thetang22

I know it's only observational evidence within a small sample, but it doesn't look like Nexo Knights sells that well in most stores I visit (big stores such as Walmart and Target, along with a few smaller toy shops on a rare occasion). Some of the smaller, less expensive sets will sell a little bit, but there's always plenty left on the shelves of almost all Nexo sets.

I'm pretty sure the classic evergreen themes were "evergreen" before the term was even used, and it basically meant that no matter what else we (Lego) dabble in, these few themes are the foundation of our themes...and you can always expect them to be represented. The term may be more "official" today than it was back in the 80's and 90's...but it seems like the idea meant more back then than it does today.

There are a few themes here and there that would be awesome in Lego, but have unfortunately been done via other brick companies like Megablocks and Kre-o. The best you can typically do at that point is ponder what could have been.

Yeah, "evergreen" has lost a bit of it's meaning. Evergreen these days means "it's evergreen until we decide we don't want it to be evergreen anymore".

If they go on clearance, it always gives reason for more consideration, but I'd rather be using that same argument for sets I like in the first place, rather than justification to buy something I don't like.

Considering Lego's are getting more and more expensive these days (on top of being a VERY expensive toy in the first place), I can't use this rationale to justify purchasing sets I don't like. If there are ever individual components I find useful from sets I don't like....its Bricklink for me...that way I don't have to buy at Lego's premium price for a bunch of stuff I don't want and likely won't use.

I'm anticipating the potential woodland and sea creatures we may get from the future Nexo waves too. They look like they will be great for a medieval fantasy setting, right along with the Fantasy Era monsters. My biggest fear is the absurd futuristic vehicles that will assuredly come with those sets, inflating the prices for a bunch of components I don't want.

I was talking about the seaside castle idea that was mentioned, and introducing some pirates into it (ya know, because the castle would be right on the edge of the water) to have a legit combination of the 2 classic themes, where knights and pirates literally co-exist as though they are part of the same theme...because a lot of us did that with our Castle/Pirate Lego's when we were young anyway.

We could get a legit Castle vs. Pirates theme. The marriage of 2 classic themes :) After all, I think a lot of people who bought into both lines basically mixed them anyway as though they went together in the first place.

Being Lego "Castle" is more than just bricks and mortar. It's also going to be several hundred $$, and as such should not be considered any serious "alternative" to an actual theme with sets at accessible price ranges (especially considering the shortcomings Hive mentioned).

I think a lot of "action" fun can be had indoors as well. Yes, indoors are great for non-fighting scenes and play, but you can also have plenty of fighting indoors as well...its just that it would not revolve around the "vehicle fighting" that Lego seems so intent on pushing. Think more to the romantic era of cinema with knights and rogues fighting in close combat within the castle walls...swinging from chandeliers and such. It could be as simple as a duel in a castle hallway (think Princess Bride with Inigo Montoya fighting soldiers in the castle hallways). There is a LOT of potential for indoor sets, both peaceful and fighting scenes. Lego just needs to get over the idea that vehicles have to be a BIG part of any Castle theme.

I don't think we'll see a new historical/fantasy Castle set until Nexo is either gone, or obviously on its way out. I can see Lego maybe making 1 or 2 promo sets in the meantime, but I don't think they would invest the resources to launch another full theme, as they would likely view it as a conflicting theme to Nexo Knights since they are choosing to label it as "Castle" (even though its not :) )

I can't say with 100% certainty, but virtually all Lego fan sites would seem to indicate it was a "Castle" theme. Don't mistake "theme" with "faction". The more traditional European fantasy Castle sets were replaced with Ninja....they didn't really co-exist. Then when Ninja was discontinued, they went back to more traditional European fantasy. You are trying to provide REALLY specific arguments for why they aren't comparable....but this is Lego, it's much simpler than that. And at a glance, I'd say my comparison is likely still valid for a lot of the fans of traditional Castle.

For the same reason Ninjago is not, but Ninja is.

I can definitely recognize it - so that's a compliment! It looks good. A bit bigger than it seems necessary for Lego purposes...but the size does seem pretty accurate to the game.

When was the last time they did a Western theme? I was in my Dark Ages for a relatively long time, but from the little I've seen, it seemed as though Western was only a 1-off theme....not the sort of thing that was recurring. And didn't the Lone Ranger theme kinda flop due to the movie flopping?

I like the smoke coming out of the stack.

The bottom 2 look a bit more typical, whereas the top 2 look like they've got a particular story.

