Future Castle Sets?

[jtooker]

7 hours ago, Lego David said:

I'd say LEGO has been suffering from a quantity over quality issue lately (at least with their normal retail sets, that is). 

I disagree, ignoring classic themes, LEGO has never had a better selection of decent sets for all ages and skill levels.  The ideas line is absolutely terrific.  Modular (creator export) and the adult line have a bunch to offer. Creator has been decent.  Licensed sets have overall been pretty good.  Even City is better than it has been at certain times in the past (depending on your opinion of the new road system).  Importantly, many of the sets today have fairly reusable pieces (less so in the 4+ ages, but these seem to supplement the catalog, not replace).  Also, the building techniques in many sets (especially 12+) is general more advanced than what I remember pre-2000.

I'm guessing all of this 'selection' has crowded out castles, pirates and space (much to my displeasure), but I'd say LEGO sets in the past 5-10 years are better than any time in the last 25.  If you go back before then (before licensed sets), it is hard to make direct comparisons.

[TeriXeri]

While this is 3 months old, it does give some more depth on the current state of Classic themes and why they are under 3-in-1 currently. 

https://www.brickfanatics.com/lego-designer-says-creator-3-in-1-is-the-new-home-of-retro-themes/

If anything it doesn't rule out any Pirate/Castle sets beyond the current ones.

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by TeriXeri

[Lego David]

9 hours ago, jtooker said:

I disagree, ignoring classic themes, LEGO has never had a better selection of decent sets for all ages and skill levels.  The ideas line is absolutely terrific.  Modular (creator export) and the adult line have a bunch to offer. Creator has been decent.  Licensed sets have overall been pretty good.  Even City is better than it has been at certain times in the past (depending on your opinion of the new road system).  Importantly, many of the sets today have fairly reusable pieces (less so in the 4+ ages, but these seem to supplement the catalog, not replace).  Also, the building techniques in many sets (especially 12+) is general more advanced than what I remember pre-2000.

Please note that I specifically said "normal retail sets" in my post. By that I refer to sets that get wide release across all stores (Target, Walmart, etc), not direct to consumer stuff such as LEGO Ideas or the Modular Buildings. 

I couldn't care less about Creator 3 in 1, to me that line represents just "low budget LEGO". I can see kids being into that, (heck I had a tone of Creator sets as a kid) but nowdays they offer very little of value to me, the sets being comprised of just generic bricks that I don't particularly need. Unless they increase the budget and start including more proper minifigures, I don't have much reason to care about it. 

Licensed themes are simply not my thing, and I have been quite vocal about their overwhelming presence in the past. 

City is another theme I have little interest in. I might be interested in some of its offerings if they include new animal molds, but that's about it. 

I don't really care about building techniques either, I just want the set to look good and have useful pieces. I for one, would rather reserve advanced building techniques for MOC building.

 

Edited June 15, 2021 by Lego David

[Merlo]

18 minutes ago, Lego David said:

I couldn't care less about Creator 3 in 1, to me that line represents just "low budget LEGO". I can see kids being into that

/

Unless they increase the budget and start including more proper minifigures, I don't have much reason to care about it. 

I might be interested in some of its offerings if they include new animal molds, but that's about it.

Wait, what? :) As an AFOL in my 40's I have a mini collection of Creator 3 in 1's as the main model often looks fairly decent as a display piece. I also have a big box of unused minifigures and animals because, well... it's been around 30 years since I had fun playing make-believe with minifigures and animals.

[TeriXeri]

2 hours ago, Lego David said:

I couldn't care less about Creator 3 in 1, to me that line represents just "low budget LEGO". I can see kids being into that, (heck I had a tone of Creator sets as a kid) but nowdays they offer very little of value to me, the sets being comprised of just generic bricks that I don't particularly need. Unless they increase the budget and start including more proper minifigures, I don't have much reason to care about it. 

As someone how started collecting Creator 3-in-1 after 2017, I agree 3in1 can have flaws like lack of horses or large amount of figures, however, I still like how most sets still use regular pieces and not just panels/pillars (the 2017-2018 "modular" buildings were simpler but even then don't use 6 wide panels like some City/Friends sets do) , City also uses a lot of ugly 6 wide canopies on helicopter/aircraft (the 8 wides look better).

The main thing I liked about 3in1 is that most buildings don't include extra vehicles , whereas City pretty much always did, and the vehicles made up half or more of a set before the 2021 line of Town+roads.

City did have multiple "fun in the xxx" which bolstered my collection a lot, even the themed one with Space was great, sadly that stopped already.

Right now 3-in-1 is my main theme of interest, not just because they actually suggest making other things from LEGO, but mainly because of the more basic parts.

 

The current placement of Pirates/Castle/Space under 3in1 isn't perfect but I still think it's not a bad solution either, as LEGO says themselves, it basicly saves them making 3 sets, and the Pirate Ship had 3 very distinct models.

