Future Castle Sets?

[Darth Shadowthrone]

I was hoping the house would be a long Viking hall, which would make for a great Lego build. This one looks more like a hut, but I’m going to try and keep a level mind until there’s a full collection of official pictures 

[TeriXeri]

I think the focus seems to be to keep a proper color schemes on the alternate builds, since this is a rather colorful ship, getting a brown hut alternate build still seems decent.

 

Edited March 11, 2022 by TeriXeri

[Merlo]

Looks rough, with the level of detail that would be great on a much smaller scale and the color scheme is neither realistic nor pleasing.

[Gorilla94]

I really like the new helmet. This and the female Thor one will make great female dwarf fighters. I just hope they make good chainmail Torso prints.

[DaleDVM]

So...  How does the 90th anniversary set affect a castle theme going forward?  Does it make it more or less likely?  Or does it depend on sales?

[TeriXeri]

I think LEGO has the data, and I think LEGO is just careful with what "similar" in-house products are at the market at the same time.

The last Castle sets were 2013, and some minifigs in 2014,

LEGO Movie 1 had 70806: Castle Cavalry in 2014.

Nexo Knight was likely already in development then and lasted from 2016-2018, Elves was also on the market until 2018. 

(I know Nexo or Elves weren't pure castle themes but certainly must have some influence on decision-making)

Nexo did had concepts of Forest and Sea monsters if the theme lasted longer it'd go a "Fantasy" type of direction.

Ninjago started weaving in elements of other themes into itself, starting with Pirates in skybound, but did continue after adding Legacy sets, with Islanders, Castle/Dungeon, and Aquatic subthemes.

 Ninjago also is the theme with Dragons for many years now, multiple dragon sets a year.

2020-2021 had the Ninjago Dungeon wave on shelves, quite a different approach to the theme, there was a mech but the set wasn't part of the "collect them all to make a boardgame", there were no other vehicles but a Dragon and Rhino beast, and "orc/troll", and black skeleton figures and color scheme a bit similar to 2007-2009 Fantasy Era, Skull Sorcerer instead of a normal Wizard.

2021 had the release of the 3-in-1 Castle and IDEAS set combo (kind of how 2020 was the year of Pirate Ships).

2021 had Castle in the Forest via Bricklink designer as well.

2021 also had Vidiyo with Dragon/Faerie characters which likely could've had themed stages if the theme wasn't canceled early.

LEGO Masters had castles even up to the Final or Semifinal depending on region.

The fact that a big 90th anniversary set would be a Castle doesn't surprise me.

Edited March 23, 2022 by TeriXeri

[SirBlake]

As much as I would like to think that recent history (blacksmith, Creator castle, 90th set) would indicate a whole new theme in the near future, experience has taught me not to get my hopes up. As much as we would think that a well executed new castle theme would be a no-brainer success, TLG seems to have different thoughts on the matter. Ideas, Creator and anniversary-type things seem to be the new delivery method for classic themes like castle and pirates. I don't see that changing any time soon.

[RichardGoring]

I think there is a big difference between a $350 celebration set that is clearly aimed at AFOLs compared to a full theme. Full themes will generally need to be targeted towards children, as they will the bigger audience for $10-$50 play sets, as castle sets almost certainly would be.

Plus, there's no media tie-in for castle stuff. How many themes don't have a media tie-in? Architecture, Creator 3-in-1, Creator Expert, and Dots. Hidden Side and VIDIYO didn't, but they had an app tie-in and failed. Even the in-house themes of City, Friends, Monkie Kid, and Ninjago have their own LEGO-created media.

Also, I'm sure there was an interview with someone from LEGO last year where one of the team said that Creator was the new home for these classic themes. They could absolutely come up with one set per year, or several sets in one go, and it wouldn't be out of place. But I would expect to see that before seeing a full theme.

[Triceron]

That's a good point.  At that price point, it'll probably be doubtful that it's just creator-level builds, and be aimed at adults.

I'm really hoping it will be like a Barracuda's Bay for Castle, a loveletter to Castle fans full of references to all Castle themes over the years.  The details on BBay were absolutely fabulous, from the half-sunken Islanders statue to the touches of gray on the Pirate captain's hair and beard.

I'd say I'd probably be happier with the way they have it now and throwing us a new major Castle set every one or two years rather than create a new theme that's ultimately going to be aimed at kids like they did with Nexo Knights, or how Ninjago's new line is a mix of 4+ sets.  It'll be easier on my wallet in the long run, and as long as they continue the trend of providing new Fantasy-themed minifigures in CMF, I'm happy.

[SirBlake]

The main reason why I wish for a full theme is new minifigs, and the ability to get them in reasonably large numbers. Depending on the execution of the Anniversary set, this may be just as good or better than a full theme. Time will tell.

[BTappel]

I agree Creator will be castles home for the foreseeable future.  Sounds like LEGO is done with full waves of classic themes.  It’s a bummer, but at least they gave us the blacksmith and medieval castle.  And if rumors are true and we are getting an epic castle soon, i would rather have one huge castle than an entire wave of sets anyway.

