Bobsy

Massive thanks to everyone who's lent their support so far - early this morning the project hit its first minor milestone of 50 supporters. For three days live I think that's pretty decent going. So again, thanks to everyone who's lent a vote, and if you haven't, please take a moment to do so! Any questions or queries ask here or in the Cuusoo project comments section and I'll do my best to answer.

Do you, or have you ever played The Old Republic? If the answer's yes, you NEED the Fury. If no, don't bother. It's 3,500 years removed from all your other Star Wars sets.

Bear in mind they based a lot of the Bionicle mythology off Maori legends and culture, hoping no-one would notice. You'd think they wouldn't make the same mistake twice, but... ...well, here's hoping they're not going to.

I'm looking for a minifig torso as similar as possible... or possibly just conveying the 'feel' of the outfit you can see in this picture(the guy in the middle, obv). It's a black leather trenchcoat with black shirt underneath. I'm not at all clued up on the last 10 years or so of minifigs so I don't know what (if anything) I could yank off Bricklink to try and recreate this. A little help?

If you're talking about how far apart the front and rear axles are from each other, this was the big stumbling block for me at the start of design - the wheels were in the way of the stage as it came down, so the cart needed to be extended to give them room. I was initially worried it would give the whole thing a bit of a horse-drawn hearse look to it, but in the end I think it's worked out. The extra space for the wheels meant I had more room for storage, so that was alright.

There's a few pieces there that I believe aren't currently available in the colours I used. I think the curved pieces at the top of the carriage have not yet been done in brown? Maybe. And there's a whole bunch of pieces done in pearl gold as accents. I don't think it would make it more or less likely for Lego to produce it. They prefer to use pieces already in production, but putting an existing piece in a new colour isn't especially hard if it's absolutely necessary. That's the sort of decision that will only comes when/if it gets reviewed for production. Oh, and if you wanted to see it from the other side? Here you go, all y'all. Lego Cuusoo Travelling Theatre by bobsy26, on Flickr

I do wish they'd hurry up with the results of the current review. Words can't express how badly I want that Eve Online Rifter.

I did consider this while I was designing it, but decided not to for two reasons: first, it would need to have the top or other side of the cart open up so you could get to it, which would make the whole structure less stable. Second, I wanted the whole set to fit together as a whole, hence the crates, chests and barrels to hold the props. A second backdrop would have nowhere to go, so it would always be lying around spare. I figure that if it were a purchasable set, you could easily and quickly MOC your own backdrops instead. The wigs and props would be subject to change anyway, since Lego would most likely just go with whatever they have in production at the time. I just picked a few obvious ones like the crown and chose others because I just liked them. The Bellatrix wig and Luminara habit would be good to give another airing in a different set like this one, too. A pic of the other side of the carriage is rendering as we speak. I'll put it up when it's done, and get all the pictures on Flickr as well. It features a window with shutters, but since it opens onto the reverse side of the backdrop it's really only decorative. Anyway, thanks for your kind words and support, everyone!

My Cuusoo project, the Medieval Travelling Theatre, finally got started in the wee early hours of this morning, and can be found here. It's a horse-drawn cart that folds out to create a makeshift stage. With Kingdoms and any other Castle-like themes pretty much shelved while LOTR takes its place, I think Cuusoo is a good place for new and original medieval sets like this one. I know the AFOL Castle community regularly goes bananas over medieval civilian sets, so hopefully you can find a place in your heart collection for this one. It's a long road to 10,000, especially as this is not a licenced project, so your support is very, very much needed! Lego Cuusoo Travelling Theatre by bobsy26, on Flickr Lego Cuusoo Travelling Theatre by bobsy26, on Flickr Lego Cuusoo Travelling Theatre (props) by bobsy26, on Flickr

Oh, very nice bubbling lava technique. Me likey.

You know what, you've got me there. I'd completely forgot about the Wild Karrde and Skipray. The latter would have made a fine EU set... back in 2007 when the TIE Crawler still seemed like a good idea. I think sets like that and the renowned shelfwarmer status of the Rogue Shadow and TIE Defender must have shaken TLG's faith in EU sets. If the Fury and Striker go the same way, we may never see their like again.

