Redisplay Messages: Compact | Brief | All | Full Show Messages: All | Without Replies| Author: | TheBrickGuys  | | Posted: | Jan 9, 2024 22:37 | | Subject: | Re: Why are some allowed to stay in business? | | Viewed: | 88 times | | Topic: | General | |
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| | | What would be your proposal for BL?
What action can I take if he is already on my stoplist? 
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Well of course close all stores except ours!
But seriously. I know where your coming from because it really comes down to
where do you draw the line? Everyone will have a differing opinion on where that
line should be and once the line is drawn what happens when you, me, or anyone
else crosses that threshold by just one negative? No one would would want their
store to be closed down because of just that one feedback that causes us to cross
that threshold.
But when a store has at least a few thousand feedbacks for selling and 10% or
more of them are negative / neutrals, maybe an actual percentage should not automatically
close down their store but I think it would be good for BrickLink to examine
stores with a high percentage of bad feedbacks and first maybe give them a warning
to clean up their act and if after a certain period of time they dont change
then BL should consider further consequences.
Jim
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Jan 9, 2024 21:40 | | Subject: | Why are some allowed to stay in business? | | Viewed: | 249 times | | Topic: | General | |
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| We have had our share of neutral and negative feedbacks - at total of 26 - but
how are some stores still allowed to do business? There is a store in Germany
with around 8850 total feedbacks but out of his 7151 feedbacks for selling he
has 393 negative / neutrals. This past year alone he has 503 positive but 48
negative / neutrals - that is almost 10%!! That means 1 out of every 10 customers
are getting bad service and how many more are getting bad service but are afraid
to leave a negative feedback out of fear of getting retaliatory feedback.
Sometimes when I stumble across a store with a really bad reputation, like the
one above, I am surprised that they are still allowed to keep their selling status.
Just a rant.
Jim
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Jan 8, 2024 23:55 | | Subject: | Re: Keep yourself well apprised of value trends | | Viewed: | 77 times | | Topic: | Price Guide | |
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| In Price Guide, popsicle writes:
| | I would back in the day, but stopped long ago. The example of this minifig's
value (especially as new) brings home the countless potential payoffs. By necessity,
we vendors budget what little time left to us beyond that of running the store.
Nonetheless, it was always deemed as time very well spent for me, staying appraised
of market values trends - Can be enjoyable too.
-popsicle
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Back in the day, when you would take the time, besides just perusing the catalog
and price guides, how did you go about keeping up some of the market value trends
(I would be interested in knowing)?
Jim
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Jan 7, 2024 18:08 | | Subject: | Re: Have to pay VAT twice. What can be done? | | Viewed: | 47 times | | Topic: | Taxes | |
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| In Taxes, udenbricks writes:
| | In Taxes, Poncke writes:
| | I am in Ireland. Ordered from Indonesia, BL took the VAT on placing the order.
I told the seller to add a VAT invoice on the package to prevent double VAT.
Just got the email from customs, telling me to pay VAT otherwise the package
goes back to Indonesia.
I cannot check what the seller has done until I have the package. And as a private
individual I have no option to claim back VAT from Irish Revenue.
Any advice welcome, thanks.
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Maybe this is the solution:
You told the seller to add a VAT invoice.
Maybe it would have been better to ask for "The" VAT invoice.
So just ask your seller to download the Invoice on top of his order page. (see
example)
Let him send it electronicaly to you, you can send it to the customs.
I hope this helps.
Please let us know if this is good
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The Order Summery line also has an "IOSS No" link for orders that require
the IOSS number to be electronically transmitted when purchasing postage online.
Here is what the popup window shows when you click on the link:
The IOSS link shows the following info in a popup window when opened:
BrickLink IOSS number: XXXXXXXXXXX
You must share BrickLink’s IOSS number directly with your shipping carrier so
that the shipping carrier can submit this information electronically. This helps
to ensure that the buyer will not be charged VAT twice.
You MUST NOT use BrickLink’s IOSS number for any other purpose and NEVER write
this number on your packages.
Note: Always double-check this process with your local shipping carrier as the
process may vary. Some shipping carriers cannot accept or submit IOSS numbers
in post office locations, so you may only be able to do this online. If your
carrier cannot transmit our IOSS number electronically, the buyer could be charged
VAT a second time.
Visit the EU marketplace help page to learn more about the IOSS number.
