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Dream Theme to collect

pxchrispxchris Member Posts: 2,438
in Collecting
So, now that I've completed the Lord of the Rings theme... I've been thinking about in what direction my collecting may take me next. Obviously there is the newly released sets that spark my fancy (I'm eyeballing you Pop-Up Book!) but as someone in my late 30s I also have a strong nostalgia pull to collect sets and themes from when I was young.

So I'm wondering - what are some or your guy's dream themes to collect?

For me, the top ones right now that I think a lot about are: Forestmen, Wolfpack, M:Tron, and classic Pirates.
Bumblepantscatwranglersnowhitie

Comments

  • FowlerBricksFowlerBricks Member Posts: 1,731
    The main ones for me are Fantasy Era and Vikings. Such cool themes.
    pxchrisPumpkin_3CK5SprinkleOtter
  • PeteMPeteM Member Posts: 447
    M-tron would be mine too - and probably wouldn’t take too much as I have over half the sets... Missing the expensive ones though!

    12v grey era trains is similar - I have lots of sets already but missing the very pricey ones...
    pxchrisSprinkleOtter
  • pxchrispxchris Member Posts: 2,438
    ^ I only have one M:Tron set, and it's one of the smaller ones, so I would have a long ways to go. 
    Forestmen, I have one set from my childhood (#6066) but sadly I'm missing most of the minifigs now. Pirates I just have a spattering of figs and pieces from the sets I had as a kid.
    FowlerBricks
  • The_RancorThe_Rancor Member Posts: 2,619
    I'm trying to collect Spyrius at the moment - an interesting subtheme of space with cool robots and I really liked the variety we got in the 90s - even Insectoids. Unfortunately I sold all my Insectoids in a car boot sale once and I miss them now.
    FowlerBrickspxchriscatwranglerPumpkin_3CK5
  • ModeltrainmanModeltrainman Member Posts: 1,316
    edited November 2018
    Probably Pirates of the Caribbean. I only have Captain's Cabin, and Isla DeMuerta, though. Well, and the Mini Black Pearl, if you count that. And RoboForce.
    FowlerBricks
  • OdeinoichusOdeinoichus Member Posts: 361
    I had small sets and loved the Blacktron 2 era Space sets. I would love to see them revive Classic Space with a new Blacktron 2 series.
  • 560Heliport560Heliport Member Posts: 4,237
    ^Wouldn't that be Blacktron 3? I'd buy it!
  • OdeinoichusOdeinoichus Member Posts: 361
    ^Not if it was re-released sets including that electric Alpha Centauri Base.
  • jigglypuffjigglypuff Member Posts: 30
    edited November 2018
    paradisa
    wardmpxchrisBitsyww2
  • Lego_Lord_MayorcaLego_Lord_Mayorca Member Posts: 619
    Definitely the full range of Forestmen sets and probably 1990s Crusaders sub-theme of Castle. I never had single complete set of the Crusader faction, as I was too enamored by the other three (the Black Knights in particular). And then the Royal Knights came along and rendered the Crusaders obsolete. Nevertheless, I sure wish I could get that King's Mountain Fortress and the Crusader Cart.

    In a broader sense, I'd love to have every single Town set released from 1991 to 1995 (inclusive). My collection started strong in 1994, so I missed several great sets from the previous years that, as an adult, I have managed to acquire. But there are still so many more, and the quality is all top-notch. Ah, if only I had an ATM that was also a time machine!
    pxchris
  • AleyditaAleydita Member Posts: 955
    For me it would be old school Town sets. I'd need to re-mortgage the house a few times 
    to fund it though.
    pxchris
  • BumblepantsBumblepants Member Posts: 7,725
    Wolfpack although all I am really missing is the tower. Pretty much any old Castle set pre-Fright Knights would be fun to have though.
    pxchris
  • ShibShib Member Posts: 5,477
    The_Rancor said:
    Unfortunately I sold all my Insectoids in a car boot sale once and I miss them now.
    I had a couple of Insectoids sets when I was a kid and I remember building the sound and light bit into everything I built.



    Pretty sure I even used to use it as a high tech gadget (like a Dr Who sonic screwdriver before I knew what that was) when playing other games.

