Aanchir

The Nexo Knights book "The Knight's Code: A Training Guide" has a LOT of details about this history, since it is written as an updated e-edition of a 480-year-old textbook (from before all the technological development that has become the norm by the time the theme takes place). The first 50 or so pages are pretty much verbatim from the original edition of the textbook, with margin notes from the Nexo Knights characters. Of course, it's all still very tongue-in-cheek and plays up the aspects of this fictionalized medieval world that would be most shocking to the young whippersnappers of the present day (for instance, the course curriculum includes "First Aid 101: From Leeches to Dried Toads"). Several of the illustrations also allude to heraldry of past Castle themes, though nothing that's quite as deep a cut as the references to the Yellow Castle in the Nexo Knights TV show itself. Suffice it to say that the world's medieval past is a big part of its backstory, and a big part of its premise is "what if the world of LEGO Castle developed futuristic technology but still held onto a lot of the hallmarks of its traditional society like castles, knights, wizards, and the monarchy?" It's sort of similar to what the world of Wakanda in Black Panther represents for African culture, although that does something Nexo Knights doesn't in pinpointing a specific resource (Vibranium) that allows Wakanda to both make greater technological advances than any real-world country and resist subjugation by colonial powers. Nexo Knights, by comparison, doesn't dwell much on WHY Knighton developed the way it did — it's just treated as how this fantastical version of history happened to shake out. So not nearly as deep in that respect.

I feel like arguably AFOL Castle fans have been thrown a bone every few years. I mean, it's not as though all Castle fans are going to have an itch that only a non-licensed castle can scratch, and between this year's rumored Hogwarts D2C set, 2016's Disney Castle, and 2013's Tower of Orthanc, LEGO has done a reasonably good job keeping some kind of castle or medieval tower for the adult age set in their catalog for the past several years. Licensed castle sets seem like a pretty savvy way for LEGO to release castle-related products for adults while also "hedging their bets", so to speak — targeting specifically adult fans who want castles for castles' sake may be a risky bet, but a set that ties in with a trendy IP can potentially reach those fans and the many AFOLs and potential AFOLs who are interested more in these specific subjects or brands than in castles in a general sense.

I rarely buy sets for parts… that said, a lot of my builds start out on LDD so I have the option to be specific about what parts I need. Buying a set just for parts might make more sense if you just want a wider selection of parts to play around with and are good at finding uses for whatever parts you don't already have specific uses in mind for. The utility of buying a set for parts can also depend a lot on whether the set is low-priced or substantially marked down, and on how much LEGO you are already buying for other reasons. In general I don't buy a lot of sets anymore that aren't specifically on my wish list because there are so many sets I'm excited to get, I'm bad at keeping loose parts organized, and I'm not very efficient at using parts I buy without particular uses in mind.

I understand that you can be interested only in one theme. But it seems to fly in the face of the argument you were making that LEGO is missing out on sales from Castle fans who would supplement their collection with other LEGO products, when it feels like many fans of action/adventure or even licensed themes here on Eurobricks define their comfort zones much less narrowly than the Eurobricks Castle community. Personally, I would like to see the Castle theme return and continue to make strides forward. I believe that it can and WILL return in some form. Several of my posts in this thread have talked about what sorts of things I'd like to see in a future Castle theme. At the same time, I want to be realistic about it and part of that means recognizing that there are reasons that the LEGO Group doesn't always meet everyone's expectations (even mine). It's rarely as simple as "LEGO doesn't care about Castle fans" or "if brand X can keep castle products around constantly, LEGO can too" or "Castle products would be a huge hit if they just did them the way WE want!" And I don't mean to make it sound like this is exclusively a Castle fan problem — I'm used to reading these same sorts of arguments from Bionicle fans — as well as the insistence that there's "nothing" on shelves currently for Bionicle fans to enjoy, despite the many similarities between Bionicle and current themes like Ninjago. It makes me feel a bit shut out of the conversation, like being a REAL fan of Bionicle or Castle means accepting no substitutes, even if many of the most appealing parts of those themes for me continue to appear in other themes, sometimes even in superior forms. So far there haven't been any actual LEGO Castle sets that appeal to me as much as the practically furnished buildings and brick-built dragons of LEGO Elves. It is as much a Castle theme to me as any other. And I would like to see the next boy-targeted Castle theme take some design cues from it. Yet even many of the people here who DO want Castle sets back talk about LEGO as if they think kids have no interest in castles and are letting down every single kid or adult who likes them. Nobody ever seems to give much thought to how many castle– and fantasy-loving kids and adults LEGO might be reaching NOW who would have felt let down by the status quo of the Castle theme in the 80s and 90s.

