2025 Castle [wishlist/speculation]

[Westbrick]

Link to it on the LEGO website: https://www.lego.com/en-gb/product/minifigure-vending-machine-21358

[TeriXeri]

I just looked at the 3-in-1 Horse Castle Box art again, and the Dragon from earlier this year has the Horse Castle in the background, and the Castle has the Dragon in the background. 

But right above the black and yellow Snake knight, in the distance,  there's also a Black (or at least dark colored) Castle with a yellow flag, so I think a Snake Knight Castle seems a lot more likely in the near future compared to Kraken or Gryphon.

Of course it's just box art, but LEGO has hidden things in plain sight before, with the back to the future like animation that showed part of Lion Knight Castle before that was revealed, and now the red/green dragon had the Horse Castle in the background all along, on both the front and back of box.

Edited yesterday at 02:38 PM by TeriXeri

[Yperio_Bricks]

1 hour ago, GreenhouseBricker said:

It looks like reddish brown

Hehe said so

Actually I am happy it's not copper. I think reddish brown fits better together with the other colors.

[GeoBrick]

4 minutes ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

Hehe said so

Actually I am happy it's not copper. I think reddish brown fits better together with the other colors.

... and is probably cheaper on PAB too...

[eldiano]

58 minutes ago, Westbrick said:

Link to it on the LEGO website: https://www.lego.com/en-gb/product/minifigure-vending-machine-21358

I'm only getting the vending machine for the minifigures and will probably sell the vending machine on it's own, i'm that desperate hehe.

[Blazej_Holen]

1 hour ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

Hehe said so

Actually I am happy it's not copper. I think reddish brown fits better together with the other colors.

Copper would be 100x better. Redish brown helmet looks cheap… pitty. At least I could get rid of them and replace them with more “medieval-ish” ones.

[Shiva]

1 hour ago, eldiano said:

I'm only getting the vending machine for the minifigures and will probably sell the vending machine on it's own, i'm that desperate hehe.

Those minifigs do look very nice! No chance they will be on Pick a Brick?

[Blazej_Holen]

9 minutes ago, Shiva said:

Those minifigs do look very nice! No chance they will be on Pick a Brick?

They eventually should appear on PaB since its non-licensed theme… My guess is around autumn…

[DonQuixote]

4 hours ago, GreenhouseBricker said:

LEGO just posted the prize machine promo video on the to their official Instagram. 

It was also on Belgian Flemish TV. 

The designer recieves 10 sets and 1% of the profit. 

Not being a nationalist but it makes me proud he is from the same provence as me. From Limburg! 

[Shroffy123]

Can't wait to see the Greyjoy armies people make with the new minifig.

[Shiva]

2 hours ago, Blazej_Holen said:

They eventually should appear on PaB since its non-licensed theme… My guess is around autumn…

Cheers.

Altho, someday buying that set, would be a way to support the creator.

[Westbrick]

14 minutes ago, Shiva said:

Cheers.

Altho, someday buying that set, would be a way to support the creator.

I like the castle, space snd pirate minifigs but the others mean nothing to me, tbh. I would personally have been more interested in the set if there weren’t duplicates (I’d get them off PaB later) of the castle minifigs, and instead had a couple of other interesting ones; wouldn’t have minded a medieval present, maybe a Viking, or something totally different. But I guess then maybe it enters into the CMF territory too much? As it stands, if I’m spending that much, I think I’d rather wait until the  minifigs reach PaB and buy more of them. 

[karrit]

I'm only in it for the Pirate, Space & Castle figs too.  And the actual prize machine is interesting so I guess it will be a Birthday present from me to me.  Would have been happier if it had remained $149.99 but now it's got an additional orange tax of $30 for us.  I will be buying more of the Pirate, Space & Castle figs when they show up on PAB.  Don't know yet what I'll do with the others.  The Paradisa ones give me Disco vibes, yuck!  At least the animal heads on the Fabuland ones are cute.  

[DonQuixote]

The minifig with the red torso and grey pants (the most generic one), represents the designer. 

[hikouki]

5 hours ago, TeriXeri said:

I just looked at the 3-in-1 Horse Castle Box art again, and the Dragon from earlier this year has the Horse Castle in the background, and the Castle has the Dragon in the background. 

But right above the black and yellow Snake knight, in the distance,  there's also a Black (or at least dark colored) Castle with a yellow flag, so I think a Snake Knight Castle seems a lot more likely in the near future compared to Kraken or Gryphon.

Of course it's just box art, but LEGO has hidden things in plain sight before, with the back to the future like animation that showed part of Lion Knight Castle before that was revealed, and now the red/green dragon had the Horse Castle in the background all along, on both the front and back of box.

