The Lego Discussion

I am joined by my good buddies Adam and Clay as they talk about their experiences with legos through the years

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Oh boy, so I actually managed to grab it. I got a golden Konohoi mask from one of the old Lego sets, but I guess can't find the rest of the bionicle. I'm I reached out to two of my buddies here. They should be showing up at any moment to hopefully help me assemble this bionicle here. You might recognize them. Oh, that should be them. Howdy, howdy. Hey Clay. Adam, you there? What up, Danny? Alright, so guys, I got this golden mask that I'm trying to figure out. I can't find the bionicle set for it. Can you guys build me on this? I know you guys like Legos.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Alright, well, what what kind of mask are we looking at here?

unknown 0:51

Oh god damn.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

So it's the reference from a certain movie.

SPEAKER_03 0:56

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember that when that movie came out, or when that whole that I remember that.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

What color is said mask here?

SPEAKER_02 1:07

Uh sorry, it's gold. Gold? It's gold.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

I'm sorry, Daniel. Part I was about to say, my brain wants to default to the Mask of Light. That's the only thing that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

The Mask of Light movie. You know those lenses go for a lot of money because some of them are actually made out of gold.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

No uh well, they're more like if I don't I don't know. I've never I don't remember hearing about that one actually. If that is if that is a thing, I'd I'd imagine they're exceedingly rare and very limited. Very much.

SPEAKER_03 1:40

I never got into the I never got into the Bionicle Lego sets uh as a kid. I remember D game stuff came out and I think they had like I think it got so popular that quote me if I'm wrong, but they actually had um uh McDonald's toys for Bionicle.

SPEAKER_02 2:02

I believe they didn't.

SPEAKER_03 2:03

They did for a little bit, yeah. Yeah, okay. Yeah, I never got into the Bionicle thing.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

I actually still have uh I think one of mine from those old McDonald's happy meals from when I was a little kid.

SPEAKER_03 2:15

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:19

Hey Danny. Yes, Adam. I I I I I um I can't help but notice uh this is like the third time that I blipped into this uh multiverse, this interdimensional um uh plane at your tavern, and you still have two holes in your wall. So what's going on with that?

SPEAKER_02 2:43

I had some contractors a few weeks ago that came in and they were getting the estimates going on what would be manpower-wise and material. So eventually we'll have the hole filled. Actually, Clay, you seem a little bit familiar on that one.

SPEAKER_03 2:58

Hey, Clay, or hey, Danny, uh, Clay and I are master Lego builders. Like that. We've built quite a few sets in our day. How about how about we uh help you save the cost of of labor and manpower, and we'll just build your new wall out of uh Legos or Duplos, whichever one you you uh shall choose. I mean, it's gotta be better than the the the uh beef jerky wall I offered you like the first time I visited, right? I mean, it can't be eaten by bears.

SPEAKER_02 3:35

Well you're not wrong on that. What is the current price?

SPEAKER_03 3:38

Unless of course we use the candy. Oh, what do you think, Clay?

SPEAKER_02 3:44

The current what? Price per brick.

SPEAKER_03 3:48

Current price per brick.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

I mean your standard two by four, hey, it wouldn't cost you cost you pennies on the dollar, dude.

SPEAKER_03 3:57

Yeah, yeah, we can do it, we can build you a brand spanking new wall, very colorful, out of Legos, for little to no money at all. How do you what do you say?

SPEAKER_02 4:10

Hmm. I don't know, but while I have you guys on the topic of Legos, I've got a few questions because obviously I used to have my uncles as a kid. I've done my fair share of Lego projects when I was a child, but once I hit teenage years, I kind of fell off this Lego train, and now whenever I walk by them on store shelves and I see these prices. I know both of you have made a few Lego sets in your time. Would you guys be able to explain some of that to us?

SPEAKER_03 4:45

I'll be more than happy to.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

Trying to think of where to start on why Lego's pricing is so exceedingly expensive.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

I can only assume nostalgia.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

I know a lot of it's Star Wars. I know a lot of Star Wars is based on the IP stuff. Star Wars is basically like the apple of the Lego world. Like you're you're paying a premium for those sets alongside, you know, your normal pricing.

SPEAKER_03 5:13

Not to mention the Harry Potter sets.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Harry Potter's the same thing. A lot of the IP sets are tend to run higher.

