Interview with Samuel Johnson, LEGO Art designer
Posted by CapnRex101,
LEGO Art was announced yesterday. Brickset had an opportunity to ask various questions of Samuel Johnson, the design lead for this range.
Brickset: LEGO has created mosaics before. Did those models have any influence upon LEGO Art and why was now the correct time to return to that kind of product?
Samuel: Previous mosaics have generally been relatively basic but the world of LEGO is evolving, hence we recognised the interest in LEGO from adults hoping to relax. We ran an internal initiative to ascertain what could become a new range for adults, departing from the sets we produce routinely. Three-dimensional models are very popular but there are potential consumers who might not be interested in those areas.
We engaged in extensive testing and mosaics were the resultant obvious choice, particularly since they can cover various passion points such as art, music or popular culture.
That suggests that the target consumer for LEGO Art is primarily adults who might not have been interested in LEGO before now.
Yes, although established LEGO fans remain extremely important and I think LEGO Art offers something different to that group. We made sure to include recognisable icons which are already associated with the broader LEGO range, including Star Wars and Marvel, so anybody interested in those themes may also appreciate the mosaics.
How were the subject matters chosen for each mosaic?
Knowing that our existing adult fans are particularly fond of Star Wars and Marvel made those an obvious starting point for LEGO Art, as they have been for other themes. Darth Vader is perhaps the most iconic character in film history so depicting him was inevitable! However, we also wanted to create an explicit focus for each set which is why we decided to include other Dark Side users as the alternative models.
Iron Man was equally easy to select because he is probably the most recognisable member of the Avengers. Moreover, the evolution of his armour and the character yielded three obvious choices for representation in the mosaics so you can construct the MK III armour, the Hulkbuster armour or the MK LXXXV armour.
By contrast, The Beatles and Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe focus upon brand new passion points which LEGO has not extensively explored in the past. After deciding upon music as the subject for one mosaic, we considered producing instruments or depicting specific artists and The Beatles proved consistently popular throughout our research. Of course, that also fitted perfectly with the concept of including alternative designs to depict all four band members.
Art is another area that LEGO has only modestly explored in the past. There are naturally an enormous range of subjects we could have chosen within that field but we decided upon Andy Warhol because such bright colours seemed most appropriate for the LEGO colour palette. His famous Marilyn Diptych exhibits especially suitable colours.
Why do the Star Wars and Marvel mosaics feature studs while the Marilyn Monroe and The Beatles mosaics are assembled using tiles?
Star Wars and Marvel have an existing relationship with LEGO so combining those with traditional studs felt the most natural. Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe and The Beatles, on the other hand, seemed more suited to smooth tiles. Additionally, using both alternatives allows a degree of experimentation as we can learn which format is more popular and perhaps consider using different pieces in the future.
Could combining 1x1 round plates and 1x1 round tiles on the same mosaic achieve unique shading effects?
Absolutely. That is something that was considered during development and we cannot exclude the possibility of combining them in the future. However, that can cause challenges when developing the building instructions because differentiating between 1x1 round plates and 1x1 round tiles of the same colour may be difficult. The issue becomes even more prevalent within these sets because their instructions feature an unusual top-down view, showing the mosaic in two dimensions.
Soundtracks accompany each model. What information can you share about those?
Each set features its own soundtrack which has been developed exclusively for these products. The building instructions feature a QR code to access the soundtrack and they are about ninety minutes in length. They discuss the background behind the subjects being constructed. 31200 Star Wars The Sith, for instance, features commentary from Lucasfilm employees about the design of each character and their original development.
Moreover, the soundtracks conclude with designer interviews so the creators of each mosaic can provide some information about the production of LEGO Art.
Collecting multiple mosaics, such as four copies of 31198 The Beatles, would be rather expensive. Are the prices based upon the cost of similarly-sized artworks, unrelated to LEGO, that someone might purchase to display?
As you know, LEGO pieces are assigned particular production values and that is always our guiding light when deciding upon prices. However, there are additional factors in considering value, including the size required to depict something adequately. We rapidly established that 48x48 studs was the minimum size when developing LEGO Art because smaller mosaics were not always recognisable.
The potential consumer is also important. LEGO Art is primarily intended for adults who might wish to purchase something relatively substantial whereas LEGO City, for example, should be more accessible to children and therefore include many smaller sets.
With regard to 31198 The Beatles, our research found that many people have one favourite member of the group so would be most inclined to purchase one mosaic. Perhaps they might subsequently purchase another to expand their display. There may be people who wish to buy four copies immediately, although that would only represent a small minority of the audience.
Have you considered producing supplementary packs so people can create their own mosaics?
These four products are just the beginning for LEGO Art and there is definite potential to create more customisable sets. Of course, the inherent nature of LEGO means that it would not be too difficult to use elements from your own collection, or buy loose parts, before designing your own mosaics.
What percentage of the included parts are actually used for each mosaic and how many are therefore left over?
Each image comprises 2304 1x1 round plates or 1x1 round tiles and enough are provided to assemble any of the three or four suggested designs. We tried to re-use as many as possible but there are some additional elements that will be left over when you construct each mosaic. 31197 Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe, for example, contains 3341 pieces so approximately 1000 extra tiles are included!
Many thanks for speaking with us!
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98 comments on this article
$480 (+tax = ~$513 for me) if I wanted all 4 Beatles... just... wow...
Thanks! Very nice Q&A. The soundtrack is particularly interesting. I would have liked to hear some of the suggested upcoming designs. I think the Bad Batch from The Clone Wars would make a fantastic new wave, along with a Spiderman and maybe the Queen portraits.
I'm intrigued to learn that a human designer was responsible for this. I would've thought a computer could've done the job as well.
Anyhow, this whole range is just overpriced diamond painting, whereas the later has the advantage that you can order whatever design you want.
@Spike730 said:
"I'm intrigued to learn that a human designer was responsible for this. I would've thought a computer could've done the job as well.
Anyhow, this whole range is just overpriced diamond painting, whereas the later has the advantage that you can order whatever design you want."
I have a feeling that they are not willing to tell that a freeware can do it and that you just have to buy the parts. Which by the way are the cheapest on BL... But hey, you have an app with this ;)
Would definitely be interested in being able to do 48x48 Mosaics from Photos of our own choice.
Down load photo to Lego and they send back map and parts. Much the same as Lego stores but they cannot do from a photo.
@grandadlegoman said:
"Would definitely be interested in being able to do 48x48 Mosaics from Photos of our own choice.
Down load photo to Lego and they send back map and parts. Much the same as Lego stores but they cannot do from a photo."
https://originalpaintbydiamond.com/
Really hoping we get a set of Batman mosaics eventually. Maybe, like showing the progression of the Iron Man armor, they could do the progression of the live action variations of Batman. Include enough parts for Adam West, Michael Keaton, Christian Bale, and Ben Afflecks Batman.
Looking nice and "arty" for people who appreciate that. But as far as LEGO goes, a bit lazy I think. Lazy on the designer's part, as all they have to do basically, is run a pixelate filter on an existing picture. And lazy on the consumer's part, as laying out thousands of 1x1 tiles next to each other isn't truly building in my opinion.
