BrickShow Takedown

[Phil B]

I didn't like their style of presenting, but as of yesterday YouTube has taken down The BrickShow's channel:

The YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third-party notifications of copyright infringement.

Word on the street is that this is due to several videos showing confidential images and set news in the recent past. They have 450k subscribers - I do hope their account gets reinstated at some point because they did cover older sets that Jang doesn't review.

On the subject of Jang, he recently detailed why he doesn't review everything. Reason #1 was surprising to me:

Eyyy I haven't forgotten about LEGO Friends!  I have to dramatically cut back on my coverage of the line (and its offshoots) due to:

1. YouTube's aggressively antagonistic algorithms that ruthlessly punish not only videos that under-perform relative to others on a given channel, but other videos that follow as well.
2. The overwhelming volume of products LEGO now releases every year, forcing me to either work an unhealthy amount and review everything, or be selective and live a manageable life.
3. A personal lack of interest in many of the past year's Friends & Elves sets.

At least #3 has been pushed to the side now with the new racing-themed lineup, so while being mindful of #2 I have decided to review at least a couple of the latest Friends products, maybe more if I get the chance.

 

 

Edited June 15, 2018 by Phil B

[BrickLegacy]

Wow, this is crazy and sad.  I really liked their early content.  My son and I would watch all of their old reviews after I escaped the dark ages.  It was fun seeing set reviews of things I never even knew existed!  They were fun, entertaining and just down to earth.  It was a cool show.  We haven't watched much of them recently, though.

I hope they can get reinstated and this doesn't impact their personal lives or financial situation.  They seem like good guys and they provided a tremendous amount of value to the LEGO community during the resurgence leading up to the LEGO movie.

[scatmanjack]

Ever since the brothers stopped being the faces/voices of the channel, I'd pretty much stopped watching new stuff.   I did enjoy their back-catalogue of Harry Potter, Monster Fighters, Castle videos... The 'news' videos that came 24hrs after I'd read same information in a blog elsewhere seemed pointless... 

[exciter1]

You’d think LEGO would want to support their most popular reviewers, instead of having them banned.

[jaisonline]

4 hours ago, BrickLegacy said:

Wow, this is crazy and sad.  I really liked their early content.  My son and I would watch all of their old reviews after I escaped the dark ages.  It was fun seeing set reviews of things I never even knew existed!  They were fun, entertaining and just down to earth.  It was a cool show.  We haven't watched much of them recently, though.

I hope they can get reinstated and this doesn't impact their personal lives or financial situation.  They seem like good guys and they provided a tremendous amount of value to the LEGO community during the resurgence leading up to the LEGO movie.

ditto.  i liked their pre-2014 content.    i prefer  JangBricks (formally Lego Jang)

[Darth_Raichu]

5 hours ago, Phil B said:

On the subject of Jang, he recently detailed why he doesn't review everything. Reason #1 was surprising to me:

I regularly watch several Youtube channels and that #1 is consistent throughout this platform

[Darth_Raichu]

2 hours ago, exciter1 said:

You’d think LEGO would want to support their most popular reviewers, instead of having them banned.

They are just angry they have no power over people who review fake legos 

[Sandwraith]

When i got back into Lego in 2012 or so, they were my go to for reviews and such, and a big reason i dove deeper into the hobby. Not sure how to explain why i stopped watching their videos, but I don't think I've watched one for a couple years now. Maybe it lost that wholesome family feel or something.

[Phil B]

Long video by the Brick Show explaining what happened: https://youtu.be/-wqyEm2v3hU . TBH, I didn’t watch more than the first few minutes. They got three strikes from TLG but are not planning to get their channel back....

[TheOrcKing]

1 hour ago, Phil B said:

Long video by the Brick Show explaining what happened: https://youtu.be/-wqyEm2v3hU . TBH, I didn’t watch more than the first few minutes. They got three strikes from TLG but are not planning to get their channel back....

The condensed answer being the three strikes were for showing the Harry Potter minifigures, the Porg(?) set, and a watermarked Aquaman minifigure before anything official. During these past couple years we have seen LEGO becoming more stern on the subject of sites posting images for future items especially watermarked ones to the point of even getting on Jangbricks case with sets he legitimately bought at Wal-Mart/Target/etcetera that put out new stuff on the shelves before they should have. In the end despite everything it would seem The Brick Show guys are fathers now both become burnt out keeping up the channel. Can't say I blame them honestly. YouTube is a lot of work and unfortunately if one cannot maintain an impressive number of views with every single video, things simply aren't going to pan out. At that point it would better to work minimum wage at a burger joint.

