x105Black

Don't be dissing my He-Man!

Hinting at Quidditch?

That's why I use things like Bricks & Pieces or BrickLink. I won't invest in the sets. It's not because they have nothing to offer, it's that they come with so much that I don't care for, and I can't justify the cost of a set when most of it will go unused. So I buy the pieces that interest me. However, I bought all but one set from 2013 Castle, and many Tolkien themed sets. So that's what I'm talking about. So yeah, I can get some parts and minifigures from Ninjago, Elves, and Nexo Knights, but I won't get invested in them as a theme in the same way I would a Castle theme because they all offer only little pieces of the whole.

I very much agree, but Nexo Knights was a sci-fi Castle theme so that makes sense. Still, the pentagonal and pyramid tiles for example were both great for Castle fans. And a Castle theme, a true Castle theme, should in theory provide more great parts for all different Castle fans.

Agreed. Once you account for things like lighting and color grading, the only difference is that this LEGO version looks a bit more saturated in color. Otherwise, great match, it looks fantastic.

Yes it does. I saw the image earlier, and I really like the colors. Much better looking Raptor than the new version of Blue.

You're right, there is a lot of variation in what Castle fans are looking for. No Castle theme is going to appeal to all Castle fans because of this. That's obvious. But hopefully there could be a Castle theme that appeals to a good portion of us, and gives great parts and minifigures to the rest. Even though I loathe Nexo Knights, I found things from the theme that were useful. I believe that an actual Castle theme would provide more of that, even if the theme isn't exactly what I want. And I believe that this will be the case for most Castle fans.

I see what you're saying, but in my opinion they are all around the fringes of the sweet spot that would be filled by Castle, and none of them are Castle enough for me to get invested.

Saw another picture of the Stygimoloch, and it looks awesome. Very excited about that.

So true. But you're right, and I agree that this should not be the end of Castle forever. I strongly feel that they will release a new Castle theme that will (at least attempt to) appeal to us. If not next year, then soon after.

So, like Endor?

That would be more appropriate in Licensed than here, but the possibility of it happening would be exciting. Bricks & Pieces was treating the LEGO Ninjago Movie as a licensed theme. At least they were last year. It's really a shame that they continue to focus Castle and Pirates at that age group. One or two sets each wave could appeal to that demographic, but the theme overall should really aim higher, regardless of the inclusion of story elements.

That could be cool. Is Martin going to give them story treatments? Unlikely, but maybe they can do well without him. Then again, I doubt it will have the adult appeal of Game of Thrones...

Well that brings us back to what I was saying with minifigures. Castle sets are also a great source of animals, especially horses. That's another reason we could really use a Castle theme. Now I know you can order brown horses through Bricks & Pieces, but there isn't much diversity among equines. We could use a bigger variety of the newer style of horse.

Going back to what @SirBlake was saying, minifigures are one of the most important aspects of a Castle theme. Sure, it's great to get sets that look good, and it's definitely great to get some useful pieces. But ultimately, we will be building things on our own out of these bricks. We can not build our own authentic LEGO minifigures. And with the CMF line offering Castle fans less and less every year, it only highlights how badly we need more minifigures. The CMF line has, however, introduced many great characters and parts. I'd love to see them expand on those factions and create great sets using many of the new accessories and pieces introduced over the last few years (and beyond, as there were great parts introduced before Nexo Knights that have yet to turn up in a Castle theme).

They are normal legs. Just to ease confusion, she doesn't use the long legs used for Woody from Toy Story. But yeah, they're not short legs. At least I don't think so.

I could get behind that.

Nice to see them all together. I don't really care much for the crown on the Unicorn's torso. The Cactus looks great among the others. I really want some Dragons.

OK, saw the new trailer. It still looks good, but I also learned from The Last Jedi not to trust the trailer. Still, despite my misgivings with what I saw here I will still probably enjoy it when I eventually see it.

All true. I would have loved to see them do what their competitors did with Nick Knights: I would have bought them if they were real LEGO...

I'm not entirely against panels, I have many and use them. That said, the 2013 Castle is mostly panels, while there are beautiful modular sets made largely from bricks. Castle needs that attention to detail and interesting part usage.

That's a fear we share. But a little fantasy twist would be cool, and fresh for the Pirates theme. I'd welcome that.

As long as we get actual leaf pieces and animal molds I'm all for it. I don't like how Creator is so focused on everything being brick-built. This is another reason that the Expert line is very fitting for Castle.

Haha, funny. I was really just talking about the negativity towards Star Wars that I have felt since watching The Last Jedi. Great buildup, great trailers, great promotions, totally unsatisfying movie. So I will not be spending money on tickets to further Star Wars films (not that they will miss my $10 among the billions they'll make). They've fooled me once, as it were.

It would be very unfortunate if they targeted the younger age group again.