Wednesday, January 18, 2023

muppet lego gamble

hello there


just another foray into the world of my excessive, if not quite reckless, purchasing habits. and even then, in the grander sort of grand scheme of things, excessive might be contextually be a, well, excessive way of referring to it, look you see. further, it's not like this was a complete random buy, for i have wrestled with the idea of buying this (or these) for a bit. 

what. exactly? pretty much as the title gives every indication, some muppet based lego. to elaborate on this, i mean some lego sets which are made in the shape (or form) of muppets. well, when i say sets, it's not like those big massive things what lego make that take ages to build. just figures of well known characters from muppets. with no idea of which one(s) you might be buying. 


that was a main (major) issue with buying any of these. it has, for a while, been "trendy" to market select items as a "mystery purchase" lucky dip sort of thing. the idea, of course, is to generate some excitement behind buying the thing. well, no, the appearance of it. really this is done just to sell loads more than they normally would, for people wishing to get a full set or (like me in this instance) specific ones would potentially purchase more to get them (or it). clever, kind of. 

a movement, not very big or particularly vocal but still there, exists to try and cease this practice. they, the ones behind this movement, argue that the practice of doing this is nothing more than gambling. one is, after all, expected to hand over money with no formal assurance of what they shall get for it. when you think about it, they are very much right. it may well seem innocuous (absolutely not innocent), buying a surprise toy, but then there's the issue. assuming things like this are aimed at a younger market than moi, and they very much are when they do these "surprise bag" things on video games, it is instilling a sense that gambling is fine, and worthwhile. just put a bit more money in and you may well get what you want next time. 


by some remarkable good fortune, as it happens i did get what i wanted on my first purchase. as in it was so that both turned out to be characters i wanted. let me make it clear, yes, generally i rather like the muppets, but no i am not an excessive fan of them. there are some characters i very much like a great deal more than others, and i kind of had a shortlist of ones i would like to get. four in particular, and as it happens, as you can see in the image above (presented, of course, in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode), i was fortunate enough to get two of them. 

indeed a clearer image is below (if you haven't scrolled already), but there was much delight and merriment when i found that i have obtained (procured) Swedish Chef and Animal. of these two, well, like many i suspect Animal is my all time favourite. the other who what i would have liked, or been happy with? of course that would be Beaker and/or Professor Bunsen. 


shall i be pushing my luck to try and get them two? highly unlikely? in the grand scheme of things cost, value and what have you are relative, as mentioned earlier (i think). but, come on, £3.49 per packet for one (1) figure is ultimately a f*** lot of money for what you get. sure, it's the lego brand, which means quality, and i dare say licensing muppets i not a cheap exercise. but that's rather major coins to be taking what is a gamble with. i could, for instance, have spent that money and ended up with two (2) Kermits, or a similar (exact) number of Miss Piggy figures. certainly, sure, they are iconic figures, but just not two that have any particular interest for me. sorry. 

do i have time, or space, to do a moan? sure i do, it's my blog. oh dear. many uses of language irritate and upset me in this world. few, however, grate as much as when our friends in America insist on adding an "s" to lego to create a plural. no, no, no, no, no, no. you could say lego bricks, or lego sets, even lego pieces (to mix up italics us a bit), but not the word lego. that is a brand name, and so should not be made a plural. as much or as fond as the Americans are as giving commercial ventures some mock or quasi sense of personality trait. just how their world and economy works, alas. 


exactly what is it that i shall be doing with these smart looking lego figures? not a particular great deal, i suppose. mostly the fun was in opening them up, going "yes" when i found that i had ones i wished for, and then putting them together. after that, well, showcasing them here is about it. yes, i have them on display, as such, in my place of exile. it's not like i get all that many visitors to show them to, and even if i actually did get visitors, well, i don't think i'd be saying "would you like to look at my lego". but then again, also i might. 




be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





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