Unpopular LEGO Opinions

Phoenixio

Brickchap said:

Personally I like to try and explain and/or argue a point rather than just dump one line opinions like "This is bad." -Should Lego make this?- 'Nope'.

Greek mythology is very popular, and the Classical period is not something Lego or many other toys have done before.

Totally agree with you there.  A lot of people misunderstand what forums especially are for.  It's not just quick spam messages, people expect some kind of point or idea be made.  It's not about sarcastic "nopes" and the attention it gets you.

It happens a lot on a boardgame site I use a lot.  People will tend to make opinion pieces saying why they like this or that game more than another, and tons of people will just answer crap and not even make the effort of understanding the original poster's position.  It's quite sad if you ask me.

Now of course there probably are ways to have depth AND be concise, but still.


I'd totally dig a mythology based series.  Greek gods and heroes as minifigs, tons of nasty mythological creatures as brick built oversized monsters.  And as said, there's place for some neat classical architecture, and the basic column piece already exists!

560Heliport

^ Release the Kraken! 

SumoLego

I have hope with the recent Colosseum, that an Acropolis or Parthenon is on our horizon...

Brickchap

@Phoenixio So basically the 2005 Vikings theme but Classical instead. That would be a really interesting theme and I'm sure it would be popular with kids. It would be great if they made brick built large mythological monsters to battle, but also did 'normal' Greek and Roman buildings, weaponry, minifigs etc.

For example one set might be Greek legion (sorry I forget what a group of Greek soldiers are called) vs The Minotaur, while another set could just be a Roman villa for example, including some frescoes and representations of Roman sewage systems and insulation systems for example. Instruction books could include pictures of real life artefacts and information about life in ancient times.

CCC

Brickchap said:

Speaking of Greeks and Romans, Greek or Roman theme anyone? Greek mythology is very popular, and the Classical period is not something Lego or many other toys have done before.

There's various ways a new historical theme based around Rome/Greece could be taken, educate children about ancient times, a fantasy/mythology based theme, a Castle type theme in a different location and time period (eg Roman forts, ballistas, centurions instead of knights etc.).

It would be a unique and cool idea, especially if such a theme gave us some new pieces for Classical architecture (which would be great for modular buildings and other building MOCs)

There are loads of MOCs on ancient and mythological Greek and Roman themes. 

And as for other toys, Playmobil have done a very decent range of both civilizations and also various other ancient historical settings. 

Brickchap

@CCC Just because there are MOCs based on Classical themes I don't see as to why that should mean Lego shouldn't consider an official theme.

Casper_vd_Korf

Lego should just do a time travel theme thing with some sets with different periods of time, that way they can do everything at once. 

Honestly, I’m hoping that the Percy Jackson series on Disney plus will be crazy successful and we get Greek/Roman myth that way!

sipuss

Casper_vd_Korf said:

Lego should just do a time travel theme thing with some sets with different periods of time, that way they can do everything at once. 

Every set comes with a minibuild Time Cruisers machine...

Casper_vd_Korf

sipuss said:

Casper_vd_Korf said:

Lego should just do a time travel theme thing with some sets with different periods of time, that way they can do everything at once. 

Every set comes with a minibuild Time Cruisers machine...

Exactly! They could even do some gameification things like mario/hidden side…


now I really want this…

Lyichir

Casper_vd_Korf said:

Lego should just do a time travel theme thing with some sets with different periods of time, that way they can do everything at once. 

Honestly, I’m hoping that the Percy Jackson series on Disney plus will be crazy successful and we get Greek/Roman myth that way!

To be honest I've seen this suggestion before but I think it's less practical than themes based on a specific time period/place. One of the advantages of an overarching theme is to have sets with a unified aesthetic that can both play well and display well together. Having a unified aesthetic/setting/etc. also allows a theme to make the most of new recolors/molds, since newly introduced parts can be reused between sets so designers can get the most bang for their buck. A Greek mythology-based theme, for instance, would be more likely to be able to budget molds for weapons, armor, monster head molds, etc. than a theme that had to split its new parts budget between parts for wildly different cultures and time periods.

Istokg

SumoLego said:

I have hope with the recent Colosseum, that an Acropolis or Parthenon is on our horizon...

