[ENTRY][LARGE] Origin of Steve the Merchant

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

 NEW PHOTOS BELOW 

Long before the Merchant Steve sailed into the Imperial Trading Post aboard the Cutter, he was a poor man down on his luck. He acquired some information regarding ruins somewhere deep in a jungle island. Rumours also spoke about hidden treasure, and that was enough for Steve to risk his life for a chance to change it for the better!

The journey was treacherous with no shortage of deadly creatures, poisonous plants, and even the occasional quicksand. 

The ruins appeared to be long deserted. If Steve were to guess, he would say they’ve been abandoned for 500 years or more. 

When Steve makes his way to the interior, he notices something of interest. A golden crown sits on top of a barrel. There are jewels and gold trinkets along with a skeleton of a warrior who looks to have died defending this place. 

An interesting image crosses Steve’s eyes. There are two anchors hanging behind the crown. This image stays with Steve even after he returns to port with his newfound riches.
 

Sometime later, Steve uses the valuables to purchase a vessel that he names the Cutter and adorns the main sail with that image of two anchors and a crown placed on top of a barrel. Steve will go on to be a well respected merchant, however he would still occasionally be found asking around about buried treasure and ancient ruins.
I hope you enjoy my little backstory for Steve. I had a lot of fun building this MOC. 

[NEW PHOTOS]

I used some of the creative critiques to reimagine this jungle setting. It is more pleasing to the eye, however it is just as treacherous! Please let me know what you think!

 

Edited August 9, 2024 by SevenDeadlyStreamers
Added Images

[LeChuck-MD]

Very fun story and cool build.

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

1 hour ago, LeChuck-MD said:

Very fun story and cool build.

Thank ye matey 

[Math Wizard]

Ahoy Matey!

They call me Captain Crit and I heard that polly wants a sandwich (They’re fed up with crackers apparently) - a criticism sandwich that is! (For you landlubbers, that’s 3 seas [Cs]- Compliment, Constructive Criticism, and another Compliment).

I really enjoyed the backstory of this build, from Steve’s start as a merchant to where he got his logo. Ye were real creative with this part, and it really helped explain the scene.

The build does look a wee bit busy, with a booty of green and gray, making it a bit hard to focus on one thing, but each piece adds to the look of a crowded jungle. Mayhaps ye could’ve added a few more bits of color- perhaps a tattered banner or some colorful flowers and plants. 

Me favorite part o’ this one’s gotta be either the clever jungle trees or the realistic cocking of the abandoned gate. I’m liking the way ye sprinkled extra bases around the main build with more trees and ferns, particulllarly the one with the fallen tower.

Fair Winds Matey!

[Mister Phes]

On 6/15/2024 at 1:11 PM, SevenDeadlyStreamers said:

Long before the Merchant Steve sailed into the Imperial Trading Post aboard the Cutter, he was a poor man down on his luck. He acquired some information regarding ruins somewhere deep in a jungle island.

What a delightful backstory - Steve sure has gotten around!

I also note that your Steve appears to be completely 3D rendered.

Do you have any close up renders of Steve? 

This is an exemplary example of how one may overcome the "I don't have a Steve minifigure!" phenomenon that seems to be popping up.

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

14 hours ago, Math Wizard said:

Ahoy Matey!

They call me Captain Crit and I heard that polly wants a sandwich (They’re fed up with crackers apparently) - a criticism sandwich that is! (For you landlubbers, that’s 3 seas [Cs]- Compliment, Constructive Criticism, and another Compliment).

I really enjoyed the backstory of this build, from Steve’s start as a merchant to where he got his logo. Ye were real creative with this part, and it really helped explain the scene.

The build does look a wee bit busy, with a booty of green and gray, making it a bit hard to focus on one thing, but each piece adds to the look of a crowded jungle. Mayhaps ye could’ve added a few more bits of color- perhaps a tattered banner or some colorful flowers and plants. 

Me favorite part o’ this one’s gotta be either the clever jungle trees or the realistic cocking of the abandoned gate. I’m liking the way ye sprinkled extra bases around the main build with more trees and ferns, particulllarly the one with the fallen tower.

Fair Winds Matey!

Thank you for the advice. I think you’re right, there could be some more deadly plants perhaps a large venus flytrap and some colourful flowers would look good against all the sand and greenery. 

8 hours ago, Mister Phes said:

What a delightful backstory - Steve sure has gotten around!

I also note that your Steve appears to be completely 3D rendered.

Do you have any close up renders of Steve? 

This is an exemplary example of how one may overcome the "I don't have a Steve minifigure!" phenomenon that seems to be popping up.

