2025 Castle [wishlist/speculation]

[Triceron]

On 12/8/2024 at 1:27 AM, wanderer1980 said:

Hope that 31168 Medieval Knight Castle (Summer 2025) will be a "Black Knight" Castle

I'm leaning on this if it isn't the castle hinted at from the dragon boxart 

We have plenty of gray castles, time to return to some black ones, which works for dragon masters and wolfpack as well.  Would be the perfect setup for 3 in 1.  Wizards tower, Knights Castle, or a Bandit's Keep.

On 12/8/2024 at 9:47 PM, karrit said:

I miss the old glow in the dark Ghost.  Hope they bring those back in some form.

I introduced the glow in the dark feature to my 3yr old daughter.  Now she always wants the lights out in the dining room to see them glow in their display

Edited December 10, 2024 by Triceron

[Classic_Spaceman]

3 hours ago, Triceron said:

I'm leaning on this if it isn't the castle hinted at from the dragon boxart 

We have plenty of gray castles, time to return to some black ones, which works for dragon masters and wolfpack as well.  Would be the perfect setup for 3 in 1.  Wizards tower, Knights Castle, or a Bandit's Keep.

Not only would putting a random castle on the box art of the Creator dragon be odd (as LEGO has been putting actual sets into the backgrounds of box art), a black castle would require too many new Minifig and shield prints for a $120 Creator set (especially if it includes two entirely ‘new’ factions!). I suspect that we will get Black Knights’ castle at some point (either 2026 or 2028), but only a >$200 18+ set will have the budget for the necessary torsos/legs, shields, armour and helmet recolours, etc. 
 

[Roebuck]

I expect nothing from the Creator Castle so anything new is a bonus 😅

[danth]

I'm always down for another Creator Castle set!

[MAB]

On 12/8/2024 at 5:19 PM, zoth33 said:

Hoping this castle is not BF or lion Knights.  Definitely buying this. 

I also hope it is not BF or Lions, although I'm definitely not buying the set as I am not a fan of the parts used for Creator castles. I'll buy the body parts on PAB as i did with the other factions.

[Classic_Spaceman]

17 hours ago, Roebuck said:

I expect nothing from the Creator Castle so anything new is a bonus 😅

Same; I am not expecting anything new (at best, we get pieces that would leave PAB with the retirement of the LKC). 
 

4 hours ago, MAB said:

I also hope it is not BF or Lions, 

It almost certainly will be either (or both) of those, barring some unexpected generosity on LEGO’s part! Best case scenario for a new faction is something like the Viking ship, which had four new prints and one new mould - Maybe a new Black Knights’ torso, legs, and shield? 
 

[GeoBrick]

1 hour ago, Classic_Spaceman said:

It almost certainly will be either (or both) of those, barring some unexpected generosity on LEGO’s part! Best case scenario for a new faction is something like the Viking ship, which had four new prints and one new mould - Maybe a new Black Knights’ torso, legs, and shield? 

Any reason LEGO couldn't use the knights' torso from the Mefisto's Magic Shop GWP again?

[Triceron]

On 12/10/2024 at 6:35 PM, Classic_Spaceman said:

Not only would putting a random castle on the box art of the Creator dragon be odd (as LEGO has been putting actual sets into the backgrounds of box art), a black castle would require too many new Minifig and shield prints for a $120 Creator set (especially if it includes two entirely ‘new’ factions!). I suspect that we will get Black Knights’ castle at some point (either 2026 or 2028), but only a >$200 18+ set will have the budget for the necessary torsos/legs, shields, armour and helmet recolours, etc. 
 

Most could be reuse.

Tailored BK soldiers and torso prints could be specific to future BK sets, while creator just introduces the shield as a new element.

I could see introducing a new Black Knights triangle shield that gets used in other sets in the future.  The black knights had generic scale armor prints that didn't have a specific insignia, so creator could use whatever existing torso that fits, including viking stuff. If they want, a Dragon Master torso print already existed from majistos gwp.  A single Wolfpack torso gets reused from MTS for a bandit.

