Itaria No Shintaku Posted June 11, 2015 Posted June 11, 2015 Niiice. I like that new mold a lot. One question: How is Lego going to make the torso so that the Gargoyle can crouch? A new leg piece? This is the torso they're using IMHO: Quote
SirBlake Posted June 11, 2015 Posted June 11, 2015 That would make sense, though I'd prefer a new separate over the neck post piece that resembles folded wings on its back. Quote
MAB Posted June 12, 2015 Posted June 12, 2015 I second theTang22 on this one. Back in 2009, the forum was buzzing with "news" about elves as well. In fact, we had a box art that featured elven ears so it was safe to assume they were coming except.... a couple months later..... Lord of the Rings blew the entire theme of Lego inspired elves away. Lego never recovered after that. It was wave after wave of Lord of the Rings, leaving Lego Castle back in its infancy again. Wave after wave of LOTR? I guess you are strictly correct. It was wave 2 after wave 1. Then it stopped. Quote
General Magma Posted June 12, 2015 Posted June 12, 2015 Wave after wave of LOTR? I guess you are strictly correct. It was wave 2 after wave 1. Then it stopped. Yes, and wave 2 of LOTR was released along with another castle theme in 2013, so there's that. Quote
BrickJagger Posted June 12, 2015 Author Posted June 12, 2015 Wave after wave of LOTR? I guess you are strictly correct. It was wave 2 after wave 1. Then it stopped. He's clearly talking about the Hobbit sets as well. You can't say that the Hobbit and Lotr aren't the same series, as that would be like saying the Star Wars Prequels and Original Trilogy aren't related. So, by my count, there were five waves, which would justify him saying "Wave after wave". It is true that there was one Castle wave in there, but we can all agree that it was an afterthought and was poorly designed. Even the worst Middle Earth wave (2013 Lotr) was still far better than the Castle one from every standpoint, despite people here complaining about the set choices. In the past four years, there have been five Middle Earth waves, totaling over forty sets, and only one cheesy Castle one, with five. Quote
Deathleech Posted June 13, 2015 Posted June 13, 2015 In the past four years, there have been five Middle Earth waves, totaling over forty sets, and only one cheesy Castle one, with five. Whoa, what? Over 40 Middle-Earth sets? Where on earth did you get that number? By my count there are only 26 (12 LotR and 14 Hobbit). I guess if you include exclusives, promos, and polybags, then technically there are over 40... but as for real sets there aren't even close to that many. And if you ARE going to include all those extras for the Middle-Earth franchise why didn't you include the 2 Castle accessory sets released which would take the number of recent Castle stuff from 5 to 7 sets? Those are more like official sets than the limited promos anyways. Personally I don't see the issue regardless. Sure there have been a lot of Middle-Earth sets released recently but guess what? Lego is probably never going to come back and do anymore sets for the franchise. Compare that to Castle which already has hundreds of sets released, and will release hundreds more, and the LotR and Hobbit stuff seems like a drop of water in the grand scheme of things. Quote
BrickJagger Posted June 13, 2015 Author Posted June 13, 2015 (edited) I am counting polys and promos, as they are also sets, but I guess that I forgot about the battle packs. The point is that it isn't close. 26 to 7 is still more than three times as many, so my point stands. Sure, Lotr and the Hobbit do seem like a drop of water, but the four years that it lasted were four years that we weren't getting real Castle sets. Castle has had hundreds of sets released, but it's rare to find one person whose been a Lego fan since 1978 when the theme first came out. Plus, there were only two or three sets released a year back in the eighties, and, even using your count of 26 sets, Lotr and the Hobbit combined would have had 962 sets made by now if it had come out in 1978, compared to Castle's 280. I know that Lego never would have made that many for a single license, but I'm just trying to illustrate my point. The point is that Middle Earth has been making sets at ludicrous speed and fans of those themes should be grateful for what they have. Now that it's over, you can buy sets from the 2016 theme or another theme entirely. No need to dwell on what's already happened. I don't want to start a heated argument, so please respond politely if you would like to. Edited June 13, 2015 by BrickJagger Quote