SPEAKER_03 5:20

Oh yeah. Uh Marvel, Batman, DC, uh, and then you have some other builds that nowadays um we didn't have as kids. Uh I I think there's a niche market now on having certain builds that are you just build them and you don't play with them.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

I I I will I will say one thing I have noticed in recent years is that Lego doesn't quite feel as the same toy company as it used to be. No, it's not. Like it it's definitely like they took the whole like Legos are now for adults and really ran with it. Oh, I totally agree with you.

SPEAKER_03 6:07

I've got a few sets that I don't think I could have uh done when I was a kid, because when I was a kid and go ahead, Scott.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

Yeah, it's like I'm sitting here, I'm sitting here as an adult now, and I'm like, I could I could have never built these as a kid. Like kid me would have never wanted these, these would have been too much. You know, there's no no play value to them.

SPEAKER_03 6:32

Or the difficulty level of some of them is just builds. So but um I I remember go ahead, Danny.

SPEAKER_02 6:43

Sorry, I I was just gonna ask with like some of the difficulty and even the idea that it's like, hey, once you build them, you do not touch them. Do you think that Lego's trying to in a way usurp some of the puzzle world? Because you think about it, there are puzzles that like our grandparents could do. They like as children you wouldn't do, and then once they're done, they're glued, they're framed, and they're never touched again. They're just meant to look pretty.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

So I wouldn't say as I wouldn't go so far as puzzles, I'd say more the buildable model market.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

You mean like that type of puzzle? So for everyone who uh cannot see the podcast, uh Adam is showing a very large puzzle of the Hogwarts uh emblem with all four houses. Uh I can only imagine how many pieces went into that puzzle.

SPEAKER_03 7:39

A thousand. It's a thousand pieces. Me like a month to do, because I was working and lazy and stuff, but yeah, anyway.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Go ahead. Legos. Yeah, no, um, personally, no. I think I think they're more trying to take over like the buildable model market because that's what it seems like they're all trying to be. It's just buildable models at this point, rather than like you know, the toys that they're supposed to be. At the end of the day, that's what that's what they are. That's what they're supposed to be, is it you know a children's toy.

SPEAKER_03 8:13

Now, don't get me wrong, they are Lego has branched from okay, so when I was a kid in play, when you sent that in the group chat uh of a certain set of characters, I looked at one, I'm like, and the day previous, like yesterday, I was like, like, oh my gosh, I can talk about and I thank God for you correcting me because I my old self thought it was Basil the Bat Knight, but it was Basil the Bat Lord, correct? Yes, yeah. Yes, so the Fright Knight set. Like I remember as a kid um building the like I had two Basils because I had the set that was the black dragon that came with the Basil, then I had the sort of mid-sized castle one. Um I think there was a slightly larger castle one, but I know I had the mid-size one with I think there was like six characters in that with a skeleton, the witch, some knights, and then Basil the Bat Lord, and you saw you show that picture, and like I was just transported back in time.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

Yeah. Yeah, I know. I got I got into it recently, and it's just I'd just been obsessed with it.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

The whole theme, it's been so cool.

SPEAKER_03 9:30

I remember when those came out, uh, it was it back at uh and you said it's like, oh, it was back in 97. Like, I know I was in elementary school, I think I was in third grade, and then I'm like, oh 97. I was probably closer to the fourth, third or fourth grade when that Lego set came out, and I won it uh from like this raffle at school that these the speech teacher at my elementary school at the time was like putting kids that was in the speech clas her her speech class to win this set, and I happened to win it, and that's how I I got that set. The kids uh of her speech class, and like I don't remember how long it took me to build it, re uh build it. It wasn't it was probably the biggest set that I had at the time. I mean I had I also had uh one the uh um the police boats, the city Lego City police boats, and I think maybe I had the Coast Guard I think it was Coast Guard sort of search and rescue helicopter set. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

I never could get in Lego City, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_03 10:44

Uh it was it was probably around the time that um that the Fright Knight set was was coming out too with the uh and then I I was looking on eBay and another thing that just brought me back in time about the same time the Fright Knight set was coming out was the alien set. Right. And then and then on the back of the box, because on the back of the old Lego boxes, it used to show different other sets from other like other sets from a different whole setup line and a lot of a lot of the time I think a lot of the time it was other sets.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Uh excuse me. Yeah, it was other sets of the same wave rather than like.

