Future Castle Sets?

[Faefrost]

4 hours ago, Bricked1980 said:

There are some solid points in the comment made by @Faefrost however I am convinced we WILL see a new Castle theme, and Pirates for that matter at some point down the line. There haven't been many occasions in the last 40 years where we've been without a Castle inspired Lego theme. I still consider Nexo Knights to be a sort of futuristic re-boot of Lego Castle and even though the similarities to the old style are very loose. It was still essentially a Lego Castle theme, just with the fantasy factor gone in to overdrive.

Nexo Knights may not of been the big success Lego were hoping for but I doubt they would permanently abandon the subject of Knights and Castles just because they think children are not interested anymore. Children always have and always will love playing with Castles.

I think they will go away, re-group and come up with a new idea and new take on the Castle theme. Hopefully this will be soon but I think it could be a couple of years as they will want the dust to settle from Nexo Knights first. I doubt they'll take another futuristic approach as his would just look like a Nexo re-hash. I personally hope that whatever they come up with next will bare more resemblance to a traditional style Castle theme, but who knows.

Either way I think we should simply look on Lego Castle as currently being on hiatus. I'm sure it will return one day in some form.

We will see Castles and Pirate ships going forward. But it will be a rare and nostalgic day when we will see them in a form anything like the glory days of Classic Castle and Pirates. The days of generic nameless red and green knights doing battle are sadly waning. Unless we see a return to more kid driven imaginative open play it will be more and more storified things with named characters and cartoonish plots and villains. We will see some knights and castles. But it will be awhile before we see a straight up Castle style retail theme in the classic format. How badly do you think Walmart or Target are clamoring for a new classic Castle theme after 2013? As a reminder the "Castle" TLM set was one of the biggest shelf warmers of that otherwise dynamite line for the retailers. All of this makes me sad, but facts are facts. Lego does not have 100% choice over what they make. The retailers have to want to sell it. Our best hope for a new Castle remains a D2C set as Lego never really gives up on their history. 

The other issue that Castle faces is it's one modern hook is it is a good entry point for Fantasy type stuff. ie Fantasy Era. But currently Lego has at least 2 lines on shelves that are tapping into that. Ninjago and Elves, with the third Nexo Knights just ending. While not exactly what anyone wanted they, all three are still sitting in that sweet spot that a Fantasy Era line would occupy. Unless Lego figures out a way to take a Castle based in theme in a completely new direction, we're not likely to see it as a theme. It's just the sad state of the economics.

[x105Black]

2 hours ago, Faefrost said:

The other issue that Castle faces is it's one modern hook is it is a good entry point for Fantasy type stuff. ie Fantasy Era. But currently Lego has at least 2 lines on shelves that are tapping into that. Ninjago and Elves, with the third Nexo Knights just ending. While not exactly what anyone wanted they, all three are still sitting in that sweet spot that a Fantasy Era line would occupy. Unless Lego figures out a way to take a Castle based in theme in a completely new direction, we're not likely to see it as a theme. It's just the sad state of the economics.

I see what you're saying, but in my opinion they are all around the fringes of the sweet spot that would be filled by Castle, and none of them are Castle enough for me to get invested.

[MAB]

15 hours ago, BrickJagger said:

I'm really getting sick of the "doom and gloom" from Castle fans in recent weeks. The notion that "Castle is discontinued forever" is ridiculous and only serves to further the negative attitudes in this thread.

 

 

I agree that Castle as a theme is not going away. However, Castle as a theme that all interested AFOLs want has never been and will never come.

Detailed brick-built walls with no panels and brick built animals, although animals have to be molded for others, not brick built. No carriages. But lots of horses. Loads of variety but consistency in minifigs. Less soldiers and more civilians. But lots of soldiers too. And lots of factions, and also lots of variety within factions. No small sets, just large sets. But small sets to allow for army builder packs. Big sets for parts packs. But not the same as the parts packs from 3 years ago with a different colour roof. It has to be different. But the same colours for the walls, but not too similar to the old sets. We want variety but similarity. Why did they have to do elves/trolls/Vikings and not what I want?

