Hello darkness my old friend

[SirBlake]

This is a weird thing for me to post, as I never could have imagined doing this willingly, but I find myself walking into a new dark age.

It's been years since TLG has offered anything I really cared for, and with nothing on the horizon that fits my taste, I'm just going to say adios. I'm not posting this for drama, I've just forged some friendships on here (most of which hang out here in the Historic forum) in the last several years, and I didn't want anyone to think I had gone missing. The simple fact is that my hobby is centered around buying, building and displaying Castle sets and figs, and there's just nothing for me out there anymore. They've even found a way to kill the CMF line for me with all this licensed and themed junk. Because of this, being involved in the online community that surrounds Lego has turned sour. It's just not fun anymore.

I'll see you guys if/when Lego decides to offer something I'm actually interested in. So long and thanks for all the fish.

[BrickJagger]

Hate to hear that. 

Frankly I feel the same way that you do, and I've scaled back how often I'm on here in the past year or so. I'm not at the point where I'm nearing a dark age because I'm *almost irrationally* confident that Lego has something of actual substance for us Historic fans coming next year, but I'll be sorely disappointed if they don't. Nexo really has kept me interested for the past couple years, but I'm primarily a Castle guy and if Castle isn't around, I'm not around. I think a lot of us feel the same way you do. 

It's been a pleasure talking to you for the past three years, hopefully you'll come back soon and we'll have new Castle sets to discuss. 

[zoth33]

Sad to see you go.  Hope you keep building though.  That has always been the fun part for me building new structures, figs, landscapes, etc.  I'm a total castle guy but i find a lot of useful parts and figs in other lines like Ninjago, Marvel, DC, Elves, Nexo Knights, and Star Wars.  I love creating new figs out of all the different figs out there.  I too hope they come out with castle soon.  But i love building my own stuff especially with my kids.  I hope you find something that keeps you building.  Good luck on all your en-devours.  Hope to see you back here soon.   

[x105Black]

Wow, very sorry to hear it.  You were one of the few like-minded individuals on this forum, and your presence will be missed.

I must admit that I feel much the same way you do about Castle, and about LEGO offering little to nothing for people like us.  I have found less and less that interests me as far as that goes, and I grasp at the few straws that are given.  So while I hate to see someone leave the hobby behind, I completely understand the decision.

I wish you the best in your other hobbies and in your life.  Hope to see you back soon, reveling in another Castle theme with us.

[MAB]

"When my eyes were stabbed by

The flash of a neon light"

 

"And the people bowed and prayed

To the neon God they made"

 

Nexo Knights and the end of Castle predicted by Simon and Garfunkel?

[MOMAtteo79]

sad, but which will be the sets that you will like to have?

[SirBlake]

Thanks for the kind words, guys. I figured you might be feeling the same way. I should be back when there's something to talk about. 

[LegoModularFan]

I didn't know you much before but that's really sad to lose a member, especially just before I opened a thread about Making EB More Active... Hope to see you again one day and best wishes.

[Robert8]

From what I read I think this isn't really a "dark age" phase. You are just waiting for something that might be interesting for you. 

I have a question: Isn't the Harry Potter theme interesting enough? 

There are dragons, magical creatures like goblins, elves and merpeople. Heck, even Firenze the centaur might show up there. 

Also, there are crests, weapons, animals and other stuff that might be useful for historical MOCs. There is whole castle coming latter this year.

Anyway, sad to let you go. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us 

[thetang22]

@SirBlake - you seem to have said some words that resonate with how many of us are feeling.  Basically anything for me that is interesting with Legos over the past few years has been older sets.  Like many - they just aren't doing much to satisfy my interests, mainly due to WAY too many lisenced themes, and whacky in-house experiments (like Nexo/Chima).

I still linger here, but there isn't much to talk about these days.  I hope you find other things to keep you entertained until Lego decides to take us back to a proper medieval LegoLand.  See you when that happens!

2 hours ago, Robert8 said:

I have a question: Isn't the Harry Potter theme interesting enough? 

I know this question wasn't for me, but I'll offer some perspective.  To me, Harry Potter isn't "Castle" so much as it is a modern fantasy theme with some castle-influences.  The theme may have some nice things in it...but for someone like me - I don't buy sets because they have a few useful/unique pieces (Bricklink is much more sensible to me for those types of needs).

Rather, I buy sets when I feel the majority of the set could feel "at home" amongst all my existing Castle collection.  And until a full-fledged "medieval/fantasy" theme comes back around, there just isn't anything Lego sets are offering me directly.  Even the CMF line has been getting lisence-ified over the past couple years, to the point that you can rarely find a good Castle-inspired figure.

[Robert8]

17 minutes ago, thetang22 said:

Even the CMF line has been getting lisence-ified over the past couple years, to the point that you can rarely find a good Castle-inspired figure.

