Kliq

Yeah, and they also started Star Wars with yellow figures. I loved those. Now I don't purchase licensed sets unless the minifigures have pieces I think I can use. One positive thing is that it really saves me some money. Back on point, though, I can't see them ever switching human castle figures to flesh tones. I don't think it is harsh at all, I truly think they look terrible. Whenever LEGO decides to release some new castle sets, I really hope there is more of an emphasis on mature builds like LotR. Those licenses have to be expiring soon. I'd love to see standard castle sets with that level of detail.

That would be a 100% fail proof way to guarantee that I avoid LEGO castle like the plague. The flesh color is the bane of my existence. It is bad enough that I have to tear apart LotR/Hobbit figures and replace their hands and faces with yellow alternatives, but sometimes there is flesh on the torso, rendering them completely useless! If LEGO insists on using such a foul color on minifigures, keep them to the licensed themes. If they ever cross over to the traditional themes, I'm diving head first into my own personal LEGO dark age.

Honestly, at this point, I would welcome just about anything (as long as it doesn't harken back to Knights Kindom II). I, personally, really enjoyed the modularity of the last castle releases and would love to see more of that in any future lines. Of course I would also love any kind of UCS castle set as long as it remains minifigure-scale (I don't see why it wouldn't be, but you never know).

Great MOC! I especially like the cutlass door hinges and the way you did the varying angles on the shack. :]

Kevin, I love seeing your classic castle MOCs. It really makes me long for such modular sets to be released today. I'd love for you to keep at it and eventually show off a whole fortified town/castle done in this style.

Yeah, I have a strong dislike for the boxes that LEGO come in. Sure, it is what's inside that counts, but I'd love to have an upgraded box. Something you can actually use. I keep all of my boxes. I open both ends and have them flattened out in storage. I do that immediately after dumping out the pieces, instructions, stickers, etc. Oh well, I guess one can dream.

This is the era of Castle that I love the most. Don't get me wrong, I love the style of modern sets, especially 10193, but the simplicity of 6080 King's Castle (and all of the smaller sets that you could add to it) is awesome. DSC00338 by Rick Loves Lego, on Flickr

No, they don't. They seem to be pretty good quality overall, though. That is a good sign.

I purchased both the dragon and the crown battle packs, and they are both actually very nice. The hands aren't terrible at gripping their weapons, even in some cases where the weapons weren't being fully held properly by the minifigs in the packaging (their hands were being stretched out by a weapon not 'clicked' into the hand's grip ). I also purchased nearly every Disney Princess set and discarded the minidolls and replaced them with minifigures. While the sets are far more colorful than any of my other castles, they all have interiors and will have to be my castle substitute for the time being. I also purchased the pink Junior's princess castle tub. There isn't much there, but again, it is my only link to new castle sets. That is how desperate I've become.

Emphasis mine. Wow, really? I know that's a five year old comment, but sheesh. That said, I don't think this is a stupid set, in fact I would have liked to purchase one for myself if they were readily available. I would love a pro-wrestling theme. I've created a ring and wrestlers myself. It was fun to have ladders and breakaway tables.

How are the hands?

That simply is not the case. The Kingdoms chess set did not come pre-assembled and the hands are some of the worst for holding things that I've experienced. Regardless of the quality of plastic, the hands are virtually unusable when coming from China. It seems the new battle packs will be from China, which means that dealing with the hands is going to be a miserable experience and unfortunately will limit the number I purchase. At least by picking up a few more 'Forest Ambush' sets I will know the hands will be of good quality.

Several of each of these battlepacks would be welcomed additions to my collection. My only issue is...are these still being made of the cheaper plastic? I won't purchase many (if any) if they are still made of the inferior material. I have to keep my soldiers that came from previous battlepacks and chess sets separate from the rest because I don't want to get them mixed up. Their hands don't hold weapons well at all.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing these with us. I have a bunch of BrickWarriors stuff, and it is all fantastic. With no new Castle sets on the horizon, it is nice to see these accessories. :]

Nope, I like it too. I do prefer humans vs humans as it is in the current line, though. I'm not a big fan of the troll minifigures and especially not of the limited articulation of the skeletons. To answer the original question, I have purchased many of the LotR sets for the fortifications and minifigures. I am happy to see so many 'yellowists' in this thread. I have no tolerance for 'FLESH' tones! I hate when an otherwise great torso has a bit of flesh. The Saruman figure with the Tower of Orthanc is SO GORGEOUS but unusable because of the bit of flesh tone below his neck on the torso. Otherwise I will switch out the hands and heads and they are ready to go. Even with how great many of the fortifications are, I would STILL prefer that the LotR and Hobbit lines be discontinued in favor of better designed Castle sets. Generic castle not based on anything specific is far more appealing to me.

