WesternOutlaw

I recently purchased 7780 Batboat: Hunt for Killer Croc, and discovered a number of differences between it and the hovercraft in 7045 Hovercraft Hideout making me almost like the Hovercraft better. To compare the sets: - Hovercraft Hideout sold for $30 (USD) with 268 pieces. The Barboat sells for $20 (USD) with 188 pieces. - Both sets have two figs (Batboat: Batman and Killer Croc), and (Hovercraft: The guy I call Captain Nemo and a World City crook). - The Batboat includes two smaller boats, Batman's and Killer Croc's). Hovercraft includes only one smaller boat and a really nice dock building. - Differences between the Batboat and the Hovercraft: Batboat has no wheels. Hovercraft does. I like the wheels. The Hovercraft has a mechansim that shoots the smaller boat (as does the dock). The Batboat does not. Both boats have a tail section (two connected engines) that turn together, but the Batboat has the batwing pieces attached. Engines are different. Both boats use the rubber bumber pieces around the bases. I like the Hunt for Killer Croc, esp. the black Batboat. But considering that the Batboat does not have wheels or the shooting mechanism for the smaller boat, I was somewhat disappointed. The Batboat set is missing a small Killer Croc hideout that would have helped make the set. But I do like paying $10 less for the Batboat. Both sets are nice, but if I had to choose one or the other (unless your really into Batman), I would probably go for the Hovercraft Hideout. I'm still looking forward to the Batcave though!

I recently did a poll for favorite adventure boat and someone had suggested to do airplanes as well, so choose your favorite adventure plane here. Helicopters and hot air baloons are not included. Also not included are Studio (Jurasic Park III), promotional, and Outback airplanes.

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.

I like your wanted posters Brick Miner. Very nicely done. I love these Western figs! I just wish Lego had given us more Wild West sets. I did PIC reviews of most of the sets if you click my signature Link.

Now that's a castle! What I like most about all these classic castle sets, is that you can actually build MOCs from the numerous pieces. You can't do the same with the new KK sets, because the pieces are too specialized, and there's not enough of the same pieces to work with.

Keep asking Lego for these themes and maybe one day, we will see them again.

I enjoy building these old sets, then displaying them as part of larger scenes. I posted this before, and I'm going off topic, but here's a similar concept with Castle and Pirate Legends: To add some detail without the use of Lego, the Christmas Village sets sometime work. I think the blue "water" that you see in both displays works well. I recently went to order some blue base plates from LSAH and discovered that they no longer make them. So I used this blue plastic village water instead. This water also seems to photograph well.

I love these old castle sets. They were 100 times better than KK.

SuvieD: Nice MOC. It's nice to see someone posting Ninja pics. Ninja just seems to be a forgotten theme, and it was a good theme. I always loved the samurai, esp. their helmets.

Here's a few images of what I call Port Adventure.

A few of you asked me about my signature as well as background images in a pic review of the Emperor's Ship, so I thought I would share a few images of what I call Port Adventure. This MOC was more a display of adventure sets that fit in nicely with the desert/ Nile Adventure theme. From left to right, image one of five: the station. Adventurers can park their jeeps before purchasing a ticket to see the desert by train, boat, or bi-plane. Image two depicting the small adventure bi-plane: Image three with the River Expedition boat, among my favorite of the adventurer ships. A green passenger car can be seen in the background: Image four shows Mike's Swamp Boat, a cargo car of the Adventure train and a bit of the Sphinx: And lastly, image five with the Sphinx and the Tomb of Anubis: A mural depicting the whole scene: I planned to make Port Adventure (aka Adventure Harbor) part of a story/contest. I've since wrecked the MOC, but it was fun building complete with dock and train depot. A nice display of some of these great Desert Adventure sets.

Now that's the best Nautilus that I've seen. Very nice, detailed, and far above my level of rendering.

Here's a pic review of the Emperor's Ship. It is a great set!

OK, let's try this:

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).