I looked at the parts on the Castle, and I actually like the parts a lot, there are a lot of 1x4x3 panels instead of 1x4 bricks but those are still better useable then huge 1x6x5 (non-window) panels imo, also a large amount of slopes.

 

That said, there are multiple Castles up in the huge IDEAS 57 projects lineup next round, and seeing how long some take to release, I don't think seeing one of the Castles picked for a late 2022 / Early 2023 release is impossible.

 

As for the future of 3-in-1, I'm not sure what the large creator set of 2022 could be, on one hand I'd hope for a Sci-Fi Spaceship, on the other hand a larger Town/House set.

I also still hope for some of the €50 price range set to cover more Pirate/Castle, as so far there were multiple smaller Space related sets 

Xtra could also be an option to supply more Classic theme accesoires, or plant parts like palm leaves/bushes, or maybe even a horse as there have been a shark before.

 

Edited June 15, 2021 by TeriXeri

[TeriXeri]

3 hours ago, Merlo said:

Wait, what? :) As an AFOL in my 40's I have a mini collection of Creator 3 in 1's as the main model often looks fairly decent as a display piece.

I also have most of the buildings 3-in-1 has released since 2016, and I think the scale works great on a shelf and with other City/Friends sets.

[Lego David]

7 hours ago, Merlo said:

Wait, what? :) As an AFOL in my 40's I have a mini collection of Creator 3 in 1's as the main model often looks fairly decent as a display piece. I also have a big box of unused minifigures and animals because, well... it's been around 30 years since I had fun playing make-believe with minifigures and animals.

Well, I guess I don't share the same LEGO interests as you do. Different LEGO products appeal to different people, and Creator isn't one of the themes that appeals to me. There is still the occasional set that might spark my interest, such as the recent 31111 Cyber Drone (which I bought mostly for the Spyrius robot figure), but otherwise, the theme provides me with little that I would personally find useful for my MOC projects. 

Also, I only display my bigger sets, most of the smaller ones eventually end up being taken apart or stored in a closet. 

Edited June 15, 2021 by Lego David

[DaleDVM]

I collect and build LEGO castles.  It is the theme and the time period that interests me.  And this is what I spend most of my LEGO money on.  For the last 8 years my spending on LEGO has been way down.  An actual castle theme gives me a lot of the minifigs, weapons, tools, heraldry, animals, etc. that inhabit my medieval MOCs. 

How useful the current sets are for castle MOCing is largely determined by the AFOL and also the size/composition of their collection.  If you don't have a lot of LEGO, and specifically old castle sets, these "new" castle offerings can be invaluable if you want to build castle MOCs.  To someone who owns multiples of almost every castle set ever offered these sets will seem lacking in comparison.  

I truly appreciate this years offerings.  They are both very nice sets.  However, as I have said previously on this thread these sets do not offer enough specific parts that help in building medieval MOCs.  The minifigs in particular are not varied enough.   Making an army of the Black Falcons requires a bits and pieces purchase because there are no small sets to buy at all.  Also two expensive sets with few "castley" parts cannot make up of 8 years of no castle sets at all.  And yet, it looks like we are in for a long wait going forward. 

I suppose the hardest part for us old collectors is that we just came to expect a castle theme to be available.  I've been collecting castle since 1984, so I am pretty invested at this point and I doubt I am going to switch over to a new theme.  Except for the brief respite in the early 2000's when TLG was on the brink of failure, there have always been castle sets for me to buy and add to my collection.  It never occurred to me that castle could go away forever.  Even an 8 year hiatus seemed impossible to me.  TLG announced castle as an "Evergreen" theme just a few years ago when they were asked about the recent lack of castle sets.   I have to admit that the article https://www.brickfanatics.com/lego-designer-says-creator-3-in-1-is-the-new-home-of-retro-themes/ from a few months ago really took my by surprise and I felt devastated by it, which I am sure came through in my past posts.  Up until that article came out, I thought a new castle wave was imminent.  And if you read through the comments on this thread, I think the majority of us thought something castle was going to be coming soon.  This was especially true when the Nexo Knights theme stopped.  

I just hope TLG changes their minds and starts taking my money again.  At this point, I refuse to get my hopes too high.  If the "castle theme" is going to reside in ideas and creator, I would only expect sets every 3 or so years with few dedicated parts for castle builders.  While this may be good for some people it will never satisfy and old collector like me. 

@ LEGO David, I do not display any of my sets, except for the holiday collection for one month of the year.  Now approaching 1.5 million parts, 6000 castle figs, and a ginormous display for public shows, I literally had to take apart all of my sets so the LEGO doesn't take over the entire house.  I'm lucky my S.O. lets me spread out as much as I do already.  

[Aanchir]

On 6/14/2021 at 8:17 AM, TeriXeri said:

It's a shame smaller sets Castle/Pirates fell to the wayside, but LEGO seemed to have caused it themselves.

Smaller sets introduce kids and fans to themes easier, and more frequently, but if a set is too small like a 4+, it doesn't really allow alternate builds that much either.

