BrickJagger

Future Castle Sets?

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4 hours ago, Alexandrina said:

If you read his quotes, that's not what's being said. First off, it doesn't seem as though he has final say on what themes Lego produce, nor does he seem to want Castle gone for good. "Castle is definitely not gone, and I’m hoping that in the near future you will be extremely happy. I don’t know if there’s anything coming, but I’m hoping!"

On top of that, he specifically seems optimistic about Castle based on the Blacksmith set. "Now we have these cool Black Falcon knights [in 21325 Medieval Blacksmith], and that’s just a peek into an endless world of castle, so who knows what could happen?"

The headline is very sensationalised, intended to elicit strong reactions - and that's exactly what it's done. But the truth is probably something different. Besides which, if one of the designers had confirmed in a round-table meeting that Castle and Pirates were ended as themes, why would only one outlet be reporting that?

I am not blaming Samuel Johnson for not getting a castle theme.  But I did direct one of my emails to him because he is in the loop, and he should get feedback from us to pass on to his team/managers. 

"I am hoping in the near future you are going to be extremely happy."   LOL!!!  He says... as the new creator castle is just about to be revealed.  Maybe he really doesn't know if something is coming soon. :pir_wacko: (I guess he had to say that)  However, unlike some people in this thread, I didn't forget about the 3in1 that we got news of just a couple of weeks ago?  While I am thankful for it, the 3in1 creator set is going to be released with the same figs we got in the blacksmith set.  The only hope we have for anything new is for a new civilian fig.  There will be no new heraldry, accessories, animals, shields, or new molds.  This is creator after all.  

Fact is... this thread name should be now changed to "there will be no future castle theme for an indefinite amount of time".  Because without a full theme we will never get anything near what we expect from LEGO for our castle hobby.  After this year, unless LEGO changes its mind, we will likely not even get a creator or ideas sets for a couple of years.  After following this thread into its sixth year and 8 years with no real castle theme, I am truly saddened by this news.  If LEGO castle fans were paying attention right now they would all be weeping.  Sadly most tuned out long ago due to the lack of sets over the years.  There are literally only a few of us even paying attention to this any more.  How long can anyone hang on waiting being disappointed over and over.

 

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7 minutes ago, DaleDVM said:

Fact is... this thread name should be now changed to "there will be no future castle theme for an indefinite amount of time".  Because without a full theme we will never get anything near what we expect from LEGO for our castle hobby.  After this year, unless LEGO changes its mind, we will likely not even get a creator or ideas sets for a couple of years.  After following this thread into its sixth year and 8 years with no real castle theme, I am truly saddened by this news.  If LEGO castle fans were paying attention right now they would all be weeping.  Sadly most tuned out long ago due to the lack of sets over the years.  There are literally only a few of us even paying attention to this any more.  How long can anyone hang on waiting being disappointed over and over.

I don't want to be rude, but this seems incredibly melodramatic. You're reading an awful lot into quotes that weren't even in the article in the first place. We will absolutely continue to get new Castle sets in the future - as Johnson explicitly said in one of the quotes that does exist. Maybe it won't be next year. I'd be surprised if any new in-house theme launches next year, given how much of the development time would have been taken up by Covid. But one day.

And so what if we don't get new heraldry in the 3-in-1? We don't need it for every set. If there was a full Castle theme, you wouldn't be complaining that the sets in the second wave were using the same heraldry as the sets in the first wave. Think of the Blacksmith and the 3-in-1 as two waves in a micro-Castle set; it's just a couple of Black Falcons sets. They might do a few more next year, or they might not, and then we'll get new heraldry again. Just as it's always been.

I'm a Castle fan myself (I wouldn't be here on this thread if I wasn't) and I'm not weeping. Nothing about Lego's offering is putting me off. What's more offputting is the melodramatic, defeatist whinging because a Lego designer gave diplomatic answers to questions outwith his remit and a news site decided to sensationalise what he didn't say to whip their readers into a frenzy.

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19 hours ago, Alexandrina said:

And Space-Castle can work well. My main point (other than personal preference) is that it's disingenuous to act like a Space-Castle hybrid is terrible but a Pirate-Castle hybrid is great. 

