Please use our links: LEGO.com • Amazon
Recent discussions • Categories • Privacy Policy • Brickset.com
Brickset.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, the Amazon.com.ca, Inc. Associates Program and the Amazon EU Associates Programme, which are affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Comments
to be in the works.
That's not to say there won't be any D2C set based on either of those movies, but if there is it would more likely be classified as an offshoot of the movie themes themselves and not of the Minifigures series.
(slumps into narcoleptic episode)...
Just to end the beating on the dead horse (and this has NOTHING to do with this site's reviews), if you review something and get it for free, you should disclaim it first so that we can take the review with a grain of salt. I also know that reviews can't be truly unbiased since they're opinions, but they usually go with a set of standards that they pass (in the case of LEGO sets reviews, number of pieces, style, series, difficulty, and so on) which makes them seem fair. Am I jealous because I don't get free stuff? Of course, who isn't, especially when people get new stuff early and for free, but that does not mean I am mad or angry about the whole situation. If you get stuff for free, that's awesome, I'm happy for you.
BTW, the best review I ever read here was the fake Assault on Hoth just rehashing the old sets into the new one and making it sound fantastic.
If you read the review of a washing machine, it tells you whether it washes your clothes or shreds them; it tells you whether it would wake the dead in the cemetery across town or whether you can put the baby asleep next to it. It tells you things that you don't know. You'll read a few reviews because some things are clearly opinions, and opinions are subjective. We know opinions are subjective.
A review of a LEGO set can also tell you things you don't know - like what new parts it has. With a bit of luck, we get some different photographs - again, hopefully telling us something we didn't know. As before, we also get a few opinions - opinions we know are subjective. They're interesting to read, but surely they're largely irrelevant when it comes to our own purchases? Does it matter what the reviewer thinks, when we are likely to think something different? Does it matter whether the reviewer got the set free or, for that matter, was even bribed to say he or she liked it?
To say a washing machine washes better is an opinion that implies a fact about an essential function, and can therefore be used to mislead. It's a lot harder to mislead somebody else about a LEGO set - it is what it is, and you like it or not, but there's no middle ground.
If somebody said that #75098 was the best thing since sliced bread, would anybody else have bought it?
I wholeheartedly agree with you that reviews are subjective and inherently open to the reviewers' own biases, unconscious or otherwise. Where I disagree is your point that reviews of Lego sets are 'irrelevant to our own purchases'. I can only speak from personal experience here but I do think reviews can help to inform purchasing decisions. If I am interested in purchasing a set then I will often read reviews of that set and those reviews can contribute to my decision as to whether to purchase that set or not. I'm not saying these reviews will necessarily be the determining factor but they can at least help to inform. I can also think of examples where a review had helped to persuade me to purchase a set I hadn't previously thought of purchasing. For example the excellent review of 70173 Ultra Agents Ocean HQ on this website encouraged me to go to the trouble of importing the set from the US, at considerable expense.
What is this 'sliced' bread, and where can I get some?
Reviews contain facts and opinions. What I said was that the opinion element of that for a LEGO set isn't relevant, simply because everybody's opinion is different and we know that. It's really only that element that can be biased. The facts are, well, facts.
A month or so ago, I joined a Facebook group where free or discounted things on amazon are offered in return for reviews. I wasn't accepted for any freebies (you seem to need to be a top 5000 reviewer) but did get two discounted items. The first was great, did exactly what it should do and I left an honest review. The second product was crap. It didn't work so well and broke after two days. So I left an honest review. I then got a couple of refusals from other sellers saying that they don't send items to people that leave poor reviews for free or discounted products. So on amazon I think the system is inherently corrupt. You must leave five stars to keep in favour, even though this is not public policy. I don't believe the same is true here, fortunately.
However, #75159 Death Star has arrived and I am hoping to have the review ready later this week.
@CapnRex101 Lego have done a bad job lately of dealing with fan sites (brickset).
They didn't send brickset the press release for Big Ben even after brickset had held back from posting leaked pictures (I say leaked but there was no watermark so it might be fairer to say brickset held back for posting the first pictures of the set).
They had an embargo on rogue one pictures and broke it themselves without telling fan sites they were also free to do so. Brickset rightfully reported the news but others (eurobricks) removed links to Lego's own facebook page (and told people off, of course).
They still haven't sent you this set some weeks after its release which limits the effect of brickset and Lego getting publicity from it as there have already been a number of reviews done. Brickset would have been better off buying the set on day one and then returning the sent set with the receipt from the first one.
Given the way in which Lego (Disney) has recently clamped down on any news from fans sites I think we are not far off a time when fan sites have to consider if they really do benefit from the close relationship.
These are just a few examples I particularly liked Lego leaking the dearth star twice themselves with the set being pictured and then built in a store before fan sites were allowed to post pictures.
Someone needs to have a word with them.
#badlego
Plus there is the possibility that if lego see that BS have already reviewed the set, then they don't need a review copy after all.
^ Yes all true, my point was just that its in everyone's interest for Lego to try and get a set to the reviewer before the set is released so that the reviewer has time to write the review and that it is ready to be published on the day of release (or before if Lego wishes).
Its much more exciting to see a review of a set that has not been released than for a set that has been on the shelf for weeks. And excitement is good for Lego and good for brickset.
BTW - they sold 30+ at the retail store in Victor, NY since release.
That's the whole point of sending out free sets to fan sites, saying they sold x number of sets is meaningless unless you have context. For Lego sending out a set for free is a cheap way of getting someone else to publicise them however small they might be. I was not saying Lego needs brickset to create buzz otherwise they would not sell a good number of sets. Why do you think Lego sends out free sets, because they love fan sites so much.
#naive
(I have no idea why I am hashtagging every post, just in a funny mood)
#funnymood
It is also interesting that Whitefang has still not done a review of Series 16 CMF on Eurobricks. He usually gets a review up a month or more before they are released but apparently he hasn't received a review set yet due to a "technical fault". I think that this is the first normal release set that he hasn't had first. Now it seems most fans will have complete sets long before he gets his free review box.
Will lego notice any difference in sales this time compared to when they sent out free review sets to him? If not, why bother sending out review sets in future? After all, loads of images, reviews, videos, etc soon appear online when people have bought the items.
Did a fun diorama "Costume Party at Disney Estate" with full detailed review of the Disney Castle. Criticism welcomed!
[url=
Disney CINDERELLA CASTLE 71040 | Awesome Diorama & Ultimate Review ✔[/url]
"this item will be in and out of stock both on the web and in LEGO brand retail stores for the remainder of 2016."
World of Disney will ship, but the discount only applies in-person and if you have an annual pass (and 20% only for the top level pass; 10% for lower level).