Even outside the whole licensed vs non-licensed , there so many themes have multiple sets reserved for 4+, which I don't think is needed when there are actually a lot of set reviews where people build/play with 5+ or higher sets with kids as young as 3. 

I mean, it goes without saying that kids' building ability (including visual-spatial reasoning skills, manual dexterity, ability to follow a sequential list of instructions, etc) develops at a different pace from person to person. But regardless of what age a child is ready, to graduate from Duplo building to System building, jumping straight to sets marked for ages 5+ or higher would be quite an abrupt leap!

Duplo sets almost exclusively around stacking parts vertically from bottom to top, and even the largest sets only tend to have 120 or so parts. Also, the stud to anti-stud connections are tight enough to stand up to a toddler's occasional fumbling during or after assembly. System sets with a 5+ or higher age marking tend to feature more extensive use of SNOT techniques, hinges, Technic connections, mechanical functions, sub-assemblies, and building steps that require viewing the entire assembly from a different angle. And System parts are not only smaller and more precise, but their studs have a much lower tolerance for clumsiness or carelessness, making it much easier for System assemblies to break just from holding or applying pressure to them in the wrong place.

That's the reason 4+ sets exist — to help provide kids with a smoother transition between Duplo and System building, regardless of what age they are when they're ready to do so. The reason that they specify a minimum target age of 4 years is that toy safety regulations legally prohibit marketing toys with small parts to kids under 3, due to the implicit choking hazard they'd present. If parents feel that their kids are proficient enough to be ready for that transition at a younger age, they are entirely free to make that decision, but LEGO's age labeling has to adhere to much stricter standards in this particular instance.

In previous decades, themes like Fabuland, Jack Stone, 4 Juniors, 3+ Basic sets, and 2001–2002 Creator sets were meant to serve a similar "transitional" function between Duplo and System sets. But unlike today's 4+ sets, most of those sets did not include small detail parts or standard minifigure parts. Also, their branding, design language, and scale were farther removed from sets and themes aimed at older kids, resulting in a bumpier transition from these preschool-level sets to grade-school-level ones. A 4+ City police car or fire truck might look a bit simplistic among 5+ or 6+ City sets, but not nearly as out-of-place as a Fabuland, Jack Stone, 4 Juniors, or 3+ Basic vehicle would look among 5+ or 6+ Town sets!

This isn't to say that we should expect to like or enjoy 4+ sets as much as more advanced ones, but they serve a very important purpose, and one that LEGO has been aware of for many decades. So I don't really think we should treat their existence like a new, pointless, or harmful trend. "Transitional" sets like these have pretty much always existed in some form or another — the current style just happens to focus on themes, figures, and parts that older builders like us are more likely to take interest in (and that kids are more likely to maintain an interest in after they've moved on to more advanced sets).
 

I also don't think it makes sense to blame 4+ sets or other small sets with limited piece counts for smaller Pirates and Castle sets not selling well. For starters, there have hardly been any 4+ Pirates or Castle sets in the first place — just a couple, back when 4+ sets were branded as subthemes of a collective "Juniors" theme instead of a part of the themes related to their specific subject matter. And I don't see any reason to think they would have impacted the development of the 2013 Castle sets or 2015 Pirates sets in any way, since they were shelved separately and (at least early on) developed by an entirely different team of designers.

But perhaps more importantly, low-priced sets in the peak years of the Castle and Pirates themes have generally had even lower piece counts, simpler builds, and greater reliance on specialized parts than sets of similar size and (inflation-adjusted) price from the 2010s. Compare Shipwreck Defense from 2015 to Broadside's Brig from 1991 and Smuggler's Shanty from 1992, or Forest Ambush from 2013 to earlier minifigure packs/"battle packs" that Castle fans often wax nostalgic for like 6102, 6103, and 852271.

Although these more recent examples have slightly fewer minifigs than their precursors, they have considerably more small, basic building/landscaping elements, with very few large, specialized elements like wall panels or column bricks. And in fact, one of the most striking things for me about the 2015 Pirates wave in particular was that it DID opt for brick-built solutions using small, versatile elements in places that earlier waves had typically been reliant on larger, more specialized parts — particularly the Soldiers Outpost and Soldiers Fort sets, which included none of the large wall panels that had been a staple of the theme's previous colonial forts and outposts.
 

That said, those mid-2010s Castle and Pirates waves did vary from previous waves in OTHER ways that might have potentially weakened their performance. For instance, they did not include any polybag-sized impulse sets, and there was a stark difference in price between their respective "flagship sets" (King's Castle and The Brick Bounty) and their next largest sets (Dragon Mountain and Treasure Island/Soldiers' Fort).

Pirates fans have definitely called a lot of attention to the latter, since the price points of that wave jump abruptly from $30 to $100. In earlier Pirates waves, there would have been at least one set at more of an intermediate price point — often a larger fort set or smaller ship set for whatever faction the pirates were up against in that particular wave, and usually costing around half the price of the flagship set, if not higher.