Nice that they have B-models (and C and D-models) though. I wish the large Technic sets still received B-models, let alone C and D-models :(
This whole "LEGO ADULT" series is so...forced?
Like it's made for some people that are ashamed to buy Lego...
Good interview. Getting many of the questions answered from the initial press release post was really helpful.
The best thing about LEGO is the continual attempts to try new things and create products that appeal to different people. So many people bitch about the same things being done over and over and yet those same people are very quick to jump all over anything that veers too far from ‘status quo’.
It isn’t as if LEGO said ‘From HENCEFORTH, ‘‘tis our goal to only release mosaics, and now ALL building sets will be limited!!’ They haven’t, they are just offering something different. Like it, don’t like it. But it, don’t buy it. But try and show just a small degree of positivity for a company that you supposedly like and respect. Expressing some criticism is fine, but put some effort into it. Try to imagine you are talking directly to someone you care deeply about. How would you treat them face to face? How would you want to be spoken to?
"Star Wars and Marvel have an existing relationship with LEGO so combining those with traditional studs felt the most natural."
Okay?
Personally, I like the studs better than tiles. The ridges on the studs would make it a little easier to take the pieces off and rebuild, I'd think.
I really like the concept, but I'm not in to the four topics at all. it seems really male focussed, with 3 of the four sets depicting males, and all the artists being male.
I hope they think about that in the future, and that this theme has longevity, because I would love an artwork in my lego room in the future. (but now I'll desing one myself :P)
@blogzilly said:
"Good interview. Getting many of the questions answered from the initial press release post was really helpful.
The best thing about LEGO is the continual attempts to try new things and create products that appeal to different people. So many people bitch about the same things being done over and over and yet those same people are very quick to jump all over anything that veers too far from ‘status quo’.
It isn’t as if LEGO said ‘From HENCEFORTH, ‘‘tis our goal to only release mosaics, and now ALL building sets will be limited!!’ They haven’t, they are just offering something different. Like it, don’t like it. But it, don’t buy it. But try and show just a small degree of positivity for a company that you supposedly like and respect. Expressing some criticism is fine, but put some effort into it. Try to imagine you are talking directly to someone you care deeply about. How would you treat them face to face? How would you want to be spoken to?"
Well said!
I don't know why, but people still seem to think that *every* set LEGO releases should appeal to them and if it doesn't, it shouldn't have been made.
The whole purpose of these, and many of the new initiatives we are seeing this year, is to draw people in to the hobby, who are not familiar with the product, who might not have considered LEGO as something that adults should buy and 'do'. In other words, to expand LEGO's customer base.
I think these will be very successful at doing that. Those that are already AFOLs are not the target market, but if they appeal to them as well, then so much the better.
This first batch doesn't appeal to me but I'm pretty sure some will at some point in the future.
I still don't really 'get' the target market for this.
Rich adult LEGO lovers that feel like regular LEGO might be perceived as 'childish' and don't want the regular building experience but do want mosaic art of Disney properties and/or deceased popstars?
@blogzilly Except this can hardly be considered a new concept. At this price it's just feels like a lazy money grab.
Except that apparently these sets do not appeal to many people here and is way overpriced. Like someone has mentioned above, this can be done by a computer program and all you need is just order the pieces. Not to mention you can make whatever you want, not just these, and could be bigger or smaller and way cheaper too. Many people rather have Lego to spend their time and effort in better themes/sets. Lego's main uniqueness is that it is supposed to be a 3D building toy. Not 2D. If people want 2D they can buy puzzles and pictures, not Lego. To them this is a poor effort to make tons of money.
@RonnyN said:
"$480 (+tax = ~$513 for me) if I wanted all 4 Beatles... just... wow..."
$513 for 11732 parts is not bad, y'all must be doing some new kind of math. Especially since most of the colors from the Beatles are brand new for those elements. What, you want it to be $20?
There is an important distinction between expensive as in the nominal cost is high, and expensive in terms of what you're getting. A big price tag on a massive set is not unfair.
Every time I see these sets I just want them more and more.
The Marylin Monroe set looks so so amazing and i really love it, even more than I did yesterday. The Beatles one is still growing on me as well though I would have preferred they'd made all 4 on smaller baseplates so you could have all 4 in one set and not buy four but hey nvm.
The Sith and Iron Man ones are epic too.
Love the interview :)
@Smannesman said:
"I still don't really 'get' the target market for this.
Rich adult LEGO lovers that feel like regular LEGO might be perceived as 'childish' and don't want the regular building experience but do want mosaic art of Disney properties and/or deceased popstars?
"
A lot of people seem to think that them personally not being interested translates to no market. The incredibly clear goal with all of the new 18+ sets and branding is to reach out to people who are NOT Afols. People who are not currently buying Lego for some reason. The goal of these new and different sets is to reach people who were not being reached before. People who are currently buying Lego, get this, will continue to buy Lego. And there's enough from the 18+ line in terms of Adventurers references or a train for the first time in a while or even just rare parts and colors, that there will be some appeal to current Afols. But it is incredibly clear (to me, at least) that the 18+ line being different is the sole reason that it exists. What Lego had before didn't appeal enough, so they're doing something different to appeal more.
Who honestly thinks PPP is a good measure for a product mostly consisting of 1x1 tiles and plates.
I love these so much and the interview was very interesting. As far as prices, I don't see it out of line with other artsy home décor. And I really like that the frame is part of the mosaic itself. I could see these becoming very popular with many adults I know. The combined displays are particularly striking. I hope this will become a long-term theme.
The comparisons to diamond art are pretty funny. People must have forgotten that Lego has been doing mosaic sets since the 80s
What a fascinating read! Also, it was really nice to see someone holding a finished mosaic. I know the product description said 48x48, but I hadn't realised just how big these panels are! I think these are totally worth the price, and I will definitely be picking up at least one.
Also, a canny shopper won't necessarily need to buy three sets to make up the three-panel pictures. If you buy three of the Sith Lord sets to build the giant Darth Vader, you'll end up with 3000 parts left over at the end - almost one set's worth in itself! Ok, the colour mix will be wrong. But just buy two sets, pick up extra 16x16 baseplates from Lego Bricks and Pieces, and bricklink the remaining 1x1 plates you need. With the likes of Marilyn Monroe having over 1000 leftover pieces at the end, it will surely be easy to bulk buy these 1x1 plates and tiles.
Not necessarily my thing to buy, but I have to say I was impressed with what was shown! As mentioned before, the combined Iron Man and Sith pics look stunning, and if they continue with more themes even better.. 1989 Batman anyone? :)
I don't personally want any of these at this price point, but I definitely know people who would (including people who aren't into Lego).
There could be subjects done that would interest me in the future.
The color palette of 1x1 tiles/round plates is expanding significantly between this and DOTS. I can't see anything but positive from that.
For anyone who wants to do their own custom mosaic cheaper, why is this anything but good?
