Lamenting the X-Pod

I was really stoked when the X-Pods first appeared. We suddenly had odd, but useful, packaging. The large discs were a godsend and proved to be very useful over the years. When the second round was released with different colored discs and even different trans colors for the pod itself, the AFOL community collectively drooled.

As far as I can tell, these things were flying off of the shelves.

So what happened? Why did Lego change the X-Pod packaging to match the mini Racer one?

There are still a number of colors that the X-Pod series could have used, the dark colors, some of the sand colors, the metallic colors, earth tones, grays, and the discs themselves could have even been given the trans treatment.

This is just one more example of something that Lego either almost had right, or failed to continue doing right.

I'm glad we got what we did from that version of the creator line, but I sure would like to see those X-Pods make a return.

Comments

nerdyastronomer said…
i have been trying to find out what happened to the x-pods and your blog is the only thing ive come up with so far its like no one noticed and now i look on amazon and one of those pods was going for 30 bucks new in package
has lego officially said anything about this or have they just broken the x-pod mold i want them back
hound said…
Oh look, a comment! From April and here it is September and I just noticed. So much for my career as a blogger.

Actually, about the X-pods. I read recently (and if I ever come across the text again I'll be sure to include it here somehow) that the old blue bulk bins were a problem because the bins were made of the same material as the parts, therefore (to cut costs) they shrunk the size of the bulk bins.

I suspect that the X-pods packaging was cutting into the prophets. So, instead of increasing costs of the cheap sets to compensate, they just axed the packaging and went with a cheaper plastic.

Oh well.

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