Full new ovoid shields for BK and DM would be future CMF territory.  If they plan on secret BK specific sets or GWP, they could also contribute to the budget, just like forest hideout introduced forestmen before LKC did.

It's not far from the previous castle having black falcon torso and shields.  The only new piece would be the Black Knights triangle shield here.

 

Edited December 12, 2024 by Triceron

[dvw2]

I see I might be in the minority here, but I hope it is Lion Knights/Black Falcons. For me they’re ideal, light-hearted groups with a good look that contrasts and harmonizes just right. I never understood the black-walled castle approach and all the ghoulish stuff. I definitely prefer a playful, pastoral kind of medieval Lego theme. Toss in a sneaky yet jovial Forest clan member, and it’s a great mix. The new LK/BF torsos are really terrific little pieces of art. Keep ‘em coming! (If pressed for a wish, I suppose I’d love to see a few more villager options as well.)

[Aanchir]

3 hours ago, dvw2 said:

I see I might be in the minority here, but I hope it is Lion Knights/Black Falcons. For me they’re ideal, light-hearted groups with a good look that contrasts and harmonizes just right. I never understood the black-walled castle approach and all the ghoulish stuff. I definitely prefer a playful, pastoral kind of medieval Lego theme. Toss in a sneaky yet jovial Forest clan member, and it’s a great mix. The new LK/BF torsos are really terrific little pieces of art. Keep ‘em coming! (If pressed for a wish, I suppose I’d love to see a few more villager options as well.) 

I suspect the black-walled castles and more fantasy-influenced figures and factions were partly a way of keeping the Castle theme fresh after it had been around a while, same as how Classic Space got replaced by Futuron in the mid to late 80s, and then with more varied subthemes in the 90s. After all, if you're going to have new castles every other year or so, it helps if they're not all the same shade of gray (the ONLY shade of gray LEGO was making basic bricks in back then)! Plus, a lot of the black castle wall and arch pieces were also being used for forest hideouts and gloomy pirate forts in the late 80s and early 90s, so the Castle design team probably saw black castles as a great way to get even more use out of those recolors once they were in production.

Nowadays, at least some of that incentive no longer applies, since LEGO has a lot more variety of stony/earthy colors they can choose from for castle walls. But black castles have still had plenty of staying power across many themes as a way to create stronger visual contrast between "hero" and "villain" factions.

[Classic_Spaceman]

5 hours ago, Aanchir said:

I suspect the black-walled castles and more fantasy-influenced figures and factions were partly a way of keeping the Castle theme fresh after it had been around a while, same as how Classic Space got replaced by Futuron in the mid to late 80s, and then with more varied subthemes in the 90s. 

LEGO seems to have begun experimenting with villain/villain-coded factions in the late 1980’s to early 1990’s; Blacktron I/II ran from ‘87 to ‘91, while the Black Knights were released between ‘88 and ‘92. 
 

[dvw2]

7 hours ago, Aanchir said:

I suspect the black-walled castles and more fantasy-influenced figures and factions were partly a way of keeping the Castle theme fresh after it had been around a while, same as how Classic Space got replaced by Futuron in the mid to late 80s, and then with more varied subthemes in the 90s. After all, if you're going to have new castles every other year or so, it helps if they're not all the same shade of gray (the ONLY shade of gray LEGO was making basic bricks in back then)! Plus, a lot of the black castle wall and arch pieces were also being used for forest hideouts and gloomy pirate forts in the late 80s and early 90s, so the Castle design team probably saw black castles as a great way to get even more use out of those recolors once they were in production.

Nowadays, at least some of that incentive no longer applies, since LEGO has a lot more variety of stony/earthy colors they can choose from for castle walls. But black castles have still had plenty of staying power across many themes as a way to create stronger visual contrast between "hero" and "villain" factions.

Yep, agreed, though aesthetically it just feels off. I absolutely see the logic given a limited palette, but I’m still not a fan. Regardless, there does seem to be some hope for a steady drip of releases. That’s good news!

