2025 Castle Theme [wishlist/speculation]

[Black Falcon]

25 minutes ago, Khargeust said:

Will LEGO produce a Wolfpack shield for the occasion ? Not so sure, see 40601 Majisto Magical Workshop.

They printed the torso then, which already exists now. So they can print the shield for the Wolpack. That doesn´t mean it will have to happen but it is possible at least.

[BrickJagger]

On 4/20/2024 at 3:50 PM, Black Falcon said:

As for big Sets, I wouldn´t be surprised if we wouldn´t see a new Set next year (but wouldn´t be surprised if we get one either). I still think a wolfpack tower (6075) wouldn´t be that unlikely. Or maybe they will go the civilian route further and create a mill.Though I don´t think they would make that so close to the Village.

I would be very surprised if we didn't get anything at all. We have had consistent releases of some kind for each of the last four years:

2021: Blacksmith, Creator Castle

2022: Lion Knights Castle, Forestmen's Hideout, Viking Longboat

2023: Viking Village, Majisto's Workshop

2024: Medieval Town Square

If this year was the "Year of Space," could next year be the "Year of Castle"? I've been waiting for Lego to reintroduce non-18+ Castle sets to get younger fans interested in the theme and they might finally be ready to do that. I'd also kill for a CMF series similar to the one Space got this year.

 

[Lion King]

I. Wou be fine wiht Wolfpack shield show in castle-themed MF Series. 

[Black Falcon]

36 minutes ago, BrickJagger said:

I would be very surprised if we didn't get anything at all. We have had consistent releases of some kind for each of the last four years:

2021: Blacksmith, Creator Castle

2022: Lion Knights Castle, Forestmen's Hideout, Viking Longboat

2023: Viking Village, Majisto's Workshop

2024: Medieval Town Square

I mentioned big sets, because I think we will still get GWPs - but I wouldn´t think it is unlikely not to get another castle set next year. 

Sure all the sets you listed above are Medival based, though I wouldn´t count Viking Sets still, as they are not really castle - though of course surely they attract a similar group of potential buyers. But the greater issue I actually see is that I don´t think Lego considers all those sets as part of one thing. Creator is something different than Adult targeted Sets, so while the Blacksmith  would count towards those the creator castle surely doesn´t. 

But I do think we would rather have to look at castle as part of the Icons themes here, where we got the Lion Knights Castle and the Galaxy Explorer in 2022, the Eldorado Fortress in 2023 and the Medieval Town Square this year. So I would rather think we get Space and /or Pirates next year rather than an other castle Set. Not that I would complain if we would get one anyways.

36 minutes ago, BrickJagger said:

If this year was the "Year of Space," could next year be the "Year of Castle"? I've been waiting for Lego to reintroduce non-18+ Castle sets to get younger fans interested in the theme and they might finally be ready to do that. I'd also kill for a CMF series similar to the one Space got this year.

Well the creator castle is the castle that aims for younger fans, though I see why that wouldn´t please you or kids who would get it completely. For me it is just lacking minifigures to be usefull as a playset really. As for the CMF, I would hope they would do that. and when the first rumours about the space series came up I speculated that we would get a castle series for next year, and also one for pirates the year after. Though after it turned out to be part of a several themes thing, I felt it would be less likely to happen. So far I am keeping my hopes low and rather get surprised in a positive way, rather than a negative - and am waiting for the Dungeons and Dragons CMF that comes after the space one. 

Sure that one doesn´t have yellow minifigs, but it still will have quite a lot usefull parts.

[Lion King]

I le come non-18+ Castle playsets. Something new something different.

And I try my hope low but I would love to see a new molded dragon…. (Go see my post on Page 3).

[Captain_SoyBeard]

• A real Black Falcon castle.
• Some castle of an evil faction.
• Actual crusaders.

[SpacePolice89]

On 4/22/2024 at 9:54 PM, Black Falcon said:

But the greater issue I actually see is that I don´t think Lego considers all those sets as part of one thing. Creator is something different than Adult targeted Sets, so while the Blacksmith  would count towards those the creator castle surely doesn´t. 

I'm not so sure about that because when I look at the Medieval Town Square at lego.com I can click a picture of the Medieval Blacksmith that says "Go medieval" and then I see a page with many historic sets including the Creator Medieval Castle and Lion Knights Castle under the same headline "Medieval LEGO Sets & Toys".

