Lego Icons 10332 Medieval Town Square Discussion Thread

[Lego Nostalgia]

I liked the look of the tree better in the leaked image, the one they went with is ugly and too small, I really hope they could make something like the 2011 Mill Village Raid, then we can have an epic full town.

Also is the Ideas Blacksmith too big for it to go with the castle and town square ? I mean Lego put it on their website that the castle, town square and the blacksmith should go together, anyway it still looks good and fits nicely with the other sets even though it's a bit out of scale.

Edited February 14, 2024 by Lego Nostalgia

[Clone OPatra]

21 minutes ago, Lego Nostalgia said:

Also is the Ideas Blacksmith too big for it to go with the castle and town square ? I mean Lego put it on their website that the castle, town square and the blacksmith should go together, anyway it still looks good and fits nicely with the other sets even though it's a bit out of scale.

It's personal preference but the blacksmith definitely looks too out of scale when right next to the castle in all images I've seen. Perhaps placing the town square in between the blacksmith and castle could be a good segue, but given the town square looks purposefully designed to scale with the castle, I'd say the blacksmith would still come across as too large relative to minifigures.

[Artanis I]

Such a shame to cheap out on the shields like this. Bit of a slap in the face, really. "We know you love printed shields, so here's mostly some blank ones, for no necessary reason"

Almost like having a shop that prints wizard torsos, that comes with a whole heap of blank torsos. Or is that going to be the GWP?

[SpacePolice89]

I like the set in general but why did they change the iconic Wolfpack logo?

[jodawill]

31 minutes ago, Artanis I said:

Such a shame to cheap out on the shields like this. Bit of a slap in the face, really. "We know you love printed shields, so here's mostly some blank ones, for no necessary reason"

Almost like having a shop that prints wizard torsos, that comes with a whole heap of blank torsos. Or is that going to be the GWP?

I never really expected there to be new shields in this set because there were so many in 10305, except I thought they may use it as a way to bring back the Dragon Knights shield for the GWP. (That set was the biggest waste of resources since the jelly bean knights.)

The stickers we get in this set aren't really that interesting, so the fact that they're not printed is just whatever. I think the set would have actually been better if they avoided those prints altogether because they actually subtract from the set in my opinion. I think the random set references and so forth are actually pretty tasteless.

I'm curious to see how well this set sells. I do love the new minifigures in this set and I'll buy extras. My overall impression of this set is that this is the okayest set of the year.

I think it was a bad idea to release the goat in the CMF first. It stole the thunder from this larger set. There's just about nothing interesting in the way of animals in this set due to that decision. It basically only has one animal, and honestly, goats are not that useful beyond the meme lulz. I'm glad to have them for my displays, but would I sacrifice a new color of cow or horse for a goat? Absolutely not. I'd rather have the white horse with regular printing while they already have the part in that color. Does anyone else feel the same way?

I also feel, though, that all the negativity over this set is distracting us to a couple really nice features here - the tax collector and the return of Wolfpack. I wouldn't even mind skipping the entire set and ordering those minifigures only.

3 minutes ago, SpacePolice89 said:

I like the set in general but why did they change the iconic Wolfpack logo?

The same reason for everything else: to torment the fans and let them know they don't care about them.

[Roebuck]

15 hours ago, Captain_SoyBeard said:

Omg! Yeah why didn't they put an armor shop instead of a bloody painter? They are so cheap I cannot believe it.

That decreases my will to consooom this set. They cheaped out on the animals and also the shields. The minifigs are the only redeeming quality of this set, from my perspective. I already have the bricks. I need unique stuff.

33 minutes ago, Artanis I said:

Such a shame to cheap out on the shields like this. Bit of a slap in the face, really. "We know you love printed shields, so here's mostly some blank ones, for no necessary reason"

Almost like having a shop that prints wizard torsos, that comes with a whole heap of blank torsos. Or is that going to be the GWP?