I gotta say, the comment earlier about Castle fans also investing in other LEGO themes and a lack of Castle themes driving down brand loyalty in adults and kids is seeming more and more questionable. My top theme for many years was Bionicle. Bionicle’s ended twice now, as have hosts of other themes I’ve enjoyed (Knights' Kingdom II, Vikings, Exo-Force, Agents, Space Police, Power Miners, Atlantis, Hero Factory, Legends of Chima, and soon Nexo Knights) and I still find plenty of sets and themes to like. Meanwhile many Castle fans proudly turn up their noses at any Castle-related set that isn’t historic, non-licensed, and minifigure-based — and even pooh-pooh actual Castle themes of the past and hypothetical ones of the future for being too colorful, character-driven, fantastical, or formulaic. Tell me again how the Castle theme engenders brand loyalty amongst its fans?

Even so, I suspect that if LEGO did still have an active castle line of products and somebody suggested ditching that model and moving to individual yearly D2C sets like the modular buildings, you and others here would be arguing vociferously for how essential it is for each theme to have a broad spectrum of products at a range of price points. So does the idea of product ranges rather than individual products only have merit if it means one of those product ranges is castle?

Thank you! I think the cartoon you're thinking of is "Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?", although I've never seen it myself, I only know of it from online. Vintage sci-fi was definitely the look I was going for with the brain case though I didn't really have any specific series in mind. Smoothness was also a big goal with this MOC, particularly since I started out with the thighs and wanted to avoid them looking out-of-place or overly simplistic compared to the rest of the model. Oh, I also shot some more pictures of PAIGE when I was home in late December/early January that I guess I never shared here. Just some more poses and a couple size comparisons. The lighting's not ideal but I ended up liking the photos anyway and I hope people here do as well!

2004? The LEGO Group's nadir was in 2003, and it was Bionicle that kept them from going completely bankrupt at that point, even as themes preferred by AFOLs like Orient Expedition were failing. Furthermore, I don't really see why fans of Castle, Space, and Pirates would be any more "core" or any more loyal than fans of today's big evergreen product lines like City, Friends, and Ninjago.

Whaaaaaat? I was just doing a random Google search for LEGO Elves and I discovered that there are secret character pages for last year's animal characters that you can't get to from the main character page! "Mr. Spry is the squirrel husband of Mrs. Spry. He runs his little shop with nuts of all kinds. He only accepts trades as payment. He’s got a sharp eye for a good deal, and is friendly and caring to all magical creatures. Except the evil ones, of course." "Blubeary the momma bear is a gentle little lady. She lives in peace with the other animals around the forest. But if her Lil’ Blu is in danger, she can turn bright red with anger! Just don’t try to get between her and her little cub – or her favorite berries." "Lil’ Blu likes to take lots of naps all day and dream about all the magic in his world. He likes to build towers and caves of twigs and leaves. Sometimes he pretends to be asleep, so when Blubeary falls asleep, he can sneak into their storage cave and eat berries." "Hidee hates goblins. But she likes their food, so she has become quite the master at hiding in plain sight as she prowls through the streets of the Goblin Village to grab a bite to eat. The goblins hate when she steals their food, so they’re always trying to catch her." "Panthara the panther cub was taken from her mother when she was just a baby. The goblins keep her as a pet, and most of the time they are really nice to her. They feed her well and play with her, but she misses her mom and she’s getting too big for her cage!" "Firebolt is a beautiful Pegasus, and he knows it. His shiny golden coat of fur and fiery red mane turn heads wherever he goes. He has the special power to combine fire and air magic. That’s how he can pull Azari’s fire chariot across the sky!" The Shadow Creature: "She’s big and pretty scary-looking, but she’s actually not so bad. Just misunderstood. She lives alone in the corridors beneath the Goblin King’s Fortress. She’s always hungry and can’t always tell if a stranger could be a new friend or just a delicious snack." Glad to have found these now in case they get taken down when the new character pages go up! Though so far LEGO has done a good job not taking down old character pages, just the links to them. Skyra and Sira's pages are still up.

