Dang the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

BrickJournal 6 is in the works. This has been the toughest issue I have had to layout. This is because almos every article has had some element that has made me think harder than usual on layouts.

Sometines it's good, as there may be a pic that is greta to use and I want to wrap type around it. But other times, it's bad as photos may be too small to use. But things get worked out, and I continue on.

There's some neat stuff coming out with Issue 6 - there's some NXT stuff coming (a little late, but there will be more coming) and the Jørgen Vig Knudstorp interview I mentioned. There's also the event reports and usual stuff too.

But wait till Issue 7.......

Now another subject: News leaks.

BrickJournal hasn't leaked anything - but then again, one policy I have is not be in a position to leak things, so we often are just as surprised as everyone else  when photos are posted on upcoming sets. With the French Toy Fair, though, things are a bit confusing.

Here's the problem: The AFOLs to the Fair were invited to attend and take pics (what, you expect them NOT to tell anyone?), and they put them up for everyone. Then they get pulled off because it's confidential. Images from catalogs are deemed confidential too.

Now don't get me wrong - I have enough NDAs with the LEGO Group to know better than to spout off about sets and stuff. This is information that is proprietary, so I cannot tell people anything. I understand that there are corporate spies who are looking for all of this info, and I adhere to the NDAs I have.

But a Toy Fair is not a confidential thing. In fact, it's the exact opposite - it's a show for buyers to see what is coming out to get them to buy. And all companies  are showing off,  including the competitors - and  if there is a direct chance to get  info on sets, that's the time to do it! Why wait for a leak when company reps can go personally to look??

I really wish that LEGO would put out ALL the info to coincide with toy fairs - as in make news releases for the new sets. It would be great for the fans, and since it's documentation, it can be used in case there is a suspicious copy done by a competitor - it would be hard to prove intial rights when a dated public document is released.

BrickJournal has been invited to go to the Toy Fair this year, incidentally.