What would make a great Adventurer sub-theme?

[Sting]

The time travelling Adventurers theme idea would be the closest thing to the Wild West that we would get... there would of course only be one set from this era... but its better than nothing.

[Brick Miner]

Again, they are not selling this to you guys. They are selling it to the average 6-10 year old, who when faced with the legends of lost atlantis will likely say.... "wha???"

i would love to see LEGO start caring about teaching kids about history and mythologies. both topics cary great educational value and provide morals and lessons within them. if LEGO released LEGENDS OF LOST ATLANTIS, and kids when "wha???" than that is a good thing right ??? if its done craftsful and artisitically, then LEGO has taught kids about a new facet fo their world !!! a facet which carries a multitude of valuable knowledge.

if LEGO is to stick to only what kids already know about, then we will see things like batman and spongebob, with little valuable historic information. i know im not the only one on this board (briskster) would would love to see LEGO educate about history !!!

- brickminer

[gylman]

Again, they are not selling this to you guys. They are selling it to the average 6-10 year old, who when faced with the legends of lost atlantis will likely say.... "wha???"

i know im not the only one on this board (briskster) would would love to see LEGO educate about history !!!

- brickminer

How I wish it were so. A full historical line of Lego would be a glorious thing, a theme all its own. We can dream.

[WesternOutlaw]

Brick Miner: you and I could be known as the Outlaws! We've discussed the thought of a historic theme a few times before, but a historic theme based on the history books would be a great educational tool. As an AFOL, Sponge Bob and some of the other cartoon/movie themes are not what appeals to me. I understand that we're not the Lego market, but think about using Lego to teach history. It would be a very useful visual tool for learning (and a great excuse to buy these historic sets).

On a side note, however, the Batman sets are pretty nice. I picked up the Killer Croc/Batboat set over the weekend - very nice. Definately a good theme, and much better than the Spider Man sets.

[gylman]

If you guys want to make a pitch for TLC to create schoolroom history teaching line..... I would be glad to help.

[Athos]

Yet another thread I nearly missed commenting on. I've probably replied to about a half-dozen of threads similar to this, however, so my views are pretty well known. Here is my most detailed and lengthy post on the subject (and Adventurers in general), as posted on legofan.org:

OK, since I started this thread, I think its about time I talked Adventurers...

Exotic locations, evil villians, beautiful women, dashing men, ancient secrets, treasure and adventure... What more can you ask for? I submit to you nothing, but give me more!

The Theory:

I absolutely love the Adventurers line. Of course I am a sucker for the classic 1920s/1930s adventure stories. And the Indiana Jones saga are my favorite movies and have been for many years (speaking of, I need to rewatch them again). So I was very excited when the Egypt line first came out. Then even more when it was continued. What also makes it a great theme is that it can capitalize on nearly endless historic eras and geographic locales (Kids like asia and ninjas? Suck them in with an Asian adventurer; Gladiators popular? Sell them an ancient Greek or Roman theme; Dinosaurs in again? Do a dino line). Then think about the re-issue potential, a return to

such-and-such land could double your adventurers.

The Sets:

The sets are, for the most part, very well designed and come with a good selection of basic parts. If you notice, there is very little use of specialized parts (beyond the equipment and jeep chassis). And some of the sets are spectacular (i.e. Dragon Fortress and Pharoah's Forbidden Ruins). The line does have its weaker sets (i.e. Amazon Ruins, Tygurah and the Track Master).

The Subthemes:

Egypt and Orient Expedition are by far the best of the subthemes. Egypt was a whole new arena for Lego to explore. And Orient Expedition, though somewhat derivative of the ninjas still managed to enchant. Even the weaker subthemes (i.e. Amazon and Dinos) still are very well done and have some redeeming qualities.

