Tazakk

I believe that that is the ship that Benny partially builds the first two times.

For those interested, here's a Google-translated version of the entire article:

I had a lot of the parts necessary in my collection already, so after the cost of buying the official MetalBeard's Duel set it was only a matter of maybe $10 or so in Bricklink orders.

I've seen a few attempts to recreate MetalBeard's film appearance around the net, but they've all fallen short of total accuracy by a significant measure. I looked back through the film and determined all of the differences, created an LDD model, ordered the parts I needed, and got to building. And the back There are a ton of minute differences between the film version and the final set, so I won't attempt to cover them all in text. Suffice to say most of the changes seem to be in the interest of stabilization and economy of parts. His right foot, peg leg, and back are the only parts constructed completely differently, but there are tiny changes throughout the model. If your interested in seeing everything in more detail, here's the LXF: This is the link to the LXF I just mentioned I believe I used the wrong color for the light grey parts in the LDD model, my bad. If you want to try your hand at building the model physically, note that there are a few parts that don't exist in the correct colors. The gears atop MetalBeard's shoulders should be dark grey, but only come in light grey. The chain from his chest to his shark arm should be metallic. I'm also fairly certain that the brackets holding his treasure chest are supposed to be gold. And that's all there is to say, I suppose. Arg!

Thank you! I hadn't come across this commercial yet. I don't think there is an index for commercials on Eurobricks, but I've created a of all of the US LEGO commercials I could find from Zack the LEGO Maniac to 2000 on Youtube. I'll be adding this one to the list shortly. If you know of any others that are missing from it, do tell!

They certainly managed to pack a lot of themes into that one! No doubt that was done in order to advertize as many products as possible, but in the end I don't think it bothered me that much. I thought that everything was integrated into the story well enough, and I don't think I could ever really complain about something featuring classic LEGO sets. Of all the stops, I especially liked the one in Aquazone. If I am recalling correctly, then the crash into that world was one of the more sensational ones, and the entire scene kept me on the edge of my seat, so to speak, as the Flybo/Flying Time Vessel refused to start and the Aquasharks moved ominously closer. It seems that the Castle King's Pride is in fact the Royal Knights' Castle, not the Fire Breathing Fortress as I assumed. I guess that means that King Richard makes his home in a different castle, nonexistent as a set, in this continuity. Then again, there are a few discrepancies between the Tarenta in this story and that of the other dramas. Richard seems to be implying that King's Pride is his home, but we know from the other dramas that it is not. In addition, it sounds like there were a lot of Royal Knights there, especially for a castle belonging to "knights of the dragon order." Also of note is Dragomil, who isn't really acknowledged as a usual ally by the king. I would imagine that Richard might be surprised or upset that Dragomil attacked him, especially when the dragon had seemed loyal to him and the treasure before. As before, it was fun listening to the Time Cruisers characters interact. Dr. Cyber's constant negativity and frustration is nicely contrasted by Robby Robot and Ali, with their high energy and unpredictable natures. It is an amusing inversion of the stereotype of an old master teaching a young pupil that Tim often seems to be keeping Dr. Cyber calm and on track. Thank you again, it is great to be able to read/listen to these!

I'm glad to see the final (first?) Time Cruisers drama. It should be fun, especially with the added context that the two Castle dramas will give. As for the King's Son, I found all of the continuity nods and unexpected additions great, as with the Pirates dramas. I found it particularly interesting that Richard makes his home outside of Tarenta; I had assumed that the land was supposed to be the setting for all of the classic Castle themes. The wand, with it's independent will, was amusing and it was used well to increase the stakes of the plot. It is unfortunate that the actual Fire Breathing Fortress set (which I can only assume must be King's Castle Pride, despite lacking a drawbridge such as the one that is repeatedly mentioned) does not have a secret door the wand can open to access the treasure like in the drama. Instead the treasure just sits on the lip of Dragomil's pit. It is interesting that the enemies this time around ended up being traitors from the King's ranks. With the Black Knights and Dragon Masters allied with the Royal Knights, and the Wolfpack having already served as the antagonist in the last drama, I guess it makes sense. Thanks once again!