Edited Wednesday at 09:36 AM by SpacePolice89

[MAB]

6 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

I'm not so sure about that because when I look at the Medieval Town Square at lego.com I can click a picture of the Medieval Blacksmith that says "Go medieval" and then I see a page with many historic sets including the Creator Medieval Castle and Lion Knights Castle under the same headline "Medieval LEGO Sets & Toys".

That page also contains Dungeons and Dragons, Snow White, Lord of the Rings, Vikings, Pirate Ship and Eldorado Fortress.

This is just advertising showing other stuff that is slightly similar to try to get you to look at as many of their products as possible and purchase them.

 

[Aanchir]

50 minutes ago, MAB said:

That page also contains Dungeons and Dragons, Snow White, Lord of the Rings, Vikings, Pirate Ship and Eldorado Fortress.

This is just advertising showing other stuff that is slightly similar to try to get you to look at as many of their products as possible and purchase them.

Yeah, the LEGO site has a bunch of non-theme-specific "interest" categories and tags that are more for the benefit of shoppers than anything else. Which makes sense — kids who like animal toys, castle toys, or race car toys aren't necessarily going to be picky about what branding those toys come with.

That said, even if LEGO doesn't have any sort of specific quota of medieval-inspired sets they intend to release per year, I do think it's probably safe to assume we'll continue to see more sets along those lines, regardless of which themes or departments they come from.

[Black Falcon]

8 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

I'm not so sure about that because when I look at the Medieval Town Square at lego.com I can click a picture of the Medieval Blacksmith that says "Go medieval" and then I see a page with many historic sets including the Creator Medieval Castle and Lion Knights Castle under the same headline "Medieval LEGO Sets & Toys".

There is a difference on what their decisions what sets they are doing are based on and what they use for marketing. Basically the site lists all historical based sets including the creator pirate ship and the snow white cottage. So everything Fans of historical Sets could like.  But while Lego surely also considers all other similar Sets they have in production aswell as how good other Medival themed Sets sell, I still think we have a better chance for another Space Set next year, than for another castle one.

[SpacePolice89]

8 hours ago, Black Falcon said:

There is a difference on what their decisions what sets they are doing are based on and what they use for marketing. Basically the site lists all historical based sets including the creator pirate ship and the snow white cottage. So everything Fans of historical Sets could like.  But while Lego surely also considers all other similar Sets they have in production aswell as how good other Medival themed Sets sell, I still think we have a better chance for another Space Set next year, than for another castle one.

That's true. But I hope that they'll have some Castle set available every year considering their recent behavior. A new Space set would also be very cool. I wonder why the Space sets like the Galaxy Explorer and the Blacktron Cruiser are very close to the original subthemes in color and minifigure design while Castle and Pirates sets are more influenced by modern Lego aesthetics?

[MAB]

2 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

That's true. But I hope that they'll have some Castle set available every year considering their recent behavior. A new Space set would also be very cool. I wonder why the Space sets like the Galaxy Explorer and the Blacktron Cruiser are very close to the original subthemes in color and minifigure design while Castle and Pirates sets are more influenced by modern Lego aesthetics?

Castle minifigures look like the old designs, just with small updates. The colours used in new Castle sets is also similar to those of the 80/90s. Same with Pirates. Blacktron Cruiser is close to the original but so is the Forestman Hideout.

[SpacePolice89]

1 hour ago, MAB said:

Castle minifigures look like the old designs, just with small updates. The colours used in new Castle sets is also similar to those of the 80/90s. Same with Pirates. Blacktron Cruiser is close to the original but so is the Forestman Hideout.

I think the Castle minifigs are very different from the originals, the Pirates minifigs are somewhat similar while the Space ones are almost exact copies with minimal changes that are hardly visible like back printing and thicker helmet chinstraps. The same goes for most of the sets. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with any of these approaches, this is just how I perceive the situation.

Edited Thursday at 08:27 AM by SpacePolice89

[Black Falcon]

6 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

That's true. But I hope that they'll have some Castle set available every year considering their recent behavior. A new Space set would also be very cool. I wonder why the Space sets like the Galaxy Explorer and the Blacktron Cruiser are very close to the original subthemes in color and minifigure design while Castle and Pirates sets are more influenced by modern Lego aesthetics?