That was a horrible computer generated sub that was just too large to be realistic - and the Captain Nemo that they selected seemed so out of character. Not a good rendition at all (the Nautilus or the Captain). The 1st picture I showed was the sub in one of the Disney Lands/Disney World. It was the movie version. The 2nd image that Phes shared seems a bit short and a little too smooth for it's time. What my version was missing was reverse/upside down slopes which I lacked (would have given the sub a much sleeker look). As always, I didn't have the pieces I needed/wanted and had to work with a lot of standard bricks.

It was an attempt to make the Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (the 1954 version with James Mason and Kirk Douglas). Great movie! Much better than the 90's version with Ben Cross.

Brick Miner: I purchased a Gold City Junction and the Bandit's Secret Hideout (North American version) before Christmas time around $80 - $100 each on Ebay. While I think this was pricey, both sets are well worth the money (in my opinion), because I love the sets and wanted a 2nd set. I recommend you keep checking Ebay and you will find them. I agree with Snefroe though regarding the lack of popularity with Wild West these days. Western movies are just not popular anymore in movies and culture. The old cowboy actors are dying off and the generation that once found the tough and lonely smoking cowboy a strong icon, has now been replaced by a liberal generatiion that would rather see the secret love affair between two cowhands. It is unfortunate, but Westerns are a dying theme with just a handful of even average movies released in the past few years. But at the same time, I was talking to a Lego rep a few weeks ago who indicated that Lego still gets a lot of people asking for Western sets to be re-released or for Lego to make new WW sets. *sweet*. I would love to see them pop up again and would buy every set all over again or other new sets if not like the 4+ theme Lego did with pirates.

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.

Thanks. I built this several years ago and have long since wrecked it. Just took this one image. The vessel did not have much of an interior.

We were discussing Atlantis as an Adventure Theme and it made me think of a MOC I had built a few years ago using Classic Space pieces. I had entered this MOC with a story for a Lego Adventure Contest involving Johnny Thunder racing to China. The sub was a way for him to take a shortcut under the ice. I don't think the sub came out that good but it was ispired from the Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I didn't have a good background image so I just changed it with a background of Atlantis.

Actually, the thought of a Treasure Hunter theme sounds pretty neat. Johnny Thunder could go to many different places in search of historic artifacts, and the theme could be history-based (all over the world, each set a different place). But in regard to a North American Adventure theme, I would rather just see a new Wild West theme rather than any correlation between Johnny Thunder and Adventurers. I agree with BlueAndWhite on this topic. The Old West occured in the 1800s, a little before the 1920's - 40's. But I would love to see the theme returned as Brick Miner mentioned. I really like the Atlantis theme idea just for an Adventure Sub.

Glyman, please let me offer you a rank in the Wild West cavalry. This would be a most excellent idea!

I was thinking about building a boat similar to that of River Expedition (but much larger) back when the movie first came out. After buying the movie and watching it though, I really wanted to do a project like this, I just don't have the pieces. King Kong is one of those "no-brainers" though. It was the last Adventure BlockBuster and I would think that many of the Lego Adventure fans would want to make some MOCs based on it (like your idea). King Kong was actually my 1st inspiration behind making the adventure car (MOC) that I posted a few weeks ago. I've always been a fan of the River Boat since I first saw the movie African Queen, then later movies like Anaconda made me enjoy the River Expedition boat even more. Also, I'm a big fan of old Adventure movies like the Land that Time Forgot and sequel the People that Time Forgot -great movies if you've never seen them, but hard to obtain, esp the 1st. I love Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's lost world concepts that have been around a long time. I've always wanted to make a large ship with a place to attach a bi-plane (from these movies). In any case, I've been inspired by these adventure movies since the 70s as a kid which all took place in the 20s, 30s, and 40s. PS. I like all your theme ideas Sting, with the exception of outer-space. I'm picturing a Flash Gordon style theme. I esp. like the thought of a Journey to Atlantis theme though. I would love to see an Adventure-sub (perhaps even a Nautilus). I tried building one several years ago for a Johny Thunder Lego contest (using classic space pieces). Could not find a pic, but I'll post when I'm able to find it. It wasn't that good.

Here's a copy of the Orient Expedition map with the names of the sets that I added. I was fooling around with this map several years ago. I'm just not good at adding/drawing my own landmarks: