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 08:32:57 GMT
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Viewed:
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686 times
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"Brad Justus" <legodirect@lego.com> wrote in message
news:GLH3tC.Iw@lugnet.com...
[snip]
> 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. For example: the old metal-axle wheelsets? Forget it.
> They're not coming back; we're stuck with the wheels we've got now.
> 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). And the list goes on: unavailability of certain decorated
> elements (though we could use stickers); 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...
How does not having the mold for an element affect it's reproducibility? I
would have thought that with all of the latest and greatest laser measuring
technology there would be *some* way of getting a new master mold for a
particular piece, providing you had the original piece to measure off from.
But there is probably a cost involved in doing this so you're not too keen
on it for that reason? Or does it go much, much deeper than that?
> 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). 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.
Can you elaborate a bit more when you say "there's no way"? I would have
thought that suitably functional replacements could be found for the motor
units, and as for the track, well, I guess it depends on how perfectly one
could remaster a mold for the pieces needed.
> 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? Are stickers ok? 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?
Stickers are *not* okay. Let me just say that they tend to wear at a
different rate to the plastic piece they're stuck to, over time. I have
stickered pieces in my parts that not only are differently colored to the
originals, they're also a lot newer looking than the plastic they're stuck
to. It makes them look kind of odd, and it does make gettting them cleaned
up impossible, unless someone can invent a solution that does not have
anything attacking the stickers themselves and only the grime and scratching
on the plastic part.
In any case, if the part involved an imprint on a sloped piece, as did
*many* Space sets, it would be pretty much impossible to develop a sticker
that would not only look good, but also be thin enough to not have a rather
un-LEGO-like 'stuck on' appearance, instead of looking like the originals
did.
I don't mind the wheelsets not being metal - in fact, if you offered
suitable plastic replacements that would go under the old models as easily
as the new rereleases, I'd in fact jump at a chance to replace my metal
wheelsets - that bit of wire used for the axle does tend to rust, and
badly!!
> 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.
Well, I think you need to tell people how far you could be willing to go
with the changes - you didn't seem very clear about just how far you were
able to go ... And that, could be as helpful as people posting about what
they want. Which, of course, is as far as you can possibly get it. ;-)
> 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.
I hope my input is of some help. I don't know how far you can go, but I
hope you could go far enough that people's dreams could be a reality. If
you are able to reproduce things far enough that they catch the spirit of
what you're attempting to rerelease, it may well be a success - otherwise,
it may fail badly.
--
Cheers ...
Geoffrey Hyde
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: what makes a legend?
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| (...) Sure, there is SOME way (...) But that's it. Cost. This is a low budget operation and molds are not cheap. Precision tolerances are pricey. I have heard numbers batted around that I have a bit of faith in even though they were speculation... (...) (23 years ago, 20-Oct-01, to lugnet.lego.direct)
| | | Re: what makes a legend?
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| (...) Lego Direct cannot, as a matter of policy, create new molds for its sets, so it has a big impact. (This is a totally different restriction than that of using existing molds with new colors, as has already been done in LD sets.) One specific (...) (23 years ago, 21-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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