Which Themes Deserve a Reboot?

[Digger of Bricks]

5 hours ago, MAB said:

23 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

It is a pretty cool look, hence why I featured it here as a hypothetical option for such; but, for me, the aesthetic direction I'd really want such a theme to head is more towards a heavy Jazz Age Art Deco look. While I can't find any particular artwork for a knight or feudal archetype within that vein, architecturally, Emerald City as portrayed in Disney's 2013 prequel Oz: The Great and Powerful is probably the closest citable example for how I'd like to see a castle done within such a theme (just not as green):

One half of Lonely Mountain was not far off that.

And that shows some of the problem. Creating something epic looking in even a £100 / $130 set is always going to look a bit ... lacking.

In comparison to that prequel's rendition of Emerald City specifically, yeah, even the set's geometric ornamental touches that build suggests closely follow a similar look. Still, regarding what you said about encapsulating such architectural styles within a playset, it shouldn't be as hard evoking a particular look as it was with Lonely Mountain when set designers are dealing with a property of their own rather than another's. 

On 7/2/2019 at 6:47 PM, Masked Mini said:

On 7/2/2019 at 5:53 PM, Digger of Bricks said:

Which "second picture" might I ask? The Teslapunk Warhammer Knight or the cityscape artwork? 

Sorry about being unclear. The Teslapunk Warhammer Knight.
It gives me just the right amount of grimdark tingles and the aesthetic isn't far off "real" castle.
Nor Gunpowder era either come to look at the coat and legs a little closer, with breastplate and open face helm or a shako it would be a nice transition piece from Knights to Napoleonic (?).

Oh, by the way, I've just discovered some conceptual artwork that comes just a little closer to the look I'd like to see for such a theme's character design:

ArtStation - Art Deco Armor Design (1920) by Léo Gontier

[The Island Chronicles]

You know theme what I want to see revived? 

Outback?

That one will likely be revived under City though since it was originally a subsidiary of City back in the early 90s. 

Sports ? is another one I'd like to see rebooted. But that one is also likely to be revived under City - which I can tolerate as it would make sense. 

I would also request Paradisa ?and Race ?, but Friends has practically taken over as the Paradisa successor and as for Race....I think that's what City is bringing back in 2020. 

[jonwil]

City already does a lot of racing sets (everything from F1 cars to monster trucks) so I think that's been covered. That and Speed Champions anyway.

I second the wish for Outback to come back. Imagine "City Outback Explorers".

 

[Lego David]

4 hours ago, pooda said:

and Race ?,

No, Racers was better, let's go with that.

[The Island Chronicles]

9 hours ago, Lego David said:

No, Racers was better, let's go with that.

Noooooo! I'm speaking of the race subtheme that was part of town back in the 90s. 

https://lego.fandom.com/wiki/Race

Edited August 27, 2019 by pooda

[The Island Chronicles]

Ok! I have a list of themes that should return. I don't think they should be standalone though. Bring them back under City. 

Extreme Team from 1998 - https://lego.fandom.com/wiki/Extreme_Team - Since stunt vehicles are a thing with City, bring this theme back! 

Nautica from 1991 -  https://lego.fandom.com/wiki/Nautica - This is a chance to revive the harbour and beach themed sets. This would also include the coast guard sets. 

Outback from 1997 - https://lego.fandom.com/wiki/Outback - A revivlal of the Outback theme from the 90s. This would focus more on Outback Exploration. 

Paradisa from 1992 - https://lego.fandom.com/wiki/Paradisa - It could be put out there as an alternative for Friends for girls who prefer yellow people over the detailed figures. 

Race from 1985 - https://lego.fandom.com/wiki/Race - Well! Little boys do love race cars. Perhaps City could have this under its wing. 

Rescue from 1991 - https://lego.fandom.com/wiki/Rescue - This would save TONS of money. This theme would nationalize police, fire and medical sets under one single force! 

 

Edited August 29, 2019 by pooda

[Digger of Bricks]

9 hours ago, pooda said:

Rescue from 1991 - https://lego.fandom.com/wiki/Rescue - This would save TONS of money. This theme would nationalize police, fire and medical sets under one single force! 

