Future Castle Sets?

[DaleDVM]

As far as BURPs go.  I love using them.  They are nice for use in any MOC. However, they are essential if you are going to make large mountainous terrain pieces.  IMHO the structural integrity is the most important feature.  This is to make the terrain stable enough to travel to LEGO shows without being solid LEGO pieces which is both heavy and even more expensive than using BURPs.  The rock pieces can be minorly dressed up with a few parts, or totally hidden with enough slopes and foliage.  

If you ever want to do a large scale terrain piece AND are part of a LUG.  LUGBulk is the way to get them.   But you have to plan early, and be patient.  I ordered hundreds of BURPS, a few MURPs, and LURPS as a good 50% of my LUGBulk order for 4 years straight.  I am making a gigantic mountain to add to my display and it needed 850ish BURPS.  LUGBulk is literally the only way to get large numbers of these at anything resembling a reasonable price.  On Bricklink these parts are hard to find in large numbers and are very very expensive.   Any Bricklink store with 10 or more BURPS, charges over $3 a piece, and the shipping is a killer since they are so big.  These parts have never been available in large enough numbers in a set to collect them that way except on a smaller scale.  

Slow and steady accumulation of parts is the economic way to plan any large scale MOC.  

[Alexandrina]

5 minutes ago, DaleDVM said:

Slow and steady accumulation of parts is the economic way to plan any large scale MOC.

I have a wanted list on Bricklink full of parts that I need in VAST quantities - big rock pieces, trans-light blue 1 x 2 tiles, etc. Every time I place a Bricklink order, I check to see what that store has from my list, and order a few pieces if they've got any.

These are all in anticipation of sets I'll need to build further on in production for my ongoing film project. When the time comes that I need these pieces, probably in a year or so, I'll hopefully have enough, but even if not it does make it easier to source the parts I need. It's a real pity Lego have never produced an Xtra set with just a couple of BURPs and LURPs..

[DaleDVM]

I get you Alexandrina, Every time I do a Bricklink order, I almost always buy all dark bley slopes (for that mountain) and civilian castle minifigs/animals they have unless they are crazy expensive.  As long as you are paying the shipping you might as well pick up anything that is reasonably priced that you need.  My problem is sometimes, I forget some of the parts I already got a large supply of because I bought a bunch a few years ago on the PAB wall or with LUGBulk.  I have too much LEGO and don't build frequently enough to even know what I already have and so I make stupid purchases.  

[MAB]

11 hours ago, Poco Lypso said:

All you need to do is take sales ratio into account and produce accordingly! 

 

It is not as easy as that when you don't know how many will sell beforehand. And getting reliable sales data when they are on shelves takes a long time, especially when you consider sets are typically on shelves for 18 months or so, and you have to add in manufacturing time for subsequent production runs.

[Poco Lypso]

7 hours ago, MAB said:

It is not as easy as that when you don't know how many will sell beforehand. And getting reliable sales data when they are on shelves takes a long time, especially when you consider sets are typically on shelves for 18 months or so, and you have to add in manufacturing time for subsequent production runs.

Just out of curiosity, do you work for the lego group?

[MAB]

15 hours ago, Poco Lypso said:

Just out of curiosity, do you work for the lego group?

No, but I know an independent toy retailer very well and have also run a BL store for a decade. It's interesting what he finds sells well from the general retail sets. It is not always what you expect and by the time you know, it is too late to order more.

[Poco Lypso]

46 minutes ago, MAB said:

No, but I know an independent toy retailer very well and have also run a BL store for a decade. It's interesting what he finds sells well from the general retail sets. It is not always what you expect and by the time you know, it is too late to order more.

I knew you had access to some nifty knowledge :)

[valon]

if there were lion knights would people rather have crusaders but newer or red lion from kingdom ? also in kingdoms, i was suprised that they stopped it, i wanted to see a red lion version of this and a green dragon castle

[SerenityInFire]

You mean like this?