A month ago the Egyptian government put on an awesomely spectacular night time show of the completion of digging up the famous Avenue of Sphinxes in Luxor Egypt between Egypt's 2 largest Temples... Karnak Temple (world's 2nd largest) and Luxor Temple 2.7km away.  They cleared away over 100 homes, mosques and a church in order to find the remains of 1070 Sphinxes along an avenue beneath the sand, and put on a 3 hour spectacle at night, that recreated the 4000 year old Opet Festival, where they paraded their 3 main Gods annually between Karnak and Luxor Temples. 

The  3 hour show of thousands dressed in ancient costumes, which they put on (to get tourists back to Egypt) was amazing, and got me to thinking, that it would be awesome to have TLG create a new Egyptian LEGO set (similar to the Adventurers sets of 20+ years ago) Luxor Temple & Sphinx Avenue set (doesn't need to be all 1070 Sphinxes). 

But then I realized that having a LEGO set with nearly 100 Egyptian minifigs would be highly unpopular...   😉

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlyrQVPuKVs&t=530s

CCC

Brickchap said:

@CCC Just because there are MOCs based on Classical themes I don't see as to why that should mean Lego shouldn't consider an official theme.

Neither do I. I was pointing out AFOLs have done them fir a long time despite the lack of interest from LEGO's side.

Brickfan50

I probably will not get a lot of upvotes, but I feel that some recent discussions with lengthy contributions from one member (and people who react) are not worth the time I spent reading this topic.

I hope we all get back soon to the basics: general LEGO love/hate opinions (that's why it's called unpopular) instead of what I consider as politically coloured views that are cumulating this topic. English is not my first language, I hope you understand it :-)

All contributions are valuable, don't get me wrong, but this topic is the only one I'm avoiding lately when I see '13 new' and they only contain 2 or 3 back and forth messages between a small number of members.

Lyichir

Brickfan50 said:

I probably will not get a lot of upvotes, but I feel that some recent discussions with lengthy contributions from one member (and people who react) are not worth the time I spent reading this topic.

I hope we all get back soon to the basics: general LEGO love/hate opinions (that's why it's called unpopular) instead of what I consider as politically coloured views that are cumulating this topic. English is not my first language, I hope you understand it :-)

All contributions are valuable, don't get me wrong, but this topic is the only one I'm avoiding lately when I see '13 new' and they only contain 2 or 3 back and forth messages between a small number of members.

If you don't like their contributions, would that not be evidence enough that their opinions are unpopular? It's quite common for there to be backlash to "politically colored" opinions about Lego, after all. If not here, then where exactly do you think those sorts of discussions belong?

Like all topics, it's 100% your choice whether you're interested in keeping up with them or not. But I think it's a bit silly to expect polarizing or unconventional opinions about Lego not to kickstart discussion.

Phoenixio

Brickfan50 said:

I probably will not get a lot of upvotes, but I feel that some recent discussions with lengthy contributions from one member (and people who react) are not worth the time I spent reading this topic.

Why not just skip those comments then?  I'm not quite fond of this type of attitude because, in some way, it's asking users to tailor the content of their messages to your liking.  It's a forum, you'll see some of everything, and we should embrace the diversity in users. 

Personally, I'm not on forums for memes or one-liners of what you don't like, especially if it doesn't lead to discussion of any sort.  This thread is a mash-up of opinions, discussions, venting and other things.  Turns out that recently some opinions turned into much lengthier discussions: we'll all survive this "ordeal" I'm quite sure.

Brickchap

@Casper_vd_Korf

@Lyichir

I agree with both arguments. A time travel theme that covers lots of different eras would be great since we would get lots of historical themes rather than just one, which could include sets both for classic themes like pirates, castle, western, as well as new ideas.

On the other hand, I also agree with Lyichir that it would be better to focus on one era/location in order to properly invest in that theme with new pieces, prints, minifigures etc.

I personally would suggest an Adventurers meets Time Twisters type theme where each subtheme is just that time period and location so for example year 1 Ancient Greece, year 2 Vikings, Year 3 Victorian for example.

That way we would get a variety of different historical eras, but still allow for a proper attempt at each theme.

