Hive

Seeing how we won't get anymore Kingdoms set from LEGO, I decided to prolong the life of such a magnificent theme a bit myself: by modding sets from past and present LEGO themes (Castle as well as non-Castle) to look like something that could have been released as part of the Kingdoms theme. Some sets will be changed mor dramatically than others, but I will attempt to make them all seem like believable LEGO sets. To kick it off, I present to you a Kingdoms version of one of my favourite 2007 Castle sets (and, sadly, one of the few I own): 7079 Drawbridge Defense I fell in love with this set the first time I saw it, due to the brilliant drawbridge, coloring and splendid (and exclusive) gold knight. I call my own Kingdoms version (quite imaginatively) Drawbridge Defense: I know that the spears at the front doesn't line up, that was an error I didn't discover untill afterwards - but decided it was too minor to bother retaking the pictures. As you can see, there are some changes - mostly in terms of coloring. The only "big" change is replacing the flick-fire missile with a catapult, as I really really don't like flick-fire. And, of course, the inclusion of two Lion shields to the tower. I think it looks quite spiffy myself. The figures: I apologize for the bad, bad lighting. I'm not exactly a skilled photographer. You will probably notice that there are less figures in my version than in the original, which is fully on purpose; this is done to make it seem more believeable, as we all know LEGO cheaps more and more out on including figures. And I figure that my choice of Dragon Knight figures (and horse) are a lot more expensive to manufacture than the original skeleton selection. Also, I'm not really a fan of jester minifigs (and don't even own the Kingdoms version). I hope there's some Kingdoms fanatics like myself out there who appreciates wacky stuff like this!

Oooh of course, makes sense. Thanks for clearing that up.

Looks great! Impressive work. Though, as 90 % of my LOTR-knowledge stems from the 3 movies, I'm a bit puzzled: why have they attacked orcs?

Very impressive.

Funny, the turqoise roof is what I love most about this beautiful creation - it's so alternative and fresh for a Castle-ish build!

I glanced over the rules for this game. It sounds like it could be immensely fun - but also quite demanding and complicated. Much worse than Axis & Allies.

Looks interesting. How does it work? Also, do you have a picture of the knockoff ship? You got me curious now.

Beautiful!

...and you didn't buy it??? Damn I envy you Americans for your wild LEGO discounts... I'm personally waiting anxiously for POTC to go on clearance here as well, so I can finally afford those sets.

...I love it! Very streamlined and smooth on the eyes. Good work, you get my highest praise!

Pirates? EDIT: Nevermind, I see now that you already did that. How about PoTC then?

Sure, it's a really interesting read imo: http://www.classic-castle.com/sets/articles/designerfeedback07.html

Hi About a week ago, I stumbled across an interview with the lead designer of the Fantasy Castle lineup at Classic Castle. I found this to be extremely interesting, getting some words on the thoughts and reasoning behind some of the decisions at LEGO, and was wondering: does anyone know of anymore such interviews?

Interesting read on what is probably the worst LEGO faction ever, both in terms of design and colours of the faction itself and, especially, the horrible, horrible sets. I can honestly say that there's not ONE single set of this series I wish to own, which I cannot say about any other Castle faction ever. In fact, I actually bought Witch' Magic Manor MISB shortly after coming out of my "dark ages" because my nostalgia dictated me to look for "classic castle", but after receiving it I began doubting whether it was actually for me... and I eventually ended up selling the set again without opening it. But as you mention, Fright Knights did introduce some interesting bits and pieces as well as a witch minifig - and that's about the only positive thing I can say about this theme.

Defiantely. I, for one, had never seen the Castle from behind before.

I personally think that this is one of the worst Castles LEGO ever did in one of their worst Castle subthemes ever... I absolutely hate this particular lion emblem used for flags and shields, I'm not too fond of the bull emblem either and I think most of the minifigures are kinda bad... in fact, I'm probably one of the only people who thinks KKII was an improvement to KKI. But I will agree that the castle does look good from the front, if nothing else. And who doesn't love modularity between sets? More of that, please, LEGO! Anyway, in spite of me generally not liking this set much (nor the subtheme as a whole), I liked the review. Good work.

1. Are you male or female? Male. 2. How old are you? 29 (for another 3 weeks). 3. How old were you when you got your first Lego set and what was it? Sadly, I do not have the slightest idea. All I know is that it was in the 80's, and that it was most likely a Town set. 4. What is your favourite theme (past or present) and why? Castle, both past and present (with Pirates close second). Why? Probably because I've always been interested in history and (this only applied when I was a kid) there was high potential for conflicts when playing. 5. Why do you like Lego? It let's you create and use your imagination and it carries a great deal of nostalgia because of the countles of hours I spent enjoying LEGOs as a kid.

MMV for me, with Imperial Flagship being a close second. And yes, I'm biased by theme preferences.

When I came back to LEGO almost 2 years ago, I too was full of nostalgia and felt that today's LEGO was far superior to the LEGO of the "good old days" - untill I got some of the newer models and compared them to my old LEGO. That's when I began realizing that LEGO today is actually far superior to what it was. At least in my opinion. Do I agree with all of their decisions? Definately not. But since I got back we've had Pirates (was fasing out when I returned, sadly), Fantasy Castle (same as Pirates, sadly), Kingdoms, Pirates of The Caribbean and now soon Lord of The Rings... and I'll take any of these themes/subthemes as a whole over any theme LEGO has released previously - when taking into account things such as detail, specialty bricks, minifigures, colours, accesories, function and 'realism'. Having said that, I too think that most LEGO themes these days are mostly crap. But I fully understand their reasons for doing pretty much every one of them and achknowledge that it's often a matter of taste. Besides, with prices being what they are, I am actually rather thankful for the fact that only 1-2 themes at a time appeal to me.

Amazing detail. I especially love the custom sails, veeery nicely done. And the choice to use the scorpion logo from Knight's Kingdom II (I think?) is sublime, I would have never myself considered using that for pirates - but now that I see it, it feels like it was meant to be. Well done! I might have to get myself some scorpion torsos, shields and flags now...

The more I look at Helm's Deep, the more I must admit that I'm getting hyped for it. And as a hater of fleshie minifigs, it pleases me that so many of the torsos seems usable with yellow hands and heads - and of course, all the bad guys can be used next to Fantasy Castle trolls and skeletons. I'll probably end up getting quite a few of the LOTR sets after all. Though only at a really strong sale, as I still think licensed theme prices are ridiculous. But many good builds and pieces for my Castle setup.

I got 6241 Loot Island 6239 Cannon Battle 8396 Soldier's Arsenal 8397 Pirate Survival all new and unopened. I had all but Loot Island already, but one can never get too many pirates, soldiers and cannons.

I managed to get my hands on 7091 Knights' Catapult Defense and two additional 5615 The Knight, all new and unopened. Fantasy Castle sets aren't that easy to find at a decent price in unopened state nowadays, so I'm quite pleased whenever I manage to do so.

I'm intrigued by this idea, do you have any pictures?

Yeah, that's the one. Thanks for the inspiration, I would probably never have thought of it myself. But it fits so perfectly. I've been thinking about the same for a while, though the door and windows throws me off a bit.