Ardelon

I hoped the theme would get the Star Wars treatment, with sets being redone with new molds, as well as more accuracy thanks to the movies already being out (Im especially looking at you, Attack of the Wargs with pale Yazneg instead of Azog).

Well, as a Castle traditionalist, I come here because Im somewhat interested in NK as an Action theme. And theres the fact that a LEGO designer weighed in on the discussion in this thread, which caused a lot of Castlers to react. And bear in mind that its natural for people who dont like an announced set or theme to critise it in the thread it was announced, and give their reasons why they dont like it and wont be buying it. Similarly, theres no point in starting a NK thread in the Castle theme, when NK discussion is here (emphasis on *discussion*). Understand better now? Yeah, and fantasy bits that make up fantasy Castle are pretty broadly agreed upon and have their internal logic, so not really random.

Kind of a redundant question in this forum - who wouldnt want a new space theme here? But yeah, I think the current pattern wont go away any time soon - a new conflict-based theme every few years.

I guess thats because of Castle sets being geared to younger sets, as you wrote elsewhere. Im surprised that is the case though, I would think a Castle theme would skew older than a zany colorful Action theme. Good luck with your LEGO ambitions. If it works out, dont forget to feed us plenty of leaks! We can hope.

I could go for a shepherd, or even better, a shepherdess, for the bonnet. That sheep seems to be too vague a hint, though a CMF shepherd(ess) really is long overdue. Is this another clue or legitimate innocent speculation?

All true, but remember a LEGO designer himself claimed it was a Castle theme. Whether that means anything "official" from a company policy view, I dont know, but its as official as we are going to get. He even implied that there would be no traditional Castle theme out while NK lasted, since this theme takes up the Castle slot. And if NK does well and reaches evergreen status, what Im afraid of is that it might do to Castle what Star wars did to Space.

It would be fitting to mention his appearance on a poster in the 75900 Scooby-Doo Mummy Museum Mystery set. http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/lego/images/6/6a/810nsg%2B%2BvTL._SL1500_.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150716172625

Hm, categorizing this as a Castle theme means that this probably will become the most reviled Castle theme so far (though that also depends on whether it really will mean the absence of more traditional Castle sets) - along with possibly becoming a very popular Action theme...

I have a feeling that it will be the Sea Cow that will look halfway between a classic pirate ship and any Ningago flying ship, but there will probably still be some nice parts to be had.

In any case, hoping for a history-heavy series, what with Nexo Knights and no more Pirates. So far, the leaked figs (?) sound great, with the Satyr and the Squaw / Tribal Girl, maybe even the Shark guy. Relieved that this will be a regular series, as will S16.

Because the horses are not horses but robots. As are many of the knights/soldiers. And because they use motorbikes and cars more often than not. The one castle so far is the easiest thing to modify, but its still a metallic vehicle rather than a Castle. I guess the hope were clinging to here is not a traditional Castle theme, but something similar and compatible - Mythology, Antiquity, Vikings, Arabian Nights, whatever.

Or make them sky pirates, team them up with snake-peopleand set them against ninjas. But actually, this pirate-faction set that CM4Sci posted in the Ninjago forum doesnt look too bad - head, bandanna (newly in dark green!) and pistol are OK (maybe even the legs), and the plane has some bottles (the highlights for me) and whatnot. Interested to see more. Though this would go in a 2016 Pirates thread, if its worth making one. EDIT: new pic after old one taken down from imgur

My votes: 1) No on being a Castle theme. While Mark Stafford saying it is Castle is basically the final word, I am looking for a more natural justification than simply word from above. In this vein, anything could be Castle simply by virtue of the higher authorites saying so - even Town, Aquazone, or Galaxy Squad - regardless of any deeper basis for the claim . 2)Dont care about what weve seen so far, Parts-wise, there is some nice stuff, but mostly stuff that doesnt appeal to me. Build-wise the sets look well crafted. 3) No on buying any sets - not for some boycott or statement, but simply becasue Im not a buyer of Action themes (with the exception of Adventurers and similar), and there is nothing here that would push me to buy it. 4) it makes no difference to me - since Im not a buyer of these themes. I appreciate that theyre successful and lead to more sales of LEGO, and I follow the Ninjago cartoon and am tentatively liking the NK teasers, but set-wise these are unappealing to me, and I would rather see TLG devote more resources to more traditional themes. Though that said, it does make a difference to me insofar as they replace a theme I appreciate, which I fear will be the case, since Mark Stafford claims its a Castle theme.

