Latest CMF series impact on Historic themes

[Littleworlds]

Looking at the amount of classic castle-related minifigs released each series, I can't help but assume that is TLGs way to admit, there wont be any classic fantasy/medieval series anytime soon, but tries to give us some solace by at least keeping us supplied with minifigs... A bittersweet thought.

Edited July 23, 2016 by Littleworlds

[RAKRONDEWL]

The Rogue looks incredible, I need as many as possible to make LOTR Rangers, Assassins Creed assassins, and maybe DC Arrow or the Dark Archer.

[SirBlake]

That LotR photo is great. The rogue works really well for that.

After having put together the Photonomicon evolution thread, I have a better idea of what we have and haven't covered in the CMF line.

The most obvious blanks are:

1. Prince. Lots of royalty, but no male heir to the throne. We've only gotten two princes so far. One in the classic joust set and one in an advent calendar. Neither are great, so we're due for an upgrade.

2. Tradesmen. The obvious go-to here is the blacksmith. We've really only had three, and the CMF could provide new parts like a new head piece, hammer or anvil. Additionally, we could use a cook, baker, tailor, stable boy, generic peasant, anything like that.

3. Elves. We've got the one elf from series 3, but he could use company in the form of a female elf, elf warrior (in armor as opposed to the ranger type we have now), elf nobility or sorcerer. Additionally this could include dark elves and high elves like the Alexandre Boudon sketches.

4. Sorceress. The Ice Queen from series 16 comes close, but not close enough for my taste. Traditional witches are fine, but a fantasy sorceress would be nice. This could be covered in the elf category above or a regular human.

5. Dwarves. We've got an evil one, but why not a good one? Maybe a female dwarf?

6. Undead. Fantasy had a bunch of skeleton warrior options. It would be nice to see what the CMF line could do with this concept.

7. Trolls/Orcs. The series 13 goblin is cool, but really it's a different character. An update of the fantasy troll/Orc would be welcome.

8. Past faction soldiers. We've gotten a freshened crownie knight, forest men and now the wolf pack. How about a black falcon soldier or archer? Maybe one of Basil the Bat Lord's troops?

We are fortunate that a lot of the basics have been covered, but I think you could easily get another 15-20 just from this list.

What do you guys think? What did I miss?

[x105Black]

I think we still need a Wolfpack, as lovely as I think that figure is. I want a Wolfpack Bandit figure, not a Wolfpack Ranger / Rogue.

Anyways, I know it's not CMF, but that new utility belt piece from the upcoming Batman sets looks like it could be very useful in different colors for a future Castle theme.

[Vorkosigan]

Just want to share my own rogues gallery.

[SirBlake]

Nice pack of rogues! This fig responds really well to head and headgear swaps to make for a nicely varied group.

I think we still need a Wolfpack, as lovely as I think that figure is. I want a Wolfpack Bandit figure, not a Wolfpack Ranger / Rogue.

I suppose. I think the rogue fits nicely in the spirit of the Wolf Pack. Back in the day, as cool as the Wolf Pack is, it's still a bunch of dudes in brown shirts with a giant logo on them like they're a hockey team or something. Great for the time, but the rogue is a nice spiritual successor, for me anyway.

[samtung]

The most obvious blanks are:

1. Prince. Lots of royalty, but no male heir to the throne. We've only gotten two princes so far. One in the classic joust set and one in an advent calendar. Neither are great, so we're due for an upgrade.

2. Tradesmen. The obvious go-to here is the blacksmith. We've really only had three, and the CMF could provide new parts like a new head piece, hammer or anvil. Additionally, we could use a cook, baker, tailor, stable boy, generic peasant, anything like that.

3. Elves. We've got the one elf from series 3, but he could use company in the form of a female elf, elf warrior (in armor as opposed to the ranger type we have now), elf nobility or sorcerer. Additionally this could include dark elves and high elves like the Alexandre Boudon sketches.

4. Sorceress. The Ice Queen from series 16 comes close, but not close enough for my taste. Traditional witches are fine, but a fantasy sorceress would be nice. This could be covered in the elf category above or a regular human.

5. Dwarves. We've got an evil one, but why not a good one? Maybe a female dwarf?

6. Undead. Fantasy had a bunch of skeleton warrior options. It would be nice to see what the CMF line could do with this concept.

