Murrig Icehammer

Very nice scene! I really like the simplicity of it, which is very effective.

Very nice MOC! I always found it extremely difficult to create natural looking environments or even trees, which makes your MOC even more amazing.

I think these "off" periods make it unneccessary difficult to reintroduce a traditional castle theme. I you don't support it with a massive commercial campaign /TV series/ Movie for ex.) it will likely fail nowadays, since a castle theme alone would probably not attract enough kids to be successful. On the other hand i think the problem a continous castle theme faces is the repetition of basically the same sets just with a different flavour. I think TLC wasn't bold enough to risk to go away from doing the same sets over and over and adding a twist, like to highlight another culture, like chinese or japanese. They could have even done a Marco Polo themed Castle line for a few years. (and by doing that spread some education to the kids.) I don't know how how the Viking theme went (it probably wasn't that well received by kids) but if the sets wouldn't have looked so technic-like, i think it could have been a even better "excoursion" for the classic castle world. Of course it's lesss risky to have a LotR license.

@Nightstalker Your army is mindblowingly impressive! But the thing i like the most about it is, that you created a whole history (and i presume world?) around it. I also live Wardancers elven Army, both of you created very high quality and really creative fantasy armies (this applies to basically everyone who posted his stuff here)! I can't wait to start building my own Fantasy themed stuff!

Really beautiful. I like the little pond, the big tree in the middle and of course the cabin, you can almost hear the birds chirping. Very nice build!

I don't meant that it would be risky for Lego to release a traditional castle line again, but there more $ to make by having a sci-fi castle mix which can be MORE appealing to kids than a standalone caste or sci-fi line imo. But i agree, especially castle sets where repeating way too much over the years. Just out of my head i'd say that there always have been at least a big Castle, a (prisoner/treasure) chariot, a tower, a siege engine, and a couple sets with individual soldiers. always. I think the problem does not lie within the castle theme itself, but the lack of variety in the sets themselves and things to do. It was (mostly) about a not specified conflict between two groups/knights. How about creating a medieval / or light fantasy based Castle/Medieval-fantasy line about a small town that gets threaten by several groups of bandits or knights or even fantasy creatures (or having a evil mage mastermind behind the attacks). There could be also a more traditional role playing game approach to the Castle theme, like the adventures of a small group of travelling adventurers? For the town there could be several civilian buildings, each set could themed around another danger the town faces (just an example). For the adventure group theme, there could be dungeon parts, city sets, even some orcs and dragons, you name it. But i think the problem for TLG is to make things like that look cool and appealing to kids if it's not shiny, loud and totally over the top.

I think we're going in circles here. Obviously a more historical medieval castle theme alone seems to be too much of a risk for the ppl in charge, so they felt they had to mix it with something else. I don't see any other reason to create something like Nexo Knights, it surely isn't because of the originality of the theme nor can't it be their artistic value or because the Sets are especially nice to look at (it's more like success of the Lego Movie and other stuff like that, where themes got mixed for temporary laughs.) The problem is that (some) AFOLS (like me) would rather see more depth or quality in the general Castle theme (10193 for ex.), instead of some goofy Nexo Knight castle/sci-fi mix. But as i already said AFOLS are not the decisive factor in this case. But that doesn't mean we're supposed to be happy about it. Of course creating a TV series and making some apps is a bigger investment, but also more safe than just releasing a Castle theme without any supporting media at all. You see, the theme is much more present, than just selling the toys alone. Each single element if its App, TV series/Movie and Toys are supporting each other, which in turn is much less of a risk for failure than have just the toys. Of course they invest more $$$, but it's also a way to play safe. (More commercials => less probability for a total failure, very simple.) For example, fantasy theme from 2009 only had a vague map with some hints of possible future sets (elves), which wheren't even released as a castle theme. What i want to say is that nowadays they surely wouldn't do that anymore.