[DonQuixote]

As a kid I was never a fan of the Black Knights because of their black castles.I always loved a bit more realism. So it always was Lion Knights, Black Falcons and Forrest people for me. The best factions they are for me! 

But I hope the creator castle introduces a new faction. Griffins please 

[Yperio_Bricks]

10 minutes ago, DonQuixote said:

[...] because of their black castles.I always loved a bit more realism. [...] and Forrest people for me. [...]

What do you think of the forrest peoples black trees? As a kid I played even more with castle than with pirates and I loved the forrest people but disliked their black trees because they were not realistic.

[DonQuixote]

1 minute ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

What do you think of the forrest peoples black trees? As a kid I played even more with castle than with pirates and I loved the forrest people but disliked their black trees because they were not realistic.

Yes that's true. I always wished it to be brown. But at least some trees are very dark looking in a real dark forrest. So it was ok. A black castle however.... 

[CloneCommando99]

On 11/2/2024 at 3:59 PM, DonQuixote said:

Make castle great again? 

No one builds castles better than me. Nobody.

 

Who won that ideas vote again? Please tell me it was the Kraken Knights

Edited December 14, 2024 by CloneCommando99

[DonQuixote]

20 minutes ago, CloneCommando99 said:

No one builds castles better than me. Nobody.

Better then SleeplessNight? He created a fantastic castle with a 4000 limited piece count that opens up. Not everybody can do that. It shows how much skills he has. 

[Yperio_Bricks]

42 minutes ago, CloneCommando99 said:

Who won that ideas vote again? Please tell me it was the Kraken Knights

The result of the vote has not yet been revealed. I too hope it will be the Kraken Knights. Fingers crossed!

[Roebuck]

Team raven here!

If we only get one figure in that set or Lego realised that they where so popular that they may use them in other set later remains to be seen. However the creator castle seems unlikely to me, the fig is the winner of vote to be included in a specific set and then they would just release it in a creator set the same year?!

[Classic_Spaceman]

47 minutes ago, Roebuck said:

However the creator castle seems unlikely to me, the fig is the winner of vote to be included in a specific set and then they would just release it in a creator set the same year?!

Agreed, though I can see us getting Crows/Ravens again at some point, given their popularity.
Maybe in a future tournament set? Lions, Falcons, and BKs would obviously appear, but there is not an obvious fourth classic faction (Dragon Masters and Fright Knights are too fantasy for a joust, and Royal Knights would overlap with the Lions for obvious reasons); we could theoretically just get two factions, but a large 18+ joust with only two factions (one of which is probably reused!) would be extremely disappointing! Crows would round out the lineup nicely, as well as potentially give us barding for the faction. 
 

[Triceron]

I wouldn't mind the ravens if just to get the actual figure and shield.

They're super pricy on the aftermarket.  I only managed to get a torso last month from a lucky thrift store purchase. It was missing an arm, but I patched it with a black falcon and a nexo knight lavadudes hand.  Still need the legs and shield for a proper fig.  I tried other shields like the cross Axes, but the yellow doesn't match quite right.

 

I'm still hoping for griffin and kraken.  We should have em all!

[Khargeust]

And why not a Dragon Knights castle ? They could put the new minifigure introduced in the 40601 and make it profitable. Also it would paired well with the green and red dragon from the new 3 in 1 set that will be released next january.

[DonQuixote]

11 hours ago, Roebuck said:

Team raven here!

Team Griffin here but Raven is my second favorite. 

I just don't understand the popularity of the Krakens. It's too pirate themed for me.

And we allready have 2 outlaw factions that fit very well with the castle theme : Forrest people and Wolfpack. 

[Lion King]

Seaside castle sounds cool for Kraken Knights. 

[SpacePolice89]

1 hour ago, DonQuixote said:

Team Griffin here but Raven is my second favorite. 

I just don't understand the popularity of the Krakens. It's too pirate themed for me.

And we allready have 2 outlaw factions that fit very well with the castle theme : Forrest people and Wolfpack. 

Same here. I liked the Griffin shield from the moment that I saw it for the first time.