Wodanis Posted January 30, 2015 Would love to see a remake of those classic castles theme back then in 80's and 90's I second that! That's what got me involved with the castle themes. Classic Forestmen, falcon and lions oh my! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blakstone Posted January 30, 2015 1) Less j.u.n.i.o.r.i.z.e.d arms and flags, like Kingdoms and Black Falcons. 2) Meaningful sets. 2a) Give us great add-ons. 2b) Great polybags. 2c) Castle CMF. 3) Give us more than 2 factions. 3a) Let us decide who the good and the bad guys are. 4) Give us more than soldiers and knights and kings and wizards. 4a) Give us ruins and history. And let them be meaningful. 5) Give us more than buildings. 6) Battlepacks. 7) Make it last. They are all good points. I think one thing to take from the Uruk Hai Army set is that it was an add on that made since. Castle 2013 had a Gatehouse add on that just made the castle weaker. The next castle should have a siege tower and wall addition such as 6061. I just want the minifigs to be detailed. The CMF King shows that you can have detail and bright colors. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wodanis Posted January 30, 2015 (edited) "I just want the minifigs to be detailed. The CMF King shows that you can have detail and bright colors." Anyone else notice that the CMF king looks like the king from Burger King? The new theme would have lots of possibilities for factions. We have our classics (Black Falcon, Forestmen, Wolf pack, etc), new moulded parts for Orcs, Elves, and whatnot. Now that Chima is ending this year that should free up some designers to work on cool creations. I'd love to see a battering ram, siege engines, or trebuchets. What I really want to see though is a decently brick built castle with interesting design features. Think a castle with a courtyard, stables etc. The previous castle sets, aside from the 80s, I always found lacklustre. Kids want to build as much as AFOLs do. What made the old set shine so much is that you not only had a story to act out but the sets were unique and fun to build. (Forest hideout) I think a healthy return to that in castle would be a welcome change. Edited January 30, 2015 by Wodanis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blakstone Posted January 30, 2015 I loved the Forest Hideout, but what made the Forestmen work for me is that their role changed based on my mood. They would be brigands when I wanted and Robin Hood's Merrymen when the Lion knights were wicked (see Arifex's Rule 3A). Wolfpack came during my Dark Age but they are as been as Castle 2013's Dragon Knights. I think coat of arms work on shields but not on everyone's torso. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spader Posted January 31, 2015 Return of Fantasy Era? That would certainly be welcome, especially with the ending of the LOTR/Hobbit line..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AmperZand Posted January 31, 2015 I vaguely recall that when Fantasy Era was still around TLG released a piece of (digital?) art of a map that included an elf land. Then along came the LotR/Hobbit lines and those plans were shelved. We never got an elf faction, just the elf CMF. Maybe, this is that plan revived. I doubt when the map was drawn that TLG was thinking of the Elves theme. Thoughts? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Venkefedo Posted January 31, 2015 I'd love a return to Fantasy... and Artifex's list is also wonderful. If a new Castle theme encompassed both, I'd be thrilled! More Troll Warriors with new face prints showing some other expressions, a proper Elf faction, more civilians (of any & all factions), etc... and in villager/farmer-type sets, more animals! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eru Magnus Valar Posted January 31, 2015 (edited) From what I understand, based on what the original poster BrickJagger beliefs to be true after having spoken with a store manager at a Lego store, TLG will release a new fantasy era castle theme in 2016. If this turns out to be indeed true, this is fantastic! Like BrickJagger I have been lurking about on Brickset every now and then already for a some years, but hardly ever engage in commenting, replying, chatting etc. on this Lego site/forum. I am a little more prolific on another LUG (Brickset) which I am sure you are all familiar with. What I really like about Eurobricks are how the forums are arranged according to Lego theme, being a huge Lego LOTR and castle fan I often have a look around here on the historic section. If it in the future proofs to be true what BrickJagger mentioned, than I will be once more a very happy AFOL, it is really too bad that in all probability the LOTR theme has ended. There will be no more new Hobbit Lego sets released either, and on top of that the non licensed castle theme has also expired this year. If we are lucky we might get one more LOTR Minas Tirith set. If that Lego Ideas project which has achieved the 10.000 votes status, will get approved, and then ultimately will be in some form developed further by TLG, taken in production, and some day appear at Legoshop@home. I rediscovered Lego in 2010 with the release of the Kingdoms theme. A worthy successor to the 'fantasy era' castle theme from 2007 to 2009, from which I also still managed to buy some sets. The concept of that theme which entailed four races: humans (crown knights), in alliance with mine dwelling gold digging dwarfs, pitted against a wizard commanding armies of undead skeleton warriors, who in 2008 was joined by marauding hordes of trolls, was absolutely marvellous! So a new fantasy theme will be great! I love to see new sets with elves, goblins, trolls, dwarfs, men (regular humans), as well as wizards, witches, fairies, pixies, giants, ogres, knights, brigands, and other outlaws. And above all I also hope there will be more civilian sets: a miller; a farm; a black/gold/silversmith. Some medieval town sets. And as others have also mentioned not just another theme with only two parties who are pitted