Castle Sets 2010

[phoinix]

on a closer look these sets look like a step back for the castle line..

the classic castle walls

seem to be gone and they have been replaced by the simple square once that were used in the new pirate like fort.

the big castle itself lacks in design and originality and as far as the smaller sets go there isnt much there..

im only happy about the jester and the green wizard.

hope that the big castle is better than it looks here cause i really had my eye on it..

(i miss the fantasy castle era already)

Edited February 3, 2010 by phoinix

[Svelte]

Yeah, these don't look so different from the Fantasy line to me.

Small sets - same basic catapults and a mini wagon - with dark green/ gold cheese stuck all over it!

Dragon Knights Tower - really just a fortified gate with a hinged side wall - reminds me of the KK2 Scorpion Prison Cage - with those end-cap roof pieces in dark green stuck all over it!

Knights Castle - not hugely different from the Fantasty one - except with red cheese stuck all over it, and end-cap pieces in red instead of pearl gold and roof slopes in red instead of navy blue!

[Sandy]

Knights Castle - not hugely different from the Fantasty one - except with red cheese stuck all over it, and end-cap pieces in red instead of pearl gold and roof slopes in red instead of navy blue!

Except that there's a portcullis and actual windows now. This new castle is also shorter in height, which adds to the illusion of sturdiness.

I love the sets and the new minifigs included in them, but somehow they seem to lack the shininess of the Fantasy Era figs. Have they given up on pearl silver helmets and weapons, or is the lighting just off?

[phoinix]

maybe they are made out of cheap plastic just to show in the fair..

Edited February 3, 2010 by phoinix

[Albero - BEL]

on a closer look these sets look like a step back for the castle line..

the classic castle walls

seem to be gone and they have been replaced by the simple square once that were used in the new pirate like fort.

Why do you say it's a step back?

In any case the piece is smaller and so, according to me, better.

[Lordofdragonss]

Yay! Beautiful classic sets!

I found breastplate!

And A lot of Dark green bricks( and plumes)!

And brown telescope!

New torsos!

Damn... What is inside this baddies tower?! Queen or dragon?

[Svelte]

Except that there's a portcullis and actual windows now. This new castle is also shorter in height, which adds to the illusion of sturdiness.

I love the sets and the new minifigs included in them, but somehow they seem to lack the shininess of the Fantasy Era figs. Have they given up on pearl silver helmets and weapons, or is the lighting just off?

Not hugely different to me, then. It does look more compact than the Fantasy castle. And by compact, I mean 'smaller' This isn't a bad thing, as the large Fantasy Castle could be difficult to move around. Even with the Trolls Fortress it was strong and sturdy enough to be picked up and carried in 2 hands.

The helmets do look silver to me, but the Fantasy line helmets were metallic silver, not pearl. Maybe these ones are the new pearlly-metallic colour which debuted in the Atlantis sets (such as the small the propeller pieces). If that is the case, they look a lot shinier in person than on any pics I've seen.

[phoinix]

Why do you say it's a step back?

In any case the piece is smaller and so, according to me, better.

the older piece has been around for about 25 years and its a classic.

its much better in design as it is much more complicated and it is the ideal piece to build sturdy castles.

the new piece is nothing but a square wall with a window in the middle and i dont think that castles are going to look better with it.

that is why its a step back (in my book)

the old piece will be missed

Edited February 3, 2010 by phoinix

[ZO6]

I'm definitely liking these a lot more after seeing the pics from the Canadian Toy Fair, though I'm still not completely sold on them. For me it will really come down to the small details which we have yet to see (mainly interior and accessories), as well as the pricing. I haven't bought many castle sets since the early 90s, so I may have to give in sooner or later...

Edited February 3, 2010 by ZO6

[Alex the Great]

I also really like the tower, and the 'evil' faction's colours look good. A bonus is that the weapons and helmets seem to be the same as the fantasy line. Thanks for the pics!

