New Lego horse

[Lyichir]

A thought occurred to me. The classic horse can be disassembled with a little bit of effort, taking it apart into both halves of its body and its head. If the new horse can be disassembled similarly, and if its head attaches in the same way, then it may be possible to put parts of both together into a "Frankenhorse" which has poseable legs but also can wear the old headgear pieces.

That said, I'm quite happy with the look of the new horse, and the fact that it can't wear old headgear pieces doesn't faze me since I'm no army builder. Long before pictures of this new horse surfaced, I was of the opinion that a new one was needed. As it was, the horses could not stand in any sort of action pose, and had a single point of articulation, as opposed to the seven points of articulation on minifigures. The new one has just one more articulation point, yet this alone works wonders for its poseability.

[Gatekeeper]

"Frankenhorse"

Okay, I don't know why but that struck me as really funny.

[branolego]

A thought occurred to me. The classic horse can be disassembled with a little bit of effort, taking it apart into both halves of its body and its head. If the new horse can be disassembled similarly, and if its head attaches in the same way, then it may be possible to put parts of both together into a "Frankenhorse" which has poseable legs but also can wear the old headgear pieces.

That said, I'm quite happy with the look of the new horse, and the fact that it can't wear old headgear pieces doesn't faze me since I'm no army builder. Long before pictures of this new horse surfaced, I was of the opinion that a new one was needed. As it was, the horses could not stand in any sort of action pose, and had a single point of articulation, as opposed to the seven points of articulation on minifigures. The new one has just one more articulation point, yet this alone works wonders for its poseability.

thats just genius, nothing like making lemonade.

im glad you thought of this, cuz i have tons of head gear as i collect lots of castle/ western. ill have to try this when they come out. one question though, does the old horse "snap" apart or do you have to glue it back together?

[CMP]

The old barding fits, that's good enough for me. I really dig this new poseable horse, and I'm glad the color ratio can be rebalanced. There were far too many white horses with the old ones.

[WhiteFang]

I will miss the old Classic LEGO Horse...

Still, I will welcome the new one too.

[tafkatb]

I agree, change is bad. Never should have gotten rid of the old horse:

[Lyichir]

thats just genius, nothing like making lemonade.

im glad you thought of this, cuz i have tons of head gear as i collect lots of castle/ western. ill have to try this when they come out. one question though, does the old horse "snap" apart or do you have to glue it back together?

The older horse takes some pulling to get apart, but it does not need to be glued to fit back together. The question is more whether the new horse's neck attaches the same way, and whether it can be pulled apart at all (the rear legs being joined together certainly might make it infeasible).

[The_Creator]

A thought occurred to me. The classic horse can be disassembled with a little bit of effort, taking it apart into both halves of its body and its head. If the new horse can be disassembled similarly, and if its head attaches in the same way, then it may be possible to put parts of both together into a "Frankenhorse" which has poseable legs but also can wear the old headgear pieces.

If that works I'll be quite happy .

-The_Creator

[LEGOman273]

I agree, change is bad. Never should have gotten rid of the old horse:

*Snipe*

Don't dis the Yellow Castle.

Edited April 16, 2012 by LEGOman273

[Delta 38]

Hmm, interesting. While I do like the new horse mould, I don't think they should get rid of the original.

The new horse seems like (for lack of a better term) an "action" horse, so it might look slightly odd if the horse is meant to just be standing (e.g. in a farm set).

[88high]

I really like the new design! The horse actually has some defined legs instead of it just being two studs wide! I say out with the old, in with the new! I just hope that they replicate some of those cowboys vs indians war-painted horses... i have always loved both of mine ;D

[Outer Rim Trading Co.]

I'm encouraged with the mentions of future versions of banding and headgear that knights and the castle theme is not dead.

[A2L]

I love the new horse. Good to see that the old horse has been retired finally.

Edited April 16, 2012 by A2L

[Bobkov]

I was concerned initially about this new horse, but I think that the limited attention to backwards compatibility, as well as the increased detail that brings it up to the level of the newer animals, is great. I've come around to think that this is a good well needed change.

Like others, I'll be a bit sad that the head gear doesn't fit on the new ones, but when needed I can use it on the old ones still; so far I think the two horses will probably look alright together.

Now, more interestingly however is this little speculative point from the article:

"We will be developing a replacement barding for future product launches, ensuring that the horse can be dressed for battle and still be fully pose-able."

"[headgear/head-plates] will also soon be replaced with new elements in future products."

Since we no none of the initial LotR sets have this outside of the basic saddles, I think we can safely conclude that more Historical (probably knights/castle) themes will be on the way in the future. We can re-enforce this theory with the idea that if they were going to include any barding or headgear with horses in the LotR sets, it would have been with the Rohan sets. There are few other places in the books where horses are used to any extent, and no other placed in the movies besides those already represented, and Shadowfax (Gandalf's horse, which would allow *no* barding or saddle). I will be holding onto this speculative hope as I buy all the LotR sets...

