Constructive Criticism of 10193

Username · Post by **Username** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 6:26 pm

Dan wrote: I would love to see a 1400 piece Castle Creator-type bucket with just tons of earth tone bricks, windows, arches, roof elements, etc. It could come with an idea book showing how to make modular castle walls, towers, churches, shops, etc. using the elements provided (or the idea book could also be online and the money saved could go into more bricks).

Now that would be cool.

miniflea84 · Post by **miniflea84** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 7:05 pm

Dan- just a quick question. I've been looking through your site and was wondering about how much you sold some of your kits for. I know they're discontinued and I'm not asking to buy one, just curious about how much they were.

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 8:21 pm

miniflea84 wrote:Dan- just a quick question. I've been looking through your site and was wondering about how much you sold some of your kits for. I know they're discontinued and I'm not asking to buy one, just curious about how much they were.

My first kit (Blacksmith Shop) sold for $120 originally and my biggest kit (Vlad's Tower) sold for $1000 even. I offered add-on modules for my Guarded Church and some customers probably spent $1500 on the main model plus add-ons. Many of my kits sold out of their first run to my existing customers via pre-orders/reservations and were never even offered to the general public. All of my most popular kits were discontinued due to lack of available parts and it's hard to know how many I could have sold if I had been able to keep them in production.

Tedward · Post by **Tedward** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 9:50 pm

Dan wrote: 3. My idea of a castle parts pack is probably a lot different than most of the people here. I have very little interest in collecting minifigs and assembling armies. My interest is far more in the architectural realm and I would love to see a 1400 piece Castle Creator-type bucket with just tons of earth tone bricks, windows, arches, roof elements, etc.

Hear hear! I would buy that set (or several). I'm not a big "army builder" kinda guy either, nor do I particularly like the KK or even Fantasy sets of recent years. Maybe part of why I'm so crazy for the Market Village is that it is sooo much better than any of those recent series. On it's own you are right, it is NOT even close to the standard set by Cafe Corner. Perhaps I am simply more pleased with it because it is a small step in that sort of direction (even knowing it may not lead anywhere.)

icelus · Post by **icelus** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 11:24 pm

Dan wrote:I would love to see a 1400 piece Castle Creator-type bucket with just tons of earth tone bricks, windows, arches, roof elements, etc. It could come with an idea book showing how to make modular castle walls, towers, churches, shops, etc. using the elements provided (or the idea book could also be online and the money saved could go into more bricks). Buy 1 and you can build a simple watch tower. Buy 10 and you can build a decent size keep. Buy 50 and you can build like Robert Carney. What ever happened to minifig and accessory packs? Makes way more sense to separate these high ticket specialty items from the basic bricks.

This would be an amazing move by LEGO. I've often wondered how I'd manage to accumulate enough similar bricks to create my own custom set, and a parts pack would be perfect. I actually like keeping most of my sets intact, so my free brick count is quite low.

Hewkiril · Post by **Hewkiril** » Sat Oct 11, 2008 12:03 am

I agree - I would buy up as many as possible.

JPinoy · Post by **JPinoy** » Sat Oct 11, 2008 6:50 am

Dan wrote:P.S. What's next? A Mark V tank from Indiana Jones III?

Great idea! Mind posting it on the Dear Lego forum?

It's about time LEGO gets into military stuff. They already have World War II era German and Russian soldiers. They could do a Battle of Stalingrad scene or Battle of Kursk (with a dozen tanks like T-34s and Panzers, 6 on each side) as a kind of collectors edition sets...

castlestrike666 · Post by **castlestrike666** » Sat Oct 11, 2008 10:03 am

JPinoy wrote:
Dan wrote:P.S. What's next? A Mark V tank from Indiana Jones III?
Great idea! Mind posting it on the Dear Lego forum?

It's about time LEGO gets into military stuff. They already have World War II era German and Russian soldiers. They could do a Battle of Stalingrad scene or Battle of Kursk (with a dozen tanks like T-34s and Panzers, 6 on each side) as a kind of collectors edition sets...

I just don't think they'll do it.. The soldiers are from the Indiana Jones sets, and these are still based on the movies, so not real life.. But the battle of Kursk, Stalingrad etc have really happened... And as you must know, Lego is basicly made for kids.
I think that parents would prefer a castle set than a war themed set...

Just my opinion

Though, if you see the tankmocs some people make.. They're just great!

legobear · Post by **legobear** » Sat Oct 11, 2008 10:15 am

I thought we are suppose to be doing constructive criticism........

castlestrike666 · Post by **castlestrike666** » Sat Oct 11, 2008 10:32 am

legobear wrote:I thought we are suppose to be doing constructive criticism........

Lol, indeed

and it was about the new castle set!

Constructive criticism..

There's nothing more constructive then just saying it's magnificent!

I think this set will be one of the best going to be sold everywhere! Just because of it's beauty, and the use of all that new parts! (Read cows, fishes, ...). It'll also be a must-have for non-castle builders I suppose, and that for the same reason as just mentioned.
I don't think they could have make it any better!

Post by **Ye Olde Republic** » Sun Oct 12, 2008 4:24 pm

You know, I do have a small nit with this set. A couple of the minifigs that is. The two ladies to be even more specific.....Why do they need to have the same face? Surely there is more than one human lady type face in production at the moment. At least it's a different face/hair combo but the new maiden is the crown princess in (not such a great) disguise.
I forsee some people having a problem with this but I personally like this. I wouldn't be bothered by going back to (updated) smiley faces.
Generic woman:

Generic man:

Double sided or not.

Trevor

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Sun Oct 12, 2008 6:04 pm

I'm sure it's cheaper for LEGO to have fewer heads in production than many. Most people who buy this set are going to already have replacement heads they can swap out or have access to Bricklink. With such a massive secondary market in existence (and 30 years of minifig heads to choose from) there is no reason LEGO should feel pressured to make every minifig unique all the time. This is, after all, a set designed for the Lego Retail market and not nearly as mass produced as the rest.

Post by **Ye Olde Republic** » Sun Oct 12, 2008 6:37 pm

Exactly my point though, this set is geared towards people in the know. People who would really appreciate a new or different head. Like I said though, clones don't bother me and I like the smiley head, I just think it could stand to be updated.
What are you doing defending this set?;) Aren't you 'the villain'?

Trevor

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Sun Oct 12, 2008 8:26 pm

I'm not defending the set, just point the probably reason why they're not making unique head designs for it. They obviously had to cut a lot of corners to do as much with the set as they did. I believe the set was an over-reach to and trying to accomplish too much with too little. Small details, like the peasants all having the same torso, same heads, no stairs in the blacksmith shop, etc. are all side-effects of cutting corners. Instead of having the kit done extraordinarily well, corners were cut to give it more perceived value. Someone along the way decided that bigger is better and use less unique elements in order to stretch the over size of the models. And, if I understand this correctly, new molds had to be made for the turkey element. Some people are pretty excited about this being included and I'm sure it came with a hefty penalty to the over-all parts budget for the rest of the model. I personally can't imagine ever needing more than one turkey in my collection and could live without it in the over-all scheme of things. Sure it's a nice little detail but it's not going to help me build a 50,000 brick castle.

The Blue Knight · Post by **The Blue Knight** » Sun Oct 12, 2008 11:52 pm

Dan wrote: but it's not going to help me build a 50,000 brick castle.

No! Tease us not! Unless you're going too...