What was the best Lego castle before 10305? Which is the greatest of all time?

[natesroom]

1 hour ago, Rjbricks said:

Yep, I’ve plans for most of the other minifigs but this guy? He’s going to be dismembered and his components  filed away. RIP Majisto

1 hour ago, TeriXeri said:

 

Same here, I wouldn't even call him majisto, I still have the original one which looks notibly different, and even Merlok 1.0 had better printed blue torso/skirt brick with a unique print + face.

I don't have a whole lot of old Castle figures, but old majisto just is a nicer figure, I'll just visit this castle with the old cart set, as I don't really think a Wizard living in 10305 fits with the Era at all either, I still got some 1993 dragon knights, maybe at some point I'll make some build for them once I move my old LEGO to the new.

I literally wrote an entire post detailing the different wizards produced by LEGO and this blank minifig old person with a hat was the best they could come up with.

5 hours ago, natesroom said:

I can't even understand how a designer could even pretend that the minifigure is majisto with the plain blue torso and the skirt. In all 5 sets he appears with the blue "civilian" print and legs and an actual wand.

With Evil Wizard CMF 13, New 2022 BAM Wizard, the 70403 Dragon Wizard, Merlok from Nexo Knights, Wizard CMF 12, Kingdoms Dark Green Chess Wizard, Kingdoms Blue Wizard, Fantasy Era Good Wizard, Fantasy Evil Wizard, even the 2020 BAM: hol236 Halloween Wizard... any variation of those would have been better.

This is almost as bad as the 10176: King's Castle wizard.

#notmymajisto

Edited July 27, 2022 by natesroom

[SirBlake]

lol @ the hashtag

Yes, Majisto is extremely disappointing. I'll probably toss him in a drawer and use the latest BaM wizard. The print on that guy is outstanding. Possibly the best wizard we've ever gotten.

Thanks to thebrickpost for the great photo.

https://www.thebrickpost.com/news/new-figs-on-the-block-the-knights-of-bam/

Edited July 27, 2022 by SirBlake
spelling

[natesroom]

I would have loved the bam wizard print on actual legs

1 hour ago, TeriXeri said:

 

Same here, I wouldn't even call him majisto, I still have the original one which looks notibly different, and even Merlok 1.0 had better printed blue torso/skirt brick with a unique print + face.

I don't have a whole lot of old Castle figures, but old majisto just is a nicer figure, I'll just visit this castle with the old cart set, as I don't really think a Wizard living in 10305 fits with the Era at all either, I still got some 1993 dragon knights, maybe at some point I'll make some build for them once I move my old LEGO to the new.

 

[SirBlake]

Just now, natesroom said:

I would have loved the bam wizard print on actual legs

 

I'm fine with the skirt/robe piece. Just give us a print, for cryin' out loud.

[natesroom]

Merlin existed during Arthurian legend which ranges from 700-1200 depending on legend.

 

[SirBlake]

11 minutes ago, natesroom said:

Merlin existed during Arthurian legend which ranges from 700-1200 depending on legend.

 

If this is in reference to Teri’s comment how it doesn’t fit with the era, I think he’s referring to this era in Lego Castle. This one being a reference to mostly 80’s crusader era, and Majisto appearing after the lions/crusaders had ended in the 90’s.

I don’t think anybody is disputing the inclusion of a wizard in Lego castle in general or in reference to history/mythology surrounding the time. 

[natesroom]

Ahh i see yeah the 80s didn't have any wizards... However growing up and graduating in 95 my formative years was collecting only castle lego. Majisto came out and i, as a teen never really classified the castles i built in 1990 and majisto in 1993 as a being a different era.

[SirBlake]

6 minutes ago, natesroom said:

Ahh i see yeah the 80s didn't have any wizards... However growing up and graduating in 95 my formative years was collecting only castle lego. Majisto came out and i, as a teen never really classified the castles i built in 1990 and majisto in 1993 as a being a different era.

I get that. I have always displayed Majisto with the 6080 King’s Castle as the court wizard/Merlin stand in. 