Prices at the secondary marked, are hilarious IMO. No seriously, i only look at Amazon for Lego sets from now and then, but i must say that Lego prices in general and especially their licensed Sets are way over my budget (for various reasons). But on the other side, i don't want to switch to so called clone brands, not because i'm especially loyal to Lego as a company, but mostly because i'm concerned about the health of my kids and my own (There have been rumors of certain toys to cause cancer. I know this sounds crazy, but i'll better be on the save side, especially when it comes to my kids.).

Yeah... but we're talking about castle here, not some other theme, like City or something similar. Nexo Knights seem to have replaced (historical) Castle theme for now. Not just that, the statement on their own page suggests that they are well aware that there are people loking for a more classical castle theme (in contrast to a Sci-fi/ Castle mix like Nexo knights), telling everyone that Nexo Knights has replaced Lego Castle. period. That statement alone obviously suggests that there will be no Castle theme as long as Nexo Knights exists. Which is very sad IMHO. Regarding to kids and other media, just look at Ninjago/ Star wars and many other themes many of them are present in other media. I'm not saying that it's impossibkle to have a theme without that, but it seems that there's much less risk involved to have some kind of other media involved. I also didn't mean that kids probably wouldn't like a Castle theme, but it's obviously the ppl. in charge who don't want to take that risk, especially since there are still LotR and The Hobbit sets (which are pretty expensive IMO). And what do you mean with " the designers wanted to try something they hadn't tried before" ? There where LOTS of Sci-Fi/ fantasy mixed themes before Nexo Knights came out. Even Ninjago has certain Sci-Fi influences (vehicles and bases afaik). To me, it appears that the designers rather wanted to play save instead of trying something new by introducing another Sci-Fi/Fantasy mixed theme, instead of going either full Sci-Fi or full Fantasy/Historical (which would consists 90% of the same themed sets for decades). But aside from that, why do themes always have to be in vogue? Does it always have to be tied in with something else? Are kids really THAT superficial and have no other interest aside from what pop Media tells them? Isn't Lego itself powerful enough to raise interest for certain themes in Kids minds? Again guys, please don't take me wrong, i just try to understand the logic behind all this.

Only one word comes to my mind: Epic!

I think this says it all: https://www.lego.com/en-us/castle/fallbackpage In my opinion, LEGO seems to have no interest in reestablishing a classic styled Castle line in the forseeable future. I fear that themes which are not supported by other media, like a TV series or Movies won't attract enough kids these days. (Simply being fascinated about history/fantasy doesn't seem to be enough to keep kids interested, they need to be bombarded with a theme from several directions so it seems.) But since i'm not a child anymore, i don't really care. But what are we AFOLs supposed to do now? Well nothing, except to hope the get some bits here and there in form of a special set every five years or so (if any, lol). There's one thing i don't really understand. Why does LEGO leave that market to other brands like the ones mentioned in the opening post, instead of releasing at least a small number of sets each year just to keep their AFOL customers (us) trust to LEGO and not have them buy some other brand (some which could be even harmful to our health, as much as i have heard) ? Are we really THAT insignificant that LEGO can confidently ignore us? Don't get me wrong i just try to understand this matter. -cheers!

Very nice Galaxy Class miniature! It's good to see some Star Trek things around here. Makes this place feel even more pleasant. Unlike some others here, i think the Nacelles are allright. They are the right size and perfect positioned. I wouldn't know how to do it different. The only thing i would change would be the saucer section, by making it more elliptical (somehow ). But on the other side, building the saucer from parts would take away the clean look of the dish parts (idk how they are called). Another thing, have you considered to add some impulse drives (red transparent pieces) on the saucer? I can see it would be problematic to add it on the neck, so having the sucer ones activated could be a alternative imho. -cheers! PS: Sorry for the late reply, i hope its ok to post here anyways.

This is absolutely impressive!

Excellent design! I especially like that you didn't make it too colourful, which would have taken away from its clean sci-fi(ish) look that i really like. The (alien?) astronaut looks interesting too, really well done!