If that were true then companies could honestly skip almost the entire R&D phase, promote any product lines they want, and expect every one to become a craze on the level of Star Wars, Pokémon, or Harry Potter as long as they put in the same upfront investment. The reality is that while kids are certainly susceptible to media influences, it's a waste of resources to try and build up kids' enthusiasm for something that they are indifferent to at the outset. You get a lot more bang for your buck by putting together a new product line from concepts kids already understand and care about. Anyway, I'm almost inclined to interpret Mark Stafford's comment as a response to fans' arbitrary standards for what they consider a "true" Space or Castle theme. After all, a lot of people didn't consider Alien Conquest a true space theme. Some people didn't even consider Life on Mars and Mars Mission true space themes!

I'd be tempted to agree with this interpretation (or at least acknowledge the possibility) if not for the fact that if Space and Castle are on their way back, I don't know if Mark would be allowed to drop hints like that, even sneaky ones. But of course, it could also be interpreted as a jab at how even using language like "true Castle theme" or "true Space theme" suggests tastes so particular as to set oneself up for perpetual disappointment. I mean, how many people insisted that Knights' Kingdom II wasn't a true Castle theme or that Alien Conquest wasn't a true Space theme? Some people even continue to insist that Life on Mars and Mars Mission weren't true Space themes!

Frankly, I think it's kinda inaccurate to suggest that a designer who worked on wacky mashup castles wouldn't have what it takes to design more "normal" castles. I mean, just look at the MOCs in his Castle folder on Brickshelf. Some of them are wacky like Nexo Knights, but others are pretty tame: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=156787 And I say that without diminishing the fact that yes, as a Nexo Knights designer, he probably DID have some guiding influence in the theme's look and features. There are many parts of the theme that do echo his past experience with sets and MOCs alike. And it's not like a designer can't have great ideas to contribute for both wacky sci-fi and more conventional fantasy. After all, Adrian Florea designed both the Garmatron and the Temple of Airjitzu, and that was for the same theme! …All that said, there are other designers whose takes on Castle sets I'd much sooner love to see, like Wes Talbott, who you might also remember as the guy who created the Legend of Zelda Iron Knuckle Encounter project on LEGO Ideas, and also creates lots of really epic fantasy art.

So… what's the hook then to sell people on a set that size? Because presently I can't see LEGO just up and releasing a bulk brick set that's over twice the size of their recent brick boxes and has less eye-catching colors. Frankly, given the amount of repetition in most modular buildings, it would make a lot more sense to just sell a $60 brick bucket and let AFOLs who want those bricks in modular-level quantities buy multiples of them. Something like 10703, but two or three times the size and with some bigger parts like 8x16 and 16x16 plates thrown in for good measure. Ultimately, I'm not sure how much it would make sense to stick with "colors used in modulars". After all, there's really no reason any color is inherently inappropriate for modulars, and offering more variety will inspire more varied builds.

The Minecraft Crafting Boxes cost considerably less than even a single modular building, though. That's what I'm getting at with the size issue. It's not a matter of "people won't buy loose brick boxes", it's "people lining up to pay upwards of $150 for a loose brick box seems like a stretch when we hardly ever see them priced above $60." If it were half-sized modulars? Maybe that's a bit closer to reality. But even then if you're going to brand it as a kit for creating your own you need to offer some degree of variety so you're not locking people into using one specific color scheme or whatnot. And the more options you offer, the more pieces you have to offer and the higher the price point climbs.

I think the problem with a "design-your-own-modular" set in the vein of "Go Brick Me" is its inevitable SIZE. "Go Brick Me" already costs 3 times as much as a typical BrickHeadz figure just so it can include a decent range of possibilities for colors and content. Would people really pay 3 times as much as a typical modular for a box of loose bricks? Even if it has a lower than usual price per piece I think you'd have a hard time convincing people to drop that amount of money on something that's solely a parts pack.