As far as new City subthemes go, this one in particular I kinda would be interested to see attempted nowadays; but, if it were to still coexist alongside the theme's frequently reoccurring Police, Fire, Coast Guard, and Medical subthemes rather than be a amalgamated consolidation of those lines, perhaps the focus of its premise should be on post-natural disaster search & rescue operations in the aftermath of earthquakes, hurricanes, forest fires, and the such (much like 1998's Res-Q theme). 

22 hours ago, jonwil said:

City already does a lot of racing sets (everything from F1 cars to monster trucks) so I think that's been covered. That and Speed Champions anyway.

Well then, maybe Lego oughta try a Crimson Skies-inspired SKY RACERS theme instead... 

 

[jonwil]

They did a really nice racing airplane earlier this year in Creator. Kinda reminds me of the folding-wing airplanes of the US Navy during WW2.

But yeah I agree some airplane racing stuff (maybe inspired by the likes of the Red Bull Air Race or something) in City would be great

 

[MAB]

4 hours ago, jonwil said:

They did a really nice racing airplane earlier this year in Creator. Kinda reminds me of the folding-wing airplanes of the US Navy during WW2.

But yeah I agree some airplane racing stuff (maybe inspired by the likes of the Red Bull Air Race or something) in City would be great

 

Also a biplane last year. The advantage of creator vs City is that they are brick built planes and look somewhat realistic rather than using more specialised parts for cockpits larger wedge type parts and looking a bit weird.

CREATOR

 

vs CITY

[The Island Chronicles]

@Digger of Bricks Another one I'd like to see revived is this one.

https://lego.fandom.com/wiki/Res-Q

[Digger of Bricks]

On 8/27/2019 at 11:33 PM, jonwil said:

But yeah I agree some airplane racing stuff (maybe inspired by the likes of the Red Bull Air Race or something) in City would be great

Personally, I myself would rather wish to see a standalone line in the fantastical spirit of the Racers theme rather than such a concept only being relegated to a more grounded subtheme of City, only this time with aeroplanes instead of cars. 

3 hours ago, pooda said:

@Digger of Bricks Another one I'd like to see revived is this one.

https://lego.fandom.com/wiki/Res-Q

Same here, hence why I referenced the subtheme at the end of my previous post. 

[The Island Chronicles]

@Digger of Bricks Speed Champions, I believe, replaced Racers as the standalone generic Lego theme for selling vehicles. Tbh, I love Speed Champions better because I can put my people inside. I hope I'm not the only one who thinks that. I think Lego would call it Air Champions for planes though. 

I want them to revive all of the 90s themes that were under town. They did revive Arctic back in 2014 and in 2018. So they should give the others (i.e. Outback, Paradisa, Res-Q, etc) another chance. 

[Digger of Bricks]

Just now, pooda said:

I think Lego would call it Air Champions for planes though. 

Well, as far as names go, I'm pretty keenly set on just SKY RACERS for such a standalone theme myself. 

 

[The Island Chronicles]

Just now, Digger of Bricks said:

Well, as far as names go, I'm pretty keenly set on just SKY RACERS for such a standalone theme myself. 

OMG!!!! That's better than mine! That would definately get the attention of little boys. I'm not sexist, so it may even attract some little girls. You never know! 

Edited August 29, 2019 by pooda

[Digger of Bricks]

Just now, pooda said:

OMG!!!! That's better than mine!

Sure, it's simple, but right to the point. 

[MAB]

14 minutes ago, pooda said:

I want them to revive all of the 90s themes that were under town. They did revive Arctic back in 2014 and in 2018. So they should give the others (i.e. Outback, Paradisa, Res-Q, etc) another chance. 

What is it about those themes that makes you want them to return?

When I look at Outback, for example:

There is a small car, which in my eyes is a similar set to these:

There is a plane and some scenery, and another set with a river and a truck, both of which are similar to parts from this:

There is small helicopter set, and another helicopter with a van, similar to this:

Then there are other sets like this:

 

 

These are all from the City Jungle theme from 2017.

So to me it seems we have recently had a revival of Outback (and to some extent the rescue type themes) just brought up to date in terms of parts and build styles.

 

[The Island Chronicles]

@MAB  LOL! It seems like you and I can never come to an agreement on anything. Of course you attack Pooda's recommendations! Of course..... Of course....... 

