Future Castle Sets?

[Bricked1980]

I would love to see Lego release a large and highly detailed medieval castle aimed at adult collectors. 

Don't know how likely this is to happen but I reckon it would work very well as a Creator Expert set.

[Aanchir]

2 hours ago, Itaria No Shintaku said:

Some considerations some of you may find interesting.

1) If they wanted to do a Castle wave for the next year after seeing that NK has bad sales... they are late. From scratch to shelves it takes more than one year. So if they thought to have castle themes, they would have already started at least the ideation process. Which may be true of course

Yes, my feeling is that Nexo Knights was probably never expected to last into 2019 — if this current wave hadn't been the final one, then the summer wave probably would have been. Even if the first wave's sets sold well, they didn't have the kind of incredible impact of Ninjago (which outsold any past theme's launch year) or Friends (which performed twice as well as expected for its launch year).

Also, just based on precedent, we tend to get a new take on LEGO Castle every three years regardless of whether the incarnation before makes it the full three years, so even if Nexo Knights had ended sooner, 2019 would probably have been the earliest we could expect a new Castle theme.

1 hour ago, Bricked1980 said:

I would love to see Lego release a large and highly detailed medieval castle aimed at adult collectors. 

Don't know how likely this is to happen but I reckon it would work very well as a Creator Expert set.

Between the Disney Castle and the various Castle and Kingdoms D2C sets, there's certainly been plenty of precedent indicating there's a market for something along those lines. It's probably just a matter of when the best time is. The past Castle D2C sets all came out around the end of a given incarnation of LEGO Castle, much like how Imperial Flagship came out shortly after the 2009 Pirates wave. This is probably a strategic choice so that kids and teens who were aged out of or on the verge of aging out of the target audience for the previous wave can "graduate" immediately to a related product that will offer them a greater building challenge. LEGO also took a similar approach with the release schedule of some other D2C sets like Imperial Flagship, Haunted House, and Diagon Alley — all released alongside or shortly after the final wave of their respective themes.

[x105Black]

44 minutes ago, Itaria No Shintaku said:

Some considerations some of you may find interesting.

1) If they wanted to do a Castle wave for the next year after seeing that NK has bad sales... they are late. From scratch to shelves it takes more than one year. So if they thought to have castle themes, they would have already started at least the ideation process. Which may be true of course

2) Having a lunch with some interesting people at TLG, they seem to know very well that we love historic themes, and they say they would love too to see such themes. But since we are not the target... that's it.

1) I would expect that they started to work on the next Castle (or whatever it is that will be coming) before the end of 2017.  They have likely known for months that Nexo Knights was not going to continue beyond the first 2018 wave.  As such, by the time 2019 rolls around, they should have over a year from scratch to shelves.

2) I think the target audience will also appreciate a well thought out and well done theme.  And hopefully they target the age range of the Tolkien sets, many of which were recommended for ages 8, 9, or 10 to 14+.  Most sets in that range will appeal to young children as well as AFOLs like us.  Adding in a large D2C set would be icing on the cake.

[Giantorange]

11 hours ago, Bricked1980 said:

I would love to see Lego release a large and highly detailed medieval castle aimed at adult collectors. 

Don't know how likely this is to happen but I reckon it would work very well as a Creator Expert set.

I would think this would work really well with some of the Welsh castles like Conwy or Canaervon.  Tower of London or Bodiam would also work, and are instantly recognisable.  They are a bit too boxy and symmetrical to be an ideal choice for what I want.  Although that may work well as a spiritual successor to 6080 King's Castle.

[x105Black]

3 hours ago, Giantorange said:

I would think this would work really well with some of the Welsh castles like Conwy or Canaervon.  Tower of London or Bodiam would also work, and are instantly recognisable.  They are a bit too boxy and symmetrical to be an ideal choice for what I want.  Although that may work well as a spiritual successor to 6080 King's Castle.

I feel that if they did this, produce a set based on n existing castle, it wouldn't be a Castle set. It would be an Architecture set.

[MAB]

15 hours ago, Itaria No Shintaku said:

Some considerations some of you may find interesting.

