[ENTRY] Fortune Idol (Mini Set)

[Oky]

On King Kahuka's island there is a statue known as the Idol of Fortune. The Islanders come here when they need gold. When they place an offering such as fruit on the plate in front of it, the idol opens its mouth and a gold coin comes out.

Load the coins in the back of the statue!

Press down the offering plate to lift up the idol's face and release the coin!

You can see the play feature in action in this video:

This 49-piece set includes an Islander woman minifigure with banana accessory.

I hope you like this entry for the Mini Set Category. Please leave your thoughts in the comments below, especially if you find anything offensive about the portrayal of islanders in this entry.

[Yoggington]

This is fabulous. In just 49 pieces no less.

If I could be so bold (and if that is a 2x4 plate on the back), you might consider swapping it out for a pair of the inverted tile 2x2s for a smoother finish?

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=11203&name=Tile, Modified 2 x 2 Inverted&category=[Tile, Modified]#T=S&C=86&O={"color":86,"iconly":0}

No complaints about the portrayal - it's a nice modernising of the tribe without straying into anything non-PC.

[Mazin]

Nothing offensive dude, we are normal people here ;) I hope ;)

Awesome looking statue, and great engineering work, i'll give You that, it's simple but very impressive, i love those tiny eyes, and feather element, nose and tongue that kids would probably play with till they would break it, and those flaming horns, that kinda resembles ears or even hands of a crazy dancing shaman too :)

And nice choice of baseplate, plantwork too. Perfect little piece. Not sure if it would be a hit or miss, it's like one of those many nice classic ittle sets, where it was always hard to to choose from, but then again everyone had an option and all of them offered something different, so they do their job, for some they might be the best toy they got ever, for others they can be forgetable, are they just a puzzle in big Lego family. 

So i can't find any reason to be picky about it, but i can't give it the 1st prize either ;) 

I wonder if Your tongue requires any specific amount of weight to trigger the coin effect?   

[The Reader]

That’s a great built and an awesome idea!

I am just wondering how the mechanism works. Is the face sliding up while pressing the tongue down? 

[MstrOfPppts]

Just one word - Awesome! What a genius idea for the splendid play feature. I would also like to see a cut-through to reveal how this mechanism works in such a small space!

The only thing that I find offensive is that the female islander is wearing a bra - the banana doesn't bother me that much! :)

[Mister Phes]

6 hours ago, Oky said:

I hope you like this entry for the Mini Set Category.

So many great new set concepts are appearing - I have added it to the Entries Index!

 

7 hours ago, Oky said:

Press down the offering plate to lift up the idol's face and release the coin!

Is there a video of this feature in action?

[iragm]

This is a terrific concept!  I can't quite figure out how the mechanism works to build it myself, though.  Is there just no lid on the box?

It also seems like the coin would slide out, hit the plate, and get stuck under the tongue.  I wonder if this could be done without the plate?

The minifigure, design, and build all look great.  The concept is extremely original, probably the most innovative thing in the small sets category I've seen so far.  I really like it, I just want to see it in action!

[MstrOfPppts]

43 minutes ago, iragm said:

I can't quite figure out how the mechanism works to build it myself, though.

The great mechanism didn't let me rest, so I dug into some reverse engineering and here is what I came up with. The image with the support on one side removed ...

[The Reader]

1 hour ago, MstrOfPppts said:

The great mechanism didn't let me rest, so I dug into some reverse engineering and here is what I came up with. The image with the support on one side removed ...

Thank you very much. That helps a lot for better understanding the mechanism. Is the „tongue“ in any way fixed to the two red bricks?

12 hours ago, Oky said:

especially if you find anything offensive about the portrayal of islanders in this entry.

Nothing offensive from my side as I am using this torso for my Islanders, too.

[Yperio_Bricks]

I like the set and the minifigure! And the play feature is very nice. One of my favorite entries so far.

 

10 minutes ago, The Reader said:

Thank you very much. That helps a lot for better understanding the mechanism. Is the „tongue“ in any way fixed to the two red bricks?

Looks like this plate modified and then the corresponding brick modified x2.

 

[durazno33]

That's a fun islander set. It would have been a great mini set back in the day.

One suggestion I'll add is to ask if there is a way to round the end of the tongue? I thought maybe using a red surf board instead or adding two quarter circle 1x1 tiles. The red surf board might be hard with the hole but the 1x1 quarter circle tiles might be able to do it if you can find a extra piece to remove. (You'd have to move the 2x4 light grey plate down one stud but it might work)

[The Reader]

4 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

Looks like this plate modified and then the corresponding brick modified x2.

Thanks a lot. I wasn‘t aware of that piece, but only of the 2x2 plate modified with pinholes.

[Oky]

Thanks everyone!

Yes, @The Reader guessed it correctly. The mechanism is quite simple, as you would expect from the Islanders. The face is connected to the coin container which slides up and down on the slope pillars on the sides. When you push down on the dish, the tongue simply pushes it up, creating an opening and a ramp for the coin to slide down.

14 hours ago, Mister Phes said:

Is there a video of this feature in action?

You can see the play feature in action in this video:

16 hours ago, Mazin said:

I wonder if Your tongue requires any specific amount of weight to trigger the coin effect?   

Well, in-universe I imagine that it is a pressure plate that does require a satisfying amount of offerings to get the reward, but IRL the idea is that kids (or adults ) just press down on the tongue. It would require quite a lot of LEGO fruit to balance out the weight of the statue.

21 hours ago, Yoggington said:

If I could be so bold (and if that is a 2x4 plate on the back), you might consider swapping it out for a pair of the inverted tile 2x2s for a smoother finish?