I used BrickLink to create these renders. Luckily it has all of Steve’s parts within its library. I just gave him some boots and a backpack plus a machete so he could explore the jungle better! I have another small build in mind where you’ll get a closer look at Steve!

[NOD]

I really like how the ruin overgrown with plants was built. The many additional MOCs with trees that can be freely positioned are practical.

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

4 hours ago, NOD said:

I really like how the ruin overgrown with plants was built. The many additional MOCs with trees that can be freely positioned are practical.

 

I felt like I was cheating a little by making a couple trees and reusing them, but I wanted to fill out the jungle as much as possible. 

[Garmadon]

Ooh, this is a lovely entry - it's a very clever idea to scatter separate bases around the central section, really helps sell the idea of a treasure buried deep in the center of the jungle!  The colorful snakes and fauna are great, as well as the off-canter shield and gate at the entrance to the fallen fortress - plus the reference to Steve's ensignia with the crown, anchors, and barrel is brilliant too! 

If I had one piece of advice (two actually, haha), I'd love to see some more sand green in the build - what you have is great, but I feel like it could use a little more, it's a great overgrown, mossy sort of color that gives the impression, especially mixed with the other greens, that nothing has touched this place for a very long time - and then you could lean the skeleton over a bit too, or swap out one of his arms with the other kind of skeleton arm that crooks in to give it a bit more life (not that he's not dead already, but you know! )

Really nice entry overall though, I love all the details you've managed to include for the careful observer, like that ensignia and the toppled tower and so on, it makes it a very fun build to study! 

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

On 6/18/2024 at 11:42 AM, Garmadon said:

Ooh, this is a lovely entry - it's a very clever idea to scatter separate bases around the central section, really helps sell the idea of a treasure buried deep in the center of the jungle!  The colorful snakes and fauna are great, as well as the off-canter shield and gate at the entrance to the fallen fortress - plus the reference to Steve's ensignia with the crown, anchors, and barrel is brilliant too! 

If I had one piece of advice (two actually, haha), I'd love to see some more sand green in the build - what you have is great, but I feel like it could use a little more, it's a great overgrown, mossy sort of color that gives the impression, especially mixed with the other greens, that nothing has touched this place for a very long time - and then you could lean the skeleton over a bit too, or swap out one of his arms with the other kind of skeleton arm that crooks in to give it a bit more life (not that he's not dead already, but you know! )

Really nice entry overall though, I love all the details you've managed to include for the careful observer, like that ensignia and the toppled tower and so on, it makes it a very fun build to study! 

Thank you for all the kind words, and I’m glad you looked over the build thoroughly. I could try to add more variations of green and some splashes of colour like another critic suggested. And now that you mention it, the skeleton does looks pretty stiff, even for a dead guy, lol. 

[Horation]

 An actually large large build for a change. 

I find it impressive you made such a large build in so little time. But I feel like it results in a bit less attention to certain issues. For instance, there's no way that tower would have fallen off so cleanly but ended up in a strange position like how you've made it seem. Simply rotating that tower would already be an improvement, and making it look like there's rubble from the fall near it would improve the build even more.

Also, as others have said,     too       much      green. It does look abandoned, but a few other colours (like beige, or I don't know, gold like in lost treasure) could work well, and please do change the armor on the soldier to something else, it is unlikely that moss would grow all over it so perfectly, so I'd use some other colour for contrasting purposes.

But a complete job is done, as it looks like a jungle

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

12 hours ago, Horation said:

 An actually large large build for a change. 

I find it impressive you made such a large build in so little time. But I feel like it results in a bit less attention to certain issues. For instance, there's no way that tower would have fallen off so cleanly but ended up in a strange position like how you've made it seem. Simply rotating that tower would already be an improvement, and making it look like there's rubble from the fall near it would improve the build even more.

Also, as others have said,     too       much      green. It does look abandoned, but a few other colours (like beige, or I don't know, gold like in lost treasure) could work well, and please do change the armor on the soldier to something else, it is unlikely that moss would grow all over it so perfectly, so I'd use some other colour for contrasting purposes.

But a complete job is done, as it looks like a jungle

I want to revisit and clean up this MOC, so I shall take your advice and the advice of others. I am also glad that you appreciate the scale, it actually took quite a while. I started it when I heard the announcement that Steve would be the winner. I knew I wanted to include a bit of a nod to the Castle theme, so that was the inspiration behind this build. 

[Horation]

33 minutes ago, SevenDeadlyStreamers said:

 I knew I wanted to include a bit of a nod to the Castle theme, so that was the inspiration behind this build. 

