Subject:
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Re: what makes a legend?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.lego.direct
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Date:
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Sat, 20 Oct 2001 01:53:02 GMT
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Viewed:
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709 times
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Brad & All,
> We're having a debate here in the ABS-paved halls of LEGO Direct that I'd
> like to throw open to the community.
Thanks for the honor, sir! : )
> The topic is: what makes a LEGO Legend a legend? Or, more precisely, if we
> cannot bring back a set precisely as it was (or pretty darn close), can it
> still qualify as a Legend?
Hmm... it really depends on the set. Some sets, which are pretty easy to
replicate in terms of parts selections, a few parts either changed or
modified is fine.I think most of the LUGNET community can live with the
updated or slightly modified parts. If you try to subsititue a Town Junior
car body instead of the 4 or 5 parts that the original set had, then you
might have problems.
> In my June announcement of the LEGO Legends series, I wrote that "LEGO
> Legends are reissues of landmark LEGO sets -- perhaps the first set in a
> particular playtheme, or a set widely acknowledged as a superlative building
> experience, or perhaps simply a much beloved set."
Indeed.
> The first three offerings in the series -- the Guarded Inn, Metroliner, and
> Club Car not only meet the above criteria, but are as faithful to their
> originals as we could possibly make them. Setting aside boneheaded mistakes
> like (doh!) putting an Indian horse in a medieval castle set (unless, of
> course, you were going for the "Tudor Teepee" look),
LOL! : )
> these three sets vary only slightly from their honored ancestors -- minor
> differences, such as "ventilated" minifig heads instead of the original
> solid ones
That is a minimal concern, as long as the classic smiley is there! : )
> Now we are considering where we go next with this line. We've gone back to
> the early 90s with the Metroliner and Club Car, and to 1986 for the Guarded
> Inn. Now we'd like to dial the Wayback Machine a bit further back... and
> here's where we start to run into "issues."
Uh-oh!
> Without revealing what specific sets we have under consideration (hey, we're
> trying to maintain an aura of mystery here!), the dilemma is this: in
> general, the farther back we go, the more compromises are necessary in order
> to make the set.
I can imagine. I worked at a plastic injection molding plant, and they had
dies form the 60's, if you can belive that, they shipped in to try to run.
Heh heh.
> For example: the old metal-axle wheelsets? Forget it.
> They're not coming back; we're stuck with the wheels we've got now.
Well, I have literally hundreds of those in my personal collection, and I
think that can be a safe modification, since it is a realatively minor
concern (IMO, YMMV).
> Baseplates and road plates have changed, too -- on some of the road plates,
> we use one fewer stud now (8 instead of 9) between the roads and the edge of
> the plate -- which could affect the "look" and arrangement of sets using
> those plates (e.g. buildings could be closer together than in the
> originals).
Right, and the colors too. Runways, space plates, LEGO baseplates have an
interesting history, like the fact I have all of them from the late
seventies to the green ones of today.
> And the list goes on: unavailability of certain decorated
> elements (though we could use stickers);
I think that is acceptable. I would love to see them come out replacement
wise. My Classic and Futuron men could use a new uniform! : )
> the need to use slightly different
> elements to replace an element for which we no longer have the mold; and so
> on. You see the problems...
Indeed. You might consider taking a private poll of differnet people on
LUGNET and others and seeing what their reaction would be, as in you buy the
XX set with green plates instead of gray ones, etc. It might give you a
better direction in terms of decision making. Lord knows what I would say if
I was in your shoes.
> We can bring back almost any set (but before you ask: the Airport Shuttle is
> not in the cards -- there's no way to get the motors and track -- and
> believe me, I'm as disappointed about this as you are).
NNNOOOOOO!!!!!! Not even the track? Oh, Brad, I have enough motors, give me
track!!!!! (Scott, slowly crying)
Sorry... anyway....
> The thing is, we can't bring them all back *exactly* as they once were.
> There are some sets which are comprised largely of basic elements, with a
> few rarer bits thrown in. And there are others which require compromise. And > then there are those which require a whole lot of compromise.
What a decision. Let me take a few sets that I would like to see. Galaxy
Explorer, or maybe the Blacktron 1 Alienator. Say you can get 80 or 90% of
the original parts. Just to get close, even with stickers, I would buy those
in a minute. However, if it is a Unitron set (No offense to you Unitron
fans, I like them too, just picking out a less known Space set, IMO) , or
another less popoular set, maybe you would see a less postivie reaction.
> So here's my question for you all: how much compromise can you live with?
> Should we just cross any older Town set off the consideration list because
> we can't use the metal-axle wheelsets?
No, axles are not a big deal IMO. I think half of the problem is to getting
the set to be pretty much the samee as the original. If it has specialty
pieces that can still be produced, I say go for it. However, if those
specialty pieces are rare, and not made anymnore, and they do get
subsituted. people might not be as inclined to buy them. Maybe you can get a
poll of parts that you are thinking of comprimising, and the replacements,
and see what people think.
> Are stickers ok?
Yes.
> How many changes are
> allowed before it's not a Legend anymore? Where do you -- where should we --
> draw the line? Is the Legend in the spirit of the overall set or in the
> details?
I guess it really depends on the set, and how much change there is.
> Next year, we hope to give you at least one opportunity to vote -- from a
> short list of candidates -- for the Legend set you'd like to see us make.
> When we post the contenders we'll be specific about any changes we'll have
> to make from the original. But it would be incredibly helpful to us now to
> know how far we can go with those changes.
I guess in conclusion, I would say some changes are unavoidable, and
understandable, comprimises will have to occur, but if at the end, you can
sit back and say, I finally got set X, I think no matter what small changes
do occur, I think most people will be happy. I am anxiously awaiting my club
cars, as I never go those the first time around. : )
Brad, on behalf of all of us here at LUGNET, I want to thank you for your
continuing efforts in this manner, a few yeaes ago, when I first came on
LUGNET, and I heard something that LEGO would be bringing back older sets, I
probably would not belive it. It is truly an honor to see you here, and to
ask for our input. I would love to help in any way if I can.
> We've received great input from the community here, and from many of you
>individually, on the direction we're taking with products coming from LEGO
>Direct. We need some of that input now. Please help us make next year's
>Legends everything you want them to be.
>
> Thanks in advance for your help.
Thank you!
> Play Well!
As soon as I finish some orders, I will. I am going to MichLUG's 1st
anniversary get together tomorrow, and it will be a blast! Thanks to LEGO
Direct for it's help!
Sincerely,
Scott Sanburn
--
http://www.scottesanburn.org/legoindex.html
>
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: what makes a legend?
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| (...) Heehee! Actually, since I never bought the Wild West Native sets, and I already have many Castle sets, the addition of this "Barbarian Horse" was strangely welcome in my collection... (...) Hey! Now there's an idea... Imagine having a (...) (23 years ago, 23-Oct-01, to lugnet.lego.direct)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | what makes a legend?
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| We're having a debate here in the ABS-paved halls of LEGO Direct that I'd like to throw open to the community. The topic is: what makes a LEGO Legend a legend? Or, more precisely, if we cannot bring back a set precisely as it was (or pretty darn (...) (23 years ago, 19-Oct-01, to lugnet.lego.direct) !!
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