SuvieD

Ckvvh-kah . . . Ckvvh-kah Helmetus Repairum! Hey, (deep breath *sing* ) thanks mate!

That is his name. |-D I really want the gate set. I want the black and red hair. Plus all those great parts for building mecha and futuristic laser weapons :D

Not debate for the sake of it but merely to open up the table to all logical options. People don't always agree and even when something seems obvious it isn't always. As LEGO is the originator of the debated theme then until I hear from them or until someone presents what LEGO has said no one really knows what the official word is. I try to stay out of debates as much as possible for a few reasons namely pride, arrogance and anger. Arguements tend to stir these up in numerous ways. Most debate on EB is mostly harmless. Probably because this is a LEGO site and not a politics/religious site. ;) Regardless, I really do hope LEGO brings back a true castle, pirate, and space theme soon. I like KK2 mostly for the new parts but I would like some more robinhood and blackbeard better.

To the room then to search for clues!

What might that be Mr. Phes? I still hold to my opinion that KK1&2 are every bit as much as castle as anything LEGO has made yet. It merely has a different twist to it. Thus it is regarded as a different theme. I will refer to it as such but for me it will remain castle LEGO.

I have always thought that expert builders would be able to use every part in a set. ;) Hence the reason they are experts. Bricklink has it's uses. I use it to get parts I missed out on or didn't get enough of. I recently started selling there also as a way to pay for my current house repair needs.

I have been shown to be incorrect. No point in furthuring this. My opinion doesn't change but I will from now on admit KK2 is not LEGO castle but is indeed just KK2. Well I hope they start releasing LEGO castle again then.

Directed to the desk attendant, Greeting miss (or Mrs. if she has the proper ring). In an effort to solve the terrible crime we would like to take a look at Mr. Spindle's room. Where is it and may we get the key?

Happy Birthday, Jon! Have a great day full of rattling packages.

Hey welcome. Have fun.

I don't have time to read all this now. I will say more Monday. Everyone keeps bringing up how different KK2 is from the rest of castle. How it is power ranger influenced and unrealistic. So, is everything castle LEGO. Prime example. The new harry potter movie. New director, new artists, darker story. Things the first movies didn't have. Any less Potter? Of course not. I am not speaking of the story or the characters. Merely, how the movie is made. Like castle, regardless of the knights, kings and what not, KK2 is under a different direction than previous LEGO castle. It is still the castle theme LEGO has chosen to make. Anyway. I will say more later. have a great weekend everyone.

And nobody is. Crime pays. You can earn as much guilt, shame, bad reputation, and retribution as you want. What goes around comes around.