1) If they wanted to do a Castle wave for the next year after seeing that NK has bad sales... they are late. From scratch to shelves it takes more than one year. So if they thought to have castle themes, they would have already started at least the ideation process. Which may be true of course

Easy, they just rerelease Castle 2013 sets but with green roofs in the castle this time.

[x105Black]

1 hour ago, MAB said:

Easy, they just rerelease Castle 2013 sets but with green roofs in the castle this time.

Yeah, that'd go over well.

[Digger of Bricks]

17 hours ago, Bricked1980 said:

I would love to see Lego release a large and highly detailed medieval castle aimed at adult collectors. 

Don't know how likely this is to happen but I reckon it would work very well as a Creator Expert set.

Yes, Creator and/or Creator Expert everything and anything; because you don't need an specific theme to house a single castle, spaceship, modular, or whatever it may be set, only a theme that can be anything and everything.  

Edited February 4, 2018 by Digger of Bricks

[BrickJagger]

1 hour ago, x105Black said:

Yeah, that'd go over well.

I think that was a joke. 

[x105Black]

42 minutes ago, BrickJagger said:

I think that was a joke. 

I had figured that.

[Bricked1980]

9 hours ago, Giantorange said:

I would think this would work really well with some of the Welsh castles like Conwy or Canaervon.  Tower of London or Bodiam would also work, and are instantly recognisable.

 

3 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Yes, Creator and/or Creator Expert everything and anything; because you don't need an specific theme to house a single castle, spaceship, modular, or whatever it may be set, only a theme that can be anything and everything.  

If lego were to release a creator expert castle with the sort of realism and attention to detail we see in the creator modulars, then I think this would have the potential to be a really magnificent set and I would imagine would be very popular.

I'm surprised they've not done it already actually as a medieval castle lends itself very well to the creator expert line. And with the 60th anniversary of lego and the 40th anniversary of the classic castle theme, I think this year would have been a perfect time to do it.

[x105Black]

I would appreciate if LEGO released a large "Creator Expert" type Castle set as well.  Unlicensed.  They have released the Disney Castle, and are theoretically going to release a Hogwarts Castle, but neither of those fit the bill.

[SirBlake]

22 hours ago, Itaria No Shintaku said:

2) Having a lunch with some interesting people at TLG, they seem to know very well that we love historic themes, and they say they would love too to see such themes. But since we are not the target... that's it.

Wait, what does this mean? They know we want it so they’ll work something in as best they can, or they know we want it and too bad, no castle, period?

[Digger of Bricks]

1 hour ago, Bricked1980 said:

I'm surprised they've not done it already actually as a medieval castle lends itself very well to the creator expert line. And with the 60th anniversary of lego and the 40th anniversary of the classic castle theme, I think this year would have been a perfect time to do it.

Would have been. I'm afraid it is indeed too late for such a thing to happen this year, as ideal as it would have been for both occasions; and as for the near future, it's going to be hard for Lego to find an ideal time to fit such a set into the annual Creator Expert lineup. Modular buildings are an annual given, while other periodic themes for the line include Fairground sets, Expert scale automobiles, and architectural landmark sets. Am I missing anything?

16 minutes ago, SirBlake said:

Wait, what does this mean? They know we want it so they’ll work something in as best they can, or they know we want it and too bad, no castle, period?

I'm afraid he meant the latter unfortunately. 

[Artanis I]

7 hours ago, MAB said:

Easy, they just rerelease Castle 2013 sets but with green roofs in the castle this time.

Ahhahahaha - you know, at this point (after 5 years of nothing) I would actually be happy with that

[Aanchir]

1 hour ago, x105Black said:

I would appreciate if LEGO released a large "Creator Expert" type Castle set as well.  Unlicensed.  They have released the Disney Castle, and are theoretically going to release a Hogwarts Castle, but neither of those fit the bill.

Arguably, Medieval Market Village and Kingdoms Joust are about as analogous to the Creator Expert as the Disney Castle was. 12+ age range, D2C release pattern, etc. But I agree that it would be cool to see an actual, complete, non-licensed castle (not just a castle-themed set) at that building level. Maybe then it could work in more of the type of livable details that I like so much instead of being as purely action-focused as the regular $100 castles tend to be.

