[CATC] The Great Filter

[Mandalorianknight]

Alright, so if my last entry was attempting to be something that would work well as a lego theme, this one's trying to be as "rule of cool" as possible, even though Lego might not be keen on making it.

Here's the story:
In the far future, mankind has spread to the cosmos. Colonizing and exploring the solar system, humanity turns it's focus to traveling to another one, sending out expeditions to nearby systems. But as their expeditions fail to report in, Earth has it's first case of extraterrestrial contact. A ship crashes on earth, with it's alien occupants able to give off one warning before dying: The reason humanity hasn't encountered aliens is because something kills off civilizations before they can spread to other systems. Humans of the past had called this the theory of the Great Filter. These aliens called them the Final End, a force of shadow beings that decimated any species that dared to explore the universe. The Final End is what's been destroying mankind's expeditions, and now it's coming for humanity. Quickly retrofitting their exploration vehicles for military service, Earth creates the GDF: Galactic Defense Force, and human scientists use a combination of cybernetics and genetic alterations to create super-soldiers: the Legionnaires. Unfathomably strong, impossibly fast, and able to survive in space, the Legionnaires are the final hope for a humanity beset upon by the Final End. But will even their strength be enough to stop it?

GDF vs Finality Beings battle pack: $9.99, 80 pieces: (Not including figures and single-piece accessories, but including the Legionnaire's gun and jetpack, as well as the Winged Finality's wings)

Fight back to save humanity with the GDF vs finality swarm battle pack! Build the GDF hoverbike and fire it's stud shooters at the Final End's shadow beings. But watch out for the razor edges of the Winged Finality's wings, and the powerful blasts of the aliens. Defeat the Finality swarm to save humanity!

Here's a look at the GDF faction. You can see the hoverbike here. I hate how oversized lego makes speeders and bikes, so the 80pc limit was actually nice here, as it meant the bike I designed was appropriately small. The flying gentleman on the right is a Legionnaire.

And here are two of the Shadow Beings from the Final End faction. The one on the right is a basic finality being, whereas the one on the left has a set of large, articulated wings.

And an image of the figures without back attachments. Who knew that the back of Black Panther's armor looked so much like a bug carapace, or that the back of the 2013 war machine armor looked so cool! L-R, the four figures are: Winged Finality (ironically with the wings removed for this image), finality being, GDF legionnaire, and GDF soldier.

 

Aurek-7 Legionnaire Transport: $99.99, 1100 pieces:

Watch out! The Final End is attacking with it's Finality being and shadow beetle. Fly into action with the Legionnaire Transport to save the day! Fire the stud shooters on the transport to keep the Finality at bay, then launch the 6 Legionnaires from their firing pods. The fate of humanity rests in your hands!

Here's a look at the main feature of the ship: the Legionnaire pods. Each pod fits one legionnaire. The in-universe thing here is that this used to be some sort of cargo transport that's been retrofitted to fire Legionnaires at besieged planets. The transport would enter the orbit of a planet, then the Legionnaires would launch out of the pods to different cities or colonies. There's sort of an interesting power-level thing here, where a Finality alien is stronger than your average human soldier, but a single Legionnaire can fight off a swarm of Finality beings.

Here's a look at the two-seater cockpit. There's a pilot seat and gunner seat, and room for weapons at the back. Both pilots are standard GDF soldiers.

Here's a look at the back and other side, which is identical. I like my greebling here.

These are our Final End forces here. A standard Finality being, and some sort of beetle-thing that was originally going to have larger wings, but I reached the part limit. I kind of like the stubby wings now, though, they've grown on me.

And here's a look at the set with all the figures. L-R, we have 2x GDF soldier, 6x GDF Legionnaire, a Finality being, and a Shadow Beetle.

 

Here would be the other 3 sets in the wave:

GDF artillery vs Finality Vulture ($39.99): a giant laser cannon and vulture-like shadow being with 2x GDF artillerymen (like standard soldiers, but with navy blue instead of red), 1x finality being, and 1x finality brute (armor piece instead of wings, armored head)

Finality Wyvern ($69.99): A massive winged dragon and small GDF scouting vehicle with 2x GDF troopers, 2x GDF scouts (they look like standard soldiers, but with purple instead of red), and 2x Finality beings.

