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Kingdoms 2012?

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While Im sad it likely means the end of the Castle subtheme (for now) One of my first sets was the Yellow Castle. I cant help be excited for this line.

It will be interesting to see what they come up with for sets (I'm sure there is rampant speculation already!) but over the last couple years I have bought castle sets but mostly for the parts anyhow and have enjoyed creating MOC more lately. I'm sure I've have spent more on parts from bricklink lately than on sets themselves!

Not a big fan of the flesh but I imagine the other creatures (goblins, orcs, trolls, Balrog) will mix in easily enough.

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They did have both space and STAR WARS themes as well as castle and Harry Potter. So a liscense theme doesn't always exclude a related theme.

Even so, I would expect castle might take a little time off though.

Even if LotR does put other castle properties out to pasture for now, without an ongoing property like Star Wars has with the Clone Wars, LotR probably won't be a castle replacement forever (the second Hobbit movie comes out in 2013, so LotR might die after that). It seems as if most "subthemes" only go a few years anyway, so Kingdoms could have been replaced soon anyway. Don't forget, we got some TERRIBLE castle subthemes in the past (I am looking at you fright knights and jelly bean knights) so if you don't like LotR you may only have to suffer a few years.

In the past, I might get a bigger set for a few cool elements, but usually I build it once, then sort out the pieces for MOCing. I am always more inclined to get smaller sets. That is my only fear, that my army builders might go away. That was the problem with PotC for me. I wasn't a repeat buyer. No army builder like sets with a few geneic soldiers or generic pirates (the captain's cabin/zombie attack deal was sorta close, but not close enough). It seemed as if LEGO was figuring that out with the Star Wars battle packs, so who knows. I hope LEGO gives us some generic characters and not only heroes in a few cheaper sets or some straight up battle backs so LotR can be a source for cool parts and lots of dwarves, Gondor knights, elves and orcs too.

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W.R.T. Fleshies: I don't hate fleshies, it's just bothersome that I can't mix things from Fantasy Era (and the Elf and Dwarf from the CMFs) with the characters we'll get from LOTR. Or, at least, will have to change hands and heads to match, which isn't as easy as it should be... while there seems to be dozens of heads to choose from, as far as people's faces go, it's a very limiting number.

W.R.T. LOTR Killing Castle... no... the way I see it, Fantasy had it's run, Kingdoms had it's run, now LOTR will have it's run. If it turns out to be as wildly popular as Star Wars and they keep releasing sets ad infinitum, I'm sure LEGO will start back with a dedicated non-licensed castle theme the same way TLG did with Star Wars and space. The only complaint is, if you don't like LOTR, you might have to wait for castle for a couple years. Be adults about it... I can't tell you how many years I waited between buying sets for some of the other themes I follow because there was nothing decent (IMO); no use whining.

R.I.P LEGO Castle. :sad:

Not castle... Kingdoms. Castle won't go away. Edited by fred67

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I like "fleshies" in their own right. I haven't attempted to mix them due to the sharp contrast of tone. I understand the world is full of different tones, but if they had more inbetween yellow to "flesh" to help with the transition, it would be easier to incorporate them.

However, if you are willing to modify the figures, just use a yellow sharpie permanent marker. It is an incredibly close match to the Lego yellow. I did that with a Jack Sparrow and you if I hadn't known I wouldn't be able to tell that it wasn't originally yellow. The reason it works is because even the yellow chest area on torsos isn't always a perfect match, it is normally off a little. So the flesh under yellow sharpie doesn't look much different than it normally looking. I'll have to post a picture sometime of the two side by side. (meaning, you can easily make elves and whatnot into yellow to match up with 'fantasy era' and the like). Although, maybe it won't be as easy in this next line with different molds or the plastic not accepting certain color modification applications.

Either way, bring on the next line of castle oriented Lego. I am excited either way.

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Why are some members so like considering LOTR toxic, has POTC really harmed or totalled the pirate theme at all.....people are still MOC-ing pirate ships that are not covered in so-called fleshies ? :look:

Just imagine the new parts you'll be able to use eh ?

Plus if the fleshies are not your fancy, change the hands to yellow and customise your own yellow heads. :wink:

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Castle is not going away, I bet everything I've got it's merely on a hiatus. Star Wars and space....

Edited by CallMePieOrDie

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"Haters gonna hate"

I find this to be a needlesly provocative statement.