against each other. I loved the heraldry design for Kingdoms, the Green Dragon knights are, next to my fond childhood memories of the Black Falcon knights, still my favourite castle faction. Although I cherish all my fantasy era trolls just as much. More over, when I lump all my fantasy era trolls (minifig & bigfig) together with my Mordor, Moria, gundabad and Uruk Hai orcs, and cave trolls I have an army that none of my other castle factions can match, well at least not in numbers/size. I felt that the 2013 castle theme was not as interesting as the two preceding themes. The minifigures were really nice, but the sets themselves were somewhat underwhelming, the builds another rehash without something new and refreshing. The king's castle was very similar to that of the preceding theme, but just not as good as the Kingdoms version. I liked the dragon mountain set best, though that is not difficult when TLG puts in a splendid giant dragon. I hope the Castle theme will make a strong come back in 2015! Edited January 31, 2015 by Eru Magnus Valar Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AlphaQuad Posted January 31, 2015 The only thing that I wish Lego would do is run the theme at least 2 years 3-4 waves of sets. I noticed the trend has been 1 or 2 waves at the most except for the usual themes like Ninjago, Chima, Star Wars etc. One wave of sets is really lame :/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Itaria No Shintaku Posted January 31, 2015 cut No, I can confirm, no more LOTR/HOBBIT sets. If Mr. Jackson does the Silmarillion as he is intending to, we will probably get those. In the meantime surely we will see another fantasy castle themed. But WHEN, this is uncertain. 2016 could be a dream, but nobody knows for sure. The trend to keep fantasy creatures in the CMF theme is a little hope. Let's see. I am confident. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SMC Posted January 31, 2015 Am I the only one that's amazed that something a store manager said has filled 5 pages this quick, store managers know less then we do about what is coming this far down the line, they might get sets early or know what is coming in a few months but that's it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Robert8 Posted January 31, 2015 Am I the only one that's amazed that something a store manager said has filled 5 pages this quick Because everyone loves Fantasy Era. That's why. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SMC Posted January 31, 2015 ^ As long as you know this is just a wish list keep having fun with it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cagast Posted January 31, 2015 (edited) 4) Give us more than soldiers and knights and kings and wizards. I totally agree, always Evil Wizard and a dragon leading the bad guys. That's okay, but, boring. I really want more factions when I remember goblins, skeletons, trolls, dwarves.... I just want this theme to be different than Castle 2013 and more like 2007. Edited January 31, 2015 by Cagast Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BrickJagger Posted January 31, 2015 ^ As long as you know this is just a wish list keep having fun with it. You should look at this: http://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/1x6ldp/lego_franchise_infographic/cf8vdl3 There, if you scroll down a bit, you should see this, written by Mark Stafford himself. "It's easy to get overwhelmed by the marketing on Star Wars, Movie tie-ins, Ninjago and Chima and think that's all LEGO do these days, but the three evergreens of LEGO minifigure themes are City, Castle and Space, if there is not one of these themes on the shelf at the moment you can be sure one is in development". Since, according to Lego, the Castle (2013) theme was discontinued late last year, by Mark's reckoning (and I'd believe it), a new Castle theme is in the works. Somewhere further down in that thread Mark says that designing a Lego theme takes about 18 months. That would mean that if Lego started designing a new Castle theme in, let's say November of 2014, the new sets would be on the shelves in......June 2016. You say this is wishful thinking, but there will be new Castle sets next year. I could be wrong about the fantasy part, but probably not. It's very likely that this new theme is Lotr's replacement. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thetang22 Posted January 31, 2015 store managers know less then we do about what is coming this far down the line I really don't intend this to sound mean...but that is kind of an arrogant thing to say. Who's to say that store manager isn't an avid fan of Lego? Matter of fact, I'd think there's a decent chance they would be to work at that sort of a store...much like employees at a local gaming hobby shop are usually gamers themselves. If that were the case, it would be likely the store owner would have every reason to be just as, if not more, knowledgable than the typical person that visits fan forums. They've got access to all the same info we do on these types of forums, in addition to the potential of inside info (however rare that may be). I'm not saying this is the case, but I do think it's unfair to simply assume we have more info than they do. That would mean that if Lego started designing a new Castle theme in, let's say November of 2014, the new sets would be on the shelves in......June 2016. And that would be based on them starting in November of 2014. If there LotR/Hobbit stuff was scheduled to be done by the beginning of 2015, It's hard for me to think they would start the replacement theme just a month or 2 before the previous one is set to retire... I'd have to think they'd start at least in earlier 2014. