We could probably get Castle sets that could fit in the set names of 401-404 but "Forest Ambush" doesn't really fit any Castle sets since there was like what one tree in Castle?

Forrestmen? Or a couple of tree filled sets in the Kingdoms line. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=7188-1

Forrest Ambush actually seems to reinforce the idea that it might be a direct continuation of the Kingdoms line. That seems to fit in with the theme and tactics of the Green Dragon Knights.

I really hope we see some more Falcons, like we saw in the Joust set. I'm also really excited that the Dragons finally get a castle/keep of their own. Perhaps we'll see their king/Queen?

~Insectoid Aristocrat

I was just looking through older advent calendars on Brickset and realized that if Castle/Kingdoms is coming back, maybe there'll also be a new Castle-themed advent calendar next year too! Fingers crossed.

Oh, I hope you are right! I got the Star Wars Advent Calendar this year, and it has been disappointing compared to the Castle Advent Calendars of the past.

I was just looking through older advent calendars on Brickset and realized that if Castle/Kingdoms is coming back, maybe there'll also be a new Castle-themed advent calendar next year too! Fingers crossed.

That would be awesome, I really enjoyed the last two Castle calendars.

I have another theory for why TLC is releasing a new Castle wave after all, and it has nothing to do with LotR getting disappointing sales (which I doubt was the case).

In fact, not releasing a 2012 Kingdoms wave (the exclusive Joust notwithstanding) was a pretty genius move. By doing so, they made Castle fans switch over to LotR to get their medieval fix. So now with the upcoming 2013 Kingdoms wave, these fans will buy BOTH LotR and Castle sets.

I personally am stoked by this news, for I too thought Castle would be put on hold during the entire LotR run.

On the other hand, the set names are not exactly the kind of sets I was hoping for. I'm part of the crowd wishing for a Black Falcons and Forestmen update. But judging from the set names we'll get more Dragons vs Lions (and it even looks like we might get a 7946 Kings Castle reissue).

Of course, might be that the new Kings Castle belongs to the Black Falcons (maybe Kings Castle is just a codename so as not to spoil the surprise?). TLC must've noticed the fans' overwhelmingly positive reaction to the Black Falcon minifig in the Joust. It would be crazy for them not to take advantage of that.

Edited December 14, 201212 yr by legogito ergo sum

it would be very strange if the new line would have falcons. what would be the point of puting one falcon knight in joust set? it could've been dragon knight, if they acutally didn't tried to give us a sneak preview or a teaser for 2013.

I really hope new castle is falcon or dragon castle and I wish the new castle line is FALCON VS FORESTMAN

I think the return of a castle theme would be a good idea. I will still buy the LOTR/Hobbit sets the most, but I may be interested in getting back into castle themes also. I loved Kingdoms originally, but since I have so many dragons/lions, I really don't want any more. So if it is just those two factions again, I probably won't buy the sets unfortunately. We'll see what happens. The more I look at the Joust, I don't want it as much as I initially did because of all of the other great themes/sets that have come out since then. My kingdoms buzz has run its course. But hopefully these new sets will entice me to buy them.

I think that modular sets would be feasible if they were small enough and if each one was designed with enough action/flare to make it appealing as a stand alone set. This is actually what my idea has been for CUUSO all along, I just haven't been able to put together good designs that balance individual appeal with modular use. I'm thinking it would consist of 3 or 4 sets - tower/tower with wall; wall with building and gatehouse. The sets would range in price from $20 - $50, and you would need to be able to build a small castle for around $100, and a large deluxe castle for around $200.

i think it's doable, but all of my creativity has been focused on GoH lately.

I think that modular sets would be feasible if they were small enough and if each one was designed with enough action/flare to make it appealing as a stand alone set. This is actually what my idea has been for CUUSO all along, I just haven't been able to put together good designs that balance individual appeal with modular use. I'm thinking it would consist of 3 or 4 sets - tower/tower with wall; wall with building and gatehouse. The sets would range in price from $20 - $50, and you would need to be able to build a small castle for around $100, and a large deluxe castle for around $200.

i think it's doable, but all of my creativity has been focused on GoH lately.

I could see this working so long as the sets were each an individual building designed to fit into a town. Something along the lines of the Ceramic "Unseen University" buildings that were marketed to Terry Pratchett fans a number of years ago. Each was a stand alone, but each could slide together to make the full University.

If the Falcon in the joust set was a prelude to what is coming out now, what do you think of the new 'crownie' in the CMF S9? Could he also be a preview of the new wave? Personally, I think the new Falcon crest and the new Crown logo look great and I would love to have both of them represented in the new Castle wave......but I am crossing my fingers for some great new Forestmen

I woukd actually preffer if lady marrion was a prelude to forestmans...

somehow, I doubt in general that cmf can be teaser for upcoming sets, but you never know...

I woukd actually preffer if lady marrion was a prelude to forestmans...

somehow, I doubt in general that cmf can be teaser for upcoming sets, but you never know...