I see, maybe add a ghost or some other reference to old castle sets? I mean this is in the jungle so a reference to (clearly European) classic castle factions would be bizarre, but some small detail like my suggestion could very well work among the nostalgic audiences around here.

[Math Wizard]

8 hours ago, SevenDeadlyStreamers said:

 I knew I wanted to include a bit of a nod to the Castle theme, so that was the inspiration behind this build. 

If you want to add even more nostalgia perhaps you could also add a reference or two to the adventurers theme as well. Then you'd have a castle/pirate/adventurer mashup!

[Horation]

22 hours ago, Math Wizard said:

If you want to add even more nostalgia perhaps you could also add a reference or two to the adventurers theme as well. Then you'd have a castle/pirate/adventurer mashup!

That's a brilliant idea! I even think there were a few "south american ruins" sets in that range, so it would be quite fitting. But what do you think? @SevenDeadlyStreamers

[Captain Pirate Man]

WOW!! Really well done!! I'm seriously nitpicking here, and that is this MOC is so big and well done, I'd like to see more minifigs in it. Perhaps Steve had some crew mates with him?? Again, just nitpicking, because this was FANTASTIC!!

[Captain Pirate Man]

After viewing all the entries (at the time of this post), this one is the by far the largest with the most details. I like the Castle influence. 

[Mazin]

No doubt it had to be fun since You invested so much time and effort in this moc! 

Wow! Holly molly. This is an outstandinf piece of brickwork. I think it might me too big, too green and too rocky for some, at first, but it takes a closer look at You pics to tel the tale and discover how amazing it is. Double the fun - we have to play treasureseekers ourselve to follot the story of Steve the Treasureseeker :)

And dude, being big and detailed is one thing, but this is one hell of a great job! Look at palmtrees and green work. And all that shonework. Even that destroyed gate is on point! You'reone crazy talented dude. And all those green walls, i guess it's all being taken by the jungle, literally, battlements and windows covered by moss (?), and there's green even on those warriors armor. Smart move! By including them i guess You somewhat incoporated those oriental/exotic/different era elements we talked about before the Contest started. And they are worked into this amazingly. 

Yet the crown is still pure gold! Nice contrast. Colorful predatory animals bring some nice color as well, like if they were marked with different tones on purpose, like in comics often character, buildings, vehicles are somewhat painted differently just for special effect. 

Good thing Steve managed to deal with them, but since this is a marsh/boggy terrain maybe he could obtain a boat or a raft before his quest? After all, i would dare crossing into this area just on my foot, not with those crocodiles lurking around!

And he obviously need a way to carry all that treasure back. 

I would dig more into those anchors tho. They are too intruiging to remain nothinh more than just a sign. Maybe it could used even more to tell that that this fortress was somewhat connected to the people of the sea. Or maybe it was left here by some pirates or sailors that seeked safety in hero before? Maybe they even started this whole diminshed civilization? Like a medieval lion king and his knight who sailed for a crusade... but unwisely took the wrong turn left and crashed on nearby shore, forcing them to settle within those tribal walls? Or maybe this castle was built here by themselves and only years of rotting turned it to what it is? After all that crown and armor wouldn't be here by coincidence ;)

Anyway... love the whole theme. And as i said, it DESERVES more stories, more builds. With Steve or without him, prior to his visit, with previous settlers or previours discoverers. There's just so much potential. It's like a playser designed for 50 characters, but inhabited by only one so far! ;)

Oh... would forget... next to the main walled complex there's some other stone build. One with a palmtree sticking from it's back, and i think there and entry into it, sort of a cave. Could we learn more about it? Is it connectable to the main structure?

Plus, we've only seen a small bit of the palace and there's surely many more corners that deserce to be shown... or maybe they are full of traps and will be risky too walk trough them... but we'll handle. Steve did, so we can't be worse than him ;)

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Fine entry, I like it. Congratulations! 

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

On 6/30/2024 at 10:33 PM, Math Wizard said:

If you want to add even more nostalgia perhaps you could also add a reference or two to the adventurers theme as well. Then you'd have a castle/pirate/adventurer mashup!

Hmm I wonder, Steve meets Jonny. I do rather enjoy the Adventurers sub theme!

15 hours ago, Captain Pirate Man said:

WOW!! Really well done!! I'm seriously nitpicking here, and that is this MOC is so big and well done, I'd like to see more minifigs in it. Perhaps Steve had some crew mates with him?? Again, just nitpicking, because this was FANTASTIC!!