SPEAKER_03 11:36

Are you are you really gatekeeping your sprug in right now, Danny? Really? Look, I only got I know what's back there.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

No, I just I choked on my drink more like a person who doesn't know how to hydrate. You can't grow some more sprug in.

SPEAKER_02 11:53

I can't drink, man. Now talking about like just some of the intricacies of some of the newer Lego sets. Since you guys have stuck with Lego for so long, do you guys prefer the more uh intricate and detailed style? You know, almost in a way as real as Lego is going to get styles? Or do you wish we could go back to a time where Lego was still kind of bright and colorful and almost looked like what McDonald's used to look like versus what McDonald's looks like now?

SPEAKER_01 12:29

I wanna I want a balance of both, honestly. I want like I want sets that like if you're paying $100 for it, regardless if it's a play set or a good like model scale set, like it's like you're getting a hundred dollars worth for it. Like, because back, like for example, the Fright Nights, for example, you paid, I don't remember what the MSRP was back then, but it was like less than a hundred dollars, you got a full castle. Yeah, you gotta it give you a full castle for under a hundred dollars, and nowadays you'd be lucky if like that hundred dollars could get you like a side build for that main castle, because that main castle is gonna c gonna cost you probably 200 bucks.

SPEAKER_03 13:11

I I think when uh when I bought the my Harry Potter um sorting hat, I think I paid around $50 or so.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

It was before it was $50.

SPEAKER_03 13:25

Yeah, I paid $50 for it. The the um the bonds I tree won maybe around 20-ish. I could be wrong. Maybe I I don't know how much it was or how much it is.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

Yeah, I think the bonds I trade was I think 60, I think.

SPEAKER_03 13:49

Oh no, yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

Yeah, it was probably it was it was a little pricey, I think.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

It was it was on in release 97 to 98, the Lord's castle would be between like 70 to 90 dollars, depending on retail market. Yeah, okay. Your witch's windship would have been between ten to fifteen dollars.

SPEAKER_03 14:09

Oh, I remember that one, and I did not.

SPEAKER_02 14:13

Think of it this way and freight force would have been six.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

Can I can I butt in real quick, Danny?

SPEAKER_02 14:18

No, go right ahead.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

Oh, that that witch what'd you say it was the witch's craft or aircraft or whatever?

SPEAKER_02 14:23

The witch's windship's windship.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

Um I was kind of half paying attention there for a second, but that witch's windship. So now you said it was fifteen dollars back back when it was released in '97. Nowadays, nowadays on the aftermarket, because I went to this uh Lego store uh nearby, it's like an aftermarket Lego store. I saw it and it wasn't even inbox, nothing. It was fully assembled, and the dragon was even missing the wings. It was going for a hundred and ninety dollars.

SPEAKER_03 14:54

Jesus Christ, I wish I still kept my Lego, all the Legos I had for eight.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

Nowadays, the dragon itself goes for ten dollars more than that entire set was worth back then. So I that dragon that dragon was 25 bucks.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

A question that may divert our conversation a bit from Lego, but I am curious from the both of you, this was something and I talked about in my nostalgia episode. The price of nostalgia. Are you guys okay with this type of stuff happening where it's like, hey, this is something that we remember from childhood, this is something that we liked? Because big corporations or sellers or salesmen know this, the price of nostalgia accelerates that price increase. What do you guys think about that? Uh do you guys agree or disagree with my opinion?

SPEAKER_01 15:50

I personally think that should not be a reason why the price should be inflated. If you're basing your price point on nostalgia alone, you need to reconsider your options, man. I I think because because look at the last three Star Wars movies that have come out, like the last three main ones, 7, 8, 9, those were all solely based on like thrown in on nostalgia's sake, and look how poorly those movies have done.