[KShine]

On 6/23/2018 at 12:06 AM, TheOrcKing said:

In the end despite everything it would seem The Brick Show guys are fathers now both become burnt out keeping up the channel. Can't say I blame them honestly.

When companies look to ban, restrict, and basically F*** you over, for basically promoting and creating an excitement/buzz for their product - it certainly leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Your eagerness to resolve things, and jump through hoops (for something that is actually helpful to them), while they continue to try to smash you over the head, gets very tiring.

[Mathew]

Unfortunately that’s how corporate legal departments work. They're the worst. They have no connection to the company, the product or the fans.  They only care about the fat six figure paycheck.  

Edited June 24, 2018 by Mathew

[Ed Mack]

6 hours ago, KShine said:

When companies look to ban, restrict, and basically F*** you over, for basically promoting and creating an excitement/buzz for their product - it certainly leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Your eagerness to resolve things, and jump through hoops (for something that is actually helpful to them), while they continue to try to smash you over the head, gets very tiring.

Now it's a blame game for falling profits.  Resellers were the first group to feel LEGO's wrath.  Now it's people like The Brick Show posting a few "confidential" pictures of sets.  Who really cares?  LEGO is punishing those who help sell their product the most.  LEGO should embrace anyone who helps promote their products. 

[house72]

I watched their videos when I came out of my dark ages and I enjoyed them.   I haven't watched any  of there new ones in about a year or two, but just watching that one has me like umm. If you don't care that your channel got pulled, why write an apology letter, and why keep saying it?  You spent the last 9 years of your lives and boom your channel is gone and you don't care. I find that odd.  I would be pissed, even though it was my fault it got pulled down. That's just me.  If you didn't care, why even have the channel. Anyways, I digress. 

Yes, running a tube channel is tiring and relentless at times from what I gather. It's hard being the go to channel for this or that. It takes lots of work and time.  I can see why they aren't looking to get their channel back up or start a new one. Seems family is their first priority right now, good for them. 

 

[Ed Mack]

9 minutes ago, house72 said:

I watched their videos when I came out of my dark ages and I enjoyed them.   I haven't watched any  of there new ones in about a year or two, but just watching that one has me like umm. If you don't care that your channel got pulled, why write an apology letter, and why keep saying it?  You spent the last 9 years of your lives and boom your channel is gone and you don't care. I find that odd.  I would be pissed, even though it was my fault it got pulled down. That's just me.  If you didn't care, why even have the channel. Anyways, I digress. 

Yes, running a tube channel is tiring and relentless at times from what I gather. It's hard being the go to channel for this or that. It takes lots of work and time.  I can see why they aren't looking to get their channel back up or start a new one. Seems family is their first priority right now, good for them. 

 

I know I would be pissed as well and would like to go out on my own terms.  Who knows what really is going on behind the scenes.  People always assume this and that.  I know it is difficult to battle a multi-billion dollar corporation like The LEGO Group or Google.  At the end of the day, the money made versus the time/effort spent on the channel was probably not worth it.  There are too many knockoff channels and competitors that are watering down the LEGO video industry.

My son and I would rather watch people playing video games or shoving fireworks up their butts than videos reviewing LEGO sets.  There is a general malaise and decreasing interest in anything that is not virtual and LEGO products have taken a hit in recent years.  While The Brick Show might have had a certain amount of subscribers, if they are not active and watching, they are basically not making them any money.  The world of LEGO is changing and it's not for the better...

[Mathew]

2 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

My son and I would rather watch people playing video games or shoving fireworks up their butts than videos reviewing LEGO sets.  There is a general malaise and decreasing interest in anything that is not virtual and LEGO products have taken a hit in recent years.  While The Brick Show might have had a certain amount of subscribers, if they are not active and watching, they are basically not making them any money.  The world of LEGO is changing and it's not for the better...

Didn't one of the Brick Show hosts do a video how his kids were into Roblox and didn't play with Lego anymore?  I don't think they've given a crap about the channel for awhile which is probably why they are apathetic about the ordeal.  But yeah, Lego is in trouble when it comes to kids.  My oldest son (9) still likes to build every once in awhile but doesn't show interest in new sets.  My youngest (7) has never cared about building, but likes minifigs. The new Harry Potter line may help some.  

[house72]

10 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

I know I would be pissed as well and would like to go out on my own terms.  Who knows what really is going on behind the scenes.  People always assume this and that.  I know it is difficult to battle a multi-billion dollar corporation like The LEGO Group or Google.  At the end of the day, the money made versus the time/effort spent on the channel was probably not worth it.  There are too many knockoff channels and competitors that are watering down the LEGO video industry.

