Interview with Justin Ramsden, designer of 80107 Spring Lantern Festival
Posted by Huw,
Justin Ramsden has designed some of the best sets released over the last few years, including 71043 Hogwarts Castle and 75810 The Upside Down.
He's kindly taken time out from his busy schedule to answer a few questions about his work on the equally superb 80107 Spring Lantern Festival which is released next month.
Find out where he found inspiration, what the text on the banners translates to, and why the Chinese Traditional Festival sets are seemingly designed with no expense spared.
Brickset: You normally work on Super Heroes and latterly Harry Potter and Monkie Kid, so how did you get to work on this one?
Justin: Simon Lucas (LEGO Senior Design Director) brought together an elite team to develop the LEGO Monkie Kid play theme. This team included our colleagues in China, LEGO Concept, Model and Graphic Designers and Senior Design Manager, Dennis Fong – the Creative Lead for the Chinese Traditional Festival (CTF) sets.
I was lucky enough to be brought on board to the LEGO Monkie Kid project early on in the design process in order to translate the epic stories and concept art into LEGO brick form. I then fell in love with the project, so much that I asked to stay on and help create the new chapter in this legendary story. It was from here that I asked Dennis if I could try my hand at working on one of the prestigious CTF sets.
Spoiler alert! Along with my fellow awesome LEGO Super Heroes Model Designer, Chris Perron, we both were given the chance to work on this brilliant project! (Chris designed 80106 Story of Nian)
Is designing the Chinese New Year sets a coveted job?
From the LEGO Ideas set 21306 The Beatles Yellow Submarine to 75810 The Upside Down, I’ve been extremely lucky to work on multiple amazing themes and there are some products which I am proud to have designed. However, being asked to create a follow-up to two years of beautifully designed Chinese Traditional Festival sets was a true honour and a task that was incredibly special.
Where did you take inspiration from for the set?
When it came to design research and inspiration for the set, I worked alongside the awe-inspiring LEGO Senior Designer, Xiaodong Wen and our colleagues in China to make sure that the ‘Spring Lantern Festival’ was not only culturally appropriate, but instantly recognisable as a model that allowed you to celebrate the end of the Lunar New Year celebrations in style!
Furthermore, I also spent countless hours researching (and building) previous models from multiple LEGO themes to see what makes an awesome building experience!
As soon as I started building it I realised that it is 'modular building compatible'. I take it that was intentional?
It’s no surprise that like most LEGO Designers, I’d love to try my hand at designing a Modular Building (see my Brickset interview dated 23rd March 2016!). Therefore, any chance I get, I try and propose a modular compatible build when it makes sense. Although not a traditional modular building per se, luckily with the ‘Spring Lantern Festival’ set, my initial modular sketch was well-received by the team, and I was allowed to proceed with my proposed direction!
It's rare to find baseplates in sets nowadays, yet this one has two. Is that so it is 'modular building compatible'?
Exactly – if I used a normal plate layer as a base to build the garden on, it wouldn’t line up with the ‘modular standard’ LEGO Technic bricks so, a baseplate would be needed. As I couldn’t decide either to build the garden on either a 16x32 or 32x32 stud baseplate, I included two from the beginning to quash my tough decision!
Does working on CTF sets differ from working on others?
Every set that we design (no matter the subject-matter) goes through the same high quality tests, design processes and build-throughs to make sure that it is an awesome toy. Yet, I suppose the main difference with this theme, compared to others, was that this model was also developed in very close collaboration with our colleagues in China to ensure that it is both authentic and fun.
Did your work on Monkie Kid have any influence on this one?
Although I’ve designed a lot of sets in my LEGO design career so far, unfortunately I’d never designed anything similar in the realm and scale of the LEGO Monkie Kid play theme - it truly was a fantastic experience!
When it came to work on the CTF sets, the design/approval process (and team) was very similar to that of LEGO Monkie Kid. However, this time, instead of brushing up my knowledge on a timeless legend, I was lucky enough learn a vast amount about a culture (and its traditions) that I was not familiar with whilst also receiving extremely beneficial input from my colleagues.
