Future Castle Sets?

[jtooker]

Great job!  I like how well the pants (with belt) and arms look with the helmets.  I would say those do not look like ordinary, ready-for-battle soldiers, but would fit very well as the king's guard or at a ceremony.

[morthaur]

18 hours ago, INTENSS said:

I grabbed some close by mini figs as examples. 

 

I love the white/gold armor combo. 

[Darkslayer]

On 6/14/2021 at 7:17 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.

Also even within a theme like 3in1, while not having 4+ sets,  there's a lot of spread, between brick built animals, microscale and minifig "themes" in a very limited amount of sets per year.

 

Nexo Knights had sets of all sizes, but also was an in-house licensed theme, with a lot of books/magazines beside just bricks, and an app-game/TV show, I don't consider it a traditional contiuation of the Castle/Space lines. 

Currently Ninjago seems to go a more "subtheme" type of direction as well, with, going from Fire&Ice, to video games, dungeons and dragons, then islanders and now aquazone in a ninjago-fied way, but also LEGACY does allow to keep some roots in the former years.

 

Overall there are more sets then ever before, but that also means more competition.

Harry Potter sets rebooted in 2018 , but the current sets are not at all based on any new movies, unlike Star Wars making a lot of sets based on either the recent trilogy, or Disney+ series.

HP obviously is popular, it's all over social media, and the forum here is one of the most active, it has advent calendars, minifig packs, CMF series, "UCS" type of sets and since 2018 isn't what I consider long ago yet, but I will never see it as a Castle replacement (Even Lord of the Rings would be many times closer).

 

With that said, I wonder what the future holds, but right now, LEGO seems to be at a trend of adding more licenses, more large licensed sets, more 4+ sets.

A lot happened in the last couple years,  LEGO Movie 2,  the start of the 18+ line, Hidden Side came and went, Monkie Kid appeared, Ninjago got Legacy sets, Xtra  , City Road rework, and I don't think it ended there so I'm still somewhat optimistic.

Subjects like non-city Trains, Castle, Pirates and non-NASA Space look to be scattered along a few releases, mainly focused around IDEAS , or 3in1, but overall I think in terms of larger sets, they have been very good (Barracuda Bay was my favorite 2020 set, 31120 my favorite 2021 set)

Speaking of LOTR, I could see (and hope) it making a comeback when the Amazon show comes out. If they would just make a Minas Tirith set for the Battle of the Pelannor Fields ala the Silent Mary, that's all I'd need.

[INTENSS]

8 hours ago, jtooker said:

Great job!  I like how well the pants (with belt) and arms look with the helmets.  I would say those do not look like ordinary, ready-for-battle soldiers, but would fit very well as the king's guard or at a ceremony.

Kings guard was exactly what I was thinking when I got them.  They’ll end up around the keep.

[DaleDVM]

I like the helmet with the gold armor and the cape the best.  The rest are pretty good.  

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Lego David]

On 6/18/2021 at 11:39 PM, Darkslayer said:

Speaking of LOTR, I could see (and hope) it making a comeback when the Amazon show comes out. If they would just make a Minas Tirith set for the Battle of the Pelannor Fields ala the Silent Mary, that's all I'd need.

The Amazon Prime series is going to be in the same style of Game of Thrones, featuring sex and nudity. LEGO is never going to make sets based off that. 

[gedren_y]

9 minutes ago, Lego David said:

The Amazon Prime series is going to be in the same style of Game of Thrones, featuring sex and nudity. LEGO is never going to make sets based off that. 

That's the primary assumption because of a casting call for the show asking for actors/actresses comfortable with nudity. There is some hope that it was due to the needs of some characters requiring a certain level of theatrical make-up, but if that were the case, and the content of the show was acceptable for Lego's guidelines, something would have leaked about a planned revival of the license by now.

[Lego David]

2 hours ago, gedren_y said:

That's the primary assumption because of a casting call for the show asking for actors/actresses comfortable with nudity.

There is also the report that an intimacy coordinator has been hired to work on the show, so with that in mind, it is pretty much obvious that the show is going to contain nudity at least to some degree. 

[morthaur]

1 hour ago, Lego David said:

There is also the report that an intimacy coordinator has been hired to work on the show, so with that in mind, it is pretty much obvious that the show is going to contain nudity at least to some degree. 

