Recommended Posts

Hi all! 

I want to share my classic castle creation "Secret of the Castle". I was inspired by the 35th Anniversary of Black Falcons and Lion Knights / Crusaders (1984 - 2019), and I wanted to celebrate it by creating this MOC. I submitted it to "Lego Ideas" two days ago, so if you like it you can support it there: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/23b323b3-99c8-4427-b89a-0c6a7d3b7cda

If enough Historic-themed projects get a large amount of supporters on "Lego Ideas", maybe the Lego Group will realize there is enough interest in those kind of themes and they will finaly release some new historic-themed sets.

49101314828_f5a678caf5_b.jpg

Story
The prince and the princess are in love with each other. Since they come from warring factions, their love must stay secret for now. He came all the way from his castle to see her, bringing her flowers from a forest. But will castle guards notice him? And will he return safely home through the dark forest, where outlaws are preparing an ambush?

Design
I designed this MOC to be an interesting model as a standalone set, with excellent play value. At the same time, I made sure that it fits nicely with classic Lego Castle sets, by using styles and standards of modular castle design from the 80s. It can be connected to any Castle building from that period (by using Technic pins at the ends of the castle walls). The color palette is limited intentionally so that it reflects the style of the classic Castle sets, because my goal was to give this MOC a strong "retro feel".

Minifigures
The princess and the prince are new miifigures, and the other minifigures have updated torso designs based on the designs from the 80s. All minifigures have two different faces - a classic "standard grin" face, and a face with modern design. The castle guards, Princess and Prince have double-faced heads (since their hair / helmet / hood covers the back of their heads). Two heads would be provided for the Forestwoman and Forestman (since their caps do not cover the back of their heads).
 
Parts
The total number of parts is 925. All parts are current - virtually all can be found in different sets released during 2018 / 2019 (some in a different color than in this set). Therefore, molds for all those parts should be available and so Lego would not have any problems producing them. Only new prints / stickers would be needed.
I integrated some of the new elements and utensils in this build (for example, new types of panels and windows, new arches, flames on the torches, sack, pot, new sword, etc), but I chose only those that hopefully don't stand out too much from the "classic style".
A new variant of Black Falcon’s shield is included, with whole Falcon in black color on white background.
 
49101314488_baa90164cc_b.jpg
 
49101314788_9f915b78ea_b.jpg
 
49101824921_03e3fd6dec_b.jpg
 
49101824916_3a55224797_b.jpg
 
49101314728_a510fa484f_b.jpg
 
49102019712_2e73aa69e1_b.jpg
 
49101824851_dbd88bf5c0_b.jpg
 
49101314463_d2d9e49799_b.jpg
 
49101824811_37d6c78ee1_b.jpg
 
49101314618_d61b1e6f85_b.jpg
 
49102019627_d190139e10_b.jpg
 
49101314603_0b25d02c74_b.jpg
 
49101824716_347f8cff5f_b.jpg
 
49101824661_6ba45b2bd1_b.jpg
 
49102019442_38a486e047_b.jpg
 
49101314393_e61344486c_b.jpg

 

 
 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Soemone stick this thread! :pir-oh3:
Your MOC is beautiful, I already wrote it, but the story, and the way how you've created this "promotional material" is amazing! I really love this!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A really nice build; it certainly captures the ambiance and style of the classic 80's castle.

 

I'm going to be ultra-critical here; please take it in the spirit of improving what I think is a good idea rather than me dismissing the idea (I will be supporting it over on ideas).

- Do you think the storyline is going to sell? Here is a forum thread you can communicate the ideas through lots of pictures but what if you were constrained to just two or three "windows" on the  back of the box would that be enough to communicate your intent?

- Is the storyline going to resonate with the target market? Historically Lego's target market for Castle were 8yr old German boys. Germany being one of the biggest Lego markets in Europe and the Germans perferred the medieval period since early 20th century conflicts didn't exactly cover them in glory. Is that market going to go for the "Boy meets Girl" storyline? I would suggest that the "Good vs Bad" conflict might sell better; but in true 80's style it would be nice not to dictate which side is good or bad; it could be the forestmen it could be the falcons.

