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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Sun, 21 Oct 2001 17:15:36 GMT
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Reply-To:
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mtimm@usinternet.comNOSPAM
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Viewed:
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704 times
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On Fri, 19 Oct 2001 22:00:48 GMT, "Brad Justus" <legodirect@lego.com>
wrote:
> 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 close), can it
> still qualify as a Legend?
>
> 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."
>
> 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), these three sets vary
> only slightly from their honored ancestors -- minor differences, such as
> "ventilated" minifig heads instead of the original solid ones are all that
> set them apart.
>
> 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."
>
> 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...
Changes that keep the spirit and character of a set 'alive' are fine
(i.e. the wheels and the hollow studs on the minifig head). To use
another's example, making a #375/6075 Yellow Castle with the various
wall bricks are not.
I'd have to go against stickers VS printed if at ALL possible, in some
cases it's a big issue. Its the durability part of it here, I have
nothing against stickers just because they are stickers, they just
tend to not last as long as printing. If you DO go with stickers,
PLEASE, oh PLEASE do *NOT* use stickers for minifigs. We KNOW you can
still print those, and it shouldn't be to hard to setup the machines
to redo old prints. Well it should be about the same difficultly as
reproducing the setups for making stickers for the minifigs.
>
> 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.
>
> 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?
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> Play Well!
>
> -- Brad
>
> Brad Justus
> Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct
I'll add a few suggestions that I'd like to see here :^) Oh inline
comments with the suggestions.
497 Galaxy Explorer (oh ya!)
(Crucial to get the trans yellow elements, beyond that baring the
printed slope I'd see the base plates being the hang-up here, the
crater plate shouldn't be too hard, it was last seen in Aquazone, it
looks like the landing plate would be the potential problem here).
383/6083 Knight's Tournament
(depending upon the tree availability, changing the horses would be
alright here btw. But that'd require a new barding print so figure
the odds are low here, bummer)
677/6077 Knight's Procession
(Ok so the wheels would have to change, other thing would be the
torso/shield design. Neither SHOULD be a big issue though. It might
be a smaller play value by itself, BUT people would buy TONS and it
should be very affordable in price)
5059/5135/5138/5184/5383 Castle Accessories/Castle Equipment (service
packs)
(if not a reissue of one of these, then a new one with the current
shields and weapons, helms and etc, just try and avoid crowns, most of
us have enough of those already :^)
Kinda in general, don't neglect the small sets or possibly service
packs.
You Direct guys are going in the correct direction here with the
Legends and Sculptures and reissues, keep it up.
Also, don't think I've said it recently, thanks for what you are doing
in Direct, it gives us hope.
Mike
--
All other themes are just spare parts for Castle! :^)
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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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