The $120 price tag feels a bit steep to me, but maybe on sale...
Reading these interviews tells me a lot about the mindset of these people.
And I must say as a LEGO fan for decades I am really disgusted by some of the notions you can infer from what they say - as well as what they leave unsaid on purpose.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with trying to expand a customer base or with venturing into new territories, but the attitude TLG exhibits towards long-time customers in recent times is downright sickening. Trying to suggest that it is shameful to be an AFOL, or that overpricing is justified because those new to LEGO, who are supposed to be drawn in by the 18+ label, just don't know any better, what an attitude!
I hadn't noticed that the Star Wars and Marvel images had studs before this interview. That makes them less attractive to me, since the smooth look on the other images subjectively looks better to me, and they'd also be harder to dust. It also seems to limit intercompatibility for custom mosaics.
@fakespacesquid said:
"The comparisons to diamond art are pretty funny. People must have forgotten that Lego has been doing mosaic sets since the 80s"
Or quite a bit longer depending how you define it. "Mosaik" sets 1300 and 1301 came out in 1955, 3 years before the modern Lego brick was patented.
If their goal is to draw new people into the hobby, they've done their job well... while many existing AFOLs might complain about these (and really, you as an individual are not the entire market or even necessarily part of the target audience) I have several friends who are willing to fork out the money for one or two.
Once again, here we go with the comments (eye roll). From the New Elementary interview, they recently completed a research study of over 18,000 fans which helps them in making decisions on new products. Which is pretty standard as process for a company making toys. It just so happens the most offended or enraged, come here to place a comment. Buy it, don’t buy it, whatever, these will sell to someone..... just not you!! It’s the equivalent of someone getting on Yelp and saying “this is the worst sandwich I’ve ever had in my life”. Really?? I doubt it....
@NathanR2015 said:
"With the likes of Marilyn Monroe having over 1000 leftover pieces at the end, it will surely be easy to bulk buy these 1x1 plates and tiles."
What would be nice is if a cheaper supplementary set was sold for each subject. So you could, for instance, buy 3 Marilyn sets plus the supplemental which just contained the additional elements required to complete the 4th.
(And, at the same time, road plate packs with just the required road plates, and rail track packs with just the required rail tracks please!!)
@Spike730 said:
"I'm intrigued to learn that a human designer was responsible for this. I would've thought a computer could've done the job as well.
Anyhow, this whole range is just overpriced diamond painting, whereas the later has the advantage that you can order whatever design you want."
You can make a passable mosaic using just a computer. It takes more human judgment to take that rough pixellation and polish it to the degree that it looks correct. And it probably takes even more than that to make a kit for it that can be rebuilt into three or four other images (a difficult task that I feel AFOLs often underappreciate).
Even beyond Lego, there are a lot of AFOLs in the community who put a lot of work into mosaics and getting them to look their best. And heck, even outside the Lego hobby in general, pixel art is a skill that takes a lot of work—simply downscaling a JPEG just results in a blurry, muddy-looking mess, and it takes a lot of work to simplify the colors and lines into a crisp, readable image. It's frustrating to see people assume that just because something can be automated, a human touch is no longer needed to bring out the best possible results.
I like the way LEGO described their thought process when they're trying something new to appeal to adults. It comes as a reminder to all of us that while there are millions of LEGO fans, there are also billions of customers, and therefore there could be a billion different things that people want from LEGO. That's why LEGO does tons of research and studies to find what a lot of people like and what would make a great LEGO experience for old and new LEGO fans. While these mosaics don't appeal to me personally, I can think of some friends and family who I would recommend these sets for.
Nathan Sawaya has been doing these for years...
I would like to see something like his Hendrix mosaic in this range
Also. Those Beatles pictures. George and Ringo look OK, but Macca and John have lost something in translation...
These look nice. If you don’t like them, don’t buy them. I’d like to see the LEGO, DC, Star Wars, Marvel, and A24 logos made (although the last is unlikely), plus classic works of art and images from classic films, possibly three images from a certain film that can then be rebuilt into a larger one, such as the film’s poster art, if multiples are bought. I’d buy a Star Wars or 2001 poster like that. If they keep doing faces, I think the Joker (particularly the BTAS version) would look great.
Great interview! As I read you asked the questions I was thinking of!
Lego really's going to say most people will buy ONE copy the Beatles? That's the whole point- to make you buy multiples so you have the whole band- it's a strategy.
If i really wanted the iron man one instead of biying the set il sure i could just part them out on bricklink or something and that would save alot of money
@Lyichir said:
" @Spike730 said:
"I'm intrigued to learn that a human designer was responsible for this. I would've thought a computer could've done the job as well.
Anyhow, this whole range is just overpriced diamond painting, whereas the later has the advantage that you can order whatever design you want."
You can make a passable mosaic using just a computer. It takes more human judgment to take that rough pixellation and polish it to the degree that it looks correct. And it probably takes even more than that to make a kit for it that can be rebuilt into three or four other images (a difficult task that I feel AFOLs often underappreciate).
Even beyond Lego, there are a lot of AFOLs in the community who put a lot of work into mosaics and getting them to look their best. And heck, even outside the Lego hobby in general, pixel art is a skill that takes a lot of work—simply downscaling a JPEG just results in a blurry, muddy-looking mess, and it takes a lot of work to simplify the colors and lines into a crisp, readable image. It's frustrating to see people assume that just because something can be automated, a human touch is no longer needed to bring out the best possible results."
I couldn’t agree more. As a mosaic builder myself I can tell you that there is no way you will get any decent result using a program with a resolution of 48x48! My mosaics usually start at 64x64 and go up to 144x144. Especially the Star Wars mosaics have had a lot of human input to get Darth Vader onto only 48x48. I challenge anyone to make a better portrait of the Dark Lord only using the free mosaic software with this very limited resolution. Do or do not, there is no try!
@EvilTwin said:
"Those Beatles pictures. George and Ringo look OK, but Macca and John have lost something in translation..."
I think they probably could have chosen better source material. I don't think they were at their most recognisable on The White Album artwork, especially Paul.
Never mind Star Wars. Give me Thunderbirds' Tracy brothers (original series).
@TomKazutara said:
"Lego Creator and City needs more houses .. but hey .. glad we got this"
Do you think this took resources away from City?
I liked it yesterday. I like it more today. I am an AFOL. If you don’t like it, get over it and buy something you do like.
Thanks for the interesting interview!
This mindset that some AFOL’s (and I am using the term fan lightly in there) have that Lego has knives out for them, just because they are trying to broaden their appeal to potential new customers is a little worrying. Just because they are trying to onboard some new adult customers does not mean they are forgetting about their existing adult fans.
