Should new castles have (raised) blaseplates?

[Artanis I]

Another limitation with them is the colour & printing. A blue & yellow one is great for seaside pirate mocs but no good for icy mountains. A black one with grey craters is great for space, but no good for underground fortresses due to the craters.

[Deathleech]

I wouldn't mind them if they got an update and looked more realistic rather than cheesy. Maybe ones with no printing is the way to go so they can have at least a little more use?

[MAB]

I wouldn't mind them if they got an update and looked more realistic rather than cheesy. Maybe ones with no printing is the way to go so they can have at least a little more use?

If they made them again, they'd probably go down the route of one generic shape. And then have a lot of stickers to make it fit for the setting.

[SMC]

Well as a kid I always wanted sets with one in like castle or space but never got one so there is part of me that still wants one. Lego have done away with them and even non raised ones have seemed to gone from sets so I think its clear we won't be getting one.

Edited February 12, 2015 by SMC

[The_Cook]

If they made them again, they'd probably go down the route of one generic shape. And then have a lot of stickers to make it fit for the setting.

If you consult Bricklink you'll see that there were 6 principle shapes, each one being produced a number of times in different colours and with different printing.

6024 - Canyon : 5 printed variants

6092 - Pool : 4 printed variants

2552 - Lefthand slope : 6 printed variants - The classic baseplate from 6081 King's Mountain Fortress

30271 - Four corners : 6 printed variants - From 6091 King Leo's Castle

44510 - Steps : 4 printed variants

51542 - Pyramid Base : 2 printed variants

The later baseplates, particulary 51542, tended to utilise stickers rather than printed detail.

[MAB]

If you consult Bricklink you'll see that there were 6 principle shapes, each one being produced a number of times in different colours and with different printing.

6024 - Canyon : 5 printed variants

6092 - Pool : 4 printed variants

2552 - Lefthand slope : 6 printed variants - The classic baseplate from 6081 King's Mountain Fortress

30271 - Four corners : 6 printed variants - From 6091 King Leo's Castle

44510 - Steps : 4 printed variants

51542 - Pyramid Base : 2 printed variants

The later baseplates, particulary 51542, tended to utilise stickers rather than printed detail.

Yes, I know that was how they did them in the past. The company now is quite different to the company when they were producing multiple styles of baseplates in multiple colours and / or prints.

I don't think they'll do them in the future. However, if they did them in the future for castles, then it wouldn't surprise me if they picked one standard raised base and then had stickers to decorate them. That would allow mass production of a single raised base, yet also have them decorated.

[Faefrost]

The pro's were always that the elevated the model and gave it more pop and gravitas. It's easy to see how well that works. Just look at the current Battle for Ninjago City set to see how elevating the structure on a raised base improves its look.

But the baseplates have a lot of downsides. They are made of vacuform styrene, so they don't age and wear as well as the rest of the parts. They are bulky to package, store, etc. they tend to be more fragile in play. The disparate plastics mean they have less than ideal clutch over time. And once a raised baseplate breaks the set is basically toast. They can essentially accomplish the same thing in a more durable manner using the much maligned BURPs today.

Edited February 16, 2015 by Faefrost

[The_Cook]

The pro's were always that the elevated the model and gave it more pop and gravitas. It's easy to see how well that works. Just look at the current Battle for Ninjago City set to see how elevating the structure on a raised base improves its look.

But the baseplates have a lot of downsides. They are made of vacuform styrene, so they don't age and wear as well as the rest of the parts. They are bulky to package, store, etc. they tend to be more fragile in play. The disparate plastics mean they have less than ideal clutch over time. And once a raised baseplate breaks the set is basically toast. They can essentially accomplish the same thing in a more durable manner using the much maligned BURPs today.

That ability to create volume with minimal bricks is one of the key skills of a TLG designer. It's easy for AFOLs with brick collections that have been built up over years (decades?) to stack brick upon brick to create huge intricate structures but to do that with a very limited brick budget is a lot harder.

I've always liked 8877 Vladeks Dark Fortress since it manages to get height and bulk for very few bricks, a deviation from standard castle but 8759 Battle for Metru Nui does the same. For AFOL creations see Nuju Metru's Siege Of Issiad, the techniques are a little more detailed that TLG might use but it follows the same principles of using BURPs and panels to quickly create height.

[MAB]

It's easy for AFOLs with brick collections that have been built up over years (decades?) to stack brick upon brick to create huge intricate structures but to do that with a very limited brick budget is a lot harder.

...

For AFOL creations see Nuju Metru's Siege Of Issiad, the techniques are a little more detailed that TLG might use but it follows the same principles of using BURPs and panels to quickly create height.

It's for that reason, when I bought my kids loads of castle parts, I also bought about 100 rock panels (47847) in reddish brown and DBG. Quick height for hidden caves / dungeons.

[thetang22]

I enjoyed the castles with raised baseplates in the 80's-90's. I liked having floor studs through the majority of my castles...not just right up against walls.

[Subix]

Why not if shape is good and left enough posibilities for MOCing.

[DaleDVM]

No.

[VSimovic]

I enjoyed the castles with raised baseplates in the 80's-90's. I liked having floor studs through the majority of my castles...not just right up against walls.

those were the BEST castles

[VintageLegoEra]

Raised Plate will be good fit depending on the design of the set and types of bricks used

[Robert8]

I think it would be nice to get a raised baseplate in the next castle theme.

When was the last time we got one?