That crossed my mind. Steve was alone on the original merchant vessel, so I wanted to keep it that way, but now that you mention it, perhaps Steve was simply the only survivor!

2 hours ago, Mazin said:

No doubt it had to be fun since You invested so much time and effort in this moc! 

Wow! Holly molly. This is an outstandinf piece of brickwork. I think it might me too big, too green and too rocky for some, at first, but it takes a closer look at You pics to tel the tale and discover how amazing it is. Double the fun - we have to play treasureseekers ourselve to follot the story of Steve the Treasureseeker :)

And dude, being big and detailed is one thing, but this is one hell of a great job! Look at palmtrees and green work. And all that shonework. Even that destroyed gate is on point! You'reone crazy talented dude. And all those green walls, i guess it's all being taken by the jungle, literally, battlements and windows covered by moss (?), and there's green even on those warriors armor. Smart move! By including them i guess You somewhat incoporated those oriental/exotic/different era elements we talked about before the Contest started. And they are worked into this amazingly. 

Yet the crown is still pure gold! Nice contrast. Colorful predatory animals bring some nice color as well, like if they were marked with different tones on purpose, like in comics often character, buildings, vehicles are somewhat painted differently just for special effect. 

Good thing Steve managed to deal with them, but since this is a marsh/boggy terrain maybe he could obtain a boat or a raft before his quest? After all, i would dare crossing into this area just on my foot, not with those crocodiles lurking around!

And he obviously need a way to carry all that treasure back. 

I would dig more into those anchors tho. They are too intruiging to remain nothinh more than just a sign. Maybe it could used even more to tell that that this fortress was somewhat connected to the people of the sea. Or maybe it was left here by some pirates or sailors that seeked safety in hero before? Maybe they even started this whole diminshed civilization? Like a medieval lion king and his knight who sailed for a crusade... but unwisely took the wrong turn left and crashed on nearby shore, forcing them to settle within those tribal walls? Or maybe this castle was built here by themselves and only years of rotting turned it to what it is? After all that crown and armor wouldn't be here by coincidence ;)

Anyway... love the whole theme. And as i said, it DESERVES more stories, more builds. With Steve or without him, prior to his visit, with previous settlers or previours discoverers. There's just so much potential. It's like a playser designed for 50 characters, but inhabited by only one so far! ;)

Oh... would forget... next to the main walled complex there's some other stone build. One with a palmtree sticking from it's back, and i think there and entry into it, sort of a cave. Could we learn more about it? Is it connectable to the main structure?

Plus, we've only seen a small bit of the palace and there's surely many more corners that deserce to be shown... or maybe they are full of traps and will be risky too walk trough them... but we'll handle. Steve did, so we can't be worse than him ;)

I am very pleased to read your comments! Such enthusiasm and creativity in your critique, so I thank you. 

The truth is, I wish I had time to MOC all of those ideas you mentioned. The one I’m attracted to the most is the vessel Steve arrives on. I may just make a separate [large] entry where we can meet some of his former crew mates and get a glimpse at his first vessel (before The Cutter). 

Thank ye again matey!

9 minutes ago, Captain Braunsfeld said:

Fine entry, I like it. Congratulations! 

Thank ye Capt’n! 

[Mazin]

56 minutes ago, SevenDeadlyStreamers said:

I am very pleased to read your comments! Such enthusiasm and creativity in your critique, so I thank you. 

The truth is, I wish I had time to MOC all of those ideas you mentioned. The one I’m attracted to the most is the vessel Steve arrives on. I may just make a separate [large] entry where we can meet some of his former crew mates and get a glimpse at his first vessel (before The Cutter). 

Thank ye again matey!

Thank ye Capt’n! 

Thanx, very happy You liked it. Hopefully You will find enough time and enough passion to make that next entry :) Looking forward it :) 

[Captain Pirate Man]

Did you have a specific set or idea in mind when creating this? What I mean is, you were influenced by Castle, any Castle set in particular?

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

16 hours ago, Captain Pirate Man said:

After viewing all the entries (at the time of this post), this one is the by far the largest with the most details. I like the Castle influence. 

I just realized, the first time I heard about the Steve contest was on your YouTube channel. I just want to say thank ye Mikey J!  

[Captain Pirate Man]

3 hours ago, SevenDeadlyStreamers said:

I just realized, the first time I heard about the Steve contest was on your YouTube channel. I just want to say thank ye Mikey J!  

That's awesome to hear!! 

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Beautiful setting...a perfect lost world so large and well represented!

Excellent choice of interaction between ruins and vegetation!