Mr. President

Not the point I was trying to make at all. I probably should have been more explicit about it, so I'll do so now: Make whatever you want, like whatever you want - but don't be obnoxious about it. As someone else posted, the A in AFOL is supposed to stand for "adult".

The issue isn't "an opinion other than any given Lego set [is] the best thing ever made", it's the people who use their anonymous forum accounts to grade every set that comes out as though they're judges at the Olympics, and expect Lego to release either 10,000-piece MOCs or big grey walls as retail sets. Ironically, many of those same posts come from people who wouldn't dream of posting any kind of negative comments on the 10,000 piece MOC posts on Eurobricks.

I like the final version of the set. Honestly, I find all the excessively complex MOCs that get posted as ideas to be very off-putting. A lot of submissions don't look like actual Lego sets, but the kind of models that AFOLs post on forums to get praise from each other; and they lack the features that Lego sets are supposed to have. The platform is at risk of becoming just another place for AFOLs to show off their building skills and congratulate each other. Anyway, I definitely intend to get the set.

Well, as you've no doubt heard elsewhere on this forum, the fantasy part "ruins it" for some people. I guess those ones haven't been happy with any Castle theme since 1995.

Why is it such an issue that the centaur is female?

That's close enough to coming out of nowhere.

Vikings. But you probably knew I was going to say that.

I slightly disagree that pirates and knights aren't as popular as a blanket statement; other toy lines do have pirate and knight themed toys, after all. For what it's worth, my local Lego store even still sells foam swords and shields and surcoat replicas with the 2013 Castle heraldry, in both boy's and girl's styles. (Those are also dated this year, presumably not leftovers from 2013.)

Definitely. There's a lot of potential for packs of this type for Castle themes: not just weapons, but tools, magic items for wizards and alchemists, &c. I'd love superhero-themed packs, too - personally, I keep a close count of my Batarangs and dynamite bundles, but they're easy to misplace and we often need more!

This is delightful! It's elegant and highly evocative of that era of Lego. This is the kind of project that has more of a chance of getting through Ideas, too.

I'm not sure about that. The line is sometimes surprisingly hard to draw. In Tower of the Elephant, one of Conan's first published adventures, he meets an alien from outer space. The Vancian spellcasting system that powers Dungeons and Dragons and its spinoffs originated in Tales of the Dying Earth, which is usually classed as science fiction. That's even before we get into the conceptual and structural similarities between pulp era science fiction and fantasy - Princess of Mars, also usually considered sci-fi, has more in common with the stories of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser than it does with Star Trek or Star Wars.

That dragon is very tempting! I have the one from Red Creatures (31032) and I've been very happy with him; maybe they go together? Dragon Pit (70655) was the other set from Ninjago's next wave that caught my eye. It seems like it wouldn't require a huge amount of modification to turn into a fort for goblins or barbarians.

That's a beautiful castle and very detailed. I like it a lot, but I think it's too elaborate for Lego Ideas. I really wish one of these submissions would maybe go a little less ornate - we're more likely to get a castle-themed Ideas set if it seems more attainable. Nonetheless, congratulations on getting 1000 supporters - I hope it continues to go well regardless!

I think this next observation goes here better than anywhere else: If you look at the box for the new Classic creative builder box (10703, the one with "extra doors and windows"), one of the designs showcased on it is the front wall of a castle. It's a minor thing, but it does suggest that Lego hasn't forgotten about the classic castle style, even if they're not emphasizing it in the current lines.

She really is! And that dress works just as well for an enchantress-type character as for a warrior-type. I would also love a centaur minifigure, but I wonder how that would work with the blind bags - as in, with the horse body and legs, would it be way too easy to feel which one was him/her? There're always a couple of figures that sell out way faster than the others even as it is . . .

Nuju Metru - I'm sure you're sick of people asking this on Flickr, but in all seriousness, have you ever considered submitting one of these sets to Lego Ideas? I guess the downside is that you don't know how much they're going to want to change things if they're accepted for production, but I bet it could get a lot of support!

If Lego released a CMF series with a minifigure version of that guy, I would spend all the money. Just saying. Since we've already had a minifigure that alluded to Conan (series 11's Barbarian), I think they arguably have to do one inspired by Red Sonja at some point, no? Granted, since Conan was in series 11, she wouldn't have to be in a special series, but it would make it even more special!

I really like the Collectible Minifigure series, so I like that they seem very committed to continuing it. But - can you guys just call me when the coy hinting, teasing, and completely unrealistic wishlisting is done? It was always ridiculous and it has gotten much worse over time.

What is this? Rational arguments in a Nexo Knights thread? You know that's not allowed! I agree with you, and I appreciate your being the voice of reason. It's good to see that there are still a few AFOLs with an open mind.

I really like this. I especially like how you guys brought a sense of fun into every part of the scene. I think that's very much in the spirit of Lego. Thank you for posting this!

Thank you WhiteFang for the very thorough review! The Queen and the new knight are amazing and going straight into my kingdom. I agree the Queen seems intended to go with the Classic King; I wonder if we'll get a Classic Knight in the future too? After all, the Classic King's bio says he has "fourteen knights".

Heroica would make a great castle theme. I wonder if they shied away from minifigure sets because of the superficial similarities with Lord of the Rings (the goblin army, &c), or if they never had any planned at all. I would love it, though - as you said, it could have all the things you could in a Dungeons and Dragons line, but without the need for licensing.

I've never understood how people who followed a colorful, action-filled, imaginative toys series could be so sour. Also, what BrickJagger said.

That price is high, and on that grounds I sympathize. But . . . at the same time, inflation is a real thing. It is possible for (at least some ) items to cost more than they would have in the past, but for this not to be because of pure profit seeking. Consider the example of video games, cf: http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2015/04/24/video-games-should-be-more-expensive/

I voted for Helm's Deep, which was certainly the most spectacular Lord of the Rings set but could also be adapted for use with other castle/fantasy factions and themes - add some relevant flags and pennants on the walls and it looks fine as a redoubt for Lion Knights, Black Falcons, or almost anyone. My second choice (and in truth, I almost voted for it) was Council of Elrond. It did seem an odd fit among the rest of the theme, most of which was highly action-oriented, but it captured that feel of elven-ness very well. I'm thinking of using its pieces with ones from the new Elves theme to make something.