While I'd always welcome more EU sets, especially TOR-based, I have my doubts. In TOR's case the only direction they could go in terms of recognisability is the other player ships like the Fury... which would have the same sort of price tag as the Fury. The game focusses more on people than it does things, and there aren't enough vehicles outside the prohibitively large spaceships that are well-known enough to be worth making in Lego. As much as I'd like a Thunderclap to dogfight with my Fury. Thrawn Trilogy? It's an obvious direction for EU sets to go, but honestly, what is there to actually build there? The vehicles are the same as in the films (there wasn't any point creating new ones, since you don't see them anyway), and vignette playsets in the style of Palpatine's Arrest would be even less visibly recognisable than anything from TOR. The only ship that would be viable as a set is a Katana-fleet dreadnaught... and even that would end up BIG, similar in size to the Republic Attack Cruiser or Tantive IV. EDIT: And yes, we all want a Grand Admiral Thrawn minifig. I know. But first you must come up with the set.

So they'd reduce it in size and complexity, make it more stable and viable as a product... and end up with something looking like this. Which, incidentally, was also released under the UCS banner. Also note that in this photo of TLG's office, there are two seperate prototypes of a UCS sandcrawler in the large cabinet. So not only have TLG had the same idea, they have built on the same scale. Then they went and made a product of it. As good as the Cuusoo submission is, it offers nothing that Lego didn't already have. Now a smaller Tatooine set, that would be viable. Jawas and Sand People, neither have had much exposure in Lego. Our cup runneth over with Snowtroopers, but they got no more screentime than the Tatooine races.

See, this is what I like to see, ancient, caked-on dust between the studs. To me, that's the real Lego!

That entire shelf is pretty much all MOCs and prototypes that the designers have put together in the name of developing the line over the years. I think that photo should be required viewing for everyone trying to submit a Star Wars idea to Cuusoo - it shows that whatever idea you've had, TLG were there long before you.

One of the easiest mods you can do is in the gun barrel. Switch the 'column' brick with the black wheel hub and it looks a whole lot better.

It's that long ponytail - it's NEVER practical! It was in one of the figs in Pharoah's Quests's 7325 Cursed Cobra Statue, and stopped her from sitting in the passenger seat in the car. Plus it always seems a lot looser than other hair pieces, and keeps popping off. In my experience anyway. Your review is decent, except for telling us your overall thoughts of the set. Is it worth the price? Are the action features good, or too gimmicky? Should people fork out for it?

My views on each minifig. I will say right at the start that this is the series I've been most looking forward to. Santa: Ah nice. The old boy deserves a proper minifig, and looks utterly fantastic to boot. No complaints about the look, but honestly, how many of these would you actually want? As soon as I get a second Santa I'll be sighing with disappointment. Diver: I love this guy. He looks the part, and would be a perfect addition to a Victorian/Steampunk set. There's a spot on my Imperial Flagship waiting for him already. About time they had a purpose in their voyage. Vampire Bat: Can't say I see this guy as anything but ugly. Still, a cheap way to get those arms, so it's not all bad. Evil Robot: I missed out on the first version of this fig, but I can understand why he'd be disappointing to a lot of people. Personally, I think the deco job on him is a big improvement, and I wouldn't mind having a couple of these clanking about. Businessman: Yeah... there's a good chance this guy will be series 8's Graduate, and I end up tearing my hair out on the number I end up with. Still. Love the bowler hat. Conquistador: Love love love love love love this guy. God, he just looks fantastic. Brilliant deco, brilliant concept. Perfect for inhabiting my 17th century town, perfect for re-jigging as the Watch from Discworld, and it's ABOUT TIME we got that helmet again. And in gold! Just amazing. Can't have too many of these. Actor: Again, the more of these I get the better. I adore the deco, and the ruff is just fantastic. It'll be interesting to see where it gets re-used, in fact. The disappointment here is with the very common hair piece, but I can put up with that. Cowgirl: Ugh. No. Just no. Probably my least favourite fig of the lot. She's far too modern to fit into any western scene, and would only fit in perched on the back of a truck in some rodeo diorama. Can't help but feel the concept on this fig started as "re-use Wonder Woman's lassoo, then work out a fig to go with it". Lederhosen Guy: Um. Right. DJ: Looks good, and that headphone hair will be nice to have. Again, makes you wonder how it'll be re-used in the next wave. I think they missed a trick with those headphones actually - they're designed to look like Lego studs, but look too small and shallow to attach things too. A shame. Red Cheerleader: Yeah, a complete copout. Don't want this girl at all, have a feeling I'll end up with too many. And is that the long ponytail hair again? Grrrrr. It never stays on. Fairy: Not much of a looker, sadly. Something about the skirt and the top just doesn't click for me. Still, the fairy wings could come in handy. Football Player: Got to stick my oar in and say yes, should have been called American Football Player or even better, Quaterback. Actually it makes no difference as the only place their names appear is on the website, not on the packaging at all. Anyway the fig? Boring. Like most people, I don't live in the USA so my interest in this guy is limited. Alien Villainess: I didn't realise until recently that they've actually put a cute little print on the face there, with eyelashes and a bit of lipstick. In case you ever forgot she was a she. I didn't really care for the Alien Invasion line, but I guess she'd make a unique addition to them. For me, it's a chance for another cloth cape or two, but something tells me she will be one of the rarer figs. Pirate Captain: Oh look another pirate with a hook, pegleg and eyepatch. Never seen one of those before. Ah well, he'll still be welcome, thanks to a handy torso print that I can re-use all over the shop. Oh, and a white plume. Nice. Downhill skier: Snooooooooze. I think this is one of the first occasions where two historical figs in the same line come from the same era (Actor and Conquistador), so that's something pretty nice to look forward to.

