Sir Bricksalot Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 Since the Fantasy Era map that appeared in an issue of the club magazine has once again become the subject of debate and speculation, allow me to direct you to this thread from 2009: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=30163&st=50#entry526351 It took my a long time to find this information again, but I distinctly remember the excitement and subsequent disappointment regarding the Elflands drawing. I've wondered if perhaps the collectible elf minifigure that was later released was LEGO's way of tossing disappointed AFOLs a bone. Quote
Endriu Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 Maybe off topic but I bought kingdoms set 7188 King's carriage ambush yesterday at my local toy store. Was surprised to see this set still available (was also the last one) because its from 2011. I recently came out the dark ages so I missed out on the Fantasy era, kingdoms and castle sets. Although the last wave (Castle) has some sets that are still for sale they dont look appealing enough to me. Castle is definitely my favorite theme, I had the full wave of Knight's Kingdom I and some of the viking sets from 2005. The Carriage set I bought is really cool looking. I really like the build and surroundings like the trees they added in the set. I can't wait for the new castle wave, I hope it will be much better than the last one from 2013. And perhaps something like a viking theme again? Would be awesome Also what are your guys opinions on the castle wave from 2013? Like many have already said, the best thing were the minifigs, I would have been able to buy the kings castle but it didnt really look appealing to me - was kinda bland - this disappointing feeling towards the castle made me realize I needed to build my own castle one day!!! :) I bought sets 70400,70401,70402. 70400 is a nice battle pack if you ask me, the other stuff is just OK, I guess. Personally I would really like some long term commitment from lego in regard to castle. I mean, they should bring out a couple of waves in the beginning of the year, half a wave during summer, and repeat this cycle. Each wave should consist of at least on villager pack (some village building, village animals and of course VILLAGERS :)). Quote
legoguy1984 Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 I second the long term commitment idea. similar to the City line. Not every set has to have conflict. Quote
Itaria No Shintaku Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 I think that since there will be no Chima next year, the entering theme will inherit something from Chima. I'm not confident I will like the theme. Quote
fred67 Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 Since the Fantasy Era map that appeared in an issue of the club magazine has once again become the subject of debate and speculation, allow me to direct you to this thread from 2009: http://www.eurobrick...=50#entry526351 It took my a long time to find this information again, but I distinctly remember the excitement and subsequent disappointment regarding the Elflands drawing. I've wondered if perhaps the collectible elf minifigure that was later released was LEGO's way of tossing disappointed AFOLs a bone. Well, I'm having fun beating dead horses lately (what a terrible expression!), so I'm going to continue on my thoughts... I do personally do believe LOTR killed Fantasy, but I'm willing to accept they never had plans to release an Elf faction for a couple of reasons - the first of which, it was already fairly late in the theme, given how long the themes generally last, and we hadn't had a single elf up to that point. Even if the theme went on another year, we'd have a ton of skeletons (which I hated - the only bad part about the Fantasy era IMO), lot's of humans, a good smattering of dwarfs and various orcs/trolls - and only one year of sets with elves? You'd hardly have any elves at all.... I mean, they wouldn't exclusively released elf based sets and nothing else to make up for it. Secondly, we often see (or at least hear) about things in production - there was never any indication they were making an elf figure (let alone sets); there were no pictures, no prototypes that were ever seen by anybody, there was just nothing. TLG is much better now at keeping things under wraps, perhaps, but they weren't as good back then - we saw (or at least heard) about stuff all the time. Still, I do not believe when some representative from the company tells a "story" about it like that. They are trying to make it so people aren't disappointed, so they aren't mad at the changeover to LOTR; it's an easier pill to swallow - if he'd said "yes, we were working on it, but then stopped for LOTR," then he'd get bombarded with "when will you do it? Is it still possible you'll do it in the future? If you already have something, couldn't you just release it now?" and a bunch of other questions they'd probably rather not answer. The guy was a community relations person, not a set designer who'd been working on it and probably would WANT to share what he was working on. This is simply how public relations work. Still, unless we actually had some concrete evidence, we can't know for sure. That's all I was saying. We simply don't know for sure that LOTR killed Fantasy Era or elves, but I do personally believe there is something to that sentiment. Quote
Deathleech Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 I think that since there will be no Chima next year, the entering theme will inherit something from Chima. I'm not confident I will like the theme. Why do people keep saying this? Lego brought back Ninjago and that is sticking around after Chima ends? I don't see why Lego would also extend any Chima influence to their Castle theme, especially when they still have a similar property to Chima (Ninjago) on shelves. Quote
SirBlake Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 Why do people keep saying this? Lego brought back Ninjago and that is sticking around after Chima ends? I don't see why Lego would also extend any Chima influence to their Castle theme, especially when they still have a similar property to Chima (Ninjago) on shelves. It may just be people voicing their concerns. I must admit, I have a nagging feeling that TLG will decide to Ninjago-ify castle and it scares me. If only because it would have a huge negative impact on the AFOL side of the hobby. If it were to go that way, I'd probably re-enter the dark ages to a degree and focus on building my own stuff simply because the discussion surrounding something like that would be too painful to endure. Quote
