What is it about modern LEGO that rubs me the wrong way? It's not just how 99% of everything is license-themed or pandering to AFOLs (although these are part of the problem). It also feels like they're giving you less while disguising it as more. The way that newer builds look and feel cheap and bare-bones while also bloating the piece count. Getting rid of baseplates and other single-mold specialty pieces to save money.Is anyone else seeing this?I know it's not just LEGO, other toys are suffering in this day and age. But I'm not going to pretend that THEY'VE STILL GOT IT like /lg/ does.
>>11275922The concept of this house is too stretched-out. I'm thinking of the Poolside Paradise set (which besides having a molded baseplate contains 206 other parts, i.e. fewer than half the parts in the OP set). Poolside Paradise is built around the curved window area; this is featured prominently on the box art and catalog shots because it's the main element of the structure.The OP house has a greenhouse that's too small to actually do much in (can a minifig even fit inside that room?), but the sheltered garage eats up a lot of pieces to create that level of detailing, which really isn't worth it IMO because there's not much to do in the otherwise bare area besides plug in the car. There's no box for the kid's sports toys, just a sign on the wall for how an electric car works. Overall, the whole set feels more like an adult model of a house, rather than a fun model that evokes the imagination.
>>11275927OP here>the whole set feels more like an adult model of a house, rather than a fun model that evokes the imagination.You're on to something; the fault does seem to lie on the designers thinking "this is only cool to adult me" instead of "what would kids like?"
>>11275927The key play feature on the "smart house" is supposed to be "Wow, kids will have so much fun... plugging in the EV to charge it!"
>>11275922Lego is weirdly obsessed with pushing soccer-playing minifigs in sets, but the Lego soccer ball doesn't connect to any other pieces unless there's a tire in that specific diameter that it can fit inside. It's just a small ball that easily gets lost.Imagine if, instead of a soccer ball and goal, they had used that six-wide windscreen frame to make a car large enough for the entire family to ride in.
>>11275942They're also obsessed with putting poop pieces and toilets in sets but that's a different story.
>>11275922I think Ideas was a mistake.MOCs are no longer special or cool if you can literally just buy one off the shelf. What's even the point?Not to mention that almost every set is some bullshit sculpture or over designed model kit.
>>11275922>>11275947I dunno man, this thing I found in the model train thread on here looks pretty promising.https://ideas.lego.com/s/p:8b964aca6f3d4d1591ac23a8949de9f8
>>11275959LOL they never approve train sets or they severely strip them down from their original concept like the Orient Express.LEGO hates trains and they have since like 2011
I’m a classic 90’s kid and just don’t get the appeal of the new sets. Don’t want to repeat what has already been said in other threads
>licensed themeI wrote a letter to Lego asking them to make ghostbusters sets in ‘99. I got a really nice letter back saying they can’t because of licensing reasons. >mfw I planted the seed
>>11275977LEGO are shameless whores for ANY license now. ANYTHING.
>>11275922You are paying at least 50% more for 1/4 set than you were.
>>11275977IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT FUCK YOU
Wow, no sovl. Now go look at the sales of licensed shit and their own ip's and see which one keeps the lights on.
I agree that the piece count is inflated with all the tiny details they sprinkle around like, watermelon pieces and stuff.But I still like the construction of the new house more. The "right" way to play is to either tear down the set after a few days and build whatever you want, or iterate over the original build and add or modify things. From that perspective the sets pieces from the new one will be more useful.What I think they are dropping the ball on are the train sets (they are either expensive, bad, or both) and lack of the catalogue like the ones you found in the bigger sets from 80s or 90s.
>>11275922Lol, they made a Lego figure of Kevin Smith
>278 pieces
>>11276148>1061 pieces>giant stickers
>>11275962to be fair, they made 60337, which IMO is the best passenger train they made since 4558.
>>11276359they make the passenger train and cargo train and refresh them every so often (usually making them worse)but anything else? forget about it
>>11275922>What is it about modern LEGO that rubs me the wrong way?that they charge the price of limited edition artist made statues for a singular shitty plastic set?hmm shall i get the 100 limited pieces statue or a fucking lego kit for 2k.
>>11275927paradisa had so much soul it was practically oozing with iti regret not picking them up when I was a kid but I wasn't that into the "girly" aesthetic of it
>>11275922>electric car>solar panels>black coded hair pieces (both of them originated in licensed sets)>kid with hearing aidsurprised that the toilet in it didn't include a poop-piece as chef's kiss
>>11276506It wasn't too girly, there were just so many good sets in the 90s like pirates, wild west, and the Indiana Jones themes. Paradiso just fell to the side as a city theme with different colors. I would love to have those sets, and the pizza place from Lego Island.
>>11276515This man is a collector. Nu lego seems to always have some scatological parts.
