Aanchir

I dunno, I think for a set as small as this, I could potentially accept a different helmet type, since only the higher ranking knights in that faction had the fancy plumes and helmets. Same as how I didn't mind several of the Lion Knight guards and archers in that set wearing the kettle helm first introduced in 2000, or the mounted Black Falcon knight from that set wearing the great helm first introduced in 2010. But for a larger Dragon Knight/Dragon Master set it'd be a different story — there, I'd at least hope to see knight helmets with the same highly ornamented aesthetic and dragon motifs, even if it didn't opt for these exact molds.

I think it's more likely that they designed it expecting most buyers to build and display it as-is, but wanted to keep the scale similar to the crocodile locomotive for compatibility's sake (and/or in case people who already owned the crocodile DID decide to use this one as a coach pack). I think the most likely reasons for the locomotive's reduced length were probably 1) ensuring the train could run smoothly on R40 curves and 2) wanting to include a second carriage, but without making the full set too much bigger or pricier than the original fan model that LEGO Ideas users supported. I dunno about that? In that last photo, the scale looks about right to me. Keep in mind that perspective makes foreground objects seem larger relative to background objects. Even so, the frontmost carriage in that photo seem to be at least 2/3 the length of the locomotive without accounting for the perspective, whereas in R0Sch's picture the LEGO carriages look to be around 3/4 the length of the LEGO Crocodile Locomotive.

They have shown a willingness to delve into early 90s Castle stuff now with the upcoming Majisto GWP set, so they COULD certainly do throwback sets based on early 90s Space subthemes as recent as Ice Planet 2002. Just depends what they think will be well-received by LEGO Space fans, I suppose. M:Tron would be very cool to see, though I'm not sure how well LEGO could pull it off since they rarely include magnets in sets today, and those they've used recently tend to be much larger than those used in traditional M:Tron sets. An M:Tron set with just the color scheme but no magnets would be missing out on a huge part of what defined that theme (unlike later Space subthemes which featured magnets as just one gimmick among several, and could easily use a different type of connector or crane fixture in their place without feeling at odds with the subtheme's identity). Also, at least for the time being, Tr. Fluorescent Reddish Orange is retired and Tr. Fluorescent Green seems like it's headed that same direction, which would likely prove an issue for several of those early 90s Space themes unless AFOLs were willing to accept other transparent colors in their place (which I wouldn't particularly count on).

I dunno if I agree in in this case, mainly 'cuz if you double the number of cars on the Orient Express, that'd mean a VERY long and heavy train for just one locomotive (and presumably, only one motor) to pull. Moreover, the original Ideas project had only ONE carriage, so LEGO is already providing more rolling stock than the bare minimum that its supporters on that site indicated they'd be willing to accept. I suspect that LEGO would have considered that "doubling up" possibility with trains like the Horizon Express, since it was based on TGV trains that invariably have an engine at each end in real life. The same engine-at-both-ends approach could also work with the Maersk Train, since that arrangement isn't unheard of for freight trains, even if they're not purpose-built for it to the extent that TGVs are. And we KNOW they anticipated some buyers wanting to extend the Emerald Night, since they included stickers for multiple carriages despite only including one! But it still remains to be seen whether that possibility is acknowledged to a similar extent in the design of the Orient Express set. In any event, I know there are definitely at least some train fans who are willing to spend extra for a longer train! And if so, I'm hoping some of y'all will go the extra step and redesign the carriages to reflect some of the other types of rolling stock from either the historical Orient Express or the modern one that is planned to begin service in 2025. A baggage car would be a good start, since that appears to be one of the set's more conspicuous omissions.

