What's in store for Castle in 2015?

[Yzalirk]

I grew up with Yellow only minifigs and flesh tone is a massive improvement. It may not be iconic but it looks much better than having a world populated by Simpsons characters. I will not buy any yellow figs because it is the past and obsolete.

This is exactly how I feel, well put!

Also, flesh toned minifigs aren't all that expensive than you'd think.

[TheLegoDr]

Well that soon time is only in licensed sets because they have to represent actual people. Yes they started with yellow skin but then they realized they weren't able to represent everyone like that. There was a huge controversy. Did no one hear about that?

And with the most recent exo suit they had licensed skin color, but they switched it to yellow because they weren't representing any particular characters.

Keep in mind I love the licensed skin tones. I just wish we had more variety.

[Venkefedo]

I would say they take the heroica game and expand that further along with sets and minifigs

That was something I was hoping for after seeing those games... all they'd need is a story and names for the various heroes, and they'd have a Castle character-based theme that could stand alongside most recent & recurring themes (but hopefully with more structures and fewer wacky vehicles, as was discussed recently in another thread)

LEGO Please bring back Fantasy Era! New troll sets would be most welcomed in our house as they are becoming more expensive and harder to find! New swords and shields as well as capes would outfit an army nicely!

Yes! The_Cook's Troll Town project makes me want more development of that faction even more... Heroica could aid in that, as they're one of the main villainous factions in the games. I'd also dearly love to see the CMF Elf Warrior get some friends (with Hobbit/LOTR Elf hairpieces w/ yellow ears) and see more development of Lego's own dwarf faction, along with new Fantasy races and maybe lots of creatures.

This is exactly how I feel, well put!

Also, flesh toned minifigs aren't all that expensive than you'd think.

As has been noted, flesh figures represent characters played by actors (or voiced by them, in the case of licensed cartoons like Avatar: TLA). It's for licensed themes only.

...but they do tend to be more expensive. Seems like tons of fleshie heads go for $1.50+ (tho it's nice to see the Ghostbusters heads are affordable!)

[Yzalirk]

...but they do tend to be more expensive. Seems like tons of fleshie heads go for $1.50+ (tho it's nice to see the Ghostbusters heads are affordable!)

I usually find them under a dollar.

[Hive]

That would be a 100% fail proof way to guarantee that I avoid LEGO castle like the plague. The flesh color is the bane of my existence. It is bad enough that I have to tear apart LotR/Hobbit figures and replace their hands and faces with yellow alternatives, but sometimes there is flesh on the torso, rendering them completely useless! If LEGO insists on using such a foul color on minifigures, keep them to the licensed themes. If they ever cross over to the traditional themes, I'm diving head first into my own personal LEGO dark age.

I agree. The yellow minifigs is part of the traditional LEGO charm. I love the LOTR/Hobbit builds, but I usually sell the minifigs - unless I can de-fleshify them properly. But too often, they have flesh on their torsos. It was the same case with the PoTC theme. It also saddens me that most of the time, their best facial expressions are reserved for flesh-only heads. But I've learned to live with it - as long as they still let us have all the non-licensed sets in the traditional, yellow way.

[Blakstone]

I can see why both sides feel the way they do about yellow and fleshie. However, I don't think LEGO will change to allow fleshie into the non licensed lines. It was brought about to aid kids in recognizing characters such as Lando Calrissian. Kids could not tell that minifigure was him with a yellow face. The sad thing for me is that the most detailed minifigs are the licensed ones and the CMF ones and they do not look good together.

To bring this back on topic, does anyone else worry that return likely return of Pirates next year means there will not be shelf space for Castle? We know that there will be at least a big pirate ship. Seeing how shelf space in stores is always at a premium, I worry that Pirates and a continuing LEGO Movie theme will shut out Castle.

[MAB]

I think there will be a reemergence of Castle in 2015. LEGO seems to want to use the CMF as a way to build molds they want for other lines. The new princess hat and even wizard hat would be very useful in a reinvigorated Castle line.

