Posted May 21, 20213 yr There's been some discussion in the topic about 40516 regarding overt, intentional representation of Christian symbols, themes, and stories in Lego sets. We all know that Lego has a policy against overt, intentional representation of religious places and symbols, since it is their intent to be welcoming and inoffensive to all, and some people can find some religious exclusionary and offensive. We also know well that Lego does not shy away from depicting things tied to Christian holidays in a secular context, such as the Easter bunny or a Christmas tree. The intent of this topic is emphatically not to talk about any of those questions. This is meant to be a wishlist topic, just like wishlist topics in the Star Wars forum. After all, for many years it was unthinkable that Lego would make Star Wars sets. For many years nobody would have expected Lego to make a set for Pride Month either. For the record, I think 40516 is a great set and I'm glad they made it! But if Star Wars fans can have fun dreaming of sets that will probably never get made, and if LGBTQ folk can dream of representation in the form of 40516 and nods to everyday LGBTQ relationships in City and Friends sets, maybe folks who think it would be pretty neat to have an official Lego set of a Bible story can have fun dreaming of Bible stories as Lego sets. I know that several other brick companies, Cobi among them, make Bible sets, but, well, they're not Lego and we're all here for genuine Lego, right? So I haven't actually bought any Bible sets from a competing brand and I don't plan to. In answer to @Alexandrina's question in the 40516 topic, here are some Bible stories off the top of my head that would make pretty good Lego sets. Some of them are more well known than others, some might even be a little obscure. But hey, if Lego can make repeat sets based off of Star Wars vehicles with very little screen time, maybe the hypothetical Lego that made Bible sets could make these stories too. I've bolded the stories that I think would make the best sets for a "first wave" of Bible stories. Adam and Eve (clothed) in the Garden of Eden Noah's Ark the Tower of Babel Moses and the burning bush the parting of the Red Sea, with Moses and some civilians and a couple of Egyptian chariots David and Goliath Daniel in the lions' den the Nativity the Sermon on the Mount the baptism of Christ Peter's fishing boat / Jesus walking on water / Jesus calming the tempest / Peter going fishing after the crucifixion / "feed my sheep" the Resurrection (as @Alexandrina noted, the Crucifixion might be too grim for a set) the Good Samaritan the Parables: the Talents, the Ten Virgins, etc the Pool of Bethesda the leper let down through the roof / the ten lepers Paul on the road to Damascus the Last Supper Various Christian denominations also have many distinct stories and landmarks from their own histories that would make great sets. There are other stories, of course, but the list is already getting long, and I'm not as familiar with Old Testament stories as with New Testament stories. There's plenty in the Bible for LGBTQ folk not to like (there's a whole lot I can't stand, and I don't identify as LGBTQ), but I think the stories above are uplifting and affirming. Except for the apparent cisheteronormativity of the Adam and Eve story I don't think there's anything you (@Alexandrina) wouldn't like about these stories if you read them for the sake of familiarity with cultural references, anyway. (I'm not trying to say you "should" read them, I'm just addressing this to you because you were the one to ask about Bible stories in the 40516 topic.) So, what might anybody like to see along these lines? I'll end by giving detailed descriptions of two proposed sets, in the style of the Star Wars wishlist topics. Actually, I'll put them in the next post, since the return key seems not to work anymore in the text entry box for this post.
May 21, 20213 yr This is so based. I think the most likely Bible set would be an ART version of "The Last Supper" painting. The one I'd want the most is a Revelations set with a Satan dragon, the Horsemen and the army of the Lord
May 21, 20213 yr Thanks for tagging me in this! It's genuinely an interesting thing for me to see - and tbh I would probably buy such sets for the parts alone (ancient history minifigures? Yes please!)
May 21, 20213 yr Author Noah's Ark USD RRP of $100, $130, or $200 Parts count of 1200, 1700, or 2500 Minifigures (4) - Noah, Noah's wife, two children (not biblically accurate, but whatever) Animals - male and female lion from City, two small white birds, rat, cat, two horses, and a goat!!!!! (Two goats, actually.) $100 and $130 price points are brick-built ships similar to the Creator pirate ship (set 31109) but without the sails $200 price point uses prefab hulls for a larger ship about the size of the Imperial Flagship (set 10210) Why should anybody buy this set if they're not interested in the Bible stories theme? It's a big ship! It has lots of animals! It has a goat!!!!! Peter's Fishing Boat USD RRP of $40 or $50 Parts count of 400-600 Minifigures (4-6) - Peter, Andrew, Jesus, maybe Peter's wife, maybe some townspeople or other fishermen Animals - fish!!!!! Build - Fishing boat is 8-10 studs wide, 25-30 studs long. Has one central mast with a canvas sail, maybe some oars. Has a mesh net, maybe a net launcher as a play feature, though that would be anachronistic. Side build is a little bit of shore, sand, or beach with a campfire. Represents several New Testament scenes: the calling of Peter, a sermon shortly after that, Jesus calming the tempest, Jesus telling Peter to "feed my sheep" after his resurrection. Why should anybody buy this set if they're not interested in the Bible stories theme? It's a small/medium-sized ship that can be used for Viking raids and any number of other historical builds. The Good Samaritan USD RRP of $30 or $50 Parts count of 300-500 Minifigures - up to 6, in descending order of priority the Good Samaritan, the Injured Man, the Innkeeper, the Robber, the Priest, the Levite Animals - one horse, maybe also a rat Build - An area of rocky terrain with desert plants. A cave like the one in the 2020 Luke's Landspeeder model, for the Robber to hide in. A small inn similar to the series of $30 Jedi huts of the past few years (Yoda, Luke, Obi-Wan). Why should anybody buy this set if they're not interested in the Bible stories theme? It's a good way to get historical/peasant minifigures and a horse. The inn might not fit in an English Middle Ages-style Castle layout, but it would fit in a layout based on a Star Wars desert planet like Tatooine, Jakku, or Jedha (especially Jedha). The simple bricks, slopes, and wedge plates used in the rocky terrain could easily be used in any other terrain build.