[Lordofdragonss]

Wait a minute! In carriage set! Two diffrent colored swords! Awesome!

[Legorski]

I can't wait for these! I will get all of them, twice, cubed. XD

[Athos]

If they're showing the impulses in Canada, can we conclude they'll be available in North America?

Steve

[Mac-K]

Yes! A good end to the day! These pictures just confirm how great this new direction for Castle looks. I'm really happy to see the breastplate will be staying around. Oh, and finally a good look at those new great helms! I was a little worried they wouldn't look good, but they actually look much better than I'd hoped for! Those armor pieces for the horses are looking nice too. The Lion Castle has quite a stout feeling to it, and a really Classic-type feel to it, which should be pleasing to the folks hoping for a return to that style. It looks great to me, I know that much. I can't get over how cool looking the Dragon Knight Tower is though, just something about it I guess. Hopefully this mystery figure in the tower will be revealed soon, though I suspect it will be a new princess/maiden of sorts over just another Lion knight, considering how it always manages to stay obscure in the pictures thus far. All the smaller sets are looking superb as well, always good to have a decent choice of those. The release of this theme cannot come soon enough!

[blueandwhite]

the older piece has been around for about 25 years and its a classic.

its much better in design as it is much more complicated and it is the ideal piece to build sturdy castles.

the new piece is nothing but a square wall with a window in the middle and i dont think that castles are going to look better with it.

that is why its a step back (in my book)

the old piece will be missed

Sorry, but I don't see a great deal of difference. Both are essentially large filler bricks which serve to inflate the size of a LEGO structure. Neither are particularly ideal for MOCing (in fact both are downright horrible). The new castle wall is just a different take on the same idea. Personally I feel that the new castle looks like it has far more potential than most of the castles we've seen in the past ten years so I don't really buy that it negatively impacts the look of a LEGO castle either.

This line looks very clean, with a number of very useful pieces and the long-awaited (over 20 years for some) Great Helm. That alone makes it one of the best Castle lines to come out of TLG in a long time. The small sets are lackluster, but the big two are quite pleasant looking. It's nice to see a line where the secondary faction is given a fortress that doesn't look like a complete afterthought.

[Sir Fred]

So it seems that the "bad guys" although having less figs, have more than enough shields while the "good guys" have more figs but far less shields. Also, no longbows. The new window piece will be interesting...

Okay, now that that's out, time to say good things. The main castle looks quite sturdy and does not have a portcullis sticking out of the top. Lots of plumes. I note some gold armour in the first picture, but that fig looks very out of place. The new unicorn helmet looks neat. The small catapult looks really well-made, since catapults are seemingly mandatory now, that's the best we can ask for. The gate piece on the very nice looking prison tower new?

[UsernameMDM]

Are the dragon knights' weapons/armor/helms dark pearl grey? Wish we got a better look at the captive in the tower.

[UberJumper]

Some of it is okay, However, it just doesn't stir anything for me. Also did anyone notice how LOW those age ranges are? Compared to fantasy castle? I don't know, i just don't like it. At all.

Also several minifigs just seem terribly out of place with regards to the other elements. Right now i think i am just going to stock up on crownies / goblins.

[The Cobra]

I am not very impressed. Fantasy era looks better than this (what's with that bucket turned into a helmet???)

[Delta 38]

(what's with that bucket turned into a helmet???)

Actually, I like the new helmet.

Initially, I wasn't too interested, since I didn't find the idea of human factions too interesting. Then, I saw the new helmet, plus easy ways to get full-face helmets.

I like the impulse sets, too. I hope I can find them, because impulse sets are generally hard to find in my area.

I never thought I'd see a new use for a thornax, but putting them in a catapult seems logical.