Honestly, the locomotive from original Ideas submission would've still had some of the same major drawbacks of the big Hogwarts Express. While the wheels are in standard L-gauge, it was over 11 studs wide and 11 bricks tall, so it would be WAY out of proportion with most LEGO trains, including previous Creator Expert/Icons ones (and probably likely to run into clearance issues on many people's layouts). Moreover, its length — more than 48 studs for the locomotive alone — has me doubting that it could traverse standard R40 curves, which may be part of why LEGO opted for a much shorter locomotive in the final set. In general, the feedback from the Hogwarts Express might've given LEGO an even stronger incentive to prioritize compatibility with LEGO rails over grandeur or level of detail when deciding on the proportions and scale to aim for in their redesign. Moreover, the connecting rods on the original Ideas project didn't function like those in the final set, nor did they even convincingly appear to attach to the wheels or pistons as they should. And it still had a round-topped firebox (one of the common critiques of the final set in this thread), just one that flares outwards at the bottom like that of the Emerald Night instead of having a straight vertical side wall like the final set design. As such, I feel like if LEGO had stuck closer to that original design, the final set would end up disappointing just as many people, albeit perhaps not for the same reasons. All that said, I recognize that the small pictures we have so far don't give us entirely as much insight into the model's strengths and weaknesses as the press release photos and fan reviews ultimately will. It's entirely possible that the finished set still has practical drawbacks which are simply not as apparent as those of the massive version from the original proposal. It's also possible that the lifestyle photos from that catalog, with their emphasis on the carriages, simply don't show the locomotive from angles that would show details like the shape of the firebox in a more positive light. I guess we will find out for sure before too long! On a side note, looking at the official pics again, I noticed that the running boards are 2x16 helicopter rotor plates (part 62743). Interesting part choice! I imagine that slight bevel will look really nice from the front. It also makes nice use of inverted arch pieces to create a smooth transitional curve between the pistons and boiler, and also for the curve below the front of the smokebox (as in this year's Hogwarts Express set). I am still very curious how the plow on the front is constructed, since its shape is very visible in the catalog pics, but the lack of molded buffers seems to preclude a traditional front plow+buffer+coupling piece like that used on the front of the Emerald Night. A new mold, perhaps? Yeah, while some Friends sets are a larger scale than their nearest City counterparts (like a lot of the houses, food trucks, cabin cruisers, and buses), that's generally less due to the size of the figures than the Friends theme's emphasis on detailed interiors over action/vehicle play. I guess the subtle height difference could play a bigger role if you were scaling everything to real human height, but obviously that would be impractical for many types of model, especially those like L-gauge trains that have other factors limiting their scale!

Still surprised the shade of blue is so heavily disputed. To me it doesn't really look meaningfully different from the Dark Blue parts in lifestyle photos of other sets (including ones from that same catalog) like 42154 Ford GT or 76250 Wolverine's Adamantium Claws. Though I suppose LEGO taking the catalog down makes it harder to just flip between pages. In general, it seems like LEGO's photographers light these sets however brightly they need to to ensure that light-colored details don't get washed out and dark-colored details don't get lost in the shadows, which I think sometimes leads to people either misinterpreting the brick colors, or identifying them correctly but still perceiving them as brighter or more garish than dimly-lit MOC photos or renders using those same colors.

Yeah I definitely think LEGO made the right call by narrowing this compared to the original proposal. 8-wide is still fairly big for an official LEGO train set, but it's way less burdensome than if it had been 10 or 11 studs wide like the original project (especially since so many trains already extend beyond 6 studs wide with some of their protruding details like railings, driving rods, ladders, running boards, and door handles). But unfortunately you're right that it'd be too wide for layout features with a narrow clearance like the arched doors of the Train Engine Shed from 2003. I can only imagine how much work it'd be to retrofit a full layout built for 6-wide trains to fit wider cabs and carriages like in this set. Not sure how the carriages will handle curves at this length either, even though the length has definitely been reduced a great deal compared to the original Ideas proposal (which was around the same overall length with just ONE carriage as the final set is with two)! They seem to be around 46 studs long, which I believe is the longest of any L-gauge passenger coach in an official set. The Orient Express's height is thankfully much more forgiving — best I can tell, it's just one brick taller than the Emerald Night carriage and just one plate taller than the Railroad Club Car. So that should hopefully be less of an issue for people to account for in their layouts. For my part (as someone without a train layout), I'm glad they only reduced the carriages to 8-wide so that the corridors still seem reasonably accessible. That pleases me greatly compared to earlier trains like Horizon Express (which less than one stud width between the bathroom and the opposite wall — not nearly enough space for a minifig to pass through even by shimmying sideways). To me, that falls into the same sort of category as vehicles without opening doors or buildings without stairs/ladders/lifts — I can generally accept all that stuff in KFOL-oriented sets, but it's kind of bummer to encounter in a premium set aimed at TFOLs or AFOLs like this one. Moreover, it'd feel weird to me if the interior of a famous luxury train like the Orient Express were as sparsely furnished as that of other 6-wide train sets. Your comment about making more cars with two copies of the set definitely has me very eager to see what kind of custom carriages builders come out with for this set once it's released, since of course the real Orient Express would have had more than just two types of carriages! I'll be keen on seeing how your attempts at a more impressive locomotive turn out as well!