Younger users that are in awe from the impressive MOCs, huge collections, inherent knowledge of older builders, and the sometime fanatical castle people found their. They have never owned one of the sets that wasn't a legend. Point is they are trying to be cool by liking what the "popular" people like. I did the same at 13-17 and so do many of the younger people of BZP, CC, FBTB, and even some here at Eurobricks. Bad arguement for the point trying to be made. Peer pressure will change the opinion of every one of us but it is even more powerful for teens. Why do you think that advertisers focus so heavily on that age group instead of 21+? I could further into this but I think the point is made. I have not forgotten what makes KK2 different that previous series. In 1978 the first catle had no <insert that tiresome argument> wall parts. In 1984 that changed. Not only that but it would be far to costly and thus total fantasy to think that a man in the period between 1000-1400 could have had bright blue or red colored pants. It simply was not possible with the dyes they had. Do you say anything about this? It is like they went into the future on learned some special magic to make such clothing. Then in time new series came out. Dragons with laughable wing spans that we are shown in every poster that it could fly and that only the new wizard figure, which resembles Gandalf more than Merlin, could control (sounds like a storyline to me, visual instead of with word but they said a little about it on each poster and we know that a picture is worth a thousand words). These "knights" had huge unrealistic pikes they could hold with one hand and wield with no difficulty a large shield. Were these jokers banned from LEGO castle? I think not. I won't even go into the series that followed these before KK1. Seriously, does any not see that the ghosts, dragons, colorful knights, outlandish weapons, fantasy/completely unrealistic, other-worldly based sets and parts and even storylines were around before KK? KK was actually the first to put down the fantasy. It featured named characters for the first time in castle and had a very loose storyline that was basically, Leo defends his kingdom from Cedric. More realistic armor on figures, seige that was somewhat practical and better set designs (the joust was great) than the previous disaster FK. This was only the start though. Storylines for children are a good stepping stone to more creativity. LEGO realised this more so after the Bionicle explosion. Thus it wasn't until 2004 that KK2 was released showing that storyline sells. That is why storyline is more developed than in the past. Not that it didn't exist, just that it was more vague. Now, more solidly to the point of what gets KK2 the seal of crap design by most adult collectors, the swords, armor, and colors. Firstly the sword. It will never work well as an actual blade. Understand though that no LEGO made weapon is anywhere near realism. Rounded blades and spear heads that in real life would weigh 20+ lbs. would never work. No one complains when they see a brown spear, yet what idiot would go into battle or stand guard at a post with a wooden spear? The swords are magically made to shoot lightning instead of being used to stab, slice and crush, fantasy yes but so is majesto's wand. Secondly, the armor. No one dislikes that LEGO is making more "euro" armor. But these new oversized (as if everything in minifgi scale isn't over sized) visors are just to much, right? ;) The color is the biggest factor for most people. Yes, they have colors like the power rangers and any number of shows, cartoons, movies, or imaginations that the power rangers stole from. I used to have my figures with different colors have special powers based on the fact that this guy with a zipper jacket was blue and another white. Long before Power ranges ever made it on the air. LEGO saw the idea of different colors to help children identify both with the difference and because many children have a favorite color, thus a favorite knight based solely on color. It sells and that's what counts. The color is specifically choosen based on the fact that they live in different realms. Which to me makes sense. The fact that the armor is near impervious also give creedance to the fact that they are not made of normal metal and thus not standard metallic colors. Fantasy I know but I have established that it is not the first time. Merely, an expanded effort. So you see, castle LEGO has indeed been progressing toward it's current state. Many of the sets have been slowly building on the imagination and fantasy aspect in the realm of castles and knights even back to the yellow castle. So times out of neccessity in the limitation of the LEGO system/legal & safety reasons. More recently and in the last 20 years even it has been moving toward more and more fantasy. KK2 is indeed LEGO castle. I hope that they do an Camelot series after KK2 or perhaps some of the German sagas. I hope to one day have a swan knight army. I don't particularly like the whole indestructable knights with lightning swords myself but until something better comes along, I will enjoy what I can from it. The sets are getting better and the colors are becoming better as well. KK3 I predict will be very good. People will debate the LoM series more than castle as it is a more foggy theme. The figures are Mars explorers and the aliens found their. Only the early space sets were based on exploration. Everything after BT1 and SP1 has much more of a conflict flavor. So it does fit in with space. I personally feel it is more like a somewhat distant future version of the town space series. Which would obviously be the stepping stone into space itself. So, really it is a theme unto itself. It is clear that they don't have ships capabale of long distantance space travel but they are more advanced than the town space shuttles. If LEGO makes a Roman or Greek theme I will not think of this as castle or a sub theme. It is a different era all together. If they made an imperialism theme I would however lump it together with pirate as the period is the same, as well as, the location as imperialism was worldwide.