While they have reused some parts / molds, there are plenty that have not been reused. I'm mainly looking at you Roman shield and helmet.

To bring this back on topic, does anyone else worry that return likely return of Pirates next year means there will not be shelf space for Castle? We know that there will be at least a big pirate ship. Seeing how shelf space in stores is always at a premium, I worry that Pirates and a continuing LEGO Movie theme will shut out Castle.

Yes, I do. I mentioned it before here http://www.eurobrick...00#entry1945230.

A large pirate ship, for me, rules out a large castle set. Whether they bring out another pirate series with POTC coming again is a matter of debate. So it might well be the large pirate ship and more small junior-part castle sets like this year.

Edited August 8, 2014 by MAB

[Yzalirk]

I agree. The yellow minifigs is part of the traditional LEGO charm. I love the LOTR/Hobbit builds, but I usually sell the minifigs - unless I can de-fleshify them properly. But too often, they have flesh on their torsos. It was the same case with the PoTC theme. It also saddens me that most of the time, their best facial expressions are reserved for flesh-only heads. But I've learned to live with it - as long as they still let us have all the non-licensed sets in the traditional, yellow way.

You could always try water-slide decals. There might be face decals of the Hobbit and LotR minifigs.

I can see why both sides feel the way they do about yellow and fleshie. However, I don't think LEGO will change to allow fleshie into the non licensed lines. It was brought about to aid kids in recognizing characters such as Lando Calrissian. Kids could not tell that minifigure was him with a yellow face. The sad thing for me is that the most detailed minifigs are the licensed ones and the CMF ones and they do not look good together.

To bring this back on topic, does anyone else worry that return likely return of Pirates next year means there will not be shelf space for Castle? We know that there will be at least a big pirate ship. Seeing how shelf space in stores is always at a premium, I worry that Pirates and a continuing LEGO Movie theme will shut out Castle.

I didn't really look at it that way so in that case, you make a really good point.

I'm not much of a pirates fan but I tend to collect some of the sets for the brown pieces for Steampunk builds. But the Castle theme has great parts to choose from, a variety in fact, so this saddens me a little bit.

[MAB]

I agree. The yellow minifigs is part of the traditional LEGO charm. I love the LOTR/Hobbit builds, but I usually sell the minifigs - unless I can de-fleshify them properly. But too often, they have flesh on their torsos. It was the same case with the PoTC theme. It also saddens me that most of the time, their best facial expressions are reserved for flesh-only heads. But I've learned to live with it - as long as they still let us have all the non-licensed sets in the traditional, yellow way.

I have the problem going both ways. Sometimes I want fleshie and sometime yellow skin. I wish they would do away with the little neck line in yellow / flesh that rules this out for most minifig torsos. Clearly for some they need flesh / yellow printing, but when it is so small it is annoying (like the CMF British Police Constable). I so wanted that torso without the yellow print.

[Lady K]

Pirates returning as Pirates, not POTC would be great, but I can't see Castle going away completely. It's been such a staple in stores that I can't see it being replaced. I agree we need higher quality after LOTR is gone is. Maybe the current sets and the junior line will bring in new castle builders, who in turn will want more details in their sets.

I liked the old system of using ones own imagination to decide what figs where what.

More deviations mean more minifgs I have in my collection. Yellow is my preferred, but I have tried builds using all my nice fleshies only to find all the female heads looked angry. Also I understand why some might need more distinct female torso designs but that limits their usage to female only.

[Ardelon]

Some good ideas here... Id also like to see Heroica translated into a minifig-scale theme (especially for the orc and barbarian prints), and redoing older themes is even better, providing the designers dont change the heraldry, like the Falcon from the Joust set.

Though I wouldnt mind defering Castle to a Pirate line for one year, seeing how rarely TLG does Pirates. Or a Wild West theme for that matter.

As far as licenses go, I would have thought that HTTYD is perfect for licensing (kid-friendly, with lots of swooshable dragons...), though its to late for that now (unless TLG pics up the license in time for the 3rd instalment).

