Happy Flashback Friday everyone! Here's a large set I remember seeing on shelves towards the end of my last dark age. I never realized what all it could do.
Looking at sets from this theme recently has me realizing something peculiar. Power Miners invokes a ton of nostalgia in a notable, vocal segment of my viewerbase. It seems to be 2000s version of Classic Space in that way, having captured the hearts of a generation of LEGO fans. However that nostalgic love clashes with a major factual reality of the theme, and with parallel distaste for some aspects of modern sets.
People frequently complain that LEGO prices have gotten so much higher than they were in "the good old days." However, adjusted for inflation, the widely loved Power Miners series averaged a cringeworthy $0.15 USD per part! Many of these sets had an unusually high percentage of larger-than-normal parts, but still, 8708 Cave Crusher was an Earth-shattering, wallet-obliterating inflation-adjusted $.22/part! Folks say that licensed themes especially have driven prices sky high, yet obviously Power Miners was a LEGO original IP with its exorbitant price/part ratios.
I also regularly hear laments about today's sets focusing too much on action features to the detriment of everything else, and much of this feedback comes from teens for whom "the good old days" means the 2000s. When I look at this shining lime green & bright orange star of that decade, I see action features positively dominating every build.
Nostalgia certainly bends perceptions, but has it led to double standards that are completely beyond the realm of reason?
That's right. 22 cents per part, inflation adjusted. I calculated it myself using Brickset as a reference. Set 8708 was $50 in 2009 for 259 pieces.
ReplyDelete