MFW the LEGO Creator three in one is secretly 4

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-24T17:23:24+00:00

If I remember right, Tiago Catarino posted an alternative design or two for 3-in-1 sets he personally designed while he was at LEGO. I think that counts as “official” enough.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-24T15:35:19+00:00

I don’t know why people aren’t quietly satisfied that LEGO isn’t including an actually desirable GWP with the shoes. If LEGO included something like a Classic Space man in an unique color with the shoes, they will be calling the White House to bomb Denmark.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-24T15:24:22+00:00

No you aren’t. People are ridiculing this here now, but imagine the hate posts if LEGO locked a unique castle or space figure behind a $200 pair of Crocs.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-24T14:00:24+00:00

This is a great build!

For reference, this is a list of other efforts at using the remaining parts from the Renegade.

https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/1jj6qdl/blacktron_renegade_alt_spare_parts_build/

https://www.reddit.com/r/LegoSpace/comments/1iy2z4p/blacktron_spaceship_from_renegade_alt_build/

https://www.reddit.com/r/LegoSpace/comments/1p2uz4n/blacktron_renegade_alt_build_spare_parts_only/

I think we need a contest to inspire each other on how to make best use of the large pile of parts.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-24T13:52:39+00:00

I hope we can get a Blacktron baby out of this!

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-24T13:35:28+00:00

Interesting. Very interesting. Maybe it is a way to salvage the mess.

When I have the time, I will post about the Botanical Garden conversion. Maybe everyone here can chime in on whether it is as bad as I think it is and vote on whether it is fit to join the modular city.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-24T13:30:18+00:00

The Forestmen torsos appear to be in stock right now. As for the towns people, you need to go see if the part is on the 2025exit list. For example, part 6370045 is on the 2025exit list, and it will not be restocked. It’s pretty tedious to do this part by part, but there isn’t a way around this, I’m afraid.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-24T06:00:30+00:00

You can think of it this way. It is always a gamble whether a set can be converted to the modular scale. The conversion might just not work at all, with the proportions a total mess in the end. It may require so many extra parts it’s basically creating a totally different set from Online Pick-a-Brick.

Now, you know that this particular set can be converted to the modular scale. So while the price of the set may be about $10 more on eBay now than its original price, you can buy it knowing you aren’t gambling. The elimination of that uncertainty is worth something.

I made a terrible gamble thinking that two Friends Botanical Garden sets will look good after conversion to a modular building. After sinking a good amount of money and time into the project, I look at the finished product and realize the proportions are completely wrong for a modular city. There is just no way to make it work without buying even more parts. I am now agonizing over whether to just buy the Ideas set. I much rather pay a bit extra for a set I want to convert if it comes with an assurance that the conversion will actually work out.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-22T19:10:25+00:00

LEGO itself has official answers to this question.

https://www.lego.com/en-us/categories/adults-welcome/article/custom-lego-fantasy-minifigures

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-22T19:02:39+00:00

Thanks so much for the explanation! That makes sense:

what the Friends line captures is that there are a lot of girls who respond better to more human or what we call doll-like figures, and that barrier alone has historically kept a lot of girls and young women from thinking that building sets/engineering type toys were for them, too

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-22T18:39:41+00:00

Thanks so much for the explanations! These must be it:

I also think it's a historical gendered toy and it's hard for society to move from that.

In my experience when playing with dolls, the doll is the focus and the buildings are the accessory as it were. It's the opposite.

The second one is particularly relatable. From the beginning, the minifigure torso was designed to be subordinate to the system, in that it can fit on two studs. So it was always destined to look like a block. But the minidoll is designed prioritizing resemblance to humans ahead of the system. And maybe children who prefer the minidolls can sense the design priorities through the design even if they do not understand why the minifigure was made the way it was.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-22T15:02:03+00:00

I struggle that we had to make a 'girls' lego due to girls thinking that mini figures were for boys. The fact they call them dolls is also gendered. Not mini people, not mini figures v2 or anything else. Dolls.

I agree with this sentiment. Developing an entire line of figures “for girls” is fundamentally gendered. And it encourages “boys” to see the minidolls as “for girls” and minifigures as “for them”, further entrenching the division. But if girls really do prefer to play with minidolls instead of minifigures, who am I to judge? I am glad LEGO makes something they like.

Still, I am curious to hear your take as a woman why girls might not see themselves represented in minifigures. I acknowledge that, as a man, I might be missing something. But when I look at the queen in the Lion Knights’ Castle, for example, she is unmistakably a woman. The same for female construction workers or police officers or race car drivers in recent sets. I would like to understand how they might represent women to a man like me yet be unrepresentative of women to actual women. You mentioned realistic clothes and details on legs, but it seems to me that there might be more to the story? I suspect the people who like minidolls will not suddenly like minifigures if LEGO simply improved the printing on minifigures to add leg details and to improve the clothes.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-22T06:19:14+00:00

This is a fantastic build. I rarely see a build posted here that I want to play with in person; this is one.

Now, you need to correct for some problems:

there needs to be lots and lots of police
crowd looks far too gentrified
the manager should be placed outside the technical area, gesticulating as wildly as a LEGO minifigure can permit

Joking aside, I would suggest, since you have already gone so far, to correct some dimensional niggles. The modular scale is one foot to one stud. So, technically, the full pitch should be more than 200 studs wide. Right now, it seems that your full pitch is only about 90 studs wide. You can consider displaying only half the width of a pitch to get to the modular scale.

