Zarkan Posted September 4, 2006 Posted September 4, 2006 Yeah, modern military lego is out of the question, and probably will be for the rest of TLC's life. But, go back in time a few hundred years, and you reach a possible new theme. I'm talking about the Reveloutionary War. That could be a very intetesting theme, and with the right marketing and set design, TLC could pull it off. Think of it! Lots of clasicly designed buildings and great figures (george washington would be great as one, so would king george), not to mention the return of the clasic musket and cannon! *wub* And, since TLC seems to have nothing against themes about pre-1900 history events (pirates, castle, and vikings have already been made, and they have violence!), it wouldn't get nearly as many critcisms as a modern military theme. Ideas for sets could include: -Geoge Washington's camp (20-30 USD) -Bunker Hill (30-40 USD) -Fort Washington (70-100 USD) -Royal Navy ship (50-80 USD) -Battle of York town minikits (4 kits, 15 USD each) Ideas for figs could include: -George Washington (thats a no brainer. X-D ) -General How -General Cornwallis -General Green -Paul Revere -Ben Franklin -Sam Adams -King George -U.S.A's Troops -Royal Troops -Hessian Troops Boy, lego history lovers would die over this (IF, it is NOT <insert that tiresome argument> or filled with modern shooting devieces, as those are okay in modern themes, but NOT history! >:-( ) So, what do you think? Quote
xwingyoda Posted September 4, 2006 Posted September 4, 2006 The more I think about it, the more I think that TLC opened Pandora's box with licensed weapons ;-) We might get guns and a military theme in the next couple of years ;-) They could always argue, like a lot of us, that History is past and do not reperesent modern day warfare (or something like that) - a weird way to get by the non violence policy (like the license idea). WWII would NEVER be touched: Doing some Nazis MFs and sets is something that TLC will never do. Or they could do something avoiding Germany - that leaves the war in the pacific !! That would be sweet IMO !! IMO, either TLC does some older war sets (US civil War and stuff like that) or some new nowaday sets. I would love to see US civil war sets... I am pretty sure that TLC would need to do something like that since many other toy brands have similar products ;-) *yoda* Quote
Brick Miner Posted September 4, 2006 Posted September 4, 2006 sounds kinda boring to me. im a fantasy buff though, and like the classic hero/villain clich Quote
Zarkan Posted September 4, 2006 Author Posted September 4, 2006 We might get guns and a military theme in the next couple of years Yeah, sure, in dreamland. :-P I would love to see US civil war sets... It's basicly the same idea as a Revolutionarry war theme, only you take all the George Washington and Bunker hill out, add Ulysses Grant and some of the scenes from the Civil War, and volla'! A great history and clasic warfare theme! ;-) I am pretty sure that TLC would need to do something like that since many other toy brands have similar products Who knows. Maybe in 2008? like dastardy traitors, and guys who are just plain bad. Benidict Arnold? King George? :-P Quote
Starwars4J Posted September 4, 2006 Posted September 4, 2006 Unfortunately I think they would steer clear from anything of actual historical significance. Sure we have Wild West, Pirates, Vikings, etc. but none of those themes are actually historical in nature, not based off of actual events, names, people, places. That's part of the magic of Lego in my eyes, and I think out of everything they change, that will remain the same. Besides, basing sets off of ANY wars (WWII aside), even the revolutionary war, civil war, I doubt that would be a smart business move. I mean in every war, there was a victor, and a loser. The sets most likely wouldn't sell as well in the nation (or parts of a nation) that lost the conflict. A small portion would buy some to make their side win, maybe, but the parents would probably avoid buying them for their child, and probably look down on Lego as a bad choice for their children for a long time to come. Okay, some things have been done before in a similiar vain, but Lego has a history of not having history. They base things off actual events EXTREMELY loosely, and I would bet anything that they will continue to do so. Maybe they'll have more lisences, but they'll definitely never recreate actual events. That being said, ancient events where either the nations involved are no longer around, or the facts have turned into legends, are still fair game, and I could see (and hope) TLG doing sets based on more ancient settings. Roman soldiers fighting bandits? More mythical creatures? I don't know, they could even have them facing people from Troy or something. Does it have to be perfectly accurate to history? No, besides, records from those times aren't nearly as complete as those from WWII ;-) Quote
Brick Miner Posted September 4, 2006 Posted September 4, 2006 facts that have turned into legends, are still fair gameperfect way to put it !!! that's the kind of wordage i was looking for when i was making my fantasy vs. histrical accuaracy spiel !!! Quote
Deinonychus Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 Personally I'd LOVE American Revolution or Civil War sets...but keep in mind LEGO is a worldwide toy provider...I don't think little kids in Luxembourg would get all that excited about a Battle of Yorktown Redoubt set. Builders in Australia probably wouldn't shell out money for a nice set of Lee at Marye's Heights during Fredericksburg... You'd have to something global (like the afore mentioned World Wars...which are out) or something heavily romantisized (like the wars between American Indians and the US Army of the Western Theme). So it's a great idea, just not realistic...although this did give me the idea to try and customize a General Robert E. Lee Minifig ;-) Quote
