Another New Member

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CJS
Gong Farmer
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Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 8:23 pm

Another New Member

Post by CJS »

Hi!

I'm CJS and I've been addicted to Lego since about 1983. The first sets I remember getting were space sets, but there were a few castle sets, too. There was a time when I "grew out" of Lego from like 1996 until 2006, but my own kids now have rekindled my interest. My wife will periodically buy a set for me when she's out and about. I rebuilt my old 6080 King's Castle (which seems a little smaller than I remember!) a few weeks back and then I saw the new Kingdom sets and picked up Tower Rescue. Between the Knights and the Dragons, I'm partial to the Dragon colors...

I have to admit that the newer sets, while a quantum leap in variety over the old, aren't quite as robust as the older sets are. Some of the techniques that made sets like 6080 sturdy seem to have been sacrificed, probably in the name of piece reduction/cost savings. This is something of a disappointment to me. That said, this is worse in some sets than others. The most recent Hogwarts is part of my collection and that was a pretty disappointing set. I also own 10193 MMV and it was a pleasant surprise to see that some traditions seem to have carried over... So all's not lost, and what is, I can preserve in MOCs.

Anyhow, enough rambling. Glad to be aboard!
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Bluesecrets
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Re: Another New Member

Post by Bluesecrets »

Hi and welcome.
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Bruce N H
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Re: Another New Member

Post by Bruce N H »

Hey CJS,

Welcome to CC! I think the difference you're seeing between the Medieval Market Village and the Kingdoms sets comes down to one thing - panel wall pieces. These allow you to use one piece to make a section of wall, and therefore keep piece count and price down, and it is also easier for a kid to quickly build up a larger structure. However, they also make for thin walls and less substantial structures. I know panel walls go back as far as your 6080, so you can't really call these a new innovation for LEGO (well, I suppose those of us who cut our teeth on LEGO in the 70's can), but I've always seen the overreliance on them as a negative in set design (and in MOCs).
Anyway, hope you enjoy the discussion here. BTW, your period between 1996 and 2006 is what most of us call our 'dark ages'.

Bruce
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CJS
Gong Farmer
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Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 8:23 pm

Re: Another New Member

Post by CJS »

Bruce,

Wall panels are a part of it, yes, but also there are some other things, too, like unstable seams and a disturbing lack of baseplates. The Prison Tower Rescue set uses 4 6x12 plates, and if you're looking at the front of the set and counting from left to right, the third plate is in the doorway and barely held in place by a studless 1x8 and a studded 1x10. I have never seen this sort of design flaw in a set. It's totally unstable if you have to pick up the castle. Typically, you'd get a 16x32 baseplate and build on that, for a set of this size.

All in all, I still prefer that my kids play with Legos over any other toy, and I can engineer around the flaws I'm finding in the newer sets.
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eilonwy77
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Re: Another New Member

Post by eilonwy77 »

Hi! I'm pretty new too, coming out of my own dark ages not too long ago. We bought some DUPLO for the kids, and after awhile I was pulling out my own old sets and experimenting again.

I have that Prison Tower Rescue set, and was really confused by the stairs. Why go to all the effort of having a portcullis if you're just going to have stairs going into the tower right next to it? Maybe there's something I'm missing there?

Anyway, welcome! :-)
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