WesternOutlaw

I don't know about the headgear Snefroe. Could you picture a real person walking around with one of these? - looks like a mummy... Jonfett likes BobaFett, but settled for just a t-shirt of Fetts' armor (no helmet).

I don't want to share this information with anyone. Can't run the risk of someone telling someone else, and this keeps the murderer in the contest as well. Think of it in terms of a "psychopath" who may have a split personality. He/she is a mild-mannered Lego builder and detective on the side, but their EVIL side is a calculating murderer (like Jeckle and Hide). I did this with Bloody Jay last mystery. Also, in the real CLUE game, it sort of works the same way. You can be the murderer and still not know it.

Got you on the list Snefroe. make sure you see Bloody Jay to get fitted for your costume and check your mail in the next few minutes. Costumes

Now we need Darth Ewok and Akkhraziel to provide. I don't have their character profiles either. We may just have a total of 9 participants if we don't get 3 more. We'll keep it open for a while longer. Also, each of you provided me a private message that will form the basis of your character profiles. What you told me has not been shared with the other characters. Unless you share this information with others, I will keep these private to add interest to the story (unless divulged through clues). Some of you got quite creative with your "Special Interests". This is great and will fit in to the story nicely. One of you will unfortunately be the murderer (randomely selected) which I'll talk about later. If you start suspecting that you're the murderer, you can still continue to participate as you would regularly. Unfortunaley, I may have to take control of your character (slightly) toward the end. You can still, however, be in the contest and vote for yourself as the murderer. I'll explain this on another thread when we have everyone's information. This will be fun!

These are great Bloody Jay. I esp. like yours and Darkie's. Where did you get your torso? I don't think I've seen this before.

Designing costumes has become as fun as writing the mystery... Thanks Bloody Jay. The costume you've designed should match my avatar.

That was the one I was referring to last night (when I gave you the wrong set number). This would do nicely with black pants, tophat, black walking stick, and a magnifying glass. I like this better than the beige suite. Thanks for the suggestion Jipay. We thought about this one when we were brainstorming. I'm not big on tan but like the red tie. I think I like the black suit better, goes nicely with a black hat.

No, actually, they were on the top shelf were they keep the overstock. None on the shelf. They had two of each set.

Bloody Jay: Do you have the banker from the Wild West Set: Gold City Junction?

I'm not saying I don't want them to be profitable. No company could survive without financial profit. My point is that Lego needs to LISTEN to its fans to find out what they could do better vs. just driving up the price to make more profit. The old Lego philosophy stated that building a quality product would bring more customers, not making more money off each set they sell (this sounds like something Megablocks would practice). Low Manufacturing $ + Higher Sales Price = More Profit (quality and customer satisfaction are low priority in this equation. I don't want to get on the soap box, but I think the Star Wars models are a good example of trying to get more and more money out of sets. How many kids/parents want to spend $300 for a Lego set. I'm sorry but I don't care how nice the model, sets over $100 are steep in my book and I've only bought a few as an AFOL. Based on the rising number of AFOL, numerous web sites, conventions, clubs, and new web forums, LEGO needs to do a better job at learning about customers like us, what WE want in sets, and how can they support fans like us. We're all sold on Lego, if we weren't, we would not spend our time on Forums such as this, but Lego needs to learn about us and these web sites. If not, they will continue making bad business decisions that have terrible financial consequences. One of the worst mistakes any business can make is not knowing their customers. In the last two years, I haven't seen a big difference. And Lego needs to definately recognize fan sites such as this, Brickshelf, and many others. This is the best FREE advertising for a company. It's time they realize this.

In my local Toys R Us today (in the U.S.), high within the overstock items were two new Knight's Kingdom Sets. They were sets 8874 (Battle Wagon) and 8875 (King's Siege Tower). Not bad looking sets at all. Both sold for $19.99 (US dollars). I'm guessing we should be seeing these sets at SAH soon. I'm not a big Knight's Kingdom fan, but like the new Vladek castle that Bloody Jay posted pictures of. These sets seem to be getting better (if they would just nix the bright red, green, blue, and purple armor) and use gray armor over colored clothing- would be an improvement. Although I do somewhat like the helmets (reminds me of the movie Krull if any of you saw this).