Edited February 7, 2018 by MAB

[x105Black]

You're right, there is a lot of variation in what Castle fans are looking for.  No Castle theme is going to appeal to all Castle fans because of this.  That's obvious.  But hopefully there could be a Castle theme that appeals to a good portion of us, and gives great parts and minifigures to the rest.

Even though I loathe Nexo Knights, I found things from the theme that were useful.  I believe that an actual Castle theme would provide more of that, even if the theme isn't exactly what I want.  And I believe that this will be the case for most Castle fans.

[Faefrost]

3 minutes ago, MAB said:

I agree that Castle as a theme is not going away. However, Castle as a theme that all interested AFOLs want has never been and will never come.

Detailed brick-built walls with no panels and brick built animals, although animals have to be molded for others, not brick built. No carriages. But lots of horses. Loads of variety but consistency in minifigs. Less soldiers and more civilians. But lots of soldiers too. And lots of factions, and also lots of variety within factions. No small sets, just large sets. But small sets to allow for army builder packs. Big sets for parts packs. But not the same as the parts packs from 3 years ago with a different colour roof. It has to be different. But the same colours for the walls, but not too similar to the old sets. We want variety but similarity. Why did they have to do elves/trolls/Vikings and not what I want?

Pretty much. Retail sets and THEMES are not now nor have the ever been targeted at AFOL's. At best we get a couple of D2C sets / year assuming they can find a predictable market for them. The Modular Building fans, the Train fans, the Star Wars fans, the Winter Village fans and the Technic fans are extremely predictable. Lego can predict who will buy what down to each buyers street address (aren't VIP cards wonderful). They know exactly who that market is, how much they spend/year and how to exploit it in a niche manner. Castle fans are about as predictable as cats I hate to say it. There is no common theme or unified collection to build upon annually. 

The weird annecdotal thing is any child that gets near my Lego room invariably gravitates toward the Castle stuff. The Girls especially love the knights and horses and such. But they don't buy it. They don't ask their parents for it. It's not what drives purchasing decisions. Hence we get Elves. 

2 minutes ago, x105Black said:

You're right, there is a lot of variation in what Castle fans are looking for.  No Castle theme is going to appeal to all Castle fans because of this.  That's obvious.  But hopefully there could be a Castle theme that appeals to a good portion of us, and gives great parts and minifigures to the rest.

Even though I loathe Nexo Knights, I found things from the theme that were useful.  I believe that an actual Castle theme would provide more of that, even if the theme isn't exactly what I want.  And I believe that this will be the case for most Castle fans.

Part wise I think the Classic Space builders got way more out of Nexo Knights than the CAstle guys did. 

[x105Black]

31 minutes ago, Faefrost said:

Part wise I think the Classic Space builders got way more out of Nexo Knights than the CAstle guys did. 

I very much agree, but Nexo Knights was a sci-fi Castle theme so that makes sense.  Still, the pentagonal and pyramid tiles for example were both great for Castle fans.  And a Castle theme, a true Castle theme, should in theory provide more great parts for all different Castle fans.

[Digger of Bricks]

41 minutes ago, Faefrost said:

Part wise I think the Classic Space builders got way more out of Nexo Knights than the CAstle guys did. 

All that Trans-Fluorescent Reddish Orange certainly had a particular theme in mind, not to mention that the parts all resembled snow plows in a way. 

[Aanchir]

4 hours ago, Faefrost said:

Ninjago behaves more like an external IP License. It has an extensive media tie in. The purchasers are purchasing for the known named characters, not simply for the set.  It's Like Batman or Star Wars just without having to pay somebody else for the IP. It's best described as an Internal License. The only other property Lego really achieved that with is Bionacle back in the day. Fabuland in some ways, but kids really weren't chasing character or story. It never really entered the pop culture zeitgeist needed to fuel such. And once they cross that pop culture threshold where the kids are chasing the IP it does orders of magnitude more sales. Which is why they try and recapture that success with Chima and Nexo Knights. One good test is whether a major third party would pay Lego for the use of the license. Bionacle and Ninjago crossed the threshold and function not unlike any other IP suppoprt TV shows, comics, t shirts etc fairly independent of the toy line itself. Yes other properties stem from the toy designs, but the same may be said of Transformers. (or Star Wars if you want to be cynical... of course look what we get when they don't think about toys when making the movies...).

