Darnok

I am in a weird spot when it comes to my current AMRCA: it is at a point where I could conveniently end it, but there are also loose ends worth working with. The thing is that I can't really decide what I even want to do with it. So I hope you can help me! I will outline three options - all of which would interest me - and would like to hear your opinion on this. Tell me what your preference is, what you would like to see build and written about. So without further ado: "Further explore Calinstock!" ... I would focus on exploring Calinstock further, working with the "On Calinstock" part here. I would rely on some ideas from the AMRCA writers team, since I have no great idea here, other than "well, it would be cool to find out the island information and rumours, and maybe find out some cool stuff in the process". "Return to Reinhard on Celestia!" ... This would be about my original sigfig character, which I kind of abandoned at the end of the Orchid Challenge about 18 months ago. See his last known appearance here. This would have the overall purpose to get him back to civilisation, and explore the inland of Celestia on the way there. I do like building vegetation and overgrown stuff, so it would be something to enjoy. Again I have no idea what to do with this exactly, and would rely on ideas from the AMRCA team to put some tasty options on the table. "Take it to the South!" ... This one would focus on the WTC (possibly sending Mordo on an adventure), with their trading post in Kemblarsi as a starting point. A somewhat natural continuation from the storyline that started with Count Mesabis expedition, I would take this further, possibly focussing on the Lotus Kingdom. So there you have it. You can either just vote in the poll or give me some additional written feedback - I appreciate any and all opinions, thank you in advance!

Damn, it seems the pictures of @Captain Dee in the first post (Queen Annetta, Department of Time) have just disappeared. This seems to be true for all of his pics, as the thread for the DoT is affected as well.

Bwahahaha! As always, your writing style and story telling are hilarious, brilliantly done! The jungle build is lovely as well, lots of different vegetation on such a small area. Well done! I'm already looking forward to your next story.

Same here. And for once I would not be able to wait, but get it the day it goes up for VIP pre-sale. I still hope this makes it into an offical set.

Wow, very cool! As far as I can tell this one is to scale and historically correct - impressive! Something you could put in a museum, well done.

Nothing big to see here, jsut a small easter egg I noticed while building Ninjago City Docks these days. On the first floor, in the "family home", there is a picture of some adventurer on the underside of the upper bed. It is #12 on this sticker sheet: Now compare this to the "Jungle Explorer" from the current CMF Series 19: They are one and the same! I am not familiar with the Ninjago verse other than some of the sets, so don't know if this character had any mention in the TV series or the movie. A nice detail either way, and one more reason for me to get this minifig. P.S.: A friend notified me of Johnny Thunder, who shares literally all the same features. So apparently we got a "modern" Johnny Thunder in CMF form.

I really like this set, and will definitely add it to my collection (maybe not this year though). The one thing I do not like is the fireplace being open to the outside... that doesn't make any sense to me. Other than that: prett much perfect!

Retro gives some excellent advice. If price is the deciding factor, you will of course get more play value out of current sets for the money you spend on a rather rare discontinued set. And to be fair, for $70 you can get a lot more stuff than a single car from the Police line. I would highly recommend discussing this with both your kids - if one really wants the rare item, he has to live with the fact that the other gets "more toys" for the same amount of money.

As the past has shown, Lego will do something related to sci-fi and/or space (other than SW) every couple of years. Currently this is the TLM2 line and Mars exploration as part of the City range - I am sure we will see something else in that field before 2021. Sci-fi will always sell with kids, and SW can not go on forever, Lego is most likely aware of both. You have made your point over and over again, we get it.

Nice! Funny, and overall well done!

Name: Coffee (Coffea) IC background: The exact origin of coffee is unknown, but these days it is usually associated with the Mokolei Empire. The shrub growing the coffee bean is native to the southern regions of the Mokolei Empire, and thus almost all coffee is imported from there. The bitter drink made from these peculiar beans, while not unknown on the Madrice Peninsula, is not common either. Mostly a drink of the upper class due to its high price, it might see further spread in the colonies if the coffee plant could be grown locally... OOC background: The coffea plant is mostly known for its beans, which are the origin of the drink coffee. Coffee is darkly colored, bitter, slightly acidic and has a stimulating effect in humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is one of the most popular drinks in the world,and it can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways (e.g., espresso, French press, caffè latte). It is usually served hot, although iced coffee is a popular alternative. Its origins shrouded in legends, the coffea plant is native to tropical Africa, with the first credible historical evidence of coffee as a drink coming from the middle of the 15th century in Arabia. According to Wikipedia, by 1600 coffe had spread over northern Africa, the Middle East and up to Italy, and then to the rest of Europe, Indonesia and the Americas. I suggest the article about coffea for the plants biology, including cultivation and use, and highly recommend the one about the history of coffee (both on Wikipedia). Builds in BotBS: ETTC - The Sacred Bean: Prelude (Ayrlego) ETTC - The Sacred Bean, Part 1: Beginnings (Ayrlego) WTC Coffee Plantation, Quinnsville (Darnok) How To Build: A Coffee Bush (Darnok) Using IC background elements originally written by Ayrlego.

