Prototype Castle sets

[Hive]

I apologize if these has already been posted here, but I stumbled across some (at least to me) interesting prototype Castle designs from various periods. Some of them are earlier versions of released sets, some are sets that never materialized in any form, some are alternative minifigs... well, see for yourself:

An interesting sort of precursor to the Medieval Market Village, pretty well-made.

Another medieval village with an interesting look.

A fairly standard castle.

A Loch Ness castle with creature. An interesting build.

A dwarwf mine from the 80's. Very cool, I think.

A later dwarf mine.

Yet another dwarf mine. Fascinating to see the development of this set over the years.

Some earlier versions of the dwarfs.

Some unreleased castle minifigs.

An earlier version of the troll's mountain fortress. In my view, this version is far superior to the final product.

I think I've seen this particular image somewhere on Eurobricks already, but couldn't recall where... it's a cancelled theme called 'Europa'. From Brickpedia: "Europa is an unreleased theme created by the LEGO group. It was set in the 18th century. The most likely reason that the theme wasn't released is that it was too close to both Castle and Pirates."

It's my favourite picture of the bunch, and I think it could have been great even though I understand their reasons for not doing it. Notice the wigs! Link to a bigger version of the picture: http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110102230732/lego/images/6/63/Europa.png

Edited March 13, 2011 by Hive

[Captain Becker]

Oh comon LEGO! Why you didnt give us these awesome looking sets? I love every single one of them, and the last one would have been awesome set to get. Great find Hive. What a shame truly at these didnt never get on to the stores.

Captain Becker

[Gregorovich]

I've never seen any of these images before, but they all look like stunning sets! It's a terrible shame that most of them weren't released ! I notice that some of the figures have side-leg and toe printing, which, I believe, was first released with the Collectable Minifigures in 2010. The wigs, puffy-arms with printing and the kilts are all examples of how advanced LEGO really were back then. It's just a shame that they didn't have the sense to release them! Thanks for sharing them with us, Hive!

Edited March 13, 2011 by Gregorovich

[Shroffy123]

Great find! I really like the civilian sets. It is a shame it took Lego almost 30 years to finally put one out.

The castles, they look okay, but nothing special.

A lot of the prints look great! I'm surprised they were never released. Also, I like the crown, I would be happy if they release a crown like that in the future.

I agree with OP, the first Orcs' fortress looks great, should've released that one :)

[Abu Dun]

All of those look completely stunning and would probably be among the most-wanted sets now if TLC had decided to produce them

My favourite would be the first dwarven mine and Loch Ness:

Those two have some really interesting features (I love Nessie ) and might have developed into legends if they had ever gotten the chance to do so

[Skalldyr]

Wow, I've never seen them! Especially the figs in the first set are looking awesome..

[blueandwhite]

While all of these images have shown up on various forums at one point or another, they do highlight some interesting elements that LEGO has considered producing. The image with the Loch Ness Monster is a good example. There we have the first example of LEGO's great helm; a piece that didn't come into being until the Kingdoms line. There is also a figure wearing a kilt and it appears that LEGO has been fond of those pot catapults for far longer than most of us could have imagined.

Other interesting elements are the crown, the assortment of civilians and civilian wear that include a number of unique hats and a beard. The puffy arms complete with painting are easily the coolest unreleased element I've ever seen. If many of the elements produced here had made it into production I suspect that I would never have entered my dark ages in the mid 1990s.

[BrickArtist]

I swear if TLG gave us that last set, you have no idea how much money they'd make. look at ALL those Blue-Coats. Who wouldn't by that? I would skip a year of LSW for that one. Also the medieval ones look almost as good.

[Llew]

Interesting sets, and there are some fine piece like the prototype cows (?) and swords:

the never seen form of the Lion's horse barding, or the two sided helbard (the trees are also great)

the bucket helmet early version

or the big Lion shield

[Donut]

What a gold mine! This is such a great find, thanks for posting this! I really wished TLC would have released some the elements seen in the pictures, mainly the black barding and the snake monster.

[Lordofdragonss]

Sea serpent fitting Dragons... I want 10 of them!

And this proto Orc fortress is amazing! I would love to get one! It looks so much better than relased version!

But Im glad they changed look of the skull logo.

[SirSven7]

If Lego Made it I would Buy it.

Why did most of these ideas never take shape.

[ScoutTroopy]

wow i love seeing prototype pics but i usually end up getting frustrated with lego for not releasing them, for example that lock ness set is amazing

[ziljin]

These are absolutely awesome. Especially the Troll Mountain Fortress!

[Mr. Gray]

Yeah I saw these on Classic-Castle as well.

It's really interesting seeing what could have been the early 90's/late 80's equivalent to Medieval Market Village. Not to mention all fo the awesome parts that will, apparently, never see production. But you never know, another thing was that the skeleton horse was designed in late 80's early 90's, yet wasn't released until a few years ago, so maybe we will see some of these parts eventually! But I don't know, i have no official relationship with LEGO, besides being a fan.

[BrickPerfection]

Wow, I haven't seen these before! Thanks for sharing!

Really, it's a shame none of these made it into a set as some are better than the castles release. I'm also sure people would have bought them.

Also the prototype crowns are looking really well.

[phoinix]

these look amazing. thanks for sharing.

where did you find these?

i always look for pre-production design and lego ideas. i find it to be most interesting.

i started this discussion a few years ago and i added a link there to this post.

thanks again.

Edited March 13, 2011 by phoinix

[lightningtiger]

My goodness what AWESOME prototypes.....looks like MOC building time for some of us eh ?

Time to start copying that town design in the first picture and fuse it with the MMV !

Keep on defending your castle !

[Niku]

Thanks for the pics.

LEGO should make these sets.

Personally i would love to see the castle fortress, and as you said i prefer the preview version rather than the original released.

[Hive]

these look amazing. thanks for sharing.

where did you find these?

I found them all on Brickpedia, searching for the word 'prototype'. There are lots of pics from other themes as well, a whole bunch from various space themes for example.

I'm glad you guys like them.

Edited March 14, 2011 by Hive

[XimenaPaulina]

I'll join in the party and also say that these are quite an amazing collection of prototypes, and honestly most of these seem to be better than the ones TLG released. I particularly love the Loch Ness monster, and the hairpieces in the last photo which castle and pirates fans alike have been wanting for so many years now. Thanks for taking the time to share these 'what-could-have beens' Hive!

[Shroffy123]

Wow, I just need to keep looking at this pictures. These sets look so amazing. I wonder why they were never released, or why a lot of the elements weren't introduced in actual.

Specifically the many different torso prints, the shields, weapons, and colored breast plates. But you know, it is nice that some of these elements are starting to appear.

[metalandi]

Thanks fpor the pictures! These are some uber fantastic sets It's a tragedy they were never released. It's very interesting to see that the idea of a bucket helmet came up so many years ago already, but only was released recently.

[Woodland Observer]

Can't stop looking at these. They're great. It's like a catalogue from a parallel universe. Though I think that they would have ended up being scaled down a bit if they had made it past the prototype stage.

[Derfel Cadarn]

I can't believe how many cool parts some of these sets have. The clothing and headwear on the female figs in the first pic are awesome. If only Lego had released these different figs, as I its annoying that there isn't much variety out there. The figs really do have more of a 16/17th century look on some of them which is really cool. Just think, theres probably hundreds of prototypes for different themes that never made it. Id love to see more of them, expecially the prototypes of the pirate ships.