Looks like we’re about the same age. “Study less, party more, we’re the class of ‘94!” Lol

[TeriXeri]

20 minutes ago, natesroom said:

Ahh i see yeah the 80s didn't have any wizards... However growing up and graduating in 95 my formative years was collecting only castle lego. Majisto came out and i, as a teen never really classified the castles i built in 1990 and majisto in 1993 as a being a different era.

That view makes sense, Black Knight and Dragon Knights even shared much visual aspects, as did some Black Falcons with Black Knights, and sets likely stayed on shelves in a mixed way as well.

From a personal , current "database" view, I personally consider Dragon Knights and Royal Knights as a new generation, with perhaps even Wolfpack replacing the bandit function of the Forestmen (later for Dark Forest to come back at least in US)

But overall , even Crusaders and Black Knights had sets with ghosts in them, so there's no strict seperation between historical knights or fantasy.

Still, in a greater sense most 80s and 90s themes fit together really well regardless.

Ninja was obviously different (but introduced some very cool parts like the big doors), and Fright Knight and KKI had some sets using thicker pieces (basicly a result of the late 90s/early 2000s LEGO design across many themes)

Edited July 28, 2022 by TeriXeri

[natesroom]

Yeah i went into the "dark ages" from 96-2007

[TeriXeri]

4 minutes ago, natesroom said:

Yeah i went into the "dark ages" from 96-2007

For me it also slowed down a lot late 90s, the last thing I actively collected were Slizers/Throwbots , and finally happened around 2001,  until 2016.

Edited July 28, 2022 by TeriXeri

[Poco Lypso]

its definitely the most sophisticated castle so far, prolly because it has a huge parts count.

i wouldnt call it the best tho. i expect castles to have some sort of courtyard. I am also not a big fan of the dollhouse. 

[SirBlake]

8 minutes ago, natesroom said:

Yeah i went into the "dark ages" from 96-2007

Yup. 96-2011 for me. 

[natesroom]

I bought a lot of armies on goodwill and ebay from 07-2011 before it got overpopulated with nostalgic people also trying to reclaim a part of childhood.

Edited July 28, 2022 by natesroom

[SirBlake]

9 minutes ago, natesroom said:

I bought a lot of armies on goodwill and ebay from 07-2011 before it got overpopulated with nostalgic people also trying to reclaim a part of childhood.

Nice. I was just patiently waiting for something actually good to be offered. Kingdoms did the trick. 

[natesroom]

yeah i have kingdoms joust and mill village built and one joust still in a box

Edited July 28, 2022 by natesroom

[Rattlebricks]

3 hours ago, natesroom said:

Yeah i went into the "dark ages" from 96-2007

Me aswell, but from 1998-2007. I bought Castle siege and some of the other Crown knights sets but skipped most of the later Kingdom sets from 2010-2014 which I dont really dig.

Edited July 28, 2022 by Rattlebricks

[TeriXeri]

My biggest sets were the 1993 Dragon Wagon, and 1995 Royal Drawbridge (which has a black/dragon knight on a horse), combined with the little wizard cart, skeleton surprise, and royal king, that was my main Castle collection, but I built a lot on the raised baseplate from the 1994 Islanders enchanted island + corner panels with vines, as well using the white wall panels from 2x 1989 sabre island pirate sets.

Also had a few older figures from the 70s Knight's Procession and the crusader/lion knight boat set.

Also had 2 small fright knight sets, one with the dragon and one was some tiny boxed set with a crystal ball and a batlord. 

My biggest issue back then with pieces, were clips breaking off both green and black Dragons or saddles from just playing, but I improvised the wings on the back of dragons with added clips instead.

I still have most of those figures and builds, just not 100% complete, as over time some shield handles and old swords broke, as well as clips I mentioned, rebuilt most of those around 2015.