SPEAKER_03 16:16

Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with you on that one. Because I remember so I remember back around the 1990s, 2000, and you know where I'm about to go with this, hopefully, um episode one came out. And I know I know we're talking about Legos, but I'm going to divert into Legos. Don't worry about that one. I had I had the Naboo Fighter set. Uh like I got that one for Christmas, the Naboo Fighter with Anakin and and the little droids for like he went into like the the trade feder inside the trade federation, that that scene, I had that ship. I had that Lego ship, and I loved building it that way, and I loved playing with it like when I was a kid and everything like that. But as much as I would love to have those sets back, like if I could transport them exactly the way they were from my child to here with no cost, I would totally do it. Because anybody would I had growing up I had grown up um a clear plastic tub like a shallow storage tub full of Lego sets because once I built them, oftentimes nowadays I wouldn't do this, but oftentimes I would take them apart after building them. And yeah, several hours of doing that, but at the same time, half the fun of Legos was building something else out of them, something cool, something ridiculous, something just like that didn't make any sense at all.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Well, that's that's kind of the whole point behind Lego. Like it it when Lego first started, it was never it was never about like the Lego sets or how much money they can make. It was literally just a toy company giving you a bucket of bricks and being like, yo, build something with it, be creative, have fun with it, you know? And the sets were just to give you more things to you know imagine stuff with, like, you know, when they started coming out with Lego Town and like Lego space and all that, like you know, they gave you all the sets, but from there it was like do whatever you want with with it.

SPEAKER_02 18:36

Like, I think in a way, do you think Lego lost sight of that?

SPEAKER_03 18:41

You know which part of the sets um uh uh uh thing uh uh of Legos that has not changed ever in that sense. Well Duplo. Duplo has not changed.

SPEAKER_01 19:03

Yeah, well Duplo doesn't have to change. There's you can't really there's not really much of a market to change when it comes to children under like five years old, you know?

SPEAKER_03 19:13

Oh yeah, but Duplo had not changed over the years, it's the same thing that they package.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

No, Duplo doesn't have to. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. But the problem is it's like nowadays it's all of it's all of the kids back in the day that have all grown up and want to get in on like the all the Legos that they used to have as a kid, and now because of the aftermarket and like with everybody wanting these high quality, like you know, model grade sets, it's like Lego is very much not what it used to be. And I I honestly don't know if it's for the better. I I honestly would argue it's for the worst.

SPEAKER_02 19:48

That's what I was even bringing up with do you think they lost sight of just build something? Because like some of these sets that I see on the uh shelves of my local Walmarts and fries and everything, right? The bonsai trees, these orchid flowers.

SPEAKER_03 20:06

Um they're fun to build, I will admit, they are fun to build.

SPEAKER_02 20:09

Like these sets are these sets are if you take bricks from that set, are you gonna be able to build that set anymore? Or is it gonna look off now because starting bricks are now missing?

SPEAKER_01 20:21

Well, that could be that could be the same set for any Lego set that ever exists. If you take pieces away from it, it's gonna ruin the whole set. It has to be complete. That's the thing. Um that's the whole point of the set. I mean, granted, yes, you can modify it and change it however you like, but if you're the kind of person that wants the set the way it is, you can't really take any pieces away from it.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

You're not wrong, but you could always change out a blue brick for a different blue brick and not necessarily notice. But like oh, yeah, no, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

In that regard, yes, you absolutely could. A certain color brown for this particular tree, you can't just replace with another just brown without it being like the exclusive parts aren't really too much of an issue because even if you don't really have a use for them now, there's always there's always somewhere you can use them. You know what I mean? That's that's the glory of that. It's like there's always a there's always a place you can use that piece for.

SPEAKER_03 21:17

Now, when it comes to the bonsai tree one, there if you look I don't know you haven't opened yours one yours one yet, have you, Clay? I'm sorry? You haven't opened your uh bonsai tree one yet, have you?

SPEAKER_01 21:32

No, I have. It's just disassembled at the moment because I had it in storage.

SPEAKER_03 21:37

Oh yeah, I had to do I had to reassemble it because it was in storage, but did you I I think you said you keep kept the booklets, right? Yeah, I keep all my booklets. Okay, did you notice at the back of the booklet of the build of the of the bonsai that it shows like different different other builds of like what you could do with the bonsai?

