Trains in LEGO licences

[rday1982]

The LEGO licences for Indiana Jones, Batman, Harry Potter and Spiderman could all be improved IMO by more train stuff, and more DETAILED train stuff.

Batman and Indiana Jones, for example, seem criminally ignored when it comes to trains. A huge steam train and station for Indy would be awesome, and a train chase for Batman is practically REQUIRED for fans of the animated series and Batman Begins.

So what are your thoughts?

[fred67]

The LEGO licences for Indiana Jones, Batman, Harry Potter and Spiderman could all be improved IMO by more train stuff, and more DETAILED train stuff.

Batman and Indiana Jones, for example, seem criminally ignored when it comes to trains. A huge steam train and station for Indy would be awesome, and a train chase for Batman is practically REQUIRED for fans of the animated series and Batman Begins.

So what are your thoughts?

Well, I agree with you on some things... what big train scene was there in Indiana Jones, though?

My list of sets to buy include the Toy Story 3 train (just for fun), and the Hogwarts Express, of which a new version is coming out this fall. Now, it doesn't look greatly improved, IMO, from the older sets, but it looks like it comes with proper train wheels, at least. I have an older one, but am looking forward to the new one.

An elevated train like the one from Batman Begins would be really awesome, but the scale is probably too large for TLG to make into a set.

The way I look at it, if they add trains to other themes, the way they did it with the Toy Story 3 train (a separate train, but ready to roll on LEGO tracks) seems like a good way to do it... also would be nice if they were easily modifiable to power.

[rday1982]

There was never a massive train scene in Indiana Jones, but there have been a couple of smaller ones. The beginning of IJaTHG and partway through KotCS, for example.

TLG's Hogwarts Express trains to date have all been hugely disappointing. I've been trying to make a better version in LDD, but this suffers from a lack of BBB-style wheels.

Edited August 9, 2010 by rday1982

[fred67]

There was never a massive train scene in Indiana Jones, but there have been a couple of smaller ones. The beginning of IJaTHG and partway through KotCS, for example.

Ahh... not enough for me. Not enough in the Holy Grail and I'd rather completely forget the Crystal Skull. Don't get me wrong... I don't want them to give up on Indy; I don't even mind Shia Lebeuf (sp?) taking over... it was the movie itself that was disappointing. Lucas simply should keep trying to do things on his own (he wrote the story), he's just not that good.

TLG's Hogwarts Express trains to date have all been hugely disappointing. I've been trying to make a better version in LDD, but this suffers from a lack of BBB-style wheels.

Well, despite the photos, I have higher hopes (not high hopes, higher... than, say, "completely disappointed") for Hogwart's Express.

Perhaps, along the lines of the Emerald Night, they should do a functioning UCS Hogwart's Express.

[rday1982]

Ahh... not enough for me. Not enough in the Holy Grail and I'd rather completely forget the Crystal Skull.

Well, it would be cool to have something like that that's not necessarily from the movies. Indiana Jones obviously had a lot of different adventures. Who's to say he never had one on board a train?

There are a lot of opportunities for the Batman elevated railway as well. With such a huge scale in the movie, it does mean that LEGO would have to make compromises. But an elevated oval (or even circle) of track with a movie-accurate train and a maybe even a few of Gotham's skyscraper tops would make a good starter pack for it.

The Hogwarts Express is where LEGO are missing the boat massively. If they made a really nice Olton Hall model either with or seperately to three coaches and a brake van, then did a massive King's Cross and a decently detailed Hogsmeade station, they'd have the beginnings of a whole seperate subtheme to both Harry Potter and the trains theme. There's also the opportunity to release sets or brick packs for a viaduct, a dementor attack, and/or some steam-era or HP-esque trackside scenery like old timey signals and signal boxes, or water towers. If it's got the HP brand on it, or it intersects with the HP theme, then LEGO get to exploit both markets at once.

Of course, there's also the other licensed themes LEGO has. Any one of them can be combined with the trains theme in some way to improve BOTH themes, and increase people's exposure to the trains theme. Except maybe Star Wars. I think they'd have hovertrains or something. Anyhow.