In general, I still have my fingers crossed that we'll see more of these types of features in the next castle theme, because after sets like Knighton Castle, Jestro's Volcano Lair, and Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle, I don't think there's really any excuse for main-line Castle sets not including basics like a bedroom or dining room. It's not as though including places for people to go and things for them to do when they weren't fighting somehow forced LEGO to make those sets any less action-packed than what we're used to. Arguably, Jestro's Volcano Lair managed to feel more aggressive and action-packed than any LEGO Castle sets we've seen, and yet still made room for a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom — heck, they even managed to stick a basic wooden cot in the dungeon, and most LEGO Castle sets don't even manage THAT level of hospitality.

I'm well aware that two of these three sets were at a higher price point than most recent Castle/Kingdoms castles have been, but maybe it's time for that to change as well. "Traditional" castles have been idling at the $100 price point since 2005, even though $100 back then equates to nearly $130 (the price point of Knighton Castle) today. LEGO could at least bump the peak non-D2C price point in themes like Castle and Pirates up to $120, as has been the peak price point for Ninjago in most years since its inception.

[x105Black]

54 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

Arguably, Medieval Market Village and Kingdoms Joust are about as analogous to the Creator Expert as the Disney Castle was. 12+ age range, D2C release pattern, etc. But I agree that it would be cool to see an actual, complete, non-licensed castle (not just a castle-themed set) at that building level. Maybe then it could work in more of the type of livable details that I like so much instead of being as purely action-focused as the regular $100 castles tend to be.

In general, I still have my fingers crossed that we'll see more of these types of features in the next castle theme, because after sets like Knighton Castle, Jestro's Volcano Lair, and Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle, I don't think there's really any excuse for main-line Castle sets not including basics like a bedroom or dining room. It's not as though including places for people to go and things for them to do when they weren't fighting somehow forced LEGO to make those sets any less action-packed than what we're used to. Arguably, Jestro's Volcano Lair managed to feel more aggressive and action-packed than any LEGO Castle sets we've seen, and yet still made room for a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom — heck, they even managed to stick a basic wooden cot in the dungeon, and most LEGO Castle sets don't even manage THAT level of hospitality.

I'm well aware that two of these three sets were at a higher price point than most recent Castle/Kingdoms castles have been, but maybe it's time for that to change as well. "Traditional" castles have been idling at the $100 price point since 2005, even though $100 back then equates to nearly $130 (the price point of Knighton Castle) today. LEGO could at least bump the peak non-D2C price point in themes like Castle and Pirates up to $120, as has been the peak price point for Ninjago in most years since its inception.

I would also like to see these types of features.  And you're right, they have been including them more often.  That's a positive that I hope will continue through the next Castle theme.

Also, in the Castle from the 2013 line, remember that they barely had a throne room.  It was a small room in the tower with only a throne in it, and no room for anything else.  It was also primarily made up of wall panels rather than bricks.  So even elements like this could use more attention.  The Kingdoms Joust, on the other hand, included a couple of small livable spaces and was made up of mostly bricks, so it has that advantage.  I would say it has a better overall color scheme as well.

It's refreshing to hear that LEGO designers are keen to make Castle sets.  I hope that they do.  And I hope that their excitement for the theme helps them to produce one that is of good quality.

[SirBlake]

4 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

I'm afraid he meant the latter unfortunately. 

You guys are killing me with the ambiguity. Is that what you think, or what you know based on your own source or that you know more about what Itaria is talking about?

[BrickJagger]

23 minutes ago, SirBlake said:

You guys are killing me with the ambiguity. Is that what you think, or what you know based on your own source or that you know more about what Itaria is talking about?

Agreed. It's most likely his opinion, but I'm seeing a lot of definitive statements recently that have no factual basis. Lots of "Nexo Knights was a complete flop" and "Castle is never coming back". Chill out, guys. 

Edited February 5, 2018 by BrickJagger
typo

[x105Black]

6 hours ago, BrickJagger said:

Agreed. It's most likely his opinion, but I'm seeing a lot of definitive statements recently that have no factual basis. Lots of "Nexo Knights was a complete flop" and "Castle is never coming back". Chill out, guys. 

For the record, I may have called Nexo Knights a failure, but I never called it a complete flop.

