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That being said, the extended universe is a big no (and to me that accounts for 1-2-3 and 7-8-9 as well). It destroys almost all that was nice about the original trilogy. The mysticism which was so great because there were only traces of it becomes a mainstay: Jedis EVERYWHERE. They also tried to add background which was not so required in my opinion: good lore in movies and games leaves much to the imagination, with clues and hints giving some details, but not reenacting everything. And then the newer stuff is just a big rehash of what had been done before. And it's too bad because they had decent characters to work with in Rey and Finn. What a mess they made of them.
JJ Abrams is a plague upon sci-fi: he doesn't understand it, and doesn't know basic science, and always ruins his movies with stupid shots that make no sense. It was a huge mistake to put him at the helm of the latest stuff. And it surprised me that this didn't kill the fandom: there's still a huge community out there, and evidently they're hungry for more as they start releasing series after series.
And while I don't like the content much, Clone Wars was a beloved series as well, and Lego has been diving into that content more and more. It might actually sole handedly have saved the franchise for a long time.
The sequels are tricky. I went to see Ep VII and was torn. Four of us went, and while I and one of the ladies were rapt for two and a bit hours, our respective wives both fell asleep. Yes, it was basically a rehash of Ep IV, but also... it was a love letter to Star Wars fans. It was everything we loved, done again with a knowing wink. On balance, it was great.
But of the more recent stuff, Solo and particularly Rogue One stand out. To tell a story when your audience know (roughly) how it's going to end, and to build tension around characters futures when we already know what's going to happen (Han and Chewie are always going to survive, the team at the end of Rogue One are not going to be so lucky) is tricky. But they're both compelling stories.
Of the recent TV offerings, Obi-Wan and TBOBF were interesting but The Mandalorian really stood out, being, as it was, a completely separate tale that just happened to be told (and well told at that) in the SW universe.
Which is why I'm not sure why I'm struggling to engage with Andor - I've only seen the first episode and I have no interest in going any further (although plenty of people tell me I should). But it ought to be right up my street.
The thing for me, though, particularly about Ep IV, is that you can write the plot on the back of a postage stamp. It's right there with the old Saturday morning serials - goodies vs baddies, and the goodies prevail. Compare that with the prequels and their convoluted tales of tax, trade embargoes and whatnot, and the makers of the later films fall for the same problem that afflicts many - just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Simple is often the best, and it doesn't get much simpler than the plot of A New Hope!
I have tried not to buy SW LEGO as all I really want is a UCS X-Wing but there hasn't been one on sale since I got back into LEGO. Which is why remakes or rehashes are needed.
I strongly suggest that if you find yourself writing “this might be off-topic, but…” that you stop what you are doing, and start a new thread.
Honestly, I think it's a little rude to stop a discussion that had wings. Forums aren't about posting self-centered tweets/statements, but rather about stimulating different types of discussions between members. You meant well, but it would have faded after a few posts.
Honestly I think it is rude to hijack a thread topic, just because it has a large audience. And if the conversation had wings, why would it would fade after a few posts? 😕
The angry mob has spoken (I now know a little of what @Brickchap must feel quite often). I will diminish, and go into the west. At least I was successful in posting something unpopular in the unpopular opinions thread!
I will give my unpopular opinion on this... I know that many folks have lost interest here due to this forums incessant discussions about Minifigures. Whenever a thread is about them (which is very frequent), they get a lot of views and LIKES. Most other topics are of much lower interest here in recent years. I know many folks have left here and started Facebook pages related to other topics of interest besides Minifigures... some pages getting over 100,000 members.
These forums have always been a little odd compared to other forums since the topics largely focus on either set news, collecting-focused discussion, or general discussion topics rather than MOCs and such. But in general I think the reason why Facebook pages are more active than the Brickset forums has more to do with the general shift in the internet toward social media and away from single-topic forums (for better or for worse). Sites like Eurobricks also feel far less active than they were in their heyday.
That was possibly the biggest thing that made the brickset forum different to other lego forums. There was a policy banning the showcasing of MOCs.
https://forum.brickset.com/discussion/2529/faq-can-we-discuss-mocs-here#latest
The focus on sets and collecting was understandable given the nature of brickSET. I don't think it was necessarily good or bad, just different.
I've used eurobricks and brickset forums for over a decade. Brickset for collecting type information and discussion and trading and EB for more creative topics, not just MOCs but also cutting and painting, etc. Both are very different forums. BS is more easy going and eurobricks is more strict, but both have their place. I don't mind the often heavy handed policing approach on EB, as you know what it is. EB has declined too, but not anywhere near as much as here. I imagine that is because of the MOC based posts that keep it going.
I think a lot of it is down to changing populations of LEGO builders and collectors and what people want to discuss. Hauls, "look at how much LEGO I have" type videos and images and "my top 10 about ..." seem to be more popular than discussion of "look at what I have built". As LEGO has become more of a mainstream collectable that naturally follows.
This will probably be my most unpopular statement ever: I'm no longer that bothered if the forum goes. My usage has gone down a lot since the announcement. It seems a lot of collecting discussion here is redundant now, especially since the main site has what is essentially a time dependent specific subject forum underneath every new collectable/adult set released. The lack of investment opportunities killed of the reselling thread years ago. While controversial to some, that was always an interesting read. I used to trade frequently here, and also used to buy stuff here to send to others, here or in the US, and vice versa. That is maybe once in a year now. There are better places to read about new parts and their usage. Obviously MOCs / creativity is better elsewhere. The drop in user numbers is significant although I'm still in contact with a few ex-forum users elsewhere. The activity here is definitely way down. The forum used to be my first site to look at each day and I'd return probably 10 times a day or more but I wouldn't use the main site as much. Whereas now I look at the main site more frequently, but other sites and blogs get visited first and the forum maybe once every couple of days now. Secret Santa is still fun although less so if you get someone rather unknown that rarely posts.
It was also the first set in the series that was even more modular than before by being split. There were 4-5 before that had essentially established the baseplate as the "unit", so it was a great surprise to get two buildings in one. It took 9 subsequent sets to get another divisible one, that's almost 9 years in between.
Looking back, I think it was a really original idea to put a painter and boxes: not all apartments in a city are constantly occupied, and this was a clever and realistic way to cut on the piece count.
Another feature of the Pet Shop that was fairly novel at the time (though less so now) was the toilet included under the stairs of the vacant apartment. Nowadays in themes like City and Friends those have become a relatively common feature, but back when the Pet Shop released there were no other modular buildings that included them despite being a ubiquitous and necessary feature in real life! Since then several other modulars have included toilets, including the Detective's Office (which included a public stall-type toilet), the Boutique Hotel (which included a full bath in its topmost suite), and now the Jazz Club (which uses the space under the stairs similarly to how Pet Shop originally did).
Not only were these lifestyle features a relative novelty, they were beautifully constructed for their time. Today, themes like Friends, Creator, and Ideas/Icons offer plenty of beds with soft, cozy-looking quilts/comforters. And toilets have become a relatively common fixture in Friends, City, and Creator sets alike. But back in 2011, the Friends theme didn't exist, Creator houses were still even more sparsely furnished than Modular Buildings, and City sets rarely had a bed that was much more than a 2x6 slab with a white piece serving as a pillow, let alone a toilet! So getting those sorts of features at such a true-to-life level of detail was a big deal to me.
I do appreciate that it decreases the part count for the actaul car, but it didn't need to be much.
No interest in goats either.