One of my first sets was 6040: Blacksmith Shop and i still feel a little bit like a child everytime i see it. But according to the OP question i have to agree with most ppl. here 7189: Mill Village Raid and 10193: Medieval Market Village are both really good. I don't know if it counts as Castle but i also really liked 7036: Dwarves' Mine which was really neat in its own way. (I still LOVE fantasy era stuff the most.)

Amazing work. It's nice to see that Star Trek hasn't been forgotten among AFOLs.

Amazing work! Nice use of the railtrack from the dwarf mine set.

I don't get it...

Excellent idea! I don't know where to start praising this set. The Hansom cab is a total eye catcher, as well as the house entrance itself. Minifigure heads and torsos are perfectly chosen and the color choice is excellent too. +support

Oh, that's gorgeous!

I agree. It's not only about the time period or the fact that it is simply "historic" themed. A castle line without any connection to ...well... castles, knights and medieval europe just doesn't work imo. But that doesn't mean a different theme wouldn't work per se, i'm just talking about a possible castle line. To be honest i tend to think Lego designers feel somewhat restricted when designing castle sets, maybe by adding a science fiction element (or some other goofy stuff) they think to have more options to create exciting stuff for kids. Anyway, to get around that "problem" is to add some fantasy elements. (at least dragons or mythological creatures fit more seamlessly into such a world than technology imo). Maybe kids aren't thrilled by the thought of building "boring" medieval villages where nothing happens (in their point of view). So adding some fantastic elements could be used to fill the gap between what many AFOLs are looking for and what kids like. Maybe a renewal of the Vikings theme (including their mythology) and integrate it into a more fleshed out castle line would be doable. (btw i loved the thought of Vikings vs Orcs , which was way more refreshing than generic knights vs orcs. but that's just my personal taste. ) Instead of restarting Lego castle over and over, they could add more diverse cultures and factions. But they should keep things vague enough to leave it to each one which faction is the good one and which one isn't. This would also keep the line interesting and they could add more and more sets that kids would want to have. They could even include some Lego Chima or similar animal like cultures (similar to the TES universe), there are so many possibilities, without getting into the realm of goofyness . (Btw: They COULD create nice Castle sets without taking a sidestep to sci fi, without any problem. They just need to take a look at the various proposed castle set by some forum members!) That's true.To be honest i don't really care if they are explicit movie licensed sets or not, but the style of LotR and Hobbit sets is the best i've seen in any Lego castle set line. I wish that a future castle line (fantasy related or not) would have such a level of detail and atmosphere. I'm not sure if it's possible but i wish they would just keep releasing similar (but more generic themed) sets just without the license of the movies, since they have the molds and all the other things needed to produce it. I think it'd be a big letdown if some future castle line would fall back to the use of textbook knights and generic styled weapons, Minifigure torsos and the mandatory pricess in a cage which is hanging at the bad guys tower....

That's an interesting thought.But i can't see any non european medieval theme they could come up with at the moment. Middle east has been done with Price of Persia line and the mummy/pharao quest line (whatever that was called. Both wheren't especially successful afaik) and the far east is covered by ninjago (roughly). So i don't think that they would consider a feudal Japan or historical China themed line. They could create a India centered theme, but i'm not so sure about it tbh. Another option would be ancient greece or rome, at which i would favour ancient Greece because there's much more potential for mythological creatures and gods. Mongols or Aztec also come to my mind but they could easily be too bloody for Lego. To me a ancient Greece inspired theme would be the best and most interesting sollution. It would offer a lot of different factions (city states), mythological monsters and LOTS of possibilities for heroic themed sets. I'm sure Lego only has license to peter jackson Tolkien movies, but i'd love to see some Silmarillion themed sets (e.g. Beren and Luthien or the children of Húrin).

Really nice idea of creating a own theme. Keep on going it's really cool! I'd certainly buy all of them without a second though!

Absolutely A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.! Funnily i've just watched all three Hobbit movies yesterday for the first time and i must say these images really translate the same feel as the movies. (or even better)

Really good work!