Lord Thrawn Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 First thing I thought was geez, how boring. I really don't know (or care, really) about this particular war, and I find that very little can really be done apart from maybe a hill. It may sell very well in America, but other places in the world won't understand where this war popped out from at all. I can't see it happening at all. Sorry. Quote
JoeMI6 Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 I concur with Thrawn on this one. Whilst it could merit some nice figs and new elements, I doubt you'd be able to find a lengthy market in a theme like this. It just wouldn't appeal to the wider audience. Quote
xwingyoda Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 Personally I'd LOVE American Revolution or Civil War sets...but keep in mind LEGO is a worldwide toy provider... Hum, I am not sure about that :-| '06 was a great year for exemples: Nick licences products ONLY for the US/Canada, a Boeing sculpture plane, a christmas cheesy looking train (ok Germany is also a reason admit), 9 ambassadors out of 21 !! And the US/Canada represent a 1/3 of the world market |-/ So I wouldn't be surprised to see more US/Canada intended sets only in the future and I totally despise that !! *yoda* Quote
snefroe Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 the only historical theme for the future would be Rome/Greece, I guess. Boys in Europe only dream of Vikings, knights and Roman soldiers. Give them any bit of fact about Rome in school and they will immediately dream of Roman legions. Same with the medieavel timeframe: they only dream of knights fighting in the crusade or tournements or fighting each other... we don't even get revolutionary war at school... WWI would be out of the question... Quote
natelite Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 i am with starwars4j...any war is out of the question even extremely historic ones. even for george washington it can spell trouble...already we have a small group saying that GW was a slave owner and for his portrait to be removed from the $1 bill. as for new themes, i like for there to be a medieval fantasy theme. one with lots of diverse characters like archers/rangers (ie forestmen), barbarians (ie wolfmen), wizards, sorcerors, jesters, merchants, blacksmiths, alchemists, necomancers, priests, clerics, etc. i can see TLC making progress because KK2 s1/2 only has knights and only knights with swords. now they have progressed to knights with other weapons. hopefully we will see more characters going forward. it's kinda stupid right now that the theme only has knights... in fact, they should bring back the chainmails, leather armors, and other assortments of armory and weaponry. i dont know why the retired the old chainmail printed torsos and the leather armor torsos and came up with the current junk. Quote
Zarkan Posted September 5, 2006 Author Posted September 5, 2006 Yeah, I guess actual event history is out of the picture. :-( On the bright side, I'm probably not the first one to suggest something like this. X-D already we have a small group saying that GW was a slave owner and for his portrait to be removed from the $1 bill. That's completely dispicable! >:-( Quote
ellerb Posted September 6, 2006 Posted September 6, 2006 Personally I'd LOVE American Revolution or Civil War sets...but keep in mind LEGO is a worldwide toy provider... Hum, I am not sure about that :-| '06 was a great year for exemples: Nick licences products ONLY for the US/Canada, a Boeing sculpture plane, a christmas cheesy looking train (ok Germany is also a reason admit), 9 ambassadors out of 21 !! And the US/Canada represent a 1/3 of the world market |-/ So I wouldn't be surprised to see more US/Canada intended sets only in the future and I totally despise that !! *yoda* In the fourth cycle there are 7 ambassadors from the USA, 10 ambassadors from Europe, 2 from Canada, 1 from Singapore, and 1 from Australia. There are plenty of sets that are Europe only including world cup, airplane promos, keychains, gear, etc. I am pretty sure that Vikings is a line inspired from European history and mythology ;) My point is that both Europe and America get exclusives. Instead of griping that sets are inspired by European or American history, fans should get together and let LEGO know that we want all sets and gear in all markets. In the case of Avatar and Spongebob that could be a Nick decision and not a LEGO one. Companies licensing their products have a lot of say where things will be sold and what they will look like. A better idea than the War of Independance (or other conflicts like the Napoleonic Wars) would be a return of Pirates. The "Imperial" sets could expand to have more forts, settlements, galleons, trading posts, towns, etc. Civilian sets inspired from French, English, and Spanish settlements would be fantastic. Ben i am with starwars4j...any war is out of the question even extremely historic ones. even for george washington it can spell trouble...already we have a small group saying that GW was a slave owner and for his portrait to be removed from the $1 bill. It should be pointed out that George Washington was the only US President before the civil war who freed all of his own slaves. Even Thomas Jefferson did not do this. That does not condone slavery in any way but does show that Washington changed his mind on slavery and actually did something about it. Quote
Djole Posted September 6, 2006 Posted September 6, 2006 A better idea than the War of Independance (or other conflicts like the Napoleonic Wars) would be a return of Pirates. The "Imperial" sets could expand to have more forts, settlements, galleons, trading posts, towns, etc. Civilian sets inspired from French, English, and Spanish settlements would be fantastic. Exactly... There's so much things to be laboured... Settlements are good point, I would like to see some civilians in pirates sets (on the other hand, I suppoase that would be the most borring thing to kids)... Merchant ships, especially inns ("imperial"ones, as and those full of drunked pirates :-D )... Or they could just labour the whole Spaniard line... I mean, the greatest world force once upon a time, and they gave us a midsize galleon and a couldn't-be-smaller-outpost... Okay this went offtopic to pirates... So back to the topic (or support the new Pirates line ;-) :-D :-D :-D ) greetings from Serbia Quote