Deathleech Posted June 13, 2015 Posted June 13, 2015 (edited) I am counting polys and promos, as they are also sets, but I guess that I forgot about the battle packs. A lot of the promos and polys had extremely limited availability, or weren't available at all in some countries. I am not sure on the general consensus, but I have a feeling most people don't consider those "official" sets. I mean the SDCC Azog only had 100 pieces released at the comic con. Most of the polybags are just re-hashes of characters from other sets, thrown into a plastic bag with a simple build, and sold in limited quantities at one retailer or another. It's hard to really view those as normal sets. They are called promotions for a reason. The point is that it isn't close. 26 to 7 is still more than three times as many, so my point stands.Sure, Lotr and the Hobbit do seem like a drop of water, but the four years that it lasted were four years that we weren't getting real Castle sets. Castle has had hundreds of sets released, but it's rare to find one person whose been a Lego fan since 1978 when the theme first came out. Fair enough. My point was that people complaining about LotR or Hobbit sets really have no reason to complain though. Sure it's been four years with limited Castle releases, but there is supposed to be new stuff coming in 2016 and there was at least SOMETHING in 2013. The 2013 offerings may have been kind of lame, but I don't think that was necessarily LotR's fault. I mean look at the latest Pirate theme, there is nothing competing with it and it was done in much a similar fashion to the 2013 Castle stuff. I just don't think LotR or Hobbit necessarily prevented Castle from being released. I mean why didn't Lego release any Castle this year (2015)? There were no LotR or Hobbit sets and haven't been since last October (not counting the Dimensions stuff). I have a feeling if there would have been no LotR or Hobbit, there still would have probably been a few year hiatus for Castle as well. People blame LotR or hate it because they think it kept them from getting Castle stuff, but I don't know if that is necessarily true. Plus, there were only two or three sets released a year back in the eighties, and, even using your count of 26 sets, Lotr and the Hobbit combined would have had 962 sets made by now if it had come out in 1978, compared to Castle's 280. I know that Lego never would have made that many for a single license, but I'm just trying to illustrate my point.The point is that Middle Earth has been making sets at ludicrous speed and fans of those themes should be grateful for what they have. Now that it's over, you can buy sets from the 2016 theme or another theme entirely. No need to dwell on what's already happened. That's comparing apples to orange. LotR and the Hobbit are licensed themes. Lego pays for the license and only has it for a limited time. They have to pump out as many sets as they can in a certain time frame. If they could buy the license indefinitely I doubt we would get near as many sets in such a short amount of time. Heck, they would probably even skip a few years every now and then like they do with their in house properties. When Lego is trying to get the LotR stuff out on top of the Hobbit stuff to coincide with the films being released though, they kind of have to release it fast. Regardless, like I said before, LotR and Hobbit sets will probably never be made again by Lego. Castle has years and years ahead of it, plus the past few decades. With that in mind I am totally fine with Castle taking a back seat. I mean who cares if you don't get Castle stuff a few years? You will eventually, and you will get lots more. Heck, I would be fine not getting Castle for another two or three years if it meant we got another wave or two of LotR stuff. In the grand scheme of thing Castle will always be around and has tons of future possibilities. Middle Earth does not. At least not in Lego form. It just seems like people aren't looking at the grand picture some times, or are only considering their own interests. Edited June 13, 2015 by Deathleech Quote
legobear Posted June 13, 2015 Posted June 13, 2015 Deathleech, I think you may have contradicted yourself. You stated, "People blame LotR or hate it because they think it kept them from getting Castle stuff, but I don't know if that is necessarily true." Then, you said, "With that in mind I am totally fine with Castle taking a back seat. I mean who cares if you don't get Castle stuff a few years? you will eventually, and you will get lots more." I own lots of Middle Earth sets. I don't hate LOTR. I simply understand why we didn't get elves. Castle in 2007+ was trying to be Lord of the Rings without being a full rip off of it. Once they signed a deal to do the franchise though, they WERE LOTR. It is without a doubt it stunted the company's own home grown castle-lotr-look-alike. It doesn't mean people here hate LOTR. Quote