SMC Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 Talking of Ninjago have you all seen the new 2015 sets that have not come out yet, ghosts with what look like a lot of new glow in the dark parts. Maybe just maybe ghosts could be the way castle go. On the other hand we still don't have anything to confirm any kind of castle line. Quote
Artanis I Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 Ghosts have been out for far too long. Apart from the abominable 2006 castle that doesn't exist, we haven't had ghosts in Castle for what, 20 years? All the skeletons we've had in that time... Quote
BrickJagger Posted May 22, 2015 Author Posted May 22, 2015 It would be nice to bring back the ghosts, but not as a faction, rather more of a dungeon-lurker type that is neutral in the battle. Talking of Ninjago have you all seen the new 2015 sets that have not come out yet, ghosts with what look like a lot of new glow in the dark parts. Maybe just maybe ghosts could be the way castle go. On the other hand we still don't have anything to confirm any kind of castle line. You basically answered your own question there. Since the Ninjago ghosts are currently the main bad guys of that theme, why would they use ghosts again as the main bad guys for a theme coming out five months later? Quote
Robert8 Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 (edited) I wouldn't expect Ghosts in the next Castle theme since they'll appear in the Scooby Doo sets and probably in CMF Series 14, which will be "all monsters" Apart from the abominable 2006 castle that doesn't exist Stop the bullying Edited May 22, 2015 by Robert8 Quote
Itaria No Shintaku Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 Why do people keep saying this? Lego brought back Ninjago and that is sticking around after Chima ends? I don't see why Lego would also extend any Chima influence to their Castle theme, especially when they still have a similar property to Chima (Ninjago) on shelves. Ninjago was said to be the return of castle's ninjas. And instead it was... this. Chima was said to be something like "fabuland" but more modern. And instead it was... that. My 2p, this castle theme if it's like pirates will have a chance to be "pure". If it's a bigger theme (more sets, more waves) it will be something like Chima and Ninjago. Quote
SirBlake Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 If it's like pirates, it'll be more "pure" and more rehashes. Fingers crossed for something in between. Quote
ZCerberus Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 I think a Chima-esque faction would be fine so long as it is well done. The problem will be in the accessories. Jelly bean knights armor and helmets were slightly below okay, but the real issue was the blue swords! Yucky. Quote
Artifex Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 If the next Castle is anything like Pirates, I'd rather Lego didn't release any Castle at all. I don't think we need ONE wave of old sets with new color schemes, or a few very-tiny-little-small MEGO/Kre-o-like playsets. Quote
Vorkosigan Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 Last Castle wave was like pirates, small number of sets aimed at younger fans. I doubt they will do that again so soon. I do think it will be "action" oriented, but that doesn't have to be bad. Ultra Agents is a fairly stylish theme in the action vein. Quote
Artifex Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 I think there's been some good experiences in the last few years: Kingdoms, LotR, Castle... I'd say TLG has enough info on what works and what doesn't Castle-wise. LotR was a licensed theme, and that sells itself, but what worked --or didn't-- in Kingdoms, LotR and Castle will play a part in the next iteration. Quote
Alcarin Posted May 23, 2015 Posted May 23, 2015 It would be neat if they do kingdoms again but this time with the fantasy like a dragon, trolls, and even dwarfs!!!!! Nah, we need less fantasy and more civilian..... you know, MMV Kingdom Joust and MVR type of sets, and houses etc..... ideally we would also get 3 factions. We need neutral guys, good guys, bad guys, outlaws, a decent setup and interesting sets, no need for dragons again.... Kingdoms was perfect, it only lacked a 3rd and maybe 4th ''faction'' one or two more sets like MVR/Joust(and earlier MMV) and a better story. Quote
BrickJagger Posted May 23, 2015 Author Posted May 23, 2015 If the next Castle is anything like Pirates, I'd rather Lego didn't release any Castle at all. I don't think we need ONE wave of old sets with new color schemes, or a few very-tiny-little-small MEGO/Kre-o-like playsets. I doubt that will happen, as Lego can tell that there is a sizable following of it's Castle line : 1800 posts on the thread for the lackluster 2013 sets, and already 818 for the 2016 ones that we don't even have set numbers for yet. This new wave will probably have 7-8 sets to fit the "large" size that many people here have reported. Also, since it's a January wave, we can probably expect a summer wave with a few more sets because I've never seen a theme that was started in January not have a summer wave in the same year. Speaking of new info, do you think we will hear something soon? Quote
The Chosen Minifigure Posted May 24, 2015 Posted May 24, 2015 As long as there's elves (drow?) and/or civilians then I'm happy. Quote
Robert8 Posted May 24, 2015 Posted May 24, 2015 I hope someone of TLG is reading this thread.... Quote
halixon Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 This is going to be awesome if it is true! I loved the 2007-2009 sets, although i wasn't able to get many, so this'll be a great opportunity! Quote
ZCerberus Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 Nah, we need less fantasy and more civilian..... you know, MMV Kingdom Joust and MVR type of sets, and houses etc..... ideally we would also get 3 factions. We need neutral guys, good guys, bad guys, outlaws, a decent setup and interesting sets, no need for dragons again.... Kingdoms was perfect, it only lacked a 3rd and maybe 4th ''faction'' one or two more sets like MVR/Joust(and earlier MMV) and a better story. If we were designing for adults- then this is totally the way to go. I loved the more civilian Kingdoms sets for sure. I am sure where the rubber meets the road is how much kids love dragons. Always a dagger for the AFOLs! I am okay with fantasy as well. I would rather have interesting parts than interesting sets- but perhaps collectors and MOCers have very different outlooks on that. Quote
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