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BrickJagger Posted January 31, 2015 I really don't intend this to sound mean...but that is kind of an arrogant thing to say. Who's to say that store manager isn't an avid fan of Lego? Matter of fact, I'd think there's a decent chance they would be to work at that sort of a store...much like employees at a local gaming hobby shop are usually gamers themselves. If that were the case, it would be likely the store owner would have every reason to be just as, if not more, knowledgable than the typical person that visits fan forums. They've got access to all the same info we do on these types of forums, in addition to the potential of inside info (however rare that may be). I'm not saying this is the case, but I do think it's unfair to simply assume we have more info than they do. And that would be based on them starting in November of 2014. If there LotR/Hobbit stuff was scheduled to be done by the beginning of 2015, It's hard for me to think they would start the replacement theme just a month or 2 before the previous one is set to retire... I'd have to think they'd start at least in earlier 2014. That does seem reasonable, as the guy I talked to said that of all of the release dates given, January 2016 was most likely. So in that case, Lego would have started designing the new theme in June 2014, and that fits in with what you said. The sooner the better! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SMC Posted January 31, 2015 I'm not saying there won't be a castle range next year or that a manager is not a Lego fan just saying they dont know what's happening next year and I do know a manager well so not having a go just a fact. People are taking this one bit of someone told me too far. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Robert8 Posted January 31, 2015 (edited) I just want this theme to be different than Castle 2013 and more like 2007. Even the Castle Fantasy Era line has an Evil Wizard as the bad guy And I agree, it's somewhat repetitive. The last "bad guy" that wasn't a wizard was Lord Vladek and I loved him! And LEGO also loves him: They even gave him his own land on The LEGO Movie For once, I'd like to get an "Evil King" or an evil sorceress, similar to Morgana le Fay Edited January 31, 2015 by Robert8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thetang22 Posted February 1, 2015 Instead of good guys or bad guys, it would be nice if there was ambiguity, as someone already suggested. Each faction could have its own leader(s) (instead of the typical human heroes/villains). Also, there's all sorts of fantasy archetypes...there's no good reason why Lego should only ever utilize knights and wizards when it comes to the primary hero/villain. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eru Magnus Valar Posted February 2, 2015 (edited) Itaria No Shintaku wrote: "No, I can confirm, no more LOTR/HOBBIT sets." I know, yet there is still a chance this Lego IDEA in review stage might get approved, and will be produced: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/36275 Anyway back on topic... I hope that the 2016 castle theme, granted that it is well thought out and equally well received by Lego fans, will at least continue to be around for two years. And if good maybe even for three years or more. The fantasy Era castle theme lasted three years, Kingdoms was around for three years,and I personally would have liked to see that theme continue into 2013 with a fourth wave of sets. Also the last *'regular' 2011 Kingdoms wave, with one of the best all time caste sets #7189 'Mill Village Raid' was around for only +/- three months, which was pretty ridiculous IMO. *(the excellent Joust set, and chess set, I suppose in my mind did not count as another 'regular' full wave of sets) And yes as many others have also said: a new theme with multiple distinct factions, peoples, and mythological creatures and races is most welcome, as well as TLG not just again bringing another theme with an evil wizard and his minions versus a good king and his soldiers/knights. Finally, and most of all; I also love to see another new 'Medieval Market Village' type set with only small bricks and without any big wall sections and other BURP's. ps. Sorry, but I have no idea how to quote someone on this forum properly with his/her name appearing in the header?! Edited February 2, 2015 by Eru Magnus Valar Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Commissioner Gordon Posted February 2, 2015 (edited) as a castle fan who came out of his dark ages in 2013 having new fantasy era sets would be a dream come true! EDIT: i am now a citizen! Edited February 2, 2015 by Commissioner Gordon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Artanis I Posted February 2, 2015 Sorry, but I have no idea how to quote someone on this forum properly with his/her name appearing in the header?! Use the quote or multiquote button at the end of their post Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ardelon Posted February 2, 2015 (edited) I generally agree with all of Artifex´s points, with emphasis on points 1, 3, 4 and 7. A Castle CMF line would be cool, but I´m afraid that would mean a lot less to look forward to in a regular series, if all the prospective figs would be lumped into one series. I wouldn´t worry about no. 3a, since it´s up to us to decide who the good or bad guys are, if any. If the heads are too evil-looking, we can always switch them. I´d be careful about point no. 5 (more than just buildings), since LEGO themes are too often vehicle oriented, and Castle is thankfully a theme with more of an emphasis on buildings, and I´d like it to stay that way. Of course, nothing against carts, carriages and boats/ships. ps. Sorry, but I have no idea how to quote someone on this forum properly with his/her name appearing in the header?! Just use the "quote" button on the lower right of the post you want to quote. Edited February 2, 2015 by Ardelon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Calanon Posted February 2, 2015 No, I can confirm, no more LOTR/HOBBIT sets. If Mr. Jackson does the Silmarillion as he is intending to, we will probably get those. Yeah, that's never gonna happen. I am very excited for a return of fantasy, might actually buy some castle sets again. I too want more civilian/peasant sets. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