I feel you 

With LEGO flooded of licensed themes, the CMF line was always a way to get minifigures from space/castle/pirates. But now that's licensed too 

[Artanis I]

I totally understand. Have still been reading this site even though I don't think I've bought myself any Lego for a year or so. Certainly haven't built anything with it or opened any sets. CopMike's giveaway was the first time I built something since the previous one. There's just nothing available in that area of interest to get me going. No Castle for 5 years is crazy stuff, it's waiting for Voltron that keeps me alive (in the hobby) at the moment.

[pantelis]

The only way to wake up Lego Group from all this Batman , City , SW , themes all this years is the time that Amazon Tv make the LotR series...

When Lego Group see that the serie has a lot of fans maybe will make some super sets LotR like the past years...

[MAB]

3 hours ago, pantelis said:

The only way to wake up Lego Group from all this Batman , City , SW , themes all this years is the time that Amazon Tv make the LotR series...

When Lego Group see that the serie has a lot of fans maybe will make some super sets LotR like the past years...

The downside is that LEGO already knows that the LOTR movie series has a lot of fans and they have data on how well their own line of toys for that sold. They also know other TV series like Game of Thrones have a lot of fans. Having a lot of fans doesn't necessarily translate to good LEGO sales. Having the right fans does - the fans of the license have to overlap with the target age of LEGO, and in large numbers. And it appears that the fans of Batman, City, SW, etc are the right fans.

 

[pantelis]

4 hours ago, MAB said:

The downside is that LEGO already knows that the LOTR movie series has a lot of fans and they have data on how well their own line of toys for that sold. They also know other TV series like Game of Thrones have a lot of fans. Having a lot of fans doesn't necessarily translate to good LEGO sales. Having the right fans does - the fans of the license have to overlap with the target age of LEGO, and in large numbers. And it appears that the fans of Batman, City, SW, etc are the right fans.

 

In my 38 years iam not for sure a fan of batman, city, etc... Because i am a fan.. that i pay my hobbie..i dont have see a lot of lego lugs exibitions that they have in there tables batman and all this mocs that lego want to sell in the new age fans.. 

[MAB]

2 hours ago, pantelis said:

i dont have see a lot of lego lugs exibitions that they have in there tables batman and all this mocs that lego want to sell in the new age fans.. 

8

LUG displays are really quite different to what kids are going to buy though. Plus parents are not going to want to spend what AFOLs spend on their displays. Exhibitions are more like going to a museum than going to s store. Nice to see, but doesn't mean that kids want (or their parents will pay for) the type of things they see at the exhibition.

And also LOTR is just another license like Batman or Star Wars.

[SirBlake]

Man, you guys are the best. Once again, I appreciate how cool y'all are and it helps to know that you guys are dealing with similar feelings on the matter.

I'm totally on the fence about the HP line. On one hand, it appears to be quite well done, but it just doesn't speak to me like real Castle or Middle Earth stuff did. I suppose there's a chance that could change when I see them on shelves, but I doubt it. 

I think a (hopefully) temporary dark age is really the answer. I'll just spend the time working on my old car and enjoying the collection I've built over the years. Maybe one day TLG will come back to me.

[pantelis]

17 hours ago, MAB said:

LUG displays are really quite different to what kids are going to buy though. Plus parents are not going to want to spend what AFOLs spend on their displays. Exhibitions are more like going to a museum than going to s store. Nice to see, but doesn't mean that kids want (or their parents will pay for) the type of things they see at the exhibition.

And also LOTR is just another license like Batman or Star Wars.

I think we are speak here for thinks like castle or lotr themes..all the others are in some other unity..I DONT KNOW IF BATMAN JOKER SET HOUSE IN 180€ IS TO cheapy for the kids...

Here we are make moc so we can buy from bricklink store..you can make your own castle with 30€..

[Grover]

I think it's sad that so many of us here in the historic forums who are castle fans are becoming alienated by the lack of castle sets.  I love building, though, so am using this dearth of castle sets to do some MOCing (when I have time, which is admittedly extremely limited) and collecting old castle sets off of BrickLink.  Trying to make the best of it, I guess.  I feel your pain, though, and I hate to see TLG alienate a whole group of fans because they have no real castle line.

[Robert8]

Well, I don't know how accurate the info is, but there are rumors Harry Potter might be an evergreen theme

So, there you go... 

 

Enjoy your dark decades  

[Brick Pilgrim]

Yeah, it's sad how Lego has shifted to more and more licensed stuff. What happened to the days when Lego was all about creativity? Not so any more! I guess kids these days would prefer to have their toys handed to them on a silver platter ready to "play" (whatever that means) rather than actually enjoy the creative process and the feeling of "I made this".

Just a small rant. I've been holding on telling myself, "Now surely they can't go a whole 5 years without making any castle themed sets", but I guess they can 

[MAB]

19 minutes ago, Brick Pilgrim said:

Yeah, it's sad how Lego has shifted to more and more licensed stuff. What happened to the days when Lego was all about creativity? Not so any more! I guess kids these days would prefer to have their toys handed to them on a silver platter ready to "play" (whatever that means) rather than actually enjoy the creative process and the feeling of "I made this".

