gedren_y

I don't buy Lego for the sets as they design them, I buy the sets with the parts I need for what I want to build. For some time that was Guilds of Historica, but lately my builds have been in Brethren of the Brick Seas. Castle as a theme is generally made up of the parts I want, and readily usable figs that require little to no modification. Heraldry designs can hold a range of desirability. Minecraft sets have a lot of bricks for filler parts in larger builds, and some fantastical elements that can be used in different ways. Star Wars has increasingly had sets that are great for the parts needed in building for historical and fantasy, and a number of figs can be repurposed with minimal effort. That big Ewoks set, if I could convince myself of the expenditure, is an epic source of parts in the kinds of quantity you'll get nowhere else. People talk of a Forestmen version, but it won't happen as long as Star Wars fans (so many aren't AFOLs) are buying the Ewoks set as display pieces. A D2C Castle set in a high cost range would have to have a parts and figs selection superior to what I could find in a number of smaller sets that match its cost for me to see it as worth the purchase. If there's a fig or heraldry in a set like that I want, Bricklink resellers are always an option. I did it for that a couple of different shields that were in high cost sets (not all Castle). From my perspective, the survival of Castle as a theme needs kids to be the primary target buyers. Hence Nexo Knights. Sets aimed at nostalgic adult buyers will not be good for Castle long term. Would the sets sell? Yes, but not likely to non-AFOLs.

Large D2C sets are a rare purchase for me. If that's all we get in the way of Castle, I'm not likely to buy it when I can get a more diverse array of parts with multiple smaller sets. My Lego purchase history wouldn't give the company any idea the kinds of things I build with the parts.

As long as you acknowledge that you are using an existing hull design, and give credit if you can, I don't think anyone will mind. I have created a few LDD ships, and do share the .lxf files when I post them. I'd be flattered if one of my hull designs gets reused.

About Creator: A few years ago I purchased a Castle type Creator set. It had a Kingdoms torso figure and some parts that were useful to me at the time. The 3-in-1 sets at that time were mostly Town, vehicles, and creatures. A Castle version of the set you describe would be welcome, but I don't know if we will get it. There have already been leaks about some sets that use the aesthetic of classic Pirates as nostalgia, one a rollercoaster.

I don't think Harry Potter will preclude a Castle theme, and I didn't disparage Castle 2013 as much as warranted. 1) Harry Potter, or more appropriately The Wizarding World, has things going for it that LOTR/Hobbit and POTC don't. First, there is active, and ongoing, promotion of the existing material. Second, there is new content being generated by the original author. A theatre production, NEW BOOKS, a dedicated website, at least one movie yet to be released, and theme park attractions. That theme is also cultivating a younger fan base, which is LEGO's target demographic (not us). 2) Castle 2013 was aimed at the younger children not immediately served by LOTR/Hobbit. The flaws we saw in the sets were from an adult perspective. The economic flaw was that even though the Castle 2013 target audience couldn't go see the movies, their exposure to the advertising would garner want for the merchandise. Because LEGO is such a safe brand, parents of young children were more likely to buy LEGO LOTR than other branded merchandise aimed at older consumers. Build complexity differences are less of a concern in that purchase choice situation. I liked the lion faction from 2013 because it was reminiscent of Royal Knights, with blue instead of red (which was a plus for me). The lion design being more blocky than previous ones makes me think that they modeled it after the lion head brick that has persisted as part of Castle ever since its creation. It took a while, but I even came to appreciate the dragon heraldry from that line. ----------------------------------- If we want to be seen by LEGO as a community to be served, then we need to give them some positive feedback about what we like about a product line that doesn't completely suit our wants. Tell them what we liked about Elves, Nexo Knights, and Castle 2013, so that future product development might end up more squarely in our collected interests.

For a less risqué version you could go with the Ballerina sans tutu.

Here's what Nabii posted in the Harry Potter thread: Not sure if he means his work in the theme, or the theme itself.

Well, some people have mistakenly assumed that the Unikitty bag line is supposed to be part of the CMF series. That added to the fact that the LEGO released minifigure count for all the series together is 59 the confusion is understandable.

There was some suggestion over in the Harry Potter 2018 thread that the Cactus Girl's arms could be used for a Slughorn chair disguise transition fig.

I think the arch they were referring to was this one, that was used for the small courtyard in the preliminary idea.

@Nabii, thank you for answering the questions that you could. I'll refrain from pressuring you for more information. I hope to see you about the forums more often.

I'm liking the expansion of the world this story brings, and your building prowess gives us a framework of design to aim for. All this discussion of maps, I wonder if Prince Damaximus has been made aware of the fact that translated copies of a significant portion of the Crahaish neh Triuri's Map Archive have been made available.

But with the Wizarding World there isn't just movies, there are theme park attractions, a theatre production, and new books.

The flags seen in the press release are from the scene in the first movie when the flags change when points are awarded towards the house cup.

Do we get a sword in this set? We get Fawkes and the basilisk, so it stands to reason we could get the Sword of Gryffindor hidden somewhere in there.

I'm a bit disappointed that the Firework Guy's nosecone isn't a separate piece.

If you go here, you can see that the basilisk was never actually green. That was due to set lighting.

The clown has extra-long suit tails!?!

This line seems to be trying to take advantage of the Wizarding World attractions. Could the basilisk be based not on the movie but on something there?

In the previous versions Hagrid's body and legs were one piece.

59 - 20 - 17 = 22

The Harry Potter set design, and certain new parts, make me hopeful that the next Castle theme will have a greater parts selection and more detailed building elements.

Another source of tan castle parts from another theme: this time Jurassic World.

I tried to point this out earlier, but there appears to be a new 1x1 slope piece used on the hall roof. This is the best angle to view it.

Look at the hall roof from the front door angle. Those tan slope pieces don't look like the ones on the tower roof.