SPEAKER_01 22:00

I think so. I don't remember.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

Yeah, it's really wickedly cool that what they did. There was some that was like under the ocean and there were some that were alien.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

Honestly, something I want Lego to bring back in full swing for a major not like all of their sets, but like a majority of them. And I've seen it starting to creep back a little bit over the years. It's alternate builds for Lego sets. Like, like for example, like for example, I think it came out in 2021. It was the uh the Galaxy Explorer remake. It gives you three separate builds to build on. Same thing with the yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's different. That's different though. That's a creator three in one set. That's different. I'm talking about like how they would have in the back of the manuals, there would be like two alternate builds that you'd have to find the instructions for.

SPEAKER_03 22:58

Oh you know what I mean? Okay, like yeah, like I remember that.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

Like with that, like with the Galaxy Explorer or like the Blacktron that came out that same that next year, or something like that. Or actually, no, I think it came out in 2025, actually. But still, they had alternate builds that you could do aside from the main one, and that's something I want Lego to bring back. That's something I missed from when I was a kid. Because I'd look at the back of the booklet and see those alternate builds, and I sometimes I would sit down and try and figure out how to build those just by looking at that little picture. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 23:31

I knew someone when I was growing up that tried to assemble a Lego set just by looking at the picture, it it did not end well.

SPEAKER_01 23:50

It's fun to do if you if you pull it off, man. And even then, even if you don't get it right, that's just another excuse to like try again and get it right, you know.

SPEAKER_03 23:59

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

Now you're curious from your guys' opinions. One at a time. Adam first on this one. What was your favorite Lego set that you built? To completion.

SPEAKER_03 24:14

To completion. That is a hard one because I've de I've built a few in my day.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

Even re are we talking all like are we talking 'cause all accompassing of all that I've done anything that you laid your hands on, whether it was with you and your parents as a kid or as an adult.

SPEAKER_03 24:38

Oftentimes our our my parents would not get involved in building the Lego sets with us when I was a kid. Um I'm gonna have to say uh the Basil castle. Honestly, because like the Fright Night Basil one. I mean the Vespa one is up there, but I'm gonna have to say the Basil castle. The the I think it it it I don't know if that's the large one or the medium I can't remember how many different castles there was. I think it might have been the medium castle of Basel. The uh bat lord one, but that one. The one that I won back when I was in uh when I was in uh elementary school was probably my favorite one.

SPEAKER_02 25:31

And I'm gonna circle back to you on that, Adam, but I want to ask you why. Clay, what was your favorite?

SPEAKER_01 25:39

I I would personally have to go with I know it's a newer set, so it may have still of that uh new like feel that new feel to it, but it's it's gotta be that Tyrannosaurus skeleton that I have. That is just I have been waiting my entire life for a just some kind of a dinosaur skeleton to have. And one year, I think like a couple years ago, we got a T-Rex skull, and I was like, you know, not you know, and we've gotten we obviously we've gotten skeletons, but nothing like model quality, nothing that I can like proudly, proudly display as a centerpiece on my mantle, you know what I mean? And then all of a sudden, I'm just I'm out looking around at a Lego store one day just because I'm bored, and then all of a sudden in this big pla in their big plastic case is this three and a half foot long monster of a Lego set. It's it just I knew, yeah, I knew right then and there that was that was the set I needed, set I wanted, and you know, bless their heart, the love of my life got it for me one day, and it's just ever since then the building experience, the display value, the just the awe of it all, it is by leaps and bounds my favorite Lego set of all time.

SPEAKER_02 27:01

Okay, I will have one more question on that one, but Adam with the Fright Night Castle. Why was that your favorite?

SPEAKER_03 27:09

Honestly, if I remember correctly, the build was quite quite fun because it was one of the ones with the buildings that um you actually had like the lamb pieces that you had to set down first and like you just built up and the hours of play that I've got out of that particular set, especially with a siblings, I think like like because growing up in the nineties and that time, like the most advanced um gaming system probably this was like ninety-seven-98, the most advanced gaming system we had was the NES. And possibly at that time the super NES came out at that time. So it was more of a nostalgia factor of bringing it on really snowy or rainy days growing up in Alaska that you couldn't really go outside. It was just what or when I got sick. Like having to stay home from school is just built this playing with the that particular set when I was when I was sick, had to stay home from school and stuff like that. That was probably why it wasn't one of my favorites.

SPEAKER_01 28:29

Around 97, like in like that time, 1997, we already had the PlayStation 1. We were not limited to the NES. We we were already at the PlayStation 1 at that point.