But all jokes aside. The Outback is a desert in Australia. That's the jungle in Africa they are promoting in those 2017 City sets. 

Edited August 29, 2019 by pooda

[MAB]

2 minutes ago, pooda said:

@MAB  LOL! It seems like you and I can never come to an agreement on anything. Of course you attack Pooda's recommendations! Of course..... Of course....... 

But all jokes aside. The Outback is a desert! That's the jungle, or more specifically - some type of rain forest they are promoting in those 2017 City sets. 

It was not an attack, it was a genuine question. The newer theme might be called forest, but there is very little tree based parts in it and the style of sets (the location based scenery and the types of vehicles) and the associated play is very similar to those of Outback.  They could have taken away the little greenery there is and replace it with a few tan plates and some shrubs and it would be even more similar. You could easily play out the same story lines with the two different themes.

Which is why I wondered what it was your were looking for to return. Is it just the name that is important, or the now rather vintage style of the builds,  or the colour schemes, ... something else?

[The Island Chronicles]

6 minutes ago, MAB said:

Is it just the name that is important, or the now rather vintage style of the builds,  or the colour schemes, ... something else?

Nostalgia. I love the explorers themes that give me nostalgia from the classic town sets. Arctic Expedition and Deep Sea Exploration kinda gave me the same thing as they remind me of the Arctic and Divers themes from the 90s and 2000. Space does the same as it reminds me of the 90s Space Port and Lanch Command sets. 

Edited August 29, 2019 by pooda

[MAB]

6 minutes ago, pooda said:

Nostalgia. I love the explorers themes that give me nostalgia from the classic town sets. Arctic Expedition and Deep Sea Exploration kinda gave me the same thing as they remind me of the Arctic and Divers themes from the 90s and 2000. 

I guess different people see different things. When I saw the Jungle sets, I saw updated Outback. When I saw Pharoah's Quest, I saw updated Adventurers.

There are people that want Classic Castle or Classic Space to return. Getting old Classic Castle or Classic Space in terms of parts and build techniques and probably even colours is highly unlikely. However, given how long they have been away, I reckon many fans would be happy for a new theme to be as similar to the 20+ year old theme they are after as Jungle 2017 is to Outback. So if they did a new castle theme with a new sub-theme name, and used tan and dark tan for the builds instead of  the yellow or old the greys and blacks of times gone by, or did a space explorer style theme in which the ships are not blue but grey, then I imagine many would be happy even if it is not an exact reboot. Aside from just buying the old sets, I think that is the most we can hope for when it comes to nostalgia - modern re-imaginings of what we want.

 

Edited August 29, 2019 by MAB

[The Island Chronicles]

4 hours ago, MAB said:

I guess different people see different things. When I saw the Jungle sets, I saw updated Outback. When I saw Pharoah's Quest, I saw updated Adventurers.

There are people that want Classic Castle or Classic Space to return. Getting old Classic Castle or Classic Space in terms of parts and build techniques and probably even colours is highly unlikely. However, given how long they have been away, I reckon many fans would be happy for a new theme to be as similar to the 20+ year old theme they are after as Jungle 2017 is to Outback. So if they did a new castle theme with a new sub-theme name, and used tan and dark tan for the builds instead of  the yellow or old the greys and blacks of times gone by, or did a space explorer style theme in which the ships are not blue but grey, then I imagine many would be happy even if it is not an exact reboot. Aside from just buying the old sets, I think that is the most we can hope for when it comes to nostalgia - modern re-imaginings of what we want.

 

That's understandable. Heck! When I saw Speed Champions, I thought Lego Racers - except they were models of real cars and were able to fit yellow people. I still call that one generic since it uses yellow people. 

Edited August 29, 2019 by pooda

[The Island Chronicles]

But hey....finally, we were able to come to an agreement. extends hand out for a handshake

Edited August 29, 2019 by pooda

[MAB]

47 minutes ago, pooda said:

But hey....finally, we were able to come to an agreement. extends hand out for a handshake

[The Island Chronicles]

@MAB Your statement though is also why I was hyped when Arctic got its reboot in 2014. 

[MAB]

12 hours ago, pooda said:

@MAB Your statement though is also why I was hyped when Arctic got its reboot in 2014. 

It is lucky that they didn't call it Antarctic! Different place and all that. :-)