Edited July 28, 2022 by TeriXeri

[Murdoch17]

I answered Question 1 with 8781 - Castle of Morcia, because I wanted it as a kid. I also answered 6091 - King Leo's Castle for Question 4(?) for the same reason. I was straddling the gap between the two sets: I was "too young" (5) for 6091 in 2000, but "too old" for 8781 in 2004, four years later. (I did love the knight constraction sets, though... Wave 1 Danju was always my favorite, followed very closely by Wave 1 Vladek.) Question 5 was also answered in the affirmative.

Anyway, I can't wait for somebody to make a semi-dilapidated 19th / 20th century MOD-version of this newest castle as ruins. (It would look good on a train layout with European / UK steam locomotives passing by it.)

Edited July 28, 2022 by Murdoch17

[woodford86]

I voted 6086 mostly for nostalgia, but the thing that really sold me on that set as a kid was that it included not one but two flip up visors! 8 year old me was obsessed with those helmets and breast plates. Which is interesting, because I kind of don't like either of them now, much prefer the updated full face helmets and shoulder armor shipping with the BF's.

Btw, has anyone done a AFOL version on 6086? I always wanted to, maybe give that a try come winter. Rebuilding the raised baseplate would be a nice challenge I think.

Edited July 28, 2022 by woodford86

[DaleDVM]

I kind of wish I had LEGO as a child.  I didn't get my first set until post college, when I was 25 and could buy it for myself.  But if I did have it as a child, would I still be an AFOL?  Best part is that I have every box, all of the instructions, and all of the parts because I never really played with my LEGO.  I just built the sets and displayed them.  They still got discolored from the sun however...

This has been an interesting thread to read.  So many fans come in and out of the hobby in different ways.
 

[SirBlake]

5 minutes ago, woodford86 said:

I voted 6086 mostly for nostalgia, but the thing that really sold me on that set as a kid was that it included not one but two flip up visors! 8 year old me was obsessed with those helmets and breast plates. Which is interesting, because I kind of don't like either of them now, much prefer the updated full face helmets and shoulder armor shipping with the BF's.

Very interesting. I still love the flip up visor and breast plate armor is still good for me, but at this point, needs to have a print on it. 

[woodford86]

7 minutes ago, SirBlake said:

Very interesting. I still love the flip up visor and breast plate armor is still good for me, but at this point, needs to have a print on it. 

I don't know what happened. Today they just feel like they make the mini's too "fat", while the shoulder armor and sleeker updated helmet looks a lot more agile for battle I guess. The visor/breastplate still have a place in my displays but its more jousting digs than anything else now.

Edit: Speaking of dark ages, mine started in 1999 when I was 13. The fade out started with the Fright Knights, they came out and I just didn't like them - felt too "halloweeny" for my collection. My last purchase was a small Adventurer's polybag (raft), and I remember thinking how ironic it was that I built probably hundreds of X-Wing's as a kid, and just when I lose interest in Lego they come out with a Star Wars theme. I bought a few random sets after university (mostly technic), but the Blacksmith is where I finally dropped my guard and dove back in. Pretty bummed that I missed out on the Kingdom's and LOTR Lego and some pretty desirable CMF's.

Edited July 28, 2022 by woodford86

[DaleDVM]

I like the flip up visors to this day.  I always preferred those to the grill helmets back in the day...  So my knights got the flip up and men at arms typically got the grill helms.  But most importantly they all got plumes, which dresses them up quite a bit. 

What I always thought was weird, was how I put a breast plate on my minifigs over their printed breast plate on their torso.  I guess I should just order some blank torsos and multiply the number of classic breastplate figs I have by two for minimal investment!

[natesroom]

20 minutes ago, woodford86 said:

I voted 6086 mostly for nostalgia, but the thing that really sold me on that set as a kid was that it included not one but two flip up visors! 8 year old me was obsessed with those helmets and breast plates. Which is interesting, because I kind of don't like either of them now, much prefer the updated full face helmets and shoulder armor shipping with the BF's.

Btw, has anyone done a AFOL version on 6086? I always wanted to, maybe give that a try come winter. Rebuilding the raised baseplate would be a nice challenge I think.