[Robert8]

There is a set called Candy Castle coming in the VIDIYO theme

[valon]

18 minutes ago, SerenityInFire said:

You mean like this?

no i mean the armor like the first king was wearing but red instead of blue. i thought that would look cool also a green dragon castle

[Alexandrina]

27 minutes ago, valon said:

no i mean the armor like the first king was wearing but red instead of blue. i thought that would look cool also a green dragon castle

That's literally the Kingdoms Lion King minifigure. (Don't bother responding to me with any Lion King puns, by the way, since I've never seen it so they'll fly over my head! )

It doesn't make sense for them to have the same face, nor for their armour to be a recolour of the same pattern. They're about as similar as two kings from different factions can realistically get - I don't see how you could improve on that while still keeping the Kingdoms aesthetic.

38 minutes ago, Robert8 said:

There is a set called Candy Castle coming in the VIDIYO theme

Potentially exciting! It'll either be a really good castle set, with useful parts perhaps given in as-yet-unseen colours - or something so far removed from Castle that it won't offer Medieval fans a thing. I suspect a "Candy Knight", if such a figure is included, would prove as controversial as Renly's Kinsguard the Knights Kingdom figures.

I withhold judgement until pictures leak.

[valon]

Just now, Alexandrina said:

That's literally the Kingdoms Lion King minifigure. (Don't bother responding to me with any Lion King puns, by the way, since I've never seen it so they'll fly over my head! )

It doesn't make sense for them to have the same face, nor for their armour to be a recolour of the same pattern. They're about as similar as two kings from different factions can realistically get - I don't see how you could improve on that while still keeping the Kingdoms aesthetic.

no not the face of the king, i mean i think that a red and gold armor peice would have been very cool fantasy castle got alot of minifigures that i think would have looked cool in kingdom like the gold knight and the dwarves

[Alexandrina]

1 minute ago, valon said:

i mean i think that a red and gold armor peice would have been very cool

I'm sure that particular colour combination will come eventually. The gold armour suited the Kingdoms King, imo, but there were red-and-silver and red-with-gold-pattern armour pieces during the earlier Knights Kingdom era, and it's a common fantasy colour scheme - embodied famously by the Lannisters - so I don't foresee Lego never touching it. The thing is, if they did every possible good idea in Kingdoms, there'd be nothing new to offer in the future. This way, there's stuff we haven't had yet - and so stuff to hope for in the future!

[MAB]

2 hours ago, Robert8 said:

There is a set called Candy Castle coming in the VIDIYO theme

It sounds like it will be pink and turquoise rather than grey. And I somehow doubt there will be usable historic style figures.

[Alexandrina]

1 minute ago, MAB said:

And I somehow doubt there will be usable historic style figures.

Depends on what figures. If it's knights, probably not - unless you're going for a specific look. If it's nobility, Kings and Queens and People of Court, then there might be a useful piece or two. 

[valon]

does anybody think there will be another castle theme ever ?

[Robert8]

19 minutes ago, MAB said:

It sounds like it will be pink and turquoise rather than grey. And I somehow doubt there will be usable historic style figures.

I imagine it will be like a gingerbread castle

It could have some useful parts/prints

[Alexandrina]

22 minutes ago, valon said:

does anybody think there will be another castle theme ever ?

Almost certainly. Maybe not next year, but it's a standard genre and I would be surprised if they never return to it. The fact we're getting perhaps three castle-related sets this year shows that Lego knows the market is there. 

[AmperZand]

3 hours ago, Alexandrina said:

Almost certainly. Maybe not next year, but it's a standard genre and I would be surprised if they never return to it. The fact we're getting perhaps three castle-related sets this year shows that Lego knows the market is there. 

I suspect we’ll get sets sporadically: Ideas, Creator and other lines that borrow from Castle. If you mean a full blown Castle theme, not as long as LEGO has the HP licence. I suspect that LEGO has done cluster analysis market research showing that kids - LEGO’s main demographic - lump HP and Castle together in the same headspace. Sadly, doing a Castle theme would cannibalise LEGO’s own sales.