It was a smart move from the designer given he only had budget to include 1 shield on the other hand it is something wrong with the budget when they only can afford 1 printed shield in a set like this, just see how many LKC managed to make

11 hours ago, GeoBrick said:

There is unique stuff in this set. The 'Queen's Shield' and the new door-with-lattice-window come to mind.

The door comes in another set later so it do not count, since that set used the budget for it. It is the printed minifigs, the shield print and a new colour of goat (even if CMF used the budget to bring it back and deserve most of the honour even if it was because of this set it was remade)..

11 hours ago, Khargeust said:

Listen what the designer says during this interview after the question at 18.05. Is he teasing new characters, so minifigs, that would be included in a new set ? Maybe a joust with the inclusion of the jester that disappeared from the initial leak ?

7 hours ago, Lego Nostalgia said:

How likely is it that we could get a follow up set to the Town Square like more village stuff or something ?

6 hours ago, Lego Nostalgia said:

, I really hope they could make something like the 2011 Mill Village Raid, then we can have an epic full town.

He mentions LCK, B-bay, Eldorado fortress and this so they probably have something else planned next. For Pirates not sure what that could be, a ship for the soldiers maybe, they have made a pirate ship/ pirate island and a soldier fort, pretty sure they will not make a Islanders set so what is left?
For Castle I think a forestmen set or a joust is most likely. A new MVR set would be amazing, but this set has made me disillusioned in what direction Castle/Pirates are headed so I am not holding my breath maybe we have better luck in 10-12 years

17 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

I wonder if one of the reasons they had a brown kitten instead of a white one, and printed shields instead of plain ones was as a leak tracing device? If descriptions or photos of the set with either of those things came out, they'd have a better idea of where they came from? Or is that the tinfoil hat talking?

Probably just that the set was not finished at the time, even the door was missing. should something like that work you must show say each group a different color of a goat

6 hours ago, Lego Nostalgia said:

Also is the Ideas Blacksmith too big for it to go with the castle and town square ?

You must decide for you, but for me it is way to big for any other Castle set

[Cyprinus]

1 hour ago, SpacePolice89 said:

I like the set in general but why did they change the iconic Wolfpack logo?

In case you missed it, all the factions had their logos tweaked in this new Castle "wave". :P

1 hour ago, jodawill said:

The stickers we get in this set aren't really that interesting, so the fact that they're not printed is just whatever. I think the set would have actually been better if they avoided those prints altogether because they actually subtract from the set in my opinion. I think the random set references and so forth are actually pretty tasteless.

Arguably in one case a sticker is better than a print would be - if you apply the tapestry one the other way around, it will work better as a tapestry for a MOC.

[DonQuixote]

It's a shame we get a member of the Wolfpack but no Wolfpack shield. So dissapointing. The Lego CEO's don't care about their castle fans. This set is just a quick cash grab on nostalgia. 

[jodawill]

3 minutes ago, DonQuixote said:

It's a shame we get a member of the Wolfpack but no Wolfpack shield. So dissapointing. The Lego CEO's don't care about their castle fans. This set is just a quick cash grab on nostalgia. 

That's one of the most confusing things about this set. The queen already had her own shield in 10305. Why do we need another one for her? A Wolfpack shield would have been a lot more useful. I understand that it doesn't make sense in the context of the shield painter because they're renegades, but they also could have reused the shields from 10305 for the painter.

The set is fine (just fine). But for anyone who's more than the casual fan who discovers this on the shelf a few months after release, it's hard to overlook the myriad of missed opportunities. But I guess 99% of the people buying this will be that type of casual fan who didn't even know what was originally planned, and that's what TLG is counting on.

To me, it feels like this set could have been better if it was originally designed for this price point. The plain plate roofs feel very much like a last minute substitution, much like the rest of the set. The designer probably could have come up with something completely different that works better if he had been told from the start that this is what he had to work with.

[Aanchir]

8 hours ago, Cyprinus said:

In case you missed it, all the factions had their logos tweaked in this new Castle "wave".

Also, the updated Wolfpack logo isn't even new to this set — it's the version of the logo introduced by the Minifigures Series 16 Rogue eight years ago.

