Napoleon53

Wow, guys, thanks for the commentts! Danke! I don't know if I mentioned it before, but the decals are Hound Knight-made. Terrific work. Thanks, Perfectionist! I have a huuggeee surplus of gold parts, and even with this I only used about a quarter of them, so I immediately thought about making a Galleon-type trade ship. Heck, Artesano means Tradesman. Thank you! I've been wanting to see that movie very badly. I haven't noticed the ship; I shall have to look it up.

Really, when you think about it, Classic Castle was the only theme to ever have generic humans pitted against generic humans. After that, all conflict sets have had good guys versus robbers, pirates, robots, monsters, and scumbags. Sure, some kids probably used the pirates as lovable villains, or even thought of the Imperials as being like the Spanish soldiers in Zorro, forcing people to turn outlaw, but most I'm sure had the soldiers sink the pirates--I know I did. Plus, bullets seem to be out in almost all themes, even if I think death by medieval halberd is a much more painful way for a fig to die. So LEGO would never make a set depicting Napoleonic-style mass slaughter, such as a firing line, or even show peaceful box art that makes kids think about using it for such nefarious purposes. If LEGO made a fantasy-style Napo theme, with generic factions like the red and bluecoats, it would get watered down and turned into unrecognizable nonsense, I fear, or turned into another monster versus wonderfully good white-hatted good-guys.

Absolutely, I want it, but it'd have to be generic and fantastical or nothing at all, for LEGO would never make modern warfare nation-conflict sets. Even in the generic classic pirates sets, the Redcoats and Bluecoats are never shown in direct conflict. Europa was before Pirates, and it became Pirates because it tested better with children. Also, they probably thought it was too "conflict-oriented." If I remember right, the shako hat mould, which was inaccurate and not used in the Age of Piracy, was created for Europa, probably for the British, judging by LEGO's shako shape (narrows as it goes up, whilst French shakos get wider). The main thing is: I don't think any kids in LEGO's target age range have any knowledge or understanding of the Napo Wars. Show them a policeman or Cap'n America, and they say, "Yay! Gimme!" Show them a minifigure of Charles Pierre François Augereau, and they won't say, "Yay! He was the 1st Duke of Castiglione!" So in the meantime I'll just have to keep using my buddy Hound Knight's amazing decals that look very spiffy and like real LEGO designs.

Thanks! I have 20+ books, and am in the process of reading them all. I'd kill (not really ) to meet him. To spend two minutes with the practical father of a sci-fi genre... I also posted this on BrickForge.com, so I think every person so far likes the palm tree; for something I slapped on at the last minute before photographing it, it's been fairly popular. I originally did make rippling water, but it came out more as a roaring ocean. Definitely not what I wanted for the Potomac, haha. As for the accuracy of the two guys: Jake had oily hair, and all Confederate troops in Turtledove's series wear "butternut," the Confederate's word for khaki. The scowling PoP Dastan head kind of matches a "tobacco-spitting" face. Lol. Cap'n Jeb's uniform isn't described, but I'm assuming the Confederate officer corps kept their gray uniforms, though made them more utilitarian in design, and used "Smokey the Bear hats" like most everyone else. He's described as having reddish-brown hair and the classic French-style mustache and chinbeard, for which I used that Hogwarts professor what's-his-name head. Thanks again!

I've been meaning to PAB some plants; would you say they're one of the things cheaper? I'm a maintenance man at my father's apartment complex and an amateur carpenter.

Amazing army! I've watched this for a long time. There's the CMF Graduate hat. With some paint and a little bit of modding it could look good, I think.

Ah, that is a great idea! I could see Starfleet passing muster by the hippies at LEGO. Within the Starfleet, they could label them "space sailor," "guard," "technician," etc, with no clear-cut SPEHS MAHREENS glaring off the box, however much cooler that is. After Star Wars and LotR, I wish LEGO wasn't so picky. I think Space Marines might work as a title, though, if LEGO views it from the "It's fictional, unrealistic, funny, and far past modern technology" POV. It could definitely work.

Wow, I'm sold. I'd die of a heart attack if LEGO made these (in a good way!). Amazing stuff. The only thing standing in its way is its name: Space Marines. Sadly, I sense that if it wins 10k votes, LEGO will say, "Tit, tat, wot. Can't go having kids playing with military, can we? Cheerio!" Or they'd keep your designs and go make them Space Police IV in boring gray and black again. I really hope this gets 10k! Upstanding work, sir! *salutes and marches off to battle the Ugokins* Brick Daddy from Space Police. One of my favorite figs in my collection.

Thanks, HT! I know, it'd be awesome if some other folks did some. Although, it might be neat to say I'm the only person to immortalize T-191 in LEGO form. I wanna keep experimenting with the palm trunk; re-using hated pieces for the win.

Sadly, I do not have a local LEGO Store; the nearest one is in Indianapolis. Hopefully they'll still have some sailors when I go there later this year. Looking forward to the new color scheme!

The interior of that hospital is pathetic. Grass field inside the hospital and garage? Can't be very sanitary. I'm really looking forward to miners as a theme. I haven't even thought about a regular mining theme before, so mad props to LEGO.