What's involved in designing a set like this, and what stages does it go through before it's finalised?
When you work on a set such as those that fall under the CTF theme, you have to draw out the coolest things that would make a great LEGO model out of your own imagination and that are rooted firmly with the Chinese culture and traditions.
Luckily I worked very closely with Xiaodong, who was critical in providing concept sketches and ideas that I could translate into a manageable LEGO scale. Once I’m happy with a rough direction of what a model might look like, I pour out LEGO bricks onto the office floor, get on to my hands and knees and start building.
After a few evenings of sore knees, I then work very closely with my fellow Model Designers, Graphic Designers, Model Coaches (who make sure that our sets can actually be built), the Building Instructions Department and co-workers that work throughout the various Marketing and Manufacturing processes. The whole process takes roughly around one year from ideation to shelf.
When the set is finally released, I then rush over to the LEGO House (my local LEGO store) to proudly see my creation on display on the shop’s shelves!
Were there any particularly challenging aspects of the design, or parts you're particularly pleased with?
One of the main challenges, when it came to designing the LEGO ‘Spring Lantern Festival’, was knowing when to cut back on details. The original sketch model had way too many overwhelming details that didn’t allow the important icons room to shine. So although I’m more comfortable designing upside-down worlds and micro-scale magical architectures, I thoroughly enjoyed working outside my comfort zone by acting as a landscape architect, whilst designing a toy that is meant to be played with and taken apart by children and adults alike. The subject matter of the model also added to the fun during the design process.
In addition, although not really a challenge, I was also briefed that this model should be as ornate and filled with as many lanterns as possible. From a buildable Ox lantern complete with a light brick to a minifigure-shaped lantern welcoming visitors at the entrance of the garden, the hardest part was to know which LEGO element not to turn into a lantern!
Any 'nice parts usage' you'd like to point out?
Seemingly, the so called ‘Minion’s eye’ (67095 Tile 3X3, Circle, No. 1) as a table or the ‘Dragon hilt’ element (36017 Weapon, No. 18) as a roof detail could be called out as a ‘nice parts usage’ (NPU).
However, I’m more happy with (and excited by) the construction of the Pavilion. I spent hours trying to figure out the angles and how to get six sides in an easy-to-build way. One evening, after many hours of trial and error, LEGO Design Master (and all-round angle wizard) Michael Psiaki, popped by my desk with a handful of ‘Technic Rotor, 3 Blades’ elements (32125) as a solution to my hexagonal problem. It’s amazing how when combined, these elements easily constructed the needed shape.
Another ‘NPU’ is the construction of the pond which is very much a tribute to the unbelievably talented Nicolaas Vás (of 70620 NINJAGO City fame). I spruced up the build using multiple wedge plates with transparent elements on top and by including six decorated Koi tiles. However, Nicolaas is commemorated in my build with the inclusion of a frog, which is very much his LEGO Designer calling card.
This highlights the collaborative nature of the LEGO Design Team - one of my favourite things is that I get to work and collaborate with some of the most creative designers (from different backgrounds all over the world) that I’ve ever met.
CTF sets always appear to be designed with no expense spared: a plethora of recoloured elements, printed parts throughout and often extravagant parts-intensive building techniques, all of which are not often seen in 'regular' sets. Why is this?
The CTF sets are ultimately designed to capture the vibrancy and recreate the atmosphere of the Chinese Traditional Festivals as much as possible and to make building a truly enjoyable experience.
Whether this means using multiple printed or stickered parts, interesting uses of parts or colour-changed elements, we are trying to design something so extra special, authentic and iconic that celebrates not only this exceptional Festival, but appeals to a new and growing fan-base of future LEGO builders. By doing this, we can also bring the LEGO experience closer to fans all over the world and ultimately create learning through play experiences!
How many recolours are there in the set?
The ‘Spring Lantern Festival’ set has a large number of recoloured elements. I don’t want to ruin the surprise of what’s new – I’d rather let builders discover these exciting treasures whilst constructing this model.