[Poco Lypso]

12 hours ago, BTappel said:

I agree Creator will be castles home for the foreseeable future.  Sounds like LEGO is done with full waves of classic themes.  It’s a bummer, but at least they gave us the blacksmith and medieval castle.  And if rumors are true and we are getting an epic castle soon, i would rather have one huge castle than an entire wave of sets anyway.

imo the launch of the castle would be a great opportunity and momentum to release a new castle wave.

[DaleDVM]

Unless demand is off the charts for the recent castle sets and the 90th anniversary castle I would imagine we might get a creator/ideas set once every 2-3 years.   Thinking we are going to get one annually is wishful thinking IMHO.  There are other themes to consider in those offerings. 

As much as I like the blacksmith and 3 in 1 castle, they are not even close to a castle theme for me.  Only one faction was represented, with little heraldry or new molds.  If my memory serves me... we got a new soldier shield, torso, and legs.  Also a pair of somewhat useful civilian torsos/legs and a recolor of the horse and that is all I can remember?  The armor, swords, helmets, etc. are useful, as are the bricks which are good colors for MOCing with.  But none of that was new or particularly hard to get outside of $100 and $150 sets.  

As for the sets buildings themselves, I can build castle MOCs all day long out of the common parts we get from other sets.  I have said this before and I will say it again.  My desire for a castle theme is driven by the unique "castley" parts found in those sets that can't be obtained in any other sets TLG sells.  Without those parts I am having to use/re-use my old barding, heraldry, factions, peasants, minifig accessories in my MOCs.  

I really look forward to all of the new printings, molds, and any recolors the 90th anniversary set has to offer.  Those are the truly precious bits for me!  I will almost certainly buy in multiples.  I also hope that a decent number of the new parts will be available on B&P so I can get a lot of them to populate my Kingdoms. 

I am so excited and hope TLG does this set justice.  I think they will.  

[zoth33]

5 hours ago, DaleDVM said:

Unless demand is off the charts for the recent castle sets and the 90th anniversary castle I would imagine we might get a creator/ideas set once every 2-3 years.   Thinking we are going to get one annually is wishful thinking IMHO.  There are other themes to consider in those offerings. 

As much as I like the blacksmith and 3 in 1 castle, they are not even close to a castle theme for me.  Only one faction was represented, with little heraldry or new molds.  If my memory serves me... we got a new soldier shield, torso, and legs.  Also a pair of somewhat useful civilian torsos/legs and a recolor of the horse and that is all I can remember?  The armor, swords, helmets, etc. are useful, as are the bricks which are good colors for MOCing with.  But none of that was new or particularly hard to get outside of $100 and $150 sets.  

As for the sets buildings themselves, I can build castle MOCs all day long out of the common parts we get from other sets.  I have said this before and I will say it again.  My desire for a castle theme is driven by the unique "castley" parts found in those sets that can't be obtained in any other sets TLG sells.  Without those parts I am having to use/re-use my old barding, heraldry, factions, peasants, minifig accessories in my MOCs.  

I really look forward to all of the new printings, molds, and any recolors the 90th anniversary set has to offer.  Those are the truly precious bits for me!  I will almost certainly buy in multiples.  I also hope that a decent number of the new parts will be available on B&P so I can get a lot of them to populate my Kingdoms. 

I am so excited and hope TLG does this set justice.  I think they will.  

I'm with you on this.  I like all the new printed parts and molds to make new things and techniques.  I really like the latest sword they made, I'm hoping for it in different colors now.  I also am hoping for some printed capes and banners.  

[josebricks]

No idea how good an indicator this is, but some European sellers have the new Viking helmet in bulk in pearl dark gray. Wondering if this means that will be in the creator Viking set…

[Blazej_Holen]

22 minutes ago, josebricks said:

Wondering if this means that will be in the creator Viking set…

It does… based on the leaked picture there are at least 2 minifigs with that helmet mould. 

[Rockstaremcee]

On 3/24/2022 at 2:33 PM, josebricks said:

...some European sellers have the new Viking helmet in bulk in pearl dark gray…

 

On 3/24/2022 at 2:57 PM, Blazej_Holen said:

It does… based on the leaked picture there are at least 2 minifigs with that helmet mould. 

Very exciting!  I can't wait to get more! 

[Rattlebricks]

On 3/24/2022 at 8:54 PM, DaleDVM said:

Unless demand is off the charts for the recent castle sets and the 90th anniversary castle I would imagine we might get a creator/ideas set once every 2-3 years.   Thinking we are going to get one annually is wishful thinking IMHO.  There are other themes to consider in those offerings. 

As much as I like the blacksmith and 3 in 1 castle, they are not even close to a castle theme for me.  Only one faction was represented, with little heraldry or new molds.  If my memory serves me... we got a new soldier shield, torso, and legs.  Also a pair of somewhat useful civilian torsos/legs and a recolor of the horse and that is all I can remember?  The armor, swords, helmets, etc. are useful, as are the bricks which are good colors for MOCing with.  But none of that was new or particularly hard to get outside of $100 and $150 sets.  