My son and I would rather watch people playing video games or shoving fireworks up their butts than videos reviewing LEGO sets.  There is a general malaise and decreasing interest in anything that is not virtual and LEGO products have taken a hit in recent years.  While The Brick Show might have had a certain amount of subscribers, if they are not active and watching, they are basically not making them any money.  The world of LEGO is changing and it's not for the better...

I agree that most kids nowadays would rather be immersed into their phones, tablets, PC, etc than do anything really physical or with their hands besides gaming or watching one game ( This is odd to me, just play the game yourself, what am I missing?.)  or searching the net.  If kids nowadays have to think for themselves oh my god, it's like you asked them to chop their arm off, or better yet, disconnect from the net. Sad state of affairs we are in and heading into..  

 

[KShine]

As a fellow full time LEGO burn-out - I find the video a bit sad. I recall their earlier energy & enthusiasm (the fun), and it reminds me of my own transformation.

Edited June 24, 2018 by KShine

[Val-E]

Less competition for those that haven´t cracked.

Jang must be happy.

[Mathew]

4 minutes ago, Val-E said:

Less competition for those that haven´t cracked.

Jang must be happy.

Right.  He stands alone right now as the only active reviewer.  The Youtube community is taking a hit and losing some good content and it's not just Lego.  

[Val-E]

Well, there´s Just2Good as well but Jang is probably the main independent reviewer who doesn´t get free sets.

Provided he doesn´t review any more sets before release date he should be fine.

[ravenb99]

There's others too.  Provided you have sets to sell early

[Ed Mack]

23 hours ago, KShine said:

As a fellow full time LEGO burn-out - I find the video a bit sad. I recall their earlier energy & enthusiasm (the fun), and it reminds me of my own transformation.

I agree.  What was once fun became a job.  LEGO is not helping matters either.  Funny thing is that they are so protective of their brand and crack down on people who want to promote their product, yet when it comes to the real thieves of intellectual property, they build factories in China and Mexico.  

[Ed Mack]

On 6/24/2018 at 4:32 PM, house72 said:

I agree that most kids nowadays would rather be immersed into their phones, tablets, PC, etc than do anything really physical or with their hands besides gaming or watching one game ( This is odd to me, just play the game yourself, what am I missing?.)  or searching the net.  If kids nowadays have to think for themselves oh my god, it's like you asked them to chop their arm off, or better yet, disconnect from the net. Sad state of affairs we are in and heading into..  

 

My son is lazy at home.  He doesn't want to do anything.  When I was his age, I would take pride in helping out my parents and grandparents.  God help me if the internet isn't working.  He even wants me to build his LEGO sets.  Is it my fault?  I guess so.  At least I know I'm not alone.

[house72]

4 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

My son is lazy at home.  He doesn't want to do anything.  When I was his age, I would take pride in helping out my parents and grandparents.  God help me if the internet isn't working.  He even wants me to build his LEGO sets.  Is it my fault?  I guess so.  At least I know I'm not alone.

Oh no, you are not alone. My daughters the same way. The only time I know she's alive is when I get a text I'm hungry or what you cooking?  Is it our faults, I guess to an extent, but I'm not sure. These kids nowadays want everything now and done for them already. Every summer I worked for my fathers buisness and the only time I didn't work was because I was at football practice, school, or lifting.  I also played a great deal outside too. Some of these kids, they see sun and are like vampires begin to melt.  

 I'm also a teacher,  So I teach HS kids during the day and College students at night. This year, the college students were super lazy. They were too busy watching someone game fortnite than play it. I'm like what is the joy in this? Here's is what I got as a response- "This person is amazing, watch him"  So- I appease them for 30 seconds and I'm like, nope not for me,I would rather play the game.  If I let them go the whole night, they would sit there and watch that person play. I'm like you're paying an insane amount of money to be here and learn from me, but you would rather watch someone play a game on your phone. So be it, it's your dime and time, not mine.  This is why we are going to be doomed. Uggh, the joys of guiding these young men and women. lol  

   What I've been doing of late- is taking my daughter with me to work on our rental buildings. She leaves the phone in the car and we work together, it's a lot of yelling and telling  her to stop being lazy at times, but it's better than her being a slug in her room, or on a couch or in the pool. lol    I believe you own a carwash or two, maybe put the child to work, even if it's a minimal job, gets them away from the phones, Ipads, comps, tech, etc, etc. . Not sure of his age, but I remember being with my father on jobs when I was like 9 or 10.  Work ethic gets instilled when they are young, and every little bit helps. 

Ok, off my soap box, or LEGO box. lol