- Medieval conflict often became seige warfare, storming the castle. A gate to storm and defend would allow more play here.

- Can you actually play in the rooms? This is where a physical prototype is going to be beneficial; the electronic builds can't test this. Are little hands capable of reaching in? My gut instinct is that the lower tower rooms are difficult to access; the position of the Princess minifigure on the lefthand side of the Hatch Access image would be really hard in real life; there's no room to get the figure in. Our logical adult brains need stairs but children don't they just move the minifigs up and down as they need to play. If you do want stairs consider turning them to face the opening so that they are more accessible.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I want it all! :wub:

 

Realy nice design in the clasic style but with modern touch. This is the way I like it. I realy hope you got enoght support at Ideas. If not, I have an other Idea....

I espacially like the Forrest Hideout "mini Buld" It remindes my on my beloved Set 6066: Camouflaged Outpost

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you all for your nice comments and support!

 

@The_Cook

Thanks for your useful feedback.

- You are right about the constraints of a real Lego set and its box. But this is a just a first phase, where each author pitches the product idea to the public and to the Lego Group in the best way he can. If the idea gathers enough votes and gets chosen by the Lego, their designers and marketing department will take over the product development. So they will choose the best way to communicate the idea to the buyers, they will probably modify some features of the set and the story behind it (based on their market research), and they will choose what will appear on the box. Many Lego sets have a number of play features, but they always find a good way to show all that on a box.

- Since castle sets are in many ways oriented toward boys, I thought it would be interesting to add some elements to this set that are appealing to the girls also. In my view, that can be an advantage of this product idea.

- I also agree with what you wrote about medieval conflict - it often involves storming the castle. Since many other Lego castles and fortifications have some kind of gate, I intentionally designed this set to represent the part of the castle away from the gate - the place where the princess would have her room. One can certainly use the secret door as a way for the attackers to enter the castle. Also, this set can be seamlessly connected to many classic modular castle sets, so it's easy to add a set with a gate, if someone wishes to. Of course, if this project gets enough votes and gets chosen, maybe Lego designers will decide to add some kind of gate to it before it is released.

- About the stairs and available space in the rooms: I designed this set not just for the kids, but also for the AFOLs who have so many nice memories about playing with classic castle sets in their childhood, and also for the collectors who will maybe see this set as a good addition to their castle collections. Therefore I placed stairs inside, because many AFOLs (like myself) appreciate a higher level of realism. I think there is enough space for the little hands inside, but as you said it is hard to judge without the built model. Making a tower with a larger space inside would result in too wide and too tall tower, which would not look good (because my goal was to make a retro set which looks good when placed next to any classic castle set). As I mentioned previously, all chosen projects will be built by the Lego designers in order to test everything, and anything that needs to be modified will be fixed in that phase of development.

Thanks once again for your comments!

 

@Petric_G

Now I am really curious to hear your idea :)

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@miniman, @RyszardBosiak, @blackdeathgr
Thank you very much for your nice comments and support!
There are many months left before the deadline on Lego Ideas, but even if this project does not gather enough votes, it is still great to see how many people appreciate this kind of "updated retro" builds.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@Alessandro, @Lordofdragonss
Thanks for supporting, I really appreciate it!

Here is the new picture which shows how this set would look when joined with several classic modular Castle sets (6074, 6062 and 6040).
It can be combined in the same way with many other Castle sets.

 

49165054147_f9dbff9a9d_h.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is a really cool design! I love all the play features you managed to fit in and how they all tie in to the story. It makes me feel nostalgic for the old Castle sets.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Absolutely delightful! What I wouldn't give for such a classic Castle set...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Very very cool.  As mentioned above, i love the "old school" feel to it, but has lots of playability / modern techniques.

 

Big kudos

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Really nice designs capturing the spirit of the 80's and early 90's. Love the background image - is that available in digital form somewhere?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.