In Castle's case, the price difference between the most and second most expensive sets in 2013 was not nearly as out of the ordinary — in fact, the launch waves of "Fantasy Era" Castle and Kingdoms followed about the same pattern with the main strongholds of their two primary factions, as did the 1984 Castle range (which had been the first to feature two distinct factions in the first place). But the lack of $3 to $5 sets in 2013 stands out as more of an anomaly, since sets like that WERE included in the 2007 and 2010 LEGO Castle waves, as well as in other themes that launched in 2013 like Legends of Chima, Galaxy Squad, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The Lone Ranger.

Mind you, I'm not sure whether the presence or lack of polybag sets (or similar sized sets) would have that much of an impact on the performance or longevity of a theme… after all, a lot of retailers don't reliably carry tiny "impulse sets" like that in the first place, and it doesn't seem like Galaxy Squad's polybag sets did anything to help keep it going any longer than it would have lasted without them. But it's certainly a more quantifiable difference between the 2013 Castle sets and earlier Castle/Kingdoms launch waves than how much or how little creative building potential the sets offered.
 

On a side note, I also feel like the number of 4+ sets has not really been pretty stable over the past 3 or 4 years… in fact, the difference between the number of 4+ sets this year and the number last year seems to be at least partly due to the Minions movie and most of the tie-in sets getting delayed. I don't think we have to worry about the number of 4+ sets expanding out of control any time soon.

Edited June 15, 2021 by Aanchir

[Aanchir]

11 hours ago, Lego David said:

Please note that I specifically said "normal retail sets" in my post. By that I refer to sets that get wide release across all stores (Target, Walmart, etc), not direct to consumer stuff such as LEGO Ideas or the Modular Buildings.  

I couldn't care less about Creator 3 in 1, to me that line represents just "low budget LEGO". I can see kids being into that, (heck I had a tone of Creator sets as a kid) but nowdays they offer very little of value to me, the sets being comprised of just generic bricks that I don't particularly need. Unless they increase the budget and start including more proper minifigures, I don't have much reason to care about it.  

Licensed themes are simply not my thing, and I have been quite vocal about their overwhelming presence in the past. 

City is another theme I have little interest in. I might be interested in some of its offerings if they include new animal molds, but that's about it. 

I don't really care about building techniques either, I just want the set to look good and have useful pieces. I for one, would rather reserve advanced building techniques for MOC building.

Okay, but your previous complaint was about sets being too similar to one another/not standing out. That's a different matter entirely than whether or not you happen to be interested in them. There are a LOT of categories of sets that I have no particular interest in, such as 4+, Classic, Minecraft, Vidiyo, Harry Potter, Speed Champions, BrickHeadz, or Botanical Collection sets, but it's still obvious to me that they are very different types of product that will likely appeal to very different audiences.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if one of the reasons you feel drawn to so few sets and themes compared to whatever you consider the peak years for LEGO is that LEGO has been making their portfolio MORE varied (and reaching buyers with more varied tastes and interests), instead of tailoring it as much to the types of themes, subject matter, and building styles that interest you specifically.

It's probably safe to say that there are a lot of AFOLs with no interest in themes like Friends, Elves, or Dots, whether it's for being "too girly", "too childish", "too colorful" or as you put it, not having "proper minifigures". But a lot of the people who do enjoy those themes are drawn to them by the very attributes that set them apart from playsets that use traditional minifigures.

Likewise, many AFOLs dislike sets or themes like Hidden Side, Super Mario, Vidiyo, or Technic "Powered Up" sets with play features that involve a mobile app. But app integration actually helps those themes appeal to buyers in ways that other themes couldn't, since they offer play features or play experiences that wouldn't be possible without some type of digital integration.

And of course, a lot of European and American LEGO fans would not be any more drawn to the Chinese Festival sets or Monkie Kid theme than to comparable sets inspired by European or American cultural traditions. But in China and other Asian countries where those festival traditions are more widely known and celebrated, or Monkey King stories are more widely enjoyed, those sets would appeal to those interests in a way that more European or American inspired themes would not.

So certainly, there are plenty of adults and kids alike who would probably prefer new Castle, Pirates, and Space themes over some of these current sets or themes. But there are also plenty of LEGO fans (and potential LEGO fans) who would probably have just as little interest in those themes as a lot of us have in other more current/recent themes.

[zoth33]

4 hours ago, DaleDVM said:

I collect and build LEGO castles.  It is the theme and the time period that interests me.  And this is what I spend most of my LEGO money on.  For the last 8 years my spending on LEGO has been way down.  An actual castle theme gives me a lot of the minifigs, weapons, tools, heraldry, animals, etc. that inhabit my medieval MOCs. 