I just couldn't do it myself. Every time I see the owl in the LEGO store in the Mall of America I want to tear it down and get some glue remover (the wings are solid castle doors). Many is like 4 or so. And don't think I mean the whole building for any of them. They are really very good looking. Some of the angles and parts that stick out seem kind of clunky to me. I am sure you like them just fine. Some are and I haven't seen enough of really old buildings to say much else but of those I was in ceilings were barely 7' if that. Only the newer castles had the tall ceilings. They also had no wasted empty space. I usually do them same as you for hand size sake. I have hard enough time getting my fingers in tight places so I usually keep things spaced a little less tightly. I thought so. I think it could use a few more servants and people in general roaming around anyway. Still is the best thing in CCC3. I will of course try to put an end to that in December. ;)

Phes you see it like I do in part if not entirely. A new name or lack of the old doesn't change what it is. Whether you like it or not doesn't change what it is. I never like the Adventurers dino line but that doesn't mean it isn't Adventurers. People continually give KK2 a bad report. Yet, if it had traditional LEGO knights instead of the likes of Santis people would be praising it to the sky. I have seen them admit it. Bley is a whole other issue. Ninja isn't castle, just like viking isn't pirates or castle and life on mars isn't space. Life on mars is an off shoot of town/space shuttle possibly futuristic, more likely fantasy. I said myself that bionicle changed LEGO. It will calm as even bionicle is doing this year. Getting back to it's roots a little more and doing more of what made 2001 bionicle such a success. KK2 year one I thought was good. It had a great play value and a decent set design. Not great but good. KK2 year 2 improved minifigure amounts, accessories and set design. All a positive trend toward better sets. Vladek's dark fortress is the best castle made since 6090. Few will argue that. Now all facts point to KK2 year three to be even better (reguardless of the jumbo knights looks) than previous years. If someone makes a dumb move and messes it up so be it. I think they will not and LEGO castle will have it's best year in this decade possibly in the last two. The world is changed. Even in the 70's & 80's children had there battles and many minifigures died daily. Today though the violence is there LEGO's storyline makes it completely non-lethal. Swords are for lightning attacks instead of head splitting and the worst damage a fireball will do is a bruise. Focus on conflict, actions and consequences are indeed in the story for KK2. A little guidance for young builders to learn the value of good choices and downplay the desire to kill or do harm to others. Complain about it if you want I think it is nice. I still think what LEGO you like depends heavily on the age you were when you started playing and also the age you quit. The survey I conducted said volumes about people and what LEGO means to them. I have also seen many comments that point to this to a degree in everyone. I am a firm believer that your life is molded by the world around you and this may also play a huge part in what LEGO you like. This is why so many people started collecting LEGO after SW LEGO in 1999. Getting a castle would be seen as nerdy or uncool, but anyone can buy a SW set for "display" and still be cool. Another huge ramble. I hope something in this makes sense. I tend to be overly wordy. Drives most people nutso. *wacko*

http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=dolvos Classic space, custom sets, rare parts, free shipping offer, bionicle offer, lowest prices ever for some parts and sets and a low $10 minimum are all available right now. You owe it to yourself to take a look. You will not find prices like these often. Quality used and new parts. Hesitate and miss it. Items at these prices don't last long.

Happy birthday. Enjoy yourself.

It is the first gray castle. A completely different style than the sets before it. The start of what many consider the "golden age" of castle LEGO. 6080 Overrated gray box with a gate if you ask me.

Now if only people would listen. The family we stayed with in Germany said much the same of the youth there. It was nice to stay with people who cared about their children. It isn't enough to limit TV though. The campaign got it right. Spend time with your children. If you cannot play LEGO with them why should they? If you spend hours in front of a tv why shouldn't they? I don't have children yet. I hope one day I can show them the value of imagination and creativity. You are never too old to have play time with children yours or someone elses. Way to go LEGO.