That's not what I said. I was saying that pirates can go with castle because you were saying it doesn't work in the historical sense, I was saying it could work in a fantasy setting.  As for castle and space I think it can work.   I actually liked some of the Nexo Knights stuff.  I liked all the villains.  I wish there were some civilian sets in the line.  The Castle builds were ok.  Jestro's lava lair was pretty good my 10 year old has that set.  Science fiction and fantasy can go together quite well.  Look at masters of the Universe, loved that show as a kid and still like all the charaters today.  Even look at the Thor movies that has both castle and space themes to it.  

Edited by zoth33

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I take no offense Alexandrina.  Some people take their love of the castle theme seriously.  Some people are more casual about it, or are general LEGO fans, and that is cool too.  However, I don't think you understand how important a regular flow of parts from a selected theme can be to some AFOLs. I have been following this thread since it began.  Waiting and waiting for the next news of a castle theme.  This has been the longest dry period ever for castle.  I have been collecting since the 1980's so yes I am deeply invested.

and this...
 

is how serious I take the castle theme.  Sorry I had to link to an old video but I do not post pictures of my display online.  

It is not just a hobby to me.  It has even been a job at times.  My display is well over a half million parts at this point, but sadly I haven't been building as much over the last few years.  The lack of a castle theme has nudged me into a grey age.  I suppose at this point I just need to motivate myself and reach back into my old castle sets for my inspiration.  In the mean time, after several years of patiently waiting... let us Castle fanatics grieve.  Because a set or two (which I do appreciate) does not really make up for the lack of a castle theme for the last 8 years and for the foreseeable future.  

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*oh2* Wow, that's yours?  You must have a massive house or a warehouse space to keep it all displayed together!  I am seriously impressed.  Fantasy era is my favorite era of Castle too.  BTW, can I come over and play?

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4 hours ago, DaleDVM said:

I am not blaming Samuel Johnson for not getting a castle theme.  But I did direct one of my emails to him because he is in the loop, and he should get feedback from us to pass on to his team/managers. 

"I am hoping in the near future you are going to be extremely happy."   LOL!!!  He says... as the new creator castle is just about to be revealed.  Maybe he really doesn't know if something is coming soon. :pir_wacko: (I guess he had to say that)  However, unlike some people in this thread, I didn't forget about the 3in1 that we got news of just a couple of weeks ago?  While I am thankful for it, the 3in1 creator set is going to be released with the same figs we got in the blacksmith set.  The only hope we have for anything new is for a new civilian fig.  There will be no new heraldry, accessories, animals, shields, or new molds.  This is creator after all.  

Fact is... this thread name should be now changed to "there will be no future castle theme for an indefinite amount of time".  Because without a full theme we will never get anything near what we expect from LEGO for our castle hobby.  After this year, unless LEGO changes its mind, we will likely not even get a creator or ideas sets for a couple of years.  After following this thread into its sixth year and 8 years with no real castle theme, I am truly saddened by this news.  If LEGO castle fans were paying attention right now they would all be weeping.  Sadly most tuned out long ago due to the lack of sets over the years.  There are literally only a few of us even paying attention to this any more.  How long can anyone hang on waiting being disappointed over and over.

 

I'm on FB Lego castle/Lotr group (one of VERY few reason why I'm still on FB) and the're still huge diehard castle fans there , and the group is quite active every day. Even in my country Lego group, there's still tons of people who's still  interested in the theme. In this forum though , I noticed there's probably less than 10 active posters in this section. 

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6 hours ago, DaleDVM said:

However, I don't think you understand how important a regular flow of parts from a selected theme can be to some AFOLs.

I get that. Having a Castle theme means so much more than having odd sets. But nobody from Lego has said that Castle is over (exactly the opposite in fact) so I don't understand the need to complain about imagined quotes when there are legitimate grievances about Lego's Castle output. 

