What would you like for the next Castle line?

[thetang22]

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.

Lord of the Rings may have inspired lots of things in medieval fantasy, but a large majority of those things (like a Goblin army) have become VERY commonplace in the medieval fantasy, to the point that they aren't distinctly associated with just LotR's anymore. Most of those concepts have become so commonplace that it's pretty hard to even identify where a new interpretation is even getting it's inspiration. "Oh, a Goblin army....did you find inspiration for that from Lord of the Rings? ....or from any of the 100+ D&D campaigns that feature a goblin army? ....or from any of the 100+ video game RPGs that feature a goblin army? ....or from any of the 100+ other books that feature a goblin army? ....or from (and so on and so on....)

Of course I'm exaggerating a bit, but there's hardly anything from LotRs that hasn't already been copied over an obscene amount of times. The question becomes, when a "new" Goblin army comes along, what are the creators going to do to make this version distinct and memorable?

[Robert8]

Maybe a Mythology theme

Poseidon vs Zeus vs Hades

Poseidon army:

Hades army:

Zeus army:

Edited September 22, 2015 by Robert8

[Sir Gareth]

A fantasy, adventure theme like the original Zendikar set from Magic: The Gathering. Fantasy Era meets Indiana Jones/Johnny Thunder. Minifigures would be Elves, Goblins, Merfolk, Vampires, etc. Builds would be shrines and other architecture.

[ZCerberus]

Why are we talking about this? It's the kind of topic that drives most moderators nutso. You guys might as well talk about something since Nexo seems like it is good for MOCers, not so good for collectors.

[thetang22]

Why are we talking about this? It's the kind of topic that drives most moderators nutso.

Because the new line that's just been shown is VERY underwhelming to a lot of people who were hoping it would be a LOT better. For many, it doesn't satisfy any real desire for a Castle theme.

Why would this thread drive any moderator nuts? It's polite conversation that is on topic for the forum it's located in.

[ZCerberus]

Why would this thread drive any moderator nuts? It's polite conversation that is on topic for the forum it's located in.

Because it will be pages upon pages of "bring back faction X!" and then pages and pages of "faction X sucks" and then pages and pages of wacky stuff that LEGO would never build like "sci-fi hoverboard moving castle knights versus evil jesters". Pah-lease.

Go back and count the number of posts where someone requests a return of their favorite old faction- I bet it is over half. Really this thread is "what is your favorite old faction" with a few people suggesting new crap that will never be built that is bound to start an argument. Again, it is bound to drive me nuts!

What people should do- create their own faction or join the guilds- do some MOCing homeboys and homegals!!

[SirBlake]

The state of Lego castle sucks, and will continue to suck for at least the next few years. This is how we're choosing to deal with it (in a perfectly civil manner I might add) and her we are getting yelled at again. Dark days indeed.

[ZCerberus]

Civil or otherwise, it is bound to drive me nuts, and it won't last on a civil tone. Trust me. I'll collect my apology from you later.

You'll also notice I didn't shut the thread down and added ya'll must need something to talk about. It is just my observation on how this type of thread usually pans out and it seems quite silly in my opinion since the topic is generic and the first post says something insightful like "discuss".

Basically this thread is "castle 2016 thread before we knew it was Nexo Knights". Ugh.

I want the return of black dragon crusader fright jellybean fantasy pack troll Knights!!

Edit: also sad you didn't sense the serenity I was trying to bring with the "sci-fi hooverboard moving castle Knights" joke, but whatever.

[SirBlake]

Your sanity level is not our concern.

[ZCerberus]

Your sanity level is not our concern.

It should be. I can promise you every Mod on the board feels the same about something like this.

Post your "wish list" threads are notorious for being off-topic and uncivil. Can we focus on something more specific? This isn't a topic that will generate discussion. It will be "bring back X" and then "LEGO will never make X" and then "bring back Y!" and then "LEGO won't make Y". Read this thread from go and tell me that isn't what it is already.

Eventually someone will call someone else stupid for their crazy theme desire, the thread will devolve into chaos and name calling and will have to come back and tell people to be nice and chamber someone and lock thread and everyone will be unhappy.

[dzidek1983]

Medieval and fantasy castle theme has so many different possibiliteis for new sets thats it's silly that LEGO can't come up with anything for the fans of those series. City can get another "truck" for the - i can't count how many there was - and yet they still produce new. So it seems that the sales for castle dropped and they try to move out of the theme. Which is sad.

[x105Black]

I made a post earlier about my dreams for the Castle theme. In that thread, I failed to mention that I would love to see world mythology incorporated. I think a few building styles, armor, weapons, creatures, and other mythological things from around the world could be incorporated into this. I would love to see a new Castle theme, and hope that one comes out soon!

