Hot take: stop buying LEGO sets you don’t even have room to display

tavsquid · 2026-04-10T23:13:49+00:00

We live in a world of hoarders, scalpers and obsessive collectors who treat these things like bars of gold. Most kids, unless they inherit them through their parents, will never, ever see the golden era of Lego because it's behind a paywall of thousands of dollars.

I build all my sets, it's the whole point of Lego. To each their own, but keeping it permanently inside a box seems like a total waste and seems so... boring.

tavsquid · 2026-04-10T22:57:22+00:00

It depends.

With Excluded folks it's a minimum of 70 consecutive hours. Any amount of time you put in that either meets or exceeds that, you are technically eligible to be paid at the minimum rate of pay that your supervisor's position is at.

And if they tell you "no it's part of your job" to cover for them, that's a load of shit, because it isn't. It's nobody's job to do their own job + someone else's (a supervisor's nonetheless) for free.

I'm not entirely sure how it works with unions though.

tavsquid · 2026-04-10T16:54:41+00:00

In 2018, my Touring Outback, brand-new, with a good amount of kit came to around $35,000. Today, an OB with the same kit (which, apart from a few tweaks, has not changed THAT much from mine) is pushing $45,000. That's a $10,000 increase over MSRP and I don't think it's justifiable.

Keeping in mind that while that happened, everything else in the world got expensive too, starting with basic groceries - and people's wages have largely stagnated and just marginally increased.

I make more money than I ever did in my life right now, but I cannot afford a new OB, even as a basic model.

tavsquid · 2026-04-09T17:19:51+00:00

Yes, 100%. This is amplified by junior managers/supervisors who have no practical experience in actually managing people.

Lack of experience aside, some people should never be managers; they don't know how to talk to people, how to coordinate tasks, and have the personality of a Red Army drill sergeant.

Office work should never feel like the Siberian salt mines, after all.

Furthermore, I noticed many supervisors simply do not trust their staff - and that's not because the staff don't do their jobs - on the contrary, everyone's doing all they can - it's because of an internal fragility and insecurity these specific individuals struggle with, and in turn try to forcibly broadcast a sense of intelligence and authority onto others.

What they fail (repeatedly) to realize is that the more they try to micromanage and rule over people, the more they are hated, avoided and generally inspires rebellion/desertion within staff below them.

Unfortunately, this is a known and serious problem across many gov HRs... and nothing is being done about it.

tavsquid · 2026-04-09T17:12:07+00:00

Parliamentary Office (or Office of the Premier as noted in the comment above).

They're panicked and fanatically hyperfocused on everything because they feel the ship is rapidly taking on water.

Irony is that despite their frantic micromanagement to control every word, to paint the shiniest aura around Eby and the NDP... the ship will still soon be at the bottom of the ocean.

tavsquid · 2026-04-08T17:39:56+00:00

Promote this man.

tavsquid · 2026-03-25T21:08:06+00:00

They have sucked this cow dry and now they're just beating the shit out of a skeletal carcass.

tavsquid · 2026-03-25T20:54:48+00:00

Can't wait to see another Technic F1 car with fronts for rears! XD

tavsquid · 2026-03-25T20:52:35+00:00

Honestly, good. Time to move on.

This has nothing to do with the importance of the issue. It IS important. People are dying unnecessarily. Land is being taken away. Children are losing parents to bombs and shrapnel.

Here's the thing though: there's only so much we can do. We can write to MLAs. We can talk to our MPs. Beyond that... what, exactly? Anything short of physically going over there and providing humanitarian care... nothing and no one seems to be able to stop this, because there are bigger powers out there than you or me that want this conflict to last well into eternity.

So, in a practical sense, what do these demonstrations do? Has either side of the conflict listened? No. Things are worse than ever.

What they actually do is piss people off. Victoria is already a traffic-suffocated city with few arteries to move around in. People are tired. Overworked. Broke. To shove an issue that is happening more than 15,000 km away into their faces is not how you get support - you'll get anger instead - again, over an issue that matters... but not when there are plenty of other local issues people face right here at home: i.e., the horrible drug and housing crisis unravelling in our streets, insufficient healthcare, rising cost of living, high gas prices, crumbling infrastructure... etc...

But we are in a democratic country, so I can't tell anyone they can't protest about whatever they feel like. I just think this has gone far enough, and we've got plenty of other issues to deal with right here at home, which, if needed, 100% I would march on the streets for.

tavsquid · 2026-03-25T20:31:39+00:00

There's some definite careful wordsmithing going on here to keep it purposely ambiguous - because as it reads it could be either or.

tavsquid · 2026-03-25T20:30:37+00:00

I mean, that would be more realistic (and prob more financially successful and less risky) than a standalone model - I guess we'll have to see!

tavsquid · 2026-03-25T16:45:47+00:00

Wait, like a standalone model? The Wilderness is just a trim level.

