Peppermint_M

Future Action and Adventure Themes

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Action and Adventure Themes are an odd bunch aren't they? Here is a place to talk about ideas for the future.

However there are a few ground rules:

  • This is not a Wishlist thread, so please no posting lists of themes you want LEGO to make.
  • A Compelling Idea is preferred, an outline of a theme idea and story-line (basic or otherwise) will help immensely. Give us a reason to think "That's cool."
  • Continuations, reboots, prequels and re-imaginings of current or past themes are very welcome but not demanded. Remember though: Spies, Submariners and Spelunkers are staples of Action and Adventure themes!
  • Remember: It has to fit into Action and Adventure, too SciFi and it wouldn't fit, too mundane and we're talking town. Licensed characters and properties don't fit (But you can liken an Idea to a known property if you like).
  • This isn't a place to attack current themes or to bang on about their cancellation/ending/replacement. This is just a place to share ideas about the future.
  • Lastly: Have Fun!

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3 minutes ago, Peppermint_M said:

Action and Adventure Themes are an odd bunch aren't they? Here is a place to talk about ideas for the future.

However there are a few ground rules:

  • This is not a Wishlist thread, so please no posting lists of themes you want LEGO to make.
  • A Compelling Idea is preferred, an outline of a theme idea and story-line (basic or otherwise) will help immensely. Give us a reason to think "That's cool."

Does that mean we can't say "I want LEGO to make a new Atlantis theme" but we can suggest an idea for a possible Atlantis storyline?

Just trying to get it clear so I don't go off topic. :look:

Edited by VaderFan2187

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1 minute ago, VaderFan2187 said:

Does that mean we can't say "I want LEGO to make a new Atlantis theme" but we can suggest an idea for a possible Atlantis storyline?

Just trying to get it clear so I don't go off topic. :look:

You got it! A storyline reason for a new Atlantis (Or any new underwater theme) is just what I'd like to see.

Simply saying "I want a new X" is like posting a photo of a brick and calling it a MOC.

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3 hours ago, Peppermint_M said:

Simply saying "I want a new X" is like posting a photo of a brick and calling it a MOC.

Oh wow! That's good! :laugh: That should be written down as a famous quote. 

I must admit I never visit the action forum that much, (Sci Fi and train forums mostly for me) but your topic gives me a great reason to visit more often! :sweet: 

I have a lot of lengthy, detailed ideas for some action themes which I'm looking forward to sharing with everyone, as well as viewing other's ideas.

Cheers. :classic:

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I've shared this idea vaguely on another action theme idea thread and a theme idea thread on the General Lego Discussion forum, but have never elaborated upon it, so this would be the best thread to share it. :classic:

I think a mid-1940s set, aviator centric successor/sequel to Adventurers with Dieselpunk, Sky-fi inspirations would fly quite well (pun intended :wink:) with kids. The theme would be helmed by an elder Johnny Thunder leading a group of ragtag aviators racing to find and dismantle an ancient Mayan doomsday device/relic in an uncharted Central American jungle before a mad German industrialist baron acquires it for nefarious purposes. Johnny and his comrades would be going up against both the baron's flying mechanical men ( inspired by the robot attackers of 2004's Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow), undead relic/doomsday machine guardians with large bird like glider craft to engage in dogfights with, and a brick built depiction of the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl, a large feathered snake like beast guarding the relic who engages in aerial combat with our heroes.

Here I have some great Sky-fi fighter planes from Flickr users Jonhall18 and Fredoichi pictured below to serve as design ideas for the planes this theme would feature.

15395678693_0ffcc287ff.jpg5996796731_2cf5f45139_n.jpg11488270425_8557427207.jpg6091499373_e674b3807d_n.jpg

Here also are some pictorial examples of the above mentioned mechanical flying monsters from Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

robots.jpgskycap2.jpg

Edited by Digger of Bricks

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4 hours ago, LOTR34 said:

I have lost all hope for a new adventures theme coming out.

