WesternOutlaw

Oh, please, call me Cindy. That Lionel is such a cutie, isn't he? What can you tell us about yourself? Well, my name is Cindy Mallone, and I live at 2465 East Harbor Boulevard, in Newport Beach, CA. I'm a fashion designer for Valley Girl magazine and also an aspiring actress on the side. Why are you on this flight? I fly to Frankfurt and Paris on occasion to attend fashion shows from new designers. Do you recognize anyone especially the victim on the flight? No, I don't recognize the dead guy, but having him on this plane gives me the creeps. I don't know anyone on this plane, but I have heard of Seth Bernstein. He's a famous producer, and he's sitting right over there (pointing to the front of the plane). I can't believe he's on the same flight as me. Do you know anything about the missing jewel? No, but I did hear the mad guy screaming that he lost it. He seems like a jerk and I'm glad someone stold it. Where are you going once the plane lands? Back to my condo, then back to work tomorrow. Can you believe it? Without a calculator, what is the square root of 4765? OK, I was never really good at math, but this is a trick question, isn't it? I'll say Pie. Have you noticed anything suspicious on this particular flight? No, everyone was sleeping before they found the dead guy. If you had to pick a suspect for the murder who on board would you single out? I have no idea. I wouldn't even guess. That German guy looks pretty strong though. Did you notice anything peculiar about the victim or his surroundings? No way, but that was one ugly suit he had on. Can you please explain what 'bling, bling' means? Sure, that's when you drop two pieces of ice into a martini glass. I learned that one from my ex-boyfriend. He was a bartender.

Now of all the remaining suspects, you just had to pick me now, didn't ya? First of all, I'm not talk'n to anyone without representation. So, I want someone to witness my conversation to yall. I'm gonna ask this pretty young lady, Ms... Ms... Mallone, is it? Thank you Ms. Mallone. I'd like to ask that you please be my witness to the discussion I am about to have with these gentlemen... Eurobricksters... Bricks on their minds and all... Full grown men playing with those Legos and all. What the hell kinda hobby is Lego? They make those bricks in every theme, Star Wars, Spiderman, Batman, Sponge Head... Is there anything they don't make in Lego? and these people just buy them all up... selling them on Ebay for hundreds of dollars, you'd think they wuz gold! Anyway, gett'n back to the questions at hand: 1. what is your occupation? I am an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). 2. do you have to have a good understanding of any internal structures in the body? Indubidibly, and a good attention to detail. In fact, had y'all examined the crime scene (like in CSI) instead of pranc'n around interrogating everyones like you'all iz Columbo, you would have discovered something more than just a knife stuck in the dead man. I examined the floor and found the back of this pin lying near the dead guy (the item is a small round brass/metal clip used to hold pins to clothing). I tried to give it to the steward, but he sayz it's nothing. I thinks its a clue. 3. what is your business on this flight? Oh, I mets this pretty young German stewardess who lives in Frankfurt. Every few months we flies back and forth to see each other. She's a knock out and quite spectacular! - with all do respect Ms. Mallone. 4. can i see your ticket? Sure. (the ticket is a normal ticket with the name Lionel Williams) 5. did you notice anyone going to the bathroom on this flight? In facts I did. The cool hippie brother with the shades walked back before the flight took off. 6. if so where would you say they were sitting? oh, abouts mid way on the plane, a few seats in front of me. OK, now I'm not answering anymore questions withouts my lawyer. Sorry Ms. Mallone, but I sincerely thank you for your much appreciated assistance with this interrogation. I know a wonderful seafood restaurant in downtown LA if you would be interesting in accompanying me after this most horrible flight. A nice bottle of wine and some smooth jazz would bring closure to this terrible and reprehensible atrocity.

"He is a dreamer; let us leave him. Pass." X-O

OK now, you're making me sound like Death. How about interrogating one of the remaining four individuals (I'm not a suspect despite what Athos says).

This set looks like the best of the lot Bloody Jay. The batmobile looks very detailed (I esp. like the cockpit). Does the missile firing mechanism have a spring? If so, very nice. The figs look very good (I like Two-faces and the henchman). And the armored car looks great. Definately a nice set.

The batboat reminds me so much of the hovercraft from Hovercraft Hideout (7045) - The speedboat is pretty good and I like Croc. Do you have a close-up of the guns Bloody Jay?

The bike's not bad (even in purple). I like Catwoman, but does she have eyes- or did a cat scratch them off???

There's just four people left to interrogate. Maybe after that, the mystery can be uncovered.