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All I am saying Alexandrina is that getting an ideas set and a creator set every couple of years is not going to provide AFOLs with the parts we are used to.  Not by a long shot.  You have to remember, we have got used to some castle theme being there for 30 years.  The last 8 years have already been a blow to most castle fans.  Then to learn that instead of getting a castle theme soon, we most likely will not get one at all is shocking.  

So yes, we will get some castle sets very sporadically.  I already admitted as much.  But it is not a theme, and that has implications for the parts we are going to get.  And for me the parts are 90% of the point in the first place.  

And Serenity in Fire.  I look forward to the day we meet.  I will be displaying in Wisconsin in May at Uke's Harley Davidson in Kenosha.  Next year, I will likely be doing Brickworld Milwaukee when this Covid stoppage is over with.  

Make sure to say hello if you can make it, and let me know who you are on the forums.

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17 hours ago, DaleDVM said:

I am not blaming Samuel Johnson for not getting a castle theme.  But I did direct one of my emails to him because he is in the loop, and he should get feedback from us to pass on to his team/managers. 

"I am hoping in the near future you are going to be extremely happy."   LOL!!!  He says... as the new creator castle is just about to be revealed.  Maybe he really doesn't know if something is coming soon. :pir_wacko: (I guess he had to say that)  However, unlike some people in this thread, I didn't forget about the 3in1 that we got news of just a couple of weeks ago?  While I am thankful for it, the 3in1 creator set is going to be released with the same figs we got in the blacksmith set.  The only hope we have for anything new is for a new civilian fig.  There will be no new heraldry, accessories, animals, shields, or new molds.  This is creator after all.  

Fact is... this thread name should be now changed to "there will be no future castle theme for an indefinite amount of time".  Because without a full theme we will never get anything near what we expect from LEGO for our castle hobby.  After this year, unless LEGO changes its mind, we will likely not even get a creator or ideas sets for a couple of years.  After following this thread into its sixth year and 8 years with no real castle theme, I am truly saddened by this news.  If LEGO castle fans were paying attention right now they would all be weeping.  Sadly most tuned out long ago due to the lack of sets over the years.  There are literally only a few of us even paying attention to this any more.  How long can anyone hang on waiting being disappointed over and over.

 

i hope that the creator castle is cool and that they make a dragon one and imperial fortress i hope they make a castle theme, but creator set are cool to !!!!!

Edited by valon

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by the way that is a cool display, do you have castles and a city for other kingdom or only that one

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3 hours ago, DaleDVM said:

Then to learn that instead of getting a castle theme soon, we most likely will not get one at all is shocking. 

The point is, though, that this has not been said by Johnson, or if it has then the quotes were not included in the article. At most, it's confirmation that no new theme is coming next year - but purely because of Covid alone I don't think 2022 was ever especially likely. Johnson doesn't appear to know the ins and outs and intricacies of every single department at Lego, so if there's a Castle theme in the works (which he did voice support for) he wouldn't necessarily know.

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4 hours ago, DaleDVM said:

All I am saying Alexandrina is that getting an ideas set and a creator set every couple of years is not going to provide AFOLs with the parts we are used to.  Not by a long shot.  You have to remember, we have got used to some castle theme being there for 30 years.  The last 8 years have already been a blow to most castle fans.  Then to learn that instead of getting a castle theme soon, we most likely will not get one at all is shocking.  

So yes, we will get some castle sets very sporadically.  I already admitted as much.  But it is not a theme, and that has implications for the parts we are going to get.  And for me the parts are 90% of the point in the first place.

I'm assuming your concern about parts is mainly with regard to stuff like minifig components, accessories, and animals? General castle-related building elements have remained pretty readily available via sets from other themes like Ninjago, Hidden Side, Elves, Harry Potter, Disney, and Super Mario. But I certainly understand being concerned about the lack of other medieval figure and animal related parts, given that Creator 3-in-1 sets tend to deliver a lot less of that sort of stuff than a full Castle theme would, and even other themes with Castle-ish builds rarely focus on stuff like medieval peasants or knights on horseback.