7. Trolls/Orcs. The series 13 goblin is cool, but really it's a different character. An update of the fantasy troll/Orc would be welcome.

8. Past faction soldiers. We've gotten a freshened crownie knight, forest men and now the wolf pack. How about a black falcon soldier or archer? Maybe one of Basil the Bat Lord's troops?

We are fortunate that a lot of the basics have been covered, but I think you could easily get another 15-20 just from this list.

What do you guys think? What did I miss?

Love all of these, particularly more elves. My Castle collection is all classic Castle, so it's yellow minifigures, not the white-fleshtone of the licensed series -- there's a lot of elf hairpieces from LOTR but obviously none of the ears are yellow.

We could probably do with more nobility / courtesans, like in Game of Thrones. My Medieval Market Village and Mill Village Raid are decently populated, but my castles are home only to soldiers. Who else hangs out there all day?

I'd also love to see factions get built out with consistent heraldry. I love the Wolf Pack brooch on the latest CMF rogue, and I'd love to get, say, more Bear or Boar (CMF evil knights) or Black Falcon (Kingdoms Joust) figures that use the same sigils. I'd love to have a King, Queen, Prince/Princess, etc. for the other factions.

Another classic medieval figure would be a monk! My Lego Vikings could sail up and raid the heck out of their monastery.

Edited July 25, 2016 by samtung

[x105Black]

I'd love to have a King, Queen, Prince/Princess, etc. for the other factions.

Definitely! We have what is essentially the Lion's King and Queen. I'd love the Black Falcon King and Queen, the Dragon King and Queen, etc.

[General Magma]

Looking at the amount of classic castle-related minifigs released each series, I can't help but assume that is TLGs way to admit, there wont be any classic fantasy/medieval series anytime soon, but tries to give us some solace by at least keeping us supplied with minifigs... A bittersweet thought.

I don't mind that at all, the fantasy and medieval minifigs you get in the CMF series are almost always better than what you'd get in an actual set.

[josykay]

I'd also love to see factions get built out with consistent heraldry. I love the Wolf Pack brooch on the latest CMF rogue, and I'd love to get, say, more Bear or Boar (CMF evil knights) or Black Falcon (Kingdoms Joust) figures that use the same sigils. I'd love to have a King, Queen, Prince/Princess, etc. for the other factions.

Oh yeah, I would absolutely love, to have a new figure of the "Black Monarch", ruler of the Black Knights, for example, wearing a darkpearl grey breastplate with the Black Knights' sigil on it, and more importantly having a, today unique, darkpearl crown with a tiny dragon on it's top?

Or the Crusader king, who certainly exists, after all his keep is named after him, but so far he is lacking a minifigure... It would be simply great having more minifigures of the "original" castle factions. Yeah, even a soldier of basil would be creat, with a proper bat winged helmed?

Edited July 25, 2016 by josykay

[Littleworlds]

I don't mind that at all, the fantasy and medieval minifigs you get in the CMF series are almost always better than what you'd get in an actual set.

Well, thats for sure true. You can also simply buy multiples and create a very individualistic own faction for your projects. So... despite the lack of representation as an actual official theme, it could be worse really

[samtung]

I don't mind that at all, the fantasy and medieval minifigs you get in the CMF series are almost always better than what you'd get in an actual set.

Sometimes set minifigures are pretty nice looking -- Golden Knight is awesome!

Medieval Market Village had wenches and a sweet blacksmith. Some of the LOTR minifigures are pretty great looking too.

Edited July 25, 2016 by samtung

[SirBlake]

Love these ideas. I doubt we could get royalty for all of the factions, but maybe for the Black Falcons? There's good opportunity for much different, darker looking characters relative to the mostly red CMF king and queen we've gotten in the last couple of years.

[AmperZand]

Just want to share my own rogues gallery.

Very cool. I had something similar in mind but series 16 isn't available where I am yet.

[x105Black]

I don't mind that at all, the fantasy and medieval minifigs you get in the CMF series are almost always better than what you'd get in an actual set.

Some of them are better, but there are only a few fantasy and medieval minifigures per series, and only a few series in a year (next year it might just be one). So while I agree that they are of very good quality, they are so few and far between that they are hardly a worthwhile replacement.

Oh yeah, I would absolutely love, to have a new figure of the "Black Monarch", ruler of the Black Knights, for example, wearing a darkpearl grey breastplate with the Black Knights' sigil on it, and more importantly having a, today unique, darkpearl crown with a tiny dragon on it's top?