Except it's NOT best described as an "internal license" because that's a ridiculous term you made up. Some of the traits you describe that set Ninjago apart from other themes are accurate, but those are what define it as an intellectual property. They don't somehow make it "licensed".

Furthermore, when I was a kid, I would desire sets for the characters, even when those characters didn't have detailed backstories and the like. For example, in Pirates, characters like Captain Redbeard, King Kahuka, and the unnamed Imperial Guard commander and pirate lady stood out from the rest. In Castle, the Royal King (who was, in fact, named in some regions), Majisto the wizard, Basil the Bat Lord, and Willa the Witch were unique enough to be specifically sought after in a way that generic knights and peasants were not. So even absent a structured storyline, these more defined characters were both present and highly desirable in many of the traditional play themes.

There are definitely themes that are more open-ended and themes that are more structured. But from my perspective these exist on a multi-dimensional spectrum that you can break down into separate categories at any number of points. For instance, between themes with named characters (like Adventurers, Friends, and Ninjago) and themes without named characters (like Classic Castle and Speed Champions). Or between themes set in a stylized version of the real world (like City, Friends, and Pirates) or themes set in wholly invented fantasy worlds (like Aquazone, Ice Planet 2002, and Nexo Knights).

You are specifically choosing to break them down between themes that are fully realized IPs and themes that are not, which is as valid a line to draw as any. But to define all IP-based themes as "licensed" is misleading and disregards the very real differences between in-house and licensed IPs, as well as the non-negligible similarities between in-house IPs and other in-house themes.

1 hour ago, x105Black said:

I see what you're saying, but in my opinion they are all around the fringes of the sweet spot that would be filled by Castle, and none of them are Castle enough for me to get invested.

I feel like on a lot of levels this is a very adult sort of perspective. When I wanted robot sets as a kid, for example, I got Spyrius and Roboforce sets from LEGO Space as well as, eventually, Technic and Mindstorms sets. Something like Bionicle geared specifically towards building highly-articulated humanoid robots would have probably appealed to me a lot more, but it didn't exist yet, and I wasn't going to disavow anything short of that ideal because I was a kid and I was still testing the waters, figuring out just what sorts of builds appealed to me. I also loved fantasy-oriented subjects. In LEGO Castle in the 90s, that stuff was still pretty scarce! A ghost here, a dragon there, a wizard elsewhere. There wasn't, at that time, a "high fantasy" theme like Elves or Bionicle or Fantasy-Era Castle, set in a world where magical and otherworldly elements were everywhere you turned. But I didn't swear off LEGO because of this — I bought the sets that I felt came closest to the types of subjects I enjoyed.

Once you're an adult and can look back on the sum of your interests and experiences it's a lot easier to "rule out" what kinds of things won't appeal to you. But as a kid exploring new things, even things that might not fully scratch that itch you're trying to get at, is a part of that learning experience.

[x105Black]

That's why I use things like Bricks & Pieces or BrickLink.  I won't invest in the sets.  It's not because they have nothing to offer, it's that they come with so much that I don't care for, and I can't justify the cost of a set when most of it will go unused.  So I buy the pieces that interest me.  However, I bought all but one set from 2013 Castle, and many Tolkien themed sets.  So that's what I'm talking about.  So yeah, I can get some parts and minifigures from Ninjago, Elves, and Nexo Knights, but I won't get invested in them as a theme in the same way I would a Castle theme because they all offer only little pieces of the whole.

[gedren_y]

When it comes to what was good and bad about old Castle lines, I don't hold the antipathy that many do towards KK2. I had less of a problem with the colorful figs because I had no problem dismantling them and replacing parts with different colors. The diversity of heraldry was a big plus for me, and the set builds themselves (for the most part) were well thought out. The main castle of the line, being the biggest exception to this, suffered from the same fault of the previous iteration, the raised baseplate as the bulk of the castle. Because of that fault the best thing about the set didn't get the appreciation it deserved. The castle came with pieces that allowed the builder to decide who owned the castle.