While I'm fine with a generic historical theme, a time travelling theme would probably make the history more accessible to kids and potentially allow for educational aspects of sets like here's Timmy learning about daily life in Ancient Rome and so can you sort of a thing. Btw, doing an updated, older version of Timmy from Time Twisters could be cool.

Personally I'd like to see a H.G Wells based time traveller whose 'present' is say, 1910 (this could have steampunk type aspects to it), and the time traveller/s could go back in time to things like Vikings, Romans, Pirates etc. or go 'forward' in time to say the interwar years (gangster America for example), or 1950s America with some Cold War and/or sci fi alien references etc etc.

Brickchap

Sorry, had another idea. Ancient Celts anyone?

It's something that hasn't been done before and tends to be pretty popular. Maybe they could do some Scottish warriors as a different faction under the 'Roman theme', with little representations of Hadrian's wall.

Brickfan50

^^^ I do skip lengthy posts sometimes (or read parts of it) but I’m also interested in what other people have to say. So yeah it’s kind of looking for a balance between these. 

I did upvote some lengthy posts. 

CCC

Brickchap said:

Sorry, had another idea. Ancient Celts anyone?

It's something that hasn't been done before and tends to be pretty popular. Maybe they could do some Scottish warriors as a different faction under the 'Roman theme', with little representations of Hadrian's wall.

Using current parts, you could have an army of Mel Gibson clones wearing tartan kilts from a few hundred years later fighting a Roman army from about 1000 years before.

Redbullgivesuwind

I disagree with the comments about launching a Ancient History to Dark ages series of sets. I love the Dark ages and Roman Period, I studied that period of history for my MA. But outside of the Lego community early history is suffering a massive decline in interest from the public. A number of Universities have dropped it from their syllabus. I think if you were going to do a history theme now to get good sale numbers outside of AFOLs you would have to focus on Victorian up to WW2. Those are the things most people are interested in.

CCC

I would prefer any history sets to have rather plain, generic costumes. Things like the Hun, even Shakespeare and the actor, and so on are great for armies. If they did acient Scots, they'd probably want to show they are Scottish (even though Scotland and the modern idea of Scottish didn't exist then), and put them in tartan even though it is inaccurate. Whereas Picts, Gaels, Caledonian, and indeed anient Britons, Gauls, Saxons, Angles, Jutes, Frisians,  would really all look similar in LEGO form and not really distinguishable from peasants centuries later. Some basic tunics in multiple colours would be great.

hTristan

I think any history-themed line would be kiddified, other than that, one-offs in creator expert are probably all you can hope for.

Phoenixio

Redbullgivesuwind said:

I think if you were going to do a history theme now to get good sale numbers outside of AFOLs you would have to focus on Victorian up to WW2. Those are the things most people are interested in.

Really?  I'd be quite surprised if ancient/mythological was less popular than the more serious Victorian/WW2 settings with kids.  

That being said, a Victorian series with Dorian Grey, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Dracula, Phileas Fogg, and all those other "League of extraordinary gentlemen"-type characters would be awesome.  And you can do it all with this type of theme: car chases, mansions, unique vehicles like submarines and hot-air balloons (Jules Verne had plenty of inspiration in that regard)...  That I'd buy in a blink for sure.

CCC

They partly already did that sort of thing with Monster Fighters. Combine that with some of the Ninjago sets for whacky steam punk like vehicles and a few CMF and it pretty much already exists.

Astrobricks

I don’t remember getting much ancient history or mythology in school 40-50 years ago, and find it hard to believe there’s more being taught now. So I have my doubts about its appeal to current kids.

That being said, I was a total ancient Egyptian freak in middle school. I’d love some ancient Egyptian sets.

Brickchap

I wasn't referring to how much ancient history is taught, more what people are interested in in general. Percy Jackson, Norse and Greek mythology, Ancient Egypt, Gladiator (the movie), Vikings in real life, Vikings on SBS On Demand (Australian international tv and movie channel).

Personally I am more interested in that Victorian/20th century period, especially the world wars, interwar years, and the 1950s. But as far as a 'history' theme is concerned, there's only so much that can be done for that period of time. I'd prefer a 'regular' almost City like theme but set in say 1930s-1950s with old cars and traditional buildings. Basically the modulars but with smaller buildings, different types of sets (eg a park, small cafe), lots of old vehicles etc. etc.

