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This is the first of my potential
series of fake "sets," LEGO Romans, called "Gladiator vs. Minotaur" (in the
spirit of the Vikings line, which were all named along the lines of
"Viking Something vs. Monster"). Notice the logo? Since the Vikings line used
the Viking helmet as the "V" in their logo, I decided to use the Roman
centurion helmet as the "R" in my Romans logo. To my astonishment, it
actually worked!
Here is the photo I used on the
box. I tried to get an action scene like LEGO usually does. There really
are 102 pieces in this set, if I counted right. I was aiming for a $10.00
MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price), and they usually include
around 100 pieces, if I'm right.
I chose a minotaur as the opponent
for two reasons: The Vikings only fought monsters in the Vikings line,
because violence between people is something LEGO tries to avoid, I think.
Also, most small sets this size only include two minifigs at most, so I
didn't want to put in two gladiators.
Here is the Emperor's Box Seat.
It's colorful and not too terribly realistic (would the Emperor ever be
this close to the battle? No), just like a real LEGO set!
The Emperor investigates his
chair. He senses something is amiss, but he can't quite put his finger on
it. Can you find it?
The Emperor is a really simple
minifig. Ideally, he would have a laurel crown thing, but I didn't want to
make the face decal.
The back of the seat. It was a
pain to count all the pieces. It makes me reluctant to make any larger
sets.
The Minotaur is based partially on
the appearance of the minotaurs in the game Gladius. It's a really stupid
and corny game, but for some reason I enjoyed the heck out of it (I've
played through it nearly three times). I know the
head isn't great, but if this was a real LEGO set, LEGO would probably
mold a totally new piece for the head, which is something I can't do.
Here's the gladiator. I was
searching through my LEGO minifig box looking for yellow legs, and then I
struck upon the legs for my oooold Bossk minifig. They were the only
yellow legs I could find, so I took off the decals and started scratching
off the paint. But then I realized that it actually looked something like
a sandal, so I left it.
The Emperor watches the fighters
step out onto the field, giving the audience a chance to view their back
decals.
The fight begins, but the
gladiator appears to be doing something tricky. (Check this out! I could
even design silly comics for the LEGO website! Ha!)
The gladiator has apparently seen
a certain Bugs Bunny cartoon. *NOTE: the red cape and anvil, are,
natrually, not included in the "set."
Like all big muscular beasts, the
minotaur is stupid, so he tosses down his axe and prepares to charge.
One thing about LEGO sets: they
almost always include some silly "play" feature that is little more than
annoying to more mature builders. But hey, I'm trying to make this like a
real set, so here we go...
The minotaur pulls the bottom of
the seat out, and down comes the Emperor!
CLANG! The plan worked... the
minotaur is down! Victory!
Um, maybe it didn't all work.
"You there! Gladiator! You will now face in a... special honorary fight to
celebrate your victory!"
Poor guy. But the Emperor always
gets his way.
More people that are not included
in the "set." I just built these for fun. I might include them in a larger
"set" if I ever actually make any more.
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