If Lego were to reboot the Adventurers theme...

[lifeinplastic]

Hi All,

In the past year Lego has given us some figures from one of my favourite themes - the Adventurers! With Pippin Read reporting from on board the Orient Express, Prof Kilroy assuming the role as curator of the Natural History Museum and Johnny Thunder exploring the wildlife of Asia it is reassuring to think there is still interest in these characters. I'm not sure if we'll ever see a full return of the theme - perhaps the current action themes like Ninjago and Dreamzzz are more appealing to kids these days? However, I would definitely love to see more and so, just for fun, I'd be interested to know what others would like to see, based on the following...

1) A return of the theme - perhaps the most unrealistic option, but where would you like the team to re-visit or perhaps new horizons yet to be explored?

2) A one-off new set tribute for the theme (something along the lines of what the 10305 Lion Knights Castle set offered for Castle fans) - what would you want to see included?

3) A remake of one of the original sets (similar to the 10320 Eldorado Fortress offering for Pirates fans) - which set would get your vote?

4) A themed collectible minifigures series - which 12 characters would you pick and what would be included? 

  

[Classic_Spaceman]

4 hours ago, lifeinplastic said:

1) A return of the theme - perhaps the most unrealistic option, but where would you like the team to re-visit or perhaps new horizons yet to be explored?

2) A one-off new set tribute for the theme (something along the lines of what the 10305 Lion Knights Castle set offered for Castle fans) - what would you want to see included?

3) A remake of one of the original sets (similar to the 10320 Eldorado Fortress offering for Pirates fans) - which set would get your vote?

4) A themed collectible minifigures series - which 12 characters would you pick and what would be included? 

Mix of 2 and 3 is the most likely, IMO. Adventurers does not have enough characters to fill an entire CMF series (and the charters are not popular/iconic enough for variants to sell), and I doubt that they will bring the entire theme back (since the current business model is 3+ years, tie-in show, etc). 
 

[Kit Figsto]

I think option #1 is unlikely, given that the most recent themes that were similar didn't really do much in terms of longevity.  Pharaoh's Quest got one wave (though one thing I realized the other day was how it felt less character-driven.  Of the four characters, Jake Rains was in basically every single set, and two of the main characters were only available in single sets.  They also didn't go with characters as villains, just mummies), and Monster Fighters got...a wave and a half? (it got the first wave, plus a retailer exclusive and D2C that, if I recall correctly, were released slightly after).  Even Dino, if you want to consider that sort of a spiritual successor to the Dino Island subtheme, only got one wave.  

In the hypothetical situation where a reboot happens, I'd want to see a Greek/Roman inspired wave, similar to the old LEGO.com computer game!  I've also seen some MOCs on Instagram of a hypothetical "Johnny Thunder in London" setting, which is a really interesting idea, I think something like that, maybe staged around stolen treasure from a museum, or even something with Stonehenge and the mysteries surrounding that would be really neat.

If we got a one-off tribute set or a remake set, I think it would almost assuredly be Egypt based.  Even away from LEGO, when people think "archaeology," the idea of Egypt and mummies is probably one of the first things that will come up.  I think a remake of the Pharaoh's Forbidden Ruins would be the obvious one if they went with a large-scale remake, though a scaled-down Sphinx's Secret Surprise or Oasis Ambush would make a nice GWP-sized remake.  I think it would be hard to do a tribute set that's something totally original, since the theme relied on different settings across the waves, and if they chose to revisit one of these settings, they may as well re-make one of the sets.  The closest thing we've got to a tribute set is stuff like the Museum or Haunted House having references to Adventurers.

My picks for a CMF (which also is unlikely):

Johnny Thunder (desert outfit with rifle and scorpion)

Dr. Killroy (desert outfit with map and magnifying glass)

Pippen Reed (desert outfit with camera and photo tile)

Baron Von Baron/Sam Sinister (desert outfit with pistol and artifact)

Slyboots (with pistol and artifact)

Harry Cane (with map and pistol)

Señor Palomar (with backpack and pistol)

Achu (with sun disk)

Alexis Sinister (with baby T-Rex and net)

Jun-Chi (in minifigure form, similar to the Minotaur CMF)

Tigurah (same as above)

Dragon Fortress Guardian (with helmet, armor, and shield)

[Lion King]

My thoughts on the four options:

Option #1 - I would love to see something new, something different in following Space City subtheme suit! But right now, we have Monkie, DreamZzz and Ninjago on shelves, I feel it’s toomuch action-focused themes at once, not signaling Adventurers to come back soon.  But my ideal new theme would be based on “Lost City” right under our feet - a spiritual successor to Adventurers. A daught (or granddaughter) of Johnny Thunder sets off to find Lost City that is filled with crystal-decorated dinosaurus and mutatnt crystallized denizens.  Or…competely new team on quest looking for Sky Treasure - a floating castle that is never seen for centuries.  

Option #2 - I would be delighted to see Egypt-based one-off set! Somethign new, like Lion King’s Castle. 

Option #3 - I’m not sure… I am not totally into nostalgia stuff. The new El Dorado set is too faithful to its original verison and some Pirate fans are…picky on it? I love something new and different so I go wih Options #1 and #2.

Option #4 - It’s little tricky to come up with 12 minifiguress! But it doesn’t have to include all iconic characters from past themes. Just like Series 26 Space that is mix of robot, alien, astronaut and random minifigures. Plus, you would be disappointed if you hope the character that is more exactly what you had one in the past but it’s not exaclty what you wanted..For example,you asked for Basil the Batlord but you got Vampie Knight. However, it’s really neat to have a new bat-wing helmet for Vampire Knight!  Now take a look at Series 26 Space, there are three  famous astronauts from three old themes (Blacktron, Ice Planet and M:Tron) and space aFOLs are quite picky on how those minifigures look. So I keep my expectations lower.

Here is my ideal Adventurers Series:

1.) Johnny Thunder (in Everest outfit with reused collar piece from Snow Guardian from CMF Series)*

2.) Pippin (in Desert outfit)

3.) Dr. Kirby (in Jungle outfit with tiger cub)

4.) Baron Von Baron /Sam Sinister (with a new baby T-rex)

5.) Wannabe Adventurer Kid (with Johnny Thunder’s hat+ponytail and a book that depicts Johnny)

6.) Re-Awakening Pharaoh (Asher-Ra) 

7.) Harry Cane (2x3 printed map)

8.) Snow Warrior  (Mount Everest)

9.) Young Hero (Josh Thunder) (with a baby Pterandon and hatched egg)

10.) Fake Yeti (with Yeti costume)

11.)  Sun Guardian (Achu) (with sun disk and new headgear just like Vampire Knight’s helmet)

12.) Jackgal Deity (Anubis)
*Nte: we already have Jungle Explorer (Johnny Thunder) from Sees 19) but it’s nice to have a new outfit.

Personally, I would be LOVE to see Jun-Chi, Yeti and Tigurah make thier comebacks in CMF that would look like the old verisons of themselves -they used leg and arm molds so it’s easy to save money. But head+torso molds are quite challenging.  

Edited May 10 by Lion King

[karrit]

I'd like to see an Egypt based set with Mummies, Pyramid, Sphinx, sarcophagi and a recolor or two of the scorpion along with some printed Egyptian columns rather than the stickers they've defaulted to.  I never got the bigger sets or any of the Orient wave from the Adventurers series and Jurassic World already has the Dino Island stuff covered.  Did they ever do a Mayan/Aztec style wave?  Seems like the Jungle sets sort of touched on that but not as obvious as the Desert or Orient waves.

[Autumn]

A full-on reboot of the theme is the least likely to happen, archaeology adventurers like Indiana Jones or Johnny Thunder don't seem to appeal to kids today like you said. Making a one-off tribute or "Icons" set is what I would want the most and I think the two most obvious choices would be either Sphinx Secret Surprise or Temple of Anubis (or you could even merge them into one). I agree with @Lion King about El Dorado Fortress being too faithful, if I was a Pirates fan I would be a smidge disappointed.

My dream however would be for three reimagined sets from each subtheme: a hybrid of Sphinx Secret Surprise and Temple of Anubis for Desert (as above), Amazon Ancient Ruins for Jungle and then for Orient it would be a 3-in-1 set centred around Mount Everest with the temple at the summit, and then Scorpion Palace and Dragon Fortress on either side. Dino Island would need to be skipped since it would clash with Jurassic Park and is a bit of an oddity compared to the other three.

[mon-o-mat]

17 hours ago, Autumn said:

A full-on reboot of the theme is the least likely to happen, archaeology adventurers like Indiana Jones or Johnny Thunder don't seem to appeal to kids today like you said. Making a one-off tribute or "Icons" set is what I would want the most and I think the two most obvious choices would be either Sphinx Secret Surprise or Temple of Anubis (or you could even merge them into one). I agree with @Lion King about El Dorado Fortress being too faithful, if I was a Pirates fan I would be a smidge disappointed.

My dream however would be for three reimagined sets from each subtheme: a hybrid of Sphinx Secret Surprise and Temple of Anubis for Desert (as above), Amazon Ancient Ruins for Jungle and then for Orient it would be a 3-in-1 set centred around Mount Everest with the temple at the summit, and then Scorpion Palace and Dragon Fortress on either side. Dino Island would need to be skipped since it would clash with Jurassic Park and is a bit of an oddity compared to the other three.

I think the despiction of 1920s China or India in those themes would be problematic today. I think the Himalayan parts would be OK. Maybe combine the temple, the Yeti and the Baloon into a nice set, that works for both display and play.

[Autumn]

2 hours ago, mon-o-mat said:

I think the despiction of 1920s China or India in those themes would be problematic today. I think the Himalayan parts would be OK. Maybe combine the temple, the Yeti and the Baloon into a nice set, that works for both display and play.

Possibly, but I think it can still be done in a sensitive and respectful way by making some changes. Removing the Maharaja and Emperor as bad guys for example and turning them into allies or simply neutral entities wouldn't be a negative. And the Adventurers themselves don't have to be there to loot their treasures, they are simply... adventurers, exploring new places and rediscovering lost legends and helping the locals along the way.

[Lion King]

5 hours ago, Autumn said:

Possibly, but I think it can still be done in a sensitive and respectful way by making some changes. Removing the Maharaja and Emperor as bad guys for example and turning them into allies or simply neutral entities wouldn't be a negative. And the Adventurers themselves don't have to be there to loot their treasures, they are simply... adventurers, exploring new places and rediscovering lost legends and helping the locals along the way.

Maybe. What if Emepror’s general would turn against him and plot to steal Anicent artificats from him. Emperor teaming up with heroes against the general?

[Peppermint_M]

I wouldn't be against a reboot, but a new adventure with a new group would be a lot more interesting to me. Also, it would not be terrible to have environmental or fantastical obstacles or enemies. Living statues, creatures that are a lot larger than they should be, even the Ninjago method of monsters.

If there were to be a set along the lines of what Castle or Pirates had, I think a pyramid would be good, but a Palace from Orient Expedition would be excellent. I love the Egypt part of the theme, but I like all of it and I do build the Egypt things for myself, so a new Egypt set would not have the same appeal.

A whole CMF series wouldn't work, but it would be cool to have maybe a CMF series based off of the less "cornerstone" themes of the past, like a whole set of "easter egg" like figures. Series 16 had an Alpha Team styled figure, more of that would be cool.