Sandbag58

Eurobricks Vassals
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Posts posted by Sandbag58

  1. Posted

    The harpsichord is historically accurate only if the period of history you/they/who ever is talking about is the Early Modern Period (or subsequent to that) not the Middle Ages or Medieval period. There was something called a Psaltery which worked in a similar way to a harpsichord but does not appear to have had keys, so looked different.

    I got the impression the fun for the designers was in creating a music group and the harpsichord was shoe-horned in to make up the quartet.

  3. Posted

    4 hours ago, karrit said:

    I've come up with a back story to explain why a lot of the knights in this set are female.  The name of the set is Lion' Knight's Castle.  So imagine if you will that the knights are all off somewhere with the King possibly defending his castle.  This leaves mostly women holed up in the Knight's castle out of the way of the warring male knights.  So the females have been kept away from the main battle and have decided to defend themselves in the Knight's Castle they are currently residing in. Note that several of the female knights up on the battlements appear to be archers which is more likely to be a way they might have been taught to defend themselves if needed.

    'The Guns of Fort Petticoat' (a Western) and 'Monstrous Regiment' (by Terry Pratchett) provide a couple of different back stories and I suspect I may do something similar, aswell as PABing minifig parts (if available) and creating a few more civilians and soldiers of both genders. I've a daughter aged 10 and a son aged 7, so a proper mix of both across all roles is enjoyed by them.

    More generally I am really looking forwards to getting and building this set. The anticipation is palpable and reminds me of when I got 6080 for a birthday in the 1980s. That experience was slightly tainted by one of the knights having a manufacturing fault and my dad had to go back to the toy shop to get a replacement. I'm looking forwards to combining the two generations although I'm not sure how well they'll mesh...

  6. Posted

    12 hours ago, zoth33 said:

    But this does tell lego that there is a very good market for castle based sets.  This shows them we still want castle/fantasy sets and that there is definitely money to be made there which should help to show that Lego can produce these types of sets and they will sell well.  The 90th anniversary set was voted on by past themes so we know what they mean by castle there is no guessing here.  This is not a new big bang theme like Nexo Knights.  I think you can be assured that this will be classic castle based but with new techniques like creator has done.  If a new castle theme is to come I personally think it will be in a few years as they will need time to develop and create sets and possibly a story to it.  

    Yes, I agree!

    And thank you for correcting my needless Nexo Knight worry...I think I'm just a bit too excited and this is fizzing the brain :wacko:

  7. Posted

    While I might dream of a new castle line I don't think we can look to the three recent castle offerings to provide us with an indication of TLG's strategic thought. This is because two of the three are the result of democratic processes over which TLG had no/limited control in deciding the outcome (which opens up a different debate about transparency of process etc...but that's for another topic thread). We still don't know what the anniversary set looks like or contains: it has 'castle' in the title but do you remember the pre-Nexo Knight speculation and the hope we had? I very much doubt we'll get another curve ball like that in this case but until I see pictures...

    What we can hope for is that TLG look at how much fervour the two fan supported sets garnered and how well the three recent castle sets sell and TLG adapt their strategy accordingly. Having said that, we all know that scarcity drives up demand, so could the strategy be to drip feed us sets to keep us hungry for more? It's a bit cynical, but I've had one of those weeks! Someone somewhere will know the economics behind selling sets - larger vs small, through toy stores vs D2C...

  8. Posted

    Wasn't there something about the type of plastic used to make base plates being different to the plastic used to make bricks and not being as eco friendly? Wasn't that one of the 'reasons' for the end of the City road base plates? I presume the old raised base plates were of the same type of (non-eco friendly) plastic and so LEGO would not create a new (raised) base plate unless it was to be made from better plastic?

    I am not bothered about the inclusion (or not) of a raised base plate although I can understand the desire for one - I only had two but they were for classic Pirates sets and I was always a little envious of those with Castle raised base plates, particularly the Dark Forest one. However, I doubt we'll get one and think they'll use LURPs and BURPs to achieve any significant height.

    I would prefer the castle to be on base plates like 6080 rather than the base being many smaller plates like B Bay or the 3-in-1 or the Blacksmith - they look good on a shelf but tend to break apart when being moved or played with, though this might just be my children and/or when being played with on a carpet... Although we can see the current trend from those recent examples so I'll probably be disappointed! :laugh: But the use of a few, large base plates may reduce the possible modularity that has been suggested, and I do like the thought of a very modern take on the classic modular castle, so perhaps, for that, I'm willing to suffer a little disappointment (and I can always buy base plates and mod!).

  9. Posted · Edited by Sandbag58
    Deleting unnecessary quote boxes

    I agree with Aanchir:

    "I mean, I don't see much reason to think it'd be a full mix, but I wouldn't mind at all if they included references to other 90s castle themes and characters. It'd be very fun to see graphical references to characters like Majisto the wizard, Willa the witch, and the LEGO Castle dragon (e.g. as illustrations in a book or on a stained glass window memorializing a legendary tale of heroism), even if they aren't actually included as characters!"