I'm posting this in Sci-Fi because it's based on Harry Turtledove's alternate history novel Great War: American Front ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_War_%28Harry_Turtledove%29 ), and it's branded as sci-fi and sold in the sci-fi section of the bookstore. If the mods feel otherwise, please move it. As (Jake) lowered the field glasses from his eyes, Captain Jeb Stuart III asked him, "See anything interesting over there in Yankeeland?" "No, sir," Featherston answered. His glance slipped to one of the three-inch howitzers sitting in an earthen pit not far away. "Time may come when, if we do see anything interesting, we'll blow it to hell and gone." He paused to shift the chaw of tobacco in his cheek and spit a stream of brown juice onto the red dirt. "I'd like that." "So would I, Sergeant (Featherston); so would I," Captain Stuart said. -excerpt from Harry Turtledove's novel Great War: American Front My MOC interpretation of one of the first scenes of Harry Turtledove's great novel The Great War: American Front. Confederate-in-a-butternut-uniform Jake Featherston, with field glasses, peers across the Potomac into the United States while conversing with his superior, Captain Jeb Stuart III, who the book described as having a Louis-Napoleon mustache and beard, as they both await WWI to start. I tried to match the book as best I could, while also taking creative liberties. The wall in front of the river is supposed to look like Confederate engineers constructed it as part of the border defenses. It's safe to assume there are rooms and/or trenches directly under where the characters are standing. The book also described mortars nearby and Jake patting one of them. I think I matched it fairly well. :D Here's the whole set on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/55680977@N04/sets/72157629556686480/with/6976325570/ C&C welcome.

Not to get off-topic, but yes. I've had other... unfortunate... occurrences with Chinese parts...

I actually was at the store with old parts before the vintage figs came out. They were real. And awesome. The reason I hate Chinese parts are that the arms and hands are basically incompatible with normal torsos, and they're translucent. The leg printing on my CMF Cavewoman was horrible; her tan skirt was practically yellow because of poor printing. That's the same for the Virginia LEGO store BAMs. I like my figs to be good ol' thick plastic. I wouldn't care they were Chinese if they had better quality control.

At the Virginia store, the parts stank miserably, and they seemed like those cheap Chinese torsos with the stamps on the arms. So common it horrified me. At the Chicago one, though, Woodbridge Mall or whatever it was called, they had, brace yourselves: 1990's parts. I'm talking old school, bro, like Cedric the Bull parts, Fright Knights, original Star Wars, adventurers, really old motorcycle helmets, and an infinite variety really. Sadly, I was already picking up some other stuff and had run out of money. I regret it to this day. I mean c'mon, where did they get those parts?!

WHY does this not have a dozen comments by now? This is magnificent. The detail of the water is crazy.

Like I said on BrickForge, you're really improving! Ships should come naturally to you since you're an old sea salt, yourself. I'm totally jealous of all those CMF sailors. And of course the story is awesome.

This. I love large towns, but a pirate town? I'm sold. The trees in the back really give a sense of completeness.

That face on the front of the ghost train really makes me . That being said, I'll still buy the set and all the others. The steampunk plane in the ghost set really entices me... I don't know who Captain Scarlett is, but the Green Monster is an almost exact replica of my favorite movie monster: Creature From the Black Lagoon, in all its 1954 cheesiness. Definitely getting that. The only set I'm not sold on is the Mummy Chariot. Mummy? Again? Really? But, I know I'm kicking an undead horse on that topic. Plus, since I have a pompadour, the guy on the swamp boat is necessary for my sigfig.

I love pirates versus cannibals, so I'm very happy. I can't wait to see you expand and show a whole skirmish. There was one movie that might give you some ideas for play functions and details: a long time ago I watched the 60's Swiss Family Robinson movie, and they had this big pirate attack scene in the jungle, and they had rigged defenses to drop things down on them, like logs and rocks and barrels and stuff. Haven't seen it in years, but if it was as good as I think, it might give you some ideas for the cannibals ambushing the pirates. And by the way, your focusing is amazing, like the spear tip coming at the bushwhacked pirate.

MMV was kind of fun to sort yesterday, and I soaked up all the tiny rare piece goodness, but if I had dumped it out on the floor and said, "Okee-dokee, I'ma start bilding naow," I would have gone nuts. Even after I neatly sorted them, I still had one or two moments of "They didn't give me that piece!" something that only happened to me in set 7051, but has haunted me ever since.

Thanks, guys! I think both is what I'm gonna have to do. That'll bring my LEGO spending up to almost half a thousand dollars in just January - May. I think it'll be worth it, though.

This is freaking amazing. I've been waiting a long time to see an "open world" pirate MOC, much like Derfel's castle town.

Wild West, whether Cuusoo-style modular or regular theme-style, needs to return. Things like Minecraft are all well and good, but Western is a very basic theme, plus I heard several new Western TV shows will be coming out soon on the major networks, so I think the fanbase is there. One move that could make it more popular would be to move it from Union vs. Indians to the now more-popular Sergio Leone-style with WWI-style American doughboys against poncho-wearing Man with No Name lookalikes (controversy about shooting Indians would be gone). I think people would flip over sets like that, and if LEGO wanted to employ the old reliable collectable parts, I could see various gold chrome treasures and loot being fun for both kids and AFOLs, like the Pharaoh's Quest line.

I don't know much of power functions, and I'll leave it to more knowledgeable experts, but I thought the title meant your power functions were working without batteries period, like that creepy dummy from Dead Silence. "Woah! You have a LEGO poltergeist! Call an exorcist! Next your 2x4's will be flying across the room!"