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Aanchir

Eurobricks Ladies
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Everything posted by Aanchir

  1. Aanchir
    What is Friends-like about the sign? Just its color? And how is it any more of an eyesore than it’d be in, say, red? I swear, y’all are just demonstrating one of the reasons Friends is such an excellent theme — because it doesn’t randomly declare certain colors “off-limits” out of fear that insecure dudes will feel threatened by them.
  2. Aanchir
    The main advantage of "spongy stretchable" is that it doesn't show creases the same way the starched versions do, so it's good for things like if you want to fit a minifigure with a cape inside a vehicle without the cape being crumpled when you take them back out. It's not as thin as the starched fabrics, though, and has a more visible weave, which I know bothers some people.
  3. Aanchir
    While I know a lot of Castle builds tend to skew towards muted earth tones like grey and tan… anybody have any thoughts on the return of Bright Bluish Green (Teal)? There's a new Creator dragon for those who don't mind brick-built creatures. Alternate builds are an ogre and a giant spider.
  4. Aanchir
    They're so cute! Great use of the rock textured pieces to create the look of their wooly fur!
  5. Aanchir
    I feel like it's become pretty normal for the designer video to come later than the press release these days. We literally only got the Joker Manor designer video a few days ago. I'm looking forward to it as well, though!
  6. Aanchir
    The other side where it sticks out is the output, because the building doesn't have a chimney to funnel the smoke into. I think the creativity there is really amazing, myself, and the tiny gaps it leaves are pretty much irrelevant in the grand scheme of things — it's not the first building to have tiny gaps between slope pieces like that.
  7. Aanchir
    Where are you getting that it has "origins of Hindu temple"? It has never been anything but a mausoleum, and its only religious motifs are Islamic, not Hindu. Also, seeing as this is a re-release of a set that came out nearly ten years ago, it can't really be a sign of LEGO relaxing any kind of content-related policies. There's also no reason to think other buildings "lost out". Big Ben came out just last year, and the landmarks series isn't one that tends to get a new set every year without fail. So if we were going to get a new building, it probably wouldn't have been until 2018 anyhow. I have also heard some claims that Taj Mahal is one of the most requested LEGO sets at many LEGO stores, despite how long it's been retired. That and the fact that it doesn't really use any particularly rare parts are probably why it got re-released.
  8. Aanchir
    What "old-world aesthetic"? Several of the modular buildings have been American-inspired (Green Grocer, Fire Brigade, Palace Cinema, and Detective's Office stand out as examples), and most have had vaguely 1930s-ish architecture, which isn't far off from when the "Streamline Moderne" style seen in this set got its start.
  9. Aanchir
    I don't really think this is a cop-out. If they'd used the big 6-wide glass on its side then either the studs would be exposed, or there'd be a straight line of tiles covering them, instead of the nice curved frame we see on the right and left sides of the windows.
  10. Aanchir
    This is absolutely progress in my book, and while perhaps not the best building yet (hard to beat the deluxe size and varied design of Assembly Square), it's certainly up there near the top. It has loads of creative techniques from the use of curved arch pieces to create the window frame and awning to the fully SNOTTED front wall which minimizes the overhang of the window arches and eliminates the usual "seam" between floors. Also some delightful creativity in the circular windows along the sides of the big curved section, the brick lettering which feels much more organic than the blocky style we're used to on many of the other buildings, and the hood of the grill inside. I'm surprised to see so much frustration directed at the car, which is about as proportionate as a car can be while sitting two minifigures side-by-side in a six-stud-wide space. Perhaps it could stand to be a bit longer, but then it would feel out of proportion with the building. It's every bit as detailed as I'd expect in a modular building set (in fact, much more so than previous vehicles in the series), and doesn't seem to detract at all from the size or level of detail of the building's interior or exterior. Also weird to see so many people complaining about the pink or the set being too "Friends-ish", considering how little pink there is. Though maybe they're just judging from the grossly oversaturated pics in this topic. The pictures on Brickset look much better.
  11. Aanchir
    This is absolutely progress in my book, and while perhaps not the best building yet (hard to beat the deluxe size and varied design of Assembly Square), it's certainly up there near the top. It has loads of creative techniques from the use of curved arch pieces to create the window frame and awning to the fully SNOTTED front wall which minimizes the overhang of the window arches and eliminates the usual "seam" between floors. Also some delightful creativity in the circular windows along the sides of the big curved section, the brick lettering which feels much more organic than the blocky style we're used to on many of the other buildings, and the hood of the grill inside. I'm surprised to see so much frustration directed at the car, which is about as proportionate as a car can be while sitting two minifigures side-by-side in a six-stud-wide space. Perhaps it could stand to be a bit longer, but then it would feel out of proportion with the building. It's every bit as detailed as I'd expect in a modular building set (in fact, much more so than previous vehicles in the series), and doesn't seem to detract at all from the size or level of detail of the building's interior or exterior.
  12. Aanchir
    If it is by a designer from the Friends theme it would certainly explain its creative excellence, considering Friends sets tend to excel at incorporating fantastic details even at a fairly low 5+ overall age range. But honestly, just because the designer isn’t allergic to the color pink doesn’t mean they were pulled off another theme. It just means they have more imagination than you do.
  13. Aanchir
    Doesn’t really tell us anything. When Brickset uses curly brackets like that it means it’s just a placeholder name. The fact that it’s in the database is just acknowledging what we already basically know, that the new modular building features a diner.
