Set Advice? Joust, Raid, somethinge else or wait?

[Isundir]

Greetings, as you may or may not know I've recently come back from my Dark Ages and started a new collection, Fantasy is my favorite theme and collecting right now is pretty difficult since ironically because of my Dark Ages I missed out on all the Castle as well as Middle Earth series that have come out the past 10ish years, now I have gotten some money I could spend and I can afford up to Kingdoms Joust set, I'm also considering getting the Mill Village Raid instead although the price compared to parts is pretty high.

As far as Middle Earth sets go I have gotten a few of those the only ones I'm still interested in picking up are Dol Guldur or maybe Lonely Mountain although I really don't want to pay so much just because of Smaug which I don't really care for.

I'm really looking for sets that are good for Fantasy MOC'ing, are there any sets right now worth picking up before they increase in prices further for Fantasy MOC purposes or should I really just save up and bide my time hoping that Castle 2016 will be worth it instead? I currently own none of the Castle themed sets, and from Middle Earth what I'm still considering are the Dol Gulder and Lonely Mountain as I mentioned.

Edited June 23, 2015 by Isundir

[Jreacher]

Kingdoms joust is awesome... but it depends on the price you want to pay. I would rather have joust then the raid. (Joust gives you great mini figures, horses and pieces.) You could easily buy parts and make your own medieval barn and mill.

There are rumors that a new castle theme is coming out in 2016. You might just want to wait. I would wait if I was you.

My only problem with buying used Lego is that the people selling them are crooks! They wanna charge up to 2 times the original price or worse. I dont go for that, plus I have other hobbies that take precedence over lego.

[Isundir]

I can get the Joust for 117 euros, apparently that's cheaper then release price (119.99 euros) however I do have to pay for shipping.

[Exetrius]

Parts for mocs can be bought in bulk, the joust offers a good selection of parts, but for (bigger) mocs you'll need more than that I guess. Minifigs, however, are a big draw for buying this set, because they won't reappear in any upcoming set.

It is rumored that the 2016 castle theme will return to the fantasy genre. Keeping in mind that LotR and The Hobbit are both discontinued by then, there is a chance of getting non-licenced trolls, dragons, dwarves, elves and who knows! Personally those would absolutely top the Kingdoms Joust minifigs (except the falcon knight). The downside: it's a long wait to 2016!

I suggest buying loose parts for mocs and a few figs to begin with and, if fantasy is your thing, try to save a lot for next year, because you better snap them up before you miss out on them and regret it

some great fantasy era sets:

http://brickset.com/sets/7097-1/Trolls-Mountain-Fortress

http://brickset.com/sets/7036-1/Dwarves-Mine

http://brickset.com/sets/7020-1/Army-of-Vikings-with-Heavy-Artillery-Wagon

[Deathleech]

or should I really just save up and bide my time hoping that Castle 2016 will be worth it instead?

I would go this route. You are going to pay a premium for most of the older sets just because they are retired. If you keep saving up you can easily afford the next Castle wave in it's entirety if it comes out next year. Heck, with sales and such you could probably get it two or three times over no problem.

Of course you run the risk of the next Castle theme not being to your liking. You also have to wait at least 6 more months, which can be really hard. It definitely could be worth it though if the rumors turn out to be true.

[Isundir]

Parts for mocs can be bought in bulk,

I'm aware, it's just there are so many different parts to bulk buy it's also rather pricey.

I would go this route. You are going to pay a premium for most of the older sets just because they are retired. If you keep saving up you can easily afford the next Castle wave in it's entirety if it comes out next year. Heck, with sales and such you could probably get it two or three times over no problem.

Of course you run the risk of the next Castle theme not being to your liking. You also have to wait at least 6 more months, which can be really hard. It definitely could be worth it though if the rumors turn out to be true.

Yeah, I'll have to think some more about/before picking up the Joust but I'll definitely save the rest of LEGO funds up for the 2016 Castle sets / bulk buying parts.

[Stiel]

Mind you, the Kingdoms Joust set is not bad for parts either. Buy it, enjoy it until the new line comes out, and then you can scrap it for parts. It seems to me you can't really go wrong with that set.

[Jreacher]

If you can get the Joust set for less then original price that would be great! Shipping shouldnt be too bad, but that Falcon Knight is totally worth the set! Plus it really has a lot of nice pieces.

I think if castle comes back in 2016 they will do a good job. However it might also be in your interest to buy bulk grey pieces and build your own castle. You can find minifigures for decent prices on Bricklink. I bought up 20 Castle figs on bricklink 5 months back, they were $2.20 a piece which is a good price for a complete fig with helmet. I was able to buy some bulk shields also for like .30 cents a shield and some cheap .5 cent spears etc... if you hunt you can find good deals. But usually entire sets are way pricey.

[BrickJagger]

If I have to choose between the MVR and the KJ, I would go with the MVR. Village sets aren't that common in Castle these days, and with Fantasy sets on the horizon, I doubt that there will be a new one soon. If you can find it for a good price, buy it.