It does look like the story driven play focus is here to stay for Castle, but if the theme doesn't get the 'Big Bang' treatment, that aspect can be mostly ignored by those who like to create their own stories.

The main castles of Kingdoms and Castle 2013 were similar in one aspect that might be the best thing going forward for future Castle lines. The faction colors for the lion faction in both lines were mostly limited to the roofs, flags, shields, and extraneous colored slope details. If you had enough of the same parts in different colors, those castles could have belonged to a number of different factions. Many of those same parts could be used in tent builds similar to those found in the large Kingdoms Joust set.

This goes back to another of my ideas that I had put forward earlier in this thread. Castle sets where the structures and siege weaponry are built with neutral enough colors that add-on details determine which faction has what. Add to that a number of faction battle packs similar to the Star Wars sets, with the bricks being mostly tent type builds that can be repurposed as faction indicator parts for the larger structure builds of the line. Brick built boats, and possibly carriages, could work for this as well. I went into a good bit of detail about this idea earlier in the thread. I'll try to find the posts that cover this in better detail.

[Bricked1980]

If you look at the way lego works across all themes they seem to have a pattern of recycling the same ideas over and over again every few years. City is a good example. Every 4 years or so we get a revamped police station, garbage truck, airport, train etc. As long time adult fans we can see that these have all been done before but to young kids just getting in to lego they think it's brand new and original.

Castle will just follow this same pattern as far as I'm concerned. We've not seen any traditional style sets since 2014 but I think now lego will be about ready to recycle this theme and to new kids who weren't around in 2013 they will seem like something really cool and original that they must have. It hasn't happened over the last few years because Nexo Knights has been occupying that space in the market. Now that's out of the way though I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

Classic space fans are the ones I feel most sorry for. I can't see them bringing back anything that resembles classic space whilst star wars is still around.

[Aanchir]

59 minutes ago, Bricked1980 said:

If you look at the way lego works across all themes they seem to have a pattern of recycling the same ideas over and over again every few years. City is a good example. Every 4 years or so we get a revamped police station, garbage truck, airport, train etc. As long time adult fans we can see that these have all been done before but to young kids just getting in to lego they think it's brand new and original.

Castle will just follow this same pattern as far as I'm concerned. We've not seen any traditional style sets since 2014 but I think now lego will be about ready to recycle this theme and to new kids who weren't around in 2013 they will seem like something really cool and original that they must have. It hasn't happened over the last few years because Nexo Knights has been occupying that space in the market. Now that's out of the way though I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

Classic space fans are the ones I feel most sorry for. I can't see them bringing back anything that resembles classic space whilst star wars is still around.

I think the chances of seeing things resembling Classic Space would be limited even without new Star Wars movies, since compared to medieval castles or pirate ships or fire stations which kids of most generations expect many of the same characteristics of, kids' visions of the future and space travel are rather fluid and change according to whatever vision happens to be in vogue at the time. The boxy robots, drably-colored rovers, and dart-shaped spacecraft of Classic Space don't really look too futuristic by today's standards, but a castle set like 6080 or 6085 would still feel about as authentically medieval to a kid today as to a kid in the 80s (aside from their lack of interior features like throne rooms).

We have gotten some classic space throwback sets over the years, but those are generally one-offs where their dated aesthetic is part of the "lore", and consequently, part of their appeal. Whereas mainstream Space themes have almost always been designed according to what kids at the time think is cool and futuristic.

[Digger of Bricks]

4 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

I think the chances of seeing things resembling Classic Space would be limited even without new Star Wars movies, since compared to medieval castles or pirate ships or fire stations which kids of most generations expect many of the same characteristics of, kids' visions of the future and space travel are rather fluid and change according to whatever vision happens to be in vogue at the time. The boxy robots, drably-colored rovers, and dart-shaped spacecraft of Classic Space don't really look too futuristic by today's standards, but a castle set like 6080 or 6085 would still feel about as authentically medieval to a kid today as to a kid in the 80s (aside from their lack of interior features like throne rooms).