Sci-fi, science fantasy, castle punk, ...

Beautiful building! Outside my price range, but still. And wonderful way to work in a story of bank robbery and money laundering! Which means I think the laundromat doesnt detract from the building at all, quite the opposite - it provides more setting for a city than just a bank. Highlights for me are the gray ingots as masonry, black fence pieces, and what looks like a new stamp/seal piece. And is that orange brick in the laundromat supposed to be detergent?

Castle-punk or cyber-castle sound about right for this theme. Its a shame Castle couldnt be reinvigorated som other way, like taking it into non-European regions (like Middle East or Far East inspired)or (Greek)mythology, or some other way more compatible with the existing Castle world. But I guess the marketing/research guys have all the right answers to that. I dont doubt Nexo Knights will bring in a lot of new (and older) kids. What i do doubt s that they will continue on to be Castle buildrs as oposed to Sci-Fi builders.

Im impressed with these sets, specially the pirate plane (bottles as exhausts!). The dragon is meh, but the structures of the other two look decent for such small sets, and Im also intrigued by the new Venomari.

Since there arent any actual rumors, maybe it would be better to merge this thread with the one x105Black posted?

I have to mention, Im happy TLG chose the approach it did, with a complex reveal instead of just teasing us with a minifig or poster. Bravo and thank you, to whom it may concern in TLG.

Dangerous talk, in times like these. Heres my wishlist: 1) A traditional, low-tech, honest-to-goodness Castle theme. Fantasy or realistic, with repetitive or original heraldry and set concepts.

Youre right, but I was thinking more of an in-universe explanation. But nope, just a plume.

Like I said in the Disney CMF thread, it seems too bulky for a blind bag (at least as a 2x4 piece - slightly less as a 1x4 piece). But it seems like the general consesus is that its possible. So much the better. The thing is, if its the 2x4 piece, its not even a new mold, but an existing brick. Meaning no new mold to be milked in CMFs and regular sets. It might just be the show designers being creative and wanting to use something different than the slope piece. Of course, AFAIK a 1x4 configuration would be new (not sure on that), so this paragraph would be moot. Just playing devils advocate here.

Kind of my point - jumbling random things together to maximize the "kewl/awesum" factor, and yet the result is often less than the sum of its parts. Like putting chocolate syrup on salmon, on the basis of both foods being delicious (although I admit I havent tried this combination ...). I think that more often than not, cool things are awesome in relation to their environment, and risk looking out of place elsewhere. But I will stick around to see how the designers handle it. And if you can afford miniature robots, you can afford firearms and cruise missiles to do your dirty work for you, without relying on "knights", but I admit that now Im thinking about it too hard. I thought it worked like the hole at the cap of baseball caps where you can poke your ponytail through. But this way is funnier. I wonder whether it will be addressed in-show.

I will definitely be checking this out. It seems to be better than Chima, and hopefully will be (at least) on par with Ninjago. Actually, Im afraid it will be too similar, with little to differentiate them than the setting. Another concern of mine is that the monsters seem to easily beatable - one hit and even the big ones go up in a puff of smoke.

I dont think the Macy dress piece would be used ina CMF series, as its too bulky and identifiable, even more that the slope piece. *Maybe* if it was a niew piece thats only 1 stud wide, instead of the 2-stud wide piece used in Toths design, but even then I wouldnt expect to see it in a CMF blind bag. But otherwise I agree, its a great piece and I hope to see it used as an alternative to the slope skirt somehow somewhere someday. And yeah, flesh-colored is the only way to go. Having said that, I hope the series will avoid fleshy triangles and skin prints on the torsos as much as possible. But if we get figures like Aladdin for example, there wont be any way to avoid it. I would have thought the same would go for the PotC baldric, and yet...