As for the sets buildings themselves, I can build castle MOCs all day long out of the common parts we get from other sets.  I have said this before and I will say it again.  My desire for a castle theme is driven by the unique "castley" parts found in those sets that can't be obtained in any other sets TLG sells.  Without those parts I am having to use/re-use my old barding, heraldry, factions, peasants, minifig accessories in my MOCs.  

I really look forward to all of the new printings, molds, and any recolors the 90th anniversary set has to offer.  Those are the truly precious bits for me!  I will almost certainly buy in multiples.  I also hope that a decent number of the new parts will be available on B&P so I can get a lot of them to populate my Kingdoms. 

I am so excited and hope TLG does this set justice.  I think they will.  

I agree. The lack of minifigs quantity , variants and unique parts in those sets are a disappointment. They cant even come up with new barding... 

 Castle theme seems like an uninteresting side job for TLG.

[zoth33]

1 hour ago, Rattlebricks said:

I agree. The lack of minifigs quantity , variants and unique parts in those sets are a disappointment. They cant even come up with new barding... 

 Castle theme seems like an uninteresting side job for TLG.

The creator sets notoriously do not have many minifigs in them or new parts for that matter.  A barding wouldn't fit in with the ideas set as the horse is carrying a cart.  Plus you can get the black falcon knights off of the new combined pick a brick and bricks and pieces.  Also there are some nice figs in the cmf's like the new bard, snow knight, and moon warrior.  

[unclejeffie]

Where did you see the images for the viking longship

[Aanchir]

On 3/23/2022 at 4:27 PM, RichardGoring said:

Plus, there's no media tie-in for castle stuff. How many themes don't have a media tie-in? Architecture, Creator 3-in-1, Creator Expert, and Dots. Hidden Side and VIDIYO didn't, but they had an app tie-in and failed. Even the in-house themes of City, Friends, Monkie Kid, and Ninjago have their own LEGO-created media.

I mean, this is hardly a deal-breaker. I mean, LEGO City didn't have much in the way of media tie-ins either, until it did! And there's nothing about the Castle theme that would make it fundamentally incompatible with an app or a series of animated webisodes, if LEGO decided it needed those.

A lot of people look at the growth of LEGO tie-in media as an indication that themes today NEED that sort of stuff, but I think a more accurate assessment is that LEGO has always promoted their themes in whatever ways they feel they can reach kids most effectively.

LEGO wasn't able to successfully get into stuff like animated series or mobile apps before the 2010s. So the marketing of themes from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s was limited to stuff that was more in their wheelhouse at that time, like comics, picture books, audio dramas, computer games, and web content.

Even so, themes like Knights Kingdom I and II had a pretty substantial amount of tie-in media for their time! So I don't see any reason to think that LEGO considers the Castle theme any less compatible with these modern sorts of media tie-ins than themes like City, Friends, or Elves.

That said, you're right that the stuff we've heard from the Creator team makes it sound like there are no plans to bring the Castle theme back in the immediate future. And in general, I don't feel like adult-targeted sets ever really suggest anything about the likelihood of a full theme revival one way or another.

[zoth33]

2 hours ago, unclejeffie said:

Where did you see the images for the viking longship

IG under legoleaks

[Rattlebricks]

 

The reason why we dont get full fledge castle theme is because TLG prefers an easy path that is lisenced, plus their designer department isnt a fan of Castle theme.

Speaking of theme popularity among kids ,  a brand as big as Lego should and could become trend setter instead of following trend all the time.

[icm]

Some set designer said once (sorry, I'm not going to take the time to find the citation) that the trouble with Castle and Pirates as full-fledged themes is that the pirate ship / castle at the top of the line outsells the rest of the line by so much that it's not really worthwhile to make the other sets.  So they put a pirate ship / castle of the usual size in Creator 3-in-1 because they weren't able to get approval for a full lineup, and Creator 3-in-1 is the best place for one-offs.  That's less of a problem in other lines because the big set at the top of the line isn't so singularly iconic at summing up the whole point of the line as a pirate ship sums up Pirates or a castle sums up Castle.

[SirBlake]

57 minutes ago, Rattlebricks said:

The reason why we dont get full fledge castle theme is because TLG prefers an easy path that is lisenced, plus their designer department isnt a fan of Castle theme.

According to whom? I know for a fact that there are current TLG designers that consider Castle their favorite theme to MOC on their own time, such as Nuju Metru, who is a member here. Anything that keeps a Castle theme off of shelves is going to be business driven based on their market research, which isn't something they share a lot of information on.

Though I don't have any more insight into that research than anyone else outside of TLG, I personally don't agree with their findings, based on the years-long draught we've had (the last year notwithstanding). Either way, we're getting castles now, so it doesn't seem right to complain.