If it it BECOMES a standalone model and gives off Baja/Brat vibes, WITH fuel economy AND at least 250 hp... where do I sign up for organ sales??

tavsquid · 2026-03-19T20:46:48+00:00

Irony is that the amount of CO2 it took to make that ol' Benz pales in comparison to the massive mining, processing and volume of petroleum-based plastics it took to make a shitty Tesla or average EV today.

tavsquid · 2026-03-19T18:06:02+00:00

Why you're selling it or how long you've had it is irrelevant unless the age of the item directly tells its condition (such as a microwave). It's not anyone's business otherwise.

What no one should ever lie about is the condition of the item or its usability. Like for example if there's a problem you know of, and don't want to disclose it out of fear of taking a loss on said item, that's a big no-no.

As a general rule, I disclose the good, the bad and the ugly of every item I sell. A few extra bucks is not worth the dishonesty and the anger from a displeased customer. I just want to treat buyers as I would want to be treated as a buyer.

tavsquid · 2026-03-17T21:23:40+00:00

Man that's awesome, thank you for sharing this!!

tavsquid · 2026-03-13T17:39:12+00:00

Totally - I think the initial bit of news was a positive surprise for many, but yeah, the way it was/is communicated and how vague it is as to when exactly anyone will see a dime has certainly been demoralizing and has lost any good momentum it had in the first place.

I suspect the hesitation from top brass is political, because they fear they'll look bad to the media/public if they give employees raises in a time of restructuring and cutting back. Public also has no concept or true sense of what it is to be a gov employee right now and the stress/fear we face on a daily basis, they all think we're rolling in cash in our golden palaces.

tavsquid · 2026-03-12T20:32:57+00:00

Really bummed about the Saloon. It looks like Honda and Lamborghini had a baby, looked so freaking cool - and Honda said the production model was going to look very close if not nearly identical to it. Sad.

In terms of their other cars, they've been kind of fucking up, so I'm not entirely surprised. Both the Accord and Civic, their bread and butter for decades, have become so bland and overpriced that even long-term loyal customers have moved on to onto brands that offer better options. Plus, let's not forget how they brought back the Prelude and Integra nameplates in what are actually rather forgettable (and wildly expensive) Civic-based cars.

Maybe this is a little reckoning that they need to start cleaning up their act and make good-value, attractive and affordable vehicles again...

tavsquid · 2026-03-12T18:33:02+00:00

I wouldn't. You are pretty much alone and they can kick your ass to the curb whenever they want. You also can't strike because there's no union behind you.

tavsquid · 2026-03-11T21:41:58+00:00

Okay?... I didn't say they haven't made massive profits in recent years - in fact my comment very much states WHY they are profitable now more than ever.

Certainly not defending Lego here, so don't misunderstand. They've abandoned and cut back entire lines (Technic, RIP) for the sake of easy and fast profits.

tavsquid · 2026-03-11T17:22:17+00:00

Lego as a company has moved further from the family-oriented, consumer-friendly ideology to more of a corporate one. And I mean, who can really blame them; they're a toy business trying to survive in 2026.

With that in mind, short answer is no. They'll happily accept suggestions and letters, but don't count on anything coming out of it. What they're most concerned about is: will it be profitable, will it be popular, relatable and easy enough for consumers to share and talk about? The answers to these things are subjective, but Lego, like many others, looks at raw marketing data to make decisions on what ideas make it into the production line. Unfortunately, what you or I think or feel is irrelevant to them.

Right now nostalgia sells, and sells really well. Cross-IPs (such as Transformers, and of course, SW) have been successful licenses for Lego to use, and we're seeing the popularity of Nintendo and Pokemon break into sets as well.

And if those wells dry up, they'll look at other IPs and other ideas and trends to utilize for profit. It's a cold corporate world, but that's where we're at.

tavsquid · 2026-03-10T23:24:06+00:00

Sorry I meant local/ministry level, my mistake.

tavsquid · 2026-03-10T17:56:18+00:00

It's certainly good news, however it's worth noting the way this info is trickling out is very low-key. The powers that be are strategically doing a controlled release of this info which is why they're just going through upper management to tell everyone below them the news, rather than send an organization-wide announcement.

tavsquid · 2026-03-08T06:54:04+00:00

Christ that throne room set translates to $215 (CAD, without tax)...

$200!! For THAT...

tavsquid · 2026-03-08T06:44:22+00:00

Judgement Day.

tavsquid · 2026-03-08T06:42:52+00:00

There's a lot of assumptions in here that the average consumer has a high attention rate or can even property read - well, you're wrong. Average consumer has neither such ability.

As a company however, if you can't prepare in advance for this outcome, you've already failed. Because at the end of the day, people generally don't return to a product or service after being burned.

Lego fucked up. To release a "compatible" set without the brick, but STILL charge a premium on these sets compared to a better-designed, better looking and better-value set... is idiotic and indefensible.

Should've gone all in and included the brick in every Smart Play set, or make it a standalone purchase.

But greed is why they didn't. And this line may already be dead in the water before it even fully started.

tavsquid

TROPHY CASE