[Jreacher]

I know this is an older topic.. but I like the old baseplates. I own kings mountain fortress, black knights castle, and royal knights castle. They were all bought for me when I was a kid brand new. The baseplates stood the test of time for me and today they are in perfect condition still. I still use them in my castle MOCs, for the smaller forts. Some of the newer baseplates were ugly and odd, but the older ones are nice.

I would like to see a nice castle using the raised baseplates in the future.

[fred67]

I know this is an older topic.. but I like the old baseplates. I own kings mountain fortress, black knights castle, and royal knights castle. They were all bought for me when I was a kid brand new. The baseplates stood the test of time for me and today they are in perfect condition still. I still use them in my castle MOCs, for the smaller forts. Some of the newer baseplates were ugly and odd, but the older ones are nice.

I would like to see a nice castle using the raised baseplates in the future.

I must have missed this back in February - it's not like it was a years old thread, so I don't mind it getting bumped.

There is no right answer:

The case for raised base-plates (also BURPs and large panels in general) is that they provide bulk and height for minimal parts/plastic cost compared to the amount required for an equivalent volume built in standard bricks.

The case against raised base-plates is that they predominantly have just a single use; as a baseplate. From a manufacturing standpoint they also require a minimum size of box in order to be shipped and TLG has been working to reduce it's box sizes in a bid to be more environmentally friendly.

Viewpoints of all parties might also differ:

AFOLs : Typically more bricks, often as cheap as possible, probably will avoid baseplates

Kids : Typically want something awesome to play with, probably quite enjoy baseplates.

TLG : Typically wants to make money by reducing production costs whilst maintaining quality standards, will do whatever is going to succeed in the market.

There is no right answer, there is a point somewhere in the middle where all three opinions are slightly satisfied but nobody is ever going to be completely happy.

I agree with you - and it's impossible to make everybody happy, no matter what happens, but in this case I think the happy medium might be to stick with BURPs and panels, as they can much more easily be reused.

I understand TLG's target audience is not me (although I think they underestimate AFOLs and parents, but that's just my opinion), but I think the problem is that they fall into that trap of having large molded specific pieces that people used to complain about. Unlike a plane or ship, castles really are (usually) built out of bricks or stones, brick by brick. A brick built airplane fuselage might have a hard time staying together under heavy play, flying around the room, thereby justifying the use of big molded pieces for kids - but a castle wouldn't have that problem.

I also have the problem that TLG seems to be moving away from a lot of those baseplates to standard plates in many of their sets. Baseplates suffer from not lining up with regular plates (but that's a whole other can of worms). But by building up the castle on smaller plates it can be kept modular, like some of the more recent ones.

As adult castle fans, we'd probably like TLG to just release gray buckets. But I think they know that, and they'd prefer us spending a lot more by building up our collections buying sets instead of the relatively cheaper buckets.

[BrickJagger]

Yes they should, but only some. There should be more variety among today's castles so everyone can get what they want.

[gedren_y]

I have a few ideas using the newish Juniors bases. Base height can be made by using small panel pieces under the primary base. With those, and the modularization of castle sections, castles of the same theme could have some variation. Small wall and tower sets made modular would be great, so they could be added to the large castle, or with multiples make a whole castle.

[Jreacher]

Yes they should, but only some. There should be more variety among today's castles so everyone can get what they want.

I agree with that. I think the Castle theme needs more variety. The last sets that were out didnt have much to offer for the dragon knights. Also would have been nice to add some village elements.

But I think that maybe raised baseplates could be good for smaller castles and then use regular baseplates for the flagship castle.

[ootkaman]

I find this topic fascinating! Count me on the side of those in favor of bringing back baseplates, with included stickers so that Lego could reuse the same baseplate in different sets. Of course, though, I am biased since I use them in MOCs too (as in the discussion at http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=112311). They are especially useful if they add playable terrain that would be difficult to create otherwise

[Isundir]

For AFOL creations see Nuju Metru's Siege Of Issiad, the techniques are a little more detailed that TLG might use but it follows the same principles of using BURPs and panels to quickly create height.

Thanks for sharing Nuju's thread, I love how he uses those BURP pieces and makes them look good.

Personally I'd rather have a few baseplates that are really just regular plates/plate compatible with a few BURP pieces over an entirely singular Raised Baseplate but the biggest annoyance would have to be the incompatibility of baseplates with plates.

Edited July 23, 2015 by Isundir

[welfycat]

I'm not fond of the raised baseplates, I prefer to use BURP pieces and such to create raised areas.

On a similar note, does anyone have any ideas about how to determine how high and such raised areas of the old raised baseplates are? I have an instruction book for an old castle with a raised base plate, but no base plate, and was wondering how to go about building it without the baseplate. Thanks!

[thetang22]

I'm not fond of the raised baseplates, I prefer to use BURP pieces and such to create raised areas.

On a similar note, does anyone have any ideas about how to determine how high and such raised areas of the old raised baseplates are? I have an instruction book for an old castle with a raised base plate, but no base plate, and was wondering how to go about building it without the baseplate. Thanks!

If you are trying to do that off of instructions, you have to see what pieces are being used within the instructions that line up with the same height as the area in question, then use that to figure how high it is. It's probably not going to be very easy doing it that way, but it's possible.

[CaptainToad]

they should bring out a lego creator castle with at least 2000 pieces - no raised baseplates and no wall elements - just regular bricks

just btw I have been thinking lately about buying mos eisley cantina lately - as a start to get into the star wars theme - in the end I decided against it only because the build consists of 5 wall elements (I hate those)