What's in store for Castle in 2015?

[Artifex]

I've seen a topic like this in practically every subforum but Historic Themes, so I decided it was time to have the conversation going.

What do you think is in store for Castle in 2015?

What I truly wish is that Lego would give us Kingdoms back, although I know that's not the usual policy.

I'd love to see a Forestmen or a Black Falcons come back, but I'd not like to see them as part of the current Castle line (just because I don't like the new Castle heraldry and I'm afraid they would ruin the Black Falcon's Black Falcon by juniorizing it -- something like the 2010 Lion Knights would be great, though). I truly wish we could have a nice Kingdoms Lion Knights come back, preferably fighting the Black Falcons (maybe as true enemies, maybe like friendly competitors sometimes), with the Forestmen right there in the middle (fighting for the civilians) and (why not?) the Wolfpack sneaking around and taking advantage of the situation (the only true "evil" faction).

[TeufelHund]

I saw something on another forum hinting that there might be a Castle UCS set delivered in the near future. Given that the MMV was released in 2009, the Kingdoms Joust in 2012, 2015 would seem logical for another release.

A Medieval Fair would be a nice addition to the above two sets IMO.

Edited August 7, 2014 by TeufelHund

[Venkefedo]

I'd love a return to Kingdoms, since we never really got plural kingdoms! No nobility/royalty among the Green Dragons to indicate they're anything more than some rogue knights harassing the Lions. Then the Joust teased us with a new Black Falcon shield & armor (lacking only the dark blue plume and a silver-trimmed body/leg print instead of Green Dragon gold)... more kingdoms would've between nice to see. Much as I adore Fantasy and the MMV, Kingdoms was a lot of fun--and I really liked the Mill "Village" Raid. More peasants!!

I'd love to see the Forestmen and Wolfpack return, too; maybe the Forestmen could harass a "bad" kingdom, and the Wolfpack (who always seemed a little less "well-intentioned") could harass the "good" kingdom.

But mostly I just hope there IS a Castle presence in 2015!

[SirBlake]

What I truly wish is that Lego would give us Kingdoms back, although I know that's not the usual policy.

I'd love to see a Forestmen or a Black Falcons come back, but I'd not like to see them as part of the current Castle line (just because I don't like the new Castle heraldry and I'm afraid they would ruin the Black Falcon's Black Falcon by juniorizing it -- something like the 2010 Lion Knights would be great, though). I truly wish we could have a nice Kingdoms Lion Knights come back, preferably fighting the Black Falcons (maybe as true enemies, maybe like friendly competitors sometimes), with the Forestmen right there in the middle (fighting for the civilians) and (why not?) the Wolfpack sneaking around and taking advantage of the situation (the only true "evil" faction).

All of this. Kingdoms brought me back from my dark ages and middle earth kept me out. I'd love quality sets and heraldry like Kingdoms with classic factions brought back.

[MKJoshA]

I would love a new castle theme bringing back some of the oldies. However, if it meant the stopping of LOTR sets I would have to vote against it.

[Ridge Montante]

While I would love some forestmen type theme. I would be happy for any type of castle sets come 2015.

[Kliq]

Honestly, at this point, I would welcome just about anything (as long as it doesn't harken back to Knights Kindom II). I, personally, really enjoyed the modularity of the last castle releases and would love to see more of that in any future lines. Of course I would also love any kind of UCS castle set as long as it remains minifigure-scale (I don't see why it wouldn't be, but you never know).

Edited August 7, 2014 by Kliq

[plew2000]

So far no one knows. However due to the success of the 2014 sets they will probably just add more sets to the currant castle theme.

[dgherko]

Yes please yes.

I said this along time ago, we have a lack of evil or dark kings. Only the troll king and vladek faction king from the chess set

[Hive]

If it's more of the same as the last line, I'd rather they don't. But if it's anything like Kingdoms or Fantasy Castle, I'll be all over it.

