Ogre

I have a few armies on the go right now. I THINK I've posted pics of most of them, if not all of them. Some are not so big (Crown knights), some were small but have been recently added to (Trolls) and some are still 'ongoing' (Scorpions, Lions, Dragons). I'd LIKE to add to some of my smaller armies (Crownies, Vikings, etc.) but, I don't know if that's going to happen. 'Costs' and all that. I like having 'multiple factions', instead of one giant army, because then you can get into 'alliances', 'betrayals', etc...not to mention, just having someone to square off against! I still need to get my 'classic castle' guys together, as well as my KKI factions, my 'jellybean knights', my 'ninja & samurai'...I don't have a lot of any of those though, so it shouldn't be as big an ordeal, or take up too much space. Yes, I'm quite lucky that way. As far as the minifigs go...I only really have ONE piece of advice: whatever you do, buy them BEFORE the theme is discontinued, otherwise you'll get nailed on the price. Heck, prices sometimes jump due to a RUMOUR about a theme ending. Thank you. I'm not a fan of those swords, either...but, unfortunately, my choice of colour scheme didn't leave me a lot of options. At least that sword style is available in black and dark-red, so I can eventually get rid of those ghastly scarlet-red ones. *shudder* Is it only 'several hundred'? I honestly thought you would have hit the 1,000 mark by now...for BOTH factions! Heck, just the pics you posted of your bags of Dragons looked like almost 1K worth of troops.

Is a VERY good idea, IMO.

Thanks. Can't take cred for the scorpion...it's from one of the KKII sets...I just switched-out the trans orange 'eyes' for trans red, to keep it the same as the other trans red pieces I used. The rider is totally safe...the scorpion is under the sway of the Undead Witch Twins that the Scorpion King has recruited to help him in his attempt to conquer all the lands. (you can't make them out very clearly...one on either side of the standard-bearer in the 'command unit' pics) Still short a few shields and need to get some more black bows and quivers to 'beef up' my archers. I also need to get some more black swords for five of my swordsmen, because I HATE those scarlet swords...and they ruin the continuity of my unit. LOL And I still need to pick up some more black spears...I wanted two large units, one with halberds and one with spears but, alas, I didn't have anywhere NEAR as many black spears as I THOUGHT I had. Well, I got at least one of each of all the sets when they came out, plus two of the chess sets for the scorpion soldiers...then I snagged two Vladek polybags waaaaaaaaaay back when...then recently decided to snag 101 more! (though I kept one MIB, just for old times) I guess it all adds up, after a while. *g* *edit* And OF COURSE, my wife just walked in, looked at them and said "Nice! How many are there?" I replied "I don't know." LOL So...had to count 'em. 150 minifigs, five horses and one scorpion.

Not 'complete' to my liking just yet and the pics are 'meh' but, here's my 'work in progress' army... The rise of "The Scorpion King"!

That is one cool misprint! My Troll King has the brown crown, too. Never knew it was supposed to be shiny.

I have no ability to convey just how great this project looks. It's just fantastic. I really love how the tavern looks now that you changed the height. Simply STUNNING.

This sucker looks much larger when it doesn't have B&W's MASSIVE castle just LOOMING over it like it did at Brickfete. Wickedly nice job, dude.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I had the same thought, years ago, and didn't go with it for the EXACT SAME REASON! As much as I like the new 'Dragons', KKII had the (IMO!) most BAD-AZZ-LOOKING 'bad guys' in the history of LEGO castle. Period, bar none, end of frakkin' story! If the level of detail that we have NOW with figures such as the mounted dragon knight had been around THEN, I'd probably have FIVE TIMES as many 'shadow knights' as I currently have. At LEAST.

Initially, I was VERY disappointed when I saw prelim pics of "Kingdoms". I was also saddened about the demise of the fantasy-era Castle range, because I still hadn't picked up many of the sets that I wanted. BUT...with all of that said..."Kingdoms" wooed me and then totally sucked me in and has now become one of my favourite castle themes ever. Go figure. Agreed. Absolutely agree! That's one thing I really liked about some of the older castle sets...they could be combined, seamlessly. Yes, I really liked the 'crownies', too and can't say that the lions are 'better'...even the regular dragon footsoldiers are no big shakes...but the dragon KNIGHTS are to...die...for. Yes, the smaller castle is a bit of a disappointment. A mounted knight could stand on his horse and step onto the top of the wall! Not good.