How useful the current sets are for castle MOCing is largely determined by the AFOL and also the size/composition of their collection.  If you don't have a lot of LEGO, and specifically old castle sets, these "new" castle offerings can be invaluable if you want to build castle MOCs.  To someone who owns multiples of almost every castle set ever offered these sets will seem lacking in comparison.  

I truly appreciate this years offerings.  They are both very nice sets.  However, as I have said previously on this thread these sets do not offer enough specific parts that help in building medieval MOCs.  The minifigs in particular are not varied enough.   Making an army of the Black Falcons requires a bits and pieces purchase because there are no small sets to buy at all.  Also two expensive sets with few "castley" parts cannot make up of 8 years of no castle sets at all.  And yet, it looks like we are in for a long wait going forward. 

I suppose the hardest part for us old collectors is that we just came to expect a castle theme to be available.  I've been collecting castle since 1984, so I am pretty invested at this point and I doubt I am going to switch over to a new theme.  Except for the brief respite in the early 2000's when TLG was on the brink of failure, there have always been castle sets for me to buy and add to my collection.  It never occurred to me that castle could go away forever.  Even an 8 year hiatus seemed impossible to me.  TLG announced castle as an "Evergreen" theme just a few years ago when they were asked about the recent lack of castle sets.   I have to admit that the article https://www.brickfanatics.com/lego-designer-says-creator-3-in-1-is-the-new-home-of-retro-themes/ from a few months ago really took my by surprise and I felt devastated by it, which I am sure came through in my past posts.  Up until that article came out, I thought a new castle wave was imminent.  And if you read through the comments on this thread, I think the majority of us thought something castle was going to be coming soon.  This was especially true when the Nexo Knights theme stopped.  

I just hope TLG changes their minds and starts taking my money again.  At this point, I refuse to get my hopes too high.  If the "castle theme" is going to reside in ideas and creator, I would only expect sets every 3 or so years with few dedicated parts for castle builders.  While this may be good for some people it will never satisfy and old collector like me. 

@ LEGO David, I do not display any of my sets, except for the holiday collection for one month of the year.  Now approaching 1.5 million parts, 6000 castle figs, and a ginormous display for public shows, I literally had to take apart all of my sets so the LEGO doesn't take over the entire house.  I'm lucky my S.O. lets me spread out as much as I do already.  

I get what your saying.  As a AFOL in my 40's I used to be into sci-fi and castle mainly when I was younger lots of castle and blacktron, m-tron, etc.  Now I just build castle or fantasy/castle.  It's just what I prefer to build now.  And It is really what I like to watch on TV like vikings, LOTR, the witcher, GOT, knightfall, etc.  Of course I would love to build some new castles and get new figs but what we have are black falcons and the blacksmith and the 3in1 and they are great sets.  I have the blacksmith.  waiting to get the 3in1 here in the usa.  To your point that you like to build just castle like myself,  I have personally found several themes with parts and especially figs that I can use for my armies and generic figs.  For example I have an army of sea elves using the Atlantean guards from aquaman and parts from lotr.  Also recently the Ninjago fantasy wave with the skull dragon was fantastic for me as the dragon is great and the figs had alot of great parts.  Also @DaleDVM do you use bricks and pieces for castle parts they have everything you need for castle parts and you don't have to buy the sets if you don't want?  Just curious because I'm always finding figs and parts in new sets that I can use even the friends line has some pieces that I use.  I just find whatever I can and fit it into my castle/fantasy setting.  I even used the Sakaraan from Guardians of the Galaxy for custom demons.  Lego has so many good parts for customization and MOCing.  I even find the green goblin from spiderman to fit in with my goblins.  The new ninjago snakes are being used in a army I have right now with mummies and a custom lord using Loki's horned helm.  Also @DaleDVM do you also find bricklink useful?  I'm always curious because it sounds like you just buy sets and build up your collection that way when there are other avenues to increase your pieces for castle and figs.  Your not the only one that says that you only buy castle sets to build your armies, and pieces, just curious why if that is the case?  Even now the Harry potter chess set has some great helms and weapons for castle fans.  

[Merlo]

13 hours ago, Aanchir said:

Also, the stud to anti-stud connections are tight enough to stand up to a toddler's occasional fumbling during or after assembly.

My toddler always struggled with Duplo for this reason. She could connect Lego easily, but would often lose her nerves as Duplo bricks often (the grip strength varies by quite a lot) required more force to bring together.

[INTENSS]

13 hours ago, zoth33 said:

Even now the Harry potter chess set has some great helms and weapons for castle fans.  

Funny timing, I just started sorting through my B&P order from that chess set.  Such a good set for Castle builders.  Yesterday, I parted out the actual set - most of the parts were very useful but I had get more of the swords and helmets from B&P.