Profit/market share seems to drive most companies (I think this true regardless of the country of origin). Lego use to have higher standards but this has really diminished in the last few years (maybe since they've had financial difficulty) and with the company's size and product diversity, it may be getting more difficult for them to manage. But agree with Jipay, it's those responsible for listening to the customers. I remember reading in one of the last Lego surveys, the question, "what can we do to get more $ out of our sets"? This is really a sad statement and relay's the priorities of the company - to make money, not to really find out what their customers want.

Interesting enough, appears that the ship has 38 cannons which is just like the real one.

I believe he's referring to price. 44 pounds is about $80 US dollars. US price is $60, so better yet. I agree with you Snefroe, I would buy this set more for display than to use it for pieces. I do this with many of my sets (may take the fun out of it), but I enjoy building for display and leaving it up for a while - but I like the standard bricks as well.

Thanks for the great summary. I may just order it. I went to the website as well to check the history earlier this morning. Pretty neat history as well not knowing much about US Naval history. Unfortunate that the instructions seem pretty limited but I guess this is how the classic set instructions were drawn. Looks like a great selection of black pieces and may be challenging to build - not to mention a nice "classic" display piece. I want to buy one before it's no longer available from SAH. Thanks.

Do any of you own set # 10021: USS Constellation? I've been thinking about buying this classic Legend and was curious if any of you have this set and built it. This set is truly reminiscent of the late '70s and would not look bad displayed on a book shelf. One review in Brickset says that the instructions aren't well done (lacking detail). Piece count is at 973 which seems a good value for the price ($60 USD). Any thoughts on this set?

Thanks for sharing all the pictures Bloody Jay. Makes me want to get one. I love all the standard black pieces. Can build a lot of variations with a set like this.

We'll be limiting the contest to 12 participants (not including myself). This is a call for 4 more participants.

You can certainly discuss questions and clues with other participants like we did in Murder on the Lego Express on the new post.

Hi Everyone: I usually reply to posts once a day in the evening and we have a big time zone difference here in the U.S. Appears that all of you have been included in the list. As we see the names listed on this post, I, Bloody Jay, or other moderator(s) have been adding you. We won't leave anyone out who wants to participate and I'll make a last call before we lock it up. - and Jipay: will definately get you in the story. The reason I'm doing this is because it's difficult to write people in half way in the story and keep the flow. Otherwise, it get's confusing. I should also mention that I won't be posting between June 13-25 (some business travel & vacation). We can use this time as intermission if the story goes this long (I'm anticipating that it might based on the duration of the Murder on Lego Express. Bloody Jay has been diligently working on a project relating to this story as well, and will be providing images as the story progresses (should be a lot of fun). Anyone can participate. Take Care.

Eurobricks CLUES Murder Mystery Contest High atop the cliff overlooking a vast and treacherous sea, the old Crowley Mansion stands dilapidating alone in the fog-covered moonlight. Rumored to be haunted by the good citizens of Port Heceta, the old mansion hides a terrible mystery of murder and intrigue. You have been hired as a team of Eurobrick detectives that solved the Mystery of the Murder on the Lego Express, but one of you hides a dark and mysterious past willing to kill to keep that secret. You must spend one week within the Crowley Mansion collecting CLUES to unlock the house

A non-<insert that tiresome argument> hospital would be neat. May be just part of a small paramedic van or clinic as well. We;ll see but I like the hospital idea as well.

A CLUE-like "WhoDunIt". Still developing the story-line and working out the logistics.

I hoped it would give one more clue to Bloody Jay. At the time, no one seemed to be getting it and I was running out of clues. I almost thought about doing the same to Mr. M. but was running out of characters as well. I figured that they might question or investigate Bloody Jay a little more thoroughly including his link to th 13th warrior movie. In re. to a static script: it's pretty hard to stay static when all of you react and investigate differently. I had the basic story in my head very early but planned to build and change it according to what you did. What's nice about doing a story this way is that it never comes out the same and spontaneity is a lot more fun. Almost had Mr. M. steal the sword to make the story more interesting but the number of posts were dwindling and it was time to wrap up this mystery.