Just a small rant. I've been holding on telling myself, "Now surely they can't go a whole 5 years without making any castle themed sets", but I guess they can 

1

 

I still don't get this argument at all. How is building this set from 1981

or this from 1988

or this from 2000

or this from 2009

any more creative than building this, from 2018?

 

In each case the set comes disassembled and instructions are followed to construct it. None are pre-built and ready to play. In each case, the set has to be put together. Why is the creative process or the feeling of "I made this" any different, when in all cases, the instructions have been followed? There is no more creative process when building the old sets compared to the new.

The only difference is that one is licensed and the others are not.

Of course, you can argue that the classic sets can be rebuilt into other things using imagination. Well, so can the licensed sets.

You can also argue that being based on a license means the storyline is imposed and it has to be played with only to act out certain scenes, although that is false too. A child (or adult) can use their imagination to make up other stories about what is going on in the HP world (look at how much fan fiction there is), just as they can make up stories based on knights or trolls. Moreover, when anyone plays with an old castle set, they are also playing based on a traditional / cultural storyline anyway. How many people get, for example, a forest men set and play with it based on stories like Robin Hood compared to how many treat the forest men as evil thugs terrorising travellers going through the forest? Why is using imagination based on stories of Robin Hood or King Arthur any more creative than using imagination based on Harry Potter stories? If people (especially kids) do not have any knowledge of the source material, often it is uninteresting to them as they don't know how to play with it.

 

[x105Black]

With generic Castle sets, there is more room for imagination to build and play in a fully self-created world.  With Harry Potter, there is a bit more of a focus on the building and play, and that is a focus on a specific license.  Also, Harry Potter is set in the modern world rather than the medieval era, so that changes the perception as well.

[MAB]

31 minutes ago, x105Black said:

With generic Castle sets, there is more room for imagination to build and play in a fully self-created world.  With Harry Potter, there is a bit more of a focus on the building and play, and that is a focus on a specific license.  Also, Harry Potter is set in the modern world rather than the medieval era, so that changes the perception as well.

There is only more room for imagination for the non-licensed set if you choose to play within the constraints of what happens in the stories of the license. Plus there are many constraints on the fully "self-created" world as in reality it won't be self-created. It will be based on stories you already know. Can a spaceship visit the medieval castle? If not, why not? Because it is historically inaccurate. But if it can, then it can equally well visit Harry Potter. Just because it didn't happen in the official stories doesn't mean it cannot in your imagination. If two knights have a battle, how do you decide who wins? You think about what skills the knights might have and go from there. What if Harry Potter fights Batman? You do the same thing. They haven't fought in fiction, yet a google search shows many people have thought about what might happen if they did. And what if someone decides that Harry has some super powers not mentioned in the books, are they wrong or just using imagination? They are just as free as if the characters were completely self-created. Someone else may disagree with them, but that need not constrain their imagination.

The castle can be rebuilt into any medieval building. But then so can Hogwarts or any of the HP buildings. If the final construction didn't appear in the films or books, is it wrong as there should be limits as to what you can build from it? To me, it is using the imagination to play out other self-created scenarios or locations.

Also - and this is probably very important for LEGO sales - knowing something about the subject can actually be helpful in playing with it and expressing imagination. Offer a child two action figures, one of a character with a well known back story and one that is completely unknown. Which do they go for? Probably the known one. They know how the character behaves and what he does, this can help imagine new scenarios as the knowledge helps guide play. Even though the unknown one apparently has much more room for imagination, with infinite possibilities as nothing is known to be wrong, it is hard to imagine what he does when you know nothing about him and what is right. And I believe that is a big part behind why licenses sell. Kids know the characters and want to act out not just what happens in the known stories, but also what they think the characters might do based on what they know. If they know very little about the characters, then even though there are endless possibilities, thinking of them is not so easy.

 

[icm]

Just now, MAB said:

Also - and this is probably very important for LEGO sales - knowing something about the subject can actually be helpful in playing with it and expressing imagination.

This.  Although licenses considerably reduce the "solution space" available for play, that very constraint serves as a useful point of departure for play, so long as the sets themselves remain reasonably flexible.  That's why so many adult builders, proud of their creativity and imagination, nevertheless build largely within genres that are very well defined: Neo-Classic Space builds, Ice Planet builds, Star Wars, various genres of Castle, Bionicle, big rectangular SHIPs that all look the same, etc.  Heck, that's the reason why TLG began producing themed "sets" back in the 1950s rather than completely unconstrained but thoroughly generic boxes of basic bricks!  It's the same principle used in design thinking and decision making of all kinds: the more rapidly you can narrow the design space, the more quickly you can apply all your imagination to solving the more narrowly defined problem - even if that leads to some engineering solutions that are not ideal, or it leads to the Dark Knight of Gotham riding a thestral at a joust at Hogwarts because there isn't a "real" black knight figure available to joust at a "real" castle.