Wow. I'll take two, please! One to build and display and the other to remain in the box and rub softly at night. I mean...keep pristine for the future. ;]

Very well done review! Unfortunately the set isn't going to be one that I purchase. The design leaves much to be desired. Even if the PPP ratio is decent, I don't buy sets for that value. When I buy LEGO, I purchase it for the set design. I build my sets and keep them built. This isn't one that I would want to display. The only thing that I will want to purchase eventually is the Radagast figure, which is amazing, even though I will swap out his head and hands for proper yellow ones.

l am still waiting for one of our LEGO "spies" who always seem to have the latest news to pop in with 2014 Castle set names, descriptions, etc. It was right around this time last year that we began to hear rumblings. At the moment it looks like I will be buying up the Disney Princess castle-ish (castle-like?) sets and swapping the figures to hold me over for the time being. Before you judge me, have you seen the Disney Princess sets? The castle, tower, and lakeside building each have nice interiors. :]

Having a couple of named figures doesn't really matter. Knights Kingdom I & II was nothing BUT named figures without a single generic soldier, that was disappointing for me. I don't see the point of this. I'll end up buying 6-10 of a smaller set to build up a small army for one or more of the factions in a Castle line, and there are going to be duplicate faces. In the 'golden age' of LEGO Castle there was nothing but plain smilie faces, so they were all the same. Eventually a couple new expressions appeared to add some variety, but honestly today's Castle sets have some of the greatest variety of faces that LEGO has ever produced.

Don't forget, LotR has no choice BUT to sell better than generic Castle, being a licensed theme and all. Plus, it really should sell well since it appeals to not just LEGO fans, but also to fans of the movie and the books. I'm still holding out hope for a future generic Castle set (or even a whole line) designed as well as some of the better LotR sets.

We will have to agree to disagree here. Nope, I haven't seen them sold out where I live either. I just said they've done well. Typically they stock the shelves pretty deep and the Castle sets (especially the Wizard's tower which is personally my least favorite) usually only had a set or two at any one time. Now online at LEGO.com in the U.S. they've been sold out. It took me a couple months to place an order for the large castle set! I never said Castle outsold LotR. What I DID say, though, was that LotR hasn't sold as well as LEGO had hoped. That is pure speculation based on prior posts here on Eurobricks, so take that with a grain of salt. Castle, on the other hand, I believe really surprised people with how well it did. Even with what many see as a subpar line up of sets, it still did well. Imagine how well it would do with a fresh design! I'd still prefer generic Castle over a continuation of LotR/Hobbit, though. I'd just prefer that the Castle sets were designed at the same level as Helms Deep or the Orthanc tower as Infernum posted above.

Generic all the way! You're right, a lot of us have great imaginations and a passion for storytelling. Let's not limit our fantastic minds by buying into sets that already have a specific setting and character names. The other issue is that with named characters you have repeated minifigures. So now I have an army of this one specific looking character and around the same amount of generic soldiers. I think that if you look back to the less-liked themes, you'll find the majority of them were specific. Knights Kingdom I & II are considered among the poorest Castle themes. I think much of that has to do with the fact that you didn't have ANY generic soldiers on the good guys' side. They all had names and roles. Obviously you don't have to go with the names that LEGO provides, but the sets still suffer when you don't get a nice variety of generic soldiers.

I don't think that I could disagree with you more. I will choose generic Castle over LotR every day all day. I was on the train that this year's Castle sets were subpar, that is until I owned a few. Don't get me wrong, I would love a Castle set as detailed as the Helms Deep set, but the problem is I don't want Castle to be reduced to licensed sets. I hate flesh figures with a passion. Sure, I can swap their heads, hands, and the occasional torso with flesh print (which is what I do), but even the sets themselves are already based on an existing fiction. I prefer something new. I do love my Tower of Orthanc set, but I would love it even more if it was just a generic dark tower not based on a book. Apart from Helms Deep and the Tower of Orthanc, there aren't any other LotR sets that I like. I NEED more generic Castle, and if that means getting rid of LotR, so be it. How well is LotR selling? I thought I had heard it hasn't met revenue goals. Castle, on the other hand, constantly sold out on LEGO.com in the U.S. for the first couple months upon its release, and did well in retail around where I live. I'd still love to see a UCS Castle built in minifigure scale. I like the joust set that they did and the market village, but it is time for a castle.

Oh my gosh, don't say that too loud, you might give LEGO an idea. Seriously, I can see LEGO turning printed barding into stickers.

Yes, that is correct! Between my wigs and those torsos, I wouldn't have had so much trouble putting these figures together had LEGO just released their 'Europa' line. Now that is awesome to see someone with the same idea. I think it is going to be so great!