Just to let you all know some of your mistakes re. clues, what you missed, and some funny inferences. 1) You did have a chance to interrogate Rosa before she was killed. You would have found out information re. Bloody Jay that you found elsewhere. Instead, you just watched her mop the floor and smile at you... 2) When she left the broom closet of the dining car taking off her jacket, someone questioned why she had two but never looked at them. In one of the jackets was the picture of the green passenger car 10015 which prominently displays the number 514. Not sure if you would have gotten this clue or not, but I would have led you to it by mentioning the number. Rosa would have told you that she found this nearby the lockboxes if asked. (Bloody Jay had slippery fingers...) 3) I thought it was funny how you thought Wolf may have committed a murder during a full-moon. The Werewolf book, Lego pieces, and the bloody shirt meant very little but I probably would have said one of the victimes was missing a shirt if you had looked at the bodies. 4) Someone thought Paladin, Have Gun Will Travel was a radio talk show. It was in fact a 1958-1959 B&W western series that starred Richard Boone. I've only seen a few episodes but I didn't even realize that Gene Rodenberry (Star Trek) wrote a few scripts of the show. 5) The name of the security officer was Pete Falklin from the actor who played Columbo Peter Falk. Thought it would be funny/quirky to have him retire every evening to watch different detective shows. 6) The train's operation manager Mike Lall was named after the actor Mike Lally who (from recent reading during this mystery) played in a number of Columbo episodes as different people. Thought this was neat. 7) Jipay had no links to organized crime but wrote this in and the Godfather movie to be silly. I think of a Maffia-type with his nick name "Big Wig". 8) The M in Mr. M. stood for MURDER, not movie, muskateer, mastur#*^!, or all the other M words that you came up with. He was never intended to be in the story as a character but was added in later. I thought his old sea story was rather clever and help fill in the gaps of the story. In addition, I was thinking of having him steal the sword and add some clues that would point to him, but was tired of the pirate thing. 9) After I wrote in the gun type as a Smith & Wesson .44 long barrel, I went to the Have Gun Will Travel website and discovered that Paladin carried a Colt .45. I considered writing in Brickster saying, I have a Colt .45, not a S&W .44 and possibly having two murder weapons or another missing gun, but I didn't think any of you would pick this us, so just left it. And I actually have never been to San Fransisco or Northern California. 10) If you had tried searching "Solvang 6574" under Google, you would have brought up Nordic Knives. Bloody Jay figured this out a few days ago. 11) It was ironic that 4756 (#6574 reversed) is HP's Shrieking Shack. I didn't realize this. 12) Someone kept thinking that the cell phone was used to call someone else on the train. If you had found the letter and got the whole number of Nordic Knives and tried calling, I was prepared to give you some info re. a trade with the two swords. 13) Have any of you ever heard of a cell phone that only displays the last four of a number? I had enough notes in the story already. 14) I thought is was funny how Athos had to defend being a muskateer vs. a cowboy. I never thought he looked like cowboy but it added one more suspect. 15) Did any of you wonder why Sarg Kulo carried a deer-hunting rifle on the train. No one bothered to ask him but don't you find this a bit odd. Just thought I'd make him out to be a hunter but none of you questioned it. 16) Who carries little bags of Lego bricks around with them? Well, never mind, I guess this isn't odd compared to adults who write Lego Train Murder Mysteries. 17) I actually ordered the 1974 Murder on the Orient Express after a week of writing this story. It wasn't a bad movie, but not a real good one either (despite an all-star cast). If any of you have seen it, Albert Finney who plays Poirot almost acts "mentally challenged" in the first few scenes. He gets better once he starts investigating, but he acts pretty silly in the 1st few scenes (esp. when he's getting ready for bed). 18) Interesting that many of you said "Oh What A Circus" was a Madonna song. The song is sung by Antonio Banderas in the movie. 19) This story had a lot of "Red Herrings" to get you off-track. You did a pretty good job at piecing the clues together to link the murders to Bloody Jay. 20) This was a lot of fun. I hope you all enjoyed reading it and helping solve the clues. If any of you have questions remaining or wonder the significance of other clues, just reply to this message and I'll answer. Look for the next Eurobricks Murder Mystery soon... Brickster :^^D