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Comments
BTW, does/did lego ever make a large base plate in the color of the cave bricks?
They have the light bley 48x48, and I think the have close representation of the tan in the new 32x32 baseplate out now
It is still begging for a substantial lump of Wayne Manor to be MOC'd over the top of it all on stilts like Jabba's Palace over the Rancor Pit. If I was desperate for another Lego fix before the next decent SW UCS offering (a big pass on the recently announced Assault on Hoth) then i'd be sorely tempted for the next AFOL day if Lego will sell a hundred or so of those wallpaper bricks via pick-a-brick. The MOC would really extend the build.
As for the price, I'm guessing they will be somewhat pricey compared to standard 1x4 brick.
I am not saying I think the helicopter is pointless but I wonder if they could have sold it as a separate set in order to allow more to be added to the build of the main structure. I am not sure who this set is aimed at to be honest. It's very pricey and therefore not your average kids toy. It's got the nostalgia to appeal a lot to AFOLs but if that's the case then the build experience needs to be appealing like the modulars appeal (I'm not saying this should be a modular piece but it needs more 'build quality' in my opinion). There are some good suggestions above on how it could be made more of a display piece. They are, after all, all toys so all are playsets but some display better than others and even the city fire station and police stations display better than this I personally think.
Its a shame as having heard it was coming out I got very excited but visually this just disappoints for me. Never mind the price point. I am looking forward to seeing people's mocs as hopefully these will give me better ideas!
Then you go and tell me that a $250 set aimed at the adult demographic can't afford a few extra printed parts??? Yea okay...
Another factor is the difference in how many decorations a set needs. A new decoration for a small set might be the only new decoration that set needs. A sticker sheet essentially consists of one new element, so there's hardly any cost for swapping a sticker for a printed piece. For a huge set like this, every single decorated piece could be a new printed element—or a single sticker sheet. It's the difference between one new element and dozens, and the budget that ISN'T used on prints can instead be used for recolors, or for prints on parts that can't be stickered due to their shape.
Finally, a lot of parts, like fig parts, are often designed with printing in mind. But a lot of parts AREN'T—which means that the machining necessary to put them through Lego's printing machines doesn't even exist. And while printing a part that that machinery exists for is not much more expensive than a single sticker sheet or recolor, creating that machinery for a new part is significantly more expensive.
So some sets require a higher number of stickers like this Batcave, the Haunted House, the Kwik-e-Mart, etc. and I can certainly understand the balance between having more or less stickers each. But how do you explain a $200 set like the UCS B-wing needing a sticker sheet for more than just the obligatory plaque sticker? They couldn't have just spent the extra $0.25 to print the damned 3 orange circles??? Or how about $400 Super Star Destroyer that needed 10 or 11 prints (all of which were 2x and only 1x2 or 2x2 tile sizes) plus the plaque? Or how about 10229 Winter Village Cottage a $100 set that had a whole 3 stickers but they somehow couldn't afford to have them printed?
In the end without actual data (number of sets/pieces/etc.) and costs (per piece, per print, per run, per set), admittedly we are both grasping at straws on either side of the argument without sufficient information to fully decide one way or the other on a wide basis. But then again, I'm not TLG management that has to make these calls on cost vs. quality. I'm just the paying audience who wishes for better and is just disappointed by the opposite response by the designers/manufacturer. Internal costs, production politics, marketing ploys aside.
God knows they didn't have the budget for a helicopter on the '60's television show!
Same reason why there is not a single helicopter in either Ghostbusters movies. How are we going to get a GB helicopter?
Boom. There comes the helicopter.
My kid agrees with yours
The Batmobile is gigantic (probably noticeably out-of-scale for modular cities) and the Batcopter may be itself enough to justify purchase of the set.
hmm what is a set a lot of us have.
Ecto 1 and Wall-e next to batcave should do the trick.
Alas, it is way over my Lego budget, but I think anyone who takes the plunge will not be disappointed at all.
I figure that either double points or the Mr Freeze give away is going to get more people to buy these, and hopefully those to break them up to sell.
Plus if it is too much, I can investigate BLing the Batmobile and maybe just getting the stickers for it and maybe paying a bit for the Joker and Catwoman.
Finally, not everyone wants to a buy a set to break it up to sell parts off it off. At 269.99 USD I have a hard time justifying this purchase when I do not want most of what is in the set. But others will likely be breaking these up for parts, figures, and the vehicles and that may keep prices a bit more manageable
Yes.