Oooh, yes! I notice it now!

It does look like quite a substantial castle though. Perhaps Lego might do a 3-in-1 Black Tower?
 

[TeriXeri]

I'm looking toward 2026/2027, since big sets of 4 major AFOL Castle (Lion Knight+Town Square)/Viking Village /Space (Blacktron), and 3-in-1 Pirate Ship (Eldorado also left last year) are all retiring at end of this year, there's bound to be something planned ahead.

It's probably too early to see Kraken or Gryphon knights in a big 2026 set, but 2027 seems plausible (if made) , and 2026 could have some set with some nostalgia faction (Black Knights and more Wolfpack seems very possible as they just brought back the Ghost featured in both those themes) . and 2026 / early 2027 might still add a Snake Castle set under Creator ( 3-in-1 horse Castle basicly replaces the 3-in-1 Falcon castle , so with Lion Knights and Town Square gone, there's still -2 Castle sets on the market)

I don't consider the unicorn castle as part of actual Castle, but more like part of the Unicorns/Pegasus/Purple Fantasy Owl type of sets they have been doing for the past years.

Not setting major expectations here, just thinking ahead a bit with some major sets retiring at the same time, especially those 2 Castle Icons sets.

 

Edited yesterday at 07:58 PM by TeriXeri

[GreenhouseBricker]

4 hours ago, Blazej_Holen said:

Copper would be 100x better. Redish brown helmet looks cheap… pitty. At least I could get rid of them and replace them with more “medieval-ish” ones.

I think the reddish brown looks more like leather. In my opinion, it works well for a viking/sea fairing castle faction.

When I was a kid I got the LEGO 7097 Castle: Tolls Mountain fortress. Apparently, some versions of the set had the troll King with a copper crown and some came with a reddish brown crown. (I only found out there were two versions recently) My version had the reddish brown one and I always though copper would have been nicer as some the troll solders had metallic or copper helmets. It didn't seem very royal. However, I think it works here for the Kraken Knights.

Edited yesterday at 08:18 PM by GreenhouseBricker

[Blazej_Holen]

5 minutes ago, GreenhouseBricker said:

I think the reddish brown looks more like leather. In my opinion, it works well for a viking/sea fairing castle faction.

When I was a kid I got the LEGO 7097 Castle: Tolls Mountain fortress. Apparently, some versions of the set had the troll King with a copper crown and some came with a reddish brown crown. (I only found out there were two versions recently) My version had the reddish brown one and I always though copper would have been nicer as some the troll solders had metallic or copper helmets. It didn't seem very royal. However, I think it works here for the Kraken Knights.

Perhaps it does, but copper is more fleshy and unique. I consider reddish brown as boring colour for helmet. Anyway…

It would be nice to get 1-2 new castle helmets for next sets (hopefully we get them in 2026, as LKC and MTS retires this year). There are sadly too dew helmet types. For foot soldiers only two. For knigts we have three… I would like to see some new helmet for men at arms and new visor for knights… also pearl dark grey would be mostly welcomed… 

[eldiano]

4 hours ago, Blazej_Holen said:

They eventually should appear on PaB since its non-licensed theme… My guess is around autumn…

I'm not taking said chances, they have been a hit or a miss with releases, but you are right I should wait until then to see if they sell them on PaB or going in on this set around that time. 

[Cyprinus]

4 hours ago, Blazej_Holen said:

They eventually should appear on PaB since its non-licensed theme… My guess is around autumn…

There is one caveat here - both the Serpent from the new 3-in-1 and the Griffins use the Zelda shield mould. Which could mean it doesn't end up on PAB, due to being a licensed theme piece originally (also see the Palpatine/Nazgul hood not being there). It would suck, but could happen.

And it would fit with those two factions not having their symbols on the torsos - so you could pair them with any matching shield...

[Yperio_Bricks]

12 minutes ago, Cyprinus said:

There is one caveat here - both the Serpent from the new 3-in-1 and the Griffins use the Zelda shield mould. Which could mean it doesn't end up on PAB, due to being a licensed theme piece originally (also see the Palpatine/Nazgul hood not being there). It would suck, but could happen.

And it would fit with those two factions not having their symbols on the torsos - so you could pair them with any matching shield...

But there are parts from licensed themes at PAB: for example several Star Wars torsos and hair pieces, at least one Harry Potter torso, Pippin's torso, Nazgul parts, etc. There's no hard rule we can deduce from the information we have.

[DaleDVM]

Wow!  Did I miss a lot over the last month.