I really like the idea of the Twilight - a ship which is in minifigure scale, larger and more complex than a fighter, scaled down to be affordable and swooshable... shame it's a great big box with studs on every side. I'd never even heard of that podracer bucket, but I can understand its existence - back in '99 Lucasfilm were pushing the marketing hard on the podrace sequence, so there must have been a lot of pressure to render as much of it as possible in Lego. My vote? Sorry, it has to be any of the 'blue' TIEs. I couldn't shake a feeling of disappointment when I put together my TIE Fighter all those years ago. The sheer number of different colours that made it up made it look like it should be piloted by a clown. And while yes, techniques weren't quite at today's standard back then, I still felt that the attempt at the diagonal spurs on the solar panels was a bit lazy.

Sigh. I miss the days when there was a Lego Store in Birmingham. There's a Midlands-shaped hole in their coverage now. Oh, and Scotland too, I guess.

In any case, how much would Jango's look differ from that in the Mandalorian Battle Pack? I reckon there's plenty of children out there that just took one of those, plonked it in the 2010 Slave 1 and were done with it.

Don't want to sound too sour but I think the release of Jabba's Palace makes it LESS likely to see a new version of the Sail Barge, not more. It's another huge hunk of plastic for parents to shell out for - if they've already bought the Palace in recent memory, they won't want to pay for a set which is essentially the same concept, but now with sails.

Eventually I'll get a shot of the back of the model, to give a better view of the crenelations. You can mostly see them from behind in that first picture, which isn't the best view. I'm also considering changing the bricks from the 1x2 bricks with studs on both long sides to 2 1x1 bricks with only one side-stud. Not sure yet which would look better. My computer isn't exactly ideal for rendering these so they take a while, and there are more shots I'd like to take than hours in the day. Hey ho. Oh, also, anyone have thoughts about the red thing next to the throne? Can you tell what it's meant to be, or does it just look a little... odd?

Pirates was never really given a fair amount of time to grow in 2009 - POTC came along and smushed it before it could get going. But I agree with most here, we will eventually get more Pirates sets, just probably not straight away. TLG don't need to be told to bring Pirates back - they're capable of deciding for themselves if it's a good business idea. If it is, they will, if it isn't, they won't. You probably don't need to petition something like this.

Er... somehow you managed to find what is possibly the only screenshot ever that has the Commando squad NOT wearing their customary and HIGHLY individual markings. The four members of Delta Squad each have entirely unique deco jobs on their armour. 38 is in orange, Scorch in yellow, Sev in Red and Fixer in green. And there really is only four of them* in the whole galaxy. In Lego they'd look a bit like this: Actually that version of Scorch needs a touch more yellow. But still. You get the point. The Commandos were specifically created to have MORE individuality than standard clone troopers, and deviate the most from the Jango Fett pattern. Indeed, other than 38, they all have different voices. *yes, in the darker corners of the EU there are other Commando teams, but they've not been depicted in the more 'mainstream' media of films/TV/games