2 hours ago, jodawill said:

To me, it feels like this set could have been better if it was originally designed for this price point. The plain plate roofs feel very much like a last minute substitution, much like the rest of the set. The designer probably could have come up with something completely different that works better if he had been told from the start that this is what he had to work with.

Honestly I'm kind of fond of those roofs. The prototype version of the set seen in the survey used the same style of studs-up thatched roof construction for all five buildings in the set, which seems a lot more boring and repetitive to me compared to the two distinct roof styles in the final design. I also quite like the inverted curves on the rakes, the log tiles at the end of the ridge beam,and how the roof surfaces sit comfortably at a 45 degree offset from the underlying walls (instead of sticking to a purely studs-up build).

The construction that holds the roof plates together securely at that angle is a little hard for me to figure out from the pictures/videos we've seen, but from what I can tell it's also very different from any sort of roof construction I'm familiar with from previous sets, even other sets that use plates for the roof surface like the Viking Village. One detail I can make out is that the support structure involves several 1x2x1⅔ SNOT bricks.

That's not to say these two roofs couldn't be improved, though. Perhaps if they had been textured with shingles or boards instead of thatch, it would have helped maintain this variety without inviting comparisons with the set's other, more elaborately textured thatched roofs.

[Triceron]

7 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

Also, the updated Wolfpack logo isn't even new to this set — it's the version of the logo introduced by the Minifigures Series 16 Rogue eight years ago.

Good eye, I didn't even notice the Rogue CMF Wolfpack badge had sharper eyes than the original

Edited February 14, 2024 by Triceron

[Aanchir]

56 minutes ago, Triceron said:

Good eye, I didn't even notice the Rogue CMF Wolfpack badge had sharper eyes than the original

Also fluffier cheeks! The cheeks and muzzle on the original logo formed more of a Y-shape, whereas those on the updated logo form more of a T-shape.

4 hours ago, jodawill said:

That's one of the most confusing things about this set. The queen already had her own shield in 10305. Why do we need another one for her? A Wolfpack shield would have been a lot more useful. I understand that it doesn't make sense in the context of the shield painter because they're renegades, but they also could have reused the shields from 10305 for the painter.

My guess is that the designer wanted to show off the shieldsmith's skills to the fullest with an extra fancy design decorated not only with paint, but also with gold leaf and embossed details around the border (for which her metalworking skills on the anvil likely come into play). Decorative embossing/relief sculpture would not be particularly suitable for an outlaw faction like the Wolfpack or Forestmen, who would likely favor simpler, more practical shields, and gold leaf would have been an odd choice for factions that don't use gold or yellow in their color schemes.

But I definitely agree with you that another unique shield for the queen/lady of the castle feels a little redundant. Perhaps a black knight or dragon knight shield might have worked in this context without that sense of repetition. And I also don't know why the set didn't even reuse any of the many shield patterns from 10305, which seems like it could have been viable even if the budget lacked room for additional new shield patterns.

Edited February 14, 2024 by Aanchir

[brimbolet]

I still don't understand why Lego had to cut so many corners in a long expected icons set like this in the first place. No big animals, no shields, practically no prints... 

LKC was a true bow to one of the greatest themes of all time. This could have been the affordable & attractive alternative for many fans but it was willfully downgraded by the management. Even the CMF line is treated with more respect (and has apparently a better budget).

I really wonder how this decision will affect future castle releases...

[Black Falcon]

12 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

I like the set in general but why did they change the iconic Wolfpack logo?

They changed all other Shields to - and it doesn´t look that different to me, though it is kinda hard to find good pics of the new Logo.