I love these mosaics! They are expensive to get multiples of, but personally I'd rather sink $600 into getting three Iron Man mosaics, one Marilyn Monroe one, and one Star Wars one than spend that kind of money on the entire Super Mario range. Also, I completely agree with the comments about LEGO and their target audience. Branching out is always a good idea in my opinion, even if the ideas don't always succeed, but I think this art theme has lots of potential to draw in new buyers. For example, one of my best friends is slightly interested in LEGO and always enjoys seeing my sets, but doesn't buy any herself because they're too expensive for her level of interest. However, today she told me that if she'd ever buy a set it would be the Marilyn Monroe mosaic because it's something very unique that even her mother would love to build with her, and I've never heard her mom express any degree of interest in a LEGO product.
I'm just blown away by how LEGO has grown this year. Between the new licenses like Trolls, Minions, and Super Mario, an enormous original theme like Monkie Kid focusing squarely on non-Western culture, the nostalgia-driven D2Cs like the Crocodile Locomotice and Pirates of Barracuda Bay, and the overall rebrand to 18+ sets and the push to appeal to new adult builders, I love that 2020 has become such an experimental year for this company and I hope LEGO continues to diversify like this in the future.
Oh I am buying a Darth Vader one and might consider assembling the big guy completely.
I seem to be one of the few who thinks the price is about right. There really should be a discount for buying 4 of them, but the price for one is not bad for a fairly large model like that. Add the Star Wars/licensing tax and it seems about right to me. I suppose it's not really fair to go by price per piece, but if you use -that- metric they're actually pretty cheap!
@lordofdragonss said:
"This whole "LEGO ADULT" series is so...forced?
Like it's made for some people that are ashamed to buy Lego..."
it rather gives the impression that ANY "Better" more innovative ideas where to push LEGO group forward.. simply do not exist.. we have 10+ more or less popular ranges all based on assembling bricks together. Then you have here a "fabulous" HIDDEN SIDE theme aired like two years ago.. it was envisioned and marketed as a real breaktrough.. bricks and augmented reality (aka digital world) melting together.. - i guess IT DID NOT make such a breakthrough performance otherwise TLG would not come up with this mosaic".. sh--- .. "
absolutely NONE designer input - as others mentioned, they just run some SW product to analyze, particulize, fragmentize ANY picture and come up with the suitable pieces. A thing that PhotoShop can do for more than 20 yrs..
- so is this the future of LEGO group? Selling totally overpriced, uninventive boxes of overpriced pieces, decliining on the quality of City sets with some totally idiotic attempts to create some "stories" giving the figs some ridiculous first names and totally TOTALLY downgrading the building experience to some 4+ olds (while deliberately not mentioning it)?
All in all, even with some totally CHEAP marketing Covid pull that LEGO tried in the last few weeks (totally idiot-c, as anyone can see).. it seems that this is one kind of a company that SHOULD BE later on controlled by EU whether they do not misuse their market position to influence the market. The same happened to Google, Microsoft, Apple and others.
we are at the situation when a HUGE, DOMINANT toymaker suddenly decided that he is a world savior and therefore he needs to shape the youngest population as he WISHES.. -compare it to any TV news that are by law pursuant to deliver a BALANCED interpretation of the things.
@CCC said:
" @Double_J_Bricks said:
"Really hoping we get a set of Batman mosaics eventually. Maybe, like showing the progression of the Iron Man armor, they could do the progression of the live action variations of Batman. Include enough parts for Adam West, Michael Keaton, Christian Bale, and Ben Afflecks Batman. "
The problem is that the colour palettes of all the images need to be very similar so that they do not need loads of additional tiles/plates. Adam West's palette is very different to the other three."
So what are you saying? It only works in black or very, very dark grey? ;~)
@AustinPowers said:
"Reading these interviews tells me a lot about the mindset of these people.
And I must say as a LEGO fan for decades I am really disgusted by some of the notions you can infer from what they say - as well as what they leave unsaid on purpose.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with trying to expand a customer base or with venturing into new territories, but the attitude TLG exhibits towards long-time customers in recent times is downright sickening. Trying to suggest that it is shameful to be an AFOL, or that overpricing is justified because those new to LEGO, who are supposed to be drawn in by the 18+ label, just don't know any better, what an attitude! "
Is there some form of Stockholm Syndrome or Sunk Cost Fallacy that explains why you're still here? It seems as if every single one of your posts revolves around your utter distaste for LEGO, what it stands for, and what it produces. You act as if every single one of their decisions is made solely to upset you personally as if your photo should appear in their next Annual Report as their inspiration.
I have an idea. How about if LEGO leaves you - and your ilk - feeling so joyless you all just LEAVE. There are plenty of other hobbies out there. Try flower arranging perhaps.
@fakespacesquid said:
" @RonnyN said:
"$480 (+tax = ~$513 for me) if I wanted all 4 Beatles... just... wow..."
$513 for 11732 parts is not bad, y'all must be doing some new kind of math. Especially since most of the colors from the Beatles are brand new for those elements. What, you want it to be $20?
There is an important distinction between expensive as in the nominal cost is high, and expensive in terms of what you're getting. A big price tag on a massive set is not unfair. "
Hmmm... OK...
I'll tell you what: I'll give you 11,732 1x1 tiles, in exchange for 11,732 8x8 tiles. Deal?
It's the same piece count.
@RonnyN said:
" @fakespacesquid said:
" @RonnyN said:
"$480 (+tax = ~$513 for me) if I wanted all 4 Beatles... just... wow..."
$513 for 11732 parts is not bad, y'all must be doing some new kind of math. Especially since most of the colors from the Beatles are brand new for those elements. What, you want it to be $20?
There is an important distinction between expensive as in the nominal cost is high, and expensive in terms of what you're getting. A big price tag on a massive set is not unfair. "
Hmmm... OK...
I'll tell you what: I'll give you 11,732 1x1 tiles, in exchange for 11,732 8x8 tiles. Deal?
It's the same piece count."
Depending on the colors, I'd make that trade
@Spike730 said:
"Who honestly thinks PPP is a good measure for a product mostly consisting of 1x1 tiles and plates."
Thank you! Yes.
@lordofdragonss said:
"This whole "LEGO ADULT" series is so...forced?
Like it's made for some people that are ashamed to buy Lego..."
It does seem that way. Any adult who wants to buy Lego will be looked at like a nut pretty soon if he or she buys anything at the Lego store that dosen't say 18 plus. That will just make it even more embarrassing for some. Like they aren't 18 yet.
@djtucci18_gmail_com said:
" @lordofdragonss said:
"This whole "LEGO ADULT" series is so...forced?
Like it's made for some people that are ashamed to buy Lego..."
It does seem that way. Any adult who wants to buy Lego will be looked at like a nut pretty soon if he or she buys anything at the Lego store that dosen't say 18 plus. That will just make it even more embarrassing for some. Like they aren't 18 yet. "
Not to be rude but if you can’t handle a sideways glance then maybe leave the A out of Afol. If you’re going to let random people dictate your shopping go ahead, but I’d bet most people here are already well acquainted with the looks. It’s like water off a duck’s back
Poor Darth Maul; it'll be a rare home that your face graces.
Not something I would buy, but I can see the appeal for others.
