We want Plumes

Open message to The LEGO Company. We make no guarantee that anyone from LEGO will actually read them, let alone respond!
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supernova
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Post by supernova »

I must say, if you isolate the plume and do a cost-benefit analysis, I think the marginal cost in adding plumes (i.e. using a retired mould, I figured) way exceeds the marginal benefit to sales of the new castle line.

That said, I think the plumes are quite distinct and are part of what makes a classic knight classic. I think if lego shows a profit, they can afford to lose out a bit by producing plumes and make their fanbase (at least AFOLs) happy :)
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Post by architect »

supernova wrote:I must say, if you isolate the plume and do a cost-benefit analysis, I think the marginal cost in adding plumes (i.e. using a retired mould, I figured) way exceeds the marginal benefit to sales of the new castle line.

That said, I think the plumes are quite distinct and are part of what makes a classic knight classic. I think if lego shows a profit, they can afford to lose out a bit by producing plumes and make their fanbase (at least AFOLs) happy :)
Plumes were used as recently as 2003 for the Legends sets and dragon plumes in the Adventurers Dragon Fortress. In general, sprue accessories are an effective way to get multiple elements at a lower cost (than individually molded elements).

While I agree that plumes are not essential, neither are bardings. My point is that both are "cool" and that means alot to kids. I bet the naysayers would want orange, green, tan, and purple plumes if LEGO made them.

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LORD DOOM
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Post by LORD DOOM »

8) Plumes are so hardcore. :twisted:

I'm gonna drill tiny holes in my KK2 visor's so I can add 'em!
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supernova
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Post by supernova »

architect wrote:While I agree that plumes are not essential, neither are bardings. My point is that both are "cool" and that means alot to kids. I bet the naysayers would want orange, green, tan, and purple plumes if LEGO made them.
Heh gotta slightly disagree with you here.
before bricklink or ebay etc exists, I would buy the set (i.e. 6086) for the bardings! Plumes are much more common and I wouldn't have done that. :)
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Damien
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Post by Damien »

Nothing can really be said to be -essential- except the bricks, and maybe the minifigs themselves. But from there we can say what is more important with some capability. Barding pieces, for instance, are a mucher larger part of the look of a set than a little blue piece sticking out of a minifig's head, which is just as likely to be lost as enjoyed.

Sales on Bricklink would indicate that plenty of people are willing to pay 5-10 dollars PER piece to get the old barding. Don't know a lot of people that would pay 5-10 dollars to get a plume.

I bet the naysayers would want orange, green, tan, and purple plumes if LEGO made them.
What naysayers? I'm all for plumes coming back. I just don't -care-, nor do I think it's important.

No orange, please. Or green. Or tan. Purple would be cool. And dark blue.
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Post by Blueandwhite »

Damien wrote:No orange, please. Or green. Or tan. Purple would be cool. And dark blue.
No green?

I would love a few green plumes to go with my forestmen.
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Damien
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Post by Damien »

No green?

I would love a few green plumes to go with my forestmen.
Nah. I mean - my Forestmen are already plenty green enough. I don't tend to use plumes a lot. Just on the occasional figure - and on Forestmen I'd prefer to use red, blue or white, to set off all the earth tones. Off-hand, I can't think of any use I'd have for a green plume. Maybe Dragon Masters, if I were so inclined? I don't have any of those, though.
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Post by Traveler »

I would like green plumes for a Sir Gawain MOC, perhaps.
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leaf_of_lire
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Post by leaf_of_lire »

I need plumes , I don't see why they didn't put plumes in the Battle at the Pass set or in crowns :evil: .
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Post by Legendary_Corsair »

Here Here..I want tons more plumes most people bought sets just for the plumes.Now they wont even make them. :?
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Post by DanDanLegoman »

So, according to the designer feedback thread, we aren't going to see the old plumes again. Maybe we'll get new plumes? If we do, this is what I'd like to see: Something like the old Black Knights plumes, but with bird wings instead of dragon wings for the sides, and some type of generic plume for the top. The bird wings would look really cool on the visored helmets, and could also be used for the viking helmets (using the stud side instead of the tiny pin side) in case they want to show up within the castle line. The generic top plumes could work for regular one-piece knight helmets.

Good or bad idea?
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Pallando the Blue
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Post by Pallando the Blue »

I agree with the new plumes. I really think the 2007 Castle line looks naked with the old helmets sans plumes. Of course the kids nowadays don't realize it, they haven't seen them before. A new plume would be awesome. And yes green and purple, along with the classic blue red and yellow.
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Post by imperialshadows »

I always appreciated the plumes growing up. As someone said, it was rank.

But I was a weird kid. I 'ranked' my Classic Space minifigs by colour, my Castle by helmet type/plume, and my Pirates by epaulette colour (the Imperials, at least). The colours progressed according to a set pattern within each subgroup, then repeated at the next level with the helmet change. Gave me lots of ranks to deal with. Soldiers, officers and their subordinates, etc. I liked things orderly. Yep, sounds weird explaining it, but feels perfectly natural.

I'm just buying up the old plumes (and epaulettes) wherever I can, I don't have total faith in new ones, but I do sincerely hope it happens (and they're decent looking).

I do think the colour suggestions are missing the mark a bit though. Sure, red, blue, yellow, green, white, black, purple, etc would be nice, but I say we embrace the new ... dark red, dark blue, dark green, sand blue maybe.

I confess that I never really cared for the dragon plumes. Or the helmets that accomodate them. Or the whole line they came in. Oh well.
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Post by HeartOfDarkness »

imperialshadows wrote:I always appreciated the plumes growing up. As someone said, it was rank.

But I was a weird kid. I 'ranked' my Classic Space minifigs by colour, my Castle by helmet type/plume, and my Pirates by epaulette colour (the Imperials, at least). The colours progressed according to a set pattern within each subgroup, then repeated at the next level with the helmet change. Gave me lots of ranks to deal with. Soldiers, officers and their subordinates, etc. I liked things orderly. Yep, sounds weird explaining it, but feels perfectly natural.
Wait.

You're saying that not everybody does this? :shock:
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Aliencat
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Post by Aliencat »

Yep I did this too, with the plumes and epaulettes :)
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