Happy New Year

Nuclear Lego Man
Originally uploaded by bixentro

With the new year, I bought a #10193 Medieval Market Village... I haven't had time to put it together yet, but I'm looking forward to it... And from the time images of 2009 sets started to leak onto Eurobricks and Flickr, I'm really looking forward to this year's line up.

It feels like there's been a renaissance of sorts, that we've collectively have emerged from a dark age of product design & bad business decisions by the LEGO group. It seems like new life has been breathed back into themes like Town and Castle, we're seeing the resurrection of Pirate, and with the new year, there's rumors of a new Space line. I just got my new 2009 LEGO catalog; I'm seeing sets in it that I want to buy and build for the sake of the set & not buy because it sucks and I just want the parts -- this is saying something, I haven't felt this way about many sets in a long time.

I only have a few warnings/complaints for the LEGO group, but because the company is turning profitable, I don't see these things changing any time soon: (1) not everyone can afford $200+ sets; make more $3, $7, $12 sets; (2) stop producing sets that cater to the "collectors" market, then frown upon it when you see it's ugly side at LEGO conventions; by making these collector sets, you're feeding the monster; and finally, (3) don't make the mistake of treating all fans and collectors as being the same, we're not!

Anyway, here's to a new year! May this be a better year for you than last!

Old Lego Catalogs

My BrickLink shop is closed until 2/27, so I can settle up with current orders... In the mean time, I've been adding catalogs and instructions to the shop. The funny thing is, I was flipping through an American Lego catalog from 2003 -- there's is a slight number difference (4200364 vs. 4200116) -- trying to notice any picture difference between the two catalogs -- there was none. But as I was flipping through, I'm thinking, damn... I wish the sets from 2003 were still around for me to buy; I wouldn't mind having another 2-3 copies of this set... and that set... And then I realize, it was back before the gray/brown color change... That's why I'm so fond of some of the sets from 2003.

Then I hit the Galidor page and realize, maybe it wasn't so great in 2003...