I know the parts to price is excellent even though small pieces and the price is jacked cause of the big technic plates, I get it...BUT the way it's presented they should've found a way (price wise, cut back on something) to have ALL 4 designs especially on the Marilyn Monroe and Beatles at say $250- total all four designs.
How can you just have ONE of Warhol's Marilyn designs (I believe it's actually 9 different ones?). It only works as a multiple/duplicate design.
And the Beatles. C'mon Lego! What Beatles fan ONLY would put up/display just one member (the lone Wings fan LOL).
Vader should've been given JUST the option of just being that taller design which is very nice.
Iron-Man, they missed the boat there. Should've given the option to have the original Mark 1, then the classic, then a final Hulkbuster. In same package, then you could build a larger Iron-Man image.
Not this buy 3 to 4 separate sets. I feel it's ridiculous. But hey, if you have the scratch.
I just think they could've done all the designs in each box for about $200 - $250. I think people would go for that. Not upwards of over $400 bucks to get the design you want. These are NOT UCS sets for crying out loud.
This is definitely an interesting interview and adds a lot more depth to the announcement. However, while I completely agree that everyone has a favorite Beatle, I don’t think that anyone will be happy with just a picture of Ringo on their wall. Perhaps John could look good as a single work of art, but not this photo of him, I would think a more iconic photo like the one in the “New York City” T-shirt would be more appropriate.
While I really would like to get 4 Beatles sets, there are two things holding me back. First is the cost, it will cost me a lot more than $480 to buy a bigger house with a wall to hang these on. But the bigger issue is the photo selection. While the White Album May be the greatest Beatles album (or greatest solo albums if you know the history behind it), it is not the most iconic images. For one, it’s not even on the cover! Let It Be would have been much more appropriate for 4 solo shots, although rather disappointing due to the fact they are in black and white. I would love to have an Abbey Road cover, although size would become an issue. I think perhaps the most appropriate choice given that these are “art” sets would have been the Richard Avedon images. Not only are they instantly recognizable, but they would pop with color since you are using Lego for the medium in the same way the Warhol’s do.
Sadly I’m gonna have a really hard time justifying the purchase of these sets. As much I would like them, there are other Beatles collectibles I would much rather have, and for $480 I sure could get a lot of them.
Probably the most realistic purchase for me would be a Sith set so I can hang Darth Vader in my son’s room. But that’s very expensive wall art for a 6 year old, and given that it’s Lego, I know he would just build on it like it was a sideways base plate.
These are an interesting idea, but if I’m gonna buy art, I need more and better selection. I’d be interested to see if perhaps Lego could find a way to translate Van Gogh into mosaic and combine tiles and plates to create the texture of his paintings. That would be something I would strongly consider buying. Especially since it would seem reasonable to create several works using the same part palette, therefore allowing you to occasionally change the art on your wall without feeling the need to purchase multiple sets.
@alfred_the_buttler said:
"I’d be interested to see if perhaps Lego could find a way to translate Van Gogh into mosaic and combine tiles and plates to create the texture of his paintings."
Like this, you mean... https://flic.kr/p/nWzj3K
(Nathan Sawaya again)
Incidentally I like this new quote-in-reply feature
Must be a real brain-numbing pain to assemble them.
@Snazzy101 said:
"Is there some form of Stockholm Syndrome or Sunk Cost Fallacy that explains why you're still here? It seems as if every single one of your posts revolves around your utter distaste for LEGO, what it stands for, and what it produces. You act as if every single one of their decisions is made solely to upset you personally as if your photo should appear in their next Annual Report as their inspiration.
I have an idea. How about if LEGO leaves you - and your ilk - feeling so joyless you all just LEAVE. There are plenty of other hobbies out there. Try flower arranging perhaps."
No need to get personal. Terms like "your ilk" in particular are quite uncalled for imho.
Just for the record, and as my previous longer answer didn't get posted properly, I do love the hobby and like I said have done so for decades.
If you had read all my comments you would have found that the majority of them are positive about LEGO products.
But even as a LEGO fan (or rather ESPECIALLY as a LEGO fan) one doesn't have to agree with everything individual representatives of the company say or imply. Nor does one have to love or embrace everything TLG puts out.
And by the way, I didn't even say I didn't like this LEGO Art line, did I?
Just for fun, check out my collection here on Brickset. You will find quite a variety of themes represented there. Showing you that I do indeed love variety, and would be the last person to summarily dismiss a new idea just because it is different from what has come before.
If I do critizise something it is always for a particular reason and not because of some general aversion to the hobby like you seem to imply.
@alfred_the_buttler said:
"... I don’t think that anyone will be happy with just a picture of Ringo on their wall. "
Woah, woah, woah, try telling that to my aunt, who's Ringo-mad! He had (and definitely still has!) a big following. He was, after all, the star key of their two main feature films :-)
I wrote a comment, clicked the "Post comment" button, and nothing. Where is it?
@bananaworld said:
" @alfred_the_buttler said:
"... I don’t think that anyone will be happy with just a picture of Ringo on their wall. "
Woah, woah, woah, try telling that to my aunt, who's Ringo-mad! He had (and definitely still has!) a big following. He was, after all, the star key of their two main feature films :-)
"
And, of course, Thomas the Tank Engine fans have probably only heard of Ringo!
I like these, I think they are neat. Sadly buying them would take away from the budget of buying more traditional LEGO sets for me. I do wish they were all tiles though, using studs on 2 designs feels like it cheapens them for some reason to me.
I have to wonder how much this “soundtrack” inflated the price. Don’t get me wrong it’s clever. But if it meant saving $10-$20... I’d prefer the savings instead.
For the price, they at least could have added some Beatle, Marylin & Star Wars minifigures.
@hntrain said:
"I wrote a comment, clicked the "Post comment" button, and nothing. Where is it?"
It's an annoying quirk of the Comments that if someone else posts while you are writing, your post will disappear when you click 'Post comment'.
The thing to do is to copy your entire post before clicking 'Post comment'. If it doesn't appear in the Comments, refresh the page, paste your post and re-submit it.
^ THat's not the case actually. It occurs if you click post more than 20 minutes after loading the page, when your session has timed out.
I can increase it, and in fact I will, but also keep an eye out for any unwanted side effects, like memory becoming full.
@Huw said:
"^ THat's not the case actually. It occurs if you click post more than 20 minutes after loading the page, when your session has timed out.
I can increase it, and in fact I will, but also keep an eye out for any unwanted side effects, like memory becoming full."
If refreshing to renew the session really is necessary, I recommend failing gracefully (e.g. with an error message) instead of going to the trouble to irreversibly empty the textarea on submit. If the reason it's getting emptied is because the post data is being lost along with the expired session, surely you can rescue it from POST data or something.
I'm glad I have extensions like Textarea Cache to insure me, but they shouldn't be mandatory in order for Brickset to be usable.
@Huw said:
"^ THat's not the case actually. It occurs if you click post more than 20 minutes after loading the page, when your session has timed out.
I can increase it, and in fact I will, but also keep an eye out for any unwanted side effects, like memory becoming full."
