Subject:
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Re: Set #148: Scales in Transition
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Wed, 10 May 2000 16:53:14 GMT
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Viewed:
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751 times
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Excellent point, Gary.
So, really, scale is not the issue here. I think that is what
I was trying to get at, but I could not put my finger on it,
like you did. :)
TLC, does not seem to be concerned with scale, and I don't
think that is the crux of the issue. They introduced larger
doors to increase play value, not to bring buildings into
better scale. Same thing could be said about making the cars
hold minifigs. Heck, minifigs themselves favor playability over
realism. And the tools and utensils. And open-backed buildings.
And the list goes on. If they were truly interested in scale,
they would not have stopped at introducing larger doors -- they
would have made more proportional figures, and buildings with
larger rooms, etc.
TLG is all about playability (more now than ever). I think that
today's Juniorization is just the latest step in that direction.
I'll bet that the change in focus from "architectural" to "doll-
house like playability" would have been just as shunned today's
Juniorization by AFOLs back in the 70's, if there would have
been a lot of us back then. In a sense, it was an early form of
Juniorization. By the end of the 70's most of those classic
doors and windows were probably gone, in favor of the newer
1x4x5 doors and 1x3x4 windows, which lent themselves better
to play.
So, anyway, I'd still say set 148 is interesting. But not
because it has a mix of scales, but because it contains a mix
of design philosophies.
"Gary Istok" <gistok@umich.edu> wrote in message
news:391987F4.5E7635CA@umich.edu...
> Mark, I think that LEGO was undergoing a philosophical change in
> building designs. Prior to the 70's, all LEGO Town buildings had 4
> walls and no interior access. After the 70's all LEGO buildings had 3
> walls with the 4th being open for access for interior minifig action
> (sort of like a dollhouse). Like you said, in 148 - the tower was too
> small for any stairs or minifig room. This was the evolution that TLC
> was going thru. The 400 set had an opening door on the main floor, but
> a smaller classic door on the balcony level. And 365 had all building
> doors as the swinging type, with the stagecoach doors of the classic
> type (the stagecoach was too small for any minifig anyway). TLC was
> getting away from purely exterior architecture and heading towards the
> "dollhouse" type of play action for LEGO.
>
> Gary Istok
>
> Mark Koesel wrote:
>
> > Set 365 Wild West Scene combines those two types of doors
> > also.
> >
> > But, I'm sort of confused by the way you are classifying
> > scales. Forgetting about door size for a moment -- neither
> > the tower nor the over pass are even big enough to hold a
> > minifig. So, even if you replace the door in the tower
> > with a 1x3x4 door (which would look bad because the tower
> > is only 4 studs wide), you still have ambiguity in scale.
> >
> > Note that the 1x2x3 door in set 365 is used on a carriage.
> > In that case it can easily be justified; a carriage would
> > naturally have a smaller door than a building.
> >
> > I think the real problem is that, in general, mini-figs are
> > not truly in scale with much of anything in "Legoland", even
> > today. Part of this is due to the fact that they are not
> > proportioned in a "true to life" way, whereas most other
> > things in Legoland are. Since the 70's they have at least
> > made the doors larger (probably because it was a glaring
> > detriment to play-value) and the cars are at least large
> > enough to hold figures (probably for the same reason), but
> > they haven't made the rooms any bigger or the cars any wider
> > (although some vehicles are wider), and they've made the
> > wheels even larger! And tools and utensils are still too
> > big. :)
> >
> > Such is life :)
> >
> > "Eric McCarthy" <bendyarm@aol.com> wrote in message
> > news:3918837F.697B@aol.com...
> > > Set #148: Scales in Transition
> > >
> > > This message is about Lego set #148,
> > > http://www.lugnet.com/pause/search/?query=148
> > >
> > > This set from 1975 is interesting because it has
> > > a mix of scales. It was made during a time when
> > > the regular sets represented many different
> > > scales, as if the Lego company were trying to
> > > decide what scale to settle on for the standard
> > > play system. This confusion seems to be captured
> > > by the 148.
>
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Set #148: Scales in Transition
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| (...) I agree, the changing philosophy was the driving force, and the mix of scales is a consequence of that. It is interesting that the changing philosophy was not carried through consistently (e.g., with redesigned doors that the figs fit through) (...) (25 years ago, 10-May-00, to lugnet.general)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Set #148: Scales in Transition
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| Mark, I think that LEGO was undergoing a philosophical change in building designs. Prior to the 70's, all LEGO Town buildings had 4 walls and no interior access. After the 70's all LEGO buildings had 3 walls with the 4th being open for access for (...) (25 years ago, 10-May-00, to lugnet.general)
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