Overall pretty cool. I have to disagree with LittleJohn though, I'm not partial to the sections of white. When I think of "steampunk"...white just isn't a color that I associate with it, so that feels a bit off to me.

Micro builds are some of my favorite designs, and this one is nice. The waterfall seems well done.

I agree. However, this idea is meant as an "in the meantime" sort of idea, since we likely aren't getting any traditional Castle sets for a long time. The idea doesn't require Lego the level of investment a full line of sets would be. These would be singular, small to medium sized sets released on a pretty conservative schedule. Other than some roof pieces, 1 or 2 banners, and excess shields, it would basically be a collection of faction-specific minifigures...which would be a big selling point if these were new prints of old favorites like I mentioned above.

For what it's worth, my idea was meant to be a bit "far out there". It could be 1 army every cycle....a single all-in-one pack of a bunch of pieces that already exist....just done in different colors and different prints. It could even be a website-only direct order from Lego. Something that they know wouldn't have a HUGE appeal, but rather a tribute to all the fans that have helped make Lego what it is. Its not the sort of thing that would have to hog up store shelf space. It could simply be a tribute to all the fans that have helped make Lego what it is. Just consider how many people already do have at least 1 lego castle. Castle Conversion Kits (6 month intervals) Cycle 1: Black Falcons Cycle 2: Forest Men Cycle 3: Black Knights Cycle 4: Wolfpack That alone could be enough to generate a decent amount of interest. And the sheer fact that a lot of the pack is minifigure-centric, it really would likely have an appeal to a larger base than expected, since minifigures tend to be a big selling point for many sets.

I've thought about an idea a bit over the past week or 2, and was wondering about the viability. It appears we won't be getting traditional castle sets for a while due to Nexo Knights...but I was thinking about a product idea that would not require the release of multiple sets all at the same time like a typical theme release. I know a lot of people like the overall builds when seeing a new Castle set, but it seems even more people are excited specifically for new factions (or re-imaginations of previous): the mini-figs, shields, and banners, etc... Many of us already have 1 or more Castles from past themes. Looking at many of those examples, it's typically the same sorts of items that create the visual identity for a faction. I thought the idea of selling faction packs would be interesting. The concept: an all-in pack to turn one of your existing castles into a different faction. For instance...let's say you have 7946 - "King's Castle" from Kingdoms: The main things that prevent that from being any other faction's Castle: - mini-figs - shields - flags - roof pieces So if you wanted to turn one of your Castles into a Black Falcon castle....it could be a faction pack including the above mentioned pieces. Not an entire Castle by any means...just 5 or 6 minis figs, some extra shields, maybe a mounted character to get a horse/tabard, some faction colored flags, and perhaps enough roof pieces to customize a tower.

I would say there was a tolerance for that other stuff back then, because we also had the themes like Castle to appreciate at the same time. Themes like Nexo Knights/Ninjago feel like they happen at the expense of a more traditional Castle set. That may seem like a weird thing to say in regards to Ninjago...but the reason I say it is because I feel themes like Nexo Knights happened strictly due to the financial success of Ninjago. Ninja started as a more traditional Castle theme years ago. They experimented with the "Ninjago treatment", which in their eyes worked (because it is a financial success)....and as a possible result said "Hey, this worked with Ninja -> Ninjago....why not try Castle -> Nexo Knights?!?!" I totally agree with you that when AFOLs criticize the newer themes as juvenile, it has nothing to do with age-appropriate'ness of build techniques...it has everything to do with the aesthetics. You don't see a lot of medieval adventures these days that are really popular AND are aimed at younger children. A lot of "adventures" in media these days revolve around super heroes and Star Wars. Those examples showcase lots of guns, lasers, modern/futuristic vehicles, etc...and typically pander to "the bigger the explosion, the better" mentalities. To a more sophisticated audience, those techniques seem very juvenile. That's what it feels like they are doing with Nexo Knights. "Young kids these days like super heroes and Star Wars more than they like traditional medieval adventuring....so lets make Lego Castle more like super heroes and Star Wars. After all, we did that with Ninjago, and that worked."

There is pretty solid rationale behind both viewpoints in the production capacity argument. The one thing it does seems like has happened though, with all that extra capacity they have these days, is that they've released a LOT of short run series, rather than new multi-year lines. I don't see them doing another multi-year castle line until Nexo is gone. While getting any traditional castle line would be welcome at this point, I think what most of us here are eager for is a new multi-year theme that is developed over the course of the run, rather than the minimal 1 and done releases of late. Something we could get invested in and become a topic of legitimate conversation for years.