[DaleDVM]

16 hours ago, zoth33 said:

Also @DaleDVM do you use bricks and pieces for castle parts they have everything you need for castle parts and you don't have to buy the sets if you don't want?  Just curious because I'm always finding figs and parts in new sets that I can use even the friends line has some pieces that I use.  I just find whatever I can and fit it into my castle/fantasy setting.  I even used the Sakaraan from Guardians of the Galaxy for custom demons.  Lego has so many good parts for customization and MOCing.  I even find the green goblin from spiderman to fit in with my goblins.  The new ninjago snakes are being used in a army I have right now with mummies and a custom lord using Loki's horned helm.  Also @DaleDVM do you also find bricklink useful?  I'm always curious because it sounds like you just buy sets and build up your collection that way when there are other avenues to increase your pieces for castle and figs.  Your not the only one that says that you only buy castle sets to build your armies, and pieces, just curious why if that is the case?  Even now the Harry potter chess set has some great helms and weapons for castle fans.  

I have not used bricks and pieces much in the past but am warming up to the service especially for rare parts/colors.  My collection is about 1/3 from sets, 1/3 from Pick a Brick, 1/3 from Bricklink and LUGbulk. 

I definitely like some of the fantasy bad guys from Ninjago, Nexo Knights, etc.  The problem I have adding minifigs to my armies is just getting a decent number of figures for new factions.  I have castle armies that represent every castle faction ever released by LEGO.  The smallest faction I own are the KKII jellybean knights and strangely enough I have about 50 of these guys.  The rest of my factions are 100-600 figs strong.  So, whenever I add a faction I am looking to get enough figs so they number at least 50ish.  Otherwise the factions are so small as to not be noticed among my collection.  Getting individual minifigs from superhero sets look cool individually but are barely even noticeable when displayed with my castle collection.  This is the minor curse of building big armies.  It is harder to add anything that looks good with everything else as a whole.

In all honesty, I really do not need brick any more.  And yet... I keep buying more.  New interesting molds and colors are fine... but I just have a TON of brick because brick is never hard to acquire.  I also have more weapons, helmets, armor, than I could ever use for my minifigs.  That is because the old castle sets would come with way more weapons than the minifigs could ever use.  The limiting factor for me is shields, heraldry/flags, and period appropriate minifigs(torsos), especially civilians.  These are the limiting elements because there are not a lot of extra shields or flags/heraldry in castle sets.  You can never have enough soldiers if you have large armies.  And as everyone knows, civilians have been very rare indeed.  Even with large bricklink orders I never have enough civilians to balance all of the military figs I have.  Torsos, shields, flags are what I am short on.  I also would prefer new heraldry and castle minifigs.  The new black falcons look cool, but they are way too similar to the old ones to make them an entire new faction.  They will just be elite units/subfaction in the old black falcon army.  Because I already own a ton of the old BFs, and all of the old castle factions, I get less excited for the new reworked castle factions.

So... this explains why I crave a new castle theme.  Because it might provide me with more of the parts that I actually need and added variety of factions to add to my world.  Castle sets from "Ideas and 3in1" will offer very few of the very parts I need the most.  

I will likely get one HP chess set for the accessories.  Black is OK, but white weapons/helms are not ideal for my use either... although I have never tried white on my figs before?  Someone post some pics of the white armor and weapons on normal castle figs?  I would be grateful.  I am open minded to trying it if it looks good...

[eldiano]

the term "low budget Lego" hurts but it's the truth.  It's my current dilemna though, I think the 2015 pirates wave is perfect for using modular like builds to expand their sets, too bad it never took off and to be honest that wave had minimal sets 4-5 tops and they held their value incredible well as of today! with that said though LEGO does have a problem with small sets in that regard but that could be easy fixable with modular/add on as they do with their Ninjago Line, something I didn't think it was that amazing until TeriXeri mentioned it to me, at which point I was blown away because they are low key exploring different pirate themes especially this year, I can see Designers pouring their heart and soul on those sets, even the new Harry potter wave this year is mind blowing to me, I wouldn't mind a castle build with add on-s parts of the castle.

There's innovation behind those sets but despite the fact that I can't wait for 31120 Medieval Castle everyone's right I hate the lack of pre fab pieces on it.  

I think we don't know how to signal to LEGO that hey smaller playsets make the world go around but with the current LEGO ideas medieval coastline getting 10,000 votes who knows what will see up next, maybe they have something up their sleeve considering a Pirates treasure VIP exclusive is rumored for late this year.  

[jtooker]

4 hours ago, DaleDVM said:

white weapons/helms are not ideal for my use either... although I have never tried white on my figs before?  Someone post some pics of the white armor and weapons on normal castle figs?  ...  I am open minded to trying it if it looks good...

I wonder how much of what parts (and part combinations) seem 'normal' or 'good' today was thought to be 'bad' or 'useless' when those new parts came out.  I've seen this reflected in my own judgements.  And from a high level, I've seen fads move through MOC communities.  Getting back to castles specifically, some parts look great for fantasy-leaning MOCs that would not look as appropriate in historical MOCs.

[TeriXeri]

1 hour ago, eldiano said:

I think we don't know how to signal to LEGO that hey smaller playsets make the world go around but with the current LEGO ideas medieval coastline getting 10,000 votes who knows what will see up next, maybe they have something up their sleeve considering a Pirates treasure VIP exclusive is rumored for late this year.  