An intimacy coordinator would be required even for just a kiss. It's a bit of a leap to say the show is going full Game of Thrones without more info. And it's worth mentioning that there's nudity in Tolkien's work: the Hobbits running naked over the barrows, and Nienor fleeing naked from Glaurung off the top of my head. In the movies, Gandalf was naked after he was sent back to Middle Earth. It's possible to have nudity without being as explicit as GoT.

[eldiano]

Has anyone had problems with Castle/Kingdoms reddish brown pieces?  I assembled some of them and tried building them and to my horror I was shocked to find out that a lot of them just shattered, cracked, broke and disintegrated when putting them together and I am panicking now!!! 

[morthaur]

Just now, eldiano said:

Has anyone had problems with Castle/Kingdoms reddish brown pieces?  I assembled some of them and tried building them and to my horror I was shocked to find out that a lot of them just shattered, cracked, broke and disintegrated when putting them together and I am panicking now!!! 

That's a common problem with reddish brown and dark red pieces from that time period. I've lost many pieces the same way, including the kings printed legs :(

[eldiano]

Just now, morthaur said:

That's a common problem with reddish brown and dark red pieces from that time period. I've lost many pieces the same way, including the kings printed legs :(

Did you end up re ordering them?  

[morthaur]

Just now, eldiano said:

Did you end up re ordering them?  

This occurred long after they went out of stock. Maybe I'll get an extra set from BrickLink some time.

[eldiano]

Just now, morthaur said:

This occurred long after they went out of stock. Maybe I'll get an extra set from BrickLink some time.

I tried placing a broken brick order but that sent off a red flag to lego by saying it didn't pass their "pre" validation tests lololol.  i'm pissed now because some brown pieces are sold out and they are broken, I'm hoping they are improved and with their announcement they made today about their new brick made out of recyclable parts I literally thought, but does it last longer than a reddish brown brick? lol 

[morthaur]

1 minute ago, eldiano said:

I tried placing a broken brick order but that sent off a red flag to lego by saying it didn't pass their "pre" validation tests lololol.  i'm pissed now because some brown pieces are sold out and they are broken, I'm hoping they are improved and with their announcement they made today about their new brick made out of recyclable parts I literally thought, but does it last longer than a reddish brown brick? lol 

Brown bricks from the past couple of years should be ok. The problem was something with the color mix for several years after switching to reddish brown.

[BrickJagger]

Somewhat related, does anyone know how often the new Black Falcon parts are in stock on Bricks and Pieces? I assume they're usually sold out like they are now. 

[eldiano]

14 minutes ago, morthaur said:

Brown bricks from the past couple of years should be ok. The problem was something with the color mix for several years after switching to reddish brown.

I was scared I was placing a window frame 1x2x2 while building a castle and just heard cracking and breaking like it was trying to fit in and next thing you know a whole section was gone and I just sit there looking at it wondering if it's strong enough to stand in place while I place other bricks on top lol. I'm scared to dig up my pirates sets at this rate. 

By the way they are out of the Torsos/Legs, Swords and Shields for Black Falcon parts on Bricks and Pieces.  They have everything else including the horse!

Edited June 24, 2021 by eldiano

[natesroom]

8 hours ago, morthaur said:

An intimacy coordinator would be required even for just a kiss. It's a bit of a leap to say the show is going full Game of Thrones without more info. And it's worth mentioning that there's nudity in Tolkien's work: the Hobbits running naked over the barrows, and Nienor fleeing naked from Glaurung off the top of my head. In the movies, Gandalf was naked after he was sent back to Middle Earth. It's possible to have nudity without being as explicit as GoT.

I'm not saying you said this - but i am just responding that there will be a HUGE backlash is LOTR goes the way of GOT... Their Investment in the Rights will bury them and all the money outlayed for the project if they devolve the books like that. 

I don't think they are ready for the rising tidal wave of outrage if they sully the tolkien name like that. 

[zoth33]

9 hours ago, BrickJagger said:

Somewhat related, does anyone know how often the new Black Falcon parts are in stock on Bricks and Pieces? I assume they're usually sold out like they are now. 

They usually come back in stock around 10-11pm at night.  It was usually on thursdays but sometimes it has been different days.  You just have to keep checking.  