I dont see the pont of wishing for a fleshie non-licensed theme, since that is precisely what TLG wants to avoid (well, except for the LEGO movie sets). Though I guess that if a wider color palette with a fleshie option had been chosen in the olden days of LEGO instead of the decision to focus on a few primary colors, minifigs would have been flesh-colored from the get-go.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Ardelon

[Hive]

You could always try water-slide decals. There might be face decals of the Hobbit and LotR minifigs.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm not into decals. :)

I have the problem going both ways. Sometimes I want fleshie and sometime yellow skin. I wish they would do away with the little neck line in yellow / flesh that rules this out for most minifig torsos. Clearly for some they need flesh / yellow printing, but when it is so small it is annoying (like the CMF British Police Constable). I so wanted that torso without the yellow print.

Agreed. I wish they would make showing flesh on torsos limited to when it's *really* necessary.

As for the Pirates vs. Castle discussion, I love both so I'm sort of happy as long as I get one of them... but that said, I don't see why both can't run at the same time. They're both among LEGO's evergreen themes and they have both co-existed in the past. And remember that the Hobbit/LOTR line will likely end now, leaving a "Castle-ish" gap. When is the last time LEGO didn't have some form of Castle-related theme?

[gedren_y]

In the beginning of the Fleshtone Era, I gave most of them away. But as time wore on, and more diverse fleshtones became available, I found myself integrating them into my collection. Now I use all tones, though I do try to keep the head and hand tones matching the neckline when need be.

TLG's official stance is that all only licensed figures get the fleshtone treatment, as they are representing actors or intellectual property.

Back to the future of Castle. I would prefer a reboot of Vikings, but given the current panel part changes we would have to wait for a 4x1x5 Log panel and longer palisade bricks to be developed.

TLG has been slowly teasing us with Greek/Roman figures in in the CMF lines. There is already a number of parts for various monsters of myth, as well as new weapons molds. This seems to be something that could very well be in the pipeline, but I doubt any time soon.

People talk about a return of Kingdoms. I would be okay with that, but I doubt it will happen. For marketability right now, TLG would need an action oriented theme, which the current Castle is. A Robin Hood type theme is probably the logical outgrowth from the current line. Civilian type characters that could be used with the current line, and less fortification builds that limit action. With this, I would envision at least one smaller variation on the Star Wars Endor build. This would make long time AFOLs happy, and give young builders something to really play with.

[Blakstone]

Vikings would be great, but I don't see any hints that it will go that way. The only new mold was for Brünnhilde which can either be a Viking or the classic opera singer.

Mythology seems to be a focus in the Minifigures MMO but my guess is that they are a staple in that line instead of becoming their own line. I would be happy to be wrong.

I think the younger LEGO fans are drawn to Ninjago and Chima so hopefully LEGO will aim a for the 10 - 12 year (as well as the AFOLs) with a new line.

[-Horizon-]

I personally think it would be interesting to see a wave of fleshie castle sets to see how they look, but with flesh being licensed only I couldn't see the TLG doing it.

[fhomess]

There are plenty of MOCs with fleshie castles in them. It's not hard to imagine what it would look like. I'm not a big fan of fleshie's simply for the compatibility reasons. If we'd always had fleshies, I think the idea of yellow would be more abhorrent than the idea of switching from yellow to fleshie. That said, because I have a long history, I prefer the continuity of yellow.

As for what's in store for Castle, I think the real issue with the current Castle line, beyond heraldry, is the lack of interesting sets. The dragon one is the only one I see as being a creative playset. The rest are rehashes of past things that are relatively static. I think TLG missed an opportunity when they put minifigs from both factions in the big castle set. Yes, kids then get the chance to have both sides for $100 so they can stage battles, but neither side is properly represented and it creates a disincentive to buy the castle plus an opposing faction's set. The siege weapon should have been it's own set with more defenders replacing it in the castle.