I think IDEAS is booming right now when it comes to Medieval sets and Castles, and I think the current submissions are a lot more diverse compared to about 2 years ago it were mostly very large buildings about the size of the (original submission) Blacksmith , now I see all sorts of Castles and outposts and civilian settings that are more set-scale or could be hybrid Pirate compatible as well.

And that's not including the 5 Castles in the next review, and Castle in the Forest Crowdfunding.

Edited June 16, 2021 by TeriXeri

[zoth33]

5 hours ago, DaleDVM said:

I have not used bricks and pieces much in the past but am warming up to the service especially for rare parts/colors.  My collection is about 1/3 from sets, 1/3 from Pick a Brick, 1/3 from Bricklink and LUGbulk. 

I definitely like some of the fantasy bad guys from Ninjago, Nexo Knights, etc.  The problem I have adding minifigs to my armies is just getting a decent number of figures for new factions.  I have castle armies that represent every castle faction ever released by LEGO.  The smallest faction I own are the KKII jellybean knights and strangely enough I have about 50 of these guys.  The rest of my factions are 100-600 figs strong.  So, whenever I add a faction I am looking to get enough figs so they number at least 50ish.  Otherwise the factions are so small as to not be noticed among my collection.  Getting individual minifigs from superhero sets look cool individually but are barely even noticeable when displayed with my castle collection.  This is the minor curse of building big armies.  It is harder to add anything that looks good with everything else as a whole.

In all honesty, I really do not need brick any more.  And yet... I keep buying more.  New interesting molds and colors are fine... but I just have a TON of brick because brick is never hard to acquire.  I also have more weapons, helmets, armor, than I could ever use for my minifigs.  That is because the old castle sets would come with way more weapons than the minifigs could ever use.  The limiting factor for me is shields, heraldry/flags, and period appropriate minifigs(torsos), especially civilians.  These are the limiting elements because there are not a lot of extra shields or flags/heraldry in castle sets.  You can never have enough soldiers if you have large armies.  And as everyone knows, civilians have been very rare indeed.  Even with large bricklink orders I never have enough civilians to balance all of the military figs I have.  Torsos, shields, flags are what I am short on.  I also would prefer new heraldry and castle minifigs.  The new black falcons look cool, but they are way too similar to the old ones to make them an entire new faction.  They will just be elite units/subfaction in the old black falcon army.  Because I already own a ton of the old BFs, and all of the old castle factions, I get less excited for the new reworked castle factions.

So... this explains why I crave a new castle theme.  Because it might provide me with more of the parts that I actually need and added variety of factions to add to my world.  Castle sets from "Ideas and 3in1" will offer very few of the very parts I need the most.  

I will likely get one HP chess set for the accessories.  Black is OK, but white weapons/helms are not ideal for my use either... although I have never tried white on my figs before?  Someone post some pics of the white armor and weapons on normal castle figs?  I would be grateful.  I am open minded to trying it if it looks good...

I just got my order but have yet to try the white swords with the witch king from the Hobbit sets.  Thanks for answering I was just wondering what other people do to get figs, parts, etc.  I will try soon to get a pic out.  

[eldiano]

52 minutes ago, TeriXeri said:

I think IDEAS is booming right now when it comes to Medieval sets and Castles, and I think the current submissions are a lot more diverse compared to about 2 years ago it were mostly very large buildings about the size of the (original submission) Blacksmith , now I see all sorts of Castles and outposts and civilian settings that are more set-scale or could be hybrid Pirate compatible as well.

And that's not including the 5 Castles in the next review, and Castle in the Forest Crowdfunding.

Really? Let’s see what makes it on the shelves, if that doesn’t send up flares to LEGO i don’t know what will hahaha.

I’m happy with Medieval Blacksmith, there’s a lot of innovate and creative ideas brought to the table from that set, I love the upcoming Medieval Castle set but it’s just simple and small.  

I’m a simple guy though all I do is just purchase them to support it and maybe hopefully tell LEGO we want more

[GeoBrick]

On 6/16/2021 at 5:31 PM, DaleDVM said:

I will likely get one HP chess set for the accessories.  Black is OK, but white weapons/helms are not ideal for my use either... although I have never tried white on my figs before?  Someone post some pics of the white armor and weapons on normal castle figs?  I would be grateful.  I am open minded to trying it if it looks good...

Now that I think about it, white weapons and helmets might be useful as ornamentation on public buildings.
Your medieval/fantasy townhall front with white statues of past heroes and such...

[TeriXeri]

At the very least, white / black weapons /helmets can fit with the White/Black Skeletons from either the 2007/2008 Fantasy Castle waves, or more modern recent Ninjago waves which had (legacy) Skulkins and Black Skeletons , and a white/black and black/white version of a runesword .

