10305 Lion Knights' Castle 90th anniversary set

[Khargeust]

7 hours ago, Follows Closely said:

Yes.

Thank you, I'm wondering if I can buy online without risking receiving the box damaged or if I have to buy in store to avoid disappointment. But since the store near where I live is a certified store and not an official LEGO store, I think I should favor online shopping if I want to benefit from VIP points during a period when they are doubled.
I really doubt that this box if sold in regular toy stores would get any discount, that's why buying online or purchase in official LEGO store during double VIP points period are the only two serious options for the purchase of this set with a small advantage in order to cushion its price.

1 hour ago, brimbolet said:

Never did I understand why Lego isn't selling small polybags with just 3 figures/9€ through the online shop. Romans, knights, Indians... soo much more money they could make. 

No doubt there are financial reasons for this, to our great despair.
Maybe it's better for LEGO to only feature these minifigures in expensive brick sets, because they make more overall profit from those sales than in battlepacks.

[Something_Awesome]

2 hours ago, Khargeust said:

Thank you, I'm wondering if I can buy online without risking receiving the box damaged or if I have to buy in store to avoid disappointment. But since the store near where I live is a certified store and not an official LEGO store, I think I should favor online shopping if I want to benefit from VIP points during a period when they are doubled.
I really doubt that this box if sold in regular toy stores would get any discount, that's why buying online or purchase in official LEGO store during double VIP points period are the only two serious options for the purchase of this set with a small advantage in order to cushion its price.

No doubt there are financial reasons for this, to our great despair.
Maybe it's better for LEGO to only feature these minifigures in expensive brick sets, because they make more overall profit from those sales than in battlepacks.

I actually believe there will be some Castle themed blister pack for 2023 (it's a prediction, to be clear). A three minifig pack like we see now. Dare I say a Wolfpack blister pack?

[Sir Dano]

Personally I don't think we'll be seeing another castle set again for a while. Maybe a smaller Creator 3in1 set that's a catapult or something but that's it.

[Something_Awesome]

1 hour ago, Sir Dano said:

Personally I don't think we'll be seeing another castle set again for a while. Maybe a smaller Creator 3in1 set that's a catapult or something but that's it.

Agreed. Because as of now, there are three medieval themed sets available at three different price points. It's why I was thinking a blister pack at $15 would be perfect. Also love the catapult idea. Trebuchet or ballistae would also work.

Edited August 15, 2022 by Something_Awesome

[natesroom]

three?? oh the blacksmith

Edited August 15, 2022 by natesroom

[eldiano]

1 hour ago, natesroom said:

three?? of the blacksmith

Medieval castle 3 in 1, Medieval Blacksmith and Lion Knights Castle. 

Might not be waves people expect but they are out there being sold still

[Blazej_Holen]

I think that maxbe we can get something in 2nd half of the next year if Castle sells well enough. Perhaps some Forest guardians set (Updated Fortress, River crossing…) and maybe some Wolfpack. After all, there is a small tease hidden in the insteuctions to the Castle… This time 1 or 2 lion knights could be held hostage… ;)

[Rjbricks]

So after the box taunting me for a week, I’ve managed to get to bag 13 today.

Rather concerned that it’s slightly massive! My mind is blown by those here who think it’s too small!

[eldiano]

Are these how the upcoming Cmf boxes will be for the new female knight figure? Oh boy now I m worried? 

Edited August 15, 2022 by eldiano

[SirBlake]

2 minutes ago, eldiano said:

Are these how the upcoming Cmf boxes will be for the new female knight figure? Oh boy now I m worried? 

No. Also, the CMF boxes aren’t supposed to be in stores until September of next year. Series 23 is coming out now and the rumor is series 24 is coming out in January, so you can delay your worries until series 25. 

[Mencot]

54 minutes ago, eldiano said:

Are these how the upcoming Cmf boxes will be for the new female knight figure? Oh boy now I m worried? 

50 minutes ago, SirBlake said:

No. Also, the CMF boxes aren’t supposed to be in stores until September of next year. Series 23 is coming out now and the rumor is series 24 is coming out in January, so you can delay your worries until series 25. 

 

Not yet, luckily.

Yeah next year CMF will be like that or some kind of similar box. That sucks, I understand the reduction of plastic but too bad that it removes the choice of feeling for what is in there.

Edited August 15, 2022 by Mencot
Changed wording.