SPEAKER_02 28:40

I think I had the 64.

SPEAKER_01 28:42

Growing up is what play the PlayStation 1 came out in 1995.

SPEAKER_03 28:46

Okay, but when I was growing up, the most advanced gaming system we had was that yeah, that that's understanding.

SPEAKER_01 28:53

That's understandable. You just you made it sound like what the only consoles out were like classic games though.

SPEAKER_03 29:00

I'm sorry, I apologize. No, no, no, you're good. I just I just didn't aggressive.

SPEAKER_02 29:05

Go take a moment in the Spriggan room and then come back, you'll be alright. Oh no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 29:09

I wasn't I wasn't trying to like I wasn't trying to like start nothing.

SPEAKER_03 29:13

I'm just you know No, it's just when growing up a lot of times like we we weren't we were a family that wasn't really well off, so we didn't have the most advanced game system. Oh no, trust me.

SPEAKER_01 29:27

Oh no, trust me, I get that, my man. I had a PlayStation 2 until like 20 and like 17. Yeah. Trust me, man, I understand. Like I was just I just you know, I all it just sounded like it like you were saying, like this all, you know, that's all. That's all. I ain't try to start.

SPEAKER_03 29:47

No, no worries, man. No worries. But yeah, uh it's just something that's like it that particular Lego set brought me hours of fun playing with.

SPEAKER_02 29:58

That's yeah. How long do you think it took you to finish it?

SPEAKER_03 30:02

I don't remember. It probably was a few hours. See that sorry sorry to button again. Because when you were a kid, you had the patience of like of uh building it, like it didn't take very long because they weren't it wasn't an intricate, difficult sell set to build.

SPEAKER_02 30:25

That's fair.

SPEAKER_01 30:29

Yeah, like that's that's the point I was trying to bring up earlier about how like Lego's too focused on the model quality stuff. He said he built that set and it brought him like hours, if not months, of like playtime, you know, and adventures and stuff like that. It feels like a lot of these sets don't have that anymore, you know what I mean? So like at least from what I see, it feels like they lost a lot of that.

SPEAKER_02 30:57

So that was actually gonna lead that into me asking you why is the T-Rex skeleton the set that's your favorite, and then I also didn't want to ask how long did it take you to make that set?

SPEAKER_01 31:11

So it's it's my favorite just because like one it I it is it is basically a model quality set, and I know I've been sitting here ragging on them the whole time. I don't dislike the model sets, I have plenty of them myself. A majority of my sets are that. It's just I don't like how they're dominating the market right now. That's my problem. Like it feels like Lego striving for like adult money, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 31:37

Oh, especially when it comes to Mona Lisa um uh Lego sets or the the ones of the Rivendale. Yeah, I think you guys brought it up earlier. Or the Hogwarts the or the Hogwarts set.

SPEAKER_02 31:51

They're striving for an older audience, even with the Hogwarts Castle, right? You're yes, we have the new Hastings. We have the new Harry Potter show starting, but most Harry Potter fans currently are in their late 20s upwards to early 40s, and then there are definitely a spectrum of them past that.

SPEAKER_01 32:16

Okay, so let me put it this way, right? Pokemon, right? It is the number one, hold on, okay, hold on. Let me let me just finish my role here, right? Pokemon, it is the number one media franchise in the world. Lego has finally adapted it. Lego is the number one toy company in the world. Smash hit. Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on. Smack you think smash hit sells dozens of sets, millions of dollars easily. Do you know what Lego decides to do? Four five sets in total. First set, Eevee, $60. Second set, Pikachu, $200. Two more sets, smaller scale. One's a mini Pokemon center. I have that actually really nice set. You you have to use insider points for it. You have a set that is all eight canto gym badges that is locked behind a paywall. That is a gift with purchase. For which set, for which set do you get that gift with purchase? The $650 starter uh Canto Starter Trio set. That is now currently that is now currently sold out and being resold on the aftermarket for double the price. See, that's where I that is our problem. That is our problem with Lego right now. That is that's where you draw the line. That sums up every issue that Lego has right now in just five sets.

SPEAKER_03 33:46

The most I will probably spend on a Lego set right now is maybe $100.

