The Legend Of Zelda Reaches 10,000 Votes On Cuusoo

[dWhisper]

It's an overstatement on my part to say that the Indy sets were a failure. I think there were plenty of iconic scenes that would have been able to make a decent little playset by themselves for the Indy line, and all of the best sets captured that. Stuff like Shanghai Chase, Temple Escape, Jungle Duel, and Motorcycle Chase would have been good sets even without the licensed characters, and that's what I'm talking about. But there were a lot of stinkers in there as well.

Yes, you're right, adding characters can add a lot, but the set should be able to stand alone. Lord of the Rings, from what I've seen, does a better job than PotC does at still leaving you with a good set once you take out the figures, you still get some decent castle sets. With pirates, they skimped on everything the sets were just bad, the figures overproduced, and overall, they were just... bad.

[Flynn]

Yeah, for the most part I agree with you. My personal view is just that, for the kind of toy LEGO is, the best of the licensed sets are ones that come from places, ships, objects, etc. that are iconic in themselves (Star Wars being the obvious example, what with almost all the original ships being iconic in some way or another). If the base property isn't particularly iconic and unique to itself, than why make it a licensed set?

The Pirates of the Caribbean sets are a good example of this- pretending for a moment that the ships weren't underwhelming on their own, even if they had been the best damned LEGO pirate ship ever made ever, would there have been anything to really set it apart from a generic LEGO Pirates set? If not, why not just make a generic Pirates set rather than spending the extra money to get it licensed (and consequently charging us the extra money because of the license). That's why I find it hard to support the Lord of the Rings line, as good as the sets are, because it very simply could've been a generic fantasy line and stood well on its own. It might just be me not being overtly familiar with the Jackson films (haven't seen any of them in years), but none of the sets really scream to me "This is Lord of the Rings right here" outside of the figures. And when you consequently realize that the likely reason they chose not to just do a generic fantasy line would be the inevitable bump in sales, it becomes a problem.

[dWhisper]

That's always the curious thing about the Pirates line, and the PotC line that displaced it (and hopefully dies soon so it can come back). The last Pirates line was fairly underwhelming... right up until their last set, the Imperial Flagship, which is probably my all-time favorite set. It's absolutely beautiful, and could stand alone even without a single minifig. I had amazingly high hopes for the PotC line based on how the Pirates sets had handled things like the forts, the Flagship, and even Brickbeard's Revenge.

You're right about PotC in general. The Black Pearl was talked about all the time, but never really shown outside a few deck shots and the captain's cabin. The QAR is exactly the opposite, the look of the ship was featured prominently in the movie, and the set was basically a glorified canoe that bore a superficial resemblance to the ship. In my mind, only two sets in the entire line managed to capture even the most basic elements of a good LEGO set: Cannibal Escape and Whitecap Bay. Cannibal Escape because it was a decent little set for the money with figures that could be moved around, and Whitecap Bay for being a decent playset that exceeded its minifigs.

I think the big difference between LotR and PotC is that the major events are tied to some sort of location; I have seen the movies a few times, but cannot make it through Tolkein's books (I am a very seasoned reader, and know when someone is just playing with his language and not trying to tell me an actual story... that and you can only read so many dwarf drinking songs before you succumb to the urge and just get too plastered to read). Things that we remember are with a place... the fellowship was in the elven city, The Battle for Helms Deep, the watch tower, etc. Yes, they won't be as good without the figs, but they should be able to stand without them.

I'll use my favorite Toy Story and Indy sets as an example. For Toy Story, it's the Pizza Planet truck. Without the figures, it's still a great little truck. Add the figures and suddenly you're taken to the place in the movie. That's what a good LEGO set should do, especially when licensed. It should evoke some emotion and feeling, and even absent some figure, be a good thing.

For Indy, it's Shanghai Escape. The two vehicles are quite well done, but once you add the figures... well, if you can look at the car with Indy and Short Round and not say "Not time for love, Doctor Jones!" you are dead to me.

[Blackicep8ntball]

1. Lego sets and the bulk of the Lego fanbase have, for better or worse, become predominantly centered around minifigures. Thus, a theme that achieves its continuity through figures rather than places would fit right in the current Lego marketing scheme. Enter Zelda, a game that achieves its continuity predominantly through recognizable characters, and you have the perfect fit.

2. Zelda makes perfect marketing sense - it has a huge, predominantly nerdy fanbase that Lego could profit on. Pull in the Zelda gamers with Zelda Lego toys and BAM - Lego takes a chunk of the video game cash. Nintendo stands to gain in much the same way - pull in the Lego fans.

3. For those of us who need the enhancements of great locations - the Zelda universe has more than enough to keep us satisfied. Temple of Time. Castle towns and village buildings (homes, wells and stables). Hyrule Castle. Etc.

I'm not sure why a lot of you seem to find this theme so far out there, but it's the most sensible Lego Cuusoo theme I've seen yet.

[CaptainFordo]

I would agree RE the Pirates sets, the only set that really makes you go "Yeah, that's Pirates" is the Mill, though I think LOTR has mostly memorable sets (aside from the Uruk army and orc forge). You have the Shelob set, the first non-prologue scene of Fellowship (Gandalf Arrives), Helm's Deep and Weathertop.

I suspect it's one of the reasons the Prince of Persia line didn't really take off (besides a fairly lacklustre reception for the movie). Nobody knew what to expect from the movie or had any prior investment in the scenes (Heck, I'm a big fan of the games but I'm not sure even they have any truly memorable iconography).

That said, Zelda has some fairly memorable locations, like the Great Deku Tree, Hyrule town and the Temple of time (though mostly the interior).

[dWhisper]

I would agree RE the Pirates sets, the only set that really makes you go "Yeah, that's Pirates" is the Mill,

And if you read my review of that set, that was exactly why I despised the set so much. Worst scene in a movie ever!

[CaptainFordo]

I would agree RE the Pirates sets, the only set that really makes you go "Yeah, that's Pirates" is the Mill,

And if you read my review of that set, that was exactly why I despised the set so much. Worst scene in a movie ever!

I have read that review lol. I actually really liked Dead Man's Chest and found that scene very entertaining :P

[uruk-hailordoflords]

they better make this. that and BTTF. BTTF i love it. Dr. brown is epic. i think a lot of those swords would be useful for LOTR MOC minifigs.

[daevster]

I'm mixed about this...

Yes, I'm a huge Zelda fan and have always wanted to see an official Link in LEGO, but I think in order to be fully satisfied, I would not be pleased with just one Cuusoo set. In a way, I've always wanted to see Zelda sets, however it could possibly replace the Castle line (gasp!) if they made it into a new theme, which in my book is a big "No No!"