forum have that in spades.

Hmmm, that's a surprise. Not sure what to expect. I'm fond of how the eye/head colors tend to use fluorescent colors from the palette, and the three fluorescent colors currently on the palette have all already been used for that head piece (tr. flu. blue, tr. flu. reddish orange, and tr. flu. green). It's possible for another eye color to look good-- just look at the Bohrok, Visorak, or Toa Metru, who used several non-fluorescent eye colors-- but it might not have that same glowiness that makes the eyes really shine. I suppose how good it looks might depend on how much light the helmet allows in based on its design.

I doubt it'll be fixed-- Surge 2.0 had the same problem in his official render. I personally don't have much problem with the new Furno's color scheme other than thet transparent red/transparent fluorescente reddish-orange cladding. Eye color IMO doesn't factor into color scheme for the most part, especially since in his case it can just be treated as an approximation of the yellow on his torso print. Other than that he has red and a bunch of neutral colors.

OK then; I'm just used to seeing "<insert that tiresome argument>" in the LEGO community mean something more related to build and complexity than to design style. To be fair I dislike the term in general because its meaning can be so variable-- to some people any large part is <insert that tiresome argument>, whereas to others it's only when a part of a model could be created using smaller, simpler pieces.

I'm assuming you're using some unusual story- or marketing-based meaning of "<insert that tiresome argument>", because as far as the actual construction of the Ninjago sets goes, there's hardly anything <insert that tiresome argument> about them besides the dragon head pieces. The skeleton vehicles of this year and the snake vehicles of next year are all very high-detail designs with few "<insert that tiresome argument>" parts, and the same goes for most of the location-based sets like the Fire Temple and Skeleton Bowling. Even the dragons mostly steer clear of "<insert that tiresome argument>" pieces, typically using innovative brick-built wings and intricate brick-built bodies. With that said, I think Ninjago basically fills LEGO's "zany" quota for next year. Since "action themes" is such a diverse and arbitrary label, the new theme could be anything, but I'd wager we'll be getting something with a somewhat stable historical placement (as opposed to Ninjago's wild anachronism), a small cast of named characters like PQ or unnamed characters like Dino, and a premise that TLG hasn't explored for several years.

You talking about assembled sets, or just parts? With assembled sets it could be sufficient just to just turn them around in front of a high-powered fan to blow the dust off. With parts that's more time-consuming. I don't think getting them wet should cause any damage unless you're using water that is too hot a temperature.

To be fair, even in the original Harry Potter sets, characters only had the generic Hogwarts badges if they had not yet been sorted. In fact, I think the Sorting Hat set was one of the only ones to have this torso.

I've got a few things to add. First of all, there's Ashlar, the "Medieval Throwback" planet in LEGO: The Adventures of Clutch Powers populated by fantasy-era Castle characters. Additionally, while this probably doesn't fit anywhere on your list, in some countries (for instance, the Netherlands) Zotax was called Otopia. Also in the Netherlands, the planet Krysto from Ice Planet 2002 was actually just called Ice Planet 2002.

I had this set in my childhood. Well, ostensibly it was my mom's (I surely wouldn't have owned a GIRLS' set at that age ), but you can guess who actually built and played with it. In retrospect the pastel color scheme looks awfully boring, especially since the dominant colors (rather than pink) are white and grey. The pink parts were too few to use the color as a primary color in any MOCs. And I can guarantee it was hard to use the lovely baseplate for much due to its light green color that didn't match much else in my collection. At the same time, Paradisa carried with it a spirit of leisure and decadence not matched by any other themes I had in my collection. Other beach-related or vacation-related sets tended to deal with outdoor recreation, like fishing, camping, and boat racing. But if I wanted to build a hotel or resort, this set's parts usually formed the foundation.

I don't think the problem is that LEGO was blind to it; I think the problem was that -consumers- were blind to it. In other words, not enough people saw the value in the full subscription, and unfortunately that meant that LEGO Universe wasn't generating the revenue it would take to keep it running and keep adding new things. On BZPower (a relatively major BIONICLE fansite that has recently expanded its focus to other LEGO themes), I've seen a couple decent suggestions for new modes of LDD to replace Design byME mode. One of these was a mode to tie in with Master Builder Academy, which I think would be a great idea, even though I'm not sure whether it could bring in revenue for LDD. Another idea that I've personally considered is a mode that uses Pick-A-Brick parts (in other words, basically Design byME mode without the ordering-things aspect) and then gives you a parts list to order from Pick-A-Brick. That would have multiple benefits as it would allow ordering LDD models IRL just like Design byME without all the bells and whistles that drove up the cost of Design byME. Glad to hear we can still expect an extensive brick update in January.

Well, in a lot of localities (even here in the U.S.) ambulance services are indeed separate from fire departments without being privately-owned. I can't quite remember if the ambulances where I'm from are like that, but I can definitely assure you that ambulances with these colors aren't exotic or foreign in states like Virginia. There's more information here. There's also the fact that TLG likes to color-code things. It's the reason why most LEGO police stations have the same color windows as their cars' windscreens, why most LEGO fire stations are the same vivid red as the fire engines, etc. The article on the 2010 Fire Station set in this PDF discusses various ways in which kids' perceptions might not necessarily match reality 100% of the time, and so the sets should be built to match these perceptions. This means that in many cases it makes sense to have one color scheme in any given year for firefighting-related sets, one for medical-care-related sets, and one for "work vehicles" and sets associated with them like in the 2009 Garage, Tow Truck, and Helicopter Transporter.