[eldiano]

9 minutes ago, SirBlake said:

No. Also, the CMF boxes aren’t supposed to be in stores until September of next year. Series 23 is coming out now and the rumor is series 24 is coming out in January, so you can delay your worries until series 25. 

Thanks, I was already worried, I’m dealing with a headache tracking down Star Wars micro galaxy scout figs,  but these boxes suck 😭

[Sir Dano]

Did the ramp mod posted a couple pages ago, it looks pretty good! However I'd recommend leaving off the macaroni bricks at the base of the ramp because the back one locks the whole castle together and prevents you from accessing the Forestmen hideout.

Spoiler

I also converted the little corner storage room into meat/cheese storage:

Spoiler

 

[Follows Closely]

7 hours ago, Rjbricks said:

Rather concerned that it’s slightly massive! My mind is blown by those here who think it’s too small!

I tried to manage my expectations, but failed. It may help you to:

• Place this set next to a set like Ninjago City to see how small this thing is compared to other high end sets. (Significantly cheaper NC I might add.)
• This set lacks the creativity that most of the modular building have. Place the set next to two police modulars. The detail and density (inside and facade) of a modular is what I was expecting in this 90th anniversary set.
• The figs are good!

I do think it looks nice, just not as good as I was dreaming of. This is also a great parts pack if you can swallow the price.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Follows Closely

[woodford86]

Just curious, has anyone seen a stud.io file of the castle floating around?

[Poco Lypso]

On 8/14/2022 at 8:11 PM, brimbolet said:

Never did I understand why Lego isn't selling small polybags with just 3 figures/9€ through the online shop. Romans, knights, Indians... soo much more money they could make. 

Its probably related to the amount of stuff lego actually can produce and what lego believes will be profitable. We just don't know what the market truly is like for lego. I would have never thought type writers, console replicas, maps, globes etc. could actually be successful. So just because I would never buy anything like that doesn't mean its a huge profit for lego and a theme to continue. So I guess, historic figs and themes might not really be that great, profitswise or they would have done it. Maybe they put afols into several categories, those that buy sets to build once and then display and those that do mocs, and I guess the former will be in the majority. And those that actually do mocs can also be put into categories, technic, city, star wars, historic. In the end I believe the historic lego theme is pretty niche compared to other themes.

[natesroom]

2 hours ago, Poco Lypso said:

In the end I believe the historic lego theme is pretty niche compared to other themes.

I disagree. If you are an AFOL between 35 and 55 (which from their own surveys make up a high percentage of their customer base) You grew up with space, town and castle and maybe technic ('82) or pirates ('89) or trains ('86) as your main theme... that was it.

Star wars didn't show up until 1999. Now you could be a 25 year old AFOL who was born in 97 who was 2 when the first star wars theme came out and you grew up with all these licensed themes, but your disposable income to be spent on lego is significantly less then a 45 year old by all available data. So castle just by sheer factor of scale has to be a profitable theme. Now the over production of crap castle in late 90s can lead to unprofitable sales for a theme which could lead a company to conclude its dead. (SEE HE-MAN as a case study $400 million in sales in '86 to 7 million in '87 talk about devastating) 

Edited August 16, 2022 by natesroom

[SirBlake]

1 hour ago, Poco Lypso said:

Its probably related to the amount of stuff lego actually can produce and what lego believes will be profitable. We just don't know what the market truly is like for lego. I would have never thought type writers, console replicas, maps, globes etc. could actually be successful. So just because I would never buy anything like that doesn't mean its a huge profit for lego and a theme to continue. So I guess, historic figs and themes might not really be that great, profitswise or they would have done it. Maybe they put afols into several categories, those that buy sets to build once and then display and those that do mocs, and I guess the former will be in the majority. And those that actually do mocs can also be put into categories, technic, city, star wars, historic. In the end I believe the historic lego theme is pretty niche compared to other themes.

I don’t know, they managed to find the production capability for the gamble that was Vidyo. I realize that’s not AFOL focused, but by comparison, a castle battle pack would be a sure thing with lots of bleed-over into every demographic. It didn’t take a rocket surgeon to tell that Vidyo was much more risky with a lower chance of success and a giant investment in new parts, shelf space, marketing, etc. 

[natesroom]

31 minutes ago, SirBlake said:

I don’t know, they managed to find the production capability for the gamble that was Vidyo. I realize that’s not AFOL focused, but by comparison, a castle battle pack would be a sure thing with lots of bleed-over into every demographic. It didn’t take a rocket surgeon to tell that Vidyo was much more risky with a lower chance of success and a giant investment in new parts, shelf space, marketing, etc. 