But who's to say that kids wouldn't be attracted to Retrofuturistic projections of space exploration/adventures? Ironically, Classic Space and Star Wars were birthed around the same time, and therefore share the same boxy, edgy, grebbled aesthetic of late 70's/early 80's futurism.

But perhaps that's just it, isn't it? Their shared Retrofuturistic style makes them therefore too similar to each other. So, why not have the next Space theme inspired after the Retrofuturistic aspirations of the 1930's or 1950's instead? Would kids be indifferent to that? 

[Lyichir]

15 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

But who's to say that kids wouldn't be attracted to Retrofuturistic projections of space exploration/adventures? Ironically, Classic Space and Star Wars were birthed around the same time, and therefore share the same boxy, edgy, grebbled aesthetic of late 70's/early 80's futurism.

But perhaps that's just it, isn't it? Their shared Retrofuturistic style makes them therefore too similar to each other. So, why not have the next Space theme inspired after the Retrofuturistic aspirations of the 1930's or 1950's instead? Would kids be indifferent to that? 

I think the thing that makes an entire theme like that less likely (though not impossible) is that retrofuturism is a somewhat high-concept aesthetic, much like Steampunk. Kids lack a lot of the context to be able to recognize the source of some of those ideas and motifs, so if Lego wanted to make it appeal to them they would probably have to rely at least somewhat on establishing some other context for it that eases them in. Take the Ninjago Sky Pirates wave, for example—kids may not have a great grasp of Victorian-era steam-powered technology, but they know Pirates and the sorts of motifs that are associated with them (treasure chests, guns, anchors, etc.), and they certainly have had enough time to get to know Ninjago (which itself already combines Asian motifs with modern and futuristic tech). So combining these concepts kids do understand creates something that approximates steampunk, without the concept sailing right over their heads.

As for Retrofuturism... well, we've already sort of seen that aesthetic in some themes (look at the B-movie-esque alien ships in Alien Conquest). But classic space isn't just retrofuturism, but a very particular sense of it that was shaped by early spacecraft, early sci-fi, and last but certainly not least, the aesthetic and limitations of the Lego System as it existed in that particular point in time. So on a broader scale, retrofuturist aesthetics could very well arise in some future set or theme... but expecting a whole theme that adheres to the specific sorts of design philosophy, aesthetic, or subject matter of what we call "classic space" is probably a good deal less likely, save for the sort of one-off references in things like the Exo Suit or Lego Movie.

I also apologize in advance for my train of thought leading quite a ways from the subject of Castle specifically...

Edited February 7, 2018 by Lyichir

[Bricked1980]

32 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

I think the chances of seeing things resembling Classic Space would be limited even without new Star Wars movies, since compared to medieval castles or pirate ships or fire stations which kids of most generations expect many of the same characteristics of, kids' visions of the future and space travel are rather fluid and change according to whatever vision happens to be in vogue at the time.

This is the wrong place to discuss space so I won't dwell on it for too long. I absolutely agree that any modern take on a classic space theme would have a much different and more modern appearance to any of the sets from the 80's. Some of the old factions from space would translate pretty well in to a modern style though. Space police would be a good example and could be reinvented. Especially considering lego's apparent infatuation with releasing different Police themed sets. I think space police would be an obvious contender for a remake.

I can't imagine the corporate suits at Disney would be all too impressed if lego released their own space sets to compete with the star wars ones though.

[Digger of Bricks]

3 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

I think the thing that makes an entire theme like that less likely (though not impossible) is that retrofuturism is a somewhat high-concept aesthetic, much like Steampunk. Kids lack a lot of the context to be able to recognize the source of some of those ideas and motifs, so if Lego wanted to make it appeal to them they would probably have to rely at least somewhat on establishing some other context for it that eases them in. 

I guess I grew up a lot more different than most kids, as I grew up traversing junk stores, antique stores, garage sales, and such with my mom throughout the late 90's/early 2000's, so hence my passion and familiarity with projections of the past. 