Much appreciated. I often have this problem too as I write long posts or am called away in between for various reasons. I usually try to avoid losing what I had written by doing what @Zander does as well, but sometimes I forget, like with my previous post.
For the same price I'll stick to custom mosaics of my son instead :)
https://imgur.com/a/p3dPAIb
@bcontant said:
"For the same price I'll stick to custom mosaics of my son instead :)
https://imgur.com/a/p3dPAIb "
Exactly. Why buy those when there are way cheaper options out there. And why limit yourself to only those mosaics when you can make anything yourself.
@vader11 said:
" @bcontant said:
"For the same price I'll stick to custom mosaics of my son instead :)
https://imgur.com/a/p3dPAIb "
Exactly. Why buy those when there are way cheaper options out there. And why limit yourself to only those mosaics when you can make anything yourself."
You're right! Why buy any sets when you can just make it all on your own?
@Huw said:
"^ THat's not the case actually. It occurs if you click post more than 20 minutes after loading the page, when your session has timed out.
I can increase it, and in fact I will, but also keep an eye out for any unwanted side effects, like memory becoming full."
I noticed that happen a couple of times and just got into the habit of doing a page refresh immediately before writing a comment.
its now 60 minutes.
@sjr60 said:
" @Huw said:
"^ THat's not the case actually. It occurs if you click post more than 20 minutes after loading the page, when your session has timed out.
I can increase it, and in fact I will, but also keep an eye out for any unwanted side effects, like memory becoming full."
I noticed that happen a couple of times and just got into the habit of doing a page refresh immediately before writing a comment."
Yep, people need to realize it's timeout of the session from when the page was first loaded, not from when you start composing your comment. Before, if you took 15 minutes to read all the comments then started typing your own comment without reloading the page first, you'd have only 5 minutes left to write which might not be enough time to compose a long comment.
Another option to get around that timeout is to quickly post a short holder comment and then go back and immediately edit it before the edit window expires.
with regard to the all above submissions.. coiuld we get some poll what twould be the FAIR PRICE for a BUNDLE of e.g. all 4 Beatles sets together? I have absolutely no reason to believe that all your threads are not monitored and watched by LEGO group.. why else they would provide on almost daily basis all the sets for reviews?
let them know what their customers think.
@LukasM said:
"with regard to the all above submissions.. coiuld we get some poll what twould be the FAIR PRICE for a BUNDLE of e.g. all 4 Beatles sets together? I have absolutely no reason to believe that all your threads are not monitored and watched by LEGO group.. why else they would provide on almost daily basis all the sets for reviews?
let them know what their customers think."
That would be good idea. Overprice is one thing, but to some people it doesn't even matter if it's 50% off. These just don't interested them.
Mark LXXXV? They must have skipped a _LOT_ to get up to 85 so quickly. Also, I have to say, I can pick out the Hulkbuster armor very easily, but I really can't tell the difference between the other two single-plate designs. Sure, I can see what looks like a triangular arc reactor on the one, but the arc reactor isn't even visible on the main cover image. It is on the triptych, but that doesn't really fix the single-plate image of the Mark III.
The Marilyn one just got a lot more complicated once I looked up the actual Marilyn Diptych. Turns out the left half is composed of a 5x5 grid of what is essentially the same image, with varying degrees of saturation. The "standard" plate looks closest, but in the actual painting the background looks more orangey-yellow. The right half is all B&W, ranging from washed out to looking like someone spilled black paint on it. There are other Warhol Marilyn prints that look closer to this depiction, but none that really match the four color schemes shown. At least not as far as I've been able to find. Plus, I don't know how many of those were actually released by Warhol and how many were just other people playing around with the concept.
To all of you who are complaining about the fact that these can all build multiple designs, keep in mind that by doing this, they massively reduce the cost of owning _a_ copy of a mosaic set. Beatles fans will fall into four different camps:
1. Those who like the Beatles but won't actually buy these at all.
2. Those who will buy four copies (plus maybe a fifth to keep sealed).
3. Those who will buy one copy and build only their favorite Beatle.
4. Those who will buy one copy and put the four designs on rotation.
Two of these options only cost $125.
Now, my main gripe about the Sith one is that they left out two canon Sith from the movies and shoe-horned in some Sith-poser.
@bananaworld:
Actually...given the price of these, what I'd be most likely to do is just buy one copy of the Sith mosaic and build Darth Maul (and try to do it fast enough that I don't have to listen to someone prattle on about Darth Tantrum). I'd like to buy four copies of the Beatles, and five copies of the Sith (so I could also build the single-plate and triptych versions of Vader), but that'd run $1125 pre-tax. And somewhere down the line they'd probably release a whole line of Batman-themed mosaics that can build most of his famous villains and I wouldn't even care about this wave anymore.
@AustinPowers said:
" @Snazzy101 said:
"Is there some form of Stockholm Syndrome or Sunk Cost Fallacy that explains why you're still here? It seems as if every single one of your posts revolves around your utter distaste for LEGO, what it stands for, and what it produces. You act as if every single one of their decisions is made solely to upset you personally as if your photo should appear in their next Annual Report as their inspiration.
I have an idea. How about if LEGO leaves you - and your ilk - feeling so joyless you all just LEAVE. There are plenty of other hobbies out there. Try flower arranging perhaps."
No need to get personal. Terms like "your ilk" in particular are quite uncalled for imho.
Just for the record, and as my previous longer answer didn't get posted properly, I do love the hobby and like I said have done so for decades.
If you had read all my comments you would have found that the majority of them are positive about LEGO products.
But even as a LEGO fan (or rather ESPECIALLY as a LEGO fan) one doesn't have to agree with everything individual representatives of the company say or imply. Nor does one have to love or embrace everything TLG puts out.
And by the way, I didn't even say I didn't like this LEGO Art line, did I?
Just for fun, check out my collection here on Brickset. You will find quite a variety of themes represented there. Showing you that I do indeed love variety, and would be the last person to summarily dismiss a new idea just because it is different from what has come before.
If I do critizise something it is always for a particular reason and not because of some general aversion to the hobby like you seem to imply. "
I stand by what I said.
Whilst I have not read all of your comments, whenever I do choose to wade through a comments section dripping in AFOL toxicity, you are well represented. Sure, there are some positives, but usually no more than some cursory It's OK, and you definitely put much more gusto into the opposite. Just look at the language you used in your original post.
"I am disgusted," "Ït's downright sickening." Are you serious? You're upset because LEGO is overtly targeting a specific market and pricing accordingly? Every single business does that! LEGO already does that! No AFOL is being betrayed by this. It's a business decision, it will either work or it will fail.
Quite frankly, I think the real reason the 18+ marketing push has so many riled up is it shines a light on the fact we play with children's toys, and many don't wish to acknowledge it.
I’m fearful for our fragile society, my brothers and sisters.
It’s so much harder to be kind and hopeful and look for the good in this life, but it is absolutely worth it.
I don’t mean to sound like a time-traveling hippie, but peace and love are the answer to the issues of the day. That’s the reality. Besides it feels REALLY good, no foolin.