He won't let the anyone look at his suitcase's contents because he has a knife: He did allow you to look in his suitcase. Aside from a missing gem, nothing of any interest was inside. He also refuses to let anyone ask him more questions because they are getting too close to the truth: The rules of the mystery are that you can interrogate each person once, then go back to one final person in the end. That can be Stan or anyone else but you can decide after everyone is interrogated. Anyone reading this mystery: Please jump in and interrogate anyone remaining. I think Vahkimetru could use some assistance. This one isn't too hard to figure out.

Excellent taste in trains 3D. I do like the orange and dark green colors of the BNSF. I still think the Super Chief is a little better in design (esp. having the entire top lift off for "playability"/maintenance work). But a good choice none the less. That puts the SFSC and the BNSF at a tie. Now we need a tie breaker!

Hi, I'm Mitch, I'll be glad to answer a few questions, but I must attend to my passengers. They have been through a lot you know. Do you have acces to any knives while in the galley? No, all of our meals are pre-cooked (thank heaven). The murderer must have taken the knife on board. Do you know the man who was killed? No, I've never seen him before, and he certainly was not with us when we boarded our flight. I would definately remember that atrocious polyester suit. Hello, telephone call for the dead guy... It's the 70s, they want their suit back. He must have snuck on board during maintenance. Should have left that suit grounded! Have you ever had anger problems? No, anger is the least of my worries, but I do hate bad fashion. Do you know people with violent intentions? I don't think so. But that passenger over there is definately working on my nerves (pointing to Stan Sinclair). How long have you been working for this airline? Oh, about two years. I'm an actor on the side - Broadway mostly, but I've applied for a few different movies over the years. Have you ever been upset with a passenger on a plane? Mr. Sinclair comes to mind. He's one of those "alpha males types" who demands everything! They think by being loud and obnoxious, people will listen to them. Did you kill him? Most definately not! I wouldn't be caught dead with him. Care for some peanuts...

I never saw such a thing before. It never entered my mind.

Hallo. My name is Dieter Schmidt und I am from Munchen. Dieter is sh-pelled mit an "E" in it. E is good for you like Exercise! Do you have any association with anyone on board? Nein, I come aboard plane not knowing anyone. Do you have a criminal record? Nein, such things are not proud of! Would you have any use for a knife? I use knife all ze time to cut pork roast mit dumpling. Do you know people with violent intentions? I vonce exercise mit boy very violent. I called him "Girly Boy" to tease. He get so mad he hit me, I beat up. That was before I do insurance. Where are you heading? I vants to go to the Sea Vorlt deal in SanDiego California to meet the Shamu. He is the whale who do the tricks. I want to always see him. Do you know the man who was killed? Nein, I not see him before. Do you have any guesses about who killed him? Nein. So etwas habe ich noch nie gesehen. Did YOU kill him? Nein. Es ist mir nie in den Sinn gekommen.

Very interesting MOC PG. I like the design and color combination. I'm always curious as to the inspiration of MOCs like this. Definately a fushion of sci-fi with a strong Asian influence. Good name for the MOC as well. Do you have a close-up of the sentry? The polearm looks like a neat design. Magandang pagkagawa at pulido ;-)

You vould ask me some question now?

I think Lego has been around a lot longer than Mega Blocks and Best Lock. These are new companies in comparison. But Lego has become a trade name- just like Xerox and Kleenex. When you think of a toy brick, one thinks of Lego. They've got years of history making these bricks, and unless the others improve their quality drastically, Lego will always have the hearts of all of us. To me, the others are just cheap copies (regardless of the model). And that includes Wild West sets. The one good thing is that maybe Lego will "jump on the horse" and give us another Wild West theme to compete. We may even see Classic Pirates sooner than we think with all the Mega Block Pirate sets filling the toy store shelves. Competition is good.

Personally, I never figured out how Mega Bricks and all the other "cheap brick-making companies" were able to get away with copying Lego's basic brick design. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out they clearly copied Lego. Then you see sets like the Best Lock fort and you can see how they copied the concept and colors. But it's Lego's quality that keeps these bricks apart, and I don't care how neat the set looks (like Mega Block's Pirates and Dragons and these Old Wild West sets), I won't buy them unless they're Lego.

This would be an interesting piece for a layout. The ingenuity behind the development amazes me.

Why do you have a shirt about pot? Dude, it's just a shirt. Are you an alchoholic? (I see so since you use beer to calm yourself) Because I had a few beers, I don't think so. Is there a period of time you cannot account for? Most of my life. Did you know someone who knew the man killed? I don't know anyone on this plane, and I didn't know the man killed. Did you see anyone suspicious on the plane? No, but I did overhear the German dude with the SeaWorld t-shirt talking to the guy in the grey pin-striped suit. The guy in the suit was asking about some $1M or $2M insurance policy and how much it would cost him. I was waiting to take a leak when I heard the conversation and went back to my seat when I finsihed. I didn't hear anymore of it. Do you know anyone who has violent intentions? Most of the dudes I hang out with in LA, and probably me, if you don't quit bothering me. Now why don't you go question someone else. I don't know anything else.