The Characters:

One of the theme's greatest achievements. A small core group of characters provides continuity for the theme and a good story line to assist children (who presumably lack imagination enough to create their own characters) with play. Further, by varying the character's clothing throughout the line, it helps, to a certain degree (but not enough), keep collectors happy, so we don't wind up with 10,000 identical JT's (also a major problem with Star Wars). Additionally, a reasonably diverse cast of characters allows for various villains and heroes. We have a strong recurring female chracter (a first and only for Lego) not to mention the various racially diverse characters, including Europeans, Indians, Chinese, Nepalese (in both heroic and villainous roles) and Hispanics (though only in villainous roles).

My suggestions for the future:

(1) We need an undersea adventure. With a submarine and some angry merpeople.

(2) Then a trip to the moon with little angry green men (suck in the spacers)

(3) Not to mention a Journey to the Center of the Earth with angry morlocks and molepeople

(4) Island at the Top of the World with angry vikings

(5) Mount Olympus with angry gods and mythological beasts

(6) Haunted Castle with a bunch of angry European ghosts and ghouls (plus suck in the castle-heads)

(7) Then for something less fantastical, how about an African safari, where JT saves endangered wildlife from poachers?

(8) Pirates! This would be a good way to test the waters for a new pirate line.

(9) Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine, with angry cowboys and mysterious indians and maybe throw a train in to get some cash from the train guys.

(10) Arabian Nights...

Ten years of sets right there. Just off the top of my head and the list is endless. And what makes these lines good for Lego is the relatively lack of a need for specialized parts and new molds. Nearly everything I've suggested can be accomplished with already existing parts. Arguably some new diving suits would be needed for the undersea sets and maybe Olympus and Safari would be somewhat mold intensive with the animals and myth creatures.

Conclusion:

At the risk of being banned from Classic-Castle, I must say Adventurers is my favorite theme. If I could only collect one theme, it would probably be Adventurers (though I love Castle almost equally too).

A can't lose theme for Lego. Don't leave us hanging here Lego.

Steve (the Adventurer fan :D )

Also here are my thoughts on an Atlantis line from adventurers.dk

Here's my thoughts:

My Atlantis would still be submerged. Make the Atlantis city sets in colors like the HP Mermaid set:

"7489", 700-900 pieces, DKK 700-800 / USD 80-90 = Submarine, like the Nautilis, from 20,000 Leagues, (gotta have that crazy pipe organ!) or the one from that Disney Cartoon Movie 'Atlantis' (include a smaller Atlantean ruin); includes all the Adventurer crew (maybe in the 1930's style dive gear) and an Atlantean (use the HP mermaid piece) and some of the undersea creatures

"7488", 350 pieces, DKK 500 / USD 50: Atlantis, lots of little ruins (on smaller base plates like the HP grave yard) Includes JT and the Baron in diving gear and a couple Atlanteans, along with some water creatures.

"7487", 250 pieces, DKK 300 / USD 30: Baron's Command Ship (done much like the most recent fire boat); include the Baron, Mr. Hates, and a henchman (we need more of these)

"7486", 175 pieces, DKK 200 / USD 20: Smaller submarine. Same style as 7489, but smaller. Includes Harry Cane and one Atlantean,( maybe riding a giant seahorse?)

"7485", 130 pieces, DKK 130 / USD 13: "Gateway to Atlantis" (small archway ruin on the shore); statue of Atlantean. Includes Pippin, palm tree, and either crab, clam or lobster

"7484", 100 pieces, DKK 100 / USD 10: "Poseidon's Trident" small ruin set. Includes JT in diving gear. Old Atlantean (use Dumbledore beard and hair piece in sand green) holding a chrome trident

"7481", 70 pieces, DKK 70 / USD 7: "Kraken Attack" small ruin, includes Baron in diving gear and Octopus

"7480", 40 pieces, DKK 30 / USD 4: "Kilroy's Raft" small raft (maybe in new color) with sonar gear on board. Includes Kilroy, with lifejacket and sea gull (falcon in white)

Only two new molds required for the trident and sea horse. Maybe a third for the diving helmet. Maybe introduce a new Adventurer character (i.e. Calli Shaw). Villains could be the angry Atlanteans and the usual Baron et al.