Or the Crusader king, who certainly exists, after all his keep is named after him, but so far he is lacking a minifigure... It would be simply great having more minifigures of the "original" castle factions. Yeah, even a soldier of basil would be creat, with a proper bat winged helmed?

That sounds wonderful.

[RetroInferno]

I don't think they are replacing Castle with CMF, it is way too niche as very few people will actually buy them officially from lego if they only want a few of the mini-figs.

Way I see it's only a little wink at AFOLS.

[Ltfalcon]

That LotR photo is great. The rogue works really well for that.

After having put together the Photonomicon evolution thread, I have a better idea of what we have and haven't covered in the CMF line.

The most obvious blanks are:

1. Prince. Lots of royalty, but no male heir to the throne. We've only gotten two princes so far. One in the classic joust set and one in an advent calendar. Neither are great, so we're due for an upgrade.

2. Tradesmen. The obvious go-to here is the blacksmith. We've really only had three, and the CMF could provide new parts like a new head piece, hammer or anvil. Additionally, we could use a cook, baker, tailor, stable boy, generic peasant, anything like that.

3. Elves. We've got the one elf from series 3, but he could use company in the form of a female elf, elf warrior (in armor as opposed to the ranger type we have now), elf nobility or sorcerer. Additionally this could include dark elves and high elves like the Alexandre Boudon sketches.

4. Sorceress. The Ice Queen from series 16 comes close, but not close enough for my taste. Traditional witches are fine, but a fantasy sorceress would be nice. This could be covered in the elf category above or a regular human.

5. Dwarves. We've got an evil one, but why not a good one? Maybe a female dwarf?

6. Undead. Fantasy had a bunch of skeleton warrior options. It would be nice to see what the CMF line could do with this concept.

7. Trolls/Orcs. The series 13 goblin is cool, but really it's a different character. An update of the fantasy troll/Orc would be welcome.

8. Past faction soldiers. We've gotten a freshened crownie knight, forest men and now the wolf pack. How about a black falcon soldier or archer? Maybe one of Basil the Bat Lord's troops?

We are fortunate that a lot of the basics have been covered, but I think you could easily get another 15-20 just from this list.

What do you guys think? What did I miss?

I agree 100% as you can't go wrong with updated midieval characters, how about more elves, dwarves, and what about a centaur!

Oh, the cmf goblin, sytur, bear knight, and rogue are favorites! Cudos to the Lego cmf designers!!

[Lord_Tyrannus]

I would love more elves! Especially nobility or some heavy armored soldiers. In the last years we only got some elven rangers, good to make ambushs, but couldn't fight in an open field.

Besides that, I would like a monk (as "samtung" said above) and more peasants (especially it it is a female character).

[bricklover]

Yes, I agree, we need more elves. I think we have enough nobility( Elrond and Thranduil and Legolas). Heavily armored is a good idea.

Edited July 30, 2016 by bricklover

[The lego fan]

We can't keep relying on cmf series' to provide us with medieval castle stuff. We need a new theme that relates to sets like the medieval market village. That realy was a great set!

[x105Black]

4 hours ago, The lego fan said:

We can't keep relying on cmf series' to provide us with medieval castle stuff. We need a new theme that relates to sets like the medieval market village. That realy was a great set!

Absolutely.  This will be even more true next year with only 1 regular series.

[Robert8]

LEGO Ideas could be the only way to get a castle set for now

[Lord Sith Lego]

The only problem I have with CMF is you won't know what you are buying until opening the pack. The packaging is too thick that feeling it doesn't help me sadly. Too many good figs and pieces I want but too scared to waste a lot of money on stuff I don't need. Lego needs to do away with the mystery packaging.

[x105Black]

7 hours ago, Lord Sith Lego said:

The only problem I have with CMF is you won't know what you are buying until opening the pack. The packaging is too thick that feeling it doesn't help me sadly. Too many good figs and pieces I want but too scared to waste a lot of money on stuff I don't need. Lego needs to do away with the mystery packaging.

I haven't had any real issues with the feeling method.  Over several series, I've only had a few misses.  That said, I would rather them not be mysterious.  It's a waste of time feeling the packages.

[The lego fan]

14 hours ago, x105Black said:

Absolutely.  This will be even more true next year with only 1 regular series.

Exactly! I'm glad you agree with me.