SPEAKER_01 33:52

If that. I'm sorry where I draw the line. But you cannot adapt something as popular as Pokemon behind that big of a paywall. They are banking on strictly the people that grew up with the original games, the people who are in their 30s and 40s who have the money to buy this shit.

SPEAKER_02 34:16

Well, what's even crazier? Yeah, that's where I draw the line. They encourage scalpers. There is not one child money for them where it's like a scalper can come in, buy all the sets that they know somebody's gonna want to buy, turn around and sell them online for double to triple their value.

SPEAKER_01 34:36

If I if I was a kid nowadays and I saw that starter trio set, I would have fucking lost my mind knowing that I would never be able to get my hands on it. I would have fucking I would have never recovered from that. Dude, do you know how many kids are out there that love Pokemon that are never gonna be able to get their hands on any of these? No, oh 100%. Like, and that's what's see, that's what's pissing me off because it's screwing over the the the target audience.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

But that's the thing. We are ruining, we're ruining it for the kids, dude. Target changed. Like it is not it really does feel like it feels like Lego's target changed.

SPEAKER_01 35:18

Because when I was a kid, Lego was the fucking shit, dude. And I apologize for the language, but I'm very passionate about this. It's a tavern.

SPEAKER_02 35:28

Everyone in here had people a drink.

SPEAKER_01 35:31

But like I it's like when I was a kid growing up with these things, they were they were the bee's knees. You could sit there. I I remember when I was a kid back when Lego Atlantis came out, and I had the me and my friends, we got the big, like, big Atlantis gates with all like the figures and like vehicles, enemies, all that shit. We were still we were sitting there, we played with for all the entire weekend. For like we had like a four-day weekend, that's all we did was just sit there and play with the Lego set because that's how they made them back then. It was just oh, it was just some you know, something to play with, and nowadays it's just they just want all these stupid fucking models, man.

SPEAKER_03 36:12

I I will have to say my my second favorite only because again, Christmas gift and everything, and I'm now into riding scooters, that 1960s 125 blue Vespa in my current set is my favorite. Only because like it like that. Only because you have it. Yeah, because I have it. That's my fave that's my favorite current set right now is that Vespa.

SPEAKER_01 36:46

Yeah, I don't think anything's beating that rack skeleton for me. That's just that's just too perfect in my eyes.

SPEAKER_04 36:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:52

Now do you guys cause we're all adults. We've all had to move in our times, and each of us uh had to move cross uh state lines. With having completed Lego sets, what is it like to move with a Lego set as an adult?

SPEAKER_03 37:11

Terrifying. It is. Um, I luckily I was able to break down uh my bonsai tree very easily because what what's cool about the bonsai tree is you can remove the uh leaves and switch them out with a different set of leaves. So you could take them out, put them in a separate bag or something, take the base of it with the tree, and put in another like box or in wrap it, and then take the like the platform that the the tr base of the tree is sitting on and put that in another box. So and luckily it's able to be put back together relatively easily as long as it doesn't break while moving. That one was easy to it. I mean I rebuilt it yesterday because I was meaning to been meaning to do it for like the last year and a half and my broken wrist and I can't work right now. I've got all the time in the world to buy some Lego sets and build them. I have the time now to actually do it. I don't have the money, but I have the time.

SPEAKER_01 38:23

I don't have the time or the money to do it, and that's that's upsetting. Yeah. I missed when twenty dollars used to get you like a decent Lego set back in the day. Nowadays you'd be lucky to get a battle pack for that.

SPEAKER_03 38:37

Yeah. Then you all have all the little miniature ones, like like the miniature uh millennium falcons and stuff like that. Those are fun too. Yeah. For real, yeah. Like, but trying to build the Millennium Falcon, I'm like, no. I I don't I don't think I have that much patience.

SPEAKER_02 39:00

Are we talking like the old school one or a new one?

SPEAKER_03 39:03

Have you seen the dark the dark Millennium Falcon?

SPEAKER_02 39:07

No, I have not.

SPEAKER_01 39:09

I have, I have. It looks nice. I've been trying to get my hands on it. But it's like I I really honestly honestly, I really just it's 129. That's not terrible. Okay. But uh well, I mean, well, it's out it's off market now, so it's probably more, but um, I mean, I really just want the I just want the white Vader figure. I might just buy that second hand. I really just want the white Vader. The Jedi Vader. Yeah, that's really the only figure I want. That's the only reason I wanted that set. I could give any less of a care about the rest of it. What about Darth Jar Jar? Nah, I don't care about Darth Jar Jar. The meme is funny, but uh I could care less. You could always get Darth Jared.

