TheFrisian

Too bad. The basic footsoldiers aren't bad, but its all too easy to get loads of those. I would've really liked some more archers, with bow and arrowholder ofcourse (lacking in the small Crossbow Attack set). Got to disagree here with you natelite, TLC made some sweet micro scaled sets with the Star Wars theme, and on Brickshelf there are also tons of great microscale spacecraft. Would something like this be like what you had in mind? Daniel Siskinds Tower of Dracula (closed) Daniel Siskinds Tower of Dracula (open)

Well, perhaps you should make a vignette of both endings. One in which he gets brutally slaughtered, and one in which he manages to fight himself out of it or gets saved by another (a dragon perhaps).

That's what I've been saying as well. I just recently started playing Warcraft III and I see many similarities with the factions of the present Castle line, which I think is kinda cool! I thought as much. Still seems somewhat illogical to me though. I mean, the Troll civilization most likely predates the necromancers rise to power and would have had a heraldry more symbolic for their own race, would they really have changed that just because they formed an alliance with the necromancer?

I'm listening to a selection of "smooth jazz" on the launch.com radiostation. It's very relaxing this late in the evening (according to my computer clock it's 0:49). I really should be in bed right now, LOL.

I'm not yet 30, but same goes for me as well. I really like the styling of the new Castle theme, the metallic parts, colorscheme, heraldry and minifigs are in my opinion a major improvement. (And I'm still itching to get my hands on one of those great chainmail horse bardings! Anyone got a spare?) But I do admit that the buildings of the Classic Castle themes were much better designed, more solid looking and more realistic. I'd love to see better and more interesting builds, even if that means they will be more expensive. But if you want something to be done right, you'll probably have to do it yourself. Which reminds me of the LEGO slogan: JUST IMAGINE...

I can see why you are fascinated by that era Wouwie, there was a lot of fighting and action going on back then. When I was younger I myself had a brief interest in the second world war theme as well, our back yard witnessed some major battle scenes involving several of my own WW2 creations, LOL. Speaking of which, I recently came across some really nicely done WW2 fighter designs on Brickshelf that I would've absolutely loved back then! And thank you Sir Dillon, Hinckley and Chuck for your kind words of welcome!

Hello Justin, congrats with your 22nd birthday! I sure hope your day wasn't all that bad? I wish the very best to you in the year to come, and especially lots of LEGO of course! :-D

Frisians are an ancient people that in Roman times inhabited an area along the coast of the Northsea from Belgium all the way up to Denmark. The Frisians have known some proud moments in history, usually booting some invader off their lands (among which the Roman Tiberius, who according to various ancient Roman texts gained a healthy respect for the tribes of the Frisii). Over the course of history, the Frisian territories were ultimately annexed and are now a part of the Netherlands and Germany. But even to this day the Frisians have a proud culture and a strong sense of their identity. The Frisian languages are still spoken in many of the former Frisian territories, among which the Dutch province Friesland, and Ostfriesland in Germany. As I have been born and raised in Friesland, the Frisian identity is strongly rooted within me. And when I was choosing my internet identity, "The Frisian" just had a nice ring to it ;-)

Thanks everybody! *sweet* Being welcomed by so many nice people makes me go all warm and fuzzy inside :'-) :-D What's wrong with learning about our history Wouwie? I admit, history lessons at school were pretty boring, and they probably always will be. But still I find myself dreaming of other times and places. Far into the past, wondering about how life was like far into the past. Or just the opposite, how life is going to be in the distant future. Thats why I love genres like history, fantasy and science fiction, and subsequently the Castle, Star Wars and Space themes of LEGO ;-)

HELP! I can't decide!!! It would be brutally satisfactory to see the poor knight chopped to bits, but on the other hand, a heroic save would also be very nice... Can't you do both? :-$

Thanks a lot for sharing those pics Cristian! It's really nice to be able to have a peek at what is to come next year. Based on the preliminary pics provided, I would say I kinda like the siege tower and the ship, but aside from that none of the builds really appeal to me. But I absolutely *love* the new factions, both the Dwarfs and the Trolls (or whatever they're called). Too bad TLC doesn't have army builder packs any more like they used to with Classic Castle.

Erm... if I had to guess, I would probably say on foot, since trolls don't fly very wel... X-D