As far as I know the IOSS link will always show up on orders that require the
IOSS number.
Jim.
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Dec 29, 2023 16:23 | | Subject: | Re: Where do the bricks come from? | | Viewed: | 51 times | | Topic: | General | |
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| In General, wildchicken13 writes:
| | In General, TheBrickGuys writes:
| | If you do the math based on some stores then you can easily determine that their
are some stores that are not getting the bulk of their bricks from sets. As an
example, there is a store that has over 38,000 1x2 black bricks, 38,000 1x2 trans
clear bricks, 20,000 2x2 black bricks, 18,000 2x4 red bricks, 15,000 2x4 black
bricks and their store only has a total of 308 lots of different parts. Their
are many stores that have way to may bricks to be getting them from sets. Heck,
there is a store that has 317,863 2x2 black bricks.
Some of these stores with really high brick counts have to be getting their bricks
from someplace else then just breaking down sets, especially when you look at
the rest of their inventories and see that they do not have large qty's of
all the other parts that they should have by breaking down such large number
of sets.
Jim
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That's just what they have for sale, not necessarily their entire inventory.
https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1366780
https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1420528
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And I would LOVE to be the owner of one of the examples you linked to!! I would
Never have to hunt for another Lego set on clearance again (even though I do
love a good Lego clearance hunt).
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Dec 29, 2023 11:31 | | Subject: | Re: Where do the bricks come from? | | Viewed: | 68 times | | Topic: | General | |
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| In General, helge writes:
| | In General, Hm79 writes:
| | Buying bricks directly from lego.com is quite expensive, the price of the sets
is not cheap at all, so it is not feasible to separate them... 😜hmmmm
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Instead of just stating that something is impossible; do the math.
And: those who part out sets at a sizable scale does not buy from lego.com...
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If you do the math based on some stores then you can easily determine that their
are some stores that are not getting the bulk of their bricks from sets. As an
example, there is a store that has over 38,000 1x2 black bricks, 38,000 1x2 trans
clear bricks, 20,000 2x2 black bricks, 18,000 2x4 red bricks, 15,000 2x4 black
bricks and their store only has a total of 308 lots of different parts. Their
are many stores that have way to may bricks to be getting them from sets. Heck,
there is a store that has 317,863 2x2 black bricks.
Some of these stores with really high brick counts have to be getting their bricks
from someplace else then just breaking down sets, especially when you look at
the rest of their inventories and see that they do not have large qty's of
all the other parts that they should have by breaking down such large number
of sets.
Jim
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Dec 28, 2023 21:13 | | Subject: | Re: LEGO Replay, a new Lego “charity” | | Viewed: | 30 times | | Topic: | Media | |
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| In Media, Nubs_Select writes:
WOOOOOOW, it is working. They have already received and then reused / replaying
with over 543 tons of Lego!
Jim
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Dec 22, 2023 13:38 | | Subject: | Re: Shipstation override | | Viewed: | 41 times | | Topic: | Shipping | |
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| In Shipping, Ziegelmeister writes:
| | I'm not sure if this is a big deal or not. While trying to purchase standard
first class postage this week, it's been printing out ground advantage labels.
Allegedly they both take the same amount of time to deliver.
Not sure if any other US based stores are experiencing this and/or if it's
been an issue.
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First Class mail is still in use but only for letters but not packages (ground
advantage).
Jim.
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Dec 19, 2023 12:05 | | Subject: | Re: Sales low? | | Viewed: | 77 times | | Topic: | General | |
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| In General, SezaR writes:
| | I was used in have many sales in Nov. and Dec but not this year.
Are sales low for others?
If so, does it have to do with November 3rd incident?
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Maybe it has to do with what country you are selling in? Our sales in parts have
been really good for the past few months.
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Dec 12, 2023 20:43 | | Subject: | Re: Problem with verification | | Viewed: | 58 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| In Problem, L79M writes:
| | In Problem, L79M writes:
Just double checked my store is still closed awaiting verification been 8 days
now
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Do you mean that it has been 8 days sense you applied? If so, then you will most
likely have to wait a while longer. I think I remember some comments from admin
that because of the back log that it can take at least a few weeks.
As a side thought, maybe some others here that have read these posts and have
recently been approved to open your own store can comment on how long the process
took to finally get approved.
