New Egypt theme?

Vith

For those who thought I would bring you news of a new, fresh and unannounced Egypt theme that's coming up, I'll have to disappoint you. I'm merely asking if there will be a new Egypt theme in 2011 or 2012. I know it's kinda early to ask but hey, it's worth a shot right?

mirandir

Nope. As we just had Pharaos Quest I bet it'll pass a few years before we get another one...

davee123

You tease!

I wouldn't be surprised if we see the Pharaoh's Quest heros appear in another adventure like the old Adventurers theme, but I'm not expecting any more Egypt-style sets anytime soon.

It's kind of disappointing that this is ~sorta~ the 3rd time they've done "Egypt" (Adventurers in 1998, Indiana Jones in 2008/2009, and Pharaoh's Quest in 2011), but each time it's been the same basic idea, all Indiana Jones style.

I'd love to see this as a subtheme of an "Ancient" theme with Rome, Greece, Egypt, etc. It'd be awesome to see a "Siege of Troy" set, or "Gladiator Arena". And Egypt would easily fit into the mix.

But hey, we've been asking for that forever! Guess we'll just have to keep crossing our fingers that the marketing gurus at LEGO will finally favor the idea!

DaveE

thesinisterpenguin

I love the idea of an 'Ancient' theme! Atlantis sort of fits in as well.

Imagine the Colosseum, the Trojan Horse, the Roman Army battle packs, the Ancient Greek Philosopher minifigs!

LEGO if you're listening, there is also the possibility to add in educational information etc with these sets! Go, go, go!

ParkGrades

Or even Ancient China. Seems like a no-brainer if they want to *sell* in the Chinese marketplace, and could provide some cool builds.

Vith

Let's hope someone at Lego reads this!

rocao

I like the idea of an ancient theme as well since there would be tremendous opportunities for interesting structures and characters, and an even richer educational experience due to historical context.

It's hard for me to think that the creative minds at LEGO simply did not think to explore this, though, so I'm led to believe there's a reason they didn't.

I think a plausible reason is that TLG's foray into it with the Adventurers theme -- consisting of sets from South American, Asian, and Egyptian civilizations -- did not experience wide commercial success.

Another explanation might be that there is some risk of offending cultural or religious sensibilities since most of the great empires we are mentioning were forged through war and built on the backs of enslaved people. However, I would think most of them are far enough in the past to not be a major concern.

davee123

I know Playmobil's done some similar things-- they tend to be a competitor with LEGO in Europe, so I'd guess the markets are similar. Dunno how well the Playmobil lineup has done though.

Did the Adventurers lineup do poorly? I always assumed that the first round did well, since it got continued with "Amazon" in 1999, and "Dino Island" in 2000. But the gap in 2001 and 2002 before "Orient Expedition" in 2003 left me wondering if the later spins on the theme did poorly.

Certainly we've heard that Rock Raiders did poorly in 1999 and was canceled as a continuing theme. Supposedly there were some cool other things in store for the "Underground" theme (following Rock Raiders), but they never wound up going to production since Rock Raiders wasn't up to snuff.

Anyone know what the initial reception to Pharaoh's Quest has been?

DaveE

rocao

^ I can only speak anecdotally. I think the "Desert" [Egypt] sets did well in 1998, and the subsequent releases of "Jungle" [Amazon] and "Dino" each did worse than the previous.

This is my opinion based on my memory about the buzz, or lack thereof, while the sets were in production, the discounting they each received, and how long they stayed on the shelves despite the discounting. After retirement, I would rate their occurrence on eBay and the popularity of bidding to be below average. I think a big factor was the introduction of Star Wars that essentially overshadowed everything.

Looking at the Brickset database information for instances that each set is owned by a user corroborates the declining popularity, except that the Orient Expedition much later in 2003 does buck the trend.

TalasAntares

I think the "ancient" theme would be outstanding...a Roman coliseum with gladiators would be awesome...

Istokg

Erik Wilson had a great Ancient Theme LEGO Contest in RTL back in 1998 (oh where has the time flown!!)... where some great LEGO architecture in the classical styles was constructed... all before the advent of Bricklink and PAB....
http://www.ancient-theme.com/1998/ancient.html

My LEGO Museum of Art entry is still intact collecting dust in the basement.

For TLG to come out with historic sets, then my rant on one of the other threads is especially true here... they would need to come out with a "System" of a few parts that would make classic architecture look good. NUMBER 1 in that list would naturally be Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and even Egyptian Capital's for the tops of columns.

It appears that the 2x2 round brick would be the best candidate for the columns, although a "fluted" column piece (about 10 bricks high) would be a nice addition as well.

For those who would have prefered the use of macaroni bricks for columns... those notches of missing plastic on each piece drive me bonkers... partly because I have macaroni bricks from 1955-57 that don't have the missing plastic (TLG made them in 1/2 circle and 1/4 circle with and without the notch for the first 2 years of macaroni's, and then they discontinued all but the macaroni that we know and love).

But then TLG, (what the hell were they thinking??) redesigned the macaroni brick last year so that the extra braces underneath will now ONLY allow you to stack them on top of each other... and no longer in staggered diagonal rows for making sturdy columns.

So it would likely have to be the 2x2 bricks (or columns) for any colonade as found in Egyptian or Greek temples.

tommyboa

davee123 said "I'd love to see this as a subtheme of an "Ancient" theme with Rome, Greece, Egypt, etc. It'd be awesome to see a "Siege of Troy" set, or "Gladiator Arena". And Egypt would easily fit into the mix."

YES,YES,YES !!!!!!!

brickmatic

It seems like Lego is moving towards a Roman theme already by introducing the requisite parts molds.

Fluted columns? See http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=92947 and use in antiquity style architecture see http://brickset.com/detail/?Set=7985-1

For Roman soldiers we only need to look at http://brickset.com/detail/?Set=8684-2 as well as the other one coming out in Series 5.

I have a good feeling a Roman theme will pop up in the years ahead.