[MAB]

17 hours ago, x105Black said:

Yeah, that'd go over well.

 

16 hours ago, BrickJagger said:

I think that was a joke. 

Actually, it was only partially a joke. If people really are interested in historical castle sets, then re-releasing designs similar to the 2013 / 2009 sets should be fine. Any new designs aimed at the same age group are likely to be very similar in content anyway.

[Aanchir]

2 hours ago, MAB said:

Actually, it was only partially a joke. If people really are interested in historical castle sets, then re-releasing designs similar to the 2013 / 2009 sets should be fine. Any new designs aimed at the same age group are likely to be very similar in content anyway.

In a post Nexo Knights world I wouldn't mind seeing the designers start exploring different sorts of shapes and techniques than they've used in the past, even if they stick to a lot of the same iconic subject matter. Maybe the new castle could have curved towers instead of square or octagonal ones?

On another 2013-related note, I do think expecting a new Castle theme not to use a lot of wall panels may be setting ourselves up for disappointment, since wall panels have been integral to Castle themes for about as long as there have been wall panels and nearly as long as there have been Castle themes. And to be honest, from my memories as a kid, I quite liked it that way. It's much easier to build your OWN castles when you can quickly rearrange the walls to your liking than when you have to strip them down to the foundation layer by layer.

I also wouldn't mind seeing a new Castle theme do some creative stuff with terrain. There's a lot of nostalgia for raised baseplates in the AFOL community which I generally don't share, but lately in the City theme LEGO has had some neat builds with a similarly vertical structure… think Prison Island or the new Mountain Police Headquarters. The variety of mountain bricks has increased a bit since they were last used in the Castle theme, and I'd very much like to see what new building possibilities that could lead to.

The one thing that makes me question whether LEGO would do this, though, is that over the past few Castle incarnations the footprint of LEGO castles has been increasing moreso than the height, and also the recent emphasis on modularity might be harder to execute if basically every module has to be raised by a uniform amount. Back in the day, the era of castles on raised baseplates brought about an end to the earlier trend of separate sets that could be linked together to create a bigger castle. And reducing castle sets back to a smaller 32x32 footprint like most castles on raised baseplates had may make them taller and more imposing, but could diminish their interior play value, as it would be harder to reach inside and access the interior space (a struggle I distinctly remember with sets like Fire Breathing Fortress).

Edited February 5, 2018 by Aanchir

[x105Black]

It would be very unfortunate if they targeted the younger age group again.

[MAB]

27 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

In a post Nexo Knights world I wouldn't mind seeing the designers start exploring different sorts of shapes and techniques than they've used in the past, even if they stick to a lot of the same iconic subject matter. Maybe the new castle could have curved towers instead of square or octagonal ones?

 

2

Yes, I imagine they will do this, as it is something that they have been doing in the "girl" type castle sets such as these small ones...

 

Although I prefer brick build for detail, panels seems to be the way to go for kids. It does give height very easily and quickly.

 

It also seems to me that no matter what the sub-theme is for castle (be it historical, fantasy, whatever), the sets will contain a castle, at least one carriage, a prison type set (walls with barred doors). Of course, the minifigures would change as would any other creatures (dragons, etc) but the standard sets will always be relatively similar.

 

 

[Digger of Bricks]

10 hours ago, SirBlake said:

You guys are killing me with the ambiguity. Is that what you think, or what you know based on your own source or that you know more about what Itaria is talking about?

That's how I'm interpreting his implication, but no, I don't know anything myself.

43 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

On another 2013-related note, I do think expecting a new Castle theme not to use a lot of wall panels may be setting ourselves up for disappointment, since wall panels have been integral to Castle themes for about as long as there have been wall panels and nearly as long as there have been Castle themes. And to be honest, from my memories as a kid, I quite liked it that way. It's much easier to build your OWN castles when you can quickly rearrange the walls to your liking than when you have to strip them down to the foundation layer by layer.

Now if we saw a castle done for either Creator or Creator Expert, I doubt panels or specialized parts would be utilized, which in my opinion is a good thing. Personally, I'd like to see a series of Creator three-in-one sets that are modular in their compatibility, where multiple sets can be bought to create a castle of whatever size desired.