I'm not hating on LOTR, as I'm sure neither is the case for most people expressing grief in this thread. I'm just sad that what I deem to be the best Castle subtheme LEGO has done since the 80's is now as good as dead. It has nothing to do with "hate" for LOTR. In fact, I love the LOTR movies and look forward to The Hobbit, and I might buy some sets in spite of the fleshie minifigs. I just see no reason why you can't let us be sad without such a ridiculous troll comment. Go have fun in the LOTR thread instead.

Not castle... Kingdoms. Castle won't go away.

That's true enough. I really like(d) Kingdoms though, and will miss the subtheme deerly.

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I'm not hating on LOTR, as I'm sure neither is the case for most people expressing grief in this thread. I'm just sad that what I deem to be the best Castle subtheme LEGO has done since the 80's is now as good as dead. It has nothing to do with "hate" for LOTR. In fact, I love the LOTR movies and look forward to The Hobbit, and I might buy some sets in spite of the fleshie minifigs. I just see no reason why you can't let us be sad without such a ridiculous troll comment. Go have fun in the LOTR thread instead.

Amen! I'm excited for LoTR, but I'm so sad Kingdoms is going away now, as I think it was the strongest of all Lego's themes in 2010-2011, with awesome sets and minifigures that were just detailed enough to be interesting. I'm just glad I have bought all the sets of the line, and I'm also getting two of the joust sets as well.

Edited by fyrmedhatt

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Kingdoms has been a great theme of Castle, great minifigures, new molds, and wonderful civilian sets.

I hope is only on stand by.

Well if Kingdoms is gone and LOTR is confirmed as for POTC on Pirates.

Maybe we could get Western or Romans, who knows?

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Maybe we could get Western or Romans, who knows?

Well, I doubt in 2012, Lego has so much going on. :wink:

But surprises do pop up right out of the blue eh ? :laugh:

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Why are some members so like considering LOTR toxic, has POTC really harmed or totalled the pirate theme at all.....people are still MOC-ing pirate ships that are not covered in so-called fleshies ? :look:

Just imagine the new parts you'll be able to use eh ?

Plus if the fleshies are not your fancy, change the hands to yellow and customise your own yellow heads. :wink:

Of course you can switch heads and hands but for me it´s more about the price... The sets will be more expensive now compared to Legos "own" sets. And to buy a more xpensive set AND to get those ugly fleshies are a thorn in my side! :wink:

But as I said, there will surely be some good parts coming out of this and I´m problably going to buy a few sets.. I´m dreaming of Rohans riders! :sweet:

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Ah, but my fellow Avalonian.....you buy the sets on sale, don't pay the full retail price especially the ones with the TRU tax ! :laugh:

Originally, I wasn't interested in LOTR as a theme though I was just sitting on the fence with it, but now I actually can't wait for this theme to take off....my son is going to have the wildest minifig collection ever in the end. :laugh:

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I am sad for the LEGO castle theme. I think the 'Castle' (as in 2007-09) and 'Kingdoms' sub-themes were both excellent. I'm sure it will return again though and it leaves on a high with the Joust set.

I just hope the LOTR theme is good now.

As for the flesh vs yellow issue, the hands/heads is all very well but look at the POTC theme - almost all the new torsos included (often unnecessarily) a little triangle of flesh leading up to the head which makes them rather incompatible (and I'm not a fan of having to use yellow sharpie pens to solve this).

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This belongs in Licensed Themes, in the LOtR thread. Can't people read the topic title, Kingdoms.

Ah, come on now, ppl have been speculating in this thread about a possible LOTR theme for a few pages now, so i'm not really that off topic, surely? If i'd started a new thread about it then i'm sure someone would have suggested that it should be merged in here anyway. :wink:

I hear what everyone is saying about the likely end of kingdoms - it's sad i agree, but as others have said it's not the end of castle, some castle theme or another will be back once the Hobbit films peter out. And we do get the brilliant joust set as a nice send off too. :thumbup:

I'm just so excited by the potential for new prints and elements - i really liked most of the POTC sets in that respect. From the set listing over in the licenced theme thread, it sounds like quite a few of the sets will include orcs and goblins too, which i am VERY ok with! :wub:

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I don't know why LOTR has to replace Kingdoms?

LOTR is a fantasy about hobbits, dwarves, elves, orcs, wizards, etc. Kingdoms is about knights and soldiers. I don't see why there couldn't be room for both?

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I don't know why LOTR has to replace Kingdoms?

LOTR is a fantasy about hobbits, dwarves, elves, orcs, wizards, etc. Kingdoms is about knights and soldiers. I don't see why there couldn't be room for both?