However, I will say that my personal highlights include the ‘Candle’ element (37762) in both Bright Green and Earth Blue, the extremely useful ‘Plate 4x4 w/ Arch’ (35044) in Sand Yellow and one of my favourite newer parts, the ‘Handle, No. 2’ (a.k.a. The Monkey King’s legendary staff hilt, 66909) in Black.
An honourable mention also goes to the inclusion of the ‘Banana’ element (33085) in Earth Blue – Chris and I set ourselves a task early on as to which banana recolour would get more attention from fellow AFOLs (Chris created his in Teal in 80106 Story of Nian) – hopefully either way, fans will approve of these funky coloured food parts!
What do the banners and other printed elements say?
In the ‘Spring Lantern Festival’, there are a number of printed elements and foils. There are three Deng Mi (lantern riddles) foils to solve in the set of which I’ll roughly translate the questions (but not the answers!);
- ‘White Sugar Plum’
- ‘Sometimes Curvy, Sometimes Circular’
- ‘Moon Shaped Horns, Eating Grass’
(Hint: each riddle relates to an item included in the set)
The two Chun Lian (Spring Couplets) banner tiles either side of the Moon Gate mention ‘decorate with lanterns and colourful decorations’ and ‘be happy with families’. Finally, the text on the decorated tile above the pavilion reads as ‘Pavilion for enjoying the moon view’.
When it came to all the decorated elements, foils and minifigures, I worked with the project’s mind-blowingly brilliant Graphic Designer, Paul Turcanu, alongside input from Xiaodong and our colleagues in China, in order to make the set as exciting as possible. Paul and I have a great history of working together (from the LEGO Batman Movie and The LEGO Movie 2 to LEGO Monkie Kid), so it was fantastic to collaborate with him once more to design the ‘Spring Lantern Festival’.
Why do you think the CTF sets are popular outside of Asia?
Aside from the colour changes, fun building techniques and decorated elements, personally I think that they are so popular outside of Asia due to their authenticity towards Chinese culture and values and the way that they can educate a broader audience to the traditions surrounding the Chinese Traditional Festivals.
My knowledge of the Lunar New Year celebrations wasn’t too great however by working on this project, I’ve learnt an incredibly large amount and hopefully this will encourage fans to do the same (if they are also not already aware of such an ancient culture).
One really cool thing about this year’s CTF sets, is that to inspire children to learn more about Chinese traditions when building, there are illustrations telling the legendary stories of Nian and the Spring Lantern Festival (in 80106 and 80107 respectively) in the front of the building instructions of the two sets. This is the first time this kind of feature appears in this theme and I’ve already framed the illustration from my building instructions on the wall of my flat…!
What else can we look forward to from you in 2021?
Without spoiling anything, you’ll have to wait and see!
Regardless, I wish you and all the Brickset readers a Happy New Year - Chun Jie Kuai Le! Tuan Tuan Yuan Yuan!
Thanks Justin!
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36 comments on this article
Another great interview and interesting insight, thanks.
Reading between the lines, it seems TLG is trying to really make inroads into the Chinese market. Unfortunately, no other current theme except for Ideas gets as much love and attention to quality as the CTF sets.
Don't get me wrong, I love the CTF sets, especially because LEGO spares no expense in order to give us really great sets in this theme.
But I would really appreciate it if they spent as much care and attention to classic themes like Technic or City, both of which have been going downhill very steeply in recent years.
And reading a statement like
"Every set that we design (no matter the subject-matter) goes through the same high quality tests, design processes and build-throughs to make sure that it is an awesome toy."
makes me shake my head. I mean, he certainly hasn't seen or built the new Technic Ferrari, which has to be one of the worst sets in LEGO history, perhaps only "beaten" by the infamous First Order AT-ST. Quality control at its worst.
After the police station showing the team is up for more creative takes, it really would be awesome to see Justin tackle a full sized modular.
Great interview and review, hoping there is enough stock of this so can grab and start testing placement and ideas.
@AustinPowers said:
"Reading between the lines, it seems TLG is trying to really make inroads into the Chinese market. Unfortunately, no other current theme except for Ideas gets as much love and attention to quality as the CTF sets.
Don't get me wrong, I love the CTF sets, especially because LEGO spares no expense in order to give us really great sets in this theme.