9 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

Take the Ninjago Sky Pirates wave, for example—kids may not have a great grasp of Victorian-era steam-powered technology, but they know Pirates and the sorts of motifs that are associated with them (treasure chests, guns, anchors, etc.), and they certainly have had enough time to get to know Ninjago (which itself already combines Asian motifs with modern and futuristic tech). So combining these concepts kids do understand creates something that approximates steampunk, without the concept sailing right over their heads.

Literally. 

But hey, I guess that's best Lego can do, piggybacking those genres onto the success of other themes.

16 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

As for Retrofuturism... well, we've already sort of seen that aesthetic in some themes (look at the B-movie-esque alien ships in Alien Conquest).

Ah, that's true. Technically, it was Halo meets the Flying Saucers.

18 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

But classic space isn't just retrofuturism, but a very particular sense of it that was shaped by early spacecraft, early sci-fi, and last but certainly not least, the aesthetic and limitations of the Lego System as it existed in that particular point in time.

That too. So the aesthetic of futurism of that era was more than fitting for the System's current inventory and limitations at that time.

[x105Black]

3 hours ago, Bricked1980 said:

If you look at the way lego works across all themes they seem to have a pattern of recycling the same ideas over and over again every few years. City is a good example. Every 4 years or so we get a revamped police station, garbage truck, airport, train etc. As long time adult fans we can see that these have all been done before but to young kids just getting in to lego they think it's brand new and original.

Castle will just follow this same pattern as far as I'm concerned. We've not seen any traditional style sets since 2014 but I think now lego will be about ready to recycle this theme and to new kids who weren't around in 2013 they will seem like something really cool and original that they must have. It hasn't happened over the last few years because Nexo Knights has been occupying that space in the market. Now that's out of the way though I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

Classic space fans are the ones I feel most sorry for. I can't see them bringing back anything that resembles classic space whilst star wars is still around.

I agree, and feel for the Space fans myself (including me as I love Classic Space).

However, I really think you've got a point about Castle and LEGO's tendency to repeat itself.  Castle fans got tired of repetitive Castle sets, and they took a break and made Nexo Knights.  Fair enough.  But they will come back to it, and we will likely get a Castle, a Tower / Fortress, a Carriage, a Gate, a Siege Engine, maybe a small set or battle pack of some sort.

[BrickJagger]

3 hours ago, x105Black said:

I agree, and feel for the Space fans myself (including me as I love Classic Space).

However, I really think you've got a point about Castle and LEGO's tendency to repeat itself.  Castle fans got tired of repetitive Castle sets, and they took a break and made Nexo Knights.  Fair enough.  But they will come back to it, and we will likely get a Castle, a Tower / Fortress, a Carriage, a Gate, a Siege Engine, maybe a small set or battle pack of some sort.

We're pretty much always going to get that in year one of a Castle theme. It really only gets interesting in year 2 onward. In year 2 of Fantasy Era, we got the Dwarves and Trolls, and the following year we got the MMV. In year 2 of Kingdoms we got the villagers, and the following year we got the Joust. If Castle 2013 had gotten an extra year, it may have been regarded much closer to Kingdoms as their first years were pretty similar apart from their color scheme. I'm hoping that the next theme will have some sort of Fantasy elements in the first year so at least we got something different if the theme were to end without a second year.

[Faefrost]

5 hours ago, Lyichir said:

I think the thing that makes an entire theme like that less likely (though not impossible) is that retrofuturism is a somewhat high-concept aesthetic, much like Steampunk. Kids lack a lot of the context to be able to recognize the source of some of those ideas and motifs, so if Lego wanted to make it appeal to them they would probably have to rely at least somewhat on establishing some other context for it that eases them in. Take the Ninjago Sky Pirates wave, for example—kids may not have a great grasp of Victorian-era steam-powered technology, but they know Pirates and the sorts of motifs that are associated with them (treasure chests, guns, anchors, etc.), and they certainly have had enough time to get to know Ninjago (which itself already combines Asian motifs with modern and futuristic tech). So combining these concepts kids do understand creates something that approximates steampunk, without the concept sailing right over their heads.