oo7 Posted September 6, 2006 Posted September 6, 2006 I've been thinking latley that the american revoulution would be a great theme! It's kind of like the pirates theme which I love so much. But it might only have to be an American theme, having American revoulution sets in europe or what have you sounds strange, but then America gets ninja sets, but perhaps that is not that extreme. Although I think American Civil War sets are too close to Wild West. Quote
snefroe Posted September 6, 2006 Posted September 6, 2006 Instead of griping that sets are inspired by European or American history, fans should get together and let LEGO know that we want all sets and gear in all markets. In the case of Avatar and Spongebob that could be a Nick decision and not a LEGO one. Companies licensing their products have a lot of say where things will be sold and what they will look like. we didn't get sponge in Europe because no toyshop in europe was interested in Sponge. They thought it wouldn't sell, so Lego didn't buy the license for Europe. Lego cannot just sell what a poll result indicates, they depend upon the major toyshops, that's it... Quote
natelite Posted September 6, 2006 Posted September 6, 2006 is spongebob or avatar in demand in europe? if so i may invest in a few sets. :-P i personally have no inclination to buy any. but if the demand is there, i may consider ebaying or bl'ing a few sets to fund my hobby. :-D Quote
SWMAN Posted September 6, 2006 Posted September 6, 2006 I have always thought that a revolutionary war or civil war theme would be awsome. Has some great armyk building potential. Probably not '07, but maybe '08 or '09. Quote
Brick Miner Posted September 6, 2006 Posted September 6, 2006 Although I think American Civil War sets are too close to Wild West.TOO much like WW, there is no such thing ;-) sk8 says bring back the pirates, i say bring em both back X-D - BrickMiner Quote
xwingyoda Posted September 7, 2006 Posted September 7, 2006 Ben, On my previous post I wrote 9 because 7 US ambassadors and 2 Canadians (US/Canada beeing the same geographical market) ;-) Anyhow, I wonder how many fans do not wish the return of fantastic themes like hurm hurm Pirates and Adventurers !! I don't know how much you guys (I mean ambassadors) can influence TLC, but I would imagine a lot of you are SW fans ;-) Finally fans like me will cheer: * minifig packs !!! * PT sets So how much can we stress out that we want PIRATES, ADVENTURERS and MINIFIG PACKS like the golden age ;-) *yoda* Quote
vahkimetru Posted September 7, 2006 Posted September 7, 2006 Hmm... Revolution British and American Troops French Soldiers German Soldiers At least two ships Crossing the Deleware Boat 1812 would be awesome! Think about it! fort McHenry! British Flagdships! Civil War USS Moniter! Confederate Troops might be a tad contriversial, seeing as they were all for prejiduce and slavery... Quote
ellerb Posted September 7, 2006 Posted September 7, 2006 Ben,On my previous post I wrote 9 because 7 US ambassadors and 2 Canadians (US/Canada beeing the same geographical market) ;-) Anyhow, I wonder how many fans do not wish the return of fantastic themes like hurm hurm Pirates and Adventurers !! I don't know how much you guys (I mean ambassadors) can influence TLC, but I would imagine a lot of you are SW fans ;-) Finally fans like me will cheer: * minifig packs !!! * PT sets So how much can we stress out that we want PIRATES, ADVENTURERS and MINIFIG PACKS like the golden age ;-) *yoda* Trust me, we remind the company frequently that everyone wants minifig packs and accessory packs. I think that the increased number of figures in regular sets, the chess sets, and dacta town pack is positive step. Fans, such as myself, would prefer an $8-10 pack with 5 figures like the good old days. Atleast we have options, even if they force us to buy larger sets ;) It is strange how the Company can be very aware of certain fan requests but not others. Ambassadors point out the main requests for the different themes on a regular basis. When the new cycle starts up, I will make sure to start a discussion on how fans want pirate sets again. Ben Quote
snefroe Posted September 7, 2006 Posted September 7, 2006 it's going to be very interesting to see how much the ambassador program influenced the company's policy. I think 2007 would be the first time we can see the effects of that. It would be great if the company and the ambassadors were to sit down with the community somewhere in 2007 and show us exactly where they changed things on themes/lines/sets/policy... still, i'm split on a pirate theme. I fear that we'll never get an even better version of the old pirates. instead, we may get a viking style theme: pirate ships with catapults, pirates fightings seamonsters... still, I'd buy it if the general quality is as high as the viking line ... any other theme that smells like real conflict/war is just not an option, but i do think that the company is moving in that direction. We'll see. If they release a police set next year with real guns, then i guess one day Lego might be interested in creating military sets one day... Quote
Jipay Posted September 7, 2006 Posted September 7, 2006 When the new cycle starts up, I will make sure to start a discussion on how fans want pirate sets again.Ben Nice ! I am amazed they didn't jump on the occasion with pirateof the carribeans. Pirates had been the most successfull line for TLC. How sad ! Quote
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