[Alfadas]

Please bring Fantasy Era back, with new prints for the trolls, so a more random troll army could be made. Or Black Falcons. Or a civilian based theme. I know, that is not going to happen, but how cool would that be? Just a lot of civilians, houses, ofcourse the blacksmith, baker, inn, all the stuff a medieval village needs, with of course a few soldiers. That would be great. Or a theme with Vikings?

[Faefrost]

One thing that keeps rattling around in my head. What would be something a bit different for a Castle or Castle seeming theme? We know that Lego has had a partnership with Warner Brothers for 15-20 years now, with the Harry Potter movies, LotR and Hobbit, the Lego Movie and their Cartoon Network stuff. and much like Harry Potter before it, The Tolkien stuff is probably nearing its end. So Lego has had a great deal of success in teaming with WB for what are best described as "Literary Fantasy" subjects. Is there anything looming anywhere that might seem to continue that trend? It would seem WB has the movie rights to Anne McCaffreys Dragonriders of Pern books and has put a series of movies into production. Now THAT could be something interesting for Lego and for Castle fans. (And yes I know that technically the Pern books are sort of kind of in reality science fiction, but you don't even learn that until the later ones. Otherwise it is people riding Dragons living in Castles and Aeries and such.)

If there is a regular in house Castle release in 2015 I suspect it will be a D2C replacement for kingdoms Joust (Maybe a nice Inn? A update to the Guarded Inn sort of thing? Or a Forrestmen set?) Basically just one really nice set to hold everyone over until the next Castl'ish license kicks in. Sort of like what they appear to be doing with Pirates and PotC.

Pure speculation on my part. But it feels at least reasonable. Between how to train your Dragon, the Final Hobbit film and the now looming Pern movies I think Dragons and Dragonriders will be a thing that will be around for a bit. And Lego is fairly good at exploiting that sort of thing one way or another.

[The_Cook]

If there were going to be a theme released early next year then details of it would be out by now as it would have had to have been promoted to the toy stores. The best hope of news of a continuation of the theme is going to be from the toy fairs early next year.

D2Cs are different since they don't need to be promoted outside of TLG therefore we won't hear about them until TLG decide to make them public which could be just weeks before release.There could be something out there, there might not, we just won't know until TLG says something. I would also point out that the current castle range has had "easy" builds so that it doesn't compete too directly with the "harder" LOTR builds, to have a complex D2C set for an "easy" theme seems out of character.

Faefrost is right to look towards the movie franchises, they're a great hope for getting the raw materials for castles. As well as a Warner one should consider if Disney have any family orientated Swords and Sourcery movies in the pipeline that might be franchised as was done with Prince Of Persia and Lone Ranger? I'm sure that the staff at TLG (and the studios for that matter) are looking out for the next franchise that follows the same success pattern as Harry Potter.

Edited August 7, 2014 by The_Cook

[ElCrab]

Middle Zealand!

I was at work yesterday and saw we had a bunch of pallets with cases of LEGO, and got really excited when I saw one pallet of "Knight's Castle" sets. Sadly, they're the easy build sets, and not a new run of Castle products. I should've known that, too.

[Blakstone]

I think there will be a reemergence of Castle in 2015. LEGO seems to want to use the CMF as a way to build molds they want for other lines. The new princess hat and even wizard hat would be very useful in a reinvigorated Castle line.

I would love a return of the Black Falcons, Vikings, and Forestmen. However, if they cannot, I think they need to avoid lion and dragon heraldry for a while. This way new factions could coexist easier for people's existing collections.

They would have stags, eagles, and wolves for example. But what ever they do, skip the cartoony heraldry. Please.

[unclejeffie]

I would say they take the heroica game and expand that further along with sets and minifigs

[TheLegoDr]

I'd hope for something neat...

I missed out on Fantasy Era but I got back into LEGO in time to still buy the MMV. I didn't feel compelled to complete that theme, but I liked that D2C. I have purchased nothing in the new Castle theme, but if a D2C was done right, I'd be tempted.

I loved Kingdoms and would gladly welcome a return, but I don't see that happening. Something in terms of another faction would be welcome. I just didn't love the colors or heraldry of the new Castle line. Hopefully something good comes out this next year.