I think that would compromise the structural integrity of the play feature. You could use the 2x4 equivalent of those tiles, but sadly it doesn't exist in gray (yet).

11 hours ago, iragm said:

It also seems like the coin would slide out, hit the plate, and get stuck under the tongue.  I wonder if this could be done without the plate?

As you can see in the video above, the friction keeps the coin from sliding too far. Also, I think it wouldn't be too clear that you're meant to place an offering there if there was no plate.

6 hours ago, durazno33 said:

One suggestion I'll add is to ask if there is a way to round the end of the tongue? I thought maybe using a red surf board instead or adding two quarter circle 1x1 tiles. The red surf board might be hard with the hole but the 1x1 quarter circle tiles might be able to do it if you can find a extra piece to remove. (You'd have to move the 2x4 light grey plate down one stud but it might work)

Not sure how this could be done without going over the part limit. A surf board would be too thin for the coin to slide down on and doesn't have any way of attaching the dish at the front. I appreciate the suggestion though!

15 hours ago, MstrOfPppts said:

The only thing that I find offensive is that the female islander is wearing a bra - the banana doesn't bother me that much! :)

And here I thought that would make it less offensive.

I'm just trying to be respectful towards real-life islanders since the Islanders subtheme is considered a bit controversial.

[Mister Phes]

10 minutes ago, Oky said:

You can see the play feature in action in this video:

Thank ye - but unfortunately the video URL has somehow been stripped out so the video is not displaying.

Do you have a link to where the video is being hosted?

[Oky]

26 minutes ago, Mister Phes said:

Thank ye - but unfortunately the video URL has somehow been stripped out so the video is not displaying.

Do you have a link to where the video is being hosted?

The embed didn't work, so I switched it out for a link. https://flic.kr/p/2oXLadT

 

[Lyichir]

This is cute! I have mixed feelings sometimes about the Islanders faction (loved them growing up but as an adult recognize some harmful and dated stereotypes in how they're depicted), but I really appreciate this set design that instead of focusing on conflict features a peaceful story framework. The play feature is both simple and incredibly clever—I never would've thought to use the classic "mailbox" compartment that way!

[Rogue Redcoat]

Immaculate, not quite sure about the blue 1x1 on the leaf and the light-colored base but it's perfect, a Minifigure, has a playability function, and something that looks great,  I love it :) 

[Mister Phes]

8 hours ago, Oky said:

The embed didn't work, so I switched it out for a link. https://flic.kr/p/2oXLadT

Do you happen to have the video on YouTube?

[iragm]

 

17 hours ago, Oky said:

As you can see in the video above, the friction keeps the coin from sliding too far.

That video is great, it cleared up my concerns about the coin.  Wonderful little build, I wouldn't change a thing about it.  So very clever!

[The Reader]

20 hours ago, Oky said:

You can see the play feature in action in this video:

The mechanism is just genious!

[Rogue Redcoat]

Now all my worries are cleared up and very ingenious invention :)

 

Edited August 25, 2023 by Rogue Redcoat

[Oky]

Thanks again mateys!

16 hours ago, Mister Phes said:

Do you happen to have the video on YouTube?

i have uploaded it for you. I also added it to the first post. 

 

On 8/24/2023 at 5:03 PM, Lyichir said:

This is cute! I have mixed feelings sometimes about the Islanders faction (loved them growing up but as an adult recognize some harmful and dated stereotypes in how they're depicted), but I really appreciate this set design that instead of focusing on conflict features a peaceful story framework.

Thanks! Yes, I feel the same about the subtheme. 
To me, the Islanders were always a peaceful faction that mostly kept to themselves and only defended themselves when pirates tried to steal from them. 

[Mazin]

HERE ARE MY FINAL THOUGHTS AND REASONS WHY I'VE DECIDED TO RANK THIS SET AS THE 1ST PLACE IN THE MINI SET BUILDING CATEGORY

With Mini Sets i was looking for something that would not only fit with the classic universe, but that would visually eye catchy and could provide a great playvalue even withing the single set.

Now Fortune Idol my not have many of accesoriesa or figures or weapons, but it's still something damn fun! I mean, who wouldn't want to play with this goofy looking statue during their childhood? I feel that everyone would be obsessed with it to the point where it would break it. Simple mechanical feature in such a small set, but how awesome. And a mechincal feature is just one factor, but the other, and perhaps even more decisive one is that this statue could be a great character itself. I mean, i can feel that it got some legs under it, that it's got it's own soul, that it can convince members of every faction to do all sorts of things, that it can trick everyone that will look into it's eyes. It can be everything, it can be funny, it can be deceiving, it can be demonic. Look at those horns, that nose, that plume... Briliant. 

And thus, i'd like to nominate it for the 1st place in it's categy, even tho it's an Islander set and i always thought about them as of a subtheme to other "real" factions of the Lego Pirates world. Still, it's just the best, and it's unique.

[Oky]

59 minutes ago, Mazin said:

HERE ARE MY FINAL THOUGHTS AND REASONS WHY I'VE DECIDED TO RANK THIS SET AS THE 1ST PLACE IN THE MINI SET BUILDING CATEGORY

Thank ye kindly! Good playability along with pleasing visuals is what I was going for. Making the statue’s mouth move is indeed addictively fun! I hope I can count on your vote then. 

[Mazin]

2 minutes ago, Oky said:

Thank ye kindly! I hope I can count on your vote then. 

Yeap, just let me finish thoughts on my other votes and i'll post my selections in the proper Voting thread :)

Still, looking at folks' favourites right now, it seems its gonna be battle between Your idol and the Outrigger Boat if nothing will change. Or at least these are the choices are mostly note ;)