Delta-40 "Starkiller" ($159.99): A giant capital ship with absolutely massive guns on it. Comes with the ProtoLegionnaire (the first member of the legionnaire program), a GDF commander, 2x GDF crew (white instead of red), 2x GDF scientists (green instead of red), 2x Legionnaires, and 2x Winged Finalities.

 

This entry started almost as a joke, but I ended up really liking my transport. I may come back to do the other sets if people like these.

[Umbra-Manis]

I love the design of the transport with all the pods, and getting plenty of troops always makes for a fun time!

[Cyborg_Samurai]

Nice!

[Murdoch17]

I'm throwing money at the screen and nothing's happening!?!

In all seriousness, it isn't really too far fetched for Lego to make this or something like it. They did Galaxy Squad a decade ago, which is a obvious "Starship Troopers" knockoff. Your theme almost seems like a revamped, beefed-up Classic Space theme of the 21st Century, like the rejected "Space Marines" Ideas / Cuusoo project of a decade ago, but with a fresh spin and clear objective.

Good luck in the contest!

[CrappyMocMaker]

I like this even more than Paladins! The ship looks really nice, and the story sounds pretty cool, too!

[Mandalorianknight]

I'll be honest, I didn't expect this reaction. I thought people would think it was cheap or low-effort. (I want to say maybe... 5-6 hours, total?). I'm very happy to see that people like it.

4 hours ago, Umbra-Manis said:

I love the design of the transport with all the pods, and getting plenty of troops always makes for a fun time!

Thank you! The second I made that figure, I knew I needed a set built around it.

3 hours ago, Cyborg_Samurai said:

Nice!

Thanks! Eager to see your submission, make sure you get it in before the deadline!
(Also, is your PFP a lego version of Raiden from Metal Gear?)

2 hours ago, Murdoch17 said:

I'm throwing money at the screen and nothing's happening!?!

This is a common issue. Did you try unplugging the money and plugging them back in?

2 hours ago, Murdoch17 said:

In all seriousness, it isn't really too far fetched for Lego to make this or something like it. They did Galaxy Squad a decade ago, which is a obvious "Starship Troopers" knockoff. Your theme almost seems like a revamped, beefed-up Classic Space theme of the 21st Century, like the rejected "Space Marines" Ideas / Cuusoo project of a decade ago, but with a fresh spin and clear objective.

Good luck in the contest!

Thanks very much! I agree that the basic premise is definately something lego could do, just that my semi-parodical aspects might be a bit much. I would love it if lego did another space theme like this.

2 hours ago, CrappyMocMaker said:

I like this even more than Paladins! The ship looks really nice, and the story sounds pretty cool, too!

Thanks! Like I said, I was surprised at first, but I am seeing it now. I better stop before I convince myself to buy the parts for the ship. This is definately something I want to come back to and do the other sets for after the contest.

 

 

Also, that "great filter" thing is an actual theory, I think Elon Musk recently brought it up. I think it's a bit out there, and that it's more likely extraterrestrial life is just spread out enough that we haven't met any yet, but it makes for a great story premise.

[Cyborg_Samurai]

3 minutes ago, Mandalorianknight said:

Thanks! Eager to see your submission, make sure you get it in before the deadline!
(Also, is your PFP a lego version of Raiden from Metal Gear?)

Yes it very much is XD

I've been obsessed with MGR since 2016 so I'm not like those posers who just meme it lol

I'm still trying to finish up my large set and I'm probably going to stay up really late trying to finish it, but my theme is going to be metal af as its basically exo-force with the aggressive aesthetic of 90s space themes. Probably the longest of this project was getting the minifigure designs right and creating their brickbuilt weapons. Lots of trial and error

[JJ Tong (zfogshooterz)]

Both sets looks dope! I like the look of the Legionnaire Transport. While I don't play the game title, for some reason this theme is giving me a bit of Halo vibes. 

The Final Ends sounds like they'll definitely top the Space Bugs from Galaxy Squad in terms of active threats!

[Mandalorianknight]

2 hours ago, JJ Tong (zfogshooterz) said:

Both sets looks dope! I like the look of the Legionnaire Transport. While I don't play the game title, for some reason this theme is giving me a bit of Halo vibes. 

The Final Ends sounds like they'll definitely top the Space Bugs from Galaxy Squad in terms of active threats!