Lego really ought to commit to castle the way it has to Ninjago and Chima. Create some factions that are actually interesting, then add factions over time such that they're creating a cohesive world in which kids can play. Beyond all other things, that's what made the mid-late 80's so great.

[mccoyed]

I think a mythology Castle theme would be the best, most original move they could make. I'd love to see either an in-house original storyline or simply sets based around various Greco-Roman myths.

I could also see a fairytale theme given the current popularity/overexposure of fairytale-derived stuff in media (movies especially). That said, they already have the Disney Princess stuff so that might fill that out already.

[Kliq]

Although the latest instalment of Castle was of good quality, of course, it fell short of the Kingdoms standard (IMHO, that is).

Yes, I agree. 7946 King's Castle was so attractive. Then, when 7189 Mill Village Raid was released, I was so happy. Best of all, there were no flick-fire missiles in sight (in that set)!

Some good ideas here... Id also like to see Heroica translated into a minifig-scale theme

Yep, that would be awesome. I would love to see minifigure scale beasts and other dungeon denizens.

I wasn't a huge fan of the Fantasy era. The infamous 'floating tower' on 7094 King's Castle Siege sort of highlighted some of my problems with that line. I really didn't like the undead faction mainly because I wasn't a fan of having an army of those skeleton figures with such limited articulation. The trolls/orks were better, but I guess I just liked the more historical castle lines better. That said, I'd still love a fantasy Heroica line.

[Artifex]

Any love for Europa (that unproduced theme)?

What if the theme that follows Pirates 2015 is not a Castle theme per se, but something a little closer in date and age to Pirates?

We'd still get castles and knights and horses (and swords and shields and spears, etc.), but also more civilian buildings and different looking armor (not so Medieval, but closer in look to Renaissance, I guess).

Would that please any of you Castle fans? What about you, Pirate guys?

I guess it would be nice for variety, and it would be cool for a couple of years, but could you forget Kingdoms and Black Falcons and Forestmen and Fantasy Era?

I believe that in a way there would be room for all of those factions, and even some others, like Vikings, and perhaps even orks and some fantasy elements. After all, no one said that Europa was supposed to be realistic. It certainly looked realistic, but there's no reason why it could not be more magical and bring Fantasy elements.

Edited August 9, 2014 by Artifex

[Alfadas]

I don't think that looks good, and I certainly wouldn't buy it. I want real Medieval stuff, not some weird renaissance/medieval/pirates mash up. I think most of us agree. Sure it would please some people, but most of us would have wished for either a real Castle theme, others for a real pirates theme. I rather spend my money on a vikings or fantasy era like theme. But that's just me.

[Artifex]

I don't think that looks good, and I certainly wouldn't buy it. I want real Medieval stuff, not some weird renaissance/medieval/pirates mash up. I think most of us agree. Sure it would please some people, but most of us would have wished for either a real Castle theme, others for a real pirates theme. I rather spend my money on a vikings or fantasy era like theme. But that's just me.

I think you have to imagine it how those sets -- or sets based on them -- would look today. Those are old pics, don't forget that

[Alfadas]

Yeah, you are right. With new torso designs, other colours and the current day parts, it sure would look better. If there are sets coming based on there pics, I would need to see the pics of those sets first, before I make a judgement. I was a bit rude on those pics.

[gedren_y]

We have to consider why Europa was never produced. The closest that came to that was a few of the Harry Potter sets and a couple of the POTC sets. A new Steampunk theme would be welcome. Monster Fighters gave us some of those elements, but it was too all over the map

[Hive]

I would love to see the Europa theme, personally. I collect both Castle and Pirates and would welcome a theme that sort of mixes them both. I've drooled over those old pictures many times...

[Weil]

I think more children's fictional sources set around the 18th and early 19th century would need to exist now outside of fantasy pirates on the high seas in order for TLC to seriously consider a 'Europa' style theme. It's conceivable that you might get some sets close to it though in a theme also featuring pirates but with some coastal sets of a more civilian nature than the typical soldiers fort that's been done before and it would probably need to be European rather than loosely Caribbean set.