1 hour ago, natesroom said:

I'm not saying you said this - but i am just responding that there will be a HUGE backlash is LOTR goes the way of GOT... Their Investment in the Rights will bury them and all the money outlayed for the project if they devolve the books like that. 

I don't think they are ready for the rising tidal wave of outrage if they sully the tolkien name like that. 

I think what he is trying to say is just wait and see what they do with the show and not assume it's going full on GOT.  We will just have to wait till a trailer comes out to even get a good feel about how it's going to look.  All this speculation is pointless until we have actual footage or photos.  I for one am hoping the show is good.  I also would like to see more middle earth sets though that would be great.  

[Alexandrina]

9 hours ago, natesroom said:

I'm not saying you said this - but i am just responding that there will be a HUGE backlash is LOTR goes the way of GOT...

Depending on what you mean by "going the way of GOT" I think there's either no chance of a backlash even close to bringing Amazon down, or no reason to worry. Based on the context of the discussion, I presume you're referring to GOT's nudity - to which I'd reply that not only was early GOT a niche series at the forefront of a reburgeoning genre that used nudity to try to help broaden its appeal, but also that nudity and explicit scenes are pretty well expected for big-budget drama series in modern times. IIRC there was nudity in the Witcher, and outside fantasy there are explicit scenes in programmes such as Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Line of Duty, to name a few. There's even nudity in the Hobbit films, and despite the films being widely criticised that was never a focus. For every Tolkien purist who would swear off Amazon for good if they dared to have an explicit scene in the story, there's a modern viewer who would enjoy the show for what it is.

Of course, the more common use of the phrase "going the way of GOT" is based on quality. Yes, quality's not a given - but aside from anything else, there are lots of naff things every year. GOT gets so much hate because it started out great and became terrible because the showrunners stopped caring about the world they were working in. I'm not saying Amazon's LOTR is immune to that - but as a general rule, people don't get bored of a show and stop caring about the world during the first season. I've not kept too abreast on the show, but I don't believe it's an adaptation of any books, so any sensible showrunner who found themselves having had enough would find a way to bring the show to a conclusion rather than phoning it in.

In any case, I don't think we can take the lack of rumblings of a revised theme as evidence either way. Both LotR and the Wheel of Time seem to exist in the world of unknown release dates, given that nothing's been confirmed for either beyond a vague "2021" - and as both shows were delayed by the pandemic, we can't take that for granted any longer. On top of that, it's unlikely to see either show before September at the earliest, given that no solid trailers exist, and I don't think Amazon will release two similar shows (big-budget adaptations of classic fantasy properties) at the same time. Whichever of the two comes second will likely be released in early 2022 instead, perhaps hoping to compete with House of the Dragon. Indiana Jones is scheduled for release next year, and despite there being no solid rumours beyond a single questionable source (at least last time I checked) people seem to be assuming that Indy is coming back to the Lego line-up in 2022. If Lego know that LotR is coming in spring to summer 2022, it makes sense to me that they might time a reborn theme for the summer wave next year - and iirc we don't know a single thing about the Summer 2022 sets yet, for any theme. There's still hope.

Course, there's plenty to be excited for in regards to possible Castle themes even if LotR doesn't return. As a disclaimer, I'm only halfway through the first book of the Wheel of Time - but so far nothing I've read would make it a less likely Lego theme than the original LotR was (someone correct me if it takes a more adult turn later on, preferably without spoilers pls). And even if none of the upcoming properties make the grade, fantasy seems to be taking over as the number one genre right now. In twelve months' time, all of LotR, the Wheel of Time, The Witcher, House of the Dragon and His Dark Materials will be active shows on major channels - and all to a greater or lesser extent fantasy. There's probably more I don't know about as well. Fantasy elements have even been creeping into Marvel lately, with some of the backstory from Kathryn Hahn's character. If nothing emerges as a breakout property for Lego to license, they'll surely see the market and make an in-house theme. After all, maybe House of the Dragon is too adult for Lego to make - but there's nothing stopping them from making something similar but kid-friendly enough to not draw the ire of parental action groups.

[TeriXeri]

Castle in the Forest crowdfunding starts soon , and now has 6 figures (3 forestmen , 1 peasant, 2 Falcons) , and a Horse + Owl. 

Forestmen shields are stickers but I'm 100% fine with that in this case.