But I would really appreciate it if they spent as much care and attention to classic themes like Technic or City, both of which have been going downhill very steeply in recent years.
And reading a statement like
"Every set that we design (no matter the subject-matter) goes through the same high quality tests, design processes and build-throughs to make sure that it is an awesome toy."
makes me shake my head. I mean, he certainly hasn't seen or built the new Technic Ferrari, which has to be one of the worst sets in LEGO history, perhaps only "beaten" by the infamous First Order AT-ST. Quality control at its worst. "
Because clearly Lego dont know what they are doing, and are not successful at all
@Huw, Was the interview conducted live, i.e. over the phone or by Zoom, or was it a Q&A in writing, i.e. you put the questions and got the answers by email? I suspect the latter. Nothing wrong with that except that the answer to the ‘no expense spared’ question looks to have come from LEGO’s marketeers, not from Justin himself. I don’t particularly want to hear LEGO’s corporate blurb and feel sorry for Justin if he was forced to accept having words put in his mouth by higher ups at the company.
>I think that they are so popular outside of Asia due to their authenticity towards Chinese culture and values and the way that they can educate a broader audience to the traditions surrounding the Chinese Traditional Festivals.
Seems to me that it's because they're insane value compared to literally anything else. Maybe some Technic sets come sort of close, but £90 for almost 1800 pieces is mad. I definitely agree with the somewhat skeptical comments here that this reads more like a marketing blurb than a proper impromptu interview (or Justin rehearsed his responses really well!).
Don't get me wrong - great set, fantastic design, and some of the answers are really valuable insight into the design process. But still.
@paulrothwell said:
"Because clearly Lego dont know what they are doing, and are not successful at all"
I didn't say that they don't know what they are doing.
They know exactly what they are doing. They know that for the time being they can count on their fanboys to buy whatever they throw at them, no matter how low the quality.
But those fanboys are getting fewer and fewer. Just look at the desperate attempts of TLG to fight off legal alternatives in Europe. They certainly feel the pressure, and it is only going to get worse for them.
Small wander they are throwing all their marketing might at the Asian market.
Great interview! It’s always interesting to hear about the design process and how the various ideas and elements of the set come from different people across the design team. Looking forward to this one!
@AustinPowers said:
"And reading a statement like
"Every set that we design (no matter the subject-matter) goes through the same high quality tests, design processes and build-throughs to make sure that it is an awesome toy."
makes me shake my head. I mean, he certainly hasn't seen or built the new Technic Ferrari, which has to be one of the worst sets in LEGO history, perhaps only "beaten" by the infamous First Order AT-ST. Quality control at its worst. "
It is definitely marketing speak: of course all sets go through the same process sand have the same QC demands. But that doesn't say anything about the parts or design budget they have to work with.
However; all else being equal, a mech or technic set do feel to me as though more can go wrong than stacking plates and bricks together.
I like seeing creative uses of parts that would seem to be limited in their application, the banana being a particularly popular one of recent times (and the candle, I suppose, but it is a bit more generic in its shape compared to bananas and sausages). Has there ever been an article on this?
^ No but it sounds as if there should be!
@AustinPowers said:But those fanboys are getting fewer and fewer. Just look at the desperate attempts of TLG to fight off legal alternatives in Europe. They certainly feel the pressure, and it is only going to get worse for them.]]
I wouldn't say they're getting fewer and fewer. The numbers are probably growing. But, people are waking up to how good these alternative designs are.
With answers like this, Justin could have a great second career as a politician!
I would love to see more Modular-adjacent sets like this in the future. I’m just tickled that Justin went to the effort to make this set fit smoothly into a Modular layout.
@AustinPowers said:
"Reading between the lines, it seems TLG is trying to really make inroads into the Chinese market. Unfortunately, no other current theme except for Ideas gets as much love and attention to quality as the CTF sets.
Don't get me wrong, I love the CTF sets, especially because LEGO spares no expense in order to give us really great sets in this theme.
But I would really appreciate it if they spent as much care and attention to classic themes like Technic or City, both of which have been going downhill very steeply in recent years."
