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Subject: 
Re: Toy vs Model...The real issue (was Re: Another 6wide/8wide ramble)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains
Date: 
Thu, 24 Feb 2000 23:35:19 GMT
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Ben Roller <broller@clemson.edu> wrote in message
news:FqGGKz.C3G@lugnet.com...
In lugnet.trains, John Neal writes:
I know you feel that LEGO is just a toy, Ben.  And if that were my • attitude,
then I would have no reason for building anything wider than 6.

I think this point is key.  8 widers seem to think of Lego trains as • models,
where a majority of 6 widers (there are exceptions) see them as toys.  My
opinion is that 6 or 8 wide in your own collection is up to you, but Lego • needs
to keep making them 6 wide.  Lego is a toy company that makes toys.  If • some
people want to make models with those toys, that's alright, but it's a far
stretch to expect a toy company to support the modeling community with • toys.

Ben Roller

I say they should make what people want.  If some people want 8 wide trains,
then they should look at making them 8 wide, or at least able to be
increased to 8 wide.  If people want larger radius track, then make larger
radius track.  I would hate to hear them say, "Well, we could make wider
radius track, better points with remote control, DCC engines and a train RCX
that had a sound module for prototypical sounds, but let's not do that
because those are model train things and we make toys."

I want a bigger radius track curve.  I want a points to be fixed so that
trains can swap tracks point to point (and still have the track line up).  I
want remote control points.

I see Lego as a toy that IS a model.  Sure, it is not scaled properly like a
highly detailed HO scale train set, but then again, those things are not
perfect, either.  They also have items that are not in proper scale and
details that were left off because they were too small.  Lego just doesn't
have the resolution.  Taken another way, take a photo and scan it in at 300
dpi in 16 bit color.  It is still a picture.  Scan it in at 36 dpi in 4 bit
color and it is still the same picture, but at a lower resolution.  You
can't say that it isn't a picture any more, or else a 2400 dpi true color
will come along and make your 300dpi scan a "non-picture."

True, Lego is a toy.  But even toys have to have some sense of reality in
some regards.  I see people malign the 4559 train because it isn't based on
anything real.  It isn't realistic and looks stupid.  Well, if it was just a
toy, it wouldn't matter, but it does, otherwise, we would think the train
wash was cool and the 4559 looks fun.  So it has to be something more than
just a toy with no relation to reality.  It must capture some essense of
reality to be good in our eyes.  Hence, the 4558 passes and the 4559 fails.
John and I (and a few others) just want a little more.

I can take selective compression, but prefer to not have it.  It just looks
out of whack to me, and where possible, I avoid it.  Many other toy
companies also look to avoid it in favor of more realistic looking toys.  I
don't see Hot Wheels or Matchbox making cars that look like the ones I see
in the 4561.

Mike Poindexter



Message has 2 Replies:
  Re: Toy vs Model...The real issue (was Re: Another 6wide/8wide ramble)
 
(...) The problem with TLC is that they DO WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT. The old 12V trains were too complicated for younger children and needed much care. Thus, they were replaced by the easier-to-handle 9V ones. The trend continues; modern sets consist of (...) (25 years ago, 24-Feb-00, to lugnet.trains)  
  Re: Toy vs Model...The real issue (was Re: Another 6wide/8wide ramble)
 
(...) By the same token, An 8-wide tarin layout in the same area as a 6-wide layout will (from a distance) look MORE toy-like simply because the trains will have a shorter run before 'chasing their tails'. Or, put another way, if you are into (...) (25 years ago, 25-Feb-00, to lugnet.trains)

Message is in Reply To:
  Toy vs Model...The real issue (was Re: Another 6wide/8wide ramble)
 
(...) I think this point is key. 8 widers seem to think of Lego trains as models, where a majority of 6 widers (there are exceptions) see them as toys. My opinion is that 6 or 8 wide in your own collection is up to you, but Lego needs to keep making (...) (25 years ago, 24-Feb-00, to lugnet.trains)

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