    I'm not the sort to buy too much older stuff but I have bought a couple of those off Bricklink and I recently built something with it for another LUG, which I'll share around here somewhere when I can. 
    benbacardiThe_RancorcatwranglerPumpkin_3CK5snowhitie
  • FodderFodder Member Posts: 360
    Probably Lord of The Rings and the Hobbit...
    FowlerBrickspxchris
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,554
    Star Wars. Then use all the grey and tan parts to MOC landscapes for LOTR.
    sid3windrmaaaaaaaFowlerBrickspxchrissnowhitie
  • JudgeChuckJudgeChuck Member Posts: 1,591
    My "Dream Theme" is Classic Space from between 1979 and about 1982. Some sets around 1981 - 1983 don't fit with my personal view of how the theme should look, which is based around the Light Grey / Trans Yellow / Blue colour scheme they had, but I have made a couple of exceptions to what I'm collecting.

    I think I'm down to the following four "core" sets that I want:

    #6861 X1 Patrol Craft
    #6880 Surface Explorer
    #6901 Mobile Lab
    #6927 All-Terrain Vehicle

    I'm also very slowly working on LoTR / The Hobbit, with special focus on collecting all the dwarves (Need #79004 Barrel Escape and #79010 The Goblin King Battle, if my working-out is right) and I will own #10237 Tower of Orthanc one day.

    Of themes that I have none of, but would love to collect, my "Dream, Pie-In-The-Sky, Themes" are:

    Fantasy-era Castle c.2007 - 2009
    Castle Kingdoms between 2010 and 2011
    Pharaoh's Quest

    Unfortunately, being realistic, I'm unlikely to be able to collect them, but I would love to do so!
    pxchrissnowhitie
  • mustang69mustang69 Member Posts: 544
    Would have loved to get the Monster Fighters sets. They were out just as I came out of my dark ages but weren’t on my radar so I missed out on them. I love the haunted house and hope that I can either buy it on the secondary market or bricklink it. The only set from the line I have is #9461 and that is only because my daughter got it on clearance and then gave it to me when she didn’t want it anymore.
  • TheOriginalSimonBTheOriginalSimonB Member Posts: 1,793
    JudgeChuck said:


    #6880 Surface Explorer

    #6927 All-Terrain Vehicle

    These two are definitely my favourites from my childhood collection.  Must be time I re-built them again.  I know I am missing one wheel from 6880 and some of the lamp holders and ladder pieces broke due to brittleness when I last took it apart but I can probably find spares of the right vintage.
  • MrJacksonMrJackson Member Posts: 454
    This is a really cool thread. I have a number of 90's sets that are finally over at my house and not my parents', so I've been sorting and cataloguing them. For me, I'd love the rest of Spyrius to go along with my Unitron sets. I know there are only four Unitron sets and I was missing Monorail Transport Base until I found it complete on EBay for a song a couple of years ago.  My dream setup of my old childhood sets would be a huge Unitron vs. Spyrius diorama, but my 8'x'11 city precludes that as I'm totally out of room. 
    pxchrisBumblepants
  • pxchrispxchris Member Posts: 2,438
    @The_Rancor Spyrius was a great theme! I always loved the robots from it.

    @Lego_Lord_Mayorca a complete early 90s town setup would be a glory to behold!
  • Bitsyww2Bitsyww2 Member Posts: 27
    My dream themes to get all of are: Fright Knights, classic Pirates, forestmen, and paradisa.  
    pxchrisPumpkin_3CK5
  • LusiferSamLusiferSam Member Posts: 574
    Interesting question.  Not to nit pick, but most people are listing sub-themes not themes.  That said, I'll also list mostly sub-themes.  Of the retired (or not currently active) themes/sub-themes I have a majority of the sets I'd be interested in.  Pirate is complete as far as I'm concerned.  Adventurers are missing only duplicate sets I don't plan on getting. M-Tron, Space Police 1, Blacktron 1 and 2 were all completed recently. 

    Castle is an interesting one.  I'm missing the early minifigure packs: 0016, 6002 and 15.  I'm not super optimistic that I'll ever find these.  Beyond those the most significant set I'm missing is 1680.  Everything else are either duplicate sets or KK2 buildable figures that I have zero interest in.

    I've toyed with the idea of getting into Classic Space, but these would be a steep hill to climb as I have very few to start from.  And I've never been a huge fan to begin with.  I have Town sets I like to fill in.  Not really as a way of completing a sub-theme, but more as I was interested in as a kid and never had.  Or they get look cool.  I might do the  same with Classic Space. 