[Lady K]

LEGO Please bring back Fantasy Era! New troll sets would be most welcomed in our house as they are becoming more expensive and harder to find! New swords and shields as well as capes would outfit an army nicely!

[Yzalirk]

I'm not too sure what'll happen with the Castle theme next year but I'd really like to see them use fleshed minifigs this time around since it would be new along with new Elves and Orcs.

[Kliq]

I'm not too sure what'll happen with the Castle theme next year but I'd really like to see them use fleshed minifigs this time around since it would be new along with new Elves and Orcs.

That would be a 100% fail proof way to guarantee that I avoid LEGO castle like the plague. The flesh color is the bane of my existence. It is bad enough that I have to tear apart LotR/Hobbit figures and replace their hands and faces with yellow alternatives, but sometimes there is flesh on the torso, rendering them completely useless! If LEGO insists on using such a foul color on minifigures, keep them to the licensed themes. If they ever cross over to the traditional themes, I'm diving head first into my own personal LEGO dark age.

[Yzalirk]

That would be a 100% fail proof way to guarantee that I avoid LEGO castle like the plague. The flesh color is the bane of my existence. It is bad enough that I have to tear apart LotR/Hobbit figures and replace their hands and faces with yellow alternatives, but sometimes there is flesh on the torso, rendering them completely useless! If LEGO insists on using such a foul color on minifigures, keep them to the licensed themes. If they ever cross over to the traditional themes, I'm diving head first into my own personal LEGO dark age.

Sheesh, that's a bit harsh don't you think? I'm not going to criticize because that's you're opinion but I disagree 100%. LEGO has don't plenty of Castle themes with the yellow minifigs and trying a theme with fleshed minifigs would be great! Also as a brief example, LEGO made Harry Potter sets with the yellow minifigs at first then switched the the flesh toned minifigs.

[kermit]

I hope kingdoms come back with a focus on forest men that ties into another wave that features the knights battling the forestmen.

[Kliq]

Sheesh, that's a bit harsh don't you think? I'm not going to criticize because that's you're opinion but I disagree 100%. LEGO has don't plenty of Castle themes with the yellow minifigs and trying a theme with fleshed minifigs would be great! Also as a brief example, LEGO made Harry Potter sets with the yellow minifigs at first then switched the the flesh toned minifigs.

Yeah, and they also started Star Wars with yellow figures. I loved those. Now I don't purchase licensed sets unless the minifigures have pieces I think I can use. One positive thing is that it really saves me some money. Back on point, though, I can't see them ever switching human castle figures to flesh tones. I don't think it is harsh at all, I truly think they look terrible. Whenever LEGO decides to release some new castle sets, I really hope there is more of an emphasis on mature builds like LotR. Those licenses have to be expiring soon. I'd love to see standard castle sets with that level of detail.

[Mahtion]

Yeah, and they also started Star Wars with yellow figures. I loved those. Now I don't purchase licensed sets unless the minifigures have pieces I think I can use. One positive thing is that it really saves me some money. Back on point, though, I can't see them ever switching human castle figures to flesh tones. I don't think it is harsh at all, I truly think they look terrible. Whenever LEGO decides to release some new castle sets, I really hope there is more of an emphasis on mature builds like LotR. Those licenses have to be expiring soon. I'd love to see standard castle sets with that level of detail.

I grew up with Yellow only minifigs and flesh tone is a massive improvement. It may not be iconic but it looks much better than having a world populated by Simpsons characters. I will not buy any yellow figs because it is the past and obsolete.

[Artifex]

Those licenses have to be expiring soon. I'd love to see standard castle sets with that level of detail.

Kingdoms was released right before The Lord of the Rings. In my opinion, it set the standard for Castle themes, but then its quality was taken to LotR sets. I do hope that when licensed themes like LotR expire we get all that quality back in a great Castle line. That's why I keep coming back to Kingdoms and wishing for it to come back: It's all about quality. Although the latest instalment of Castle was of good quality, of course, it fell short of the Kingdoms standard (IMHO, that is).