AMEN!

[eldiano]

We had this argument before on the pirates forum 🤣🤣 kids hardly play with lego anymore and on top of it all fantasy sets don’t sell that well enough like ninjago sets to warrant waves, licensed sets bring more money for Lego and that’s all they care about, you know it’s bad when 400-500 are sold for 90-100$ usd 😭😭 

yeah we grew up with castle, pirates, space but I can’t get my kids into those lines no matter how much I tried, they would ask me for marvel, Star Wars, friends or mario sets over the others 🤣.

I cherish these releases and I don’t care how bad they look, it’s a rarity in the first place and I jump on these the first chance I get.

 

 

[scuotter]

21 hours ago, Follows Closely said:

I tried to manage my expectations, but failed. It may help you to:

• Place this set next to a set like Ninjago City to see how small this thing is compared to other high end sets. (Significantly cheaper NC I might add.)

Same thought for me...Just seen the Castle in lego store...next to HP Diagonal Alley...same price, but the castle looks dwarfed by 4 overcostly half houses.

It is a nice build, but too child oriented...and for 400€ and no franchise i expecting something more 

[SirBlake]

42 minutes ago, eldiano said:

We had this argument before on the pirates forum 🤣🤣 kids hardly play with lego anymore and on top of it all fantasy sets don’t sell that well enough like ninjago sets to warrant waves, licensed sets bring more money for Lego and that’s all they care about, you know it’s bad when 400-500 are sold for 90-100$ usd 😭😭 

yeah we grew up with castle, pirates, space but I can’t get my kids into those lines no matter how much I tried, they would ask me for marvel, Star Wars, friends or mario sets over the others 🤣.

I cherish these releases and I don’t care how bad they look, it’s a rarity in the first place and I jump on these the first chance I get.

 

 

With all due respect, I don’t think your anecdotal experience is representative of the whole. If kids were only into licensed, how is it that city has been around so consistently? Or creator? Or CMF?

I think the part we can all agree on is that somehow TLG got it in their heads that classic themes (castle/pirates/space) conflict with licensed themes to the point that licensed themes win and classic themes lose. Hopefully the last year or two has helped them understand that there’s room for both. 

[natesroom]

1 minute ago, SirBlake said:

With all due respect, I don’t think your anecdotal experience is representative of the whole. If kids were only into licensed, how is it that city has been around so consistently? Or creator? Or CMF?

I think the part we can all agree on is that somehow TLG got it in their heads that classic themes (castle/pirates/space) conflict with licensed themes to the point that licensed themes win and classic themes lose. Hopefully the last year or two has helped them understand that there’s room for both. 

My sons kid who is 6 loves fire trucks and city stuff. I think they do buy him some marvel stuff, but mostly cause it can somewhat fit into town/city. He did just buy the castle sets so we'll see how that goes. basically i turned a parent who buys legos for his kids into an AFOL that he is now buying sets "for his kids" lol.

[Follows Closely]

3 minutes ago, natesroom said:

My sons kid who is 6 loves fire trucks and city stuff. I think they do buy him some marvel stuff, but mostly cause it can somewhat fit into town/city. He did just buy the castle sets so we'll see how that goes. basically i turned a parent who buys legos for his kids into an AFOL that he is now buying sets "for his kids" lol.

My kids are all grown and I still "for his kids".

 

7 minutes ago, SirBlake said:

With all due respect, I don’t think your anecdotal experience is representative of the whole.

My kids loved castle Kingdoms line, especially King's Castle (7946). When they MOC'd, it was usually scenes from Hobbit or other Fantasies set in days gone by. I suspect my kids are the exception, not the norm, as just about every used lot I purchase is filled with Star Wars. It is so rare to find anything castle. But that also could be attributed to the great castle drought from 2014-2021.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Follows Closely

[Rjbricks]

37 minutes ago, scuotter said:

Same thought for me...Just seen the Castle in lego store...next to HP Diagonal Alley...same price, but the castle looks dwarfed by 4 overcostly half houses.

It is a nice build, but too child oriented...and for 400€ and no franchise i expecting something more 

Glad I’m not a Harry Potter fan than as I’ve built most of it and it’s huge. I’ve no idea where I’m going to put it.

In fairness, I’ve not got other castles as a comparison.  Ninjago and Diagon alley might be bigger and better value but I’m not interested in them.