There are definitely some potentially useful recolors as well (for example, 92947 in Medium Nougat, 60478 in Dark Orange, 2x8 plates and 1x6 tiles in Dark Orange, etc), but yeah,, nothing that'd be enough to make any sets from this first wave particularly enticing as historic parts packs.

Not so much for me. If anything, I always associated Fright Knights with Dark Grey walls (since it was the first theme to make extensive use of arches and wall panels in that color), curved Bright Red roofs, and barred windows. If anything, the Black and Dark Red walls and parapets remind me more of Vladek's castle and outposts from the 2005 Knights' Kingdom sets.

Fair (especially at larger scales, but keep in mind that there is a lot of space in between "fully brick-built creature" and "fully molded creature". For example, several of the 4+ Ninjago dragons use this piece for their torsos, which is similar in shape/size to some of the pre-molded dragon and dinosaur torsos we've seen, but studded on top so the dragon's back and saddle can be fully brick-built (depending on the desired shapes and textures). Those dragons also share leg molds with Jurassic World dinosaurs, and the one from this set also shares its wing and tail pieces with molded creatures in other themes — so the back/spine is the ONLY part that's fully brick-built! Now, obviously, a new version of Majisto's dragon in particular would create its own set of challenges, since the shaping was so specific — I'm not sure any current creature torso molds would adequately resemble that sort of curvy, S-shaped posture. And especially for 18+ sets, I don't think it'd be fitting for a new design to rely too heavily on set-specific molds, so a brick-built torso might be the best option for that, even if it means increasing the dragon's size compared to the original. But I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a future Castle dragon (even a classic-inspired one) repurposing existing dinosaur leg/arm molds. In any case, none of this is anything I'd expect for this GWP. As @Classic_Spaceman points out the original set didn't even include a dragon (and wouldn't likely leave room to add a whole lot of extra stuff beyond the workshop itself at a GWP budget, given how big the original design already was). Though I suppose if LEGO wanted to have a bit of fun with it, they could perhaps include the new Ninjago baby dragon mold with different colors and printing suggesting a hypothetical "baby" version of the classic dragon.

Whoa, so honored to have placed 3rd in this contest! I'm very glad that my entry was so well-received, especially within a field of so many other outstanding entries! The contest definitely inspired a LOT of people, even among landlubbers like me without a whole lot of experience building LEGO Pirates MOCs. Congrats to the 1st, 2nd, and mini set category winners as well! You all definitely earned it!

Nifty looking set! The raft, treasure cave, and minifigure somewhat remind me of 6248 Volcano Island from my childhood, although this cave opts for a shark motif instead of a skull motif, and doesn't appear to have any sort of erupting volcano function. Bit of a shame there, since the spring brick 77834 could potentially be a fitting replacement for the spring bricks used for the original function! The red and black color scheme of the "fort" is a big departure from anything we'd seen in classic sets, but it does seem appropriately ominous for a pirate lair. And while the actual fort structure doesn't seem too impressive from this angle, I'm eager to get a better look at it once it's officially announced and/or when reviews start coming out. Certainly the footprint seems "deep" enough from front to back for there to be fun details that aren't visible from this angle, like maybe a dock for the raft or some supply barrels. Naturally, there are some aspects of the Creator design language brick-built sail and pirate flag that won't fit in too well with sets like Barracuda Bay and Eldorado Fortress, but they are a small enough aspect of this set's appearance that they could easily be replaced or removed entirely if you wanted to use these models together in a shared layout.

