If I were TLG and Had a Creativity Gene Series: Part 1 - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

A while back I posted a thread in the forums asking what everyone would like to see next as a theme from Lego (The thread is here: http://www.brickpicker.com/forum/index.php/topic/4105-whats-the-next-theme-you-would-like-to-see/page-4?hl=next%20theme ). One of our the BP members, El Guapo posted an awesome idea here in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”. I want to make sure before I do this article everyone understands that he came up with the idea and it was a great one (Hey, maybe if Lego does it, they will give him a commission). He came up with a few good set ideas, but I had some other good ones dealing with this theme possibility as this movie is one of my favorites of all time. I asked him if he minded me expanding on his idea and he was on board - make sure everyone visits his profile and 1-up's him for this great idea. I wanted to start out with this one in a series of blogs I will do showing new theme possibilities and what I would do with them. This will be something fun to break up the monotony of “buy this set, sell this set”, etc.

First off, if you have seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you know that this movie is has tons of iconic scenes. So I had to choose a few that would really stand out to people that had seen the movie, but offered play-ability to those who haven't.

She Turned Me Into a Newt!

This would be the iconic scene when all of the townsmen bring a young woman that they dressed up as a witch to Sir Bedevere so that he can decide whether she needs to be burned or not. This would include the following minfigures:

• Sir Bedever: His faceplate will just not quite stay up.
• 5 Townspeople including the characters shown in the scene who yell things like “churches” and “Very small rocks”.
• The Witch: She would be an exclusive minifigure and would have a wart on her face, a carrot on her nose and a witch hat.

This set would also come with the platform area for Bedevere and the Witch to stand on with the townspeople below. Along with this, there would be an old time weighing scale with a duck that happens to weigh just as much as the witch minfigure.

It's Just a Flesh Wound: The Black Night Bust

Lego hasn't done an insane amount of these busts, but the ones they have done have been really great. I am mostly referring to the Star Wars sets of Yoda and Darth Maul. The Black Night is an iconic character in the movie though he was only in the movie for about 10 minutes and managed to lose about 20 pints of blood. He is a perfect character to do a bust of, becuase his limbless torso is a very memorable part of the movie.

Now, Lego is a toy company so we would have to make this bust less violent than the actual movie (although even that was pretty fake). Leave out the blood and gore from the arms and legs, I think this would look absolutely awesome. I know I would pay big money for a bust of the Black Night's torso. This would definitely be a display only set so I think a UCS placard like int eh SW theme could really be nice next to this.

The Trojan...Rabbit?

This would be a smaller set, bigger than SW battle packs, but not much over $20. It would be a minifigure-centric set. This would include all of the main characters as well as the Wooden and somewhat flimsy Rabbit that was somehow constructed in the forest with no tools at all while semi-French people watched on.

Minifigures included:

• King Arthur
• Sir Bedevere the Wise
• Sir Lancelot the Brave
• Sir Robin the Not-Wuite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot
• Sir Galahad the Pure

This would be a big time set for playability and to easily collect all the core minifigures. The Rabbit would have wheels so that it could roll and the characters would fit inside, though they forget to do that. This would fit right along with the castle sets coming up.

Camelot! It's Only a Model

This would be a very special set and out of Lego's normal set type. First off, you would have the Legos to build the front of Camelot's Castle, but that's it. It would literally be only a model. With this set you would get the following minfigures:

• Dennis: The minstrel that carries King Arthur's Coconuts. Of course he would have coconuts in his hands as well as the back pack.
• The prisoner: He would hand from the Camelot wall.

Along with this set you would also get a roundtable. The best part of the set – built in batteries and music. Once turned on, the model would play “Knight's of the Round Table”.

This would be a huge set for playability with the song playing and the prisoner, and would also be an awesome set for display-ability. “It's Only a Model” is one of my favorite quotable lines in the movie so I would love to have a set I could randomly point at and say “Camelot! (It's only a model)”.

The Bridge of Death

This could really be an awesome large scale set and, if done right, could really attract anyone who loves natural architecture whether they like the movie or not. It would include the bridge as well as both of the rock mountains around it supporting it. I am thinking somewhere near 1000 pieces. This would also include the walkway down the sides of the mountain to the bridge as well.

The minifigures would be the best part of this set, coming with:

• King Arthur
• Sir Lancelot the Brave
• Sir Robin the Not-Wuite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot
• Sir Galahad the Pure
• The Old Man: The bridge keeper

I would also suggest that Lego build in a catapult type system so that when the characters answered the old man incorrectly, they could be easily tossed into the river. If done correctly, this could be a major seller in the line.

Also, though I don't know how possible this is, I would love if this set had a small little system in the river area under the bridge that would shoot up smoke. I am not a science major (more into electronics), but I think it would be awesome if you could make this smoke while playing with it to add to the creepiness.

Look at the bones!

El Guapo mentioned this one in his post in the original thread and, while I was trying to avoid overlap, I have way too many ideas for this set. First off, it would include a giant cave and rocky area in front of the cave that would include tons of minifigure bones lying around to display the carnage that this vicious rabbit has been a part of.

Another section would be a rock line on the opposite side for all of the minifigures to hide from the rabbit. The set would include the following minifigures:

• The soldiers: This would be several matching soldiers that will fall victim to the cute, but vicious Rabbit and his nasty, sharp, pointy teeth. They would have heads that could quickly pop off – maybe some kind of system on the minifigure that popped them off very easily (If Lego will allow that).
• Brother Maynard: He would have a robe on, a giant book from which he could read from and also have a large box which included the Holy Hand Grenade.
• Tim the Enchanter: This would be Tim with his very vibrant outfit.
• Rabbit : This would be a cute little minifigure bunny, but would come with a second rabbit head that would include those nasty, sharp, pointy teeth we have been talking about.

I think this set would have the most play-ability out of all of them. I am 26 and I would totally have no shame in playing with this set. This could be a special exclusive to Lego.com and it would be an investor's dream with the several exclusive minifigures and the rabbit itself.

The knights who say...Icky-Icky-Ptang-Zoop-Boing (ni)

This is one of my all time favorite comedy movie scenes. The first time I watched this movie, I was rolling during this scene. They don't make comedy like this anymore. This set would be a forest scene with a floor for all the minifigures to sit on. It would come with the following minifigures:

• The Three Knights
• King Arthur
• Sir Bedevere
• Roger the Shrubber
• Old Crone: This is the lady they say “Ni” to

Yes I know, a lot of minifigures. But that's not all! This set would also have a tree in the set dubbed “The tallest tree in the forest”. It would also come with a Lego herring and two shrubberies that were at different heights to create a two-level effect with a little path running down the middle.

Play-ability - off the charts! Who wont have hours of fun imitating the voices of the nights and making the minifigures say the word "it" to defeat the nights. You wouldn't have to say "Ni!" to anyone to get them to buy this set.

Ni!

Castle Aaarggh

This is the biggest set in the bunch and a “Hard to Find”. It would include a giant castle as well as a large moat around it. This would also include a large boat for the minifigures to cross the treacherous moat. The minfigures included:

• Three of the FrenchMen
• King Arthur
• Sir Bedevere
• 10 soldiers to represent Arthur's army

This set would also include several traps on the top of the castle, including a catapult for the animals to be thrown at the oncoming soldiers as well as different items that can be dropped down from the top of the castle over top the castle doors.

 I think these are really fun to do and I encourage everyone who regularly write blogs to come up with a theme and do some possible sets. I really enjoyed writing this article. Anything I missed here?

Note: All of the information here are my own opinions and are pulled from my experiences. You may or may not have success with these methods.