Maybe I'll design some prototypes :D

Steve

Also see:

Here and Here for other people's thoughts,

Steve, the biggest Adventurer fan (in Nevada, at least)

[WesternOutlaw]

Athos: Just like your vignettes, I love your ideas for new sets/themes.

I esp. like the thought of an undersea adventure (but older and better designed than the Diver sets). An old-time sub and a sea serpent definately needed.

The lost Dutchman's mine would be neat idea. This one I never thought of. It would tie in nicely with a Treasure Hunter Adventurer sub-theme. Western train definately needed!

I'm surprised Lego never did an African safari. Playmobil had one. Jeeps, animals, hunters, station, this would make a great theme and completely new for Lego.

And Arabian Nights would be awesome and give us new desert sets.

I like all your ideas except for Space which can be a whole other theme (Space Adventures).

[Sting]

I'm surprised Lego never did an African safari. Playmobil had one. Jeeps, animals, hunters, station, this would make a great theme and completely new for Lego.

And Arabian Nights would be awesome and give us new desert sets.

I'm liking both these ideas ALOT. Especially because I have had wierd nostalgic feelings for the Early 90's Disney Movies (Which include Aladdin and The Lion King) I would really love to see an Arabian Nights (it would almost be a mix between the Egyptian and the Indian subtheme(at least with those "onion" topped buildings). And the African Safari - i don't know whY lego hasn't done this yet - it has the perfect storyline - The Adventurers go to research the Animals on the Savannah, and the Baron or a different enemy(a poacher lord or something) would be killing them. We already got Elephants... all lego would need is a Lion, Cheetah, Leopard (I think those are the ones in Africa...), Gazelle, Wildebeast, Rhino, Hippo, and some Flamingos. Obviously we don't need all of these, but any number of them would be cool! It would give Lego the ability to make some very cool jeeps, a large Riverboat (which has some artifacts from the Egyptian theme... as it could be assumed the Adventurers just finished up thier Egyptian Adventure and than headed south down the Nile), and my favourite idea that was never exploited by the Adventurers - a cool 1930's style MOTORCYCLE! Like the ones used in the war. All lego would have to do is give us the old style motorcycles in Grey, Black, Tan, or Dark green, and than add a few little things on it make it look like a patrol/scouting bike... OR, they could redesign the piece to make it more old fashioned(this would be preferable).

Another idea which I thought of a year ago but never mentioned - the idea of Johnny Thunder leading an Allied Division in World War 2. An adventurer of his stature would be very good in combat! A little ridiculous and we know Lego will probably never make a theme based on a war (and we don't need one, as long as Lego can make some other themes - we've already proven there are MANY Adventurers themes that could be made WITHOUT any violence), but I am just throwing the idea out there. Besides the fact that Nazi Germany and the Barons totally obvious German heritage (at least to me?) would have to addressed would also be a problem. That was me just suggesting an idea and tearing it apart. LoL.

[natelite]

A savannah africa or a middle eastern desert theme will not sell well because no 6-14 year old kid ever play pretend as a reserve park ranger or an archeologist. if kids cannot connect with the theme, it will not sell. kinda like alpha team - what is ogdel's ice crystals? see what i mean?

[john cleese]

A savannah africa or a middle eastern desert theme will not sell well because no 6-14 year old kid ever play pretend as a reserve park ranger or an archeologist. if kids cannot connect with the theme, it will not sell. kinda like alpha team - what is ogdel's ice crystals? see what i mean?

oh thanks there, i'm 14 and i enjoy being told that i and all other 14 yea rolds are so ignorant we cannot connect with something like poaching or arabian deserts. I think i am more accepting when it comes to themes than anyone else on this board, my favorite theme being the time twisters/cruisers! I'm also very fond of legos other "flops" like UFO, Roboforce and frightknights! The truth is i love "every" theme lego has done, the only thing i have a problem with is juniorization; further disabusing you of this dilution that 14 year olds (who actually play with lego) like <insert that tiresome argument> sets because they are easy to build. Just please next time maybe say no 6-12 year old kid. Anyway, im sorry if i came across as a little rude but i'm sure you can see how i was offended by this statement.