I mean, just two years ago, Ninjago introduced a range of "Epic Battle Sets" priced at $10, with a weapon pack unique to those sets (and appearing in a different color in each of them). If anything, I'd say some of those parts seem LARGER than some of those from the LotR weapon pack — after all, Ninjago is a theme where exaggerated, oversized weapons are just as customary as exaggerated, oversized vehicles! Likewise, "accessory packs" created for licensed themes appear relatively often in $10 and $20 sets — a good example is the Spider-Man web pack. I believe some of them have even shown up in "magazine gift" sets. After all, a big part of why LEGO even produces parts like these off of a single mold and puts them in sets as a pre-packaged bundle is to lower the cost of including several of them in one set, same as was the case with "tool wheels" and other accessories that came on sprues back in the 80s and 90s!

While I agree that would probably be best for consistency's sake, I also wouldn't mind if a retro-inspired Space Police set also included a "Space Police Chief" minifig, like the ones from the 1992–1993 and 2009–2010 incarnations. It wouldn't even need different printing, necessarily — just a pair of epaulets in addition to the standard air tank to indicate a higher rank. I'm also not so sure whether these sorts of near-exact recreations of older torso and face prints should remain the norm for all "throwback" Space sets going forward. Certainly, for a lot of the 80s Space factions, that minimalism is a relatively intrinsic part of their appeal. But with some of the 90s Space factions, I feel like questions start to emerge about which details are still in line with modern standards of quality, and which speak to the conventions and limitations of their time: For example, should newly-released Space Police 2 torsos stick to using dotted lines to represent cables and zippers and a rectangular drop shadow to simulate depth for their police radios (and showing the minifig's yellow skin through the contour lines of their headsets)? Or would it be better to print those details with more realistic outlines and shading? Also, is it still best for those spacesuits' main torso colors to be printed on a white torso, or would it be more appropriate to use green as the base color so that it realistically wraps around the back and sides of the torso? And since the face prints from this subtheme had printed bangs, should actual hair/wig pieces be provided as well, so the officers don't look like their bangs are all that's left of their hair when they remove their helmets? Might it even be reasonable to include NEW faces for this faction, so that they look less like clones with the same hair color, hairstyle, and eyebrow shape? After all, all the later Space factions with this level of facial detail did individualize their crew members more — though at that time, that often meant limiting the largest sets to three minifigs each to avoid repetition! Even in the case of M:Tron rescuers or Blacktron 2 spies (whose torso and face graphics were limited to a simple logo and classic smile, like the Classic Space astronauts), is it really best to stick with the unprinted "black Speedo over white tights" look for their lower bodies? Or would fans be willing to accept additional details such as printed belts or dual-molded boots (like those of the Minifigures Series 22 Space Police Guy) that feel more convincing as part of a futuristic spacesuit? I think these sorts of questions are worth considering if and when LEGO gets around to making "throwback sets" based on Space themes with minifigs that aren't primarily remembered for their candy-colored simplicity like the Classic Space or Futuron astronauts are. While I know there are a number of old-school AFOLs who still prefer the old-school simplicity even when it did mean sacrificing realism, there are also a lot of us out there who appreciate seeing new versions of older minifigures (like the recent Lion Knights and Black Falcons) specifically because it allows for an improved level of detail.

Agreed. Plus, sharing links to your contest entries on social media also helps to promote the contest in general, which is a great way to either bring new users to the forum for future contests and/or to show inactive users that this place is still alive and kicking! It's only a problem if you encourage people to join the forum JUST to vote for your entries (though of course, that doesn't answer the question of what to do if somebody's fans on social media decide to do so on their own initiative, which is a legitimate debate to have). Yeah, 10 posts sounds like it would be a reasonable minimum requirement. I feel like I've seen similar rules in contests on other forums.

Aw neat! It looks like a lot of the non-minifig-scale models are the same ones as from some of the old LEGO World Shows — it's great to know that they've been preserved so well over the decades and/or faithfully recreated! Some of their details that might not have been feasible at minifig scale back in the 80s and 90s (like the caged chicken, assorted fruits/veggies, and various furniture/utensils) could be great inspiration for stuff to include in modern LEGO Pirates MOCs. Thanks for sharing these photos!

On another note, something interesting I learned semi-recently is that a handful of otherwise NA-exclusive sets from the 90s DID get limited/promotional releases in Europe. For example, the German LEGO World Club magazines from 1997 had a reward program that let club members collect points for stuff like entering building contests, submitting their own creations, or visiting LEGO touring shows, and those who collected 41 points or more were eligible to receive for an "exclusive" set such as 2152 and 2161 from the otherwise NA-exclusive Roboforce and Aquaraiders subthemes. It's possible that some other European countries might have had similar offers or promotions for sets that weren't sold at retail in those countries.