It was not a "big bang", though I don't know for sure whether that means it was only planned for two years. The definition of "big bang" mostly just has to do with how much money, time, and attention LEGO devotes to a theme at launch. "Big bang" themes do tend to have other commonalities besides that, but they can still be pretty varied. For example, Power Miners was not nearly as character- or story-driven as Ninjago or Nexo Knights, but it was the LEGO Group's "big bang" in 2009.

Agreed, Enlighten has come a long way. Many of their older sets like this one were more or less direct copies of 90s and 2000s LEGO sets. They're still not quite as ethical as, say, Mega Construx, since they still copy even some fairly recent and specialized LEGO molds (for example, this one features a recolored CHI Fluminox head). But I respect them more than brands like Lepin or Decool which outright copy entire LEGO sets, characters, or both. Also, by now I'm sure you've figured out that wackier themes aren't really a turn-off for me. So they don't lose points in my book for that either. But I really doubt "The War of Glory" is the kind of stuff most of the people in this topic are hoping for LEGO to do with the Castle theme this time around.

Arguably the opposite has been happening… a lot of the sets in the recent Enlighten castle line, titled "The War of Glory", seem inspired by recent themes like Ninjago, Chima, Elves, and Nexo Knights. Their main castle transforms into a giant rolling laser cannon, their cartoonish siege engine transforms into a humanoid mecha, and their elf vehicles are about as neon as anything from Nexo Knights and as wacky as anything from Chima. Even their tamest sets resemble the wackier stuff from Fantasy Era. I hardly think they'd form the basis of the sort of "realistic" fantasy or historical line a lot of people here have expressed a desire for. As for Enlighten's previous Castle line, titled "Knights: Castle Series", which seems to take more of its cues from Castle sets of the 90s and early 2000s, their website lists most of those sets as "about to stop production". If LEGO's recent trend towards more fantastical lines and departure from tradition is truly a misstep, that realization hasn't dawned on LEGO's imitators any more than it has on LEGO themselves.

Truth be told I would actually be interested in seeing a big D2C set that's actually a castle. Of the previous 3 Castle D2C sets, 10176 was no more "expert-level" than an average $100 castle, 10193 depicted a village, and Kingdoms Joust just depicted part of a castle or fortification. Given that the only castles we've seen above the $100 price point have been in licensed themes and Nexo Knights, I would be very interested to see what a castle could look like at a $200–300 price point. Maybe we could finally get something with features like a banquet hall, royal bedchamber, etc. Maybe even a stable or a library. Overall, though, I think the chances of seeing a D2C castle are more likely after a larger castle theme is already up and running or even on its way out. That tends to be how most "themed" D2C sets have been released in the past.

Would we see the same sort of ridiculous complaints with them that we see with the regular modulars? "Argh! This new building is clearly based on 12th century France! It'll stick out like a sore thumb on my 11th century German street! And uniquely printed faces? Ugh! If this continues I will not be buying any future buildings!"

It's a combination model of the Stormbringer Dragon set and the LEGO Boost Creative Toolbox set. So the default build of the Stormbringer Dragon on its own will look different.

None of those themes you mentioned ran parallel to Star Wars while new Star Wars movies were still coming out. That's a key difference between then and now. But anyway, there's a separate topic for talking about potential future action/adventure themes; we'd better not keep derailing this one to talk about what will/should replace Nexo Knights.

Another thing is that several identically furnished rooms would make for a fairly boring, repetitive build. So I imagine LEGO would be more likely to “scale down” a hotel if they did one — at most, maybe two or three normal rooms and a penthouse suite.

I was mostly asking @Klaus-Dieter because it seemed like a peculiar criticism for a series that was so much like Kingdoms to begin with, though it occurs to me now that with the "crazy designs" comment he could have been talking about Nexo Knights (I'm not really used to people who dislike it referring to it as a Castle theme).

What was unfitting about the colors of the 2013 Castle sets compared to the Kingdoms sets? From what I saw the main thing they did was use blue in place of red and red in place of dark green. And to be honest, if it weren't for those brightly-colored accents, those sets would have been even MORE repetitive. I know I've started to get extremely bored at LEGO conventions seeing grey castle after grey castle after grey castle.