May 21, 20213 yr 10 minutes ago, Robert8 said: I'm pretty sure @Roebuck would love a set based on Noah's Ark! I think he would possibly die of excitement.
May 21, 20213 yr Author @Alexandrina - There was something you said in the other thread that I wanted to respond to, but I thought it would have been a bit off topic there, and it would be off topic here too. Can I send you a DM?
May 21, 20213 yr So this theme would never exist, but even if it did, its a shame the crucifixion of Christ couldn't be a set, seeing as the most important thing in all of the religion is Jesus willingly dying to free humanity from sin, but the way he died is arguably one of the most cruel, slow, painful and brutal ways to go, but seeing as they'll never make this theme: The Crucifixion of Christ-$40 Comes with 3 cross builds Figures-Jesus, Mother Mary, John(the disciple), 2 Roman guards, Penitent Thief, Impenitent Thief
May 21, 20213 yr Hello, I made one build inspired by a paint of Daniel in the lions den. Hoping to make more on the future. Would be great to see more of these Bible stories, I remembered a builder made long time ago a lot of builds related.
May 21, 20213 yr Author Ooh, all those lions. Do I see four lionesses in there? Yum. I still need to get the Safari Off Roader. Set, meet budget. Budget, meet set ....
May 21, 20213 yr Author 4 hours ago, 2lazeetomakeaname said: This is so based. I think the most likely Bible set would be an ART version of "The Last Supper" painting. The one I'd want the most is a Revelations set with a Satan dragon, the Horsemen and the army of the Lord A mosaic based on Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" could work pretty well. Like all the mosaics, it would be really useful for making all sorts of other pictures even if you didn't like the main one on the box. A set from Revelation / Apocalypse with a Satan dragon, the Four Horsemen, and the army of the Lord ... well, I think that would be a long shot and very unlikely even in the hypothetical case of Lego making Bible sets. The iconography isn't nearly as standardized for Revelation as it is for things like Noah's Ark, and there are already plenty of dragons in Ninjago. A set like that would probably end up being full of exaggerated neon colors and bizarre vehicles and armor ... I'm imagining something like Nexo Knights, I guess. But then again, Monkie Kid is pretty far removed from Journey to the West, so there's precedent for a creative interpretation of a religiously-inspired folktale/legend that turns it into a bunch of mechs and other sci-fi action/adventure vehicles! Edited May 21, 20213 yr by icm
May 21, 20213 yr I do not believe LEGO would ever make full-on Biblical sets, I'd say the most likely thing they could do is a regular Church within the LEGO City line. LEGO Churches would still be cool, but man, getting sets based on actual Biblical sets would be a dream come true. But since we can all dream, I'd love if we could have gotten an Israeli soldiers battle pack or a set about the conquest of Jericho :-).
May 21, 20213 yr Author Jericho Fortress Siege USD RRP $100 - $120 Part count 1200 - 1500 Minifigs - three Jericho solders, Joshua, three or four Israelites with trumpets. One Jericho woman (in the story, Rahab). Animals - none. Build - large four-walled fortress with collapsing walls. One of the corners of the fortress has a little house built on top with a removable window, and a small pulley with string. It can raise and lower a crate with a hook. Box picture shows the Jericho woman (Rahab) leaning out the window as an Israelite soldier (spy) is suspended in a crate. Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho! Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down! Why would anyone who's not interested in the theme buy this set? It's a big castle with civilians and soldiers. It doesn't have to be Jericho if you don't want it to be.
May 21, 20213 yr I would love Bible sets, and I'm not even a Christian! I was just reading about the Tower of Babel, and my impression was that God destroyed it, but the Wikipedia page says the Book of Genesis actually says no such thing. The Tower of Babel was possibly inspired by Babylonian ziggurats, which along with the Wonders of the Ancient World would make excellent adult sets imo.