Astrobricks

Is there anything Lego do that you actually like?

Brickchap

@Astrobricks Sorry was that question directed at me or someone else?

Merry Christmas everyone btw!

FollowsClosely

2021 was a slim year for my lego purchases. I aquired the 2021 modular,  ninjago city gardens, castle in the forest and the creator castle. Ctually, that's more than I originally though. However, for 2022 I am going to get nothing, not a single set. I don't have the room, need or desire for additional plastic blocks.

I'll check in here if I fail.

#noLego2022

lowlead

FollowsClosely said:

...However, for 2022 I am going to get nothing, not a single set....

Ugh.  That would be a tall order for me.  I can go for months easily enough, but they always reveal something that I can't resist.  Keep us posted =o) 

Astrobricks

lowlead said:

FollowsClosely said:

...However, for 2022 I am going to get nothing, not a single set....

Ugh.  That would be a tall order for me.  I can go for months easily enough, but they always reveal something that I can't resist.  Keep us posted =o) 

At the very least, I would have to disappear from Brickset for the whole year, and that ain’t happening.

Phoenixio

Yeah there'll be some left field Ideas or Theme revealed sometime along the year that'll make me crack as well.  So far I'm only planning for the 2022 modular, but I just know there'll be something else...  And if we're lucky, it'll be a continuation of the Ninjago City stuff!

FollowsClosely

FollowsClosely said:

2021 was a slim year for my lego purchases. I aquired the 2021 modular,  ninjago city gardens, castle in the forest and the creator castle. Ctually, that's more than I originally though. However, for 2022 I am going to get nothing, not a single set. I don't have the room, need or desire for additional plastic blocks.

I'll check in here if I fail.

#noLego2022

I made it three days :) The modular is tempting, but the lack of any promo makes waiting easy.

Suboptimal

I actually like when reviewers don't apply stickers because I like seeing the set that way. Generally, the official images show the completed stickered version well, anyway.

Admittedly, this is partially because I don't apply stickers. I think I would be curious to see it stickerless even if I did apply them, though.

Astrobricks

Not sure how unpopular this is, but after seeing the box of #40532 Vintage Taxi, it bugs me how 18+ is just marketing and has nothing to do with the “maturity” required for building sets. I mean, they could have used the black background box art and still labeled it 9+ or something.

[Deleted User]

I don't know if I'm the only one, but I've become very disheartened with the excessive censorship of opinions at Brickset.

 I don't think it's good for anyone because how can you promote inclusivity and diversity on one hand and at the same time, shutting up everyone who respectfully and politely disagrees about something, or is being skeptical?

Lego fandom has always been such a good refuge from this disturbing, noisy world. But it seems to me that the cancel culture and the ''if you're not 100 percent on board with us, you're against us'' narrative have at last reached even the Lego Community.

Phoenixio

This is always a very difficult thing to approach.  On the one hand, we all want censor-free comments, but it's also a privately owned website, so Huw's the one deciding what comes in and what doesn't  We've seen for example lengthy political debates arise from sets (think about the Overwatch/Activision/Blizzard set as the latest reminder), and it's understandable from an owner's point of view to want to avoid those and keep the website Lego oriented.  Same for those discussions that trend towards other brands of bricks.

So if you have an actual example or detailed comment to explain yourself further, I'd say go ahead, but thread carefully, stay respectful, and don't attack anybody.  I'm not quite sure anything is quite censored when it comes to Lego though: I openly stated many times that I love Vidiyo and think that old Castle and Space are overrated, and I haven't been burned at the stake (yet).

Bumblepants

Phoenixio said:

 I openly stated many times that I love Vidiyo and think that old Castle and Space are overrated, and I haven't been burned at the stake (yet).

Get 'em boys!!!

vizzitor

Shouldn't it be the original version in old brown from Classic Castle for that era-authentic "Get 'em" action?

Bumblepants

vizzitor said:

Shouldn't it be the original version in old brown from Classic Castle for that era-authentic "Get 'em" action?

Splintering the angry mob before we even get started?! This is why revolutions fail.