Why do you say that? I think Lego could be looking into the theme again since various film studios are producing films based on the genre. We have Indy 5 slated for 2020, the Tomb Raider reboot origin story to be released in March next year, and MCU Spidey Tom Holland has been cast as a young Nathan Drake in an Uncharted origin story film. And like I proposed in this thread above, a Dieselpunk take on Adventurers with wilder interpretations on period set vehicles may attract kids to the sets.

Other than aircraft, there are some cool possibilities for Dieselpunk land vehicles for such a theme. Here are some great MOC examples from Flickr user Beau Donnan to give a rough idea.

26187973291_76d2801078_n.jpg 20212175216_077c2063c5_n.jpg26169664404_b9f3c0fd0c_n.jpg

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2 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Why do you say that? I think Lego could be looking into the theme again since various film studios are producing films based on the genre. We have Indy 5 slated for 2020, the Tomb Raider reboot origin story to be released in March next year, and MCU Spidey Tom Holland has been cast as a young Nathan Drake in an Uncharted origin story film. And like I proposed in this thread above, a Dieselpunk take on Adventurers with wilder interpretations on period set vehicles may attract kids to the sets.

Believe me I want more Adventures material but it's been what 6 years since Pharaoh's Quest came out?? And since then we haven't seen anything similar.

Now I'm sure we'll get Indy 5 sets but the movie comes out in 2020,that's a long way ahead of us and I doubt we'll get sets based on Uncharted or Tomb Raider movies.

Let's hope Lego will get motivated by those films and have another Adventures line out soon.

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15 minutes ago, LOTR34 said:

Believe me I want more Adventures material but it's been what 6 years since Pharaoh's Quest came out?? And since then we haven't seen anything similar.

Now I'm sure we'll get Indy 5 sets but the movie comes out in 2020,that's a long way ahead of us and I doubt we'll get sets based on Uncharted or Tomb Raider movies.

Let's hope Lego will get motivated by those films and have another Adventures line out soon.

Yes, as motivation for an original Adventurers theme I hope, but I never would expect Lego to do Tomb Raider or Uncharted properties. It seems more film studios are looking into other genre options as far as tentpole films go, since they can get only so much milage out of superhero films.

As far as the lack of an Adventurers theme, we really have NO action/adventure themes anyway currently, with most of Lego's focus on original properties eyed in on "big bang" themes. But perhaps something will be on the horizon, I'll take any smaller scale theme if it's decent.

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How did Monster Fighters/Scooby Doo perform on sales?

I can see LEGO returing to a "spooky" theme at some point

Maybe like something like Beetlejuice, since there is an upcoming film

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Dieselpunk would be really intresting! Mix of old-style mechanisms, lots of gears and ArtDeco geometric designs :)

Also I think it may be nice theme based on 80's futurism - all about space opera and shiny lasers, but with touch of fantasy, not in way of serious science fiction. I mean style of movies like Kung Fury, Tron, He-man and Guardians of Galaxy. However, Nexo Knights is already near it :)

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I've been pondering the plausibility of a post apocalyptic action theme for Lego, and I think I've come up with a viable idea inspired after the genre without the overbearing doom and gloom element.

The theme would revolve around a destruction/reconstruction concept, pitting an army of robot insurrectionists (much like Terminator, minus the genocide factor) against a ragtag human resistance force standing in their way of completely reducing the city to rubble. The resistance fights back with weaponry and vehicles salvaged and repurposed from what the insurrectionists have destroyed so far, along with collecting weaponry from defeated insurrectionists to use against them.

Each of the resistance vehicles in the sets would have one or two alternate builds, much like the Creator theme, to both emphasize the retooling concept of the theme and to showcase the versatility of Lego bricks in an action theme. These same vehicles would have Technic pinhole connections build into their construction to attach the robots' weaponry after their defeat as part of the set's storyline play functioning.