>>11275922Most of the sets today have great looks but have barrely space to playI'm a big fan of the 80's and 90's style of building. With the available range of pieces they had they more or less perfected a more abstract style that was easy to build for kids, fun to play with but still specific enough to resemble real-life or make-believe subjects. What you call just plain boring and blocky i think is a good style on its own. Ofcourse this is highly subjective. But seeing what parts they had to work with, the more minimal aproach was a good decision in my opinion.The fact that "even bad guys had smiley faces" is another product of this that i actually really like. Instead of already existing binary badguy/goodguy relationships, like a lot of current themes, this challenged kids to come up with their own or expand upon the stories and rules.
>>11275922Pandering to the reddit type consumer base is the death knell for any toy or collectible.
>>11275922Well, I'm looking forward to the new Antarctic sets but that's it really. Never been into Lego city much as a kid eithert. Newfag
>>11275922Lol, even comes with a beta cuck dad. Surprised they didn't throw in the wife's boyfriend too.
>>11277131KEK
>>11277131>Surprised they didn't throw in the wife's boyfriend too.What? Didn't you see the dog right there in the pic, anon?
>>11276150>significantly larger and more detailed like an actual truck, less cheat pieces that are useless for anything else>more minifigs and side builds>trailer has an actual undercarriage, more opening panels, and an actual interior>actual intently designed sleeper cab instead of empty space>only two tiny stickers for side build and interior (those are giant prints, retard)Sorry anon but the new one mogs the fuck out of the old one
>>11277213Almost forgot, the new truck has an engine bay and tool storage in the trailer, tooIt also has way more tiny lego sets (all prints btw) and pallets are also designed to be backwards compatible with the cargo from the original set
>>11277213Its also way too expensive for what it is
>walk past Lego section>it's all 18+ "ADULT" black box shitAre AFOOLs that self-conscious about collecting children's toys that they had to be like "no, no it's a sophisticated model, see???"I'll say it again>PANDERING>TO>THEM>WAS>A>MISTAKE
>>11278343No, AFOLs don't give a shit. A vast majority of those 18+ sets are either nostalgia bait or licensed shit. They're specifically for people who wouldn't even really call themselves LEGO fans as much as they would see themselves as "someone who likes star wars legos"
>>11278382why the gay ass black box?why the "oooh, this isn't a TOY, it's a SOPHISTICATED MODEL KIT FOR ADULTS!" presentation?why did this only start in 2021?
>>11278382I've always liked to imagine that the big 18+ sets are for parents to build once, disassemble, and then give the pieces to their kids. I know it isn't true, but the possibility of it makes me feel a lot better about the current state of Lego in general.
>>11277131Are you aware you've psy-opped yourself into having a cuck fetish?
>>11275933Very much unlike the key play feature of a gas station?
>>11278399What are these questions? He already answered. They're selling to people who aren't there for the lego branding. Everything you mentioned lines up with what he said, anon.
>>11278343It's more laughable that some of those "adult" models have a play feature.How the fuck is that ever going to be used when it's sat on a shelf?It's not even a good enough play feature for kids to want to play with them either.
I'm sorry but molded baseplates are bad, actually.I had this set, and while at first glance it would seem like the molded plate adds a lot of detail and depth to the build in the end it was extremely limiting to do anything other than what was shown in the box. You can't do anything with this terrain, it's like that forever. The mounds are angled so you can't even build on top of it to expand, all you can do is set a few pieces on top of the few studs that are accessible. Storing these things was also always a major pain in the ass.I just have never seen a molded baseplate terrain that looked better than a brick built one.With brick building you'll get more squared shaped details but it fits Lego's style anyway, and you can oack a lot more detail since you have studs as small as 1×1 to work with.
>>11278532>Very much unlike the key play feature of a gas station?Lego gas stations usually include play features like jacks, risers, etc.
>>11278555Some features are absolutely pathetic. Like the light brick on Barad Dur. It's only on if you press the button. So it can only light up when you're close to it, awkwardly holding the button down. An adult set for what? 600$? should include a lighting setup. It's a fucking burning eye that is the most prominent feature of the building. Lego trying to provide this by including their only current lighting solution that is also just a play feature for kids is pathetic.
>>11278602Not trying to defend the raised baseplates. They ARE limiting in some ways, especially the ramp variant. But THAT baseplate is fantastic when you use it for a castle. You can overbuild the chasm and then have 2 impassable sides and 2 that can be either entirely open and closed with walls or gates or secret passages. The standard ramp plate is just closed on all sides, so no secret entrance to the castle or whatever building you build. Even though it has a central pit in the interior that could be used as a secret basement but it also sucks because it's too small.
>>11278343Honestly I thought the black boxes were to appeal to kids who buy into "PREMIUM LINE" marketing while the adult line was the Lego Architecture stuff.