As for Retrofuturism... well, we've already sort of seen that aesthetic in some themes (look at the B-movie-esque alien ships in Alien Conquest). But classic space isn't just retrofuturism, but a very particular sense of it that was shaped by early spacecraft, early sci-fi, and last but certainly not least, the aesthetic and limitations of the Lego System as it existed in that particular point in time. So on a broader scale, retrofuturist aesthetics could very well arise in some future set or theme... but expecting a whole theme that adheres to the specific sorts of design philosophy, aesthetic, or subject matter of what we call "classic space" is probably a good deal less likely, save for the sort of one-off references in things like the Exo Suit or Lego Movie.

I also apologize in advance for my train of thought leading quite a ways from the subject of Castle specifically...

Exactly. Another good example of where they slipped in some nice Steampunk into the kids frame of reference was Metalbeards Sea Cow. Similarly Benny's spaceship. Spaceship, SPACESHIP was a great re-interpretation of those classic  Space theme designs updated into a form the kids could relate to. Our best hope is maybe some Castle love from the next Lego Movie. But even that is kind of iffy. It's not like we got much in the way of Western Themed sets from the last movie in spite of the prominence in the movie. Lego is remarkably good at introducing some old concepts and design stylings into their properties to introduce them to kids so long as there is a solid point of reference. Ideally a media tie in. 

49 minutes ago, BrickJagger said:

We're pretty much always going to get that in year one of a Castle theme. It really only gets interesting in year 2 onward. In year 2 of Fantasy Era, we got the Dwarves and Trolls, and the following year we got the MMV. In year 2 of Kingdoms we got the villagers, and the following year we got the Joust. If Castle 2013 had gotten an extra year, it may have been regarded much closer to Kingdoms as their first years were pretty similar apart from their color scheme. I'm hoping that the next theme will have some sort of Fantasy elements in the first year so at least we got something different if the theme were to end without a second year.

Fantasy Era had one of the more intriguing runs of Castle. It evolved lots of interesting stuff via the changing villains. In many ways a precursor to the modern story themes. 

[Grover]

Glad Nexo is out.  Didn't really find many parts in the sets that were in colors decent for my MOCs, and didn't like the theme.  I'm hoping for a return to traditional castle themes or medieval fantasy inspired themes.  Lego seems to be into making a lot of new molds now (which I find odd since the molds are so expensive to make), so maybe we'll get lucky and they'll make some more RPG type fantasy monsters, like gnomes, giants, lizard men, beholders, gorgons, etc.  Probably holding out too much hope, but I think that's more likely than an awesome adult-themed castle modular line akin to what the City has now.  I am hopeful there will be some castle again soon.

[x105Black]

3 hours ago, BrickJagger said:

We're pretty much always going to get that in year one of a Castle theme. It really only gets interesting in year 2 onward. In year 2 of Fantasy Era, we got the Dwarves and Trolls, and the following year we got the MMV. In year 2 of Kingdoms we got the villagers, and the following year we got the Joust. If Castle 2013 had gotten an extra year, it may have been regarded much closer to Kingdoms as their first years were pretty similar apart from their color scheme. I'm hoping that the next theme will have some sort of Fantasy elements in the first year so at least we got something different if the theme were to end without a second year.

2 hours ago, Faefrost said:

Fantasy Era had one of the more intriguing runs of Castle. It evolved lots of interesting stuff via the changing villains. In many ways a precursor to the modern story themes. 

1 hour ago, Grover said:

Glad Nexo is out.  Didn't really find many parts in the sets that were in colors decent for my MOCs, and didn't like the theme.  I'm hoping for a return to traditional castle themes or medieval fantasy inspired themes.  Lego seems to be into making a lot of new molds now (which I find odd since the molds are so expensive to make), so maybe we'll get lucky and they'll make some more RPG type fantasy monsters, like gnomes, giants, lizard men, beholders, gorgons, etc.  Probably holding out too much hope, but I think that's more likely than an awesome adult-themed castle modular line akin to what the City has now.  I am hopeful there will be some castle again soon.

LEGO should skip the first year and go straight into the year 2 ideas, when it gets interesting.  I doubt they would, but it'd be great if they did.  Honestly, we didn't get Forestmen until after a while into Castle, and they are the most well loved factions in the theme as a whole.