Thanks! I don't play either, but I realized about halfway through that the Legionnaires were somewhat similar to Halo's Spartans (though at a much higher power level and lower number)

The Final End/Finality/etc is definately supposed to be threatening. They're supposed to lean into an almost horror-like vibe, not so much in body horror or jumpscares, but the knowledge that these things have killed off every alien race that ever achieved interstellar travel, and there's no reasoning or bargaining with them.

16 hours ago, Cyborg_Samurai said:

Yes it very much is XD

I've been obsessed with MGR since 2016 so I'm not like those posers who just meme it lol

Welp as one of those posers who just memes it, nice Raiden custom.

And can't wait to see your theme! It sounds really cool.

Edited September 26, 2022 by Mandalorianknight

[Agent Kallus]

I like it ( though I do prefer Paladins). The spaceship with compartments for each legionnaire is a great. I do get Halo vibes but I must admit I did expect something more out there from your preface  the poor finality are quite outgunned if a legionnaire can take down a swarm and there is only one finality being ( and his bug friend) versus six of them and their spaceship!

[Mandalorianknight]

5 hours ago, Agent Kallus said:

I like it ( though I do prefer Paladins). The spaceship with compartments for each legionnaire is a great. I do get Halo vibes but I must admit I did expect something more out there from your preface  the poor finality are quite outgunned if a legionnaire can take down a swarm and there is only one finality being ( and his bug friend) versus six of them and their spaceship!

Glad to see someone prefers paladins (though I may have hamstrung myself with voting here if I've caused some people to switch from paladins to hear, but  there are better themes than either of mine anyway and I didn't do this with winning as the primary focus). The Halo vibes are definately there, I just realized I didn't mention this in the previous post but the ProtoLegionnaire was added once I realized the halo influence, since I thought Master Chief was the first spartan. (He apparently is not...I'm not the best at halo lore).

And yeah, the Finality's not gonna put up much of a fight in these sets, sort of like when lego throws a stormtrooper into a Y-wing set. Their power is more in numbers, which they'd have in other sets, and some of the variations we don't see in these like the Brutes (welp, another unintentional halo reference) or the wyverns. But for now, they're pretty outmatched....or that would be the case if the little bug thing didn't have the power of a thousand legionnaires!*

 

*this is not true to any extent, the little bug guy will unfortunately be massacred horribly. On the bright side for him, he's either part of a hive mind or a force of nature, so he's not exactly sentient.

Edited September 27, 2022 by Mandalorianknight

[JJ Tong (zfogshooterz)]

9 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

The Final End/Finality/etc is definately supposed to be threatening. They're supposed to lean into an almost horror-like vibe, not so much in body horror or jumpscares, but the knowledge that these things have killed off every alien race that ever achieved interstellar travel, and there's no reasoning or bargaining with them.

I think you nailed that pretty nicely in the horror aspect, while the Space Bugs does seem to have world-ending capabilities, they are definitely to be toned down for obvious reasons. The vibe the Finality gives are pretty dark with a slight garnish of imminent despair with the way you put them. 

That also does reminds me of a story on r/nosleep (a subreddit for horror stories.) I remember a story where a giant space plant would invade various solar systems, growing its way into the system's sun for light. No civilization was able to stop it despite having advanced technologies in an extremely higher scope than what planet Earth had.

Edited September 27, 2022 by JJ Tong (zfogshooterz)

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Very cool and beautiful pictures! 

[Mandalorianknight]

Well, it looks like this one's been destroyed in the polls. I wasn't expecting it to win (though the ones I expected to win also aren't doing well), but I do appreciate the support and that it got any votes at all. Those who did vote, the Legionnaires salute you. 

I'm busy this week, but I'll be starting on the other 3 sets soon.

On 9/27/2022 at 12:36 AM, JJ Tong (zfogshooterz) said:

I think you nailed that pretty nicely in the horror aspect, while the Space Bugs does seem to have world-ending capabilities, they are definitely to be toned down for obvious reasons. The vibe the Finality gives are pretty dark with a slight garnish of imminent despair with the way you put them. 

Thanks! Yeah, they'd have to be toned down for an actual theme.

14 hours ago, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

Very cool and beautiful pictures! 

Thank you! I'm glad you like them.