5 hours ago, Marishka said:

Dieselpunk would be really intresting! Mix of old-style mechanisms, lots of gears and ArtDeco geometric designs :)

Also I think it may be nice theme based on 80's futurism - all about space opera and shiny lasers, but with touch of fantasy, not in way of serious science fiction. I mean style of movies like Kung Fury, Tron, He-man and Guardians of Galaxy. However, Nexo Knights is already near it :)

Yes, Dieselpunk and its subgenre Sky-fi are definitely my thing! :sweet: I think it's an element that could help make an Adventurers theme viable currently, like I've stated in an earlier post.

As far as 80s futurism and all its zaniness, I think Ninjago and Legends of Chima also take after 80s/90s inspiration, with Ninjago sort of resembling a medieval Japanese take on Power Rangers, and Chima somewhat like a marriage between Thundercats and Fabuland. :wacko:

I've always thought an 80s cartoon inspired mecha theme involving combining robots would be perfect for Lego, though the individual mecha sets would rebuild, instead of simply transform, into the limbs of a larger combo mech. But honestly, Lego could not really get away with developing such a theme without it resembling Voltron or Power Ranger Megazords.

Edited by Digger of Bricks

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On 6/18/2017 at 11:11 AM, Digger of Bricks said:

Yes, as motivation for an original Adventurers theme I hope, but I never would expect Lego to do Tomb Raider or Uncharted properties. It seems more film studios are looking into other genre options as far as tentpole films go, since they can get only so much milage out of superhero films.

I was revisiting this discussion, and it came to me a possibility I've never before considered. What if Lego were to take an Adventurers theme and set it in a modern context as opposed to a 1920s-1940s set one?  It could take after examples like Tomb Raider and Uncharted mentioned before as inspiration for characters and a storyline.

Personally, while I prefer an older time period set theme as traditionally done, I think I definitely would buy such a theme if it were executed right.

Which would you prefer? Would a modern Adventurers theme be plausible or viable currently?

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Right then, Nexo Knights might be cancelled at the end of this year so a new "Big Bang" Action/Adventure theme will be needed to replace Nexo Knights. I think steampunk would a nice theme with a nice mixture of vehicles such as cars, boats and planes with some kind of play function similar to Ninjago spinners, China RIP cord bikes and the Nexo Knights shield scans. But in reality, I don't really see that happening. I see another theme coming out with a similar play function though, but what under? I honestly don't think Lego will make an adventure theme because the Lego city jungle sub theme sets are out at the moment.

Edited by J4ck
Fixed a spelling

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5 hours ago, J4ck said:

Right then, Nexo Knights might be cancelled at the end of this year so a new "Big Bang" Action/Adventure theme will be needed to replace Nexo Knights. I think steampunk would a nice theme with a nice mixture of vehicles such as cars, boats and planes with some kind of play function similar to Ninjago spinners, China RIP cord bikes and the Nexo Knights shield scans. But in reality, I don't really see that happening. I see another theme coming out with a similar play function though, but what under? I honestly don't think Lego will make an adventure theme because the Lego city jungle sub theme sets are out at the moment.

I'm not sure if you have visited this thread, but it is a discussion by @Itaria No Shintaku regarding the future of castle themes. But in a comment on the thread by Lego designer Mark Stafford (Eurobricks user @Nabii) near the bottom of the eighth page, he says prototype steampunk themes were the worst performing crossover concept with kids, which is quite unfortunate. :look:

Quote

Concepts and new themes at LEGO are not created by marketing, they are created by Designers. We draw and build and test extensively, and you are right, hybrid concepts often fail, (for example so far steampunk performs terribly). But NEXO Knights outperformed all other concepts including tradition Space and Castle ideas.

Now about City jungle sets, exploration subthemes so far only last one year before moving on to another region/location. But do all City exploration subthemes stand in as a an alternative to a traditional Adventurers theme? I don't think so, since some exploration subthemes don't seem to fit the theme's shoes, so maybe one of those years could offer a window for an Adventurers theme.

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Ahem

Can I draw you to the requests at the top of the thread. More specifically:

On 17/06/2017 at 10:44 AM, Peppermint_M said:

This isn't a place to attack current themes or to bang on about their cancellation/ending/replacement. This is just a place to share ideas about the future.