12 hours ago, Roebuck said:

He mentions LCK, B-bay, Eldorado fortress and this so they probably have something else planned next. For Pirates not sure what that could be, a ship for the soldiers maybe, they have made a pirate ship/ pirate island and a soldier fort, pretty sure they will not make a Islanders set so what is left?
For Castle I think a forestmen set or a joust is most likely. A new MVR set would be amazing, but this set has made me disillusioned in what direction Castle/Pirates are headed so I am not holding my breath maybe we have better luck in 10-12 years

I am still voting for Wolfpack-GWP for this year - as for other sets, we still have two moments sets for this year, one space, the other one could be pirates, which could mean we already get a new castle set for next year. Time will tell.

4 hours ago, DonQuixote said:

It's a shame we get a member of the Wolfpack but no Wolfpack shield. So dissapointing. The Lego CEO's don't care about their castle fans. This set is just a quick cash grab on nostalgia. 

Well, I would have loved to get the shield, but realistically it wouldn´t really fit in the set. Back in the old Sets the Wolfpack were bandits that raided carts etc - so a shield was usefull for them but this guy is more a sneaky thief, so a shield would just hinder him.

41 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

Also fluffier cheeks! The cheeks and muzzle on the original logo formed more of a Y-shape, whereas those on the updated logo form more of a T-shape.

My guess is that the designer wanted to show off the shieldsmith's skills to the fullest with an extra fancy design decorated not only with paint, but also with gold leaf and embossed details around the border (for which her metalworking skills on the anvil likely come into play). Decorative embossing/relief sculpture would not be particularly suitable for an outlaw faction like the Wolfpack or Forestmen, who would likely favor simpler, more practical shields, and gold leaf would have been an odd choice for factions that don't use gold or yellow in their color schemes.

I see more of an issue that the wolfpack is known as bandits and the shieldpainter likely wouldn´t want to make a shield for them. However I just hope, that now that we got the wolfpack we also will get a set with them, where they are including shields. They could even make a gwp and make the shield for it since they don´t need to make a new torso - though of course it still seems unlikely and it also would be bad to only get the shield through a gwp.

41 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

But I definitely agree with you that another unique shield for the queen/lady of the castle feels a little redundant. Perhaps a black knight or dragon knight shield might have worked in this context without that sense of repetition. And I also don't know why the set didn't even reuse any of the many shield patterns from 10305, which seems like it could have been viable even if the budget lacked room for additional new shield patterns.

I would have loved to get just a new cool shield that is totally unrelated to any faction honestly. Way better than an other Lion Knights shield. Also as we have seen in the Designer interviews they had included a normal Lion Knights shield but that one got replaced by a plain one, same as the viking shield. Still asking myself why they did that at a point where they even revealed it, knowing that those videos will be shown to the public. 

[Mopasali]

On 2/13/2024 at 11:12 AM, Khargeust said:

Listen what the designer says during this interview after the question at 18.05. Is he teasing new characters, so minifigs, that would be included in a new set ? Maybe a joust with the inclusion of the jester that disappeared from the initial leak ?

 

Wow, it seems like that hint was for a D&D CMF!  Discord and the D&D thread here have the full description of what we're getting.  Probably no classic faction shields and no jester, but lots of fantasy figures.  MTS went for realism, especially in comparison to classic series, possibly to distinguish from LOTR, Snow White and D&D.

[kill will]

Well I must admit I'm a little underwhelmed by the official reveal but I suppose nothing they did would satisfy everyone. My biggest complaint is certainly the stickers, the lack of animals can be easily remedied with a PaB order but the stickers can't be fixed. I guess we've just been spoiled by the blacksmith, LKC, and viking village all having entirely printed elements. I was really hoping the Majisto stickers were only a limitation of it being a GWP but it looks like they have no qualms about including them in more "premium" castle sets going forward.

I'm still getting it for sure as I've realized I have neither the time or parts to make my own supplemental castle builds. This will look fantastic next to my blacksmith and lion knight's castle and certainly seems well designed enough to justify the price. It definitely feels like Lego is aware that people like me would likely pick it up regardless and chose to cut some corners in the final version to squeeze more profit out of it. I suppose that's "just business" but still doesn't sit right with me

[Horation]

2 hours ago, brimbolet said:

LKC was a true bow to one of the greatest themes of all time. This could have been the affordable & attractive alternative for many fans but it was willfully downgraded by the management. Even the CMF line is treated with more respect (and has apparently a better budget).