I'd love a chance to add to my Vikings...cuz it's still not quite the 'horde' I would like it to be. LOL

I agree with all of your choices...truly FAR better selections...but, why does everybody have a hate-on for Vladek's fortress? I personally thought it was one of the few redeeming things about the whole KKII line. Sure, a couple of goofy elements to it but, the overall structure was fairly decent and it had a rockin' evil colour scheme. HOLY CRAP! Man, I WISH we'd had sale prices like that up here in Canada! I would have been ALL OVER THAT, too! Wow. I would definitely NOT include those two on a 'top ten best castles' list. No way. I have both of them and IMO, they were both a disappointment, lacking greatly in many ways, especially when compared to some of the only slightly older sets. Example: Compare "King Leo's Castle" to "Royal Knight's Castle" and you'll quickly see how poorly King Leo's fares in that comparison. "Troll's Mountain Fortress" had some cool figs and an 'okay' layout but, honestly, it was kind of weak as both a fortress AND a 'castle' set. Buy it for the figs and part-out the pieces. LOL I personally think that "how good a set was at the time" shouldn't really be the basis for whether or not it makes a "top ten best" list. IMO, that list should be reserved for those sets that STILL rock, sets that 'stood the test of time' and still kick butt. IMO, the 'yellow castle' doesn't cut it. Sure, from a nostalgia perspective, lots of folks might want it on there...but, with the yellow walls, 'meh' design, stickers and brick-built horses, I just don't think it had any staying power. Heck, the only set that *I* think still stands up from that initial release period, is the "Knights Procession" set, simply because it's a bunch of knights with a cart. Period. Nothing to really 'mess up' or 'go out of style', except maybe the wheels on the cart. And, quite honestly, using the argument that "maybe the author didn't have the sets" as a defense for such crappy choices, just doesn't cut it. There were a PILE of the classic sets that *I* didn't/don't have, but that doesn't mean I don't recognize just how superior they are to many others that I DO own. If one is going to make a comprehensive 'top ten best' list, they should at least do some research...otherwise, make it a 'top ten best sets that I own' list.

If they take the idea of #6060 and 'flesh it out' to make it work on the scale that is expected from a 1xxxx series set, I think this could be pretty epic. I just hope that LEGO doesn't try to cut corners with it. We NEED an EPIC 'castle' set!

I know I posted a topic previously about something along the lines of "what historical themes would you like LEGO to produce?" or some such thing, but it wasn't specifically meant as a 'castle subtheme'. As for what themes I would like to see: well, I'm already in favour of a lot that have been mentioned but, I think that what I'd REALLY like to see most of all, is a more expanded vision of whatever castle sub-theme comes along (or if Kingdoms is continued)...something that has more civilian sets, so a proper medieval village can be fleshed out with civilians OTHER THAN blacksmiths. Having a nice selection of peasants, merchants, minor nobility, etc., would be quite awesome, IMO. I'd also like to see a return to the older style of battlepacks that had a mix of soldiers and peasants, or at the very least, have a selection of battle packs to choose from...one of each major 'faction' and one or two of civilians with accessories such as the hoods, pitchforks, panniers and maybe a goat and some chickens to fill it out...and put them back in cardboard boxes, instead of blister packs, to cut down on the COST of them!

Though it would be NICE, I don't see it happening. LEGO seems to have adopted this "get in, bash out a bunch of sets and get out" mentality with licensed themes lately and I'm afraid it would probably have a similar attitude with any LOTR line. We'd probably end up with a dozen sets with Frodo in them (much like with Jack Sparrow in POTC) and a pile of half-baked/half-built "sets" that require a massive investment in bulk parts to make them look even somewhat realistic...and they probably would come out in colours that aren't readily available in bulk, requiring multiple purchases of the same sets to 'flesh them out', so to speak. If LEGO really LISTENED to the fans when it came to set development, it would probably work out okay but, instead, they seem to grasp the germ of the idea, while ignoring the more important DETAILS of the ideas. A shame, really. I know that for myself, if there WAS a LOTR line and it was done WELL, I'd probably drive myself into the poorhouse collecting everything even remotely connected to it. Whereas if it's done but not done WELL, I might just focus on picking up some of the character minifigs and some of the cooler creatures, not worrying too much about the 'sets' per se.

Boba Fett clock has been listed on Amazon.ca for months now...$23.99CDN, though it's listed as "temporarily out of stock".

I will most definitely be there! Oh...in addition...Mastermind Toys now has series 5 in stock with FREE SHIPPING to all Canadian addresses until Sept. 6, with NO MINIMUM PURCHASE REQUIRED. That's right...free shipping on ALL orders.

Very impressive armies showing up here! Keep up the great work! I look forward to seeing more pics from all of you. =) (I'm currently getting my scorpion army put together...will post pics when I find the rest of my stuff. LOL)

Got my LEGO "The Calendar" 2012 today.

Okay, I hate to nit-pick folks but...he ain't a "Beefeater"! That is all.

1x1 printed tile, just like the 'padlock' piece. =) *edit* Read ahead, Ogre...read ahead... LOL!

LOTR battlepacks! :swoon:

I'm trying not to just dive into buying these but...it...is...so...hard!

My wallet already hurts just from thinking about how much my wallet WILL hurt if a LOTR does arrive. LOTR, Kingdoms, CMFs...come on lotto win!!!!!

Very impressive! Quite the collection you've got there.

Sorry, K-nut! I really like the Vikings...except for their helmets. Something more 'historically accurate' would have been nice. Aside from that, they rock. (Makes me wish I had picked up more than just ONE of the 'army of Vikings' set when it was on sale at TRU. Sheesh.)