Jim
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Dec 9, 2023 21:44 | | Subject: | Re: Is this a fake pin? | | Viewed: | 77 times | | Topic: | General | |
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| In General, randyf writes:
| | In General, Yosemitesam writes:
| | Hello people,
I am checking a recently bought set and it has 2 fake lego parts.
Now I'm checking the blue pins, it has 3 versions in it.
I recon the left one is fake but I'm not sure.
Does anyone know?
Regards,
Sam
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Yes, it is a clone brand part. The LEGO versions of the part never have the pin
slots line up with the slots in the main body of the part.
Cheers,
Randy
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Good to know.
Jim
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Dec 9, 2023 21:37 | | Subject: | Re: Requirments for new sellers | | Viewed: | 66 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, cosmicray writes:
| | In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | In Suggestions, TallyToyBricks writes:
| | I voted yes, not because this is the best solution, but there needs to be some
solution. If buyers don't trust the marketplace, eventually sales decline.
BrickLink needs a high enough bar to limit scammers, but low enough to allow
legitimate new sellers. The current bar is way too low.
Maybe, a staggered sales limit for new stores (Ebay model); month 1 limit sales
to $250, then month 2 to $350, etc. BrickLink has the data to optimize the sales
limits.
If you can delay the amount of time scammers need to wait for their payday, you
limit the number of scammers. Additionally, any that are using fraudulent Bank
Accounts/PayPal/Credit Cards will probably be discovered within 3 months. Basically,
let the Trust and Security Departments of large financial institutions weed out
the bad actors.
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I agree something must be done, but an issue with this is that a scammer sets
up multiple accounts and let's them sit for a few months.
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You are absolutely correct. This (and thank you) opens up the topic of small/medium/large
sellers. Most of the problems seen here are not from small sellers selling cheap
parts, it's always someone trying to make the maximum money as fast as possible,
before the game is up. The current problem (L and N) may well involve many thousands
of dollars.
Where we end up is, a small seller needs very little vetting and identity checking.
A large seller, or anyone stacking their store up with lots of high ticket desirable
sets, needs a laser focused identity check and proof of inventory. Any seller
account moving up the ladder, regardless of the day they apply, or several months
down the road, should cause that check to be done. This is as more about allowing
the limited resources on the admin team to be applied to where the problems occur.
Nita Rae
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I think your proposal are excellent. Probably over 95% of new legitimate beginning
sellers would not sell more then $250.00 worth of Lego in their first couple
of months. In fact, most new stores would probably be thrilled to make that much
and more importantly, most scammers wouldn't even want to waste their time
for $250.00.
I also think your ideas on vetting sellers who want to sell high ticket items
would also be important and would dissuade most scammers from even wanting to
go thru the vetting process.
Great ideas!! I hope BrickLink will seriously consider them.
Jim
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Dec 7, 2023 11:12 | | Subject: | Re: Should I accept a prepaid level from buyer? | | Viewed: | 33 times | | Topic: | Help | |
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| In Help, Nubs_Select writes:
| | I mean after about 10k shipments across sites I’ve had exactly 1 case opened
against me which I won so it’s not really much of a concern
|
Same here. Out of all the orders we have received only a couple went bad and
we just went ahead and approved the refund for missing packages.
Because our postage software uses PayPal's addresses we use those but we
always do a quick compare to make sure they are the same but not not because
about worrying about scams, we just want to make sue the order is shipped to
where the customer wants it to be shipped to. When the addresses differ we just
contact the buyer and ask which address they want the order shipped to. This
has happened just a handful of times and when we shipped it to a different address
then what is on PayPal it has never caused any problems or chargebacks.
Jim
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Nov 26, 2023 11:39 | | Subject: | Re: Can I list these? | | Viewed: | 60 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
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| In Selling, Nubs_Select writes:
| | I recently purchased some lego from a long time lego seller (local) and included
was a whole bunch of torsos with a variety of different colour arms and hands
(all in about 100ish torsos) mixed in were some and which
don't exist in those colours as is. I cant be 100% certain but they don't
seem to have had a print wiped off. i remember a while ago there was a big thing
about some parts in unofficial things like this couldn't be sold as they
were stolen from lego but to the best of my knowledge these are from long before
that was a thing so i wasn't sure if I was allowed to list them on bricklink
or not as many of those listings were taken down and similar
19x Flat Silver torsos
15x Olive Green torsos
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I dont see why not considering they are for sale, and have been sold here, so
BL definitely allows them to be sold in those colors.