That said, even sporadic releases are a lot better than nothing. And I wouldn't count on Creator 3-in-1 being the ONLY opportunity for new Castle releases over the next few years, either. After all, there's also a very real possibility of Castle-related 18+ sets and/or Ideas in the future, especially if the Medieval Blacksmith sells well enough to demonstrate a strong appetite for more sets like it — just like how many NASA-related Ideas and Creator Expert sets there have been since the Saturn V rocket set showed just how eager a lot of fans were for that sort of stuff.

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All this back and forth about you all having differing interpretations about a misleading article of an interview with someone that wouldn't know anything concrete. I'd rather discuss the potential kinds of sets Lego could produce should an actual theme get the go ahead.

When it comes to non-licensed Castle, we need to consider who Lego's core audience is for the theme, and the kinds of play features that would appeal to them.

If Lego were to continue with the Black Falcons, who would work as a good enemy? I was messing around in Stud.io, and recolored the shield of the CMF series 15 Frightening Knight. I made it white, and the look made a strange kind of sense. The torso prints available in Stud.io are currently quite lacking, but the old red/dark red heraldry torso print is there. The bear also ties well into the first red knight of KKII, Sir Santis. This would be a way of appealing to adult fans of Castle, while reducing some of the design budget. Also, a bear that can be a minifig's mount, or at minimum pulling a siege engine, would be awesome.

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2 minutes ago, gedren_y said:

All this back and forth about you all having differing interpretations about a misleading article of an interview with someone that wouldn't know anything concrete. I'd rather discuss the potential kinds of sets Lego could produce should an actual theme get the go ahead.

When it comes to non-licensed Castle, we need to consider who Lego's core audience is for the theme, and the kinds of play features that would appeal to them.

If Lego were to continue with the Black Falcons, who would work as a good enemy? I was messing around in Stud.io, and recolored the shield of the CMF series 15 Frightening Knight. I made it white, and the look made a strange kind of sense. The torso prints available in Stud.io are currently quite lacking, but the old red/dark red heraldry torso print is there. The bear also ties well into the first red knight of KKII, Sir Santis. This would be a way of appealing to adult fans of Castle, while reducing some of the design budget. Also, a bear that can be a minifig's mount, or at minimum pulling a siege engine, would be awesome.

that is sounds very cool !!!! if you build a custom knight army and castle can you put up picture

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On 3/16/2021 at 12:04 PM, Alexandrina said:

If you read his quotes, that's not what's being said. First off, it doesn't seem as though he has final say on what themes Lego produce, nor does he seem to want Castle gone for good. "Castle is definitely not gone, and I’m hoping that in the near future you will be extremely happy. I don’t know if there’s anything coming, but I’m hoping!"

He also seems to be suggesting that - in his capacity as a senior member of the Lego Ideas team - he hopes the sets his department produces inspire a revamp of the classic themes. "Something we always hope when we do these one-off things in LEGO Ideas is that it will revive something and bring some kind of new opportunity for the LEGO Group. So what we were really hoping with 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay is that the real LEGO Pirates will come back and be where they should be in their prominent place."

On top of that, he specifically seems optimistic about Castle based on the Blacksmith set. "Now we have these cool Black Falcon knights [in 21325 Medieval Blacksmith], and that’s just a peek into an endless world of castle, so who knows what could happen?"

The headline is very sensationalised, intended to elicit strong reactions - and that's exactly what it's done. But the truth is probably something different. Besides which, if one of the designers had confirmed in a round-table meeting that Castle and Pirates were ended as themes, why would only one outlet be reporting that?

Lego knows what they are doing.  Granted like he mentioned the cornerstone of Lego was castle, it's sad to say that historical themed sets are not the future of the company and they know it. 

Kids don't want pirates or castles.  You can walk into any retailer and still find a Creator 3 in 1 pirate set laying around, meaning that if it was hot it would sell like pancakes but it's not the case.  

I learned to cope with this, but Pirates of barracuda bay was a nice welcome to the old line, I just bought Medieval Blacksmith and haven't sat down to build it but with that said my only dislike of the 3 in 1 sets is the fact that everything is brick.  That kind of hints at me that lego is not really trying to even produce or keep original pieces for their sets and i don't know how i feel about that.  