WOW! Great find Ikki, thanks for sharing! I didn't expect to see pics of the 2008 sets so early on, since we haven't even seen a more decent pic of Dwarfs Mining yet. When I look at the picture, there are three things that immediately catch the eye: the dragon, the ship and the new Troll faction. Lets start with my impression of the dragon. Although I'm still somewhat ambiguous about which kind of dragon I like best (Viking or Castle style), it is nice to see a dragon on the good side. I like the green colorscheme, it emphasizes the good nature of the dragon. I also really like the mean looking head armour, but in comparison the printed body armour is a little disappointing, I would have liked the body armour to be a seperate piece similar to the headgear. It is good to see the Crown Knights return, but I do wish they had chosen a different minifig instead of the general. It seems to me that riding a huge dragon is highly uncomfortable, even aside from all sorts of hefty maneuvers, the back and shoulders of a dragon will move up and down quite a bit just by flapping its wings in normal flight. In short, dragons do not make for a very good fighting platform. The general as seen in this picture has two major disadvantages: his armour is way too heavy and bulky for aerial combat and will hinder both himself and the dragon, and his lance won't do him much good either. I'd love to see a specialized dragonrider here with light armour (perhaps an archers torso?) and javelins or a longbow for weapons. Lets have a look at the new Troll faction. First of all, I really like the overall look. The earthy (dirty) colorscheme and crude unsophisticated appearance really sets it apart from the nice and shiny Knights and the dark and sinister Skeletons, yet at the same time it also emphasizes the beastly nature of this fantasy race. In that respect, I'm not sure if the straight-edged look of the octagonal shields is appropriate here. The heraldry is kinda nice, simple and straight forward, but a bit cartoonish. However, I do wonder why they have chosen to do a skull design again, even if it is a troll skull. The minifigs themselves are very nice. I like the skin color, faces and torsos, although it's likely that the borrowed Viking torsos will have been replaced in the final product. Same goes for the ugly wig like prototype helmets, of which the final design will probably look a lot more similar to the headgear of the big troll. The big troll itself also looks very nice, I especially like the armour and spikes. I also like the big guy's club, but I would've liked it even better if it were brown, as wood seems to be the most logical choice of material to make clubs with. However, I'm not sure what to think of the new swords. They're large, irregular and pointy, and very unlike any of the previous sword types produced by LEGO. Though the crude appearance suits the Trolls, it might be just a little too much. My impression of the ship. As some members already stated, it is remarkably similar to the Viking longboat in overall design. However, I do think it is different enough to be a great ship in its own right. The colorscheme and crude design is very recognisable as being of Troll origin and fits the theme nicely. Although the picture is incomplete, I'm guessing there is some kind of spiky thing on the bow to ram other ships with, which is again very troll-like. I also like the turnable masts and the unusual shape of the sails. The large skull printing on the sails is a bit much in my opinion, but I'm positive it'll do well with kids. And I just love details like the big drum! I do however question the necessity of the two small rowboats, in my opinion they take up more space and cost more money then they are worth. I'd rather have more minifigs! Another thing that bothers me just a little, is that the bottom of the ship ends rather abruptly at the rear section, just like the Skeleton ship. This looks kinda odd to me, since ships of that era were usually of a more rounded design. Overall, I would say: a great new faction, a nice dragon and a decent ship. Well anyway, these are my thoughts and considerations when looking at this picture. I hope you found them worth reading.

Thanks a lot Mr Tiber! Being welcomed by so many fellow Dutch makes me feel right at home on Eurobricks :'-) Dutch on! *y*

Welcome to Eurobricks Paul! And keep building great MOC's like those!

Your vignettes keep amaze me Doc! With the fantastic lighting effects and photography, you really managed to bring out the drama and suspence in this little horror scene. For what it's worth, I hope you get well soon. I know being at home sick isn't fun at all... but as long as you are, keep making those great vignettes!

Well, not THAT nationalistic in any case. I feel just as much Dutch as I do Frisian, LOL. But thanks a lot for your welcome! And actually, the greeting Piet Paulusma uses is "oant moarn", which means "until tomorrow".

I haven't seen one of the new "Dino dragons" up close yet, but based on posability and MOC-ability I prefer the Viking style dragons. As for the Bionicle parts, for the most part they can easily be replaced by non-Bionicle parts. I also really like the wings of the Creator dragon, someday I would like to combine that design with a Viking style dragon.

I'm starting to think Eurobricks is indeed plagued by the Dutch, but something tells me that isn't such a bad thing! I'd love to go to Legoworld as well Holodoc, but I'm afraid I can't make it this year. Maybe next year though!

I liked the Forestmen as well, but in my opinion a bit too outdated to fit the present more fantasy based theme. But taking into account that Elves usually live in forests, it would be very nice to see a Forest Elves faction to supplement the current theme. Elvish men and women living in trees and secret forest hideouts, with a new kind of longbow (the present shorter bow with the fixed arrow is a bit lame in my opinion) and special elvish blades as weapons. And with the different kinds of green, brown and metallic colors TLC is currently using, I see some great possibilities for the heraldry and outfits. Given how popular the Forestmen still are, something like this would probably be an instant hit!

Well, your story doesn't have to be just as grand and elaborate as his of course. But I think a lot of Castle fans would love a well illustrated short story! I know I would! As to why he never finished his second story, I really don't know. From the messages in his guestbook I do know a lot of people are very disappointed that he stopped updating mid-story. It's really a shame he's left it unfinished, he is quite a gifted story writer. Are you familiar with his work? If not, you should really check out the Ikros website!

Well, that doesn't really come as a big surprise as kids are usually more focussed on action play. And since the new Castle theme is very much orientated towards the military aspect of medieval life, it should do very well with kids. But TLC should not forget the fact that there is also a large AFOL community with quite some money to spend. And from what I've read on forums like Classic Castle and this one, there are a lot of AFOL's who would be thrilled to see more sets orientated towards everyday medieval life, because they provide a lot more depth to the medieval fantasy world TLC has created with this new Castle line. I for one would be very tempted to buy more civilian sets, especially if they are of the same great quality as Daniel Siskind's Blacksmith Shop. And from what I have read and seen in your article, that is definitely the case with the sets you designed!

A whole story, that would be soooooo cool!!! I *love* great LEGO-illustrated epics (like Anthony Sava's Chronicles of Ikros, too bad he never finished his second story). With your great photography skills you would certainly bring such a story to a next level!

Hello Xeno, welcome to Eurobricks! I'm looking forward to seeing pics of your MOC's.