Atlantis 2010

[Aanchir]

At first I thought that the helmet and armor were one piece.

Then I saw they weren't and I was like *awesome*.

How would they be one piece? It'd be impossible to remove the head!

Anyhow, the Atlantis special was awesome. I'm not sure who did the rendering (Tinseltown Toons, maybe, or Ghost?), but it's certainly some of the best minifig comic action I've seen in quite a while.

A lot of the plot felt rushed, even for a kids' film, and I wonder if the storyboard/script might have originally been written for a feature-length film (or, as my brother suggests, an episodic mini-series). Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed the plot, especially with how building was kept central to the story and how LEGO-style humor (for instance, whatshisface's missing hair) was interspersed throughout. I'm reminded of the LEGO video games, including the original LEGO Island. ("I hope there's room for the tree!")

[dragonboy79]

Is anyone annoyed by the flimsiness of the tridents? Mine scratch easily when I make my minifigs hold them.

[Bfahome]

How would they be one piece? It'd be impossible to remove the head!

I thought it was one of those things that went over the head and shoulders. Then after a few seconds of staring I realized it wasn't.

[Sandy]

can you do a translation for the snake thing and the giant scorpion?

I was approached by a member to translate other bits of new information found in the Finnish Atlantis website. So here they are:

8076

SCORPION GUARDIAN

Appearance: This dark jointed creature is made for quick ambushes from shaded places. The fiercest and scariest out of all the Guardians of Atlantis.

Attack: Stings its prey with its poisonous two-pronged tail.

Secondary attack: Uses its scissors to drag the prey towards its sharp teeth and hungry maw.

Weakness: Fast and agile at the bottom of the sea, but slow on the open sea. Afraid of light.

Guards: Atlantis treasure keys.

---

8080

SERPENT GUARDIAN

Appearance: Fast and smooth watersnake that has powerful fins and a long spiky tail.

Attack: Chokes its prey with its tail and then bites it with its poison fangs.

Secondary attack: Spins its tail so hard that the ensuing whirlpool sweeps the prey with it.

Weakness: Thunder and lightning, is afraid of loud noises and passes out from electricity.

Guards: Atlantis treasure keys.

[cheesey skrall]

thanks for the translation! How would the snake guardian get scared of thunder and lightning if its an atlantis guardian that would live near the sea floor? just wondering...

[Sandy]

thanks for the translation! How would the snake guardian get scared of thunder and lightning if its an atlantis guardian that would live near the sea floor? just wondering...

Beats me. The text is written for ten-year olds, so I guess they just don't care about taking stuff like that into consideration.

[Mr Spielbrick]

Whatever unlikely stories or personality traits TLC comes up with, the theme looks quite interesting. I do love me some monsters, and boy does Atlantis have them! The squid minifig looks spec-ten-tacular and that helmeted green guardian is the coolest fish in the pond, man.

Does anyone else wish there'd be sets (or perhaps just one special edition) of the old Nautilus-like sub and the original Atlantis city? (Either that, or another Time Cruisers theme with a more serious range of different eras. Pretty please?)

Still, what actually exists looks cool. Nice job with the first wave.

[cheesey skrall]

Does anyone else wish there'd be sets (or perhaps just one special edition) of the old Nautilus-like sub and the original Atlantis city?

Yeh, but there might be one next year. a lego version of this may be cool:

a nautilus fish-crab thing

[Aanchir]

Yeh, but there might be one next year. a lego version of this may be cool:

a nautilus fish-crab thing

I think Mr. Spielbrick is referring to the Atlantis Finder from Professor Rhodes's diary, and is comparing it to Captain Nemo's Nautilus sub from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, not to the actual Nautilus creature.

Nautili are actually closer related to octopi, cuttlefish, and squids than to crabs. I agree that one would be awesome for Atlantis, although as enemies they are really neither speedy nor aggressive-- when I saw them in an aquarium, the way they drifted about without tilting their bodies reminded me of a UFO, albeit a lot slower and more graceful.

The Atlantis city, or a part of it, would be a cool store-exclusive set, although unless it had the same dingy, tan-and-gray feel of the Shark Castle and Squid Temple it might be too inconsistent with the rest of the theme to "fit in". Some gold could be incorporated, of course, since gold does appear for objects like the tridents, etc., but to give it a gleaming, gold-and-white look would separate it from the "feel" of the Atlantis theme.

[cheesey skrall]

I think Mr. Spielbrick is referring to the Atlantis Finder from Professor Rhodes's diary, and is comparing it to Captain Nemo's Nautilus sub from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, not to the actual Nautilus creature.

i knew that he was talking about the submarine, i just said that a nautilus creature would be a cool guardian,

although as enemies they are really neither speedy nor aggressive

what about a manta ray ? they're harmless, yet they made it a guardian. They could make a nautilus aggressive in the theme too.