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

[natesroom]

On 6/25/2021 at 7:53 AM, Alexandrina said:

Depending on what you mean by "going the way of GOT" I think there's either no chance of a backlash even close to bringing Amazon down, or no reason to worry. Based on the context of the discussion, I presume you're referring to GOT's nudity - to which I'd reply that not only was early GOT a niche series at the forefront of a reburgeoning genre that used nudity to try to help broaden its appeal, but also that nudity and explicit scenes are pretty well expected for big-budget drama series in modern times. IIRC there was nudity in the Witcher, and outside fantasy there are explicit scenes in programmes such as Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Line of Duty, to name a few. There's even nudity in the Hobbit films, and despite the films being widely criticised that was never a focus. For every Tolkien purist who would swear off Amazon for good if they dared to have an explicit scene in the story, there's a modern viewer who would enjoy the show for what it is.

Of course, the more common use of the phrase "going the way of GOT" is based on quality. Yes, quality's not a given - but aside from anything else, there are lots of naff things every year. GOT gets so much hate because it started out great and became terrible because the showrunners stopped caring about the world they were working in. I'm not saying Amazon's LOTR is immune to that - but as a general rule, people don't get bored of a show and stop caring about the world during the first season. I've not kept too abreast on the show, but I don't believe it's an adaptation of any books, so any sensible showrunner who found themselves having had enough would find a way to bring the show to a conclusion rather than phoning it in.

In any case, I don't think we can take the lack of rumblings of a revised theme as evidence either way. Both LotR and the Wheel of Time seem to exist in the world of unknown release dates, given that nothing's been confirmed for either beyond a vague "2021" - and as both shows were delayed by the pandemic, we can't take that for granted any longer. On top of that, it's unlikely to see either show before September at the earliest, given that no solid trailers exist, and I don't think Amazon will release two similar shows (big-budget adaptations of classic fantasy properties) at the same time. Whichever of the two comes second will likely be released in early 2022 instead, perhaps hoping to compete with House of the Dragon. Indiana Jones is scheduled for release next year, and despite there being no solid rumours beyond a single questionable source (at least last time I checked) people seem to be assuming that Indy is coming back to the Lego line-up in 2022. If Lego know that LotR is coming in spring to summer 2022, it makes sense to me that they might time a reborn theme for the summer wave next year - and iirc we don't know a single thing about the Summer 2022 sets yet, for any theme. There's still hope.

Course, there's plenty to be excited for in regards to possible Castle themes even if LotR doesn't return. As a disclaimer, I'm only halfway through the first book of the Wheel of Time - but so far nothing I've read would make it a less likely Lego theme than the original LotR was (someone correct me if it takes a more adult turn later on, preferably without spoilers pls). And even if none of the upcoming properties make the grade, fantasy seems to be taking over as the number one genre right now. In twelve months' time, all of LotR, the Wheel of Time, The Witcher, House of the Dragon and His Dark Materials will be active shows on major channels - and all to a greater or lesser extent fantasy. There's probably more I don't know about as well. Fantasy elements have even been creeping into Marvel lately, with some of the backstory from Kathryn Hahn's character. If nothing emerges as a breakout property for Lego to license, they'll surely see the market and make an in-house theme. After all, maybe House of the Dragon is too adult for Lego to make - but there's nothing stopping them from making something similar but kid-friendly enough to not draw the ire of parental action groups.

You misunderstand. I say "Going the way of GOT" to mean producing an Nc-17 fantasy show that added multiple sex and sexual scenes many of which were not in the book. JRR Tolkien never had any of that "AT ALL" in any of his books. If they  "Go they way" of GOT there will be a backlash revolt of this series. It wont bring Amazon down. In fact it probably won't even affect them that much a company worth over 100 billion - a 200 million investment that doesn't pan out though will get some heads rolling though.

[zoth33]

On 6/25/2021 at 7:53 AM, Alexandrina said:

Depending on what you mean by "going the way of GOT" I think there's either no chance of a backlash even close to bringing Amazon down, or no reason to worry. Based on the context of the discussion, I presume you're referring to GOT's nudity - to which I'd reply that not only was early GOT a niche series at the forefront of a reburgeoning genre that used nudity to try to help broaden its appeal, but also that nudity and explicit scenes are pretty well expected for big-budget drama series in modern times. IIRC there was nudity in the Witcher, and outside fantasy there are explicit scenes in programmes such as Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Line of Duty, to name a few. There's even nudity in the Hobbit films, and despite the films being widely criticised that was never a focus. For every Tolkien purist who would swear off Amazon for good if they dared to have an explicit scene in the story, there's a modern viewer who would enjoy the show for what it is.