>>11278343No, it's this >>11278382, I collect lego even though I actually make scratch build models because lego is a fun toy in a different more interactable way, I actually don't even think that all of the black box sets need to be under that marketing to succeedexample: the LKC or medieval town market square buyers would definitely buy small castle sets with minifigures and play features, those sets are already designed with play in mind, the latter is meant to be a replication of the medieval village set from 15 years ago. However, the people who buy things like the concord, titanic, or endurance sets are indeed normalfags who want to pretend that they aren't buying what is really still a toy, but aren't really that capable of traditional model making, i know because I have some irl friends like this>>11278555>but they're too expensive for kids to buy and too large for kids to play withpoorfag cope, I had rich friends as a kid and they had the original run of modulars or the massive scene by scene death star, and they/we played with them just the same as with small sets and mocs. The ones with significant play features absolutely will get used, adult collectors buy the normal sets to shelfwarm and dustcollect anyway. Some of the features do suck, but that's most modern lego for you
>>11277131He just looks like a middle aged guy with a beard and glasses, absolutely obsessed, at most, he looks like a jew>>11275922does this set include a toilet?
When did "I want to buy Lego, but I don't really want to /buy Lego/" become a big enough demographic for the company?
>>11279173Since Mellenials started becoming middle aged. They earn enough to have disposable income, but not enough to have kids, and so they have nothing better to spend their money on. There's other factors at play too like today's obsession with pop culture, which absolutely contribute as well
>>11278602like >>11278873 said it's awesome for building a castle. I took a bunch of the old Ninja set pieces and built a big castle on top of that baseplate with a well going down to the river.
>>11278602depends on the baseplate. This one was fantastic for making buildings.
>>11279547>molded baseplate>single mold pieces like the rope bridge>old palm tree leavesthis triggers nu-lego for some reason
>>11275922>What is it about modern LEGO that rubs me the wrong way?That they charge the same for a set as an expensive limited number resin statue company charges for their shit?Only people I know of into legos are literal millionaires.
>>11281734>can't afford the old ones>can't afford the new onesAt least my wallet is glad my childhood imagination isn't what it used to be.
>>11277213$30vs$130
>>11275922They've raised their prices to insane levels and they now focus much more on selling huge sets to afols than on selling mid range sets to kids, which is just fundamentally wrong IMO. At least that's why I dislike modern Lego.
>>11276150>Speeding forkliftNot very health and safety focused there Lego, disgusting.
>>11283106>Bricklefahrer Klaus
>>11283133That would finally explain all the cripples in Lego City.
>>11276515>commonplace in first world countries>ditto>commonplace in the mutt states>makes deaf kids feel includedWhat's the issue? You're just being a hater.
lego keeps producing zoomershit like hidden side and dreamzz, entire lines that shelfwarm, losing money.keeps producing dual molded (expensive according to them) cripple minifigures, which require new molds (totally expensive). when minifigures cost a ton to make by default (says lego) still they had 8,1 billion profit.>nonono, you don't understand we can't keep legacy colors around such as transparent orange and transparent neon yellow, are you crazy?>we can't reprint old pieces that are already out of circulation, such as old cockpit elements which we already designed and have the molds for! it's unsustainable!>we can't afford to keep producing the exact same best selling products, buy the new, worse products! think of the poor scalpers!>we simply MUST erase entire lines beloved by fans, so disney's ip sets sell more. fuck space, buy star wars. fuck pirates, buy johnny depp carribean edition. fuck dino, buy jurassic world. fuck castle, buy harry potter. fuck bionicle in general, just because. buy the marvel logo.lego has shit fucking disgusting anti consumer practices.
>>11283180We shouldn't be normalizing blackness or weakness in the minds of youth if we want to build a society strong enough to survive the trials of the coming decades.
>>11275942>>11275944Denmark is basically Little Germany
They do have stuff now I would have killed for as a kid.
>>11277213>>11277213The issue is this: The original 2010 set has a MSRP (adjusted for inflation) of 52 USD in today's money. The other set is 99.99. It costs twice as much. Does it give twice as much value? I would argue that it doesn't. The core set is the same, the things you can do with it are mostly the same. It is more like a model, I understand, but is that really what LEGO should be? As others have pointed out in this thread, LEGO has gotten more expensive because it has tried more and more to accurately reproduce real objects. It has done so, but at the cost of being a toy and at greater prices. The two trucks tell a very interesting tale - the top one is a LEGO truck. A truck made in the LEGO style with LEGO parts. It is an approximation of a truck using LEGO and accepting certain limitations. The bottom one is a model of a truck, far more accurate in depicting the reality of said truck, using LEGO as a base for modelling. It is, I would argue, not a LEGO truck but a model truck made of LEGO. If that doesn't make sense, I guess I'm just ranting, but that's how I see it when I look at these.