Many LEGO sets sold for up to 5 years in days gone by. The market has changed. You will not find a set under $100 that will make it five years now. ISD is getting close but it is a novelty $300 set. Harry Potter has a castle. Yet, everyone knows this is not LEGO castle. Why, because it is a place in a story that uses a castle, no of course not. The reason it is not castle is it lacks what LEGO castle has established itself to be. There are no catapults, no conflict, no horse with barding, no living armored knights, no carraiges or jousts. LEGO castle is this. I said before each LEGO castle era had a different face, so to does this era of KK2. Lumping 1978-1997 is hardly fair as everything from 78-84 is entirely different than 84-92 and a far cry from 93-98. Classic just like Coke is the original (minus illegal substances). 78-84 is classic. Everything else is a different. Sprite is not Coke but it is a Coke product. So to is every castle series since. It is not the original nor is it an old flavor but that doesn't make it any less a Coke product. Yellow castle had an awful variety of pieces. Almost anything you make with it looks the same. The horse would fall apart, the figures were much more delicate than the ones we have now and it simply doesn't compare to sets like 6080, 6090, 6074, 6079, 6081, 6085, 6086, 6091, 8781, or even 8877. These sets have building opportunities beyond anything 375 ever could achieve. The only reason classic sets have such high value is because they are harder to come by in decent condition. Not because they are superior products. Forestmen are much more in demand than the old knights from 375, only availibility drives prices up. 8877 has more pieces and six less figures than 375. Yet can you really compare the two? What could you make with your yellow castle, a blocky yellow fort, a blocky yellow tower, a different blocky yellow castle, a blocky yellow arena or even a pile of hay. What can you build with the dark fortress? A five story tower, an japanese temple, a giant seige machine, a rocky outpost, a smugglers cave, a feast hall with pillars, or even a space ship. Can you do any of that with a 375 and have people think it is cool. LEGO castle is changing still. If you like the older style stuff, do as Sting said and build it that way. I happen to like the newer stuff colors and all. I will build in a style that suits both. Either way KK2 is still LEGO castle.

Children don't ask for Jabba's message for christmas or birthday. They want the millenium falcon. ;)