[zoth33]

1 hour ago, AmperZand said:

I suspect we’ll get sets sporadically: Ideas, Creator and other lines that borrow from Castle. If you mean a full blown Castle theme, not as long as LEGO has the HP licence. I suspect that LEGO has done cluster analysis market research showing that kids - LEGO’s main demographic - lump HP and Castle together in the same headspace. Sadly, doing a Castle theme would cannibalise LEGO’s own sales.

They did castle along with the Hobbit and they had HP and castle out at the same time before so this logic doesn't make sense.  Plus who said they had to aim a castle theme toward kids as they are doing a lot more afol related sets.  If they find castle sells well with adults like the blacksmith shop they might think about doing a line aimed at adults.  My 10 year old does not relate castle to HP at all.  

[Brick_Rattlehead]

6 hours ago, valon said:

does anybody think there will be another castle theme ever ?

 

I believe so, but maybe not in near future. Castle has made a return multiple times in the past , even though this time it's been like 7 years. Pirate also returned once so there's always possibility.

 

However,  it seems that they're focusing on "Lego ideas" for themes like Castle and Pirate. If those sets does well, we'll probably get more of that or perhaps another full fledge castle theme.

[AmperZand]

1 hour ago, zoth33 said:

They did castle along with the Hobbit and they had HP and castle out at the same time before so this logic doesn't make sense.  Plus who said they had to aim a castle theme toward kids as they are doing a lot more afol related sets.  If they find castle sells well with adults like the blacksmith shop they might think about doing a line aimed at adults.  My 10 year old does not relate castle to HP at all.  

At the time when Tolkien and Castle lines coincided (mostly 2013), the latter was particularly junior-orientated indicating that there was some age segment differentiation. That bodes well for big ticket Castle sets aimed at adults because, obviously, the age spread is even greater between kids and adults than it is between age bands of kids. That doesn’t, however, necessarily mean a whole Castle line with various set sizes and price points. LEGO may be able to scratch that adult consumer itch with occasional Castle sets.

As for HP, the last true Castle line - Fantasy Era - was around 2007 to 2009 when there were very few new HP sets which supports my theory that the two occupy the same mental space for kids. LEGO will have conducted market research on hundreds, maybe thousands, of kids of different ages and across regions. Your ten-year-old is a sample size of 1. 

Edited March 9, 2021 by AmperZand

[zoth33]

4 minutes ago, AmperZand said:

At the time when Tolkien and Castle lines coincided, the latter was particularly junior-orientated indicating that there was some age segment differentiation. That bodes well for big ticket Castle sets aimed at adults because, obviously, the age spread is even greater between kids and adults than it is between age bands of kids. That doesn’t, however, necessarily mean a whole Castle line with various set sizes and price points. LEGO may be able to scratch that adult consumer itch with occasional Castle sets.

As for HP, the last true Castle line - Fantasy Era - was around 2007 to 2009 when there were very few new HP sets which supports my theory that the two occupy the same mental space for kids. LEGO will have conducted market research on hundreds, maybe thousands, of kids of different ages and across regions. Your ten-year-old is a sample size of 1. 

That's great but you have no proof that kids think this way.  Also HP sets smack in the middle of the kingdoms line during 2010-2011 in which kingdoms sold well and is still well liked.  I'm saying Lego could release adult oriented castle sets which you just said worked with the Hobbit and the 2013 castle line.  Lego can do it if they release the right sets people will still buy them and it won't hurt HP at all because most die-hard HP fans aren't into castle sets.  I will still buy HP sets that interest me figure or build wise even if they release castle sets.  

[Alexandrina]

3 hours ago, AmperZand said:

As for HP, the last true Castle line - Fantasy Era - was around 2007 to 2009

Even ignoring the latter-day Castle, what is it that makes Fantasy Era true Castle but not Kingdoms?