I'm not sure about the exact reasons, but I suspect it may have had to do with LEGO already having a lot more market share in Europe than in North America back in the 80s and 90s. Perhaps they felt that if American retail stores had a larger "LEGO aisle" with more products, the brand would be able to draw more attention and become more of a household name? Sort of like how in more recent years they have developed several products specifically aimed at boosting their market share in China and east Asia (although unlike those, the American-exclusive products of the 80s and 90s were generally part of established themes, rather than new ones more overtly geared towards American culture and traditions). This could also definitely be a factor. Mega Bloks (based in Canada) and Tyco (based in the United States) definitely had a big presence in toy stores by the time of my early KFOL years in the 90s. Perhaps LEGO felt that having more official LEGO-branded products to choose from would help ensure they would seem like the best choice to kids/parents browsing the building toy aisle. Certainly, having a lot of options to choose from is a known strategy for creating interest in your products, even if other brands are cheaper. For example, if I were a kid in the yogurt aisle at a grocery store, I'd flock to the brand that had more yogurt flavors, even if the store brand was more affordable.

Some comics and ads very specifically presented Futuron as "what Classic Space develops into in the future". For instance, these two comic pages present "Captain Black" and his robot sidekick "Roger" from set 6702 (both of whom had starred in previous comic pages that ran as LEGO Space ads) getting sucked through a "time tunnel" into the far future. They meet a Futuron astronaut named Major White who has never heard of Captain Black's birth planet, "Terra" (the Classic Space astronauts' name for Earth). And according to The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks by Daniel Konstanski, this was also more or less the perspective the designers took when developing the Futuron sets! They thought of Futuron as an high-tech extraterrestrial civilization that the remote outposts of the Classic Space explorers would ultimately develop into, complete with its own planetary and interplanetary transportation networks. In fact, apparently one of their reasons for steadily adding models with a White and Tr. Blue color scheme into Classic Space after its first few years was to help connect the two eras more smoothly. Obviously, that's not any sort of mandate about how you should interpret or play with the sets, though — after all, even back in the 80s, a lot of kids would naturally want to use some of their earlier Classic Space sets together with the new Futuron sets to create stories in a shared futuristic setting, and I certainly don't think designers expected all those kids to invoke time travel in ALL of those stories! Moreover, prior to the 2000s, LEGO themes' story details (character names, faction names, and even which characters were allies or enemies) would often vary wildly between different countries/regions or different publications/ad campaigns. So there's no telling whether there are Futuron comics, stories, or marketing blurbs I haven't seen yet that present wildly different "official" story details for those sets than anything I've seen so far.

