thetang22

Sorry, I didn't know it was classified that way here. I've been in the gaming hobby for a LONG time, and it's typically been it's own classification, separate from both Medieval Fantasy and Sci-fi. Regarding the Space Knights rumor...I haven't noticed that in this particular thread, and I don't pay attention to the Sci-fi section here. If we are going by this thread alone, the rumor says it will be a Castle theme with light Steampunk, and the TV show tie-in is something else that's starting to pick up some momentum.

To be clear, there's been no mention of "sci-fi" elements....only light steampunk influences. There have been a few people saying "wouldn't it be neat if..." regarding the sci-fi....but in terms of the actual rumors, it's only mentioned Castle, with a light touch of Steampunk (such as World of Warcraft steampunk, for example).

As mentioned...promotion. It's extra marketing and exposure for the product. Lego wants to make as much money as possible, and a TV show helps that happen.

If you are trying to do that off of instructions, you have to see what pieces are being used within the instructions that line up with the same height as the area in question, then use that to figure how high it is. It's probably not going to be very easy doing it that way, but it's possible.

If you consider Castle to be nothing but historically inspired content, then I'd agree. However, Castle has almost always been just as much medieval fantasy as historical...and airships have long had a pretty big presence in medieval fantasy. Lego just has yet to really catch up to that.

Why settle for the seas when you could aim for the clouds?

Small builds serve a different purpose. That isn't your preferred style.

Think of some of the early Final Fantasy games (pre 7). There is a pretty light inclusion of steam punk-inspired stuff while maintaining a dominant medieval fantasy vibe.

The redeeming factor - Steampunk is about the only way "machines" fit into a high fantasy setting. Steampunk has been lightly mixed with medieval fantasy with success on several occasions, so there is definitely potential. Had the theme been Chima-fied, with lots of modern vehicles for the sake of modern vehicles, it would really taint the Castle theme. However, if you get a light presence of steam engine stuff, it could fit the fantasy context a lot better. Dwarves and Gnomes are pretty popular in fantasy/steampunk crossover material. If the steampunk rumor is true, I wonder if either of those races will show up.

I'd have to say the early childhood influences that led me to like "fantasy" had a lot to do with Disney. When I was a kid, there were lots of fairy tales that had a sense of adventure to them. Even things as simple as Snow White told the tale of good vs evil in a medieval fantasy setting. Those influences still exist today...with newer, popular Disney movies such as Tangled and Frozen. Secondly, video games allowed me to further explore the idea of high fantasy. Playing games like Zelda, Dragon Warrior, and Final Fantasy on the NES had a big influence on my fondness for the subject matter. Lastly, (and this one may seem a bit odd...) growing up with the Star Wars movies had a big influence on me liking fantastical settings and characters...along with sword fights (lightsabers) and magic (the Force). Sure, there were lots of other smaller factors, but the big correlation between all those influences is that they all encouraged a kid to explore their sense of imagination (which is probably the most fundamental quality of Legos). These sorts of influences still exist today. There's just a LOT of other powerful influences out there as well, competing for the attention of today's youth.

That means we "could". CC being Classic Castle?

Those look decent, but still not quite as "right" as general magma's. The big reason why his version works so well is the loose wavy hair over the front of the shoulders - that's how Gandalf's hair is in the movies.

Lego minifigs are supposed to be cartoony.

I was talking more about the excessive wrinkle lines and nostrils, more than the extra teeth. I agree with you that it's highly unlikely that one is going to make a child scared while the other wouldn't. However, it's a designer's job to criticize details at that level to ensure the right amount of bad guy scariness, along with classic Lego charm, is correctly balanced. Simply putting more detail on because it's possible is bad design, as a general rule.

Deathleech, your efforts look solid....but so does the original. I think my problem with too much facial detail is that it attempts to make something that is inherently a bit cartoony (Lego minifigs) too serious and not cartoony. The more detail it gets, the less it looks like a Lego minifig, in my opinion. The slightly goofy and cartoony look of the CMF Goblin looks very much the way it should (charming), in my opinion. It's got just enough "bad guy" vibe to it without trying to look too scary for children.

There is such a thing as "over-designing" something, and I have to say that many of the newer minifig faces fall victim to that. More detail doesn't mean something is better. Finding the right balance is where the key to good design is, and plenty of the newer faces have missed the mark, while lots of the older simplistic faces nailed it.

That's the best hair I've seen for that purpose. It's a shame it requires a little modification, because that's the one.

My guess is they won't bother with it crouching.

At first I thought it was a colorless Satyr hair, but gargoyle makes sense.

It's fantastic :)

I know what you meant. Your point of view has merit, and so does mine. They may or may not be the exact same faction...but even if they aren't, they have basically been the exact same thing every time, with a fresh coat of paint. Due to the lack of official lore, perspective has a lot to do with it. Of course they will have updated crests/colors....that's part of reinvention of a product. A product will usually sell better if it feels like its "updated" or "new". That's why Lego has taken the same tried and true elements and tweaked them over and over throughout their Castle history. Even companies go through reinvention from time to time, but that doesn't mean they aren't the same company as before...despite their new logo/colors, etc...

"That's about it" entails quite a bit, actually. Have Lion Knights/Crusaders (whatever you want to call them) been the exact same faction every time? Maybe not technically, considering the different colors, different settings, etc... However, they represent the same thing EVERY time they've been used. They are the token heroic knight, good guy faction, with a lion crest. The next time they show up in Lego Castle, chances are they are going to be the exact same thing, with a different coat of paint.

Nope, that is standard corporate marketing. The confirmed the line is over in your message, and then followed it up with a shallow "you never know!?!?...." because that's the sort of thing that keeps a person with blind hope invested.

But there is no "news" yet...everything is still all speculation at this point. Finding details within other Lego lines that could maybe have a correlation in a future Castle line (that hasn't even been officially confirmed yet) isn't news, it's just fan speculation. I hope we get elves in the next Castle line too, but I'm not going to celebrate until we've got something of substance that suggests or confirms Elves. We just don't have that yet.

My gut tells me if we get elves, they will be somewhere between the Forest Elves from LotR and Lego Forest Men from the 80's/90's. I wouldn't mind if they took the tabletop gaming approach to creating the different models within a faction.