Ninjago has been on a roll with quality. So has Friends, and Speed Champions. City is a bit of a tricky case considering it's more of a "gateway" theme than some aimed at older builders, but things like the new road system clearly went through an intense amount of design work even if things like the structures and vehicles still end up a little simpler (by necessity) than more advanced themes. And I can tell you're dissatisfied with the Technic theme, but I've seen a lot of positive reception to many recent models—that they don't all meet your incredibly specific standards isn't an indication that the designers are working any less hard on them or haven't got the resources they need.
You're generally one of the only people I see here consistently alleging a "decline" even as the number of advanced sets grows from year to year.
@AustinPowers
What exactly is wrong with the Ferrari?
Also, I think you're not correctly understanding Lego's position in Europe and the North American markets - because the company is doing very, very well this year. That's a fact beyond dispute. So to characterize them as "desperate to fight off alternatives," you're not accurately portraying the numbers and market share Lego commands in all markets.
There are a few products every year that aren't as good as we'd want, for sure. That's the cost of doing business, though - you've got to try things, and sometimes those things don't work. But to say that fanboys are just accepting junk? That's your opinion, but it veers on dishonesty. Look at all the stellar flagship sets that launched this year - The Temple Fair and Lion dance, the Bookshop, the Fiat, Old Trafford, the Lamborghini, the NES, the Batwing, the Grand Piano, Sesame Street, the Haunted House, ECTO-1, Colosseum, Mos Eisley Cantina, Crocodile Locomotive, Volvo 6x6, Diagon Alley... and that's just the big exclusives.
Point being: Lego has bad sets sometimes, and makes mistakes. But by and large they do amazing work and give us amazing products, and complaining about "low quality" is unfair and practically dishonest.
@hawkeye7269 : trust me, it is not just me or some obscure quality fanatics who notice and change their buying habits. Which is particularly dangerous because City, which is going downhill in so many ways, is usually the series that gets kids into LEGO in the first place. At least over here. No small kid that has a first LEGO set in mind starts with Star Wars, Monkie Kid or Ninjago. City is what usually starts it off. But if kids or parents don't buy City sets because they are both bad as well as ridiculously overpriced, they never get hooked and won't get back into LEGO later either. Those kids then get Playmobil, Schleich, or whatever.
The point is, I have been a LEGO lover (not fanboy) for about four decades, and I would love to keep on loving LEGO products. But after so many decades of buying, building and comparing their sets, I do notice how many themes are getting worse every year.
Yes, there are some gems here and there, but on the whole there are far more bad sets nowadays than there used to be. Perhaps it's in part due to the inflation of sets we have gotten in the last ten to twenty years. Quantity over quality.
Why by the way do you think are there so many legal alternatives nowadays? A couple of years ago, the only alternatives available in Germany were MegaBloks and BestLock. Both of which at the time were of so inferior quality to LEGO that no one would seriously consider buying those. Nowadays there are over a dozen alternatives that are getting better and better every year.
The only reason TLG is still so far ahead is because the alternatives are still in their infancy so to speak, and many people simply don't know about them yet. But exposure is growing all the time, and since many people notice that LEGO is asking ever more money for products where the quality standards are not rising concurrently with the price increases, there will be a tipping point someday. The pandemic might have helped TLG this past year, but that is not a sign that the company will thrive forever.
I am really curious how the next three to five years will turn out for LEGO. Especially how all the lawsuits they are currently starting will play out. The Held der Steine one turned into a marketing disaster for them and gave serious attention to alternatives to so many people for the first time. It should have tought them a lesson, one would think. Because their latest pursuits will get even more people exposed to the fact that there are alternatives.
I would love to see great sets by LEGO in future as well. I just hope they don't go down the path they went with Technic or City but rather the one they are going with CTF sets, Ideas or Ninjago.
And as for the Technic Ferrari, watch reviews on YouTube that are not from channels sponsored by LEGO and you will see.
Great interview, great set! I can really appreciate all the work that went into this set, and other CNY sets.
However the question as to why this amount of work and parts budget, detail etc. is not put into other themes wasnt really answered....