May 21, 20213 yr Alright, so just to clear it out of the way, I consider myself a lapsed Catholic (raised in the faith, flirt with the idea of it every now and then) and am much more interested in the history of the faith and why things are the way they are. Like what is the context of this aspect of why people believe this part vs this, or why some consider this right and others wrong, etc. etc. We can talk ad nauseam about Catholic church good vs bad (same with any religion or sect or what have you). But oh man I would love to see St. Peter's Square and the surrounding Vatican City as an Architecture set. As I would love to see lots of other places. I think LEGO making minifigure based sets of Bible stories or Hindu stories or anything else is out of the question. I'll give my thoughts later on ones I do wish LEGO would make. But there is some great architecture LEGO is sorely missing that people would buy, be they (the buyers) religious or not. Architecture: Honestly everything in Vatican City. I admit I might be biased, but it is one of the most beautiful places I've seen. You have the Apostolic Palace, the Museums, the Obelisk, etc,) Western Wall: yes, it's "just a wall" but they could really do some beautiful techniques to make the bricks of the wall. Mecca/Ka'aba: A microscale Mecca and Ka'aba would look fantastic. Minifigure scale would be awful, but you could easily make this look good with great techniques for circular builds. But the point of this topic is Bible stories, which for most people mean the Judeo-Christian Tanakh/Old Testament and Christian New Testament. So below are stories I think LEGO would produce (if they ever did). Noah's Ark. Be it 4+ or something like a UCS, this one is a shoo-in. Everyone knows it. It's easy to adapt. David and Goliath: Probably a smaller set, but it has David with either kid or the teen legs and Goliath with something similar to the Sheriff Woody legs or even a body like Garmadon. Also one of my favorite stories of the OT. Maybe throw in a soldier on each side for safety. Jonah and the Whale: Include Jonah, a boat, and a whale with enough ability to "swallow" the boat. Maccabees (although people might say "No way!" to this one) and allows a more "fighter" ability/pack people can buy. For the New Testament, honestly, I don't know how I would feel if I saw a set about the Crucifixion. Maybe I'm a hypcrite where I say :It's ok to show this, but that is just bad." Edited May 21, 20213 yr by KotZ
May 21, 20213 yr The TLG family itself belongs to a fringe Christian cult, so if they'd ever (and they wont!) make overt religious sets it would be in that direction. And that's pretty far from what's being talked about here Rather silly thread, I think. If you want your fantasy to come true, just MOC it And most christian symbols are of pagan origin anyway. The tree and the bunny are secular symbols and a part of Danish/western culture way beyond any religious meaning Last time TLG did do something straight up christian was the church from the 6000 IDEA Book from 1980 and Noah's Ark from 226 in 1982 Edited May 21, 20213 yr by 1974
May 21, 20213 yr Noah’s Ark for the animals David vs Goliath for the minifigures (bigfig?) and new weapon pieces Jericho for the soldier minifigures, their new helmet pieces, and collapsible city walls Samson and Delilah for the minifigures, the new ‘weapon’ part (the jawbone of a donkey) and the collapsible Temple of Dagon The Witch of Endor for the minifigures As a yellowist, all the figures would be yellow, not fleshy A bit OT: Not Biblical but also unlikely for its religious/religiously named buildings, an Architecture set of Oxford’s skyline with buildings such as Christ Church, St Mary’s and Magdalen College. Edited May 21, 20213 yr by AmperZand
May 21, 20213 yr 6 hours ago, icm said: @Alexandrina - There was something you said in the other thread that I wanted to respond to, but I thought it would have been a bit off topic there, and it would be off topic here too. Can I send you a DM? Go for it
May 21, 20213 yr Nativity - which I am trying to MOC but is really expensive to get animals and suitable figures. Noah's Ark - for the animals. I'm not interested in the rest of the set unless the minifigs were Castle suitable for civilians. Jericho - for the buildings and soldiers. Some good Revelations end of days sets - for cool demons, angels and the Four Horsemen. Edit - Not a bible story but would love a Winter Village church. Edited May 21, 20213 yr by timemail
May 21, 20213 yr @1974, The image you posted isn’t appearing. It just says ‘Cookies must be enabled’.
May 21, 20213 yr Author 6 hours ago, 1974 said: Rather silly thread, I think. If you want your fantasy to come true, just MOC it Agreed on both points! But the same goes for most threads on Eurobricks :) Mostly I just thought some of the feelings in the 40516 thread could stand to have a more productive outlet, i.e. wishlisting for hypothetical future sets instead of just objecting to a current set. Hence this thread ... but that's getting a bit off-topic. @AmperZand, @KotZ: David vs Goliath USD RRP $25 Parts count - 170 Minifigures - David Bigfigs - Goliath Build: built-up elaborate helmet and spear for Goliath, some sort of Ninjago-esque spinny thing for David to represent spinning the sling, a small cart or terrain build (and, @williejm, a small helicopter!) Skylines and architecture - There's so much excellent religious architecture of all kinds around the world, but that is a bit off-topic. Still, as long as we're dreaming ....
May 21, 20213 yr 10 minutes ago, williejm said: None of these sets have helicopters, people should be more realistic! What an outrage!
May 21, 20213 yr 12 hours ago, Robert8 said: I'm pretty sure @Roebuck would love a set based on Noah's Ark! If TLG made a Noah’s Ark set that included two of each of a slew of different animals, I think a lot of us in EB would die of excitement. It would hardly matter whether we were Christian or not.
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