Sunday, October 31, 2010

Abundance of Dark Orange

Courtesy cheops from Brickshelf

A testimonial to why Dark Orange is such an awesome color, and yet, why is it seemingly impossible to obtain in large quantities (LUGs are an exception)? Take this as a hint, LEGO. People want this color, and it can do wonders for a model.

It's far too expensive on Bricklink and Pick a Brick does not even offer it. I understand  that it might be a bit more expensive to produce such a color (especially just for adults), but wouldn't it be more applicable to everyday models (sand/dirt, buildings, roads, terrain, etc.) compared to say, Bright Blue or Bright Yellowish Green?

So what do you as builders think?  Leave a comment or thought if you wish.

7 comments:

  1. I think LEGO should just sell it on Pick A Brick, but I'm not too fanatical about dark orange. Personally, I like dark blue and other pale colors for buildings more.

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  2. There is, in fact, currently something of LUG exception for this now. The LUGBulk program allows LUGs to order current elements in bulk, and I have been allowed to order 1x2 brick and plate in this manner.

    This actually has me a little afraid. LEGO benefits from this program because it helps us to make big impressive things that inspire kids and gets their parents to buy more bricks - but those kids will never be able to get their hands on most of the things we can build with. As happy as I am to be able to build in dark orange again, I think we risk scaring people off by showing them things that appear to be obscenely expensive to build (and that goes for parents and hobbyists alike - both frequently decide not to bother with LEGO due to the perceived costs).

    That's before we get into the other implications of this - LEGO offering expensive parts to LUGs cheaply makes it look to most people like we're spending much more money than we are (and thus are better robbery targets). The LAST thing I want is for robbers to start targeting our layouts because of the resale value of the parts (and last year already saw somebody targeted in that manner).

    Yeesh, maybe I should have just blogged this instead of leaving it as a comment...

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  3. I absolutely agree! I had difficulty scraping enough together to create bases for two small vignettes. This would be at least in my top 4 favorite Lego colors if I had it in quantity enough to build with.

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  4. Yeah, I don't see what the big deal would be. I just like the color so much because there's an old town that I visited with a LOT of dark orange colored buildings. I've wanted to replicate those ever since then.

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  5. I do think it looks much better for buildings then say dark blue.. the dark orange is much more a natural color, like terracotta. I love to use it for houses (of course i dont have much, but i hoard it when possible)

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  6. You make a very nice point, Dan. I never thought about it that way. But perhaps it could have an adverse affect where the parents would like them to enter into that hobby, having witnessed the vast amount of potential with such a simple (but somewhat expensive) toy.

    Thanks for your comments everyone!

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  7. @Dan: I dont believe the things AFOLS will build with rare colors or parts will scare off kids... i used to see something called the 'lego world show' when i was a kid (20 years ago) where huge things were displayed that i still cant build, but that only fueled the fire.

    On topic of dark orange:
    our lugbulk order just arrived, ant there is a nice load of dark orange in it for me :)

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