Future Castle Sets?

[x105Black]

3 minutes ago, Maple said:

I do get a kick out of everyone who went 'yay Nexo is dead, maybe we can finally get real castle' and LEGO went 'nah, here is more Harry Potter!' haha

Harry Potter doesn't negate a Castle theme.

[SirBlake]

4 minutes ago, Maple said:

I do get a kick out of everyone who went 'yay Nexo is dead, maybe we can finally get real castle' and LEGO went 'nah, here is more Harry Potter!' haha

Ok, I'll bite. Why is that so entertaining for you?

HP was expected. Likewise, I don't think anyone here is expecting a new castle theme this year, regardless of Nexo status.

[Maple]

3 minutes ago, x105Black said:

Harry Potter doesn't negate a Castle theme.

Yeah... of course not.... keep living in that dreamland. Maybe Town with 4 wide vehicles will return too.

[x105Black]

18 minutes ago, SirBlake said:

HP was expected. Likewise, I don't think anyone here is expecting a new castle theme this year, regardless of Nexo status.

Exactly.  Next year at the earliest was the expectation.  Harry Potter is unrelated.

[gedren_y]

The Harry Potter set design, and certain new parts, make me hopeful that the next Castle theme will have a greater parts selection and more detailed building elements.

[SirBlake]

28 minutes ago, Maple said:

Yeah... of course not.... keep living in that dreamland. Maybe Town with 4 wide vehicles will return too.

First of all, HP and castle have run side by side before. 

Secondly, what is your F’n problem?

[Grover]

5 hours ago, gedren_y said:

The Harry Potter set design, and certain new parts, make me hopeful that the next Castle theme will have a greater parts selection and more detailed building elements.

I agree.  It makes me hopeful, too, as, in my opinion, the designs are getting better.

6 hours ago, Maple said:

I do get a kick out of everyone who went 'yay Nexo is dead, maybe we can finally get real castle' and LEGO went 'nah, here is more Harry Potter!' haha

1. Harry Potter is more real castle than Nexo.

2. HP and Castle have run concurrently, as others have said.

3. "Yay, Nexo is dead".  I don't even bother to qualify that with any other statement, just glad it's gone.

4. Lego just brought back a 4 wide vehicle, a few days ago:

https://brickset.com/sets/4000030-1/Truck

[BrickJagger]

I'm really excited about the new Hogwarts set, but mostly due to the implications of it rather than the set itself. Lots of great new parts for Castle builders are in there, such as the candles and the new turret piece. I hope that this leads to a possible modular Castle theme, with different connecting wall segments in a lower price range as well as a keep, and some more expensive, modular-sized buildings that integrate with other sets, much like D2C Hogwarts and the Great Hall.

[MAB]

15 hours ago, gedren_y said:

The Harry Potter set design, and certain new parts, make me hopeful that the next Castle theme will have a greater parts selection and more detailed building elements.

I imagine it will. Look at modulars now and modulars in 2010. The number of new parts and their use has increased quite dramatically, especially decorative type pieces. It makes sense that Lego reuses them in multiple colours. However, I still see any future castle as likely to using mainly panels, flat or part cylinder, for the bulk of the build.

[x105Black]

That's probably true.  I would expect to see panels as well.  Unless they actually deliver on a huge Expert level Castle set (not Hogwarts or a Disney castle), which would be just amazing.

[Grover]

15 minutes ago, x105Black said:

That's probably true.  I would expect to see panels as well.  Unless they actually deliver on a huge Expert level Castle set (not Hogwarts or a Disney castle), which would be just amazing.

An expert level Castle set is my dream.  My total pipe dream is that they come out with an Expert line of Castle modulars (turret, gatehouse, wall, great hall, etc.) that would fit together like the modulars do for City.  Won't happen, but I can dream and make my own MOCs.

[Digger of Bricks]

10 minutes ago, Grover said:

An expert level Castle set is my dream.  My total pipe dream is that they come out with an Expert line of Castle modulars (turret, gatehouse, wall, great hall, etc.) that would fit together like the modulars do for City.  Won't happen, but I can dream and make my own MOCs.

As great as that would be, plausibly, I almost think Lego would rather opt for a line of medieval village modulars for the Creator Expert line as opposed to a castle focused one. It's only because that a village line would more resemble the Town centric line of modulars we have now, only in a medieval way. Most audiences, besides AFOLs, I think would warm up to a line like that over a castle based one since it would be more familiar, more down-to-earth, and less regal and militaristic.