Two thoughts on the discontinuation of the Wild West theme from two different Lego web pages; both individuals make good points as to why Lego may have discontinued the theme: Wild west is the third historical subtheme (the first based on American history). I personally think that the designs were well done and would like to see more. LEGO has taken another step away from their non-military policy. Some of the minifigs are obvious civil war era Union soldiers with modern looking rifles (where are the Confederates?) What do kids do with these guys? They have shoot-outs, of course. The only step left would be a 20th century military theme and I hope that LEGO will stay away from that (besides it gives people on r.t.l. something to design themselves). The Native American sets that came out in 1997 were designed with some sensitivity. The minifigs seem to have been designed to avoid a degrading image. Also there are no cavalry figures included as enemies (as was common in the pirate sets) which I think was an attempt to avoid the stereotypical Cowboys and Indians conflict image. Children will do this themselves as long as they have two sets but I think that the avoidance of the "Indian wars" might have sacrificed some commercial popularity. The wild west theme might have the same limitations in finding new subthemes as pirates. I will be sad if LEGO abandons wild west like they did pirates. They could continue with a "Lewis and Clark" explorer subtheme or (I would like to see) a "settlers" subtheme. I don't think that there will be such a thing because common people seem to be regarded as boring (witness the lack of peasants in castle, and the surplus of police, firemen, race car drivers and pilots in town). Of course there wouldn't be much wrong with simply coming up with some more "ordinary" wild west sets. And, of course, the wild west theme simply isn't complete without a train! Erik's old rec.toys.lego This is the authors own opinion, but in short I believe that the theme was canceled because of a crowded market. There are plenty of reasons a theme gets cancelled, lack of interest, poor sales, time limit, but each of these can be applied to other themes that are still in production. The Wild West had to compete with several brand new themes, Ninja, Adventurers, STAR WARS! (the best selling theme ever according to lego) as well as the pre existing market (at the time saturated with almost 5 different space themes) it's a wonder that any theme sold well with all of the competition from the same company. However I'm grateful that the theme existed and I had the opportunity to play while it lasted. StickyBrix - Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?

I think you should become a talk show host Phes. You'd be good at it. To answer your questions though, pretty much indifferent. The Best Lock set definately looks like a copy of Legoredo (or at least a section), but it doesn't annoy or bother me. I don't buy any sets that aren't Lego. Maybe when Lego realizes that they should go back to the basics and not the licenses, they'll bring back great themes. On the issue of Sponge Bob, they're not bad sets, they just don't appeal to me. The little Easter Island statue looks neat though (I can see this as a great addition to a Pirate Island). The issue with the license sets is that they're not "timeless" like castle, pirate, western, train, city, etc. They're popular for a short while because of a movie, then they fizzle out; somewhat like kid's interest in cheap toys. But I'd love to see Lego making new Wild West sets; but I seriously doubt it, as westerns aren't popular in film anymore (except for a recent film that I won't even mention). Overall though, I think Lego tries to offer a diverse collection of sets to market to all of us (I just wish they'd bring back more of the sets from the 80s and 90s). I know you'd love to see a resurrection of the classic pirate sets, as would I.

At my local Toys R Us yesterday, I was walking through the "building section" and noticed a Wild West set. I picked it up realizing that the set was a western fort made by Best Lock. After researching the set on the web, it appears that Best Lock has an Old Wild West theme that reminds me of Lego Wild West. The fort has the red roofs resembling Fort Legoredo. I've attached one image and a link to a few additional sets. Now I wish Lego would bring back this theme! Best-Lock Western Sets

Stan refuses to answer any additional questions at this time. Mitch the steward recommends that you try again later not to agitate him any more. On with your interrogation of Billy Madison: Why are you sitting so far back in the plane? I'm just relaxing back here. Have you ever handeled weapons? Sure, when I need to. What is depicted on your shirt? Dude, get a clue. It's pot! Do you have any criminal record? I've been in juvey a few times, but I've been clean since I turned 21. Why do you hide your eyes? There's no crime against wearing shades, is there? Were you angry at any time during or recently before the flight? No, I've had three beers since I got on this plane and have a pretty good buzz going. Have you ever had anger problems? Only when people mess with me. Do you know the man who was killed? I never saw that dude before. What use would a knife be to you? None. Are you done?