[The Penguin]

Well, ladies and gentlemen, here're my 2 cents. )

I still have a mixed feelings about the new line, but I guess it deserves a good and firm "B", perhaps even "B+". )

The Red Castle:

Well, first of all I'm glad to see that it's red. I mean we've already been getting all kind of castles in blue during the past, say, 20 years, but that's a nice for a change. plus, i'm quite sure it'll look great next to crownie one, for example. They do look different, but that's a difference that works well when in comparison. Kids can easilly imagine them being different kingdoms with different architectural styles. )

Plus, I really liked those nice "corner walls" with ivy on them. That's a lovely touch and doesn't look that boring like plain bricks to me. I just hope that it's printed. Though.

The gate tower reminds me for some reason of the fantasy "Tower bridge", but nevertheless it looks good.

I was quite disappointed to see those ghastly-looking Bionicle ribber..... things. But that's perhaps because Bionicle+Castle reminds me instantly of KK, which gives me the creeps.

The towers (archer ones) look strange on the top. But I hope it'll be different in the final version.

And I also find the horn of the unicorn headpiece a bit too big. But I guess it's that casewhen you actually have to hold it in your hand to see if it's true. )

The minifigs look pretty nice, especially the archer's torso. All the good words about new helmets have been said. )

The impulse sets:

Well, those are quite good, nothing special though. For me a definite must-buy-5-at-least is a wizard one. I spot a pretty nice-looking scroll with a dragon there. Very useful in MOCs. )

The carriage:

To my taste it looks very odd, but perhaps it's a good army-builder. It may also be useful for parts, but I doubt that anyone would wish to get tonns of that. Only for horses, perhaps....

The catapult:

It looks good: in that case I do not share the common dislike of that set. I think it has a good selection of useful detais (like slopes in gold and dark green, black wheels and two really nice figs) BTW, I certainly hope that the new theme will give us a good range of new faces. Perhaps even double printed ones. )

The Dragon Tower:

I was pretty sceptical about that one at first, but now I think it's may be even the best set of the current line. what caught my eye was the superb color scheme, which is very well-balanced in the set. The floor above the gated is very well detailed for a castle set, and overall use of brown gives me a nearly "forestmen-are -back" feeling. )

I cannot clearly see the left wing but I'm quite sure it has some interesting feature there, apart from just a staircase.

Plus this set has lot's of nice touches like the cauldron with something hoy in it on the top. Questionable in terms of a choice of a place, but a thing never seen in LEGO castles before.

Well, as a conclusion i must say that it's a good line, well-balanced and with good potential. ) Out of the factions, I'm with dragons. )

Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

[Sandy]

The Dragon Tower:

I was pretty sceptical about that one at first, but now I think it's may be even the best set of the current line. what caught my eye was the superb color scheme, which is very well-balanced in the set. The floor above the gated is very well detailed for a castle set, and overall use of brown gives me a nearly "forestmen-are -back" feeling. )

I cannot clearly see the left wing but I'm quite sure it has some interesting feature there, apart from just a staircase.

Plus this set has lot's of nice touches like the cauldron with something hoy in it on the top. Questionable in terms of a choice of a place, but a thing never seen in LEGO castles before.

The Dragon Tower looks to be my current favorite set of the theme as well. It looks imposing without being overly eeeevil in an clichéd way (like the Skeleton Tower). The color scheme is superb, and it has a very interesting architecture.

As for that cauldron on top of it, I believe it's meant to be filled with burning oil that can be poured on any enemies that come knocking at the gates.

[Albero - BEL]

Andrea

[Lordofdragonss]

Andrea

Tornax fruit from Bionicle and yes he is from PoP. Someone suck as builder xD

[Fluyt]

I get a bit of a "duplo-ish" feel looking at the pictures. But overall I think this will be a good theme, finally humans vs. humans again. And from what I can see, I really like the look of those white/red knights. Only unfortunately, they're still the same old ideas, market village was a good move, but now, it seems like they've already forgotten nearly all civillian elements.

And I hope my eyes don't decieve me, but the red roof on the pics from canada looks like the quality control hasn't improved.

Edited February 4, 2010 by Fluyt