BrickJagger

If Lepin is relying on leaked instruction manuals to create their bootlegs, doesn't it support what I said even more? Only employees of Lego and factory workers have access to those manuals before they're released, and that's a problem Lego has to deal with internally. My point is that some people think that leaks hurt Lego a lot more than they actually do. Sure, they could be seen as an annoyance, but does it warrant a no-holds-barred war against the leakers, who are almost always ardent fans of their company?

Best Theme: Creator Expert (Downtown Diner, Rollercoaster, Winter Village Fire Station) Best Minifigure: Series 18 Dragon Suit Guy Best Set: Pop-Up Book Worst Theme: DC Superheroes Worst Minifigure: Don't know Worst Set: Betrayal at Cloud City Most Anticipated 2019: Benny's Space Squad, the new Modular, and hopefully a Castle theme next summer!

I'd also like to see the "Leaderboard" section at the top of the home page get fleshed out. We could have a list of all-time most posts, members of the week, etc.

How many players do we need to start?

I doubt it. The first wave seems to have sold really well, and although the new Fantastic Beasts movie might not be a massive success, there are still three more coming out. I think it will go on for a few more years, but it won't be nearly as large as some people think. Next year's wave is probably the precedent for the rest of the theme's life cycle.

I'm not sure what you mean by that.

The game is pretty much a tournament to determine the best Castle set of all time. Every few days there will be a poll between two sets, and the winner moves on to the next round. It's pretty much like March Madness. NK was discontinued this year. Some people think that Overwatch will be replacing it, but I don't think that's true because it only has six sets and no gimmicks like the other Big Bang themes. There's no real "Big Bang" theme coming next year because of TLM2, maybe we'll get one in 2020? There's literally no historic based themes whatsoever next year in January, and I think we're overdue for a new one in the summer. Nexo Knights and Elves were both discontinued this year, and Harry Potter is only getting four sets next year. Perfect opening for a new Castle theme IMO. If there is one, we likely won't hear about it until late December because Lego has been tightening up their leaks.

I think that both TLG and EB have reasonable positions in regards to leaked products, and I can understand not wanting your future products out there for everyone to see. However, @Space Police XVIII makes a good point that clone companies get, at most, a few extra weeks to create bootlegs. I'm not even sure that leaking is "bad for business" because I would imagine that whatever sales you lost by the sets leaking early would be made up by the attention that the leaks get from Lego's actual customers. I tend to only care about leaks for sets that I'm interested in, and when sets leak early I have more time to plan how many sets I want to buy the following year. Also, as a fan, it gives us more to talk about. @Echo is right in that there's pretty much no hype for next year's sets anymore, that much is apparent just by visiting EB. At this time of year, EB used to have a ton of people online (mostly for leaks, let's be honest) and there seem to be fewer and fewer people here each passing year.

@JJ Tong (zfogshooterz) @leafan @Aine @x105Black @ElectroDiva @Aanchir would any of you be interested in playing Itaria's "Greatest Castle Set" game? If so, please vote in this poll because we don't have many votes at the moment. I guess we could continue that Nexo Knights conversation over here if you have any questions. We were derailing that thread a bit.

I saw that too and thought the same thing. There's nothing wrong with the current one, but I wouldn't mind a new variant. I also think that the CMF Roman spear below should be integrated into the next Castle theme, because the most recent spear mod is entirely made of metal

I think it's encouraging that Harry Potter and FB are only getting one wave of four sets next year. Lego clearly isn't trying to make it the next Star Wars, and I see a clear opening for a new Castle theme. After all, HP is currently the only thing with remotely historic influences, and even that is a stretch.

You're not alone on this at all. There aren't many Castle fans on here anymore, but that's not how it always was. The Historic Themes forum actually has more posts in it than any other forum on the site, and there used to be a ton of active members on there who whose main interest was in Castle. I started lurking on here around 2011 when Kingdoms was still going, and I joined in 2015 to post a rumor I had heard about a new Castle theme that was similar to Fantasy Era. That theme turned out to be Nexo Knights, and right about here is where you can see most Castle fans give up on Lego. I personally liked NK, and I lobbied the mods to keep the thread in Historic, unpopular as the theme was, because I figured that the forum would die without it. When it got moved to Action, I made Future Castle Sets in the hope that it would keep the forum alive. I definitely did my part I'd love to get back to when people just made random threads about Castle that pertained to the sets and we discussed it. As a matter of fact, @Itaria No Shintaku is starting up a game to determine the best Castle set, so make sure to go join in on that.

Count me in!

I hate to be a downer but I feel the exact same way. I was really exited for this wave, but almost every single set here is disappointing. Don't get me wrong, they're mostly creative and I appreciate how Lego is trying to go off the beaten path with this theme, but it's basically the main heroes from the original, a bunch of poorly-constructed MOCs, and exactly two villains of note, and one of them is literally just a pile of bricks. It's like they ratcheted up the "random" aspect of the original movie to ten, and in doing so ended up sucking most of the charm out. The saving grace, however, is Benny's space team. That set is absolutely perfect and I'm glad that the Space fans finally get a bone thrown their way. Hopefully the moonbase I see in the background turns into a set as well. Now in regards to the complete and utter lack of historical stuff...there may just be a reason for that. I don't want to sound too hopeful, but maybe it's because there's a new historical theme launching next summer that Lego doesn't want any January sets to interfere with? Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts are only getting four sets total next year, so it's definitely not a huge block to a regular Castle theme.

That's from TLM2

I am too! If the "Space Team" set has the other classic space figures, I'll buy it for sure. I do hope there is a castle-themed set in this wave as well, especially if we aren't getting a new subtheme next year.

I bet this recent news makes @Digger of Bricks pretty happy

Ooh, a controversial one, spicy!

Thanks for sharing. Does it say where the portal leads? Also, are there any characters or vehicles introduced that aren't in the sets?

It could turn out to be a Sky Police hover-car

I think you've nailed the worn-down look of the fortress, but the motte should probably be raised a few bricks higher; they're currently right at sea level

Indeed. Someone clearly has the entire catalog so I would expect everything by tonight.

Nice work. I think that Day 11 is my favorite.

I feel like we've been talking about sewer babies and batman's shoulder pads for the past six months

Congrats to all the winners! I’d like the wolf.