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Hey Y’all:
It has been a long time since I have posted anything like the comments I am
about to make. One reason for the absence of such comments is that the advent
of Lego Direct has made more frequent such postings largely unnecessary -- that
is, if they ever were necessary to begin with -- a matter of some controversy,
no doubt. Sometimes one wants to have one’s ideas heard; sometimes one just
wants to rant whether anyone hears or not -- I have certainly done both in my
time. But as I peruse my current Summer 2003 S@H catalogue, I am reminded of
some of the issues that remain for us adult brick enthusiasts. Right now, I just
want to have my say while also hoping that someone in a position to do something
about some of it IS actually listening.
Let me begin by noting the many great things that are currently happening with
Lego bricks. First up is the excellent work coming out of and inspired by Lego
Direct. I feel quite sure that some of the better directions that TLC is
currently pursuing are due in no small part to what is going on with Lego Direct
-- at least that’s my sense of things from the outside. I also congratulate TLC
for it’s many new and extremely exciting product lines. I’m not talking about
junk like “Bio(expletive deleted)” or “Galidork” either (and no, I don’t care if
one sells well or if the other was an obviously ruinous venture); I am talking
about far greater stuff like the Legend, Classics, Designer, Inventor,
mini-scale, SW, MOC, and original Lego Direct creations. Many items that were
absent for too long from the accessory packs are now back in various forms.
There has also been much foliage, and at least some food items on offer for the
pleasure of our minifigures (I have my own “Sims-like” take on what minis want
and need to make them happy). Lots and lots of good things happening without a
doubt.
So what’s on my mind? What still needs addressing?
More accessory packs of basic stuff -- and slopes in particular. We still
need a lot of slopes in the basic building colors of red, blue, black, grey,
white, and yellow. I am speaking specifically of inside and outside corner, as
well as regular sloped bricks in all dimensions: 10, 18, 33, 45, 65, and 75
degrees. Capping slopes, double convex, inverted, and even slopes that could
transition from one angle to another would also be very welcome. I am fairly
pleased with the newer curved slopes that have been released but there too we
need greater variety of available colors. And maybe it’s just me, but I think
of the curved slopes as being too modern or too stylistically eccentric to be
used in place of the traditional flat planed slopes we are used to and that
better facilitate the modeling of real world structures (e.g. common rooftops).
I’d also like to see the return of accessory packs of achitectural objects. I
think it’s been at least a little while since I have seen the truly basic 1x2x2
window in white, red, or yellow available. We could use more stuff like that.
We still need greater access to regular 1x and 2x bricks. I am thrilled about
some of the newer accessory packs, like the ones for 1x plates; but I don’t
think some of the prices make any sense -- and they should make sense,
especially for regular bricks! 50 pcs. of 1x4 bricks at $5.99 USD is close to
$0.12 a brick! That’s not a good deal...
Speaking of prices, I note that the new #4511 “High Speed Train” set is $89.99
for only 333 pcs. If I didn’t already have track and a controller or three this
set might have been a great starter set. As it stands it seems like a “pass”
for those of us that are not willing to pay a premium of approximately $50 USD
for tracks and a controller we don’t need. Why isn’t there a collector’s
version of this set priced at say $40 USD for just the train and commuter
platform alone? I have a similar view of the #4512 “Cargo Train” set, except
that the premium on unwanted parts is even worse for that set. Do you people at
TLC actually expect anyone to want both sets? They both make a circle and come
with a controller!!! It would be so easy to just have a circle of track and a
controller as a well-marked add-on for newbies in the catalogue.
Lastly, I make a plea for more coherent advertising and packaging of sets. I
hate it when the images of sets are tampered with as they are on pgs. 30-31 of
the Summer catalogue. Some of the images are just simply blurry, others have
“speed” lines added in. Some of the sets are regularly rendered or photographed
with strange lighting effects that make the identification of element colors
quite difficult. I understand why and how this is done, but shouldn’t there also
always be a very clear image of what is included in the set? This might seem
like a minor complaint, but I have purchased some sets thinking I was getting
elements in colors other than what ultimately turned out to be the case. That’s
annoying. I should think TLC would be proud to advertise its products with as
much honesty as part of the process as possible.
Anyway, that’s about it for now. The slope issues has always been there and
still remains. I know there are things I might build that are impossible to
build without greater access to the needed variety and colors of slopes. I
should think that TLC wants to help me and everyone else build what strikes our
fancies. Shouldn’t my wallet be my only constraint?
Please note the multiple newsgroups to which I have posted this statement and
set followups as appropriate for your possible replies.
-- Hop-Frog
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Hear! Hear!
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| (...) still (...) grey, (...) corner, as (...) 75 (...) could (...) fairly (...) we (...) think (...) be (...) that (...) rooftops). I couldn't agree with you more on this one, Richard. The continuing lack of convex and concave corners of any kind (...) (21 years ago, 13-Jul-03, to lugnet.general, lugnet.market.shopping, lugnet.lego.direct)
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