Sting

Castle fans... http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=30272 How long has this piece been around and could it not have been just built from smaller pieces?

I agree that old Grey is better for castles. I do like the color Old Grey more, but there is no point in me trying to mass old grey, so I will deal with the less flattering look of it when building castles.

Someone better put a review up of this set AS SOON AS THEY GET IT!!! I'd really like to see if its any good!

When I wasn't a starving musician, I would spend up to $70 a month on Pirate Lego, acquiring alot of ships and figures and pieces. I unfortunately can spend no more than $10 a month on Lego because of my tight budget. It is sad, but true.

Its unfortunate you two have so much old grey. I only have a 2ftx1ftx5inch bin NOT EVEN FULL of old grey... and an even tinier amount of Old Brown. I am happy seeing all these sets comign out in Bley, because it means good sets for pieces. If Lego ever makes some of the classic castle pieces and other more unique pieces in Bley I will be willing to sell my old Grey... No point in keeping it if it isn't going to be produced anymore and I don't have that much. That won't be for a while though. Do you two plan on just buying pieces from the 2nd hand market, or are you praying Lego goes back to Old Grey? I am surprised there is not more discussion about this possible new castle theme! Even on Classic Castle!

A very good subtheme I might add! I loved that little airfield set! It still makes me want to move to Australia this day and run a gas station in The Outback (seriously!) !!! (Hey, Australians, is it really all its cracked up to be? It appeals to me because of the beautiful scenery, and the people seem just as friendly as Canadians... and your weather is way better than here! LOL). Yes, Outback was a good theme. I think it only had 3 or 4 sets... The Airfield, A cool little 4x4 and bridge, and a racer... can't remember others. A Helicopter maybe?

Alot of his figs really inspire me. He has some really cool ones... he even has THREE U2's! One from 3 different eras! Quite cool.

This makes me very excited. I can only pray that it is true, and that the company avoids the awful Massive Ugly Wall Piece (as pointed out by Gylman) and the Cheap Ugly Wall Piece (http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/30246). Those pieces alone make sets not even worth the price. The prefab wall pieces of the past (the flats one and the corner ones) required lots of pieces to keep them together without looking stupid, and most important they did not look cheap. These new pieces look like garbage. A new Castle Line will mean nothing without good set design. The only good Viking Set in my opinion is the Fortress. I want the War Wagon, because the Viking Figs are incredible, but without good set design, it is just a waste of money. And I refuse to waste money on just minifigures anymore. Skeptism is needed though. There are many people that like the lower-quality lego sets, and have said "This years models are going to be amazing, trust me ;-) " and than the sets still suck. We have to hear it from a fan of quality lego models, preferably a classic castle fan, if we want to know if these sets will be high quality. I want to make it clear to all the naysayers that Lego can move forward/look modern and have high quality set design. Every stupid Bionacle Piece in Knights Kingdom and Viking Sets could be built out of smaller lego pieces. Look at the 7903 Rescue Helicopter. Better than almost any Town Helicopter before it, yet it is from this year. Good design my friends. And yes the new Knights Kingdom is better than the last, but it still is weak. Lets pray this is a sign of things to come, whether this particularily instance is a rumor or not.

How does Playmobile make enough money to stay profitable and lego cannot? Lego's themes mostly suck right now, and most sets of many of the good themes suck too. Yet, when Lego was continuing with old tradition and having non-jun1orized sets (up until 1996, but had an even (and uglier) change in the early 2000s), it was obvious they were losing business (someone told me that is why they switched so much... they had lower profits each year from 1994-1996 and they needed to change). I just don't know anyone who collects or builds Playmobile.... yet I see it everywhere! Who buys it and how does the company make profits??? They have some amazing themes. If only Lego would try to do the same.

Actually a really good idea. If only the factory allowed for base plates and the proper colors, this would be amazing. I may even consider ordering one of those one day... when I am not thunderously broke. Maybe one day Lego factory will include almost every piece and it will be like Bricklink except a little cheaper (as Lego can produce the pieces as demand is met).

- New Firestation - A few new townsets(Can anyone show me the list again? I remember hearing about the Sea Port and a Gas Station) - I am trying to get a few 2005/2006 sets still! I should really look into those before I go for 2007.

The Wild West one was one of the best! And I agree, that all the displays were cool. Although back in the days of those displays I collected almost every theme (surprisingly, Pirates, my current favourite, I had the LEAST sets of). I wish Lego could start doing this again but it is probably much easier to put the sets onto a computerized background. Fright Knights was one of the first themes to do this. The Fright Knights overall were not nearly as bad as the Knights Kingdom Themes, and they had lots of potential (I loved the French/Gothic influence in the Torsos and this COULD have been extended into the Architechture but they obviously decided to make it more just ridiculous (as seen in the jambling tower of the 6097).