Not all the helmets will fit on the Ninjago modern skulls however.

Also the 2018 Nexo wave had black/white villains (with red eyes and green contrast prints), but might be a bit too techy for pure fantasy, but I think black or white helmets would still work on them.

 ,

As a bonus the eye torso print really reminds me of Sauron, or Warcraft (Old Gods / Darkmoon Faire) , kind of makes sense as they were controlled by monstrox "servers" to connect the digital to the physical world in the final comics.

Nexo also used black shields for 2 years (2016-2017) for the villains , which offer some customization options.

For white Shields there's this part , in 2018-2021 sets :

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=30166&colorID=1&in=A

Edited June 17, 2021 by TeriXeri

[Aanchir]

1 hour ago, GeoBrick said:

Now that I think about it, white weapons and helmets might be useful as ornamentation on public buildings.

True! Also for marble statues in other contexts like churches, or even for ghosts, maybe.

I also think a combination of white helmets or armor with other colors (including more neutral ones like grey or silver) could be very effective. While they were very low-detail by modern standards (no metallic colors or leg/hip/torso details like belts, chainmail, boots, etc), I think the four mounted knights in the original Yellow Castle still feel fairly believable as authentic medieval knights, at least in terms of their color schemes.

I'm not sure if there are any authentic historical examples of medieval or helmets that were entirely painted white. Most examples of medieval painted helmets and armor that I've seen (such as in illustrations dating back to medieval times, or in museum collections) feature more detailed patterns, often to match the heraldry of their wearers. And the same goes for real-world-inspired modern recreations like the sort you might see reenactors wearing at a "Renaissance faire" or other medieval-inspired events and attractions.

That said, I'm pretty sure LEGO has never actually had printed medieval helmets/visors (unless you count the more fantastical designs from the Lord of the Rings theme). So solid-colored helmets like these (or for that matter, some of the Castle helmet recolors worn by the Squirebots or Royal Guards/Soldiers in the Nexo Knights theme) are currently the closest "purist" approximation of these sorts of painted medieval helmets — at least in brighter colors like white or red.

[gedren_y]

On 6/16/2021 at 11:31 AM, DaleDVM said:

I will likely get one HP chess set for the accessories.  Black is OK, but white weapons/helms are not ideal for my use either... although I have never tried white on my figs before?  Someone post some pics of the white armor and weapons on normal castle figs?  I would be grateful.  I am open minded to trying it if it looks good...

I would add to @TeriXeri's idea with the fact that quite a number of torsos from across the various Castle themes would work well with white helms, and weapons.

The red torso Royal Knights could be given some upgrades.

Jayko's faction design from the first two years of KKII would do well with some white.

You could make a whole new faction of Vikings with white, by giving a number of them white arms.

A bunch of Fantasy Era dark blue torsos look good with white (some Vikings torsos could work here).

Both the Kingdoms Lion Knights, and the 2013 Castle Lion Knights, could expand their variety with the inclusion of white.

There are other possibilities for new factions when you look farther afield. It wouldn't be hard to create a red and white Dragons faction with parts currently available thanks to the printed flag design from the Ideas Ship In A Bottle, and the Ninjago dragon sword hilt now in white, found in numerous Monkie Kid sets.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the vein of new faction creation, parts created in the last couple of years also make brick built shields for them more feasible, including new uses for existing Lego sticker designs. Lego Ideas submissions with new faction ideas wouldn't be dependent on the ability to make your own stickers, or prints, real or digital. I see all kinds of possibilities.

[TeriXeri]

37 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

True! Also for marble statues in other contexts like churches, or even for ghosts, maybe.

So solid-colored helmets like these (or for that matter, some of the Castle helmet recolors worn by the Squirebots or Royal Guards/Soldiers in the Nexo Knights theme) are currently the closest "purist" approximation of these sorts of painted medieval helmets — at least in brighter colors like white or red.

Indeed, Nexo had this marble "statue", the larger knight helmet could still work on it (double printed face shows an evil/angry face)

 

The Chess Set variation of white helmets could also work for a faction of more varied "Lance" knights (basicly using the variations of Lance torsos/legs with different faces), but multiple versions of Lance all have a useable horse emblem.

And there's a horse Shield Tile as well :

 

For less Techy figures,this is probably the more suitable torso/leg combination without too much orange lines on it : (Battle Suit Lance)

(I'm just focusing on speculating mostly about Nexo parts/figs as it's the main "Castle" theme I have currently, especially in number of figs)

 

Edited June 17, 2021 by TeriXeri

[INTENSS]

On 6/16/2021 at 11:31 AM, DaleDVM said:

I will likely get one HP chess set for the accessories.  Black is OK, but white weapons/helms are not ideal for my use either... although I have never tried white on my figs before?  Someone post some pics of the white armor and weapons on normal castle figs?  I would be grateful.  I am open minded to trying it if it looks good..

I grabbed some close by mini figs as examples. 

 

Edited June 18, 2021 by INTENSS