I'd love to see a new take on Fantasy Era.  Something that introduced a cool new faction in the way that Fantasy Era introduced Dwarves, Trolls, and Skeleton army, or how Nexo Knights introduced the lava-based villains.  And I'd love it if they added a story to it.

I think that the Fantasy faction should be filled with something new, however.  The Gnomes, Lizardmen, Gorgons, and whatnot above could all work.  I wouldn't mind a race of bigfig Giants, as long as there are a few cool designs.  Then they could just make the normal medieval kingdom one of the Classic Castle factions like Black Falcons or one of the 1978 Castle factions.  Having said that, if we get Trolls vs Lion Knights I'd still buy it.

[Aanchir]

7 hours ago, x105Black said:

LEGO should skip the first year and go straight into the year 2 ideas, when it gets interesting.  I doubt they would, but it'd be great if they did.  Honestly, we didn't get Forestmen until after a while into Castle, and they are the most well loved factions in the theme as a whole.

I'd love to see a new take on Fantasy Era.  Something that introduced a cool new faction in the way that Fantasy Era introduced Dwarves, Trolls, and Skeleton army, or how Nexo Knights introduced the lava-based villains.  And I'd love it if they added a story to it.

I think that the Fantasy faction should be filled with something new, however.  The Gnomes, Lizardmen, Gorgons, and whatnot above could all work.  I wouldn't mind a race of bigfig Giants, as long as there are a few cool designs.  Then they could just make the normal medieval kingdom one of the Classic Castle factions like Black Falcons or one of the 1978 Castle factions.  Having said that, if we get Trolls vs Lion Knights I'd still buy it.

I sort of feel like Forestmen would work better if they came partway into a theme's run, since a big part of their whole schtick is upsetting the status quo, so there needs to be something of status quo to upset. I do certainly think LEGO could do a great job with Forestmen if they brought them back since they've gotten pretty great at building trees.

I definitely don't expect the next Castle theme to feel like Nexo Knights all over again, but it would be interesting to see whether any of the characteristics of Nexo Knights inform the approach of the next Castle theme. Say, the monsters, who ultimately felt more role-playing-game-inspired than Tolkien– or medieval-folklore-inspired (I mean, the theme's main villain first appeared in the story as a LITERAL Monster Manual from which all the lesser baddies sprung). There's been a lot of chatter about all the unused monster concepts from The Book of Monsters and the Nexo Knights Character Encyclopedia — it's totally possible some of those ideas could inspire new baddies in a more traditional Castle theme.

[x105Black]

2 hours ago, Aanchir said:

There's been a lot of chatter about all the unused monster concepts from The Book of Monsters and the Nexo Knights Character Encyclopedia — it's totally possible some of those ideas could inspire new baddies in a more traditional Castle theme.

Some of them would make fantastic factions in a Fantasy Castle type theme.  The forest monsters were particularly well received, I'd love to see a take on that.

[MAB]

There is the new 2*6*6 Gothic arch panel which is only in pastels for now which I would expect to appear in LBG and DBG at some stage. Presumably it will appear in more than Disney sets. I imagine any new castle to feature that as a gateway or maybe as some feature windows along with the existing wall panels.

Edited February 8, 2018 by MAB

[BrickJagger]

9 hours ago, Aanchir said:

There's been a lot of chatter about all the unused monster concepts from The Book of Monsters and the Nexo Knights Character Encyclopedia — it's totally possible some of those ideas could inspire new baddies in a more traditional Castle theme.

I see the "CybOrcs" concept as an indication that the Fantasy Era Trolls sold well. Hopefully we can get something like them next year. I think Goblins would be a good alternative as well, and we've even seen a perfect example in the CMF line.

4 hours ago, MAB said:

There is the new 2*6*6 Gothic arch panel which is only in pastels for now which I would expect to appear in LBG and DBG at some stage. Presumably it will appear in more than Disney sets. I imagine any new castle to feature that as a gateway or maybe as some feature windows along with the existing wall panels.

Could you link an image to that? I haven't heard about that piece.