Jim
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Nov 25, 2023 23:09 | | Subject: | Re: How should I list these? | | Viewed: | 40 times | | Topic: | Help | |
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| In Help, The_Boyz_Bricks writes:
I think you are right and looking at the picture, it looks like your parts are
in the same type of bags so I would say that you could probably sell them as
new if you wanted to as long as you look at them really well to make sure they
dont have any dings on any edges or scratches on any of the flat surfaces.
Jim.
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Nov 21, 2023 22:08 | | Subject: | Re: File an order | | Viewed: | 40 times | | Topic: | Help | |
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| In Help, Adrienhb writes:
| | | | Sorry, to clarify, order items are purged, you should still be able to get an
overview of the old ones (try Download).
|
Ok thanks. I'll keep a copy.
But you mentioned an app. Is there an app to use Bricklink on iOS ?
|
For windows you can use BrickStore. A fantastic program!! Indispensable if you
are a seller.
Jim
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Nov 19, 2023 17:14 | | Subject: | Re: Wanted: Breaking Bad build instructions | | Viewed: | 51 times | | Topic: | Searching | |
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| In Searching, 1001bricks writes:
| | | | | | i guess i'll jump the shark here...
item # 52
*facepalm
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Where?? item 52??? I guess im being thick, but no idea where you mean.
|
Please ignore; nobody knows what that means.
Apart this, it's an interesting quest!
I guess you may use/learn studio, and build it yourself starting from this "compatible"
set (erm erm).
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a Compatible set is probably the best option,I don’t imagine Lego will be coming
out anytime soon with a drivable meth lab.
Jim
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Nov 18, 2023 17:03 | | Subject: | Re: 1 year selling on Bricklink!! | | Viewed: | 55 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
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| In Announce, The_Boyz_Bricks writes:
| | We have now been selling on Bricklink for 1 year!!
A big thanks to all our buyers and sellers that helped us get to where we are
today!!
|
Congratulations!
I think the best feeling you get from selling. Is from the very first sale you
get and the first out of country sale. I would say that they are the most memorable
ones but I can’t remember either ones, I just know that they were the ones that
felt the best.
And don’t forget to also celebrate with what my dog Really loves - grape licorice
and milk duds!! His most bestest snacks.
Jim.
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Nov 17, 2023 22:05 | | Subject: | Re: Frustration w/ Yellow Minifigures | | Viewed: | 58 times | | Topic: | LEGO products | |
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| In LEGO products, Nubs_Select writes:
| | In LEGO products, 1001bricks writes:
| | | | | | | | I think that the LEGO Group also needs to include more chickens in their sets.
There are 33 billion chickens in the world, yet chickens appear in very few LEGO
sets. It would be nice to see LEGO include more ecological diversity in their
sets.
|
Now that was good!  (I used a plain smiling emoticons instead of
the laughing one with oversized teeth and used 4 instead of 3 to differinacate
myself from that OTHER person here on the forums who posts always lauhing at
everything  )
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|
Reminds me one of the 'instutions' of Imgur (yes, really):
https://imgur.com/user/onlyporridge
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|
Took me a minute to realize that it was an emoticon, or at least could be. BL
should add it.
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Nov 17, 2023 18:49 | | Subject: | Re: Frustration w/ Yellow Minifigures | | Viewed: | 53 times | | Topic: | LEGO products | |
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| In LEGO products, TheBrickGuys writes:
| | In LEGO products, popsicle writes:
| | In LEGO products, TheBrickGuys writes:
| | Speaking of emoticons, BL may need to think about some changes. There is 1 blue,
1 light blue, 1 red and one green to choose from but but there are 8 yellow ones.
Hmmm.
|
Didn't we have meaningful exchange about "color"
https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1382931
Here's a cleaned-up pic file of Skragle
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Now that is a beautiful color!!!
Dog's are truly man's best friend.
Thanks for sharing the picture (or would that be resharing).
This one is probably the skraglest shot of him.
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Or maybe this one is...
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Nov 17, 2023 18:44 | | Subject: | Re: Frustration w/ Yellow Minifigures | | Viewed: | 53 times | | Topic: | LEGO products | |
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| In LEGO products, popsicle writes:
| | In LEGO products, TheBrickGuys writes:
| | Speaking of emoticons, BL may need to think about some changes. There is 1 blue,
1 light blue, 1 red and one green to choose from but but there are 8 yellow ones.
