Merlo

I like how bulky this looks, especially the new left side :)

I must say having built the castle, I quite like it. I was so starved for anything castle themed after all this time. My main reservation from the pre-release images was how colorful it looked (the new water, the flags, the tree and the mushrooms, all the brick-built birds). Pirates of Barracuda Bay turned out amazing despite this, and I feel will be my favorite set for some time to come. The Ideas Pirate Ship, however, didn't sit well with me. It looks great from afar, love the hull and the colour scheme, but up close it's just a mess of studs and it goes for a level of detail impossible to achieve with such a low brick count, which makes it look pixelated and like a solid B model in all but shaping (which is top notch). The execution here is undoubtedly superior. It looks fine as is, and matches my taste even better if I simply remove the red and white flags at the front. With them the castle catches the eye more so I see why they're included. The play features are great, the opening mechanic has been my favorite since forever, the yellow/brown/blue parts are wonderful accents, halving this gives you two smaller playsets, I think this is just a top notch build in general. The modular nature of it all is something I always cherished and I'd be tempted to make a mega-castle (I think Lego should give us multiple set combining options such as that more often!) but I don't find the B and C models that attractive. I think they're perfectly fine, but just lack that final 20% polish that would make me feel perfectly happy looking at them, which is the same problem I have with the Pirate Ship. I feel the price and level of detail on this are spot on too. It's not ridiculously expensive, yet feels substantial enough when built, detailed enough to be a display piece and more than interesting enough for play. Speaking of which, some stuff that doesn't float my boat: -the dragon is a cool idea, but doesn't look smooth at that scale (cool to have as a play feature, ofc) -the green/olive ground at the bottom of the castle lacks detail As you can see, this is a common theme with all my posts... I'd rather have a less detailed, but elegant version, than a suggestion of detail you can't pull off at the scale. -same is true for the included vegetation, but to a lesser extent, obviously -the shield in the front rotates constantly, I wonder if there was really no other solution -not an inspired choice of minifigures, but I guess they didn't want to make new ones just for this -I would have loved more interior stuff. Not even detailed stuff, like what we got in the set, but just hints that someone is living/working there. This is purely because I feel the castle exterior makes for a great display set, and the interior makes it a great playset, and as such it would profit more from small make-believe touches than a few detailed rooms and the rest empty. But I do remember how empty the sets of old were, so this is definitely something. Honestly, If Lego would drop another set or two in the Castle theme that looks as good as this, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Don't even need castles, give me a small outpost, an inn, a blacksmith, whatever, at half the piece count or less, that's fine by me!

Epic. Love the colours.

Looks like a great update of a classic set. I'm just missing the brown touches of 6055 ☺

Feels like a real place!

And I was wondering what would prevent me from buying Lego once I become a grownup with a job of my own... lol

https://geizhals.eu/lego-creator-3in1-pirates-ship-31109-a2294544.html

These won't be sold in Europe, I assume?

Sounds fun, blacksmith is huge for what it is. Zero chance of this happening, but I'd enjoy just a tad darker and more grown up castle equivalent to the Harry Potter sets. I'd gobble those up if I was any younger and/or a HP fan.

The more I look at the Blacksmith and new Creator castle, the more I want something in between. Something that looks at least as "serious" as the Blacksmith, but with sets that are smaller, more affordable, not as detailed (yet not rough either) and... dare I say... modular like the Castle sets of old? Buy one a month and end up with a 6000+ pcs castle by the end of the year. Or don't.

If I had to guess, by seeing a modern take on a theme they loved as a child? The rest of the AFOL sets probably appeal most to those who both loved Lego in the past and the set has something to do with what they love now, e.g. me liking music, and thus it being much more likely for me to buy a jazz quartet idea than it would have been otherwise.

Don't have any research on this, but I'd be baffled if non-Lego fans happen to see an object they like made out of Lego and decide to buy it in large numbers.

Would they make a castle at all? Next to all the IP's, what if an old school castle wouldn't attract a wide enough demographic? Lego is known for making more serious submission kid-friendly, so the Creator castle might be a way to put an end to it all with their usual sloppy attempt to satisfy both groups: it's a castle, it's relatively big, yet it's insanely colorful and not too expensive. The Blacksmith was a huge and very detailed set, especially compared to what it represents, so it easily had the quality needed to match its price. Can you imagine a castle at that scale, though? Even at a similar scale? You'd need 4x the size/parts/price to make but a small fortification and nobody would buy it at such price. I'm not sure what the alternative is? Both Blacksmith and Creator castle being so popular that a third, in-between solution, enters the picture, more akin to AFOL tastes than the Creator castle, yet less detailed and luxurious than the Blacksmith.

The thing is Lego is in no way obliged to make the final product be similar to the submission. And a recurring theme is probably a good indication of customer interest.

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/26553060-dac2-430c-b34b-a0607a3d456d I reckon that's only an issue if the build relies heavily on retired parts? Final products are often much changed version of the initial idea anyways.

Yes, but if Lego concludes "we already have one castle", then it's the only comparison we can make. What we could have had vs what we actually got. I'm not a fan, but I reckon that's an intentional choice of style. "Classic castle" is the weird one out for me. The shape is fine, but it has all the vomit pastels in there.

This is so true, it hurts.

Things I'd go for: -Steampunk Airship - just a wonderful build -any castle (not holding my breath) -Jazz Quartet - already have some non-lego musician decoration and this one is even better -Viking Longship - this one just looks neat -Karate Kid - great scene, probably too big for its theme -Train Bookends - I dig the build -The Shire - I'm always up for some greenery -Medieval Marketplace - not half bad -Lisbon Tram - much pretty -Totoro - who doesn't like Totoro -X-Files - might be small and cute

This hurts because it's true.

Pic or it never happened :)

Amen to that. Well, at least I'm not risking much since I have others sets that could fill those shelves :)

It's just hard to measure the darned things in person without some estimation, but I had it the other way around... tops definitely not fitting, but sides either fitting tightly or with slight modification. But then again, I forgot to mention I would leave the little garden out :)

Assuming I take out the highest antenna and perhaps curb a side ornament or two, would City+Docks+Gardens fit, side to side, into something like this? https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/milsbo-glass-door-cabinet-white-20452307/

I find Lego makes excellent stuff for lying snobs like me. The typewriter? Yeah, I used to be a promising writer. But I developed a relationship with my old typewriter and when it broke I never could replace it. I just couldn't write without it, my career was over after it barely started. I still see my name online sometimes, people wonder where I went, because the little I wrote was so profound and life-changing. I just don't have the heart to tell them the real reason is so banal. The globe? I used to travel the world a lot in my early days. There's so much we can learn from other cultures, but refuse to do so while becoming victims of our modern way of life. If you only spent a month or two with the tribes I've been with, you'd see things differently, trust me. But anthropology does not pay the rent so after financing many of my expeditions myself I just had to close that chapter of my life. The piano? Oh I was a jazz pianist extraordinaire. Went to the jazz conservatory in Vienna practically on a bet but ended up with a full stipend in no time. Everyone was watching my every move until at one point they didn't... they said I was too extravagant, too avant-garde. I had to contain myself, my ability, my musicality, just to be appreciated... that drove me to seek a different way of expression. I found this one of a kind old typewriter and for a while it became my life, until, well... I thought about going back to piano, but arthritis got the better of me by that point. My fingers couldn't stand all the playing and writing combined. Dinosaur fossils? Well...

NICE! Supported.