Bricks in Motion
We are a friendly filmmaking community devoted to the art of stop-motion animation using LEGO® and similar construction toys. Here, you can share your work, join our community of other brickfilmers, and participate in periodic animation contests!
A place to discuss, share, and create stop motion films.
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I wasn't sure how to put this in the title, but basically if you could bring back your favourite theme that has been discontinued, what would it be? It's an easy one for me, as it would be the medieval fantasy sub theme of the castle theme, from 2008-2009, as I never got a hold of any of those sets and it was my favourite sub theme of the entire castle theme 
I could mention so many off of the top of my head (Studios, Johnny Thunder aka Adventurers, Alpha Team, Studios, Western, Time-Cruisers only a little less jumbled and perhaps a bit more focused, and maybe Studios)
However, I'd rather see LEGO do more original themes and really expand the pieces they have like baseplates and such. Basically, do more Ninjago or Chima ideas... only, without a mandatory TV show to go with it.
Pharaoh's Quest and Monster Fighters were steps in the right direction IMO, but, I don't think they were very popular, and they certainly didn't have the staying power of Johnny Thunder, who had a cameo appearance in The LEGO Movie over 10 years after the theme was discontinued.
Alpha Team. There are others too, but I think those insane faces would be so useful.
Unfortunantly, I was, for whatever reason, very anti-LEGO when Alpha Team was still alive, so ebay is my only option.
Yes, Studios is one I long to see the (unlikely) return of. I'm glad that they came out with The Lego Batman Movie Movie Maker Set, though, and I would love to see more like that. I have actually been collecting a lot of the old studios sets on eBay recently, and so now I already have quite a large collection 
I too was a big fan of Pharaoh's Quest, and have all the sets associated with it. My wife, however, is about 130% the Pharaoh's Quest fan that I am, and that's saying something! Some of these themes are short running by design.
Lego I think has gone overboard with all this licensed sets and I'd love to see a new widened focus on original themes and more versatility within a set, like Creator. But, as Charlie Brown says, and to quote a great brickfilm's title, "That's The Way It Goes". Why would TLG stop with franchise IP licensing everywhere, when it's profitable for them, and enables them to stay in business and give us both types of sets/series?
But while I want more original series like Ninjago and Chima, DON'T BRING BACK CHIMA ITSELF! I think I'm safe there, since it was the biggest financial failure they had in modern Lego history.
For me, I would have liked if Lego decided to revive many of the themes from the period of 2006-2009. Themes like Power miners, Agents, and Space Police. I really enjoyed that time period.
One thing I loved about Power Miners is that it gave us a lot of teal pieces.
Yeah, the rock monsters are pretty well designed also. A decent theme overall.
I'm glad that they came out with The Lego Batman Movie Movie Maker Set, though...
I'm not, unfortunately. Sure, a lot of people may be making brickfilms with their smartphones, however, I feel that that crowd tends to be only temporary. Besides, I've tried making a brickfilm with my phone. I missed my webcam almost instantly.
Not to say that brickfilmers can't make good films on their phones - it's just that a phone is going to be more limited than a computer when it comes to editing programs/apps, processing power, and several other important features.
It's not like I wouldn't accept a Movie Maker set sans camera - I'd just prefer one that either came with a webcam, or was more optimized for any cameras other than the ones on an iPhone, you know?
Besides, The Lego Batman Movie Maker set seems rather small anyway... There's not enough there to keep even someone like me (a brickfilmer who loved the Lego Batman Movie) interested. Although, I'm sure that I'm not exactly the age demographic the set is marketed towards anyhow.
Lego Figure Productions wrote:I'm glad that they came out with The Lego Batman Movie Movie Maker Set, though...
I'm not, unfortunately. Sure, a lot of people may be making brickfilms with their smartphones, however, I feel that that crowd tends to be only temporary. Besides, I've tried making a brickfilm with my phone. I missed my webcam almost instantly.
I know I'm encouraging off-topic discussion here, but I have to give my two cents 
Back when you and I started brickfilming, webcams and point-and-shoot cameras were the most accessible type of camera. Back then, we didn't know about manual controls or different types of webcams, we just made the movies. People who grew up with the original LEGO Studios movie maker kit used the camera it came with because it was accessible. Remember, this was before any Jane and Joe could have their own personal tablet or phone with a decent camera on it.
Phones and tablets aren't going away, and neither will their use be going away by beginners. Not any time soon anyway. Sure, LEGO could have put a camera in the set, but LEGO isn't a tech company. They're a toy company. And tech gets outdated FAST. So they just use the phone camera, make an app that has manual controls and a built in editor, and whamo, kids can make movies.
I am a bit disappointed at the Batman set. It's not that impressive other than the construction of the camera rig. But it's great for a beginner who already has a bucket of LEGO and a smartphone and wants to make his own movies.
Of course, that's not to say that the phone animators wont upgrade just like you and I did. I'm sure some of them will get tired of the limitations of the phone and go to webcam, or even to DSLR. And that's great. All the stuff LEGO puts out is made for beginners (children 8-10, remember) who have a very short attention span. I mean, it's a wonder we ever got past the first stages of brickfilming with the amount of time it took! So let's not shun the camera users. They're the modern day equivalent of the VHS camera user, or the camcorder user, or the point-and-shoot user, or the ancient webcam user.
Of course, that's not to say that the phone animators wont upgrade just like you and I did. I'm sure some of them will get tired of the limitations of the phone and go to webcam, or even to DSLR. And that's great. All the stuff LEGO puts out is made for beginners (children 8-10, remember) who have a very short attention span. I mean, it's a wonder we ever got past the first stages of brickfilming with the amount of time it took! So let's not shun the camera users. They're the modern day equivalent of the VHS camera user, or the camcorder user, or the point-and-shoot user, or the ancient webcam user.
Having used a phone for a long time, I am also coming into the world of DSLRs 
2008 agents will allways be a favorite theme, but every pirate theme (except the 2015 theme) are great too.
For me, I would have liked if Lego decided to revive many of the themes from the period of 2006-2009. Themes like Power miners, Agents, and Space Police. I really enjoyed that time period.
For sure one of the best eras, I would love to see a return to some of those sets, especially Agents and Space Police.
The Outback series was cool, unfortunately it only lasted a year.
Otherwise I definitely would echo this guy:
Johnny Thunder aka Adventurers, Alpha Team, Studios, Western, Time-Cruisers
They need to bring back LEGO Space (it hasn't been gone that long, but still), Alpha Team, Adventurers, and Exo-Force.
To be honest I hope they do Exo-Force or something similar when they finally dump Next Knights. Space has been quite good recently with all of the new pieces for making alien minifgures, and of course we all love the retro space I reckon alpha team and adventurers could be cool to revive too.
Yeah, I think Nexo Knights will go at least one more year before reaching the end of the line at the end of 2018. Hopefully there will be a new space theme in 2019 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Space and the LEGO minifigure (like they did in 2009 with Space Police III).
There doesn't seem to be any reason why they stopped with the space. Kinda strange.
Maybe they thought Star Wars counts as space.
Maybe they thought Star Wars counts as space.
Most likely that's why the old space themes discontinued. But Life on Mars came out in 2001, which was during the third year of Star Wars. If Space returned in 2007, and has since had four themes, I don't see why they shouldn't have a new Space theme in the near future.
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