    This is probably the most efficient way to commemorate more key factions/characters.

    There have been several great MOCs over the years of banquets in Great Halls with different factions coming together to feast and celebrate...might we get something along those lines? Is the piece count high enough to provide room for a Great Hall or Throne Room? If it was, this would mean 6 (?) minifigs from different factions feasting, the king and queen/princess hosting, a couple of guards, 3 or 4 servants/cooks plus 2 or 3 minstrels/bards &c and a couple of Forestmen trying to gatecrash...!

  10. Posted

    I'm really looking forwards to this set but a couple of thoughts have been rattling around inside my head.

    As an anniversary set for specifically Castle I am expecting a lot of references to previous factions. One obvious way would be through several knights attending a tourney, but this might mean we get Cedric the Bull facing a Lion knight champion rather than another Black Falcon. However, the referencing could be through a Guarded Inn homage, maybe called The Bull Inn or The Wolfpack Tavern, for example.

    Might the Jelly Beans make a re-appearance somewhere? They are part of Castle history (not that I'd miss them if they were not referenced at all - my Dark Ages wonderfully coincided with the abomination which was the Jelly Bean era though I know it has its fans).

    This castle will have to include a Forestman/woman or two...it HAS to. Wolfpack would be welcome aswell and I would love some other peasants/merchants.

    This is also an anniversary set for 90 years of LEGO, not just Castle, so do we think there might be inclusions/references for/to other Themes and if so, how? The LEGO Movie set a good precedent for mashing Themes together (which my children have taken to heart but which still upsets my OCD!). Could it be along the lines of 1592...in terms of a basic concept, ie a castle at the heart of a LEGO-wide celebration (renaissance fayre-esque)? I'm not sure how I feel about this as it would result in the castle element being diluted which would be a shame but I could understand the logic if that's the way it goes.

  11. Posted

    9 hours ago, Gorilla94 said:

    This style of architecture can't be represented with round tiles. It goes beyond the historical accuracy problem. A toy Castle set is always a bit fantasy. In fact I am even fine with the roof which most seem to hate, because of that. The thing is: the round tiles are meant to represent wood and serve as  something giving the building stability. You have to bend wood to achieve such a form. And even if there is a tree big enough so a lunatic can waste that much material cutting that shape out of it in one piece that size without  having to bend it, the shape itself still screams desperately "I am a structural weakness and about to collapse soon" when looking at it.

    A quick Google search for English timber framed houses shows several results with curved timber used as part of the frame. The timber was not 'bent' by any builder, rather these timbers did come straight from the tree: the skill was in felling then sawing up the tree to provide the different different pieces needed for the build. The builders of yesteryear were adept at making the most of the available materials and utilising the natural strength of the tree within their builds. The same techniques were used to provide timbers for ships aswell.

    So the use of the curved brick is perfectly appropriate.

    If you want to pick historical holes in it, the timbers would not have been exposed like that. They would have been limewashed to protect them from the elements, but an all-white building would be boring to both build and look at.

    I'm really looking forwards to buying this set! I think it's great. Another peasant or animal would have been great but the use of the Falcons is pleasing.

  13. Posted

    3 hours ago, MAB said:

    ^ There is no real (practical) difference between forest and woods. Forests tend to be bigger in area than woods, but something on this scale could be either.

    Not technically true... A Forest does not need to have any trees in it, at least not when the word originally came to be applied in England. The word was used to describe land set aside as hunting grounds, predominantly Royal hunting grounds. So a Forest can be a Forest without trees, whereas a Wood without trees is a field.

    Next week's lesson will be on why 'medieval' buildings never had black-painted timbers in the walls...and why every MOC (and even my much loved Medieval Market Village set) is therefore historically inaccurate)...

    That's the blue-touch paper lit...now to stand well back...!

  15. Posted

    Hello,

    I'm a long time peruser of this site, but this is my first time posting (I've read guidelines but if I commit an error I apologise, and please correct me).

    I've been a closet AFOL for years, but only started acquiring and building with the advent of my first child just over 4 years ago. I used her as an excuse to buy and build for a time although it's now freely accepted by friends and family that I am a LEGO fan. Incidentally, my daughter does enjoy LEGO and is relishing her own golden age as a result of Disney Princesses, Elves and Friends. Having said that, the set she chose to receive as a treat following inoculation jabs was the Juniors Pirate set!

    Anyway, this wider awareness of my AFOL-ness resulted in a bumper harvest this Christmas, to the extent that I was given the same book twice (referred to in the post title). The books are identical in all respects except one: one contains the ubiquitous Stormtrooper, while the other comes with Lennox, of Chima fame.

    I've made a reasonable search of the internet but can only find reference to the Stormtrooper version, not the Lennox version. Therefore I have questions...is it rare or just unpopular? As a fledgling collector, which should I keep? Or more pertinent, which should I sell if I want to use the money to buy some of the yet-to-be-released Elves sets for my daughter?

    Any advice/guidance gratefully received.