Rogue Angel

As Tolkien was the basis of dungeons and dragons and modern fantasy. Smaug is a Dragon, is The Dragon, so however he looks, he is a Dragon.

I have revised the initial post to reflect some of the comments you have provided. I remember keeping the KKII snake out for some reason, but now I can't remember why. I will have to add it in when I revise this. I didn't bother to include Falcons with the Kingdoms Joust since it was just the one figure. I did not include Vikings in the poll as they are not technically part of the Castle line.

I agree, the 2013 version is far superior to the previous versions.

I will be making minor modifications to the layout moving forward. I agree that Kingdoms currently encompasses two completely different settings. I was trying not to make too many biased decisions intially. Those will come later. In terms of factions, the shield/crest was the determination. = = Leo was present in KKII, but was only a sideline participant, not a major faction. I almost didn't list Leo in KKII.

The Knight Kingdom II figures are garishly outfitted in vibrantly colored armor and helms, and they look like jelly beans from a distance (both color and shape if you're far enough way.) KKII has the honor of having the worst figures ever in a castle line, combined with the best shields ever in a castle line (IMO).

With all the discussion going on about what the Castle Eras and Factions were, I decided to review the sets to date and come up with an overall summary of the Castle line. Here is the result. This is intended to be a broad overview of the Lego Castle line for general use. Here are my key considerations: 1. This is meant to follow Lego's intent in terms of Faction names, or most logical Faction names and Era names. Where possible, I use the names that Lego provided. Where necessary, I try to provide approximate names for factions (i.e. Bull Knights). 2. This is meant to be as straightforward and as easy to follow as possible, so I do not use the KKII offical Faction/Character names, I assume the lionhead shields are all Leo, and the Classic Full Lion and Crossed Axe Soliders are both Crusaders, as they were used interchangeably for the same faction in Lego sets. 3. This is strictly Castle, not Viking, not Lord of the Rings, and not CMF (although I'm considering factoring that in somehow) 4. I have tried to group similar or recurring factions into one large group for simplicity (i.e. Dragon Masters were just an expansion on the Dragon Knights as their crest is the same with different coloring.) 5. I only count years where significant Castle sets were released (typically a $50 set at least, with the exception of the Camoflauged Outpost in 1987). 6. I tried in my initial summary not to create my own Eras or subsets (like splitting up Kingdoms into the 2 separate Eras) but this will come later. Above all, this is meant to be a quick reference document that anyone even slightly familiar with Castle can understand and use.

Great to see you in GoH finally Jacob, even if you picked the wrong guild.

The Baron has some great Elves there, but the helmets are the one thing we need. You cannot make a true High Elven force without them.

Beautiful ship! I love the color scheme, the hydra and the custom sail. The presentation is excellent as is the build quality!

I also like to see brickbuilt fire/ magic. Excellent work!

Very nice concept and execution. I really like the profile brick towers. I would use them more myself, but they are take far too many profile bricks to go much bigger than one or two towers.

That like comparing a cell phone to an 80's bag phone - design has gotten much better in 25 years. This set was great for it's time and a pavilion is supposed to be brightly colored. If I remember correctly, this set was a steal at $20.

Great builds Bregir and MiloNelsiano! Keep up the good work. Bregir excellent, HSS with lots of details and activity. Trifork is expanding quickly!

Very nice build. I really like the detail on the inn, but the story is my favorite part.

Excellent build! The small brown ship,the crane and the hull under construction are all great, but the lighthouse/port authority building is beautiful. Great work!

Beautiful build! The chandelier, the furniture are excellent but the ceiling beams and lionhead decorations are my favorite parts if this build.

Fantastic landscaping! I love the creative construction techniques for your rockwork as well as your trees and foliage color. Excellent build!

Great idea! The tree is excellent, and the manor is superb!

Excellent intro! I love all the techniques you used, especially the flooring on the 2nd build and the walls on the last builds. It definitely doesn't look like you just started here. Welcome!

Superb build! As always, your build is beautiful, and is just such a complete package. I also love the full interior. Amazing!

DG & Kabel - I hope your kids are doing well. Mine had a cold last month, but he is doing better now. I have been very, very busy with work both at work and at home, since Christmas. We have been less talkative over here in Avalonia, but it will pick up soon I will try to have the next Task(s) up in the next week or two, so that should perk things up again.

Excellent build! I love all the activity, and the many different techniques you use. I really like the variety of trees you've used, and I especially like the plow furrows and the birds. The abandoned home also has a great 'overgrwown' look. So much going on here, and in a uncommon era - fantastic job!

People keep saying the skeleton guy has the wrong head, but this is clearly a Halloween costume - fits perfectly with the series. Also, I think the series have been improving over time, not getting tiring. Series 10 is my favorite to date, but S13 was pretty fantastic as well.

I think this translates too "Lone Ranger didn't make much and Prince of Persia actually lost us money" I was still seeing PoP sets at one my TRUs in summer last year.

Who said the Line Ranger sets sold poorly for Lego? My Lego store sold out in 6 months with a mere 10% discount. I didn't see them last long long in the big box stores either. Now, the movie was a failure, Chima is a failure, but I don't think Lone Ranger Lego was at all. I think they cut short the production run, and didn't make as much profit as they'd hoped, but I'd have a hard time believing they lost any money on it. You've hit the nail on the head. What we need is realistic Mexican and Indian Wild West figures. And of course civilians. The CMF sombrero mold is great, but we need it in Brown/Tan/Black.