I mostly collect castle stuff. Not so much sets but minifigures, castle pieces and useable other pieces all get used to make my own sets and buildings. I am no expert but I think I can pipe in with some credibility. LEGO's castle line has been and will continue to change to fit desire and trends. The original LEGO castle was yellow, blocky, had red doors, brightly colored minifigures and unrealistic armor/visors. Anyone who says otherwise is lying to themselves. The yellow castle pretty much sucked. The reason people like it so much is that it stirs up a warm fuzzy nostalgia for those who played with it as children. I have seen it numerous times. Those who grew up playing with the Dragon Master sets think those are the best. While those a little older think the Black Falcons are the greatest. As what is good and not is entirely debatable as it is a personal opinion each of us has. LEGO castle has always been defined by castle era soldiers, jousts, catapults and kings. At one time LEGO left it up to children to create there own names and stories for characters. This has obviously changed but does that make KK any less castle. Are there not still castles? What about knights, did they get removed? I won't say much as to the other themes as it is obvious that the comparisons fail to do just that, compare. LEGO castle is not the same from year to year. Yellow castle years ended and the lion knights took over. Dragon masters changed the face of castle yet again and then Royal/Fright Knights did so in there turn. KK had it's time and when it ended LEGO was stumbling onto the biggest money maker they had ever seen, Bionicle. LEGO from that point on would never be the same. Characters, comics, story lines, powerful enemies, "magical" weapons and other things made them not only very popular but also collectible. KK2 is merely attempting to follow a similar thread to become just as good. Children like storylines, bright colors, comics, and a character they can relate to in some way. While one child wants to be strong like Santis another wants to be fast like Jayko and all want to be nothing like the evil Vladek. Story or no, fact is that this is LEGO castle. Exo Force will attempt to follow it's own similar thread. Thankfully, LEGO has learned some key things from KK2 to apply not only to new themes like Exo but also to the future of LEGO castle. We will not see a return to the 80's castle sets, box designs, or building styles. For a good reason too. Set wise Royal Knights were one of the best, yet sales were dropping off. Was it getting stale? Bionicle and it's storyline is constantly changing. Castle wasn't. Pirate wasn't either. Though I doubt it had much to do with the sets (even though they were getting worse) it was a bad time for toys in the second half of the 90's. It may be a number of reasons but LEGO castle wasn't bringing in the money like it should have been. KK2 has not had one problem making profit. It has won awards, been popular in retail and has made LEGO money. Fright Knights didn't do this, Royal knights didn't the way they should have. LEGO castle needs to improve, not towards realism or complexity but towards value. Better set designs, more figures and accessories, better storylines, character depth, and collector appeal. KK2 is LEGO castle right now. In two years who knows. It will probably change and 12 year olds now will join sites like this and refer to Vladek's dark fortress as the best castle set ever made. Just like some says about the Royal knights castle, like someone else says about Dragon Master Den, and I say about Forestmens River Fortress. In 10 years KK2 will be the golden age of castle when story lines were good and characters had advanced knowledge to build suits of magic armor and they didn't rely on swords to kill. It is like Star Wars is to fantasy space. KK2 is the fantasy castle most children made up with there knights back 15-20 years ago. Castle hasn't died but it is still evolving. Whether you like it or not. It is selling better than Alpha team (which in my opinion is one of the most underrated themes ever) and many other themes. That sounds like it is living to me. The old sets were so fake it is unbelievable for anyone to think they were even remotely historical. Firstly, to compare anything to King Aurthur is to say it is fantasy much more so than KK2. Castles never had windows on lower levels, always had a ladder or stair to get from level to level, always had an inclosed area and a complete roof. LEGO castle had none of these yet. It is a toy. It requires the ability to play with it and not gently mind you. This discussion has been rehashed so many times on numerous forums and yet the fact doesn't change. LEGO castle in 2005=KK2. Every castle series after yellow castle has been a "sub theme". Only one can be the original. Nothing has yet to replicate the yellow castle era and so all are subs. KK2 has it's roots in bionicle (which in turn has roots in throwbots, which has roots in technic, which has roots in LEGOLAND classic) and LEGO castle (which has roots in SYSTEM castle, which has roots in LEGOLAND castle, which has roots in LEGOLAND classic). It is all still evolving. I don't want to go back to the stuff they had in 1978 because it sucked compared to what we have today. I want LEGO to take what has worked, what will sell and what the fans both young and old want and stuff it into each and every package of LEGO brand plastic toys make money from it and continue to improve. KK2 is awesome and is just as much LEGO castle as 375, 1584, 6071 and 6090, colorful, plastic, unrealistic and based in a fictitious castle world where people are big headed, yellow skinned freaks who never quite smiling. Boy I am tired. Off to bed. I hope half of this makes some sense.

I had to take a better look before I gave my input. Stunning. So many great little details. The city is alive though not quite as busy as I first thought. Your numerous stairs and ladders are excellent. I will be using them for inspiration for sure. I like many of the building details and the uniqueness of each building. You don't have duplicates in different colors each has personality and a function. Your fortress looks strong and powerful as any military fort should. Overall, you have captured a fine taste of a moment in time within a walled city. Your water is also well done. Now for my dislikes. I am not sure if you should be shot or commended for using all those stockade doors for a roof. Many of the buildings including the fort are too ugly. Which considering the time period this makes sense but I prefer more shapely and stylish looking buildings. I am not sure about all your building colors but they are fairly good except maybe the blue. Even painted the blue would not be so intense. At the lowest level the baseplates are rather boring. This is a pain for even me but I think by adding a few rocks or some mud could have made this better. And finally the houses seem a little too large and don't make use of the room inside them in some cases. Perhaps this is the wealthier section of town but it seems that these are still a litle too big. This is nicely done and would be excellent to display. It has loads of details, great innovations, and is nice to look at. Well done. Though my complaints with it are there it really shines as a well designed effort. Only some fine tuning and the lack of style in areas could really be improved. Castle maniac indeed! ;)

1. Jars of Clay 2. Newsboys 3. Audio Adrenaline I would say DC Talk but they aren't putting out anything new.