Aine

Man, I'm absolutely NOT into Space, but this vignette is lovely! :-D

Amazing build!

Yeah, that's ll be lovely. There's so much space to explore in European history and folklore, from Greece to Vikings, from Robin Hood to Wilhelm Tell, from Ural to Iceland. It'll be nice if tlg brought some historically inspire sets.

And I thought myself original when I envisaged a Black Knights tribe of some 100 minifigs? Laughin' out in silence. This is pretty cool! The only area where you could have been even more courageous are the female trolls. (Trollesses? Yeah, trollesses...) If you have the possibility and money to print the heads, you could have made even more feminine trollesses. I don't like how the orcish, trollish (and often times the dwarven) females are depicted in most of the pop culture, and it'll be cool if you'd made them quite the opposite of the males, more of a green-skinned beauties than beasts. There may be a true sexual dimorphism amongst the trolls, so the males could sport the fangs and what not, while the females could have none of those. I understand that it's not a cheap hobby to have printed tens or even hundreds of female heads, but still, what do you think about it? Edit: But honestly, this is a really very minor criticism, I really, really love what you've done. Seeing such a project, one last question remains: how do you walk with such a massive balls of thine? :-)

Wow, wow, wow! You know that I'm a Castle guy, but heck, when I see a lovely Pirates (and yes, Imperials, too...) build, I recognize it! Congrats on being featured on main page! Very, very nice MOC!

Wow, what a detailed post! I agree with you in every point, and I should have noted that the SW helms are mostly copies of a particular mold with another print or whatever. It's also true that there are lots of non-Castle yes-Castle helmets (or headgear in general) like the CMF ones or the LotR/HP stuff. Until a new Castle line shows up, I don't expect any new molding, but they should definitely reuse the ones that you've mentioned, namely coz the development must hav been pretty expensive, so why not use it. Speaking of a need for a correct type of helm: yep, that's where SW and other licensed themes really need specific parts, while Castle may do with what already exists. I'm just a bit sad that in all those helmets and other headgear that they produced in last three decades, there are few generic ones (no bat wings, no horns, no grille, etc.) that would fit my period (um... yeah) like the 3896 and 3844 do. Funny thing is that there are some molds from Friends or city that I'd use, like a riding hat with long hair: if e.g. 18829pb01 came in a metal color, this will be sick helm for a barbarian horsemen. And yes, most of what the BRICKxxx companies design doesn't really thrill me.

SW stands for Star Wars. Bricklink finds 232 search results for "helmet sw", but only 16 results for "helmet castle". Granted, this isn't the best way how to find the needed helm, and lots of them may go unnoticed due to search engine failure, but it's still significant. Even if you look for all kinds of "helmet Roman" or "helmet gladiator", it's still clear that Castle doesn't get that much attention as SW. I would gladly pay for the vintage 1984-1993 shields, if there weren't three troubles with them: the state of them in general, the state of golden prints specifically, and the incoherent heraldics. Take a look at any faction from the days of old, and you'll realize that there is a level of inconsistency that you may (or may not) dislike. I know that it's about color schemes, I know that Early Middle Ages heraldics was far from set in stone, and i know that I'm talking about children's toy, but still, if I pay 2 USD for a tiny piece of plastic, I'd rather be happy with the purchase. The official LEGO animals, and the level of details are in fact the same trouble. In past years (decades?), LEGO creates more detailed, more realistic moldings. They have reasons for doing that (see the reasoning for the new horse), and they seem to have success with this policy. I mostly like what they do, but my issue is that I'm trying to make a vintage collection with only a superficial touch of modernity, and this isn't that easy as I thought it to be. Considering the prices of lego animals, the way how you buy them piece by piece from BL, this isn't funny. I'd rather have 4 cheaper and nicer cows from one seller, than the more expensive and less aesthetically pleasing ones, while paying four times the postage fees.

The quality of picture is fine enough, the size is literally not great enough. Next time don't resize the originals! ;-) I like the mix of vintage minifigs with modern stuff. Fleshies are sooo nice! And the Wargs are pretty cool of course!

Wow, that's cool build! i like how you deviated from your usual stuff, but also remained true to the historical theme! Pretty one!

It's a little pity that those old capes weren't done in green. I'd buy tens of them.