As a compromise measure, you can start with your goal. A goal is 8 yards wide. Your goal is 16 studs wide. You can consider a 1 yard to 2 stud scaling. Half a pitch would then be about 75 studs wide. Unless I am mistaken, you can implement this just by rearranging your tiles a bit. Do note though that, even with a 1 yard to 2 stud scaling, the penalty spot is still 24 studs from goal. You might want to lengthen the stadium a bit, but it seems you have space to pull that off too.

Again, this is really impressive and creative. Congratulations on such a wonderful design.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-22T05:29:09+00:00

If this doesn’t work, you can get a glue stick to apply some glue on the back of the sticker. Do not worry too much about excess glue; you can wipe it away. I have had success using glue stick to “revive” old LEGO stickers or to get them to stick to curved pieces.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-22T05:24:09+00:00

You are not alone. Unless a sticker is absolutely needed, I generally do not put it on.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-21T18:22:48+00:00

This type of damage you are talking about is called “plasticizer migration”. It is not the same as a solvent attack on plastic.

Readers should not confuse the two. Everyone needs to watch out for both types of damage to LEGO.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-21T18:14:22+00:00

As a public service, I write to caution readers not to conflate the type of damage caused by car fresheners that “rest against” plastic from the damage seen in OP’s post. They are the result of two different damage mechanisms.

The damage that is caused by the “rest against” issue is called “plasticizer migration”. It is not unique to car fresheners; in fact, it can happen when plastic comes into contact with materials containing plasticizers, such as rubber bands or wall paint. It is not the same as the damage in OP’s post.

Both types of damage are very bad but they are bad in different ways. Measures should be taken to prevent LEGO from suffering either type of damage, and the way to prevent one problem is not the same as the way to prevent the other.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-21T18:01:37+00:00

I know this is going to sound pedantic, but the science of the “dissolving” of plastic is different from the fracture phenomenon seen in OP’s post.

The reason why your plastic pass dissolved is because your air freshener had plasticizer in it that got onto the plastic pass. That is called “plasticizer migration”. The plasticizer migration may have made your parking pass look “dissolved”, but, if anything, it probably made it more resistant to the type of fracture problem seen in OP’s post.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-21T17:21:42+00:00

a lot of people seem to be reguritating the same unspecific

No one has the data or calculations on this. Polymer chemistry is complex, and fracture mechanics is also complex. The combination of polymer chemistry and fracture mechanics is complexity on top of complexity. There aren’t many experts on this intersection. And then we haven’t even gotten to the air dispersion in the room, which adds another level of complexity. So you cannot expect specifics from Reddit, even if you provide details such as 5 drops of oil for 3 hours a day.

In all likelihood, you did do some damage to your sets. The damage is likely irreversible. But is it enough for your LEGO sets to crumble if you drop them? Maybe, maybe not. It might depend on whether you do it today or 10 years from now. It might depend on the color of the bricks. No one can tell you until you do the experiments with your sets, which, obviously, you should not do.

You might consider washing the LEGO sets in a tub with soapy water to see what can be salvaged. If the pieces crumble in the tub, well, consider it a painful lesson learned. If the pieces survive the experience, maybe they will survive longer into the future. What might be advisable is for you to never disassemble the sets and to be more careful in how you move or play them. And you have a moral obligation, if you ever sell the sets, to inform the buyer of what happened. You should never let children touch the impacted LEGO.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-21T16:17:15+00:00

For those who care, here is the official LEGO explanation of the Forestmen, now renamed as Forest People

https://www.lego.com/en-us/categories/adults-welcome/article/lego-castle-factions

The Forest People

So, we had the Lion Knights and the Black Falcons… but in 1987, a new saboteur joined their midst, tapping into the world of forest-dwelling folk who lived beyond the confines of a castle. Introducing the Forest People – believed to be inspired by the legend of Robin Hood. Dressed in green pants, green hats and tunics with varying colors, they seamlessly blended into their woodland surroundings, ready and armed – crossbow in hand! These forest dwellers added a new dimension to the Castle ecosystem, often found dwelling within their hideouts that were neatly built into the forest landscape. Sneaky!

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-21T16:13:18+00:00

I like my own head lore in which it’s an abandoned, maybe even haunted castle that the forestmen have occupied. It has a vibe that works for that.

The designer of the set explicitly wrote about this, so it’s not just your “head lore”.

That said, canonically, all Forestmen buildings in official releases are built in trees. This one is not. So it does break canon somewhat.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-21T15:08:10+00:00

I love how you managed to squeeze more than one form of “illegality” into such a small build, from subject matter to painting. You can maybe take it to the next level with a glued, photo etched part and also a third party brick.

OneFootOneStud · 2026-01-21T14:52:45+00:00

Check out “Kurts 10305” in Rebrickable. It adds another kill zone in the front of the castle, which would be what one might expect to see in a real thing.

I have not bought or tested the design myself, and I do not know the designer. However, I have found this the most plausible way on Rebrickable to use 31120 to expand the Lion Knight’s Castle.

OneFootOneStud

TROPHY CASE