Whenever I see baseplates in new sets it makes me happy.
This is a really amazing set but for goodness sake, were there any other shirts to wear that day? (I'm joking, of course)
It would be very foolish of TLG *not* to make a major play for the Asian, and especially the Chinese, market. It's massive, has increasing amounts of discretionary income, and is very family- and child-oriented. It also provides enormous sources for new forms of content--as sets like this one demonstrate! At the same time, I don't see that other kinds of Lego experience are suffering. Quite the contrary; this is a time of experiment in many directions, but without losing sight of the most important value of all--the joy of play in every meaning of that word. What's wrong with that?
@AustinPowers
I'm sorry you feel that way. You're entirely entitled to have these thoughts regarding quality, but you're certainly in a small minority. As I said, LEGO's growth this year is significant, the market share continues to top 90%, and everything I've seen shows that A) City sets are just as popular as ever, and B) Plenty of kids love to start with Star Wars, Ninjago, and the other themes you mention.
Again, based on your location, the mention of the Held der Steine issue, etc, makes me think that you're not seeing the bigger picture. Issues like that are drops in the bucket, and they don't result in significant market shifts. Similar issues like the Osprey cancellation didn't lead to any detectable market shift.
Finally, I think your statement about the quality of, say, City sets are based in a misunderstanding of what City is. So many adult fans don't look at it from the child's perspective - for many kids, more parts don't equal a better set; City sets are a gateway, thus why you have some larger parts that are simpler to assemble into buildings and the like. That's deliberate and it works well for the youngest fans. Even with the poor price to part ratio, though, City still has great sets that anyone can appreciate! The City Space subtheme and the City Ocean Exploration subtheme are both fantastic right now.
You're welcome to your opinions, but the fact is that kids are still getting into LEGO, the themes you feel are dropping in quality are still doing well, and (as I listed in the previous post) there are tons of great sets that came out this year.
@AustinPowers
I don’t think many parents or kids consider price per part, because outside of North America, LEGO boxes don’t feature the part count. Most of the sets with terrible price per part ratios contain HUGE pieces, so the overall size of the model would make the price seem palatable to consumers. The only reason why North American boxes display the piece count is because of advertising laws.
On a separate note, as an Asian, the answers to the interview questions were cringe-inducing. “As exciting as possible”, “timeless classic”, “authentic and fun”, “ rooted firmly with the Chinese culture and traditions”, “as many lanterns as possible”, “important icons room to shine“ - which level of management did these come from?! I’m all for expanding cultural awareness, but you don’t see this level of jargon being used to describe Christmas or Halloween. The language choice makes the Lunar New Year seems foreign, alien and exotic, as if it was a circus performance or museum exhibit instead of a legitimate celebration, which honestly is a bit insulting. I wish future press releases and interviews could treat Monkie Kid and CTF sets as nothing out of the ordinary. Just read the Winter Village press release then the Monkie Kid one - the difference is night and day.
Oh, and the answer of “too many details, need to cut back” to the question of “biggest challenge when designing the set” is on par with the job interview cliche of answering “I’m too motivated and overwork myself” to “what’s your biggest weakness”.
Could future interviews follow that of Mike Psiaki’s, instead of LEGO’s marketing blurb?
Thanks for posting the interview, but I'd still like to know the true answer to why these CTF sets get seemingly no expense spared.
@hawkeye7269: thank you for your insights on your home market. Of course I can only speak for my own, and here I notice what I described.
Lego should definitely do other regional sets like Dia de Los Muertos etc.
As a Chinese but not from China, I could only say that this set (and this year's related Chinese New Year sets), are the best and most articulated designed Lego sets for this theme ever. This shows what competition can bring to advancement (if you already know about what kind of detail designs those so called knocked-off brands are able to come up with). However, this and the other Nian set brings both meaningful messages, festive feelings, and above all very detail and accurate representation to the original topic.
Happy to see a merge between western and eastern approaches in terms of product's design, and still keeping with the originality of the source.
Thanks for this interview!
Please do a video conference interview (e.g. through Zoom or Microsoft Teams) so that we can have a better interview. As others have typed, doing so will remove the marketing jargon riddled throughout this interview.