And Kingdom's replaced Castle which had orcs and wizards too. :wink:

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Of course you can switch heads and hands but for me it´s more about the price... The sets will be more expensive now compared to Legos "own" sets. And to buy a more xpensive set AND to get those ugly fleshies are a thorn in my side! :wink:

But as I said, there will surely be some good parts coming out of this and I´m problably going to buy a few sets.. I´m dreaming of Rohans riders! :sweet:

I agree totally about the price, I'd much rather have less expensive non-licensed sets. That said, I suspect TLG might have been getting us ready for this, just look at the pricing on some of that last wave of kingdoms. The carriage in particular was priced more steeply than pretty much any star wars set, and they know perfectly well that even if the kids don't care in the slightest that its LORD OF THE RINGS!!!, the parents will, so a lot of people will buy because the kids want a castle and the parents like LOTR. Evil marketing department people attack our wallets again!

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Of course you can switch heads and hands but for me it´s more about the price...

I doubt it. If PoTC is any indication, TLG will try very hard to make sure to include peach prints in the torsos.

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I for one hope that Kingdoms will not end just yet...it is one of my favourite themes...and have loved some of the recent additions.

Given the Lord of the Rings release...I can forsee Kingdoms might be temporarily stopped to give LOTR a kick start...but hopefully it will be around for a while.

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So sad for the loss of "Kingdoms". IMO, it hadn't even BEGUN to reach its potential.

I AM excited about LOTR but, I really, really, really wish both lines could have lived 'side by side'.

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I doubt it. If PoTC is any indication, TLG will try very hard to make sure to include peach prints in the torsos.

Indeed. Am I being stupid if I don't understand why they would try very hard to do it? I don't understand what they gain, their product is all about inter-compatibility. I understand why they might want to put it on a few key figures to add detail but looking at PotC it seems they really went out of their way to do it. I for one would buy more sets if they didn't, I can't think why the peach prints on the torsos would make anyone more likely to buy the sets.

Edited by Weil

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Well, I'm glad we finally have something official. It's probably pointless, but I hope that there is somehow more for Kingdoms. Oh well. As I said quite a bit earlier, I am sure I will buy LotR sets. I despise the fleshies, but I think this is one theme where that will be less of an issue (unless they do what they did in PotC). Almost the entire team evil is non human so flesh tone is a non issue. The one that matters that is human (Saruman) is wearing a full robe and has a beard, so covering any odd flesh parts will be easy. One of the factions of evil men (I think the Haradrin) are totally armored and the others are mostly covered up (except the guys piloting the Mumakil). Most of the Men of the West are covered pretty well too (the forces of Gondor are totally armored, despite that not really lining up with the book, and the forces of Rohan are covered as well). I think the real issue is the elves, although with them not being human one could just say they are different toned.

On Stranger Tides has moved to "probably reliable" in my book. I hope he is right about that Flying Dutchman rumor, not that I have anywhere to put a 2000 piece pirate ship.

Edit: Oh, I forgot to mention my trip to the LEGO store last night. The guy I asked knew nothing. He was kind of puzzled why they would even be doing something like that (not knowing about the upcoming Hobbit movies).

Edited by Tyrant

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Kingdoms is indeed finished :cry_sad:

Castle on a hiatus for who knows how long. :sadnew:

You seem pretty sure about that. :cry_sad: Care to share a source? I anticipate we might have a sad letter from someone at TLG soon, like the community got about Pirates when PotC was announced.

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Seems like this thread is now just about a condolence thread for Kingdoms. Well, here's my eulogy:

Kingdoms had a good life. Popular (at least with AFOLs, dunno about the kids), with a longer run than many subthemes before the KK2 era, and went out with a bang – the joust set – while still fresh and exiciting. Its the best way to go, isn't it?

While I would have preferred this or another „original“ theme, I am excited about LotR/Hobbit. I see it as an opportunity to breathe some innovation into LEGO, with parts and pieces and minifigs that otherwise wouldn't have been made. And maybe some new ideas for structures and techniques.

Though I will say I take yellofigs over fleshies anyday. Boo on TLG for putting those irritating fleshie triangles on the torsos.

And castle being dead/gone/over/... or just "on a hiatus" amounts to the same thing – no castle sets in the forseeable future. I can't imagine them running alongside - and against - LotR/Hobbit. Unless a few tiny Kingdoms sets are released until June?

Edited by Ardelon

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