I made the mistake of not buying any castles sets from 2013 because i was going through a rough time back then but would love to see if Lego at least gave us another chance to buy them at retail.  I LOVED the way lego was headed with their 2015 pirates line combining smaller sets into bigger modular ones, would have love to see what would came out of another wave but we got nothing therefore telling you how popular they weren't.

My kids would rather grab a minecraft set or super mario set over anything done pirates or castle themed I have laying around, Lego knows this, hence why they would rather focus on one set at a time like IDEAS or Creator and it makes sense.  

Edited by eldiano

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1 hour ago, gedren_y said:

If Lego were to continue with the Black Falcons, who would work as a good enemy?

There's plenty of untapped heraldic charges that a new faction could revolve around, so there's really no need to resurrect another faction. In fact, I'd argue that it's best not to during the lifespan of the 2020s Black Falcons. Let them get the nostalgia focus for a few years, and give them a new enemy where appropriate. An ash tree herald might be interesting - it would thematically tie in with a Viking-inspired faction that would have dual appeal.

29 minutes ago, eldiano said:

You can walk into any retailer and still find a Creator 3 in 1 pirate set laying around

I don't think that says much. The 3-in-1 is still in production as far as I know, and I wouldn't find it strange to see an in-production set in a shop, even in non-Covid times. Nowadays, footfall is going to be lower than normal with people buying online or not at all, so stock will naturally take longer to go.

I'll point out too that anecdotally the last time I was in a physical shop, shortly before the start of lockdown in the UK last year, its shelves were full to bursting with old Star Wars sets. I specifically remember about a dozen of set 75177, for instance, and one or two of 75153. I wouldn't argue based on this that Star Wars is no longer popular.

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19 hours ago, DaleDVM said:

 

is how serious I take the castle theme.  Sorry I had to link to an old video but I do not post pictures of my display online.  .  

Amazing! :drool:

I especially liked the little stories with the giant trolls along the castle road.
But, on 5:25, did you cut the horses' legs which are wading in the water? :dsad2:

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44 minutes ago, Alexandrina said:

I don't think that says much. The 3-in-1 is still in production as far as I know, and I wouldn't find it strange to see an in-production set in a shop, even in non-Covid times. Nowadays, footfall is going to be lower than normal with people buying online or not at all, so stock will naturally take longer to go.

I'll point out too that anecdotally the last time I was in a physical shop, shortly before the start of lockdown in the UK last year, its shelves were full to bursting with old Star Wars sets. I specifically remember about a dozen of set 75177, for instance, and one or two of 75153. I wouldn't argue based on this that Star Wars is no longer popular.

Yeah, in general, I feel like anecdotes about which sets are lingering on shelves at brick-and-mortar stores don't tend to be very reliable evidence of what is or isn't selling. I've heard plenty of accounts of people sharing those sorts of observations in reference to Friends or Ninjago sets, even in years when those sets or themes ended up being among LEGO's overall best-sellers. Plus, that sort of highly localized observation is rarely indicative of global sales.

Moreover, pricier sets in general tend to sell more slowly than lower-priced ones, and the 3-in-1 Pirate Ship has been the highest-priced Creator 3-in-1 set on the market since its launch. I doubt LEGO would be in any hurry to retire it until this year's 3-in-1 Castle is released at the same (100 USD/EUR) price point.

I agree with @eldiano that themes like Castle, Space, and Pirates are no longer as vital to LEGO's current success as they were during their heyday, just as Bionicle is no longer as vital to LEGO's current success as it was in the early 2000s. After all, the best-selling themes within the past decade have generally been ones like City, Friends, Ninjago, Classic, Creator, Technic, Duplo, and Star Wars. And that's more than just a reflection of which products LEGO has been investing heavily in, because even other massive, heavily promoted themes like The LEGO Movie, The LEGO Batman Movie, The LEGO Movie 2, Legends of Chima, or Nexo Knights never attained quite that level of success during the years that they were active.