[Grover]

2 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

As great as that would be, plausibly, I almost think Lego would rather opt for a line of medieval village modulars for the Creator Expert line as opposed to a castle focused one. It's only because that a village line would more resemble the Town centric line of modulars we have now, only in a medieval way. Most audiences, besides AFOLs, I think would warm up to a line like that over a castle based one since it would be more familiar, more down-to-earth, and less regal and militaristic.

I am 100% OK with that. :-)

[Aanchir]

2 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

As great as that would be, plausibly, I almost think Lego would rather opt for a line of medieval village modulars for the Creator Expert line as opposed to a castle focused one. It's only because that a village line would more resemble the Town centric line of modulars we have now, only in a medieval way. Most audiences, besides AFOLs, I think would warm up to a line like that over a castle based one since it would be more familiar, more down-to-earth, and less regal and militaristic.

Would we see the same sort of ridiculous complaints with them that we see with the regular modulars? "Argh! This new building is clearly based on 12th century France! It'll stick out like a sore thumb on my 11th century German street! And uniquely printed faces? Ugh! If this continues I will not be buying any future buildings!"

[SirBlake]

1 hour ago, Aanchir said:

Would we see the same sort of ridiculous complaints with them that we see with the regular modulars? "Argh! This new building is clearly based on 12th century France! It'll stick out like a sore thumb on my 11th century German street! And uniquely printed faces? Ugh! If this continues I will not be buying any future buildings!"

Hahah, maybe, but that would be really cool either way. 

[Aanchir]

Truth be told I would actually be interested in seeing a big D2C set that's actually a castle. Of the previous 3 Castle D2C sets, 10176 was no more "expert-level" than an average $100 castle, 10193 depicted a village, and Kingdoms Joust just depicted part of a castle or fortification.

Given that the only castles we've seen above the $100 price point have been in licensed themes and Nexo Knights, I would be very interested to see what a castle could look like at a $200–300 price point. Maybe we could finally get something with features like a banquet hall, royal bedchamber, etc. Maybe even a stable or a library.

Overall, though, I think the chances of seeing a D2C castle are more likely after a larger castle theme is already up and running or even on its way out. That tends to be how most "themed" D2C sets have been released in the past. 

Edited February 18, 2018 by Aanchir

[x105Black]

I think they could make some smaller Expert level modular style sets.  Think of the Pet Shop, how it is actually 2 buildings that can be split apart.  Just release a building that is 1/2 or 1/4 the size of a normal modular building that snaps together in the same way.  There are many ideas floating around, like a medieval market, or a blacksmith, etc.  They could do that for many medieval buildings, they don't all have to be in the $100-200 range.

But then they could release a huge Castle themed castle set, closer to the price range of the Ninjago City, that could tie them all together.

That would be amazing.

[Digger of Bricks]

16 hours ago, Aanchir said:

Would we see the same sort of ridiculous complaints with them that we see with the regular modulars? 

Probably, but I guess it would depend. Besides historical/castle fans, would fans of the regular Town based line be interested in a medieval line too? Or are they more fans of Town/City as opposed to the modular concept?

12 hours ago, x105Black said:

I think they could make some smaller Expert level modular style sets.  Think of the Pet Shop, how it is actually 2 buildings that can be split apart.  Just release a building that is 1/2 or 1/4 the size of a normal modular building that snaps together in the same way.  There are many ideas floating around, like a medieval market, or a blacksmith, etc.  They could do that for many medieval buildings, they don't all have to be in the $100-200 range.

Probably the closest thing Lego could do within the current Town based modular line would be for a English/German Tutor style pub, something maybe Castle fans can roughly modify, if not completely satisfied with the product as is.

But no, I do like the idea you've proposed there, as it would coexist alongside the Town based line without clashing with it in terms of price. 

[x105Black]

3 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Probably the closest thing Lego could do within the current Town based modular line would be for a English/German Tutor style pub, something maybe Castle fans can roughly modify, if not completely satisfied with the product as is.

But no, I do like the idea you've proposed there, as it would coexist alongside the Town based line without clashing with it in terms of price. 

I would hope that this type of thing could exist outside of the current City themed modular line, creating a new line of Castle themed modular sets at varying price points but the same level of detail and complexity.

The big castle set to tie it together would be a highlight.

And City fans could connect them to their modular street with a few small modifications if they wanted to.

