Set Spoiler Rant

I told a friend yesterday that I'd rant about this, so here I go...

<rant>
Like many of you, I love it when LEGO releases new sets. I look forward to Christmas time, awaiting the release of next year's line, sometimes just in time for Christmas... And in a similar line of thinking, I look forward to going to LEGO conventions -- I have been for the past 8 years -- and it's always nice to see a set premiered by The LEGO Group at a fan convention, before the "official" online announcement... We get to see it, touch it, and examine it up close.

Now with a few days before Brickworld, I'm starting to HATE sets leaks that show up days/weeks before a LEGO convention -- the magic is gone in the name of being "the first" to announce it online. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks information like this is held back just long enough to spoil it for everyone.
</rant>

In the mean time, enjoy a video of a LEGO War Machine costume in the process of being built!

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!

#10179 Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon

So I just got the pre-order announcement from LEGO Shop@Home about ordering your copy of the Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon. And here's what's funny about it:

1. It won't ship to OCTOBER 1, 2007!
2. The set is $499.99! (but free shipping if you order now, limit 5)
3. It'll take me until October 2007 to save up enough money to buy one!

Somebody is really pandering to the Star Wars fan community... I'll get off my soap box now...

More BrickMaster Disappointments

Looks like I'm not the only one that was disappointed in the selection of sets sent out in this year's BrickMaster subscription. A few have been talking about it over on BrickLink. The conversation starts out by asking a question, then it goes down hill from there.

Happy Thanksgiving

So I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, but I also wanted to comment on the turkey of a gift that I got from LEGO as part of my BrickMaster subscription... I got a #4906, a 16 piece Creator set. Now, I pay good money for this subscription only to get a crappy 16 piece set? WTF? I've been very happy with my BrickMaster subscription up until now... this just seems like a real let down. And in my most recent LEGO catalog, they offer this set as an 'exclusive' set -- HA! That's funny... what is LEGO thinking?

I should be more thankful... I'm thankful for my wife! I'm thankful that my wife is making a Oreo cheesecake this morning -- it smells delicious! I'm thankful that my family is healthy. I'm thankful for a place to live & that my wife & I are employed. I'm thankful for good friends. So I guess I should be thankful that LEGO hasn't gone out of business -- I know they try hard despite their stupid marketing department. :)

That Old Lego Feeling

Reinhard "Ben" Beneke echo my thoughts lately:

I feel a general loss of interest in LEGO: blay and the end of 9V (which I take for guaranteed) have shown me how unimportant we are. Lots of broken promises from LEGO employees over the past 3 years have proven, that LEGO is not differing from other "bad" companies like Mercedes (now having quality trouble as LEGO); Microsoft, GE or Siemens. Old values do not count anything when you can sell them for a few pennies... Fan of LEGO System and SYSTEM colours 1964...2003.

On Saving Lego Castle...

I think Lego was lucky to tap into the Star Wars collector's market... Cheap robots has been another market the Lego Group have been able to tap into... But here's my idea... to "save" casle -- and I say this tongue in cheekly -- there are thousands of people spending hundres of millions of dollars on World of Warcraft minitures armies... some have found that it's cheaper to build armies in Lego. I say release castle minifig packs again, marketed with these people in line... let the product line have Orcs, Goblins, bring back the Harry Potter Ogre, Elves, Dwarfs... not something that fans have pieced together from different sets over time, but themed this way... Give each minifig a 4x4 green plate to stand on (or a 4x6 plate if the minifig is mounted on a horse), different heads, torsos, legs, at least 1 to 2 different weapon for each minifig, a few helmets, shields, armor... Have a baddies pack, base on the same idea... They'll sell.

Update:  TLG has done this to some extent with Battle Pack Knights and Battle Pack Skeletons.  All they need now are battle pack dwarves, orcs, and trolls.  :)

Stupid K-Mart.com

So get this... I get the paper on Sunday & see that K-Mart has a 'buy one get one half off' sale on Lego. Since they closed most of the K-Marts in Columbus, decided that I'd go on-line & see if I can buy a few sets. Now, I was out at TRU's web-site earlier that day, they have the same sale going on... They give you a coupon to enter when you check out to get items on sale... So I go on K-Marts web-site thinking they might have a similar situation. I looked on-line, found a few sets that I wanted to buy, added them to my cart, then started looking for a coupon... hm... I found the circular from my area, but didn't find a coupon.

So I decided to call their customer service number... hit the #2 to connect to K-Mart.com support... and they're closed... and guess what, they don't tell you when their open hours are!

Decided to wait till 9pm EST... Called again & finally got a hold of someone. Well, guess what... the circular only applies to those going into a store, it doesn't apply on-line. STUPID!

"I can apply the sale to your order, if you want to go ahead & place an order on-line...", the CSR said. "Right...", I thought to myself. I just don't want to go through the hassle. Only to have them screw it up & I spend another few hours of my time fighting to get my money back.

It's just stupid, frustrating, & needless to say, K-Mart didn't get my business. It's no wonder they're loosing money, when their technology can't meet the needs of their customers... Or they can't adopt their business to changing technology.