That aside. The thing about jhonny thunder is he's been everywhere; that is everywhere worth going to and that any 6-12 year old would recognize. For example Adventurers Thailand would make for an excellent theme for any AFOL or (14 year old for that matter), we would get architecture influenced by both eastern and western asia, lots of monkey minifigs to serve as statues, probably an elephant head to use as an ornament, lots of multicolored 1x1 round plates and maybe some new thai styled minifigs. The only problem is the kids probably dont even know that thailand is a country and hence the sets wouldnt sell. Those darn kids!

[natelite]

unfortunately you are not the only mold of a 14year old. perhaps i shouldn't say NO, since it is too harsh. FEW is a better word.

my point can be supported easily by sales figures. alpha team in general is a flop. KB toys still have sets from 2002. for eg, even bush with his current 35% approval rating would still have ardent supporters (from the 35%) like jonah goldberg (he is a columnist in case anyone thinks i am attacking anyone here). but the point is, 35% is still a failure. so yes, there are people who like savannah africa for a theme. there are 6-14 y-o kids in that group. but i dont think there are enough consumers who are in that group to make it profitable. the reason is given above, which is not enough kids can relate to a game park ranger or an archeologist (the last indiana jones movie was like 15-20 years go).

i think it is important for lego to make profit, even a modest profit. If they close down, there won't be any lego left, which is worse than not having the theme you want.

feel free to disagree. :-$

[john cleese]

well it's just that i've heard many AFOL's speaking ill of 14YFOL's, saying "They like <insert that tiresome argument> sets because they're easier to build and they don't like to use their brains alot.", or "They only like themes with lots of action." I thought you were saying the same thing. So i took offense, because i was getting sick of afols, saying things like "6-15 yearolds wouldnt be able to connect with this theme." Anyway now that i think about it that ranting was stupid, i guess i just had a harsh day at school or something else. Then on the other hand it was only those more blatant comments (mainly on the lego site message boards and lugnet), which made me so mad in the first place.

So i guess all i can do now is say sorry, then slap one of these on: 8-| folowed by one of these: :-$

[WesternOutlaw]

I think that children can gain interest in ANY theme when television or movies support it. Cartoons, block buster movies, and popular television shows are very influential to the minds of all of us. Unfortunately, there hasn't been much adventure in movies recently (unless you count King Kong) which Lego didn't jump on.

I'm interested in seeing the new Lego Avatar sets, although I'm not familar with the cartoon. These look like Ninja to me and should be interesting (Sponge Bob; however, I'm not too interested in). But children mimic themes they see on television and as I said above, ANY theme can be popular if children watch it on TV or in the movies.

[Athos]

i'm 14 and i enjoy being told that i and all other 14 yea rolds are so ignorant

my favorite theme being the time twisters/cruisers!

Well... ;-)

Steve, who really didn't mean it, hence the wink

[WesternOutlaw]

I vote for Athos as the Adventurer Ambassador to help develop the next Adventurer theme.

[Col. Whipstick]

Atlantis, definately, Western World, could do with a good story, perhaps make it the southwest, maybe tie things in with Mexico that would open the door to ideas of Aztecs.

I know they've done China but we do have ninjas about - something in Japan?

And here's my top take on it, what about Old Europe being southern Europe, something Greek or Roman? I remember reading an Indiana Jones novel that was set in Greece and was based on the mystery of the Oracle of Delphi.

