MAB

I think it is fairly popular here. My kids enjoy the sets and a number of their friends also enjoy it. But yes, Ninjago is a competing theme (moreso than others). So having NK and Ninjago out at the same time probably is distracting a little from the popularity of NK and NK would probably do better if Ninjago wasn't around. It doesn't, as these don't have permanent slots. If NK didn't exist there is no indication that we would have either traditional castle sets (whether you call it Classic Castle or Neo-Classic Castle) or classic space sets.

They probably meant this page: http://www.bouwsteentjes.info/lego-71021-minifigures-series-18-geruchten/ But I agree it is nothing new. Just copying information and presenting it as fact.

That may be true, but it doesn't mean NK was responsible for killing off Castle. If Castle was dead anyway (for the foreseeable future), then NK has just taken an empty slot. Lego doesn't brand it as Castle, so BL follows suit. Personally, I don't think Castle is dead forever. But it was getting a bit stale and if sales were dropping I completely understand why it was put on hiatus and something else has come along (whether in its place or not, if it doesn't have a place in the current line up then NK cannot take its place). 50 years ago ... Cole Porter is dead, George Gershwin is dead, Oscar Hammerstein is dead. The kids want Elvis, Lennon, Hendrix ... No doubt in years to come the kids of today will complaining about the loss of NK-type themes due to what their kids want.

I don't mind the (only slightly) updated Death Star. I guess this is one of the least detailed SW UCS sets, the set is really just a big display stand for the minifigs. I know people that had the original complained about the similarity. But for me, as it doesn't really look like the "real" Death Star, it didn't need too much updating. Whereas the updates to just about all the others have been to make the models more detailed using more modern techniques / parts so I definitely agree about them being improvements.

And what should happen to things like Knighton Castle - should they become S@H / exclusive only or not be produced at all? They may be similar price bands to say a re-released EN, but they have different audiences.

I'm not saying that NK isn't Castle, it is. I'm saying there is no indication that NK is taking the place of another different Castle theme as another possibility is that if we didn't currently have NK then we wouldn't have any Castle at all.

I wish they copied a custom Witch King and Sauron, I'd get them just for the helmets.

For the heads, maybe - but then that is true for things like the Batman heads too, they only work with the cowl. But for the torsos and legs, many of them were highly useable elsewhere.

Is the custom one a customised one from LEGO parts or just the one that has been for sale on aliexpress for months? As even the fake one (in PG8068) seems to have the two biscuits sandwiched together look.

I hope they don't go down the soft core nudity route, it isn't necessary for LOTR. But fantasy battle violence is OK, just like the original movies.

Those mediocre sets are often fitting into price ranges, sometimes the small ones are mediocre being not big enough, sometimes the mid to larger ones that look a bit too big for what was really needed. But I guess LEGO knows what it is doing with designing sets to fit price points, they have enough data about what sells. However, I doubt lego would ever decide that a particular set in a line is mediocre and limit its retail distribution. And if they did, it would probably become more sought after anyway, as people wouldn't be able to get hold of it so easily. NK and Elves sell pretty well to kids. The ones they would probably limit to online only / LEGO stores only are the ones aimed at AFOLs / higher kids ages.

You don't know that. Nexo Knights could equally well be taking a slot that would otherwise be taken by some other theme, with (real) Castle on a long leave of absence.

There have been some suggestions on ideas, mainly for brick-built characters. There have been some custom minifigures every so often too. Does it still have a following these days?

And what if NK goes away and they decide not to do a real Castle theme again for a bit longer? Castle is having a break, it is not NK fault. It is probably down to sales of the previous Castle sets.

The DC Comics ones are different franchises too (outside of lego), designed to appeal to boys and girls separately. Whereas HP and FB doesn't follow the same pattern.

By the way, if you use an alcohol marker, give the cape a couple of hours / days to really dry out before attaching it to the minifigure. It won't matter on a ringwraith since they are black anyway, but the colour can come off on a lighter torso.

Did it? They still seem to be everywhere near me. And everyone claims "sources" when they put out either genuine or completely made up rumours.

For solid black capes, use a black sharpie or an alcohol based marker pen. You can use fabric dyes like RIT dye, but it is a faff compared to just colouring them with a marker pen and the results are just as good. There is no colour matching problem either, being black. Any other colour is a problem with colour matching.

You probably need to update the flag too!

I like the fleshie bare chested torso, hopefully no bat insignia anywhere. The fleshie elf ears are a nice addition too.

I checked the puffer fish the other day, very expensive! You might as well buy the full minifig on BL. I think it was £2.50 or so.

My point was that there are even less constraints on what they can do if they do their own old town than if they did a (Legend of) Sleepy Hollow one. And also it might help sales. If people see "Sleepy Hollow" on a box, they will think it is licensed. Whereas if it is unbranded, it will probably appeal to more people (whether or not there is a headless horseman). A bit like forestmen vs Robin Hood.

Would you need to cover every scene / the full story though? In my view, no. I'd prefer them to do, for example, a stereotypical historic town in a series of sets with no branding rather than tying it to a particular story. As to movie vs book version, the problem with having a well known movie is that people will expect a set to look like the movie version, especially as lego focuses on popular movies rather than books.

Yes, but it is hard to tell on a small phone screen what direction they were pushed in which is why I asked the question. Interesting that the manual doesn't explicitly say which direction to put them in ... I would have put them in pushing them through from outside. The function will be the same. It is lucky that there is not a stop-end axle pushed into the other end of the white piece. It is also a B-model and I think they are less strict for those.

Yes they are, according to those anti-centenarians at LEGO ...