It might be useful for those going for task #7 in the GoC challenge, or just anybody who wants to build coffee bushes: I have done a tutorial on my coffee bush build from my recent plantation. I will also add a link to it to the respective entry in the BotBS Plants Index.

Since it might be useful for somebody: How To Build: A Coffee Bush To do an exact replica of this build, you will need the following parts: 25x plant brick, round 1x1 with 3 bamboo leaves, 3x plant 4x3, 1x plant leaves 6x5 (all in green), 1x antenna 1x4 - flat top (reddish brown): I will suggest a few alternative options at the end. 1.) Put four of the 3-leaves to the underside of the 6x5-leave part, then stick it on the antenna: 2.) Put one 3-leave on the centre (i.e. stick it on the antenna), and add nine 3-leaves spread on the upper side of the 6x5-leave part. Also put one 3-leave on the underside of two of the three 4x3-leave parts: 3.) Now put the 4x4-leave parts on the antenna, spreading them so that the 3-leaves on their underside fit in the gaps left below. Maybe you need to remove some parts on the lower stage, or maybe there is room to add even more: 4.) Put two 3-leaves each on the 4x3-leave parts, be careful to make it not look too regular: 5.) For the last step, simply put the final 3-leave right on the top in the centre: Options: the antenna part is not necessary, you can represent the stem by a round 1x1 brick in any brown, or even use another 3-leave I suggest putting some bar into the centre of the build though, for stability reasons - you can leave this out, but then the whole thing becomes pretty fragile you can switch the position of the three 4x3-leave part and the one 6x5 leave part, as well as replace either with the other option - this will generate slightly different shapes for the bushes, resulting in a more natural look on a plantation for really large bushes you can use more than one 6x5-leave part per level... ... or use more than two levels play around with the amount and positioning of the 3-leaves! note that there are no coffee beans represented on this build - you could do so by adding either light green or red round 1x1 plates for immature/ripe beans

Everything is awesome! Wow, a great MOC indeed. I love the high level of detail and all the playability. It is also really true to character of the movie and its official sets. Well done, amazing work!

As I said: it is done when it's done. Real life just happens, and you being healthy and well again - or so I hope! - is much more important anyway.

Lovely set, an instant "must-have" on my list.

Dang, it's taking longer than usual this time, or is this just my feeling and impatience? Ah well, it is done when it's done. Quality journalism takes time! In other news: I am thinking about doing the WTC Advent Calendar again this year, but I struggle to come up with a good story for it. So if anybody has a good idea, or wants to contribute to this years edition in other ways: I am open to suggestion. Check out last years version for comparison - I want to keep it similar in style, but with new ideas and builds of course. P.S.: I may or may not want to include this beauty in some way, shape or form.

I didn't really expect it, but this whole thing has really rekindled by building spirits - and those of purchasing Lego as well! Not only did I finally start assembling Ninjago City Docks, but also got me the Dragon Boat Race today. What does any of this have to do with GoC you ask? Well there is this Lotii task, and I want to do some builds that fit both BotBS as well as the Ninjago City look. I want them to permanently stand next to the Docks once all of them are done. And the Docks should be a nice background for some BotBS shots too. So yeah, while I will of course not use bought builds as entries for anything in BotBS that is to be licensed, I will make heavy use of these sets and some others from the Ninjago line. Really looking forward to what it ends up to be - as usual I have more ideas than is good for me.

You missed out on some pretty income then. Good to hear though, and I can't wait to see what you have in store for us.

We'll get you there. The hardest thing to do is the one royal property needed, but I guess that is less of an issue with LDD. A royal cocoa plantation maybe, with a shiny central building and surrounding fields?

Sweet. Thanks everybody for the kind words. Wow, thank you for the detailed feedback, I appreciate it a lot. As to your points: I agree on the "jungle variation", I am a bit restricted by my parts collection. I will try to build some more medium sized vegetation the next time around. The "path" is meant to be a proper cobblestone street, so the width is intentional. Again, I can only work with what I have, and that's 1x1 and 2x2 round LBG tiles. I might invest in some other colours in the future, but funds are a bit tight right now. Same for the "flat dirt": I don't have small plates in dark tan, something I definitely want to change in the future. What he said! As mentioned above, the street is build as intended, and the rest is due to parts restriction. I'm working on it. Well, there is nobody near to eavesdrop on them. Rest assured that the revolution is planned in more secluded places. And you didn't read this.

Fair enough. The WTC will take its business elsewhere. No hard feelings, this is exactly why I asked in advance. Thanks for getting this sorted out so quickly.

A coffee plantation in Quinnsville as the first entry for task #7.

WTC Coffee Plantation, medium plantation:

A great build and an interesting story approach to go with it. Loving the coffee tree build! I took some inspiration from here, including this facility being the origin of the WTCs coffee seeds. Legally? We will never know!