;-)

Also, forgot to mention it, but something in colonial Africa would be a beeeg easy because you can combine Pirate Imperial Guards and Soldiers as the British and French, the Islanders as native Africans and there's also the Egyptian Adventurer sets to compliment stuff. A bit like Dino hunting only now with Gorillaz in the congo etc. We already have elephants from India.

[WesternOutlaw]

Col. W: It's fun to see you resurrecting some of these old posts. I had almost forgot about them completely.

[Norro]

I'd have to ___th Atlantis (no idea how many people voiced it ahead of me X-D ). Though I wouldn't like to see the themes era changed (ie wild-west and old europe just wouldn't fit under the adventurers' heading). If we are allowing all possibilities, and you want to do Europe, why not the most interesting myth setting of all; Ireland of course ;-) X-D ! Our legends along with great locations (Giant's causeway and accompanying story, Dunluce Castle and the last of the spanish armada, Patrick's often moved grave, etc) would be great (and produce a whole new style of lego...)

God Bless,

Nathan

[Mister Phes]

- Flight of the Phoenix. Again, desert based, with a few sets including the large Phoenix cargo plane, a small desert airport/base, oil rig, and a fig set with desert nomads - similar to the Outback theme.

Maybe I'm missing something here but since when was there an Outback theme?

EDIT

Was that a sub-theme of town or something?

[Chuck]

Maybe I'm missing something here but since when was there an Outback theme?

EDIT

Was that a sub-theme of town or something?

See what happens when you don't venture out of Davy Jone's locker for 5 minutes ;-)

Yes Phes, it was a sub-theme of town.

-l2k-

[Sting]

See what happens when you don't venture out of Davy Jone's locker for 5 minutes ;-)

Yes Phes, it was a sub-theme of town.

-l2k-

A very good subtheme I might add! I loved that little airfield set! It still makes me want to move to Australia this day and run a gas station in The Outback (seriously!) !!! (Hey, Australians, is it really all its cracked up to be? It appeals to me because of the beautiful scenery, and the people seem just as friendly as Canadians... and your weather is way better than here! LOL).

Yes, Outback was a good theme. I think it only had 3 or 4 sets... The Airfield, A cool little 4x4 and bridge, and a racer... can't remember others. A Helicopter maybe?

[WesternOutlaw]

Yes, Outback was a neat little theme. Phes: you honestly don't remember these sets or is it that you didn't realize they were part of an Outback theme?

The theme included five sets:

- 6444 Outback Airstrip

- 6487 Mountain Rescue

- 6490 Amazon Crossing

- 6550 Outback Racer

- 6553 Crisis News Crew

Both 6487 and 6553 included helicopters.

I particularly like the Outback Airstrip too, that I always add to my WW layouts. It had a thin tan display and a neat little building. The plane wasn't too bad either.

Here's a shot:

[oo7]

- 6553 Crisis News Crew

Peeron and Lugnet classifies this as an outback set, but Bricklink classifies it as part of town, and Brickset, where you got the 6444 image does not take subthemes into account at all.

[hewkii9]

I say Johnny Thunder goes to Canada. We could have all sorts of fun as he hunts the Magical Beaver pelt. For one thing, he could fight a yeti! Built with real bricks! Or we could take the easy route and have a Hogwarts Castle-esque Parliament buildings.

[Sting]

I say Johnny Thunder goes to Canada. We could have all sorts of fun as he hunts the Magical Beaver pelt. For one thing, he could fight a yeti! Built with real bricks! Or we could take the easy route and have a Hogwarts Castle-esque Parliament buildings.

Canada is an amazing country but if he goes anywhere it would have to be the North! The Parliament Buildings arent that interesting LOL.

Peeron and Lugnet classifies this as an outback set, but Bricklink classifies it as part of town, and Brickset, where you got the 6444 image does not take subthemes into account at all.

I think that set WAS town. I remember it appearing earlier and in different displays than the Outback. It just looks Outback because of the background. But maybe it is Outback. Nice set either way.