The Joust, while a very good set, isn't as unique as it is grand. Lego usually makes a new jousting set every few years, so I'd expect one in 2016 or 2017, especially since the Joust isn't on the site anymore. The new Joust may or may not be better, but the MVR is a concept that I know Lego won't bring back soon.

Hope that helped.

Edited June 23, 2015 by BrickJagger

[Vorkosigan]

If you can get Joust for around the original price, its worth a buy. For a village set I'd go for Medieval Market Village over Mill Village Raid. Its more expensive but its double the parts and a more interesting build. With MVR a big part of the price is the goats which are worth around $20 each. The goats are neat but to me that's not worth it.

[allhenyia]

They wanna charge up to 2 times the original price or worse.

[Regenerate builder]

Coming from someone who owns all the mentioned sets...If you can only get one of these sets, and you don't own many castle themed sets to start with, I would suggest the Kingdoms Joust. It has a fun build, good assortment of parts, awesome minifigures, and the price has risen the least compared to MMV and MVR. Then save your money for castle 2016. If you absolutely must have peasant sets then you can't go wrong with MMV or MVR. Remember most likely first wave castle 2016 sets should be available until early 2017 at least. So you have approximately 2 years to save up for them even if you buy all three of these sets.

[Isundir]

Well I decided to purchase the Joust, I can only hope LEGO knows the popularity of the MMV and MVR and makes more similar sets in the future

The Joust seems like the only interesting Castle set that's still worth the current price, I decided to shell out a bit more because that guy didn't seem entirely reliable so I picked one up for 119,50 which is still 44 cents cheaper then the original price heh

Edited June 24, 2015 by Isundir

[MAB]

At least in the UK, Lonely Mountain is now retired at S@H. ASDA, Tesco, etc got rid of theirs 4-8 weeks ago at 50% off. John Lewis are out. Amazon still have some. Most other Hobbit sets are the same. The line won't have long left.

If you can pick them up, I'd do so even if you don't care for Smaug. They have gone quite quickly. As they went quite quickly, there will be people wanting Smaug that have missed out. Give it a few months, and sell him. Current BL price is about £40. If you can sell at that, and sell off the other minifigs for £25-30 with their weapons then you have a nice fantasy MOC set for a very reasonable price.

[Isundir]

At least in the UK, Lonely Mountain is now retired at S@H. ASDA, Tesco, etc got rid of theirs 4-8 weeks ago at 50% off. John Lewis are out. Amazon still have some. Most other Hobbit sets are the same. The line won't have long left.

If you can pick them up, I'd do so even if you don't care for Smaug. They have gone quite quickly. As they went quite quickly, there will be people wanting Smaug that have missed out. Give it a few months, and sell him. Current BL price is about £40. If you can sell at that, and sell off the other minifigs for £25-30 with their weapons then you have a nice fantasy MOC set for a very reasonable price.

Well I picked up the Joust now but I'll definitely consider it when I have more cash to spend on LEGO.

[MAB]

I doubt you will have time. Once they have gone from retail, they will only be available at secondary market prices and the price then is much less attractive even if you do sell off Smaug. As much of the european distribution is handled from one hub, it is likely to be gone from retail all over europe fairly soon if not already.

[Isundir]

I doubt you will have time. Once they have gone from retail, they will only be available at secondary market prices and the price then is much less attractive even if you do sell off Smaug. As much of the european distribution is handled from one hub, it is likely to be gone from retail all over europe fairly soon if not already.

Eck yeah you are right, the only set I still saw in stores was Dol Guldur for some reason actually.

[tom20arc]

Eck yeah you are right, the only set I still saw in stores was Dol Guldur for some reason actually.

A few dutch shops/webshops still got some hobbit sets available (brickshop, brick fever, Misterbricks, playtoday). Playtoday doesn't have an online shop but you can call or mail them for availability, I got most of my hobbit sets there.

[nivremis]

Good that you've picked up the Joust, it's one of my favourite sets, looks great right out of the box on display. The mill raid is unique, but imho not worth the current asking prices.

Someone mentioned Medieval market village - if you can get one, I would highly recommend it. Closest thing to a "UCS" type medieval set, fun build, and also looks really really nice. We don't get very many civilian castle sets, and the MMV is absolutely stunning.

[Faefrost]

Kingdoms Joust is phenomenal. Mill Village Raid is also a great set. If you are looking for stuff to incorporate into a Fantasy theme here are a few other gems. From LoTR/Hobbit, pretty much any of the structure sets work. The two Lake Town sets make a nice fishing village or small harbor. Helms Deep is really the must have. Also as a generic Fantasy item I really love the LoTR Pirate Ship. It's everything the old Fantasy Era Troll Ship should have been.

Also don't be afraid to look outside the obvious lines if you are delving into Fantasy. Especially if you want some interesting colors or stylings. Look at Ninjago. Specifically the Fire Dragon Temple and the Battle for Ninjago City sets, which both have gorgeous Asian theme temples. Also glance through Chima. Once you get past the Wacky Races vehicles there is some interesting stuff to convert to Fantasy Castle. The Lion Temple is the best example. But some of the critters and characters work real well. I think the Spider Lair could go well. Plus the whole Beast Men minifigs can make for some different fantasy armies.