Casper_vd_Korf

Nah, reddish brown is much better, as are the bleys! are those unpopular opinions? Which do you guys prefer?

WesterBricks

Casper_vd_Korf said:

Nah, reddish brown is much better, as are the bleys! are those unpopular opinions? Which do you guys prefer?

Depends on the context.  Sets from the "old days" don't look quite right with the newer colors, in most cases*

* I BrickLinked myself a #5591 Red Bird Rig using current grays, and it looks fantastic.

daewoo

Yeah, the old grays were "dirty" looking to me.  When I find them in bulk now I toss them aside.

Sethro3

Certainly the new bleys look brighter (because they are). But there is a certain charm to the "dirty" appearance of the older colors. And when used effectively in a MOC like some castle builders have done, it really changes the look compared to all light bley.

With that said, I keep my childhood LEGO and adult LEGO separate, so I never use the old colors these days.

[Deleted User]

@Phoenixio
Yeah, I get what you mean about it being privately owned and all that. Just makes me think if it wouldn't be better if the comments on the sensitive topics were disabled altogether. Because this way, it leaves the impression of the unwanted/unpopular opinions being silenced which only increases the feeling of ostracization and frustration for people, who then in turn might become more arrogant - and this is then one of the ways how we, as a society, help to create and fuel the more extreme stances, which is of course very unfortunate. 

As for examples, there were multiple articles on the main site for the last year or so, where I've noticed many comments being removed, some of which included nothing that would fall into the category of hate speech or bullying.

You might ask how did I notice, if they were removed? - In a couple of ways, really; sometimes you can see a comment being quoted, though the original comment is not available, or you can refresh a site when you come back after a while and see that multiple comments have disappeared. 

I myself had a comment removed once and that was when the importance of this issue hit me. I tried to offer my view on why I think, one of the choices made by Lego was kinda a misstep IMO, all the while trying to make it clear that I don't want it to come off as me having anything against anyone. 

I wrote a feedback email that I was very saddened that they would put me in the undesirable/intolerant group and encouraged them to read the thing again whether there really was anything offensive. 
Credit where credit's due, they agreed that there wasn't anything that would intend to hurt anyone and reinstated the comment.

The problem is: I really felt bad... And honestly kind of offended by being implicitly labeled as kind of a terrible human being - a label I did not deserve. Especially after long years of using and recommending the site all around for years. 

The problem with most discussion platforms and social media being privately owned is that it is completely upon the owner's (moderators') discretion to decide how to approach the censorship. You can end up willingly or unwilligly pushing one side of the narrative for all the people who are going to read the discussion and may leave one side of the debate artificially unrepresented - which then might fuel the ostracization and so on,...
This happens especially when you become so oversensitive to one group of people or set of opinions that in an effort to protect it from being offended, you might (and usually will) end up offending another. 

I think it is important to realize this, as we see Lego itself spreading into more and more markets, interests, facets of society, etc.

Sorry for a long post, but I think this is something that isn't talked about enough. Not just in lego community but in general.

(EDIT: Grammar)

Astrobricks

I once had a meme deleted that wasn’t actually a meme. I got over it.

[Deleted User]

Yes, actually that's something I noticed. Are memes forbidden here? Like - at all? Or is there a thread for them where they're allowed?
I couldn't find anything.

Astrobricks

Samino said:

Yes, actually that's something I noticed. Are memes forbidden here? Like - at all? Or is there a thread for them where they're allowed?
I couldn't find anything.

https://forum.brickset.com/discussion/35090/forum-rules-and-code-of-conduct-v1-5-june-2020

WesterBricks

Astrobricks said:

https://forum.brickset.com/discussion/35090/forum-rules-and-code-of-conduct-v1-5-june-2020

Oof, I frequently include pictures that are way bigger than 400x300.  Oops!

Phoenixio

Samino said:

Sorry for a long post, but I think this is something that isn't talked about enough. Not just in lego community but in general.

It's difficult to pinpoint an exact problem, since this is all about very vague and general social trends, but one thing's for sure: if you need to vent, you've come to the right place!

I'll meanwhile slip away from stake duties while the crowd is fighting over color variations of brown items, while also throwing out there: "How brittle were some of those browns and reds, weren't they?"