I wouldn´t agree with that. I would rather say Space and Pirates are quite close to their original design, while castle is taking a different way with creating new sets instead of updating old sets - aside from GWPs at least.

I would agree however, that Space is the only theme that didn´t really update the minifig design - and while for the classic space miniifgure I don´t see the need for it, I would have prefered to get an update for the blacktron minifigure. 

 

[MAB]

To me, these 40 or so years apart are similar. They are more similar than they are different. If any LEGO fan from then picked up a modern figure, they'd recognize it as being similar to those of the past.

Whereas these ones, I'd call these different.

 

The new ones are just updated to modern standards mainly because the old ones were not particularly detailed. I think they are more in line with what modern collectors expect. I don't think I'd buy into modern LEGO if it was producing decorated parts that look like they were designed 40 years ago. But I prefer modern sets to use modern parts and modern design techniques, even if they are based on nostalgic sets of the past. Similarly if I want castle figures, I want them to be made with today's design standards even if sometimes the detail goes a little too far. If I wanted an old design, I'd build the old set. I'd feel LEGO was being quite lazy and that I was being taken for a ride if it just re-released old sets using only old parts without improving on the design at all.

[Aanchir]

Agreed with @MAB! Honestly it's really neat to see the classic and modern figures side by side like that.

Also, I think it's important to consider that recent Space throwbacks have taken varying approaches. Certainly, the Classic Space and Blacktron minifigs in the Icons theme (and Classic Space minifigures in various recent themes) have adhered very strictly to the original parts, monochrome colors, and minimalist graphics. But the series 21 Space Police Guy and Series 26 M:Tron Powerlifter, Ice Planet Explorer, and Blacktron Mutant feature various new molds, along with graphical updates like printed stitching, belt buckles, kneepads, boots with reinforced toes, etc.

I think part of the reason for this is that Classic Space tends to stand out even from other old-school themes and subthemes for its simplicity. For example, even from the very beginning, Lion Knight and Black Falcon minifigures had varied body part colors to suggest multiple articles of clothing and armor components made of different materials, as well as varying headgear elements and neck accessories. These factions (and those that followed them like the Wolfpack and Forestmen), also lasted long enough to coexist with figures that had more varied facial features like lipstick, mustaches, and beards, so fans are less likely to expect them to use classic smiley faces as a universal default. But Classic Space minifigures started out monochrome and generic, and STAYED monochrome and generic (with the exception of a few figures that traded their air tanks for jetpacks).

Perhaps as a result of this, when figures like the Series 1 Spaceman or Series 6 Intergalactic Girl add extra sci-fi details like belts, reinforced boots, air hoses, and varied facial expressions, fans tend to stop thinking of them as Classic Space or even Neo-Classic Space minifigures. And a lot of fans even tend to see reissued Classic Space minifigures with modern helmets (i.e. any reissued Classic Space minifigure prior to The LEGO Movie 2) as a compromise rather than an upgrade/improvement. Whereas Castle and Pirates minifigures (and Space minifigures based on later factions) can introduce a lot more updated prints and molds before people question whether they actually belong to the same factions as their 80s/90s counterparts.
 

As for the sets themselves, you're right that the Castle and Pirates throwback sets tend to deviate in more ways from the design language of their classic counterparts than Space ones like the Blacktron Cruiser and Galaxy Explorer, especially in terms of colors and textures. I think to some extent, this comes down to subject matter. In a theme like LEGO Space, there's no particular reason to assume that a "real life" version of the spaceships and other futuristic technologies from the sets would inherently have more subdued colors or less angular wings and cockpits than their LEGO counterparts (though it might have added textural detail, like the designers added to the wings and rocket cones of the new Galaxy Explorer).

By comparison, a real-life counterpart to 6040 Blacksmith Shop would probably not have a bright red chimney, a bright blue anvil, or a grassy green floor! A real-life counterpart to the tree in 6054 Forestmen's Hideout probably wouldn't have an octagonal trunk, nor such blocky roots and branches. And a real-life counterpart to the islands in old-school Pirates sets would probably not have perfectly smooth rocky cliffs, or beaches made of bright yellow sand. As such, we as adults have generally come to expect a higher level of detail and authenticity when it comes to these sorts of colors, shapes, and textures than we had as kids — something that can be seen both in the features we increasingly prefer in sets and those that we incorporate in our own MOCs.