[dzidek1983]

It also comes to my mind that LEGO fails to understand what the Castle theme has become over years and who is the potential buyer of the sets.

If you look at Caslte MOC's you will notice what is the desired brick arsenal. Making huge castles made of big parts that are not used in MOC's is just a fail.

If they didn't have any idea for a new line making a couple of medium and small sets containing some unique usefull pieces would be totally a seller.

So maybe instead of asking for big projects the castle fans would be satisfied with less but more usefull sets.

[x105Black]

It also comes to my mind that LEGO fails to understand what the Castle theme has become over years and who is the potential buyer of the sets.

If you look at Caslte MOC's you will notice what is the desired brick arsenal. Making huge castles made of big parts that are not used in MOC's is just a fail.

If they didn't have any idea for a new line making a couple of medium and small sets containing some unique usefull pieces would be totally a seller.

So maybe instead of asking for big projects the castle fans would be satisfied with less but more usefull sets.

That's a really good point. Smaller sets with Knights using new or updated Heraldry, and lots of plates, tiles, SNOT bricks, etc, and interesting, useful, and unique pieces could be great for Castle AFOLs.

[Oshikaru-Sensei]

I know Ninjago and Nexo Knights exists, so It's probably unlikely, but I would love to see some classic Ninja and Castle-esque sets wtih Lego's new production value with their pieces and prints. Maybe some generic Ninjas and Knights with some canons and carts would be awesome, like one of my favorite new-ish (I say new-ish because it was 2013) castle sets, LEGO Castle Forest Ambush (Set 70400)

I would like to clarify, I love Ninjago, I would just like some non-Knight oriented Castle sets. I liked the classic era of Castle when it had things for the Knights to fight that Aren't other freakin' Knights. It felt like a more developed world/theme. Could you imagine if they made sets with Ninja Minifigures like the Collectible Minifigure Series Samurai and Ninja? That'd be incredible.

Sorry if my input wasn't very well thought out or easy to read, I just wanted to leave that there. I just love the more generic/non-branded sets with Yellow Minifigures. They're so much more modular.

[Andrzej777]

I would love to see some robin hood sort of theme (maybe Disney will bring out a movie :) ) - some forestmen defending poor villagers from the sheriff of nottingham - it would be nice if that could be turned into a big bang theme.

But I guess robin hood is no longer popular with the kids these days.

[TheLegoDr]

Robin Hoo-d... As in Robin Who-d...not a good joke, I know.

Anyway, I'd love new Forestmen related sets.

I was in the dark ages when Fantasy Era came out, so I don't need another one of those. I like having humans fight humans, but it seems this last theme was too similar to Kingdoms and I liked Kingdoms so much more (colors, sets, figure prints)...

But I love classic castle, so I'd love something going back to that. Wolfpack, Forestmen, Crusaders, Black Knights, Black Falcons...so glorious.

[Jreacher]

After much thought I have a great idea for lego. I love building mocs… so for me ill just continue buying bricks off brick link and building what i want.. however I would love for lego to come out with mini figure pack…. imagine just boxes of mini figures like we had in the 80's and 90's. 6 figs to a box with accessories.

they could do a lion one, forest men, wolf pack, dragon, fantasy, villagers etc….. Id buy those…

[x105Black]

After much thought I have a great idea for lego. I love building mocs… so for me ill just continue buying bricks off brick link and building what i want.. however I would love for lego to come out with mini figure pack…. imagine just boxes of mini figures like we had in the 80's and 90's. 6 figs to a box with accessories.

they could do a lion one, forest men, wolf pack, dragon, fantasy, villagers etc….. Id buy those…

Many of us would buy a lot of them, for army building. I know I would.

[Lyichir]

More livable detail. Most Castle sets are militarized to the point that there is no dedicated space for the knights or royal family to eat or even sleep. I understand that action play is important for kids, but so is a variety of different play scenarios—not just sieges but also banquets, fairs, and a chance for weary knights to actually relax. Themes like Elves, Ninjago, and yes, even Nexo Knights routinely include more creature comforts than dedicated Castle themes have, and whenever we see another dedicated Castle theme I'd like to see that change.

[Blondie-Wan]

I'll echo Lyichir's call for more livable space, as well as more civilians. Also, I'd like to see some old sub themes and factions return. I don't necessarily even need updated torso prints (and I suspect even lots of contemporary kids would be fine with old figure designs), though I understand TLG would be reluctant to go that way. Also, more women. Lots more. Also, more new animal molds.