First, the 3 in 1 castle is golden in my eyes.  4 new torsos including a civilian, 2 new leg prints, 2 new shields.  A new yellow plume and a new blue hood.  New factions that are not repeats from the past is very welcome to this collector!  I am loving the white uniforms for the horse lords.  The light blue gives off a little bit of a Jayco vibe , but it does go well with the white.  The snake knight in all black is interesting.  I reserve judgement until I see that one in person.  His shield however, is perfect.  I will be army building both of these factions and the peasant torso as well. 

I will likely pick up 3 of these sets since I primarily only buy castle anyway.  Not to mention the parts are actually useful.  Light bley is better than dark bley.  I will likely never use the yellow, (Except as filler brick) from the previous 3 in 1 castle.  The build is decent and the brick built horses actually look alright.  I will never use them next to my molded horses, but good effort anyway.  I am glad they didn't include horses if that is what made the 6 minifigs doable.  

Second, the vending machine turned out to be a surprise bonus for us castle folks!  The Griffons look like a classic faction.  The heraldry is great!  The generic torso and legs could be used to bolster the recent BAM minifig's (dark red, silver, gray) faction as well as building a new one from scratch.  I might use each of those factions figs as the leaders of the other faction. 

The Kraken...  hmm...  It is a bit too colorful and busy for me.  With the scarf on, you can barely tell it is a normal yellow minifig underneath.  I think that yellow hands might be called for on these figs.  Easy enough to replace.  I may go without the face wrapping as well, but will have to play with it.  I like the heraldry and the shield.  I find it cool we are getting such a variety of prints and shapes of shields this year. 

I think I might snag a gumball machine since it would be a fun way to distribute gifts to the public at LEGO shows. 

Most of my money will be spent army building all four of these factions on PAB.
 

[Shiva]

2 hours ago, karrit said:

I'm only in it for the Pirate, Space & Castle figs too.  And the actual prize machine is interesting so I guess it will be a Birthday present from me to me.  Would have been happier if it had remained $149.99 but now it's got an additional orange tax of $30 for us.  I will be buying more of the Pirate, Space & Castle figs when they show up on PAB.  Don't know yet what I'll do with the others.  The Paradisa ones give me Disco vibes, yuck!  At least the animal heads on the Fabuland ones are cute.  

In Sweden, current currencies, the cost would be equal to 197,54€ / $222,93USD /2149,90SEK if buying from LEGO.

Paradisa ones? I think those are a sunbathing pair, well, beach walkers? not sure about the right word.

[zoth33]

5 hours ago, karrit said:

I'm only in it for the Pirate, Space & Castle figs too.  And the actual prize machine is interesting so I guess it will be a Birthday present from me to me.  Would have been happier if it had remained $149.99 but now it's got an additional orange tax of $30 for us.  I will be buying more of the Pirate, Space & Castle figs when they show up on PAB.  Don't know yet what I'll do with the others.  The Paradisa ones give me Disco vibes, yuck!  At least the animal heads on the Fabuland ones are cute.  

The price was said to be $170 not $150

[Triceron]

I was thinking about how to use the 4 new factions in my Castle/Fantasy universe.

Horse Knights - The white on blue emblem is very striking and fits the style and theme of the DnD Dragonborn shield.  I'm thinking of having this represent a faction of Warhammer style High Elves (who also use blue ans white motif), and I might use these shields to represent infantry while the Dragon shields to represent Elites, like Dragon Princes.  The emblem wouldn't be a full faction, but more a sign of rank and file 

To make them stand out as Elves I'm thinking of having them use fleshtones instead of yellow.  I'll have to find some LOTR elf ears.

Snake Knights - I thought this could work to represent a Persian/Arabian/Desert dweller themed faction, like the people of Dorne, or the Shield breaker from Darkest Dungeon.

However the shield is using the Master shield mold, and they're represented by a nobleman so it doesn't really fit how I'd like it to work. I'd prolly prefer a round shield with the snake emblem.

Also, anyone think this dude was inspired by BlackAdder?

Kraken Knights - I'm going to use the Atlantean helmets from DC line to make some fantasy themed sea raiders.  They'll command dark watery magic, and have the supernatural aid of various sea monsters.  I plan to have them rival the Black Knights if they ever release a Sea Serpent remake.  My inspiration is the Dark Elf Corsairs from Warhammer, like Lokhir Fellheart

I've got some dark green velvet ribbon I used to make cloaks for the Rogue CMF, I may make more. For this faction.

Gryphon Knights - I'm stuck on what subculture or hook to give them.  I have buckbeack ready to be used as a mount for them, but I'm stuck on how else to up their look.  I might make some custom silver cloaks for them, or maybe make them styled off the Brettonians from Warhammer.  I'm still thinking on this.