I’ll go back to Brick talk now, and hopefully, maybe the comments in this article can be quietly put to rest...
@mafon2 said:
"Must be a real brain-numbing pain to assemble them."
People also do (or have done) adults' coloring books, that take perhaps hours per page to complete. I think that it's a sort of meditative journey to build these, perhaps after an exhausting day at work.
"Each image comprises 2304 1x1 round plates or 1x1 round tiles ---"
Isn't the one-tile-wide frame built inside the 48x48 area also? That leaves us 46x46=2116 plates/tiles to make the mosaic.
@bananaworld said:
" @alfred_the_buttler said:
"... I don’t think that anyone will be happy with just a picture of Ringo on their wall. "
Woah, woah, woah, try telling that to my aunt, who's Ringo-mad! He had (and definitely still has!) a big following. He was, after all, the star key of their two main feature films :-)
"
Of course, you think I decided to mention Ringo simply because of The No No Song?
@blogzilly said:
"I’ll go back to Brick talk now, and hopefully, maybe the comments in this article can be quietly put to rest.."
I completely agree with you.
Even though I sometimes use harsh words towards TLG, it is not at all for the reasons @Snazzy101 tries to read into it. Perhaps sometimes what I want to convey doesn't get through properly. In that context people like him should not forget that I am no native speaker of English after all.
Peace.
@aquarian:
When I first heard about "adult coloring books", my mind was split between whether they'd be something entirely inappropriate for children, or if they'd simply be images of a non-cartoony nature (stuff like the paintings you see hanging in museums). And then I saw what they were basically just geometric vomit, with the sole point being to give you complex shapes that need to be filled in with color while imposing no sense of "normal" on the activity. I cannot possibly imagine voluntarily going in five times a week to perform a job that makes that seem relaxing.
But I had a similar thought about these, where to AFOLs they may appear incredibly simplistic (aside from the two new elements we've seen, and a possible third we have not), but to non-FOLs they require zero stretch of the imagination to assemble. A lot of people have trouble even assembling the mid-level stock sets because they fail to notice all the elements that have been added in a given step (this was especially true before they started including a summary of what has been added in a given step or group of sub-steps). This is about as simplistic as they can get with set design short of ditching the frame and having you build entirely on a single baseplate.
@aquarian:
No. In the large shots, you can actually count the number of studs, and the image in each case is exactly 48x48. The frame is 50x50, and appears to be attached to the base bricks the same way they're attached to each other, through Technic pin connections.
The idea of making a mosaic like this for less than $120 may seem simple and affordable for die-hard Lego fans and regular users of Bricklink and Rebrickable, but even for us 'experts' it still takes knowledge/experience, time, and multiple orders.
Whether you take the @aquarian number of 2,116 or the @PurpleDave number of 2,304 1x1s (plus frame), that is a massive number of parts. 1x1 plates on Bricks & Pieces are $0.03-$0.04, which is $69.12-$96.12 for 2,304--and that's before you bring in the new 16x16 brick bases. 16x16 plates are about $2 each--and the new brick bases will use more plastic and require a new (and for now exclusive) mold, which adds more to the cost, along with the other parts previously pointed out by @PurpleDave . Add product development, instruction design and printing, packaging design and production, and product distribution, and $120 sounds very reasonable.
Yes, there are Bricklink sellers who have 1x1 plates for less than $0.03 each, but remember that some of these pieces are in new or rare colors--meaning the only way the Bricklink sellers would have them is buy one of the mosaic sets.
Fewer than 200 Bricklink sellers have 2,304 round black 1x1s. Fewer than 40 have 2,3040. Good luck to anyone who wants to try Bricklink the trio of Star Wars mosaics. While you may be a Bricklink pro now, think about the day you created your Bricklink account and how much time it would have taken for you to assemble a wish list of 2,304 pieces of just one part in eight different colors and figure out how to get those items from multiple sellers as it's highly unlikely one person has all the parts--if they do it's probably not the best price.
Lego is trying to attract a new audience and provide a product that parts of their existing audience might also enjoy. Most of the people who will see Lego Art have never heard of Brickset--and a lot of people who visit Brickset daily have never used Bricklink.
I also want to respond to the very first comment made on this article.
@RonnyN is complaining about potentially spending $513 on more than 10,000 pieces comprising four sets and a true piece of artwork, despite showing us his 5,200 square foot house filled with tens of thousands of dollars worth of Lego sets (Brickset collection of 950 items), and boasting about going on the Inside Tour twice. Between 3,000 and 4,000 applicants receive rejection letters from Lego each year because only 140 people get to attend--and the application website says priority will be given to those who have not attended before--so it really bothers me that @RonnyN somehow got to go twice in five years. Not going that second time would have given someone else a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (for everyone else) and saved @RonnyN the money to purchase more than 20 Beatles mosaics.
@FuddRuckus:
Don't forget there's some sort of "soundtrack" bundled with each copy of these sets.
To add an argument against the "just Bricklink it" crowd, I actually checked one of the other elements in question. Black is a waste of time. People can't give those away because they're so common, and nobody generally needs to buy them, so basing your opinion on how much the set should cost by referencing Bricklink sellers who are trying to unload them at waaaaaaay below cost is cheating. I picked dark-blue. It's not even a _new_ color for the 1x1 round plate. But it is a rare one. I only found one seller who had 1000 of them in stock, and when I loaded them all into my cart, the price came to a whopping $1,056.13. Suddenly $120 seems like a steal, doesn't it?
As for the frame size, if you zoom in to one of the big single-plate images, the frame edges consist of 5x 1x8 tiles in the center (40 studs), flanked by a pair of 1x3 tiles (46 studs), and bookended by a pair of 2x2 corner plates (48 studs interior, 50 overall). I don't know why, but I found it easier to count on the Sith plate with the studs than I did on the Beatles plate. Marilyn is easy to rule out because there's long stretches of a single color on every edge that make it easier to lose track of where you were counting. So if anyone still disagrees with that number, you've got the same pictures available to you that I went by.
@AustinPowers said:
"Reading these interviews tells me a lot about the mindset of these people.
And I must say as a LEGO fan for decades I am really disgusted by some of the notions you can infer from what they say - as well as what they leave unsaid on purpose.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with trying to expand a customer base or with venturing into new territories, but the attitude TLG exhibits towards long-time customers in recent times is downright sickening. Trying to suggest that it is shameful to be an AFOL, or that overpricing is justified because those new to LEGO, who are supposed to be drawn in by the 18+ label, just don't know any better, what an attitude! "
You realize that designers like Samuel Johnson and Jamie Berard who've been brought up some of these adult-targeted strategies in interviews are AFOLs themselves, right? Their concern that a lot of adults might be insecure about building with LEGO are almost certainly backed up by their own interactions with other adults.
I can't tell you the number of comments I've read from fellow AFOLs who feel alienated from their non-AFOL peers or family members who fail to understand that LEGO can be more than just a kids' toy. Not to mention social media comments from non-AFOL adults expressing some wish that they could build with LEGO again, as if they don't realize that option is still available to them.