    As far as active searches for retired themes go, I'm working on the HO scale vehicles.  The ultimate goal would every color of every vehicle, intact and complete.  Currently I've got one of every vehicle and their sub-types.  I'm at the point were I've got most of the easy to find ones and am now looking for rare colors.  Additionally I'm facing an issue of deciding which color is which with the VW Beetles.  The color names are often literal translations of German or Dutch and sometimes don't translate into English that well.
    pxchris
  • MrJacksonMrJackson Member Posts: 454
    Some really cool answers.  I have to agree with Classic Town, as that's what I grew up with as a kid in the '90s. However, there are some sets that just haven't aged well, so I'd be more interested in snagging ones that I missed as a kid - lookin at you, #6543 Sail-N-Fly Marina.....
    pxchrisgmonkey76dmcc0
  • catwranglercatwrangler Member Posts: 1,895
    I'd go with the OP's list. Lovely stuff I wish I'd focused on more at the time!
  • OdeinoichusOdeinoichus Member Posts: 361
    LusiferSam said:
    Interesting question.  Not to nit pick, but most people are listing sub-themes not themes.  That said, I'll also list mostly sub-themes.  Of the retired (or not currently active) themes/sub-themes I have a majority of the sets I'd be interested in.  Pirate is complete as far as I'm concerned.  Adventurers are missing only duplicate sets I don't plan on getting. M-Tron, Space Police 1, Blacktron 1 and 2 were all completed recently. 

    Castle is an interesting one.  I'm missing the early minifigure packs: 0016, 6002 and 15.  I'm not super optimistic that I'll ever find these.  Beyond those the most significant set I'm missing is 1680.  Everything else are either duplicate sets or KK2 buildable figures that I have zero interest in.

    I've toyed with the idea of getting into Classic Space, but these would be a steep hill to climb as I have very few to start from.  And I've never been a huge fan to begin with.  I have Town sets I like to fill in.  Not really as a way of completing a sub-theme, but more as I was interested in as a kid and never had.  Or they get look cool.  I might do the  same with Classic Space. 

    As far as active searches for retired themes go, I'm working on the HO scale vehicles.  The ultimate goal would every color of every vehicle, intact and complete.  Currently I've got one of every vehicle and their sub-types.  I'm at the point were I've got most of the easy to find ones and am now looking for rare colors.  Additionally I'm facing an issue of deciding which color is which with the VW Beetles.  The color names are often literal translations of German or Dutch and sometimes don't translate into English that well.

    To be honest if you aimed to collect everything from the Classic Space Theme you'd never get it all, especially where some of those items are concerned. Castle and Pirates also seem to be hard to find... Then again I don't really look too often for older sets.


    However if I was to pick a Theme I'd like to get everything from then it would have to be Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. With Hobbit I'm only missing Bag-End, Smaug's Set and the original Lake-Town release with The Master as I managed to get most everything else from Target Canada during their Clearance or through Amazon. LotR however is still missing a considerable number including the vaunted Helm's Deep, Orc Forge Tower of Orthanc, Black Gates, Pirate Ship and one or two Hobbit based Polybags.

  • FauchFauch Member Posts: 2,709
    edited November 2018
    I'm not planning to complete any theme, but the most tempting ones would be pirate of the carribean and lord of the ring. maybe the ninjago movie too. but I "only" got some of the biggest sets.

    hmm, and the lego batman movie too, though some of those sets are mostly interesting for the villains figs.
  • LusiferSamLusiferSam Member Posts: 574
    Odeinoichus said:

    To be honest if you aimed to collect everything from the Classic Space Theme you'd never get it all, especially where some of those items are concerned. Castle and Pirates also seem to be hard to find... Then again I don't really look too often for older sets.

    Pirate was never an issue for me.  I got vast majority when they were originally released.  There were only 7 sets I didn't get at the time.  I was able to find all 7 of them on eBay by 2001.   The only sets I don't have from Pirate are the re-released versions from 2001 and 2002. 

    Castle I also had a large base to start from.  I had nearly everything from 1987 forward.  And a most between 1984-1987.  From 1987 to 2000 I was missing 30 sets, mostly polybags.  I was able to get most of these fairly easily.  The Kabaya exclusive sets were the super hard ones to get.  Other the 6002, 0016, and 15 the pre-1984 sets can be found.  The rest of the Castle sets that I don't have are duplicate or re-released sets and the buildable figures.

    Classic Space is a lot like Castle.  The pre-1984 minifigure sets are difficult or impossible to find.  There are number of duplicate sets.  For example I think 497 is the same set as 928.  But I don't have a large initial base of these sets as Classic Space was wrapping up when I first got into Lego. 

