Subject:
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Re: Appreciating what TLG and Lego Direct have done for AFOL's
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.lego
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Date:
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Mon, 22 Nov 2004 01:37:17 GMT
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In lugnet.lego, Gerhard R. Istok wrote:
Gary, I agree with a lot of your post, but there are a few things that I wanted
to comment on:
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Lego castles will look much better with 2 shades of gray mixed together, it
will look real and not perfect.
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Well, yes, as long as the two shades are old gray and old dark gray. Basically,
while I agree that people should STFU about the color change--no one is forcing
us to spend money and time on Lego, after all--the fact is that mixing the old
and new grays in a large MOC really doesn’t work.
(I just re-read my above sentence and it seems a bit harsh, so let me clarify my
position on the color change--I don’t like it and have only bought six sets with
new gray. And while I’m still buying a decent amount of non-new gray sets, in
years past, six sets would work out to what I would buy in about three weeks.
However, I don’t obsess over the issue or expect Lego to change back. They can
do whatever they please, and I’ll make my purchasing decisions accordingly.
Worrying about the marketing decisions of a children’s toy company tells me that
one needs to spend more time volunteering in one’s community. Furthermore,
throwing Jake under the bus for this is tantamount to blaming a musician onboard
the Titanic for hitting the iceberg. And only a cynic of, well, titanic
proportions would accuse me of drawing a parallel between Jake and the guys whom
continued to play their instruments in service to their institution while the
ship went down.)
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And for the Factory, they started with Town. So what! It seems like
everytime TLG starts some initiative (for the AFOL community) there are always
people who whine about it. Oh what about castle or what about space or what
about this or that. Heck they cannot do everything at once for everyone.
Besides Town has been ignored for quite a number of years.
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I agree wholeheartedly. Even if I’m not excited by what the factory offers
right now, the mere premise of it should make all AFOL hearts flutter.
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Today we can buy Lego elements in colors we never even dreamed of 4 years ago.
Today I can buy dozens of different parts in Maersk Blue in Bricklink (or
dozens of other colors). But some people just are caught up in always looking
at the negative.
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Well, I for one am very glad that Lego is finally cutting the number of colors
in the palate--my only complaint is that they aren’t going far enough (roughly
120 to 60, I believe). I would much rather have only 20 colors (but
available in every part) than 100 colors of which over 75% only come in a
ridiculously tiny variety of parts. Seems that would be quite a bit cheaper for
Lego, too...
And while I love the idea of the “spring cleaning” sets, I’ve seen 52 distinct
colors come out of them! And yes, most of them are only in one or two shapes,
which makes it more difficult--but not impossible, of course--to base a MOC
around them (FYI, I don’t consider these ‘new gray’ sets, since from what I’ve
seen, there is almost no new gray in them).
As for Bricklink, while it is a great resource (despite the fact that I
personally use it sparingly), it has nothing to do with Lego, the company. In
fact, it should probably be considered an indictment of TLG; Bricklink is very
ably filling a void that the company is only now starting to exploit via PAB.
So yes, I would agree that Bricklink is wildly successful and it has part of the
credit for numerous high-quality MOCs. However, don’t make the mistake of
praising TLG for Bricklink.
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But since 2001 I have now come to this realization.... in the 55 years that
Lego has been on this planet, there is no better time to be an AFOL than right
now, and it is getting better!
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You are right about this, but as I mentioned above, it isn’t all due to the
actions of the company...the AFOL community is really what makes it great (yes,
I’ve drunk the WAMALUG Kool-Aid since moving to DC). Of course, the company has
improved drastically in a number of areas, especially with regards to sets
created specifically for adults (three letters for anyone who argues this point:
ISD). And while the “classic” lines have been eviscerated (IMHO, town, space,
and castle are deader than dead right now), that really doesn’t have as great an
impact on AFOLs as most people seem to think. After all, I can get 30 great
castle windows from a handful of Harry Potter sets as easily as from actual
castle sets.
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P.S. Jake, I know that some days you ask yourself if all this is worth it,
well you have my (and a lot of other AFOLs) heartfelt thanks for what you are
trying to doing for us. God bless you.
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Yes, anyone who disparages Jake and his efforts is blind. The idea that one man
who doesn’t even work at the company’s continental headquarters (much less the
worldwide HQ) could make the company focus on adults overnight (overnight equals
less than five years for a company this old) is ludicrous. Jake, keep fighting
the good fight.
Derek
PS of my own--pardon my overly long and rambling prose, I’m very sleep-deprived
right now and that lends a certain ponderousness to my already formidably
overwrought writing style.
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Appreciating what TLG and Lego Direct have done for AFOL's
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| Hi Jake, I NEVER get involved with controversial issues on LUGNET, but I couldn't stay quiet any longer (or I might explode into a million minifig parts). First off, the color change thing. OK, it's a done deal. People GET OVER IT!!!! If you don't (...) (20 years ago, 19-Nov-04, to lugnet.lego) !!
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