But I don't think that this diminished importance/prestige is somehow an indication that "kids no longer want castles". After all, LEGO has continued to introduce plenty of castles in OTHER themes besides capital-C "Castle" (licensed and non-licensed alike). And while in the licensed examples you might be able to make a case that kids are more interested in those sets' significance to their respective series than in the fact that they are castles, there'd be no reason at all for LEGO to make, say, Hidden Side or Ninjago castles if they genuinely believed kids had no interest in castles as a concept.

Likewise, the decision to design Nexo Knights around the concept of "medieval knights… but in the future!" would not have made any sense if LEGO had any reason to believe medieval knights were not popular with kids in the first place. It'd be like making a new theme based around the concept of "lawyers/accountants/janitors… but in the future!" Needless to say, even the weirdest "mashup" themes generally begin with concepts that are known to appeal to kids.

Even at worst, I'd still compare the popularity of castle, space, and pirate themes to the popularity of underground themes, underwater themes, spy themes, "horror" themes, globetrotting explorer themes, or dinosaur themes — categories that remain popular enough with kids for LEGO to periodically base new themes on them (or subthemes of already ongoing themes, like "Alpha Team: Mission Deep Sea" or "Ninjago: Possession"), just not enough so to remain a constant staple of the LEGO portfolio.

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1 hour ago, Aanchir said:

Even at worst, I'd still compare the popularity of castle, space, and pirate themes to the popularity of underground themes, underwater themes, spy themes, "horror" themes, globetrotting explorer themes, or dinosaur themes — categories that remain popular enough with kids for LEGO to periodically base new themes on them (or subthemes of already ongoing themes, like "Alpha Team: Mission Deep Sea" or "Ninjago: Possession"), just not enough so to remain a constant staple of the LEGO portfolio.

I completely agree - and even if Castle is no longer seen as popular enough to justify a full theme, that doesn't mean it never will be. What's popular has changed in the past and it will change again. 

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You can never say never. Harry Potter got a second life from their revival in 2018 after 7 years of nothing. Castle theme could either make a comeback as we approach 100 years of Lego and be back in IP form if they revive LOTR or Hobbit.

Anyhow, the 2021 bricklink designer program just listed the unapproved 10k Lego ideas that will be up for crowd funding. Castle in the Forest looks amazing and will be a great addition for caslte and forestmen fans!

https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/designer-sets-for-adult-fans-of-lego/215665/The-Castle-in-the-Forest

 

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7 hours ago, Aanchir said:

Yeah, in general, I feel like anecdotes about which sets are lingering on shelves at brick-and-mortar stores don't tend to be very reliable evidence of what is or isn't selling. I've heard plenty of accounts of people sharing those sorts of observations in reference to Friends or Ninjago sets, even in years when those sets or themes ended up being among LEGO's overall best-sellers. Plus, that sort of highly localized observation is rarely indicative of global sales.

Moreover, pricier sets in general tend to sell more slowly than lower-priced ones, and the 3-in-1 Pirate Ship has been the highest-priced Creator 3-in-1 set on the market since its launch. I doubt LEGO would be in any hurry to retire it until this year's 3-in-1 Castle is released at the same (100 USD/EUR) price point.

I agree with @eldiano that themes like Castle, Space, and Pirates are no longer as vital to LEGO's current success as they were during their heyday, just as Bionicle is no longer as vital to LEGO's current success as it was in the early 2000s. After all, the best-selling themes within the past decade have generally been ones like City, Friends, Ninjago, Classic, Creator, Technic, Duplo, and Star Wars. And that's more than just a reflection of which products LEGO has been investing heavily in, because even other massive, heavily promoted themes like The LEGO Movie, The LEGO Batman Movie, The LEGO Movie 2, Legends of Chima, or Nexo Knights never attained quite that level of success during the years that they were active.

But I don't think that this diminished importance/prestige is somehow an indication that "kids no longer want castles". After all, LEGO has continued to introduce plenty of castles in OTHER themes besides capital-C "Castle" (licensed and non-licensed alike). And while in the licensed examples you might be able to make a case that kids are more interested in those sets' significance to their respective series than in the fact that they are castles, there'd be no reason at all for LEGO to make, say, Hidden Side or Ninjago castles if they genuinely believed kids had no interest in castles as a concept.

