Ardelon

I consider the golden age to be the early to mid 90s, based on output and variety of what was available. Its true that today we have access to everything that came before, and whatever else we may fancy on the secondary market, but thats no golden age - thats living off past glories. I think the six year cycle is too pessimistic. That would mean a long time with no pirate sets on the shelves after each theme retires, and I would assume TLG would want to catch youngsters newly arrived to the system/minifigure scaled themes. So they would keep a pirate ship and related sets on the shelves every 2-3 years (though that would mean simpler sets to cater to the younger builders). After all, PotC is right between the six year cycle.

Yeah, thats why I wrote freed from *a* licensed theme - small steps and all that. I will hold off judgement on the Disney theme just yet. And its enough that the Simpsons are taking a break, even if they arent gone for good. I would hope for a Simpsons-free CMF run in 2016.

As someone who was barely aware that something like AB existed. I m rather nonplussed about this. But like others, I do like that egg - it has whetted my appetite for more parts like this.

I have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, Im glad the CMFs are freed from the grip of a licensed theme, but I would like to see more actual sets, just for LEGO to push the envelope, and because I actually am a fan of the show.

Most long-time AFOLs maybe have them, but not kids, or newly converted AFOLs. For this reason, I think Woody and Buzz would make sense, maybe even Jack Sparrow. But not in the first series, anyway.

Just zany enough for Scooby Doo. And yes, it seems like Shaggy got some inspiration from the "ghost" of Ironface. But knowing Shaggy, he should have the terrified face here... But well done, it brought a smile to my face (and Ill probably re-watch the episode).

So, at last a clear look at the minifigs. At least the bad guys dont look tech-y. But it seems like the only salvageable part from the good guys will be their heads, if they wont have futuristic headbands or stuff like that.

Well, we can always theorize whether Willa wasnt the greater evil. I dont know how ambiguous it was which of them was the boss. In my universe it was Basil, with Willa as an ally who helped Basil with his image of a terrifying netherworldly ruler, like giving Basil the illusion of vampirism.

Hmm compelling article, especially with the Racers driving license. But I always saw Basil as a human who worked the vampire angle for psychological warfare. I think it makes him cooler like this, and I will simply consider the driving license as not canon to the theme.

This seems like a pretty promising series, but I hope its more about the figures from the animated movies, instead of Mickey & friends. What I would like to see the most are figs like Hook, Jafar, Hercules, or Mulan. Much better for history fans to carry us through the Nexo dry spell. What I do NOT want to see is any licensed series take over the standard series 15 slot. So hopefully we are looking at two different series.

From the description and CM4Scis pics, this theme is looking very good. The idea of previous kinds of villains teaming up appeals to me strongly. It may even be a better source of parts for historical builds than NEXO knights. And of course, thanks to all involved for descriptions and doubly to Sci for drawings.

As a Slav, Death is usually portrayed as female in my culture (and the word "death" itself is a female noun) but not exclusively (same goes for the neighboring Slavic states). But I always assumed that TLG would go with the more stereotypical americanized cartoon portrayal of the grim reaper as a male - similarly to what they do with other minifigs. As it turns out. we didnt get Death / Grim Reaper in any gender. (Nor do I expect to. But then, the lines of whats acceptable get blurrier every year.) As for the spider lady, I see her as spider-based vampire, unlike the usual bat-based ones.

This is possibly the most heavily played-with set from my childhood - I believe that the nose-guards from both helmets have broken off, one of the shields handle has broken off, and Im beginning to think I lost the other shield, and the smile on one of the faces has faded away into almost nothing - the only minifig on which this has happened (now I hide it by using it as Majistos head). And I have a sword broken at the hilt and another broken at them´middle, both of which I suspect come from this set... No other set of mine is in such a worn out condition. Good times.