Hmmm.
|
Didn't we have meaningful exchange about "color"
https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1382931
Here's a cleaned-up pic file of Skragle
|
Now that is a beautiful color!!!
Dog's are truly man's best friend.
Thanks for sharing the picture (or would that be resharing).
This one is probably the skraglest shot of him.
|
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Nov 17, 2023 13:02 | | Subject: | Re: Frustration w/ Yellow Minifigures | | Viewed: | 60 times | | Topic: | LEGO products | |
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| Speaking of emoticons, BL may need to think about some changes. There is 1 blue,
1 light blue, 1 red and one green to choose from but but there are 8 yellow ones.
Hmmm.
|
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Nov 17, 2023 12:52 | | Subject: | Re: Frustration w/ Yellow Minifigures | | Viewed: | 73 times | | Topic: | LEGO products | |
|
| In LEGO products, wildchicken13 writes:
| | In LEGO products, jadonut writes:
| | I wanted to post here to see how many other LEGO fans have felt similar frustration
and confusion about LEGO's own cultural stance to printing yellow only minifigures
for their non-IP sets (ICONS, City, Winter sets etc, etc).
For those of you who are already on-board with this, I'll link a great article
I found that excellently argues this point and cites its sources:
https://womensbrickinitiative.com/diverse-lego-minifigure-petition/
For those fans who haven't put much thought into this or are opposed to diversifying
the LEGO minifigure population, I'd urge you to read the above article. It's
well-written and researched, and says everything that needs to be said on this
topic.
In short, I don't at all agree with LEGO's staunch position on "yellow"
washing its minifigs that don't represent a certain IP. Their argument (as
quoted in the above article) that yellow is "race-neutral" is insulting,
as only light-skinned people can truly relate to that tone of color.
I'm personally interested in buying my first modular sets, but I also know
that I will have to spend money to swap out the heads, arms and some torsos to
make it representative of the world I live in, and the people I know.
I strongly believe that LEGO needs to do better, swallow its pride and discontinue
yellow minifigures. They're boring and lazy anyway.
I love LEGO and will be a lifelong fan. I just wish the brand matured with the
times quicker, and embraced cultural diversity.
|
I think that the LEGO Group also needs to include more chickens in their sets.
There are 33 billion chickens in the world, yet chickens appear in very few LEGO
sets. It would be nice to see LEGO include more ecological diversity in their
sets.
|
Now that was good! (I used a plain smiling emoticons instead of
the laughing one with oversized teeth and used 4 instead of 3 to differinacate
myself from that OTHER person here on the forums who posts always lauhing at
everything )
|
|
| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Nov 10, 2023 19:03 | | Subject: | Re: Silver Linings Post - Pics | | Viewed: | 40 times | | Topic: | General | |
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| In General, popsicle writes:
| | In General, Nubs_Select writes:
| | The first one almost looks like a picture from an alien planet
|
Your right, it does!
Captured an image of extraterrestrial intelligent life, in which case. Looks
to be primitive though, not advanced intelligence
| | from an old sci-fi movie! Nice!
|
|
Looks like your taking a pee.
Actually, that brings up a question that has plagued me for years and that is...
Why do we say when we need to go the the bathroom to take care of business, why
do we say, "I have to take a pee" or if you plan on sitting for a while,
"I have to take a poo"??
Than makes no sense at all! I have never seen anybody who said that they had
to take a poo go the the bathroom and leave there with a bag full or even
a hand full of poo - same with pee - you dont see people leaving bathrooms with
a glasses of pee. So why do we say that we have "take" a pee or "take"
a poo? Shouldn't we it be more like "I have to go LEAVE a pee or LEAVE
a poo"?
One of life's little ponderables.
Side note: I used the words pee and poo instead of their more common descriptives
so as to be polite and not offend any with a more delicate constitution.
Jim
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| Author: | TheBrickGuys | | Posted: | Nov 8, 2023 13:25 | | Subject: | Re: Well, that was weird and stressful | | Viewed: | 92 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
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| In Selling, Fidelito writes:
| | As a seller, what measures will you take as a response of what we, as a community,
just experienced?
Safety measures, diversification of selling platforms, inventory backups, contingency
plans, etc...
|
We are going to download our store inventory with BrickStore on a more regular
basis, at least twice a week. Aside form that we have thought about selling on
other platforms but have not taken the plunge yet but that may change.
Jim.
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