Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Great links: Groovy Lego set based on "The Three Investigators"


I have mentioned previously (April 2012, October 2015) my love for "The Three Investigators" series of young-detective novels created by Robert Arthur Jr. The books feature Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, Bob Andrews and Alfred Hitchcock as "Himself." That last bit of meta-twist is endearing, but is hardly the sole reason to love the series, which has titles such as The Mystery of the Green Ghost and The Secret of the Crooked Cat.

One of the things I loved, for example, was the secret headquarters of The Three Investigators. It's a forgotten trailer that's hidden under piles of junk in the scrapyard owned by Jupiter's uncle. It has everything a 12-year-old sleuth would want in a secret hideout — a phone, a library, a periscope, a darkroom (!), and several super-secret entrances and emergency-escape exits. Arthur absolutely tapped into every young boy's dream hideout with that aspect of the series.

And now, a group called NLR Creations is seeking support for a proposed Lego set based on The Three Investigators' secret headquarters.

On the website Lego Ideas, outside groups can pitch ideas for Lego sets. If there's enough public support, Lego will even consider turning those outside ideas into official sets.

And so an idea for a Three Investigators Salvage Yard & Headquarters is currently being pitched on Lego Ideas. And it's in need of everyone's support! As of this writing, it has 118 supporters and would need hundreds (probably thousands) more supporters to have any hope of getting the green light.

Here is part of the description from NLR Creations:
"The set includes The Three Investigators HQ and its many secret entrances,

"— Red Gate Rover leading through the multi-coloured fence surrounding the yard painted by local artists and children, into the Salvage Yard where the boys also leave their bikes and a trapdoor into HQ,

"— Green Gate One leading to Jupiter’s outdoor workshop and the boy’s rebuilt printing press and then into Tunnel Two,

"— Easy Three, a false door leading into the front of the trailer and that can only be opened with a key hidden in a box of other keys in the yard!

"This set also includes the Jones Salvage Yard Office (containing a hidden safe) and pick-up truck, as well as items of scrap and junk from which the boys regularly transform and rebuild their equipment, including personal radios, a tape-recorder and their HQ phone and loud-speaker system. The models are designed for playability and the roofs of the yard office and HQ come off easily to allow access to the areas inside."
And here are some additional photos from the group's pitch:



There are a total of 17 investigator-tastic photos of the proposal on Lego Ideas, so you should go check all of them out. More importantly, you should consider the proposal yourself, so that you can consider offering your support to help the project move forward. (You have to register as a user on Lego Ideas, but beyond that there's zero cost or obligation.)

Wouldn't this Lego set look great and dandy on a shelf next to a collection of Three Investigators novels?

P.S. — You can learn much more about The Three Investigators at Seth Smolinske's website, which launched in October 2000.

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