[Shroffy123]

Not sure if it is okay to bring up Lego knock offs.  But why doesn't Lego incorporate some of those ideas for the enlighten line 5tlRJnjfnHijM8HvuOzzYJONrX1zxBAI_IZYDXa5yvw_ml9p2LvYaAiOREALw_wcB . 

[Aanchir]

46 minutes ago, Shroffy123 said:

Not sure if it is okay to bring up Lego knock offs.  But why doesn't Lego incorporate some of those ideas for the enlighten line 5tlRJnjfnHijM8HvuOzzYJONrX1zxBAI_IZYDXa5yvw_ml9p2LvYaAiOREALw_wcB . 

Arguably the opposite has been happening… a lot of the sets in the recent Enlighten castle line, titled "The War of Glory", seem inspired by recent themes like Ninjago, Chima, Elves, and Nexo Knights. Their main castle transforms into a giant rolling laser cannon, their cartoonish siege engine transforms into a humanoid mecha, and their elf vehicles are about as neon as anything from Nexo Knights and as wacky as anything from Chima. Even their tamest sets resemble the wackier stuff from Fantasy Era. I hardly think they'd form the basis of the sort of "realistic" fantasy or historical line a lot of people here have expressed a desire for.

As for Enlighten's previous Castle line, titled "Knights: Castle Series", which seems to take more of its cues from Castle sets of the 90s and early 2000s, their website lists most of those sets as "about to stop production". If LEGO's recent trend towards more fantastical lines and departure from tradition is truly a misstep, that realization hasn't dawned on LEGO's imitators any more than it has on LEGO themselves.

Edited February 18, 2018 by Aanchir

[Digger of Bricks]

4 hours ago, x105Black said:

I would hope that this type of thing could exist outside of the current City themed modular line, creating a new line of Castle themed modular sets at varying price points but the same level of detail and complexity.

If the majority of these sets were priced at below US $100, then perhaps Lego could distribute them on a major retailer wide basis, as opposed to simply being relegated to brand stores.

That kind of would be nice come to think of it, nonexclusive Creator Expert sets at a lower price point, but with the same level of detailing and construction quality.

2 hours ago, Aanchir said:

Arguably the opposite has been happening… a lot of the sets in the recent Enlighten castle line, titled "The War of Glory", seem inspired by recent themes like Ninjago, Chima, Elves, and Nexo Knights. Their main castle transforms into a giant rolling laser cannon, their cartoonish siege engine transforms into a humanoid mecha, and their elf vehicles are about as neon as anything from Nexo Knights and as wacky as anything from Chima.

Well, those are some decent looking knockoff sets there! At least they're original, novel looking designs with some mechanical ingenuity incorporated into their builds.

Granted, they may conceptually just be a blend of Nexo Knights, Elves, Chima, and traditional Castle, but you got to give them credit for not just hastily copying Lego's designs verbatim.

Hey, TLG, how 'bout you hire some of those guys? 

Edited February 18, 2018 by Digger of Bricks

[Aanchir]

41 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Well, those are some decent looking knockoff sets there! At least they're original, novel looking designs with some mechanical ingenuity incorporated into their builds.

Granted, they may conceptually just be a blend of Nexo Knights, Elves, Chima, and traditional Castle, but you got to give them credit for not just hastily copying Lego's designs verbatim.

Agreed, Enlighten has come a long way. Many of their older sets like this one were more or less direct copies of 90s and 2000s LEGO sets. They're still not quite as ethical as, say, Mega Construx, since they still copy even some fairly recent and specialized LEGO molds (for example, this one features a recolored CHI Fluminox head). But I respect them more than brands like Lepin or Decool which outright copy entire LEGO sets, characters, or both.

Also, by now I'm sure you've figured out that wackier themes aren't really a turn-off for me. So they don't lose points in my book for that either. But I really doubt "The War of Glory" is the kind of stuff most of the people in this topic are hoping for LEGO to do with the Castle theme this time around.

[Digger of Bricks]

13 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

Also, by now I'm sure you've figured out that wackier themes aren't really a turn-off for me. So they don't lose points in my book for that either. But I really doubt "The War of Glory" is the kind of stuff most of the people in this topic are hoping for LEGO to do with the Castle theme this time around.

Well I'm certain most of those people would appreciate the minifigure elves in those sets, given how minidolls in Lego's own Elves sets can be a letdown for many.

[Robert8]

Uh oh

If you are waiting for a new castle theme, take a sit because you'll be waiting for a long time