[Haltiamieli]

Since we no none of the initial LotR sets have this outside of the basic saddles, I think we can safely conclude that more Historical (probably knights/castle) themes will be on the way in the future.

Isn't that quite a save bet anyway? After LotR there will certainly be new medieval themes, even if Castle may possibly turn to a theme that isn't present every year.

We can re-enforce this theory with the idea that if they were going to include any barding or headgear with horses in the LotR sets, it would have been with the Rohan sets.

Dunno, Rohirrim do not usually have big bardings in the movies. For example I don't think the horse Théoden uses in the Battle of Hornburg has such. If there will be bardings in the Lego LotR line, I bet it's either with Aragorn at the Black Gates or with Théoden in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, both of which are rather possible sets to come.

[Paganomation]

Stop-motion animators will love it too I think...

I'd love it more if all four legs were separately moveable. :) Seriously though, I'm looking forward to trying this new horse out on camera. I didn't realize TLG was replacing the old horse entirely, but it's cool how they've taken into account compatibility with existing accessories.

[Only Sinner]

I wonder if they will remake the skeleton horse. How about a ghost horse? I would really like to have some flaming/black devil horses, ala ghost rider, that would be too scary probably.

[SpiderSpaceman]

I'd love it more if all four legs were separately moveable. :)

Amen to that.

[badbob001]

I was just about to buy myself a white horse + headgear to make a unicorn when I came across this topic. I think I'll wait for the new sets and see if they will have a white version. Too bad about the headgear incompatibility so I may need to wait a bit more before I can add the horn. The new posing option will go well with the Pegasus wings I'm dreaming up.

[Faefrost]

I'm encouraged with the mentions of future versions of banding and headgear that knights and the castle theme is not dead.

The first place we will most likely see it will be a set based on Faramirs charge from RotK. Weren't those horses fully outfitted? I can't remember if any of the Rohan horses were draped. I don't think they had full armor?

Having the new horse in hand, I like it. The changes are nice and subtle. It blends extremely well with the previous generation of horses, so well that it makes the creation of "frankenhorses" kinda pointless. Yeah the new head is a little smaller and rounder. But it takes a lot of looking to have it really be noticed. The issue with the old horse head pieces is in reality a non issue. Since the only really noticeable difference in the horses is the head, and the head armor covers the head... It really does no harm simply using the old horses in those situations. Most times you are using the head piece you are also either using barding or it is pulling a carriage. Both of those situations would block the use of the new horses pose able features anyway. So there is no real reason to swap them out with the new.

The actual pose ability is a little more limited then I expected. The joined rear legs does restrict it more. I had hoped that it would allow for a more varried walk/run/rearing combination. But really you only have two. Walk/stand and rearing. Oh and after you do put it rearing, expect to spend a minute tinkering with it on a hard flat surface to get it to stand level again.

[Plissken]

If there will be bardings in the Lego LotR line, I bet it's either with Aragorn at the Black Gates or with Théoden in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, both of which are rather possible sets to come.

Those two are most likely. I think the gear on both is quit appealing and usable.

Brego

Snowmane

[Vindicare]

I finally got my hands on some. I like them. The pose when standing on all fours is nice. The front hoof gives off a few vibes, like its starting to run, or scraping it in the dirt. It looks like it could actually move, other than just having all fours planted firmly. The new head is nice, and I see why the old headgear won't fit, it really is different. Great job TLG!

[Combee]

While I was initially skeptical about the new horse, having played with it I really like it. It fits much better with the new animal molds that Lego is releasing and I can't wait until they produce barding and headgear for them

[TheLegoDr]

I received Gandalf Arrives recently and the new horse doesn't blow me away like it does some others. Yes, it may be more realistic in the shape, but it doesn't seem to me to be any different than the older horses. While the idea of a horse rearing up is nice, I actually prefer the non-posing horses. The huge crease on the hind legs is not that appealing to me. But good thing I have tons of the old horses to continue to use since they are now discontinued.

The new one is welcome, but I didn't see the purpose of the change really. And it doesn't do much for me right now. We'll see how I feel when I handle a lot more of them.

[Gryphon Ink]

I like the new horse, and I especially like that it doesn't look totally different from the classic horse. You could pose them side by side in a big cavalry scene to accomplish a variety of poses, and it would look just fine. But although the NuHorse doesn't look too, too different from Your Father's Horse, it IS prettier and makes a welcome addition to the Lego menagerie.

I think a lot of people have missed the fact that the joint in the horse's legs doesn't only allow it to rear up - it also allows the horse to be posed running. If you stretch the legs out as if to rear, but push the whole horse forward so its front hooves touch the baseplate, it stands in a fine galopping pose. It's maybe not a 100% authentic gallop posture, but it looks fine and is certainly a lot more lively than OldHorse's one, very static, pose. If you wanted to MOC something like the charge of the Rohirrim, your MOC will look ten times better with the new horse than it would with the old. This is a minor change that makes a HUGE difference in how a scene will look.

I hope that in time there will be different color variations and not every brown horse will have a white blaze, but I'm sure that within a few years of LOTR and/or Castle sets there will be at least a few different new horses.