Having seen the pics, Im disappointed, though I was bracing for it. So far the only things I see that I like is the horned helmets and possibly Jestro. And I wouldnt mind if the kettle helm in (dark?) blue makes it past the prelim stage (which I assume it will, else they would have used an existing color helm as a stand-in). I might still grow to appreciate this theme on its own merits, but I was hoping for a more traditional Castle theme, and if this takes its place, I wouldnt like it. Not much of a fan of these zany themes anyway - though I follow the Ninjago story, and I plan to check out this one. Otherwise, this is far too techy for me, and it doesnt even look like there will be many useful parts to harvest. As for whether this is a Castle theme, I dont think so. Chima also had kings and their kingdoms, swords, armor and what not. And this is a theme in the Chima mold. And there is the Ninjago - Ninja 1998 parallel as well. So this gives me hope there will be a more traditional Castle theme next year or sometime parallel with Nexo. As for where this theme belongs here on EB, staff have other considerations apart from the "feel" of a theme. LotR/Hobbit went here to keep this forum active, and with no Castle since 2013 and none forseen, Nexo might get the same treatment. That said, I prefer this to go into A&A, for reasons already stated - the A&A crowd seems to appreciate this theme much more than the traditional Castle builders.

My one hope hinges on the "regular knights" part of this rumor. This theme is sounding more and more like Chima with castle-style heraldry (and not even that much is certain).

Very artistic. It must have taken a lot of work to position the parts just right. I like the flag as well - its all very revolutionary!

Nice set! Looks just like a real one. Plenty of playability.

Wow, what a monumental build! Awe-inspiring as a temple should be. And the details, like the portico floor mosaic and the doors, are lovely and emphasize the grandeur.

A great series of MOCs! The horse is particularly well built, to avoid any blockiness. But I also love the ornateness of the buildings.

Kind of weird the link leads to a petition for money for Down syndrome... Oh well,good luck to the 27 petitioners, whatever their cause may be.

I can only say one really good thing about KK2 – at least it had an epic-style storyline with multi-year continuity. I have no problem with Chima so long as it stays out of the Castle theme . Never seen the series, so I dont know how that would skew my opinion. Considering Nexo Knights, I wonder how the steampunk rumors will play out. Honestly, the logo evokes more dieselpunk, maybe even cyberpunk. Steampunk in itself could be pretty cool, though still not ok for a castle theme - unlike some here, I dont find steampunk siege engines any better than steampuk modern vehicles, in the context of a Castle theme. But still much better than robotics and eletronics. So I guess the best way a robo-horse can turn out is indeed a steampunk Trojan horse.

Nah, I couldnt bring myself to modify LEGO this way. Noted on the Fly movie, though it still bugs me (pun intended). But I guess one new claw piece per fig is better than none.

Well, compared to these Nexo Knights, the 2013 theme is starting to look positively outstanding. The touted „originality“ of this theme is pretty worthless if the „original“ bits are unusable in a castle setting (to the extent that this really is a Castle theme). Of course the theme may still be a pleasant surprise – the LEGO movie Castle Cavalry set was OK, so a something similar could be good. But Im not holding my breath, with Robo horses and all. I hope they will tone down any jellybean aspect, at least. Color-coded could be fine, after all, all previous factions used faction colors on their torsos or sleeves or legs. Apprehensively waiting for pictures.

I must say in my view that this series is tied with the Simpsons series 2 as 2nd „worst“ (as in unusable); the no.1 spot goes to the Simpsons series 1. Here are a few observations from the final pics. * Wolfman: A better werewolf than the previous CMF or the MF one, which, as someone above noted, rather looks like a bear. And nice to get the tail piece. * Zombie pirate: The beard really completes the minifig, but i do wish the splotches on his coat were a more natural brown than dark bley. Now I cant help thinking he splattered hmself with wet cement. * Fly: Im not a fan of the imbalance of the figure having only one claw. I guess its meant to be an incomplete transformation. Not to mention that flies dont have claws. But its a clever way of making people buy two of them. Not a fan of the green hairs either – it just messes up the black-and-red scheme. * Cat lady: looks more like a woman in a suit than a „monster“. Unless a kinky furry fetish girl with a whip is seen as monstrous. Reminds me of this pair of custom figures. * Gargoyle: One of the better figs, but still, I never associated gargoyles with shortness. Normal legs and bigger wings would have looked better. I wonder why they made the small wings at all, since they look much too small on any minifig. * Banshee: Intriguing fig, with the light sandgreen color. But not attractive for me. * Spider lady: The detail on her beehive is nice, but it makes the hairunuable in a normal setting.

Nice! Just so long as you spend the difference on more LEGO...