metalandi Posted January 31, 2013 It's always funny when someone says what a dragon is supposed to look like, since dragons don't really exist. I guess there must be a rule or even a law that says what dragons have to look like... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sigolf Brimabane Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) Well, according to etymology, they should look like worms/snakes: The English word dragon derives from Greek δράκων (drákōn), "dragon, serpent of huge size, water-snake". I guess this dragon is a more modern continental one, while my cultural preferencies make my associations more to serpent/worm than lizard/dinosaur. Edited January 31, 2013 by Sigolf Brimabane Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brickington Posted January 31, 2013 It's always funny when someone says what a dragon is supposed to look like, since dragons don't really exist. I guess there must be a rule or even a law that says what dragons have to look like... Exactly what I was thinking. Best comment of the day. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sigolf Brimabane Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) This is more dragon-like: But yes, I can agree to some extent that dragons don't exist. Although they exist in the myths. And depending on what you read, you will have different opinions on dragons. Old paintings and carvings usually depict dragons as serpents and worms... Edited January 31, 2013 by Sigolf Brimabane Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gedren_y Posted January 31, 2013 What's all this complaining? Too few new pieces? Am I the only one to notice the new facet brick, 4x4? I have been wondering when TLG would get around to making that piece. Here's hoping they give us back the 5x5. The heraldry works for me, with a new cloth flag shape. Plus dark bley 2x2x3 corner slopes, and at least seven octagonal plates in that color. That ladder appears to be a single piece, not fence pieces. The figs are awesome, with lots of customizing potential. Also, the King is holding a pearl gold pointed greatsword. I spy at least one of the baddies with a pearl dark grey one too. This is a buy for me. Good thing this will be out in August, plenty of time to save up the money. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sigolf Brimabane Posted January 31, 2013 I see now some holes in a technic piece on that gatehouse... Maybe it is for extending the wall of the castle or something like that? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Huntleyfx Posted January 31, 2013 Now that I have seem the actual torso heraldry, I am very pleased. The Crown is by far still one of my favorite designs, and it will be good to be able to build the army even more after several years. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wardancer Posted January 31, 2013 Interesting that they stick to the old dragon mold. I have two old green ones and a horntail and they look very dragonish to me. I have never liked the wormlike dragons like e.g. in Warhammer. The new one seems to be able to fit a big flame in his mouth which the old ones (at least the ones I have) could not. It would be great to fit more than one fig on a dragon, but one would have to moc/customize that. Is the red one a possible Smaug? I hope not. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brickington Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) You castle fans should be more happy. We Pirate fans don't get a license or a original them this year. And you guys get both and complain about not having enough new pieces. Give me a break. lol Edited January 31, 2013 by Brickington Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PenPlays Posted January 31, 2013 And here I thought I would have more money available to me with Ninjago's temporary absence. Galaxy Squad has been moved down to 3 of my top three themes to complete this year. Castle takes second with Chima up first. Wish they would've made at least a new head for the dragon. I would have been fine with just that. Of course this Dragon could be preliminary and they just used the red one from Castle (Fantasy Era) as a placeholder. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blakstone Posted January 31, 2013 You castle fans should be more happy. We Pirate fans don't get a license or a original them this year. And you guys get both and complain about not having enough new pieces. Give me a break. Hopefully the Cosair ship in the LotR line will help Pirate fans. I think the 2013 Castle line look okay but I do miss Kingdoms. I am sure to get some of the smaller sets. The castles themselves looking more brown might just grow on me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andhe Posted January 31, 2013 You can view these quite large/zoomed in. Looks like the wizard has a black beard and hat, and can see a nice 'lock' printed 1x1 round flat tile. The horse head armour looks a bit of an odd shape but the baddie armour printing looks nice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deathleech Posted January 31, 2013 I think the Castle theme looks like utter crap. It uses so many big pieces and has so few details compared to the Helm's Deep set, it's just a really big turn off. I guess Lego is banking on the bright colors and cool minifigures to sell the sets? Either that or they made the sets look bad on purpose to boost LotR sales because they look so much better in comparison (obviously a joke, don't take it serious). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wardancer Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) I see some tan stair pieces, I do not now if they are new in this color. Wish they would've made at least a new head for the dragon. I would have been fine with just that. Of course this Dragon could be preliminary and they just used the red one from Castle (Fantasy Era) as a placeholder. The dragon in the pictures has a different print than the old ones. I guess that meas it is final. The print reminds me of typical dino prints. Edited January 31, 2013 by Wardancer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CircleK Posted January 31, 2013 With the exception of the castle itself, I actually like all of these sets better than their Kingdoms counterparts. The prison carriage and outpost look great and the dragon mountain is a must have. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Clone OPatra Posted January 31, 2013 I think the Castle theme looks like utter crap. It uses so many big pieces and has so few details compared to the Helm's Deep set, it's just a really big turn off. I guess Lego is banking on the bright colors and cool minifigures to sell the sets? Either that or they made the sets look bad on purpose to boost LotR sales because they look so much better in comparison (obviously a joke, don't take it serious). Take a good close look. The only one of these sets that uses a large amount of wall panel pieces is the castle itself - the dragon mountain appears to have one or two, and the good guy outpost set uses none at all. Of course this theme isn't going to share aesthetics with LotR, and asking it to is just ridiculous. Helm's Deep is a big, expensive set aimed at older kids, teenagers, and adults (as is the entire LotR theme). You may certainly prefer the LotR style, but holding a fun and fancy free castle theme aimed at 8-year-olds to the LotR 'fiddly little detail bits' standard is simply coming at it from the wrong direction. That said, with a close look at these, one will notice a LOT of detail. The big castle looks a little plain, but there's still all the masonry bricks around under the wall panels, plus the gatehouse, which mostly doesn't use any big panels. The dragon mountain and castle outpost sets look incredibly detailed for this type of theme. Anything before the Fantasy era themes does not compare at all. I for one am pleased to see a pretty streamlined and fun-looking castle theme for kids that doesn't involve much 'rock-building.' Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fives Posted January 31, 2013 Wow, that looks awesome! They've really done an amazing job of recreating the feel of Knights Kingdom 1, with the Bulls and King Leo, which was by far my favourite time of Castle, but I missed out on most of it. I likely won't get any of these because of LOTR and Star Wars, but these sure are tempting. I don't understand the complaining. Sure, Kingdoms was an amazing line, but this isn't too far from it. Two human factions battling each other. The only differenc is the wizard and dragon, which can easily just not be included. Otherwise, these could just be two more faction in the ever growing Castle universe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blakstone Posted January 31, 2013 I think the Castle theme looks like utter crap. It uses so many big pieces and has so few details compared to the Helm's Deep set, it's just a really big turn off. I guess Lego is banking on the bright colors and cool minifigures to sell the sets? Either that or they made the sets look bad on purpose to boost LotR sales because they look so much better in comparison (obviously a joke, don't take it serious). I never expected that the Castle line would appeal to me like the LotR line does. I think the Castle line was designed for much younger fans. My wife will do various product testing and ad testing. I would think before LEGO finalized on the overall look of the line, they built some models and then showed them to kids in the target age groups. Based on that feedback, they proceeded to design the actual sets. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lordofdragonss Posted January 31, 2013 What I like: New-old Dragon Two types of Head armor for horses The Pearl Sword A lock piece! Actualy it's just a lock print on the studless round brick! (In carriage set and the Dragon tower set)| The Red barding have no Dragon print The Dragon catapult in the biggest castle The big Dragon shield have fire breathing dragon! What I don't like: The siege machines (AGAIN) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Rahl of Clannad Posted January 31, 2013 Wow! That dragon is absolutely wonderful ! This clinches the set for me, though the decent price of £35 does help a lot. Maybe I'll get two to have another of those wonderful dragons . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