Future Action Theme concepts please. 

--

I have to say I am loving the dieselpunk suggestions! Sky Captain is one of my all time favourite films so something along those lines would be fantastic!

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I think a new dinosaur-based adventure theme would appeal to a wide audience.  Something similar to that old Dino Riders cartoon would sell quite well, I beleive (and it would give TLG a chance to get some more use out of those dinosaur molds they made for the Dino theme in 2012).  Here's an example:

dscn5234.jpg
dscn5246.jpg
dscn5247.jpg

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Even this themes are enough popular here, I don't think that it might be steampunk or dinosaurs for two reasons.  In first, they they are not very wide popular now, and I in my opinion they not enogh fresh for "wow" effect. In second, espessially steampunk,this is not first wanted meal (I hope I wrote clear things :) ) , oftenly it is addition to other bigger themes. I mean there's lot of examples when steampunk comes as solution of idea crysis in games, books or music - such as "hmmm, what we should do next? Ah, steampunk is nice idea!" - really, I meet that situation several times :) There's few strong movies or books in steampunk theme, and they ere always not too mainstream. And it's bronze and brown palette is not very liked by children. 

I hope I were not too sharp with such tninkig, please, forgive me if I were :)

I think also lego designers is always in search of something unpredictable, and many times it is mix of styles - techno animals, cyber ninjas and techno knights , even Bionicle reminds of mythology :)  

I would like to see theme about minifigures fighting or hunting huge fantastic creatures and monsters with crazy design - in way like it is in Monster Hunter games. The biggest monsters is living walking castles with some little critters inside! And of course, minifigures' vehicles might be with dieselpunk elements! :D

Edited by Marishka

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10 hours ago, Marishka said:

I would like to see theme about minifigures fighting or hunting huge fantastic creatures and monsters with crazy design - in way like it is in Monster Hunter games. The biggest monsters is living walking castles with some little critters inside! And of course, minifigures' vehicles might be with dieselpunk elements! :D

It'd be nice for a theme to explore monsters further than they have done before, they've done lava monsters, gargoyles, but I would like to see is tree creatures with plenty more new elects made to maximise the pleasing aesthetics.

I would also like to see a medieval theme, not castle, not fantasy, but with peasants and modular sets that connect together, I would also like to medieval farms with an adventurous storyline.

17 hours ago, Peppermint_M said:

Ahem

Can I draw you to the requests at the top of the thread. More specifically:

Future Action Theme concepts please. 

I do apologise, I realise this is not the right place to ask such questions. 

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Some of this discussion about a dinosaur centric action/adventure theme just made me think of 2012's Dino theme in retrospect, and I realized that the theme in a way is a modern incarnation of Adventurers, especially since one of the theme's main characters Josh is a stated great grandson of Adventurers' Johnny Thunder.

Also, I was pondering this question the other day, and really couldn't think of a good answer for it, so I thought I'd ask it here for your opinions. What would be another good action/adventure theme for a girl minidoll theme, perhaps as a successor to Elves if the theme winds down in the future?

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20 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Also, I was pondering this question the other day, and really couldn't think of a good answer for it, so I thought I'd ask it here for your opinions. What would be another good action/adventure theme for a girl minidoll theme, perhaps as a successor to Elves if the theme winds down in the future?

Military! Think how cool camo-style minidolls driving tanks would be :grin::thumbup:

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I was personally wondering if something like Sailor Moon or other Magical Girl anime would be popular. A group of colourful heroes, each with their own themed power... Sounds familiar right?

As a replacement for Elves it would work, as a fantasy element would remain but it would be set in somewhere more modern and down to earth. Follow the tropes and it would work out well as a counterpart to the Action themes aimed at boys. 

Even a theme with a solo magical girl ( Cardcaptor style) leaves room for outfits, friends and monster-of-the-week. 

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3 hours ago, VaderFan2187 said:

Military! Think how cool camo-style minidolls driving tanks would be :grin::thumbup:

Maybe, but Lego would never do something like that (thankfully).

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