In alot of cases I would agree with you. Particularily most of the Viking sets (loved the beards and hammers). In the massive Prototype Pic of the Viking Ship, the ship is much much cooler, the monster is more terrifying, and the vikings and the entire scene just looks more heroic. Look at the back of the boat - it actually has a bridge. Although not as realistic (Longships didn't have an elevated bridge section) it looks cooler than the platform we got on the Released model and has some cooler pieces. Oh well!

I still like the preliminary Viking Fortress design (with the blue baseplates too) better. I would like to know why they change certain elements of other wise decent looking sets. I really liked the crane truck, and I don't really know why they would have changed it besides the minifigures (to the cooler new ones) Any other pics or insight into this from the experts would be interesting.

I shall continue waiting. When do you plan on having this camera?

Yes. Fair enough. I will edit it now to compare 2 castle displays then.

ExoForce is a theme I have mixed feelings about. Actually, no, I like it. I just would prefer other sets. I kinda wish they made it more darker themed, but what can ya do (its based on colorful mecha animes) (PS: Would it be possible to convert the mechs to greys or other colors, or are most of the pieces very specialized and only appear in the brighter colors that are in the theme?) Obviously if we are talking about the actual FORTRESS, the Viking BUILDING is much stronger and cooler. As for overall set, its really depends on what theme you like more. Me, loving the Viking Theme ( - most of the monsters) obviously like the Viking Fortress. I still haven't got that set yet. I should pick it up soon.

For me, 1997 is when LEGO changed its entire style. In 1997, it was the last of the cool displays Lego used to have in Catalogs (where they would show all the sets in a lego/paper mache world), the quality in sets declined (as seen by the terrifying town, pirate, and castle sets released (Although the Imperial Armada sets, some of which released in 1996 I believe, were showing decline.) For example Old Style New Style I actually remember seeing the 1997 Catalog in a set I had bought and my stomach felt wierd. I could sense the difference. I somehow knew it wasn't going to be the same. And I was in grade 4!! (EDITED on NOV 5th to compare 2 castle pages instead of a castle and a town)

I may have been unactive for a while Phes! But I still want my sweet Avatar!

It is very unfortunate that the pictures do not load on my computer! I would really like to see this!

People's General's Idea is good, but I think less floors with a less generic look would be cooler. For example, The Police Station in 6398, if Designed a little different, and obviously without all the police themed stuff, would be a REALLY cool Office building. Office Buildings go along with homes and other small businesses that gave Lego character. Having Police, Fire, and Hospital themes every few years gives no life to Lego system. Whats the point in having a fire station with no one to save, hmm? The Port that is coming out (any pictures of that yet???) is sounding pretty cool though!

I would like it more if it were MINIFIG Scale... but it still looks really good. Very good idea.

I think they are cool, but in the end it gets a little ridiculous. How many remakes are they going to have? But I guess there are still some things they could still do with it that they haven't done yet!

I love every Viking set... actually... i should say HALF of every Viking set. I love the Fortress, but I hate all the stupid ACTIONFIGURE pieces in them (which includes about 90% of the Monsters - very little TRUE Lego in those sets). I imagine Calvin is talking about the hundreds (Im guessing) of pieces that aren't traditional Lego in the Viking Fortress. The Long Boat isn't very good, as the only good thing about it is the figures and the few cool details on it (I love the little barbeque in the middle). I agree that the monsters look really cool and that they are built and put together well, but I think they are a waste of money. The Vikings were done pretty well. I liked the concept of the Monsters, but I think real lego pieces would have been better. Maybe if someone provides me with a part count that shows how many pieces go towards the Dragon and how many pieces go towards the Fortress, and I see it as worth the 100CDN it will be, maybe I will pick it up. The new Firestation is pretty cool, but I do not think it is as cool as some of the older town sets. It is quite cool though. The 7093 Rescue Helicopter is probably the coolest Helicopter designed by Lego EVER... even compared to ALL of the town sets from the 80s and 90s(Pick it out... it is incredible). Grievous, out of curiosity, when did you start collecting Lego?

Very cool thread! Who would have thought there would be so many! Did I miss it... I haven't seen a CASTLE look yet? Or am I just CRAZY!?!?! I can't believe how many MOCs were based on this. There must have been a contest for it. If Lego re-released that set, even in Bley, it would be cool!