Deathleech Posted June 13, 2015 Posted June 13, 2015 (edited) Deathleech, I think you may have contradicted yourself. You stated, "People blame LotR or hate it because they think it kept them from getting Castle stuff, but I don't know if that is necessarily true." Then, you said, "With that in mind I am totally fine with Castle taking a back seat. I mean who cares if you don't get Castle stuff a few years? you will eventually, and you will get lots more." I said "but I don't know if that is necessarily true" because I don't know what Lego's plans were. Maybe LotR prevented more Castle stuff, maybe not. I just know that the latest Pirate theme was a lot like the 2013 Castle in that it was very generic and seemed like it was aimed at younger children, yet there is no licensed pirate stuff competing with it so Lego had no reason to make it that way other than by their own choice. Also there is no Castle stuff in 2015 when there is no Middle-Earth waves either so Lego seems to have chosen to skip this year for Castle again by their own accord. Either way if LotR DID make Castle take a back seat, I am fine with that seeing as there will be more Castle sooner or later. Edited June 13, 2015 by Deathleech Quote
legobear Posted June 13, 2015 Posted June 13, 2015 True. Lotr had lots of fantastic elements in its own right as well. I think this is good for native themes. This will hopefully inspire Lego to be more creative with Castle. Given that these are the core themes, they do tend to shy away from making them overly complex as well. Quote
General Magma Posted June 13, 2015 Posted June 13, 2015 The point is that Middle Earth has been making sets at ludicrous speed and fans of those themes should be grateful for what they have. Now that it's over, you can buy sets from the 2016 theme or another theme entirely. No need to dwell on what's already happened. Yes, I agree that us Middle-Earth fans should be very grateful for the ME sets we did get, but at the same time I find the disappointment about certain things understandable. Some of the decisions were just questionable. The exclusive minifig that came with the BOTFA Blu-Ray (or DVD) should've been old Bilbo to fill up that gap, not a second version of an unimportant minor character. Should've been "The Hobbit", you know. They've released a bunch of Bilbos, but none of them are the old Bilbo from the LOTR trilogy. Shame we're missing that one. Gondorian soldiers were ditched for some reason, which I don't really understand either. They could've at least added one in the Black Gate set or maybe even the Corsair ship, just because... I'm not a purist and I'm planning to fill up all the character gaps myself through customization, but I can understand the disappointment of purists and the likes. Quote
Isundir Posted June 14, 2015 Posted June 14, 2015 A new Castle Series would be ideal, especially in 2016, I just returned to LEGO and while I bought some old sets a lot of it has just gone up in price too darn much, so I have little to work with and can't really afford a lot right now. 2016 sets would give me something to save up for and get into before the prices go up Quote
Shroffy123 Posted June 14, 2015 Posted June 14, 2015 I remember when I came out of my dark ages. I bought up every old set I could find on ebay. So expensive. Hoping we get more info or pic of new sets soon!! Quote
Deathleech Posted June 15, 2015 Posted June 15, 2015 (edited) If Lego really wanted to capitalize on 2016 Castle sales they would give us a Fantasy theme, but make it somewhat LotR compatible. What I mean by that is offering slightly more realistic looking orcs (more facial detailing than the 2007-09 Fantasy versions or goblin CMF), armored elves, new armor for the orcs, and armor for the human faction that faintly resembled Gondor armor. This way they could really make a lot of LotR fans happy who felt like Lego left the Middle-Earth line half done. Lego could give us some shiny metal pointed helms, a chest piece, and a square-ish roman looking shield. Obviously they couldn't use the white tree emblem, but if done right all LotR fans would have to do is replace the yellow heads with flesh heads on the human minifigures and voila, Gondor Soldiers. New armor for the orcs and more detailed print would allow them to effortlessly be merged with existing LotR orc armies, and nice elven armor could be used for a variety of things (elves at Helm's Deep, the prologue, Bo5A, etc.). On top of pleasing LotR fans, this should make Castle fans happy because they are still getting a new Castle theme with tons of new molds and prints and something vastly different than anything else done before. Kids would be happy because all of this stuff could be in sets totally created by Lego and catering to them with lots of play features and vehicles. Lego wouldn't be confined to only doing sets based on film scenes either. Of course I doubt Lego will go this route. At the very least I am hoping we get builds that take a cue from the LotR sets and use more bricks and detailing and less wall panels. Some new orc armor and more detailed orcs also seem in the realm of possibilities too. Edited June 15, 2015 by Deathleech Quote