Yes, I know of the new spears, and I was very happy when I found them. But when I got them, I realized that the tip is a bit bulky, and it's from a soft ABS, so it's a bit weird. But they are still an improvement over the old ones! I try to fall in love with the new axes and well, they are nice, but I really wish they'd come in one piece: nostalgia factor, I know... Those long swords are amazing! There's one small issue though, that they are a tiny bit too long, so that they touch the ground when they hang from the saddle. If only they'd been half a stud shorter! Speaking of helmets: there are lots of really nice helms, but what I miss are some light ones. Something like the classic bullet helmet 3896 or the 3844 helmet with nasal guard. Especially the 3896 is a real light helm, a period-true one for my needs, I'd love if lego made them again. TLG were also really really close with the viking helmet, but I dislike the holes for horns. But this is about my aesthetical preferences, it's not an objective measure.

Man, these are so cool, I really like them! <3

I'm not sure if my opinion is important, as I never bought a single thing from non-LEGO producers, but I'll still try. I think that 3rd party stuff is legit. Lego intentionally doesn't do lots of things (like modern weapons, etc.), and even some of their parts are not really aesthetically pleasing for me. E.g. most of the swords are either too bulky, too long, or simply too silly. They also cannot design a proper spear, I really dislike the fact that the shaft and head are from the same material. Same goes for axes and halberds, except for the tomahawk (which is rare and not exactly massively useful) and the elaborate spear that has weird spearhead. Lego doesn't have many nice helmets. There is a ton of SW ones, but for a Castle enthusiasts the option are not that rich. Speaking of defensive accessories: vintage shields are costly, and they often suck qualitywise, which is not surprising due to their age. Official lego animals (like cow, pig, and the extremely and unreasonably rare goat) don't mix well with old 1980's and 1990's stuff, and they are pretty expensive, too. So these three things (at least) are the main parts that I'm going to purchase from BF in the autumn. Animals, so that they match well with my vintage horses. Articulated spears. Maybe halberd, and maybe a few bows without arrows. Helms... eh, not so sure. One trouble with all the 3rd party stuff is that it's often overdone and doesn't match well with the old lego. Too many details, etc. Also, there is some truly weird fantasy nonsense that's beyond ugly. (In my eyes, ymmv!). I'd LOVE to buy genuine lego parts, but not for the price they command (goat, vintage shields), in a crappy quality (vintage shields and torsos), or when I simply don't like them (cows and pigs, articulated horses, both old and new spears). So, lets try the other brands. tl, dr: There's a niche to be filled and BF+friends tries well.

I may signature this!

OMG, that's beautiful! Very, very nice build, I love it!

That's really hard to answer. But maybe they will try a different theme in the future, after the current line stops to sell, and if their marketing dpt. realizes that there's demand for Game of Crowns inspired sets, they may start producing them.

Yep, the recent fantasy craze could be capitalized on even without being a robbery, TLC just needs to revamp their own successful fluff. It'll be thirty years since launch of Pirates, so the Forestmen (And Castle in general) needn't to be in line, but I really think that there's a potential for success with a fantasy/history sets. Also, the new deer could be nice in natural colour, and the goat really should be used more. Also sheep, please...

Minifigure, Cape Plastic ID 4524 in Dark Green I'd love to see this part because the cloth capes drive me crazy, and there are no plastic ones that are sutiable for green minifigs, namely the elves.

those small houses infront are wonderful!

Amazing build! I like how you solved the walls, no dull grey but also not a mess of 20+ different bricks and styles. Well done rocks, it's nice when they are not too high. Rpound towers are top! I like the small stairs in the middle. Maybe add some more life, some small tents and buildings plus minifigsd would make the center less empty. Very, very nice!

Yes, that's how I felt the issue. I was under the spell of old Robin Hood tv series from 1980's, so the Forestmen were "good" guys, and the Lions not that much, as they were the main antagonists of the Merry Men, but then again I had just two of the Forestmen, so I was forced into all kind of alliances so that my games could work. :-) Also, I thrown astronauts and city dudes into the mix, so there go your factions... :-D It'll be cool if lego returned to the more classic view on this, and made neutral factions again, but yeah, first we need a return of castle. ;-)

Are those... are those... are those Black Capes? That's ingenious! Wow, really cool creation!

Very nice, indeed! The siege engine is amazing!

So, it's more of a horror story, than just a fairy tale? :-)

Yeah, that's so pretty! Really cool! <3