[Aanchir]

More livable detail. Most Castle sets are militarized to the point that there is no dedicated space for the knights or royal family to eat or even sleep. I understand that action play is important for kids, but so is a variety of different play scenarios—not just sieges but also banquets, fairs, and a chance for weary knights to actually relax. Themes like Elves, Ninjago, and yes, even Nexo Knights routinely include more creature comforts than dedicated Castle themes have, and whenever we see another dedicated Castle theme I'd like to see that change.

Agreed with this entirely. There are also a few other things that I would wish for besides that.

My favorite themes are overwhelmingly story-driven themes. The last Castle theme I bought into heavily was Knights' Kingdom II, which is the only Castle theme (barring Nexo Knights ) that was anywhere close to as story- and character-driven as themes like Ninjago, Elves, Bionicle, Exo Force, etc. HOWEVER, there's a part of me — perhaps a somewhat hypocritical part — that feels like the classic themes City, Castle, Space, and Pirates should remain more open-ended than that. I did not buy a lot of the Fantasy Era, Kingdoms, or 2013 Castle sets, but I admired them from afar because they felt in a lot of ways like what a LEGO Castle theme should be like. So I would not mind another Castle theme that's iconic like those three, that doesn't depend on highly developed characters or a specific plot structure. But again, that might be a bit hypocritical of me to suggest something like that knowing I would probably not buy a lot of sets that way.

For sort of the same reason, I think the target age range should probably stay around where it's been. (5–12 at the lowest price points, and maybe 8–14 at the highest, D2C sets notwithstanding). Sure, themes like Nexo Knights and Ninjago do a great job with higher target age ranges than the classic themes like City, Pirates, and Castle. With that said, I think there's more opportunity for a more classic sort of theme at the lower age ranges. You'd want to capture an audience for whom traditional, iconic medieval play (maybe with a bit of fantasy) is still fresh and exciting. Some of my fondest memories playing with Castle sets and building castle MOCs were when I was still a fairly young child. As I grew older I started craving themes that had more of a "twist", more novelty, and a deeper and less familiar story. Bionicle, Exo Force, etc. If you want a Castle theme to appeal to a broad audience I think you have to hook them at that young age when a castle-themed birthday party still feels cool and not childish, and when kings, knights, wizards, and dragons still feel exciting and magical on their own without needing a unique mythology built around them.

Additionally, I think we'd have to see an increase in price points. There's really no getting around it: between inflation and other factors, it's not realistic to expect Castle sets to get bigger and better if the maximum price point for non-D2C sets continues to stagnate at $100. That may be where the max price point has been fixed since Vladek's Dark Fortress in 2005, and it was a beast of a set back then! But $100 back in 2005 is like $125 today. Older sets like Royal Knight's Castle, ($95 new in 1995) and Black Knight's Castle ($85 new in 1992), would be closer to $150 today. The era of the raised baseplate may be over (which is probably for the best considering what an awful price per piece those sets offered even back then, and how limited those bases were), but I'm sure LEGO castles could get a LOT bigger and more impressive if their price point weren't being held back.

In the very least I think the Castle theme could benefit from expanding into $120 sets like the Ninjago, Legends of Chima, and Nexo Knights themes tend to get once per year. A wider range of higher price point sets might not be a bad thing either. It's kind of weird how recent Castle and Pirates waves tend to jump straight from $30 or $50 sets to a single $100 set without covering any of the price points in between. Sure, that has something to do with how few sets there are per year compared to themes like Ninjago and Nexo Knights, but still, Castle might benefit from having more $70 and $80 sets so you don't have such a paltry-looking "evil" castle next to your "good" King's Castle.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I realize I am not really qualified to speak for people who still play with Castle sets and build Castle MOCs. I dabble in it on LDD every now and then but nothing brings back the magic I felt building castles in my basement when I was 6 or 7. Still, I love seeing how the LEGO Castle theme has developed over the years, and I'd like to see that development continue.

Edited May 25, 2016 by Aanchir

[amechanicalmind]

How about a Heroes of Might and Magic style line (III, of course). Kind of Fantasy Era Plus, with more factions (barbarians, knights, undead, Hades, Sylvan, etc) Could use many figures and accessories from CMF line, army packs, civilian buildings, siege weapons, plus Nexo type ultimate heroes. I'd like to see Lego actually stick with a line for a number of years again like they did back in the eighties, and have numerous sets in the line. Thoughts?

[Nerd-with-a-Pencil]

I've actually had an idea in my head for a while; I call it "Lego EPIC".

Basically, it's the late 2000's fantasy-era Castle cranked up to 11, with humans, dwarves, elves, goblins, hobgoblins, undead, and such.

[SirBlake]

It's a shame this one lay dormant as long as it did.

Yes to robust interiors. There's fun to be had when the weapons are put away.

Yes to a cornucopia of factions with imagination. This seems like fertile ground for AFOL and kid alike.