The trains theme is basically a huge source of potential sales revenue for LEGO that they're failing miserably to exploit. If the Indiana Jones theme did have a train and station, Indiana Jones fans would buy it - whether or not it's a movie thing, they'd want it because it fits the theme, and expands the scope of the theme. Same for Batman. Whether it's something from Batman Begins, or inspired by the Animated Series, a train set would be a must-have for any Batman collector because it fits with and expands the scope of the theme. Who could resist the opportunity to have a classic train heist thwarted by the valiant Caped Crusader?

I'm disappointed that the Spiderman subway train wasn't designed for L-Gauge track, and think that had it been, (and maybe had it been powered), it might have sold better, due to better interconnectivity.

Going back for a moment to Indiana Jones, I think that the scene from the beginning of Holy Grail, where a young Indy flees his pursuers across a moving train would make an AWESOME set. Plenty of scope for rolling stock, collectible minifigs, and a great place to use the snake pieces. The scene is short, but action-packed, and a fan favourite.

LEGO are missing a trick by not producing train sets for licensed themes, and it's just one of many tricks that they're missing with trains. I have to wonder, if they're doing it on purpose, because they somehow feel that trains are no longer "cool".

[Blondie-Wan]

Well, I agree with you on some things... what big train scene was there in Indiana Jones, though?

There was never a massive train scene in Indiana Jones, but there have been a couple of smaller ones. The beginning of IJaTHG and partway through KotCS, for example.

I'd disagree that the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade doesn't feature a "big" train scene (not massive, perhaps, but big), and that's just one. As noted, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull also features a train scene, albeit not a large one, and that's just the movies. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles / The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones features many train scenes, and some of them are indeed quite massive (and have already inspired MOCs you can find around here). Granted, I wouldn't necessarily expect any official sets based on scenes from the TV show (right now, it's uncertain the theme will return at all), but it's not completely outside the realm of possibility.

Ahh... not enough for me. Not enough in the Holy Grail and I'd rather completely forget the Crystal Skull. Don't get me wrong... I don't want them to give up on Indy; I don't even mind Shia Lebeuf (sp?) taking over... it was the movie itself that was disappointing. Lucas simply should keep trying to do things on his own (he wrote the story), he's just not that good.

Lucas came up with the core ideas of the story, but the screenplay was scripted by David Koepp, and I think some of the movie's shortcomings are more attributable to his efforts (and the rush to get his draft filmed, after previous scripts by others were jettisoned, and the pressure mounted to do the movie "now or never"). Lucas, of course, originated the Indy character and is the sole writer credited on all four of the movies, and whatever one may think of his talents today, as it happens the ultra-classic original Raiders of the Lost Ark is actually the one he was most heavily involved in writing, though his stamp is on all four. He also was the guiding force behind Young Indy, of course.

Well, it would be cool to have something like that that's not necessarily from the movies. Indiana Jones obviously had a lot of different adventures. Who's to say he never had one on board a train?

Indeed, he did in fact have lots of adventures aboard and around trains. In that Last Crusade opening, he even developed up some of his more well-known traits and characteristics on one (his chin scar, his ophidiophobia, his penchant for using a whip...), and that's really just the tip of the iceberg.

[rday1982]

I'd love to see an Indiana Jones animated series on TV. Might be a boost for the LEGO theme, and would almost certainly have train action scenes, possibly leading to Indy's Emerald Night battle with Lord Voldemort being released, seeing as how TLG love to rehash elements from old sets. :p

[Sirius Black]

I'd love to see an Indiana Jones animated series on TV. Might be a boost for the LEGO theme, and would almost certainly have train action scenes, possibly leading to Indy's Emerald Night battle with Lord Voldemort being released, seeing as how TLG love to rehash elements from old sets. :p

Okay.....

Indiana Jones fighting He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named on the Emerald Night ? I am more than a bit confused.

I do have to say that all of the Hogwarts Expresses are rather pitiful, and would have loved to see an Emerald Night style one, but that is not going to happen.

Sirius