So they should've added more prints, animals, figs, etc... ?

How would this have made it more affordable? Wouldn't this merely increase the costs? This set is already 300 CAD, so any increase would bring it dangerously close to the 500 CAD Lion Knights Castle.

Quote

I think it was a bad idea to release the goat in the CMF first. It stole the thunder from this larger set. There's just about nothing interesting in the way of animals in this set due to that decision. It basically only has one animal, and honestly, goats are not that useful beyond the meme lulz. I'm glad to have them for my displays, but would I sacrifice a new color of cow or horse for a goat? Absolutely not. I'd rather have the white horse with regular printing while they already have the part in that color. Does anyone else feel the same way?

@jodawill So you would rather get yet another Cow or horse colour (mind you, animals we've had for years) over a goat, an animal we haven't seen in years? I don't feel the same way at all, but if you have a thing against goats, I guess that's alright...

Edited February 14, 2024 by Horation
Moar stuffz!

[brimbolet]

13 minutes ago, Horation said:

How would this have made it more affordable? Wouldn't this merely increase the costs? This set is already 300 CAD, so any increase would bring it dangerously close to the 500 CAD Lion Knights Castle.

According to brickmerge.de the MTS is slightly more than half the size of LKC, which in turn has 2 horses and one cow. MTS is more expensive when you compare the weight. In such a case one cow should be the absolute minimum, without increasing the cost at all. The same applies to shields that are still in production, the amount of figures etc...

That's how I see it, it's just not good enough for the asked price.

[Triceron]

2 minutes ago, brimbolet said:

According to brickmerge.de the MTS is slightly more than half the size of LKC, which in turn has 2 horses and one cow. MTS is more expensive when you compare the weight. In such a case one cow should be the absolute minimum, without increasing the cost at all. The same applies to shields that are still in production, the amount of figures etc...

That's how I see it, it's just not good enough for the asked price.

Especially when it was originally rumored at $215, then jumped to $230 in later leaks.  And the stickers are supposed to keep the price down, I can't imagine what they would have priced this if they had prints.  It's still a decent price-per-piece ratio, but it really is missing some 'must have' bits to it.  Value-wise, I think Viking Village blows this out of the water, even without a goat.

[Mopasali]

2 hours ago, Triceron said:

Value-wise, I think Viking Village blows this out of the water, even without a goat.

The $215 leak was just one leaker though.  Most were not surprised at $230.

Re Viking Village, in my calculations, 4 Minifigures for $130 is less value than 8 at $230.  And I don't need armor in a civilian set, especially now that D&D CMF is going to be absolutely loaded with armor, weapons, and shields.  I appreciate that we got a helmet and visor as the sign of the inn.  Two capes are surprising, but 6 new prints???  Curious if D&D will reuse any.  

The hit that MTS got is that CMF goat came out before it.  This set still may have 'paid' for it, but it didn't get the praise.  And leaks, comparing to what is possible in an unlimited budget without prices, really make reveals lackluster in comparison.

I do wonder if some of the townsfolk on LKC were actually in MTS originally?  The sets were designed together, and they didn't want repeats assuming LKC buyers would buy MTS (maybe not the other way around).  Maybe LKC price was upped to include more people in a very expensive set rather than downgrading this set.  

[Triceron]

2 minutes ago, Mopasali said:

I do wonder if some of the townsfolk on LKC were actually in MTS originally?  The sets were designed together, and they didn't want repeats assuming LKC buyers would buy MTS (maybe not the other way around).  Maybe LKC price was upped to include more people in a very expensive set rather than downgrading this set.  

Well the designer has said there were concepts for many unused characters too, but wouldn't go into detail since those could appear in future sets (not something directly said, but implied)

And we kinda saw from the leak that there were some archetypes that didn't end up appearing, like the Forestman on the horse or the Jester on stilts.