Sometimes, even AFOLs themselves seem to be extremely preoccupied with worries about whether advanced sets with a 14+ or 16+ target age (like the Disney Castle, Carousel, Downtown Diner, Bookshop, Tree House, or Barracuda Bay) are somehow designed for KIDS rather than adults, based on stuff like their colorful bricks and packaging, interactive play features, whimsical concept, or details that appear to tell a story. Like it or not, a lot of AFOLs clearly DO expect sets to go above and beyond to signal whether they're "for adults", and feel indignant any time they think there's room for doubt.
Besides that, it seems a little hypocritical to broadly decry "the mindset of these people" (i.e. LEGO designers) and how you're "disgusted by some of the notions you can infer from what they say - as well as what they leave unsaid on purpose", yet then get defensive when another Bricksetter generalizes your own comments in terms like "you and your ilk" or suggests your comments imply some unstated disdain for the LEGO brand.
Do you really think your bad-faith assumptions about LEGO designers are somehow less insulting because you can't stir up the courage to address your comments towards the designers more directly? After all, Samuel Johnson has a Twitter account (https://twitter.com/Spider_Sam_LEGO) if you REALLY wanted to inform him of your concerns. But then, I suppose that's not as easy as just straw-manning designers like him in news comments that you don't actually expect them to read…
Samuel also has a Brickset account , and it certainly occurred to me that I could direct him towards this thread so he can have an opportunity to respond in person… but then I realize how unkind it would be to subject him to that. I certainly never enjoy reading the sort of awful stuff that trolls write about me when they don't expect me to see it, and I doubt he would, either. :/
@fakespacesquid said:
" @RonnyN said:
"$480 (+tax = ~$513 for me) if I wanted all 4 Beatles... just... wow..."
$513 for 11732 parts is not bad, y'all must be doing some new kind of math. Especially since most of the colors from the Beatles are brand new for those elements. What, you want it to be $20?
There is an important distinction between expensive as in the nominal cost is high, and expensive in terms of what you're getting. A big price tag on a massive set is not unfair. "
You can hardly compare the price per part of these sets with a standard LEGO set. The complexity and variety of parts in say the millennium falcon far surpasses 11,700 1x1 round tiles. The packaging robots have to make significantly less trips to collect these parts together. Also the design process has to have been significantly shorter for these products. All these factors which go into a ppp and should make these sets a fraction of the usual cost. For example, the recent technic car transporter was around 6c per part, these are 4c per part. Do you think it’s fair to price a 1x1 round tile just 2c cheaper than a technic panel, or a 15 Technic Beam, or any of the countless complex gears, connectors, etc...
Dots were priced at 4c per part (approx.) and they have new elements and new prints.
Whatever way you look at it these are expensive for what you get. Hopefully the soundtrack adds some of that value back, but it’s just not what I’d want in a lego set.
I am glad we finally have some mosaics though, they’re popular with a certain group and maybe the extra money they make on them will make the sets I do want cheaper! Haha.
@Fudrukus
“ While you may be a Bricklink pro now, think about the day you created your Bricklink account and how much time it would have taken for you to assemble a wish list of 2,304 pieces of just one part in eight different colors and figure out how to get those items from multiple sellers as it's highly unlikely one person has all the parts--if they do it's probably not the best price”
Rebrickable will do this for you. When the inventories are available click buy parts, multi-buy option, and is searches all Bricklink, brickowl, and toy pro stores to find you the cheapest options, allows you to play around with quantities to see if you can do better than the algorithm, and then adds the parts to you’re shopping carts on those websites with one click.
These look Fantastic. I don't care what anyone else says, but these look great on the wall. I understand that some people may just buy a photo copy of some of these pictures, but where is the fun in that. In fact a lot of people keep their LEGO Sets on Display without touching them so what's the issue here? These would look great in my room or somewhere in my house. Price is good for what you are getting even if the pieces are small.
I think PPP is a valid metric for some use cases but the benchmark to which you compare has to take into account the type of part you're getting the most of in a set. For example, 4+ sets have no business being evaluated for PPP unless you're collecting the larger parts, in which case you need to set a much higher target PPP than you would for a DOTS or Art set. Set a lower benchmark for DOTS and Art sets and see which ones provide more value for the parts you're getting (in variably rare colors). In other words, there is a lot more nuance to a good measure of PPP than a single hard threshold for all sets.
@jaredhinton said:
" @Fudrukus
“ While you may be a Bricklink pro now, think about the day you created your Bricklink account and how much time it would have taken for you to assemble a wish list of 2,304 pieces of just one part in eight different colors and figure out how to get those items from multiple sellers as it's highly unlikely one person has all the parts--if they do it's probably not the best price”
Rebrickable will do this for you. When the inventories are available click buy parts, multi-buy option, and is searches all Bricklink, brickowl, and toy pro stores to find you the cheapest options, allows you to play around with quantities to see if you can do better than the algorithm, and then adds the parts to you’re shopping carts on those websites with one click. "
Does Rebrickable offer more flexibility in this area than BrickLink? If so, I'll have to check it out, because BrickLink's multi-buy doesn't work very well for me for some reason.
hm John and Paul look weird on this Beatles Mosaic. They should have considered album covers... like Abbey Road or... the White album... lol
StoneWars calculated how well the "I can BL this way cheaper!" claim holds up: https://www.stonewars.de/kommentare/lego-arts-mosaike-rebrick/
tl;dr Even after substituting the new/rare colours: not very well.
@LegoSonicBoy said:
[[Rebrickable will do this for you. When the inventories are available click buy parts, multi-buy option, and is searches all Bricklink, brickowl, and toy pro stores to find you the cheapest options, allows you to play around with quantities to see if you can do better than the algorithm, and then adds the parts to you’re shopping carts on those websites with one click. ]]
Does Rebrickable offer more flexibility in this area than BrickLink? If so, I'll have to check it out, because BrickLink's multi-buy doesn't work very well for me for some reason.]]
The only thing rebrickable can’t do is estimate delivery costs very accurately. You can set it to a set cost and choose minimise deliveries so it’ll put the parts in as few different stores as possible. You set the delivery cost so you could be conservative and estimate a high fee.
Or you can just choose cheapest, but that could create orders from a lot of stores and drive up delivery fees.
It’s very flexible though, you He t a table of all your parts your riding and what stores they’re in and you can move around the parts to whatever store you want.
I order over 1000 parts for a moc and used this tool, ended up getting from 2 BO stores and 2 BL stores, and ultimately saved me $100-150 overall.
@stlux:
Yeah, every claim along those lines I've seen has zeroed in specifically on the cost of black 1x1 round plates, where are being sold way below cost on BL just due to the market being so saturated with them compared to how many people actually want to buy them. Nobody ever checks to see if they can get similar results on even a second color, much less factoring what the 16 new colors will have to sell for to be profitable when parting out these mosaics. People aren't going to shell out $120 for one of these mosaic kits only to turn around and unload the contents for $30, and that's what people seem to expect to happen.