  • JudgeChuckJudgeChuck Member Posts: 1,591
    ^ Yes, #497 was the designation in the US (and Canada?), while #928 was for RoW. This is the same for a number of sets in early Classic Space. The sets themselves are identical, so no need to get duplicates!

    When you say "The pre-1984 minifigure sets are difficult or impossible to find", what are you referring to? Sets like #6701 Minifig Pack, or just Classic Space sets pre-1984 in general?

    Over the last few years, I have managed to pick up loads of sets that I did not have originally and, in most cases, haven't paid large sums. The most I spent on one set was about £90 on #928. I even managed to get a pristine #886 in box (opened, but mint considering the age) for a very reasonable price.

    I've only got 4 sets to collect to complete my collection.
    LusiferSam
  • Patrik78Patrik78 Member Posts: 142
    edited November 2018

    Classic castle, space and pirates for me.

    And a special dream, all the great 12V trains... 7725,7740,7745...

    PeteM
  • kbwkbw Member Posts: 422
    Just pirate stuff for me. I’m a sucker for ships. Even worse: I’m a sucker for expensive discontinued ships
    dmcc0gmonkey76
  • eggsheneggshen Member Posts: 602
    In a perfect world I'd be able to finish my Power Miners, Atlantis, and Space:Alien Conquest themes, I have a couple of sets of each and I'm not sure when I'll be able to finish them off. There are a couple of themes/subthemes that I haven't started collecting that I would like to: Space:Mars Mission, Castle:Fantasy Era, Vikings, and Aqua Raiders. 
  • LusiferSamLusiferSam Member Posts: 574
    JudgeChuck said:
    When you say "The pre-1984 minifigure sets are difficult or impossible to find", what are you referring to? Sets like #6701 Minifig Pack, or just Classic Space sets pre-1984 in general?
    I should have clarified this better.  By pre-1984 minifigure sets I meant sets:  #0012, #0013, #0014, #0015 and #6711.  I believe these are all Canadian only releases.  #6701 would not be on that list.  I keep thinking it was released in 1984, not 1983.

    While one could just assemble such sets with ease, I feel one truly doesn't own these without the packaging.  Unlike the early Castle minifigure sets these are all readily found minifigures and/or parts.  But like the early Town and Castle minifigure sets it's the packaging that is impossible to find.  The last sealed example I saw of one the two packs went for over $1000.
    oldtodd33
  • oldtodd33oldtodd33 Member Posts: 2,727
    My dream theme is trains. I have collected 159 of the 200 in the database so far. After that, I'll try to finish space but I only have about half so far. Maybe castle too but I only have about a third of them right now. 
  • SumoLegoSumoLego Member Posts: 15,235
    I'm starting to think Ideas is going to be my long-term favorite.  So much variety and ingenuity in one theme!
    BrickByBrickBaby_Yodadmcc0pxchrisMr_Crossdavetheoxygenman
  • PowderfingerPowderfinger Member Posts: 77
    I'm only missing Cosmic Fleet Voyager to make Classic Space complete so that is the most realistic theme to complete, otherwise Fantasy Era, Agents and Hydronauts.
  • Craig_BCraig_B Member Posts: 20
    Every space theme from classic space to insectoids, and I'm very close! 
  • daewoodaewoo Member Posts: 846
    I'm still waiting for a decent WWII theme.
    gmonkey76
  • Baby_YodaBaby_Yoda Member Posts: 1,295
    I was a kid when Mars Mission came out and I always wanted to collect the full theme. Maybe one day I will, with a space-station MOC to house all the astronaut's vehicles and a hive for the aliens.
    pxchris
  • Captain_EyebrowCaptain_Eyebrow Member Posts: 177
    It's got to be classic space for me, it was what I had had a child and I am quite close, a few oddities to get and one big ship in the Galaxy Commander to get.

    I may have more than I think as I should open up the storage boxes and do a proper inventory!
  • MaffyDMaffyD Member Posts: 3,575
    I would never admit to wanting to collect an entire theme or even sub-theme. The thought of never being able to complete it (it's generally about money in those circumstances) would nag and tease me until I went mad. So I pick and choose individual models.
    I have idly mused wanting all the Classic Space spaceships, although my 'ideal' Classic Space appearance is probably as arcane as @JudgeChuck's and my definition of 'spaceship' probably more odd!
    I have a few on my wishlist though.
    pxchrisBaby_Yoda
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