@hawkeye7269 said:
" @AustinPowers
What exactly is wrong with the Ferrari?"
Just came across this video:
https://youtu.be/5CIUNrpEu6Y
If you are fluent in German or know someone who can translate for you, it should be a real eye-opener.
If after watching you still find nothing wrong with the Technic Ferrari, I would seriously start to question your sanity.
In case you don't understand German, the gist of the video is, he is comparing the CaDa Master Series "Italian Supercar" by well known MOC designer Bruno Jenson with the aforementioned new LEGO Technic Ferrari.
The CaDa set features
- box design fitting with the LEGO Supercars
- size and parts count like the LEGO Supercars
- LED head- and taillights
- remote control (2.4 GHz, not Bluetooth)
- rechargeable lithium battery
- drive motor
- steering servo motor
- remote controlled (!) 4-speed gearbox
All for 180 Euro RRP, the SAME RRP as the LEGO Ferrari with none of the above features but cost-cutting measures all over.
Nuff said.
Interesting bonus fact: he mentions a colour consistency issue where the CaDa set has one Technic part that is a darker red than the other pieces, and apparently the exact same type of part by LEGO has the exact same colour consistency issue. As if this specific part by both companies came from the same factory. Coincidence?
@AustinPowers said:
"Reading between the lines, it seems TLG is trying to really make inroads into the Chinese market. Unfortunately, no other current theme except for Ideas gets as much love and attention to quality as the CTF sets.
Don't get me wrong, I love the CTF sets, especially because LEGO spares no expense in order to give us really great sets in this theme.
But I would really appreciate it if they spent as much care and attention to classic themes like Technic or City, both of which have been going downhill very steeply in recent years.
And reading a statement like
"Every set that we design (no matter the subject-matter) goes through the same high quality tests, design processes and build-throughs to make sure that it is an awesome toy."
makes me shake my head. I mean, he certainly hasn't seen or built the new Technic Ferrari, which has to be one of the worst sets in LEGO history, perhaps only "beaten" by the infamous First Order AT-ST. Quality control at its worst. "
Yeah well, they want access to that sweet Chinese money pot that they are neglecting their other themes (the neglect and oversight with Mustfar Obi Wan and Anakin are unforgivable).
@vader11 said:
"Whenever I see baseplates in new sets it makes me happy."
While I read this interview I was thinking: bless the modular building standard! I also have been quite worried that the traditional baseplates are slowly disappearing, but as long as new modular buildings and sets compatible with them do come out, they'll have to contain also baseplates in order to fit together with all the existing ones! :D
I'd like to see Justin do a modular too :0)
@AustinPowers the Bruno Jenson CaDa "Italian supercar" set doesn't have to pay any licensing fees to Ferrari, for a start... you're comparing apples and oranges - an unlicensed, off-brand set vs a licensed Lego set.
The Ferrari is half the part count of the Sian, and also half the price, so I don't know why you have an issue with it in particular - most of the features you mentioned are not found in the Chiron/Sian either.
@Huw this was an interesting read, thank you for coming up with a great set of questions
@monty_bricks said:
" @AustinPowers the Bruno Jenson CaDa "Italian supercar" set doesn't have to pay any licensing fees to Ferrari, for a start... you're comparing apples and oranges - an unlicensed, off-brand set vs a licensed Lego set.
The Ferrari is half the part count of the Sian, and also half the price, so I don't know why you have an issue with it in particular - most of the features you mentioned are not found in the Chiron/Sian either. "
For a start, I don't recall anyone forced TLG to make this a licensed set. In the good old days of proper LEGO Technic none of the supercars were licenced.
Secondly, even considering a licence fee, which can't be THAT much per set, the Ferrari is terrible value. I listed the features of the CaDa set, because it offered the building experience and features of the Technic Supercars plus all the RC and lighting stuff on top for the same price as the LEGO Ferrari which offers nothing of the kind and is also terribly designed from a technical standpoint. I mean, it's more or less a hollow shell that is bendable like a banana. What about it speaks quality or value for money in any way in your opinion?