Likewise, the decision to design Nexo Knights around the concept of "medieval knights… but in the future!" would not have made any sense if LEGO had any reason to believe medieval knights were not popular with kids in the first place. It'd be like making a new theme based around the concept of "lawyers/accountants/janitors… but in the future!" Needless to say, even the weirdest "mashup" themes generally begin with concepts that are known to appeal to kids.

Even at worst, I'd still compare the popularity of castle, space, and pirate themes to the popularity of underground themes, underwater themes, spy themes, "horror" themes, globetrotting explorer themes, or dinosaur themes — categories that remain popular enough with kids for LEGO to periodically base new themes on them (or subthemes of already ongoing themes, like "Alpha Team: Mission Deep Sea" or "Ninjago: Possession"), just not enough so to remain a constant staple of the LEGO portfolio.

I agree, Lego biggest problem is really itself.  There's too much existing lines to choose from, if they were to narrow it down just to the classics i'm sure the younger generation would follow, They did heavily push for The Lego Movie merch!!! When this past covid 19 filled christmas swept local retailers you could tell the "police" city sets took a hit since it was really the only set no one wanted to buy for their kids amongst all the previous tensions, but seen their yearly report of 2020 I'm glad they made a come back, while I don't miss the days of the nearly 85% being out of stock, you could tell people went back to the basics haha 

5 hours ago, Alexandrina said:

I completely agree - and even if Castle is no longer seen as popular enough to justify a full theme, that doesn't mean it never will be. What's popular has changed in the past and it will change again. 

I think everyone took the interview out of proportion, he's just one designer that does not reflect the entire company's intention, while it's nice he can talk about it, I can honestly feel at least a couple of more castle sets in the future, hell, the previous poll they did a while ago clearly proved it was popular, the fact that AFOL and the adult collectors and casual buyers just means that we will get the "good" HUGGEEE Castle sets I hope, Medieval Workshop clearly proved this!!! 

Lego Castles and pirates are the only lines where now I would buy the entire line up day 1, even all accessories and battle packs without second guessing myself, it's nostalgic, Now i'm looking to buy or bricklink older sets to make them more "modular" I guess, but without a doubt I certainly wish they would release more.  Pirates of Barracuda gave me hope that if they can revisit and update a classic from the pirates era, they certainly can do it with a castle, village or imperial armada! I don't think the future is all doom and gloom, we know they can pull something that will wow us but I just think we are impatient and want something more concrete like waves when in reality they could do an IDEAS set in between and randomly do it whenever they want

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11 hours ago, Aanchir said:

It'd be like making a new theme based around the concept of "lawyers/accountants/janitors… but in the future!"

Okay now I want a fantasy-lawyers theme. Imagine it, it'd be about magical law that affects the real world... Like that one Unwinder's Tall Comic. Isn't that just so evocative? But, yes, as you say, perhaps the five-year-olds aren't wowed by such a concept.

Well, I'd settle for a proper European/medieval fantasy theme of any sort. But, hopefully they can hook me up with a lawyer-mage, as a bonus!

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BF legs and shields available on B&P at the moment (in the UK at any rate).  
 

Still no torsos :(

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16 hours ago, eldiano said:

Kids don't want pirates or castles.

I wouldn't say so. More like, those themes just need to be re-invented in a way that can draw in a new generation of kids. How exactly that will be done, I can't say for certain, but I do firmly believe that the potential is there. 

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17 hours ago, GeoBrick said:

But, on 5:25, did you cut the horses' legs which are wading in the water? :dsad2:

Yes.  However, that was a sin I committed 25 years ago when I was using baseplates for water features.  Today I would build around those horses.  But since I have them already cut...  I display them.

@Valon 

I do have other castles, however nothing near this size and this is my only full city.  As a homage to all factions there are knights representing every faction in the tournament being held and a tent made in their colors for every single historic faction including all of the KKII knights.  With 3 exceptions.  I do not have tents for the 2013 factions.  Because that part of the display was done before then...  And Jayko's faction.  He is being refused access by "Crownie" security outside the city.  And I have him crying, because...  he is Jayko.  Nuf said.

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