Edited January 17, 2010 by cheesey skrall

[Aanchir]

i knew that he was talking about the submarine, i just said that a nautilus creature would be a cool guardian,

what about a manta ray ? they're harmless, yet they made it a guardian. They could make a nautilus aggressive in the theme too.

Manta rays aren't totally harmless. They're still big, fast, powerful creatures. There was this one short story I read in English class which demonstrated this-- while the ray was not aggressive by any means, it got tangled in a fishing net, causing a fishing boat to capsize and the fisherman to nearly drown. Nautili are small, slow creatures with very short tentacles. Perhaps an ammonite (a prehistoric relative) could be made more intimidating with its often long, pointy shell and longer tentacles, but the sort of nautilus pictured wouldn't strike me as very intimidating, no matter how "alien" its appearance.

[cheesey skrall]

Nautili are small, slow creatures

ok, I'm losing this 'debait' aren't I? Crabs are small, lego made them big and menacing in set form and the movie, so it's possible that we may see a giant evil nautilus! Oh, god! It doesn't sound very menacing, does it?

"OMG A GIANT NAUTILUS!!!!"

he he he

[Delta 38]

Oh no, my internet's gone horribly sluggish and it'll stay that way for the rest of this month. I was lucky enough to get this page to load.

Firstly, I'm quite happy at the addition of a new type of creature. That probably seals off my thoughts about the Portal of Atlantis. I'm glad I haven't bought any Atlantis sets yet (I can't find them anyway =P).

Does anyone know if there's a manta warrior in the Portal of Atlantis set? I haven't seen an image of it for ages, but from memory it includes a shark warrior and squid warrior. Personally, the set is a cheap (well, cheaper) way of getting all rings, and most minifigs. I hope I can find the manta impulse though... recently impulses have been slipping out of stores, and I can only find City impulses.

Oh, and I don't actually think that's a new ring at all. The absence of a creature's shadow on it probably means it's just some promotional image, like the image on the back of my Lego Club magazine.

[Chef Hatchet]

Where are those last few sets (aside from the Brickmaster one) in the first post from? I want them..

[Cakeman]

I like how it seems like it's not just vehicles with the new sets, but some "bases" too. Even as a kid I liked a cool base for my minifigs to stay at, but I've noticed that kids nowdays are all about vechicles. But maybe not all of them, since the small pictures we've seen so far actually looks like a decent explorer-base. I'm looking forward to better pictures later this year.

[Delta 38]

ok, I'm losing this 'debait' aren't I? Crabs are small, lego made them big and menacing in set form and the movie, so it's possible that we may see a giant evil nautilus! Oh, god! It doesn't sound very menacing, does it?

"OMG A GIANT NAUTILUS!!!!"

he he he

Well, I guess any oversized creature would be menacing. A nautilus wouldn't be bad.

Speaking of which, we haven't had an oversized manta ray yet. Seeing how there are sharks with shark warriors, and squid with squid warriors, there's a possibility of one.

I thought of an interesting idea for a set. In the Aqua Raiders line, there was an angler fish. I'm thinking maybe there could be a similar set, but instead of a lure, it holds a ring.

[Aanchir]

Well, I guess any oversized creature would be menacing. A nautilus wouldn't be bad.

Speaking of which, we haven't had an oversized manta ray yet. Seeing how there are sharks with shark warriors, and squid with squid warriors, there's a possibility of one.

I thought of an interesting idea for a set. In the Aqua Raiders line, there was an angler fish. I'm thinking maybe there could be a similar set, but instead of a lure, it holds a ring.

They did have a fairly normal-sized, brick-built manta ray in the Neptune Carrier set. A pretty nice one, I might add. A larger manta ray might be cool, but being mostly flat (with its most interesting attribute being the flexibility of its "wings"), I don't know how it could be managed effectively. Making something flattish and flexible with organic-looking curves is a difficult business, at least in my experience.

The angler fish idea is a cool one, although at this stage we haven't seen anything hinting at such a set.

As far as "creature imbalance" goes, I'm still a bit disappointed that there's no turtle or crab warrior minifigs (largely because the turtle ring has been inexplicably thrust upon minifigs like the Shark Warrior for some sets), but with regard to the buildable creatures it seems that most are well-represented. I wonder, though, what ring will be packaged with the sea scorpion-- the crab ring seems most appropriate, but haven't seen any real indications image-wise.

[cheesey skrall]

We haven't had an oversized manta ray yet. Seeing how there are sharks with shark warriors, and squid with squid warriors, there's a possibility of one.