Lordofdragonss Posted June 15, 2015 Posted June 15, 2015 What I mean by that is offering slightly more realistic looking orcs (more facial detailing than the 2007-09 Fantasy versions or goblin CMF) \Please no. Minifigs are becoming more and more detailed and cluttered recently, and they loosing their basic graphical charm. I tried to love new LoTR orc but they are too... Scary for a fig, not goofy yet menacing. Older Troll-orcs were in my eyes perfect- looked evil without creepy teeth and overdesigned faces. Quote
General Magma Posted June 15, 2015 Posted June 15, 2015 \ Please no. Minifigs are becoming more and more detailed and cluttered recently, and they loosing their basic graphical charm. I tried to love new LoTR orc but they are too... Scary for a fig, not goofy yet menacing. Older Troll-orcs were in my eyes perfect- looked evil without creepy teeth and overdesigned faces. Please yes, detailed minifigures are greater figures and now that they've gone down this path, I hope they will never return to simple minifigs again. "Basic graphical charm", I can only assume, must've been a by-product of nostalgia. Simple minifigures are a thing of the past. Detailed minifigures will forever triumph. They just look so much better than their overly simple counterparts, there's a certain greatness that simple minifigures "simply" cannot hold a candle to. Quote
Alcarin Posted June 15, 2015 Posted June 15, 2015 Please yes, detailed minifigures are greater figures and now that they've gone down this path, I hope they will never return to simple minifigs again. "Basic graphical charm", I can only assume, must've been a by-product of nostalgia. Simple minifigures are a thing of the past. Detailed minifigures will forever triumph. They just look so much better than their overly simple counterparts, there's a certain greatness that simple minifigures "simply" cannot hold a candle to. I personaly think basic graphical charm is perfect, but only for collector old school lovers liek us, and they should keep that especially the normal smiley faces in modulars liek Parisian restaurant etc. It gives special feel of nostalgia when buying that Quote
thetang22 Posted June 16, 2015 Posted June 16, 2015 There is such a thing as "over-designing" something, and I have to say that many of the newer minifig faces fall victim to that. More detail doesn't mean something is better. Finding the right balance is where the key to good design is, and plenty of the newer faces have missed the mark, while lots of the older simplistic faces nailed it. Quote
Wodanis Posted June 16, 2015 Posted June 16, 2015 Nothing wrong with classic heads for Lego Castle. I just made a bunch of Castle figures with that in mind. I agree one can over design someone but I doubt this would be the case with Castle for 2016. I'm not into making the new line LoTR-esc. Really it's wish fulfilment. LoTR is dead. I don't mind having the new mini-figures similar to 2010-2013 as long as the sets are exciting and unique. I suspect if it is indeed fantasy then we will get some fun mini-figures as there are numerous moulds to utilize now. A nicely design castle would be grand. Something to really take a few hours to build. A good castle after all is a staple to the line. Quote
Shib Posted June 16, 2015 Posted June 16, 2015 I think Star Wars is a good example of over design on the mini figure faces, the latest Tatooine Luke was very ott on facial lines. However I think that's more a problem for licenced themes than in house themes. I don't mind standard smiley faces, but they aren't as good for setting a really interesting scene. I am sure that the modulars will continue with them so there will always be a supply of standard smiley faces for those that want them. Quote
BrickJagger Posted June 17, 2015 Author Posted June 17, 2015 I agree with everyone here against excessive printing. Newer kinds of printing (Side printing, back leg printing, etc.) add to much detail to the very basic and iconic design of the Lego figure. I guess you could say that it ruins the charm of the figure. I doubt these new Castle figs will be overdetailed but they will probably lean toward the "more detailed" side rather than the 2013 Castle side nonetheless. Quote
Robert8 Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 I think Star Wars is a good example of over design on the mini figure faces, the latest Tatooine Luke was very ott on facial lines. I know right? In a couple of years, they will look like Jigsaw Star Wars has to be the most affected theme with this, since it has been producing sets based on just 6 movies for almost 20 years. Quote
Deathleech Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 (edited) How much is "too much" facial printing though? When I said that I was thinking specifically of the Moria Orc compared to the CMF Goblin: It looks excellent imho. It's not too much at all, and has nice detailing compared to the CMF goblin who, in contrast, looks silly to me. Edited June 17, 2015 by Deathleech Quote
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