just2good Posted January 31, 2013 The castle looks a lot like the King Leo one. Still not too bad of a set, but I prefer the Vampire Castle from last year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deathleech Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) Take a good close look. The only one of these sets that uses a large amount of wall panel pieces is the castle itself - the dragon mountain appears to have one or two, and the good guy outpost set uses none at all. The castle is made up almost entirely of large wall panels except the tops and the main gate. Sure the other sets aren't so much, but they can't really be used at all in the wagon or smaller set. The other bigger sets have a few as well. It's not just the fact they use the large panels so much that bugs me though, why didn't they use any of the cool new detail bricks with the brick pattern on them? A couple of these in the bigger structures would of made them looked so much more detailed and required minimal effort of Lego's part. Of course this theme isn't going to share aesthetics with LotR, and asking it to is just ridiculous. Helm's Deep is a big, expensive set aimed at older kids, teenagers, and adults (as is the entire LotR theme). You may certainly prefer the LotR style, but holding a fun and fancy free castle theme aimed at 8-year-olds to the LotR 'fiddly little detail bits' standard is simply coming at it from the wrong direction. I get that, but even the Troll Mountain Fortress released over 3 years ago seems to have waaaay more detail and look infinitely better. Maybe I am just spoiled by the LotR sets, but in comparison these just don't appeal to me at all like I remember the older castle sets. Now that we have seen what Lego is capable I was hoping the new Castle sets would be a little more detailed and exciting than what we are getting... Edited January 31, 2013 by Deathleech Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DawnCrusader Posted January 31, 2013 The castle looks a lot like the King Leo one. Still not too bad of a set, but I prefer the Vampire Castle from last year. It surely seems King Leo's faction :) Too bad they had to do another four walled Castle. Why not something more alike the original King Leo's Castle? Lego Kingdoms had a spartan Castle already, so this was a perfect opportunity for them to do a proper "Palace type" Castle for King Leo. Great minifigures though. Let us hope this leads to some more gorgeous sets. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JamesBenjamin Posted January 31, 2013 The castle is made up almost entirely of large wall panels except the tops and the main gate. Sure the other sets aren't so much, but they can't really be used at all in the wagon or smaller set. The other bigger sets have a few as well. It's not just the fact they use the large panels so much that bugs me though, why didn't they use any of the cool new detail bricks with the brick pattern on them? A couple of these in the bigger structures would of made them looked so much more detailed and required minimal effort of Lego's part. Take a closer look, they did use the "brick" bricks. The entire base of the castle is "brick" bricks, which is a realistic way to use them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheLegoDr Posted January 31, 2013 The line overall isn't for me, but it wasn't set out to be. I like that castle still exists though. The sets themselves look way better upon closer inspection than the tiny retail catalog pictures. I don't love the castle, but it is very Kingdoms-esque to me, only with blue instead of red. With that said, I will have to pass since I don't need a blue castle in my line-up. I think I may one of the only people that don't mind the larger pre-fab castle wall pieces (and keep in mind Helm's Deep had plenty of them too). The other sets are decent looking, but I typically go after the minifigures and in this instance, they aren't appealing to me. The color scheme is fine, and the printing looks good, but together it isn't hitting it for me. The shield heraldry isn't ideal, but not horrible. I would have preferred a wolf emblem instead of another dragon, but oh well. I don't have any dragons, so I will pick that up anyway and I'll take it from there to see how I like the figures in my hand. I may also get the cheapest set, just to check out the line. But I know I will pass on the castle. I actually do really like the body armor printing, at least on the lions. I think I will incorporate that into my Kingdoms line if I can. I couldn't make out the Dragon armor as well. The main thing I don't like is having the blue on the torsos also. I can't switch out the arms to red or green to go with other armies, so that's unfortunate. And I'm not liking the new barding/horse helmet. I like that they exist now for the new horse mold, but the gap in the back of the barding seems to throw it off to me. And the horse helmet looks too bulky to fit over the new head mold. But maybe my thoughts will change on closer inspection. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
