Athos

I'm not sure if I'd say they've gotten it completely right... we still have new grey/brown and flesh figures... but they have come a long way from where they had gone over the past several years. I am very heartened by the turn towards the civilian life in the rumored town sets... Steve

Not that I can think of off hand. I did do some Indiana Jones vignettes though. In a non-history vein there are my Stephen King vignettes, inspired more by the books than the movies. And there is also my Psycho House, complete with shower, Norman Bates and his mother. Steve

Seaport? That sounds like it has potential. So do the cement and garbage trucks. And, while the PT sets don't interest me much, it at least gives hope we might see an Amidala and/or other similarly neglected figures... Steve

Indiana Jones is good. King Kong too. I've heard Gunga Din is good, but can't find it. King Soloman's Mines and Alan Quartermain were decent. Some others are: The Man Who Would Be King; Jurrasic Park; Island at the Top of the World (and other similar disney movies of that era). I get ideas from all kinds of sources, even if not directly related to historical periods and then just adapt the idea to fit the time period I'm working in. Steve

Might I suggest sometime in late spring or early summer. I don't recall there being any annual contests in that time... Steve

That's one scary cactus... Steve

Well then I apologize for my mistaken impression and retract my previous statements... Steve

Prizes definately stimulate participation. I know Lego sometimes donates prizes for competitions, perhaps you might be able to broker a similar deal... though with eurobricks reputation for not 'respecting-the-brick,' that might be an iffy proposition. As for the rules, I'd model it on the CCC, though maybe less expansive in scale, as this will be the first run. Have a couple of categories (let's say: Ship, Fortress/Island/Base, Vignette, Minifig and then something like Best-Use-of-a-Rowboat). With a prize for each, possibly corresponding to the category. Then have very clear rules. Just my thoughts, Steve P.S. My answers: -Moderately interested in competition -Prize would help, but since I have most sets, its not a big deal to me. I enter contests only when inspiration strikes and mostly for bragging rights... -Moderate fan of pirates. While I own nearly all the sets, I have not made many MOCs.

Well I guess you have me there. It was more of an after-thought, occurring after I'd typed the no idea portion... I might. Though I don't work well with deadlines, at least when it comes to Lego. It makes play seem more like work, if I'm rushing to meet a deadline. And I don't really have access to many of my pirate lego, so it would be hard for me to do anything. Steve

I believe the correct expression is: 'by Jove,' but whatever. No idea. If I knew, I'd attempt it for Adventurers. Maybe a contest? The CCC kept CC going through several dry years. Steve P.S. Post #666, strange that it would be in the pirate forum... 8-

Actually, I was just trying to be difficult... ;-) I think you've got a rather nice forum here. Its just hard to keep interest in a (temporarily) dead theme... Steve

I am... ;-) Steve

I imagine it was posted, by me, in the former omnibus historical forum and when the forums were split, this one was sent the wrong way... Steve

Those were most likely mine. X-D Steve

That is a tough call for me. I would definately say Adventurers if it was a more extensive theme like Castle. And my biggest gripe about Adventurers is the incessant repetition of the same characters. I don't need any more Johhnys or Pippins or Kilroys. So if those two issues were somehow corrected, it'd be Adventurers. I also love Castle, up to and almost including KK1 (the figures were nice, but the set designs were horribly lacking). Coming in a very close second to Castle would be Pirates, because I'm a sucker for any sort of naval vessel. Space, Trains and [old] Town are nice too, but I have to draw the line somewhere. Star Wars, Batman and HP come in somewhere after that... Where ninjas fit into all this, I'm not quite sure. They work well with Adventurers and Pirates, but were kind of sold during a gap in the castle theme, which is why I have so many of them. Steve

Wow, that's quite the psychadelic train there. X-D Steve

I think there is too much red, especially with all the red figures, but the underlying structure looks great. I also like the stairs. Steve

Ever read the Dark Tower series, by Stephen King? It is a sci-fi western and a great epic story. Steve

I really like the Emperor's Stronghold. The brown baseplate is a nice touch that add variety to the line and I do like the blue/tan color scheme. Also the white ninja and the Emperor were great figures. Steve, who has all of the fortresses X-D

That is a good point, to a certain extent, which is as far as it goes. With a police/fire station, there can be different architecture and style. With Star Wars, the architecture and style is already preset. Sure there can be innovations in the set design (as with the two Falcons), but in the end they are going to look very very similiar. The only real difference is in the varying degree of faithful/accuracy to the underlying design. Steve

Great idea. I love the concept and would be happy as the proverbial clam (though I don't know why a clam would be that happy) if Lego released this line. Is that torso a custom? If not, where is it from? Steve

I'm a bit of a trekkie, but would not like a new version of the same Enterprise every year. That being said, I might buy them if it was an original Enterprise, followed by an A, B, C, D, E and so forth (I think an Enterprise B would be great). The repetitiveness, along with the lack of any good ideas for small sets, is what really makes me not in favor of a Star Trek line. Its not 100% pessimistic, I do state that I liked the Sailbarge and minifig ISD (though I must say, the stickers really put me off). AT-ST was nice too, as was Cloud City. Now those would be nice. I really like how the ISD was done. Looks nice from the outside and has a fun interior. Those would be nice too. Perhaps as a more historical theme fan, I prefer the locations to the dearth of vehicles. Vehicles also seem to rely too heavily on plates, whereas I'd much prefer bricks. That is true in practice. But if the designers would get out of the police/fire/paramedic rut there would be tons of town sets. Motels, Restaurants, Stores, Gas Stations (we used to get tons of these, but now how long has it been?) Homes, Civic Buildings, Farms, Zoos, Parks and the list goes on. I think that plays a big part. I usually skip the PT sets, unless they are on sale, have good parts or are a gift, like the ULD... which is a whole other story... X-D Steve, the Star Wars fatigued pessimist ;-)

After seeing the pictures of the 2007 sets, I found myself very underwhelmed. This got me thinking about the Star Wars line. When they first came out, I was on cloud nine. I bought every set, at full retail price. And continued to do so for several years afterwards. Lately, however, for reasons, of which I am not quite certain, I am not all that interested in Star Wars lego anymore. Here are some of my thoughts, as to why: -Been there, done that. It seems to me that the majority of the sets being released are rehashing previously released sets. The Y-wing, the AT-ST, the falcon, the three X-wings, the seemingly infinite iterations of TIEs. Even the landing craft seems to be a rehash of the shuttle... When does it end? (I understand the marketing strategy, to make sales on younger kids who missed out on the earlier models, but it doesn't mean I have to like it). And to think, we've got how many more years of this? I was excited about the sail barge and minifig ISD, as they were something we had not seen before, but not with this line up. Perhaps this is the weakness of licensed products, there is only a finite amount of source material. Whereas with an independent line, the products are only limited by the imagination of the developers. -Fatigue. After, is it, seven years, now? I'm feeling kind of burnt out. I used to eagerly wait for new releases, but now I hardly care. Perhaps its time to give it a rest for a year or two, concentrate on something else, then come back to it, when everyone is fresh. Now, I admit, Castle lasted much longer than seven years, but it wasn't hampered by the aforementioned repetitiveness. -Flesh-tones. Now this isn't really an issue with this years line up, but it has been in the recent past. As I am not a die hard Star Wars fan, but rather a lego fan, the sets' appeal is greatly reduced by the inability to use the figures along side my non-licensed figures. -Or perhaps I'm just getting old... I'd like to hear your thoughts. Steve

I think I read it in a discussion over at fbtb about either the original millenium falcon or AT-AT. As I recall, it was an official Lego rep, probably Jake. Steve