What about the one in the Neptune carrier? Or are you thinking of a larger scale one, like the giant shark sized manta ray?

I thought of an interesting idea for a set. In the Aqua Raiders line, there was an angler fish. I'm thinking maybe there could be a similar set, but instead of a lure, it holds a ring.

If Atlantis stays underwater. Atlantis might start out as submarines ect, but it might start to introduce a proper Atlantis theme, where there's a city, boats; a bit like Lego city, but underwater-style. Cool idea about the ring instead of a lure!

Predictions:

Atlantis city:

£89.99- atlantians X5

fisherman boat:

£14.99- 1 atlantian fisherman, 20 lego fish.

Submarine:

£29.99- 2 atlantian crew, 1 giant dolphin (lol)

atlantian:

1.99- 1 atlantian

[sok117]

New Atlantis 2010 images here. Portal to atlantis looks awesome, Diver base looks alittle questionable.

[CMP]

Atlantistastic! The portal is straight from the movie, and it looks like there are spots for each keystone. I also like Atlantis HQ.

[Delta 38]

What about the one in the Neptune carrier? Or are you thinking of a larger scale one, like the giant shark sized manta ray?

Yes, that was what I meant.

I don't actually think the sets are going to go any further than Atlantis (assuming there's an Atlantis set). It would be interesting if they did continue, though. It could mean we'll get to see more types of creatures.

I wonder, though, what ring will be packaged with the sea scorpion-- the crab ring seems most appropriate, but haven't seen any real indications image-wise.

A while back in this topic, I mentioned the possibility that the Deep Sea Striker set could have a new ring. If you look closely at the image, it appears to have a sea scorpion on it. It might be a preliminary image (of the ring) though, as there's already a green ring, and there probably aren't going to be any more rings.

Edited January 19, 2010 by Delta 38

[EspEth12]

After they have found and explored Atlantis, maybe they'll continue deeper to the very depths of the ocean where no human has lurked before. Its a possibility.

Well, I guess any oversized creature would be menacing. A nautilus wouldn't be bad.

Speaking of which, we haven't had an oversized manta ray yet. Seeing how there are sharks with shark warriors, and squid with squid warriors, there's a possibility of one.

I thought of an interesting idea for a set. In the Aqua Raiders line, there was an angler fish. I'm thinking maybe there could be a similar set, but instead of a lure, it holds a ring.

Now that you pointed that out theres a possibility of that. Maybe they'll also make a crab minifigure to go along with the giant crab, like the squid warrior and the giant squid and the shark warrior and giant shark.

Edited January 19, 2010 by EspEth12

[Delta 38]

Now that you pointed that out theres a possibility of that. Maybe they'll also make a crab minifigure to go along with the giant crab, like the squid warrior and the giant squid and the shark warrior and giant shark.

I hadn't actually thought of that, really, but seeing how there wasn't any crab warrior minifigure in the first wave of sets (if there was one, it'd probably be in the crab set), I doubt there'd be one. Still, there is a possibility.

Oh, and what Atlantis movie? Was it on television or something? I don't have pay tv, so I don't watch much but the news.

[tonelok]

Oh, and what Atlantis movie? Was it on television or something? I don't have pay tv, so I don't watch much but the news.

Cartoon Network last Friday, but only half an hour long.

MB did a review of the LEGO Atlantis movie with a lot of images.

They bring up the idea of an Atlantis sub-theme, as in the city of Atlantis with citizens wearing togas and looking like ancient Romans or Greeks with ancient stone buildings, but that seems like it should be a theme all on its own.

I like EspEth12's idea of them exploring the ocean more though. Underseas exploration seems a lot more interesting as far as variety of kits. If we want to build our own version of Rome or Athens, we can already do so easily.

As far as "creature imbalance" goes, I'm still a bit disappointed that there's no turtle or crab warrior minifigs (largely because the turtle ring has been inexplicably thrust upon minifigs like the Shark Warrior for some sets), but with regard to the buildable creatures it seems that most are well-represented. I wonder, though, what ring will be packaged with the sea scorpion-- the crab ring seems most appropriate, but haven't seen any real indications image-wise.

TLC could be trying to spread it out. I've heard Atlantis is their biggest original theme this year and it was their most expensive launch or something. Between now and August, we'll have over a dozen sets, including two headquarters/base sets.

That leaves them with plenty of room to grow the theme next year:

Crab warriors

Turtle warriors

Eel warriors

Fish warriors

Bad guy humans

[The Crazy One]

Now, that is interesting, they clearly know Atlantis has massive potential. I can't wait to see what else they have in store.