SPEAKER_02 40:00

Before we exit our Lego discussion tonight, I do want to touch base on some of Lego and media. What are your guys' thoughts on the Lego movies franchises as well as the Lego game franchises?

SPEAKER_01 40:19

Okay, first of all, the the first Lego movie, top-notch, top tier, would recommend to everybody who wants who would ever want to watch it. For anybody who likes Lego, that is the movie to watch. I'll agree with that one. Second of all, the fact that Lego Ninjago now has currently 17 seasons is insane. I have not watched a single episode of Nin Ninjaro. I've just been into it. There are 17 seasons of Lego Ninjago. I movie. I watched I watched, I think, the first three seasons, maybe, and then I stopped. So I plan to rewatch the entire series at some point.

SPEAKER_03 41:03

I'm probably not going to. I was like that Ninjaro came out like when I was when did it come out?

SPEAKER_01 41:11

2011. Ninjago came out at like the perfect time. Ninjago came out at the perfect time for me, honestly. I got I got hooked on it real quick. But it also like at the same time, back when I was watching it, season three, I think, was supposed it was originally like the series, like supposed to be the series finale, but apparently not, and it just kept going for 14 more seasons. But it's but it's still also doing really well, like it's it currently it's like in the aftermarket, it's outselling everybody else, and that includes Star Wars. Oh damn. Ninjago is insane right now in the aftermarket. It hurts.

SPEAKER_03 41:58

In 2011, I I was probably in my early twenties, so that was that didn't hit my dem that wasn't a demographic I was really into in in 2011.

SPEAKER_02 42:12

Honestly, like that was when I wasn't here. He was going to raves, he was a party bull. No, it's all the ladies on his arms, like Adam was a god among gods. And honestly, I killed him.

SPEAKER_01 42:26

You know, honestly, I kind of like that Ninjago came out when it did because like I at that point, like I was born in '99, so I missed the ninja. I was too young for the ninja, the original ninja theme when it came out. So this was a nice little like way for Lego to be like, hey, for all you kids who missed the ninjas, here's some more, but they're a little bit cooler now. And they got dragons.

SPEAKER_03 42:52

Yeah, I I was a young adult. I was in my early twenties and I wasn't I wasn't I fell out of Legos when I was in my twenties to recently till like 2024 from that time I wasn't really building Legos, but then like I moved to Texas, I got a little more free time and bought a few sets, not very major just because I missed I missed building it. Honestly, and I and at that point I I really didn't want to buy like again, I know how you feel about the model stuff, but to me it's like I just wanted to build something that was like from start to finish and have it just there. Kind of like how people will build like Gundam models, just build them to for the sake of building it.

SPEAKER_01 43:49

Right. Well, like I said, I don't have an issue with the model quality sets. You know, I have plenty of them myself, I just don't like how they're overtaking the market. That's that's my issue. my only issue with them you we can have them i'm fine with them i love them i think they're great i have plenty of them myself i have the big t-rex skeleton i have the daily bugle i have the big bowser set i have i have plenty of them you know but it just i i just think they're overtaking the market already built before and like his room was cool when i walked in and i just see all these he had a whole army of like stormtroopers and stuff set up on one shelf and i'm sitting here being like i'm sorry he did correct you with clone troopers and stormtroopers you get those two mixed up and you you're gonna have a fight along the uh with the Star Wars community my friend you say that you say that to the wrong per dude you say that to the wrong person you're getting stabbed and with all that being said guys you are getting you're getting a lightsaber to the throat I want to say thank you guys for coming in and bringing your opinions to the tavern on Legos I appreciate you have me on sorry for ranting about uh Lego kind of sucking right now hey we're in the tavern all opinions are valid as long as it's over drinks or smoke valid Clay Adam without further ado would you like to give us your sign offs Adam take the lead on um while it was raining and thundering here in Texas later that's one way to do it we'll fit the theme it's some kind of weather out here in waterfall Georgia doses And once again I'm melting out here in Arizona but this has been Danny with our tavern talks and that's another chow