Of course, the more common use of the phrase "going the way of GOT" is based on quality. Yes, quality's not a given - but aside from anything else, there are lots of naff things every year. GOT gets so much hate because it started out great and became terrible because the showrunners stopped caring about the world they were working in. I'm not saying Amazon's LOTR is immune to that - but as a general rule, people don't get bored of a show and stop caring about the world during the first season. I've not kept too abreast on the show, but I don't believe it's an adaptation of any books, so any sensible showrunner who found themselves having had enough would find a way to bring the show to a conclusion rather than phoning it in.

In any case, I don't think we can take the lack of rumblings of a revised theme as evidence either way. Both LotR and the Wheel of Time seem to exist in the world of unknown release dates, given that nothing's been confirmed for either beyond a vague "2021" - and as both shows were delayed by the pandemic, we can't take that for granted any longer. On top of that, it's unlikely to see either show before September at the earliest, given that no solid trailers exist, and I don't think Amazon will release two similar shows (big-budget adaptations of classic fantasy properties) at the same time. Whichever of the two comes second will likely be released in early 2022 instead, perhaps hoping to compete with House of the Dragon. Indiana Jones is scheduled for release next year, and despite there being no solid rumours beyond a single questionable source (at least last time I checked) people seem to be assuming that Indy is coming back to the Lego line-up in 2022. If Lego know that LotR is coming in spring to summer 2022, it makes sense to me that they might time a reborn theme for the summer wave next year - and iirc we don't know a single thing about the Summer 2022 sets yet, for any theme. There's still hope.

Course, there's plenty to be excited for in regards to possible Castle themes even if LotR doesn't return. As a disclaimer, I'm only halfway through the first book of the Wheel of Time - but so far nothing I've read would make it a less likely Lego theme than the original LotR was (someone correct me if it takes a more adult turn later on, preferably without spoilers pls). And even if none of the upcoming properties make the grade, fantasy seems to be taking over as the number one genre right now. In twelve months' time, all of LotR, the Wheel of Time, The Witcher, House of the Dragon and His Dark Materials will be active shows on major channels - and all to a greater or lesser extent fantasy. There's probably more I don't know about as well. Fantasy elements have even been creeping into Marvel lately, with some of the backstory from Kathryn Hahn's character. If nothing emerges as a breakout property for Lego to license, they'll surely see the market and make an in-house theme. After all, maybe House of the Dragon is too adult for Lego to make - but there's nothing stopping them from making something similar but kid-friendly enough to not draw the ire of parental action groups.

The LOTR series is still filming no way it's out by September.  I haven't heard if the Wheel of Time is done filming yet and I just looked it up and it is in post production so this might be out by the end of the year.  We will have to see how the WOT works out.  Hopefully the WOT will be good.  The Witcher finished filming recently and won't be out till the end of this year.  It does look like the Witcher will be better this season.  I am also hoping the magic the gathering animated series is good.  Hopefully with the popularity of fantasy Lego looks into making some new fantasy themes other than HP and SW.  

[Lego David]

On 6/25/2021 at 2:53 PM, Alexandrina said:

I've not kept too abreast on the show, but I don't believe it's an adaptation of any books, so any sensible showrunner who found themselves having had enough would find a way to bring the show to a conclusion rather than phoning it in.

This upcoming LOTR is supposed to be based on the Silmarillion, a book containing all of Tolkien's personal writings that were published after he died. From what I heard, as part of the contract, Amazon is forced to keep its story strictly within the boundaries of the book canon. 

Translating a bunch of personal notes and writings that were never intended for publication into a GOT-style Fantasy show that is supposed to have a wide appeal will be quite a daunting task, and unless they get some very good writers to do the job, this show is not going to pan out. And given how apparently the writers of Star Trek: Beyond have been hired for the job, I wouldn't put my hopes very high. 

 

Edited June 29, 2021 by Lego David

[TeriXeri]

It's June 30 now, and 31120 3-in-1 Castle is still LEGO exclusive here.