  14. Aanchir
    Yeah, if it were a non-expert builder then I doubt they'd have bothered using SNOTted windows at all. The simple solution would've been to just use one six-wide column of windows or three 2-wide columns. SNOTting the entire brick surface of the upper too floors also indicates an experienced builder. And no matter how much you nitpick the ways it's different from past modular buildings (and honestly, when HASN'T a real modular building been different than those that came before it?), there's not really any getting around the use of molds that nobody in the AFOL community outside of the LEGO Group had access to before this month. If this is a MOC, it's a MOC by an actual LEGO designer. The idea that this is a fake seems to rest entirely on the assumption "LEGO designers would never do things I wouldn't do" — but honestly, even among the modular buildings, there hasn't been a set to date that didn't disappoint somebody.
  15. Aanchir
    They have at least some functionality the Airjitzu sets didn’t, like the ability to roll them like a wheel… I’ll probably have to try one out for myself to know what kind of other tricks they have or if that really balances out them not being able to fly. They also seem to have somewhat more building than the Airjitzu sets did, in the form of the weapon stands taking the place of some of the Airjitzu sets’ extra weapons.
  16. Aanchir
    I think they’re referring to the family from the pickup and camper set being the same family from 2016’s Fun in the Park.
  17. Aanchir
    Beyond all that, I think there are more fans of the modular buildings today who have basically come to expect higher detail in modern sets. Post-90s kids who are finally old enough for Creator Expert, AFOLs who never had LEGO as kids but got into it through the collectible minifigures or through other Creator Expert sets or through buying sets for their kids, etc. For these TFOLs and AFOLs, the nostalgia for “blank slate” minifigs just isn’t as big a factor as wanting figs from other sets and themes to fit in on their modular street. I remember after Assembly Square was announced seeing a lot of questions on sites like Facebook about why the figures were so plain compared to other sets. You know all the AFOLs who see stickers in Creator Expert or D2C sets as inexcusably cheap for what should be a premium product? That’s how generic smiley faces feel to many people who don’t have that nostalgia for them.
  18. Aanchir
    Star Wars overlapped with other Space themes briefly in 2001 (Life On Mars), but after that it went on a long hiatus that only ended in 2007 with Mars Mission — when, notably, the prequel trilogy had ended. Then shortly before the sequel trilogy began, LEGO Space went on hiatus again. These things might very easily be related. Star Wars as a brand tends to have a much bigger profile in movie years.
  19. Aanchir
    I think it's just a skeleton (look also at the pic of the cave opened up in the lower right). I don't feel like there were any particularly meaningful differences between the design of movie Garmadon and classic Garmadon, other than giving him a cooler helmet and armor, some more dynamic facial expressions, and some print colors that read better against a black background. So the fact that they went with these improved design characteristics is not particularly surprising to me. It's not like they break continuity.
  20. Aanchir
    Not quite. There’s also Market Street (despite so many people wanting to pretend it’s not a real modular, there’s never been any indication that LEGO doesn’t consider it one and plenty of signs they do).
  21. Aanchir
    Personally I think it's kinda neat that Jestro's flyer has some of the same jester hat motifs as his past vehicles, but now adapted to the more angular design language of the "good guy" sets. Not a super impressive build, but better if it had been a more generic flyer without any Jestro-ish traits.
  22. Aanchir
    I love how much these sets express the girls' diverse range of interests and personalities. The character designs feel nice and diverse, the colors feel really bright and cheery, and there are a lot of great new animals! I know performance stages are nothing particularly new to Heartlake City, but I love that the new one features a puppet show! It looks like the puppets should be able to fit over the hands/arms of a mini-doll as well! While I'm a little bit disappointed that we still haven't gotten full-size houses for Andrea and Mia's families, the Friendship House is a pretty neat idea — a mega-sized clubhouse that all five friends can use as their headquarters!
  23. Aanchir
    I don't think the prospect for a more conventional Castle theme taking the place of Nexo Knights is quite so bleak. Nexo Knights is only the new paradigm for Castle sets if you interpret it as LEGO giving up on traditional castles, but I think the more realistic interpretation is just that they're taking a break from them to try something new for a few years while there's a "big bang" niche begging to be filled. Also, in general, "big bang" themes aren't meant to be long-runners. Even Ninjago wasn't intended to last beyond 2013 until it became clear partway through 2012 that it still had lots of momentum and an extremely passionate fanbase. So LEGO wouldn't be placing their hopes for the future of LEGO Castle on Nexo Knights becoming a lasting craze. Personally, I expect Castle to be renewed again, in some form, in 2019. The renewal cycle of LEGO Castle has actually been surprisingly consistent compared to a lot of other themes that are revisited more sporadically — new takes on LEGO Castle launched in 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. So expecting a new take on Castle to launch three years after Nexo Knights isn't a huge stretch. Now, whether it's the "classic castle theme" a lot of AFOLs crave depends on how narrowly they define that, because there are all kinds of different directions LEGO could take the Castle concept besides just "the way sets were in the 80s" and "neon cyber tech revolution".
  24. Aanchir
    It's certainly not just a recolor… after all, Nya's outfit is fitted to her figure. Plus, she's still got her segmented tassets from the movie wave to set her apart (the shape of which continues onto her torso print) and a different texture on the crossed fabric on her upper body. I really love that LEGO is continuing to play up Kai and Nya's parallels (like they did with their fusion armor in the Hands of Time wave).
  25. Aanchir
    A lot of them ARE modular in a sense, with interchangeable 8x16 rooms… but of course, they are in an open-backed dollhouse style.
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