Edited Thursday at 05:05 PM by Aanchir

[Black Falcon]

4 hours ago, Aanchir said:

I think part of the reason for this is that Classic Space tends to stand out even from other old-school themes and subthemes for its simplicity. For example, even from the very beginning, Lion Knight and Black Falcon minifigures had varied body part colors to suggest multiple articles of clothing and armor components made of different materials, as well as varying headgear elements and neck accessories. These factions (and those that followed them like the Wolfpack and Forestmen), also lasted long enough to coexist with figures that had more varied facial features like lipstick, mustaches, and beards, so fans are less likely to expect them to use classic smiley faces as a universal default. But Classic Space minifigures started out monochrome and generic, and STAYED monochrome and generic (with the exception of a few figures that traded their air tanks for jetpacks).

I think another reason might be that the original Classic space minifigures already came in various colours and they already added more colours of them with time and people started to collect them. So it clearly made more sense to keep with the same design rather than changing it. And even some of those had different faces than the classic smile, though later they used the classic smile again. That beeing said it is an even more odd choice for me to use other faces again like they do with the Diner GWP or the two extended line sets, especially with the city minifigures avaiable that would fit better there IMO.

 

4 hours ago, Aanchir said:

As for the sets themselves, you're right that the Castle and Pirates throwback sets tend to deviate in more ways from the design language of their classic counterparts than Space ones like the Blacktron Cruiser and Galaxy Explorer, especially in terms of colors and textures. I think to some extent, this comes down to subject matter. In a theme like LEGO Space, there's no particular reason to assume that a "real life" version of the spaceships and other futuristic technologies from the sets would inherently have more subdued colors or less angular wings and cockpits than their LEGO counterparts (though it might have added textural detail, like the designers added to the wings and rocket cones of the new Galaxy Explorer).

By comparison, a real-life counterpart to 6040 Blacksmith Shop would probably not have a bright red chimney, a bright blue anvil, or a grassy green floor! A real-life counterpart to the tree in 6054 Forestmen's Hideout probably wouldn't have an octagonal trunk, nor such blocky roots and branches. And a real-life counterpart to the islands in old-school Pirates sets would probably not have perfectly smooth rocky cliffs, or beaches made of bright yellow sand. As such, we as adults have generally come to expect a higher level of detail and authenticity when it comes to these sorts of colors, shapes, and textures than we had as kids — something that can be seen both in the features we increasingly prefer in sets and those that we incorporate in our own MOCs.

I don´t actually think that the Castle GWPs (Majisto more than the Forestmen one, though) are much more different from their originals than the Galaxy Explorer or Blacktron cruiser- aside from the minifigures. The other Castle Sets obviously are an completely different attempt but the Eldorado Fortress to me is more in line with the Space Sets than the Castle ones, even if it might be a bit less close to the original with the added ship and the modularity.

[Lion King]

If Lego doesn’t do existing factions, such as lions, eagles, bears, dragons, etc. which animal they would choose for new faction? Just a fun quesiton to ask.

[Lion King]

There is a video that included a marketing research - it shows that kids like old Space sets. AFOL Space folks speculated that Lego might has soemthing planned for Space in future. Or it’s simply a pure trolling. 

Honestly, I prefer “Year of Castle” and IWON’T take that video serioussly. 

[Lyichir]

36 minutes ago, Lion King said:

There is a video that included a marketing research - it shows that kids like old Space sets. AFOL Space folks speculated that Lego might has soemthing planned for Space in future. Or it’s simply a pure trolling. 

Honestly, I prefer “Year of Castle” and IWON’T take that video serioussly. 

It's not really "marketing research", it's just a promotional video. Last year Lego did a similar video:

But it's also not trolling—just social media marketing (not just to kids, but also to parents who might be amused by youngsters' takes on their childhood sets and maybe inspired to buy them new ones). And this year Lego DID bring back Lego space to some extent (which is probably why they got kids together to make another video themed entirely around that). If Lego does bring back castle I wouldn't be surprised to do a video like this on retro castle themes, even if the new Castle sets aren't purely remakes or reimaginings of old factions.

Edited 9 hours ago by Lyichir