>>11275922for me, it's because the sets have become too complex to disassemble when the castles were simple and took 30-45 minutes to build, i'd take them apart, rearrange them, expand them, etc.but with the lion knights castle? no way i'm taking that thing apart, not sure where i'd even begin
>>11284017>LEGO has gotten more expensive because it has tried more and more to accurately reproduce real objects. It has done so, but at the cost of being a toy and at greater prices. I know shitting on AFOLs is low hanging fruit but this is also their fault. They demanded more "realistic" builds, but instead of using their imaginations and building MOCs, they want LEGO to do it for them.
We will RETVRN.
we're only halfway through winter and i already miss the summer of slug :(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_DkYFPSFZA
>>11283628No parent in their right mind would give their child a $500 set. This shit is made for adults(literally 18+ on the box) and it's meant as a dust collector display piece, it's not a playset. Nothing actiony happens in rivendell, a kid would have more fun with a $50 catapult and some soldiers than an overdetailed overcomplex pretty palace that takes a week to build just to play out the scene of aragorn and arwen kissing and the characters discussing the ring's fate at the table
>>11285260its overated
>>11285275how is it overrated?literally freegreat intro songgreat content
I love building lego but I try to only buy sets I think my daughters would like, they're too young to play with it yet.My wife buys millenial shelf-warmer sets like groot and star wars, bless her heart.
>>11283199My conspiracy theory is that disney et al pay THEM to design these sets as an esoteric form of marketing, and it's a huge money maker.
>>11276881 (My experience with Reddit so far)AITA??YMMV, AFAIK, be the change you want to be.LOL, I spat out my drink I'm so lonely, wanna meet IRL?But, I'm immunosuppressive so I can't stay out of my house without succumbing to severe depression and need to get back to a keyboard.I have this need to be constantly online and react to everything with snarky comments to get more upvotes and increase my karma count!! ...
>>11283180Its called DEI.
>>11285325>how is it overrated?it's made by an autistic kid for autistic kids>literally freedoesn't matter>great intro songno it isn't>great contentsee last answer
>>11285266Rivendell is a display set that you can still use as playset. These are good.
>>11286002Lego is the most autistic hobby with the most autistic community. I think one dude making informative and insightful content is pretty harmless.
>>11284017This is a very good point
>>11284017Lego is more like model kits now rather than a building block toys.Sets are way too curvy and round.
>>11278602skill issue
>>11285615From one dad to another the maleficent dragon set is steeply discounted and the kid loves it. 4yo going on 5.
>>11287408It's $80 where I am but I appreciate the recommendation
>>11284017This. Modern lego sets are MOC-s and not toys. They are way overpriced and overengineered. This anon has a good point.My biggest gripe with the lego of today is that the plastic quality is extremely poor. I don't even keep my newly bought sets assembled because they crack up when there's a 5 degree change in room temperature. I got barracuda bay, the johnny thunder haunted house set and the lion knights castle, all of them are disassembled after the haunted house had multiple cracked grey bricks and even a cracked minifig torso after just two months on my shelf in the summer. Pathetic and bizarre, it made me stop buying nu lego for good, even though all these sets came at a 40% employee discount.Meanwhile my 90's sets had regularly spent entire summers in the schorching sun at my grandma's flower garden on exploration duty. I call it the Great Pissening and veteran minifigs still tell stories of it to their CMF kids.>Tldr: Nu lego is overengineered MOC-s and their plastic quality is abysmal.
>>11286012>>11285325Don't argue with that guy, he has made up his mind already. It's like that other autist who always tries to shit on bricks and giggles and then there's the other guy who always counterargues that she' legit bcuz she had that one vid where she blablabla...Just don't argue, he had already made up his mind and there's nothing you can tell him to change it.Btw I think the summer of slug intro was cancer. It's the kind of song that sticks into your head after just two listens and you need to listen to the entire Slayer discography to wash it out.
>>11276506>vaporwave, the Lego setABSOLVTE SOVL
>>11275922Only Mtron can save lego
>>11287651My Mtron sets have more clamping power than a prom date
Personally I'm only into Legos for the minfigs now.I've resorted to just buying the figs off bricklink and eBay since that's what I'm really after from most of my lego purchases.The last Lego I bought for the actual build is Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and literally nothing else I will make the exception for when Lego makes a set based off Shrek but I'm gonna have to wait until 2026 for that.(If it even happens that is)
>>11287651Shitty (ABS) plastic is an issue these days across nearly every industry thanks to regulations regarding softeners and such.Recent (well, almost 20 years now...) bricks are under much more stress thanks to this when connected and you can actually feel the difference yourself: Go take a 1x1 brick, put it on a stud and then GENTLY twist it off - the thing will pop off by itself with a noticable force on the final micrometers. Do that with a brick from like the 90s and it goes off smoothly.