I think the trickiest thing sometimes is coming up with urban buildings and scenery that will have fun potential for pirate/nautical stories on their own, especially since the further inland you go, the further you get from models that can interact directly with boats and ships, like docks, shipyards, and lighthouses. Of the sorts of buildings previously seen in sets, taverns are an obvious staple of the pirate genre, jails are great for escape scenes, and colonial treasuries are an obvious target for pirate raids (since banking hadn't really caught on in the Americas at this point). Military forts and outposts also naturally serve as a base of operations for the pirates' law-abiding pursuers. But too much repetition of that same subject matter in a unified town display could get kinda boring, which is exactly why I didn't want this model's titular "lock-up" to be just a jail like the one in Eldorado Fortress, but smaller. Outside of those options, an inn is also always a possibility, since this tavern is too small to include one. Market stalls are naturally also a good fit for any sort of historic setting (or even small-town modern settings). A smithy could be used to supply both pirates and soldiers with weapons, and a courthouse would create an opportunity for piracy trial scenes. And I suppose nearby, you could also build a public square with a stocks and pillory or even a gallows or gibbet, if you don't mind going in much darker and more morbid direction than LEGO would ever be likely to do in a set). It would certainly be nice to — especially if I end up getting Eldorado Fortress, since then I could really start exploring possibilities for expanding it into a larger layout! But I'll admit, it isn't something I have planned for the immediate future, since my creative attention is admittedly divided between lots of different themes (and also since I still have to be selective about what LEGO stuff I have the money and space for). I don't have an account on Rebrickable and don't feel much like making one just for this MOC, but I suppose once the contest is over I could take some time to share the model file to my Google drive for other stud.io users to download and refer to, or perhaps even try making instructions on stud.io for the first time. But for right now, I don't want to upload any new photos or references for this model just yet, since I don't really want to think about whether/how that might influence people's voting decisions. Thanks! It's definitely been an exciting surprise to see how popular/well-received this MOC has been in the contest, especially considering how many other extremely impressive entries it's competing against. Truth be told, I was trying not to pay close attention to what votes have been cast — both to avoid influencing my own votes based on what other people were supporting and because I was a little afraid of getting too invested in how my model was doing, so I didn't realize that it was doing quite so well until I saw the voting update on the front page. So even after all the flattering comments, that came as kind of a shock to me! This certainly has me thinking more about spending more time on Pirates MOCs outside the contest, since it seems my lack of historical and nautical know-how is less of a liability for me than I thought it would be. And it's especially great to hear that it's inspired you to try coming up with your own remake of this set! Thanks for your kind words and for taking the time to comment! Oh, neat! I explored the possibility of adding a separate back section for my version of the tavern to add stuff like a staircase, a bridge between the two rooftops, and potentially even a full hearth for cooking hot meals. But those efforts always ended up feeling like too much of a departure from the original set for my tastes, hence why I opted for the smaller stew-stove in the finished contest entry. But once the contest is over I may go back and take another shot at adding to or improving the tavern. I imagine I might fare quite a bit better with the benefit of all this feedback, a fresh perspective, and the lack of a strict deadline!

There were several in the 2000s, though they usually had a 12+/14+/16+ age marking instead of 18+. The 18+ markings are something LEGO has only recently rolled out due to finding that a lot of adult buyers were more likely to interpret 12+ or 14+ on a box as "for teens" instead of "for adults", even though adults were the primary intended audience for many of those sets. Most of the earliest adult-targeted sets were either licensed (like the Star Wars UCS sets) or generic/non-themed, but the success of those sets eventually gave LEGO the confidence to start making adult-targeted exclusives for some of their other themes beginning in 2009 (and continuing in the early 2010s). So while adult-targeted "themed" sets like Medieval Market Village and Imperial Flagship are arguably still "relatively recent", they've been around much longer than the sort of overtly retro-inspired sets LEGO has only gotten into within the past few years like Barracuda Bay, Lion Knights' Castle, Galaxy Explorer, and Eldorado Fortress.

I interpreted them as metal, mainly because the use of black clips to attach them to the walls remind me of metal bolts or hangers of some kind. But I suppose they could also be wood like the dock, or assembled from multiple materials.

Honestly it'd be pretty dang exciting to me even if I didn't love the design, since it's the first time a non-licensed sci-fi theme has gotten an adult targeted exclusive like this! In the past, various other KFOL-targeted themes (Castle/Kingdoms, Pirates, Monster Fighters, Ninjago, etc. have gotten teen/adult-targeted exclusives to tie in with them. But we never really got that sort of thing for space themes of that time period like Mars Mission, Space Police 3, Alien Conquest, or Galaxy Squad. Nor even for action themes with high-tech/futuristic leanings like Exo-Force, Agents/Ultra Agents, Power Miners, or Atlantis. Admittedly, I doubt an adult-targeted spin-off for most of those themes would be anywhere near as popular as either the adult-targeted spin-off sets we did get, or the more "retro" adult-targeted sets of recent years like the Galaxy Explorer. After all, fans of classic sci-fi sets and themes (at least here on Eurobricks) often weren't at all keen on their 21st century counterparts, and I doubt those frustrations with their very modern color schemes and design language would subside just by making them bigger and more detailed. But it's still very satisfying to know that LEGO has now both recognized the market for big exclusives like this among old-school LEGO Space fans, and figured out how to make modern adult-targeted sets that appeal to that audience. Makes me eager to see what other retro-inspired Space sets they come up with in the future!