I'm happy this does have mostly new prints though, and not reusing a bunch like LKC did (and whatever can be said about Majisto)

[Horation]

4 hours ago, brimbolet said:

According to brickmerge.de the MTS is slightly more than half the size of LKC, which in turn has 2 horses and one cow. MTS is more expensive when you compare the weight. In such a case one cow should be the absolute minimum, without increasing the cost at all. The same applies to shields that are still in production, the amount of figures etc...

That's how I see it, it's just not good enough for the asked price.

This set has 6 new figures, vs  4/5 new torso designs in LKC (and they really cheaped out on majisto so...), and inflation's a b*tch ( in Canada : 7% in 2022, 4% in 2023, so around 11%), when you account for it, prices have hardly jumped, 500$ CAD becomes 555$ CAD, and a set which would've sold for 300$ in 2022 would now be 330$, clearly they cut corners to bring it down by 10-11%, so they removed the cow and the likes, sorry, at least it's not as bad as the amount bacon has increased by in my area in the last year...

[Roebuck]

8 hours ago, Horation said:

So they should've added more prints, animals, figs, etc... ?

How would this have made it more affordable? Wouldn't this merely increase the costs? This set is already 300 CAD, so any increase would bring it dangerously close to the 500 CAD Lion Knights Castle.

They should have increased the price with 50$ and included something like this;

• a lot of animals
• 2-4 more minifigs
• more prints
• and used what was left on bricks

5 hours ago, Mopasali said:

The hit that MTS got is that CMF goat came out before it.  This set still may have 'paid' for it, but it didn't get the praise.

No way the set paid for anything other than the recolor of the goat

3 hours ago, Horation said:

This set has 6 new figures, vs  4/5 new torso designs in LKC (and they really cheaped out on majisto so...),

LKC had a new mould, a lot of new printed parts like shields and barding etc and a lot of old parts brought back in production so no wonder they could not make anymore minifig prints, but the budget for the set was very good unlike this set

[DonQuixote]

I am not counting on future castle or pirate sets because the budget of this medieval town square is so limited. I am done with Lego Ideas and their 'Icons' sets. The only Icons sets that really appealed to me are Lion knights castle and Rivendell. From now on I am gonna focus on Bricklink Designer Program sets. Yes it's expensive but I like it, that you can vote for it and you will actually get what you voted for. Waiting for Mountain Fortress now and looking forward to other cool sets from BDP. The Black Falcons encampment from the same designer from Mountain Fortress. It contains a trebuchet,catapult, ballista, siege tower and tents. The Forrestmen's castle looks also fantastic! 

BDP! 

This is the way. (quote from the Mandalorian) 

[Horation]

8 hours ago, Roebuck said:

LKC had a new mould, a lot of new printed parts like shields and barding etc and a lot of old parts brought back in production so no wonder they could not make anymore minifig prints, but the budget for the set was very good unlike this set

How many times do I have to explain this people, the budget doesn't work the way y'all think it does, so let me explain again :

How you think it works : each set has a $ budget, say 500 000$, a new mold is 100 000$, a new print 40 000$, etc... 

How it ACTUALLY works (source : Lego employee interviews and my own experience in production) : each department gets a parts budget, say 10 recolours/prints, 5 new molds, etc...

So when you say "set X had a bigger budget", what you SHOULD be saying is "set X was made with more parts available in the budget". Same thing goes with prints, so when people say something like this : 

On 2/8/2024 at 11:50 AM, JohnTPT17 said:

 Even then, I still think that Lego could have figured out a way to add back in some animals and/or do some more prints without increasing the price dramatically (or even just accept a slightly lower profit margin on this set).

It frustrates me a fair bit because it would not only "slightly decrease the profit margin", it would instead go OVER the budget for the department, so it would cost a lot more to accommodate than just the cost of the prints or just the material cost of the animals (very low, in this case).  (Also, congrats for your suggestion, if businesses followed your "just accept a lower profit margin to make ME happy" advice, let's just say there would be fewer successful businesses out there...