I forgot to say so when I posted back in the original topic, but thank you for continuing on with these beyond the Pirates ones, Runamuck! Disregarding the confusion over the apparent association of the Dragon Masters with the Royal Knights in this drama, it was great. It was especially nice to see how the different factions interacted with each other, as here the relationships between the different groups were explored a little more beyond the given fact that they are in conflict. A few thoughts: It is quite interesting that Dickens is the foster son of the leader of the Wolfpack, but is able to interact with non-Wolfpack people without any trouble. I noted that Sir Michael somehow escapes any blame for aiding in the attempt to steal the treasure, even though he appeared to be just as involved as Sir Peter. I wonder if the former was intended to be a recurring villain, although judging by the cast list of the second castle drama it would seem he never did reappear. As TalonCard pointed out, the description of Tarenta definitely brings to mind the catalog images from the time. The placement of the locations was clearly made with the sets and promotional images in consideration, with the two castles upon the steep cliffs and the Wolfpack home within a swamp (although the Wolfpack Tower set isn't specifically depicted in a swamp, it is on a body of water).

How unfortunate that I did not encounter this topic sooner! This is really incredible. Thank you, Runamuck, for all of the time an effort that you have put into translating these audio dramas. This is something of a dream come true for me. Generally, LEGO stories are regulated to magazines and video games, which in some cases severely limits the amount that the story in the work can really be developed. But these audio dramas are really another thing altogether. Here we have an extensive series of stories that all contribute to and build off of one another. What is more, whoever/whomever wrote the stories very clearly put a lot of care into their work. In comparison to many other examples of LEGO media, the depth and complexity of the characters is phenomenal. The plots also tend to be strong, being composed of a plothole-free foundation upon which a generally exciting and creative story comes to life. The only time I felt things were majorly out of place was the short Aquazone scene in the final Time Cruisers drama. To me, it screamed of product placement without much other purpose, especially given how it was essentially redundant, as practically the same thing had already happened in the second drama. Thank you once again. It was a great pleasure to be able to read these. I would also like to comment on the other things that are referred to in this topic. I had seen your scans of the Peril in Pirate Cove portion of the Disney Adventures Magazine series, TalonCard, but your Brickshelf folder with scans of Encounter at Ice Station Odyssey and the first part of Castle of Doom were new to me. It is quite interesting how they work as clear predecessors to the Adventures of the LEGO Maniac comics that came about later. To be honest, I am rather glad that they decided to begin depicting the LEGO characters as minifigures later. The human versions are not disagreeable, exactly, but to me it feels unnatural to have humans populating the LEGO world. It is the same qualm I have with themes like Drome Racers and Exo-Force. Returning to the Disney Adventures comics, I have to say the Castle one is rather perplexing. We have knights that are dressed as Dragon Masters that have Dragon Masters sets at their use, yet they call themselves Black Knights and align themselves against Majisto. But on top of that, Majisto has seemingly identical knights (although the crest on their shirts is altered) under his command. I wonder if this was explained in later installments, or if it was simply a move to include as many Dragon Masters sets as possible, with the hope that no one would notice the apparent division of a single faction. It was nice to see more of Mack, by far the most elusive of the LEGO Maniacs. I had actually assumed that he was simply the result of an error made by whoever was producing the US Blacktron: Future Generation commercial (as up to now I had only heard of him in it. “Spaced out! Mack’s back!”). It seems that he was in fact an intentional character, and a companion to Jack. As with regards to Runamuck, thank you for everything you have contributed, TalonCard! In addition to all of that, thank you, jamesster, for linking to my MANIA Magazine and Adventures!/Homemade stuff, as well as for uploading the first Castle Kids comic. When I was reading through it initially, I kept thinking that a real model of Alma’s castle would be incredible. Then I reached the end and saw that there was indeed a real model, quite an impressive feat. Oddly enough de Mauvais reminds me of Garth Raider/The Sheriff of Nottingham from Captain Indigo. I suppose it must be since they are both medieval officials that abuse their position. De Mauvais is obviously a much stronger character than the rather nonsensical Garth, though. I think I may have strayed to some degree from the original topic, but I wanted to be able to comment on all of the great things linked to from here. Again, thanks to everyone! I will move over to the topic in LEGO Historic Themes now, but I thought this post should go here since otherwise it may seem out of context.