Out of curiosity, what about the aliens with brick-built heads from Idea Book 6000 (identified as the "Zark Empire" in the 1980s Captain Indigo comics from LEGO Bricks & Pieces Magazine)? While they did not appear in sets, they were still "official" Classic Space era designs. And although they didn't use unique head molds, they didn't use traditional minifig heads, either! Alien characters like these (and those portrayed in other LEGO Space promotional media of the Classic Space era, like "De LEGO Krant" or the Jim Spaceborn comics) are one of the main reasons that I tend to disagree about aliens being entirely incompatible with Classic Space. Even if LEGO didn't intend for alien encounters to be a normal or commonplace occurrence for Classic Space astronauts, publications like these suggest that they weren't in any way opposed to that possibility. On another note, what about the Minifigures Series 22 Space Creature? That one uses a traditional minifig head, but also a headgear piece to represent additional alien features like stalk-eyes (much like how several fantasy-themed collectable minifigs have used headgear pieces to add non-human features like horns or pointed ears). Is that closer to something you'd be comfortable with, or do you have the same amount of dislike for it as for more specialized head molds?

Thanks so much! I don't feel like I can take much credit for the exposed red brick, though, since that's a technique from Eldorado Fortress that I directly copied/imitated for this model — the only creativity or decision-making on my part was figuring out where to put the exposed bricks and what size/shape they should be so they'd feel relatively consistent/balanced but still seem "random" enough to seem like natural wear and tear. Still, I'm glad glad you think i did a good job with that, and with the hidden treasure feature! Yeah, I've seen that one before and it looks really nice, but I didn't want to use that here both because that approach usually has the life preservers attached to the "trunk" by a single stud on each side, and also usually requires way more "finger leaf" pieces per tree (for comparison, the version nicely demonstrated on this page calls for 20 finger leaf pieces, while my approach only needs 20 pieces for the entire tree). Neither of those aspects of the design felt to me like a good fit for MOCs that are supposed to be relatively "set-like". I suppose that nowadays, the first issue could be easily addressed by attaching the life preservers to the trunk with part 68888 instead of part 4733. But I'm still glad i came up with a design with a much lower piece count, especially so it could be less expensive and parts-intensive for builds that require multiple palm trees! You flatter me! Honestly if I were even in a position for LEGO to consider making this a set, I hope they wouldn't keep it exactly as-is, because I'm sure some of their designers could do a great job coming up with solutions to things I struggled with — like giving the minifigs a convincing way to access the tavern rooftop, or figuring out a way for the model to combine with the modular segments of Eldorado Fortress without leaving a huge vertical gap between the walkways. Just earlier today I finally took the time to look through the other contest entries and submit my vote, and in some of those entries I've definitely seen building techniques that I wish I had thought of when working on mine! That said, I appreciate that my entry is the sort of thing you think would make a good set, because that's definitely what I was aiming for! I've always liked to imagine that the gate connects to a larger port town, and in the future I would definitely like to experiment with what sorts of models a town like that might include! You're also very correct that the tavern's design isn't at all secure with so many big openings! For the purposes of this MOC, I like to imagine that the tavern keeper takes each day's earnings home with her when she closes up to make it less tempting for pirates to rob the place (and the china and silverware cabinets would probably have their own locks). That said, a real tavern like this would probably have shutters of some kind attached to the archways on the front and left side so that they can be closed up not just for security at the end of the day, but also for any time a particularly nasty storm blows through (while still allowing plenty of light and ventilation to come in when the weather is warmer). These sorts of compromises are often necessary when designing a building this compact, even if it isn't based on a specific classic set. I've learned from experience that a minifig-scale model of any sort of shop, house, or apartment can end up extremely ambitious in size and detail if you let yourself get too fixated on including every feature that a practical real-life version of it would need to have. As far as sets are concerned, 21325 comes reasonably close to achieving that level of realism with minimal compromises — but even at such a large size, its occupants have to make do with an extremely austere lifestyle (especially when hunting and vegetable gardening become less productive in the cold winter months, since they lack the pantries, larders, and cellars of the medieval nobility). That said, I would love to see your take on a bigger, more "realistic" modular-building sized take on this set someday! As challenging as it might be, I'm sure it will make for an extremely impressive build if you manage to pull it off. And that sort of thing will naturally be much more achievable outside the constraints of a contest deadline!