Lady Marrion and the Robin Hood from earlier in the CMF line would both be pretty great Forestmen preludes. CMF has been a kind of teaser for some sets, notably MF. I wondered if the Heroic Knight was a prelude or a farewell to Crown Knights.

I doubt in general that cmf can be teaser for upcoming sets, but you never know...

I think they have used CMF as a teaser for sure in the past. Most notably is of course Monster Fighters. But the elf in S1 may have been a teaser to LOTR, The western bandit a teaser to Lone Ranger, the Space Marine a teaser to Galaxy Squad. Hard to say for sure, but it seems a good spot for them to whet the appetites of fans

I think they have used CMF as a teaser for sure in the past. Most notably is of course Monster Fighters. But the elf in S1 may have been a teaser to LOTR, The western bandit a teaser to Lone Ranger, the Space Marine a teaser to Galaxy Squad. Hard to say for sure, but it seems a good spot for them to whet the appetites of fans

those examples are hard to call teasers... sure, there is a connection, but to call a bandit a teaser, it's just "thin ice" for me...

the best example for teaser, for me, it's the precel it's self, from CMF8

I think the idea that CMFs are teasers to future themes is far-fetched and always has been. Yes, if they introduce certain parts for the CMFs they might later re-use them in another theme. They might even revisit ideas they used in the CMFs. That's just common sense. But it's silly to think that any of the CMFs are designed to serve as "teasers" when all of them seem designed to function pretty much independently of concurrent or future themes.

You could argue that the Galaxy Patrol fig was meant as a teaser for Galaxy Squad, sure. You could also argue that the Series 1 Spaceman was meant as a teaser for Galaxy Squad. Or you could say the clearly Space Marine-inspired Alien Conquest figs were meant as a teaser for Galaxy Squad, and you'd have an argument that's just as strong-- which is to say, tremendously weak.

There have been plenty of obvious examples of CMFs that reference past themes. There has never been a single example of a CMF indisputably referencing a future theme. The most they ever do is introduce parts which might be reused for similar figs in future themes, or explore ideas which might be revisited.

There's been a long and involved argument about this over in the CMF threads, and MF is the only line that may have come out due to the success of the Zombie IMO

This isn't the right topic for this, but wasn't there a Alien Conquest alien in the CMF before that theme existed and they only included the Alien queen because it ended prematurely (or so I've read). I never followed that theme, so I don't know any details about it. But I would tend to agree that something used once doesn't guarantee it was in mind for another theme altogether. I'd love for the Forest Maiden to mean something or the Black Falcon to be used more effectively, but until we get leaked pictures or descriptions, it will be tough to say for sure. I wouldn't be too keen on another crown faction though since I'd want something new. Even new from the other Kingdoms factions since I already have too many of them. If they just continue with Kingdoms without any changes, I think it might be a bit stale. They had 2 years worth of sets. I'm not sure we need more of that specific section, but I'd love more Kingdoms-esque sets/factions.

This isn't the right topic for this, but wasn't there a Alien Conquest alien in the CMF before that theme existed and they only included the Alien queen because it ended prematurely (or so I've read). I never followed that theme, so I don't know any details about it. But I would tend to agree that something used once doesn't guarantee it was in mind for another theme altogether. I'd love for the Forest Maiden to mean something or the Black Falcon to be used more effectively, but until we get leaked pictures or descriptions, it will be tough to say for sure. I wouldn't be too keen on another crown faction though since I'd want something new. Even new from the other Kingdoms factions since I already have too many of them. If they just continue with Kingdoms without any changes, I think it might be a bit stale. They had 2 years worth of sets. I'm not sure we need more of that specific section, but I'd love more Kingdoms-esque sets/factions.

No. That first Alien wasn't an Alien Conquest one. It was a leftover design from Space Police III. One of Squidman's race. He is just often thought of as part of AC because he has some similar coloring. (Green Head, Purple markings). AC used the new Helmets first seen in the Series 1 spaceman, but other themes also used those, such as World Racers.

As far as factions... Shush. No really tread very very carefully when asking for new different and greater variety in Castle factions. Two words... Galaxy Squad. Given their success with multi colored Sentai team type themes. With specific colored named main characters, we do not want to inadvertently make Lego think we want a return of Knights Kingdom II and the Jellybean Knights. Kingdoms Lions vs Dragoons much much > Jellybeans.

Edited December 17, 201212 yr by Faefrost

I haven't followed space since Spyrius, so I had no idea.

I missed out on Knights Kingdom II, but from what I've seen I would agree. I wouldn't want them to return to that (although I doubt they would). I'm sure more Kingdoms is fine, but I'd like to think there are more kingdoms within the Kingdom(s) realm.

I think the idea that CMFs are teasers to future themes is far-fetched and always has been.

I can totally buy that, but I think I am trying to convince myself because of what I want to see in the new Castle

I think I've come up with what could possibly be every Kingdoms fan's super dream:

Many people have been saying that the King's Castle set listed will likely be a re-release of the Lion's castle. But I got to thinking about the significance of the Falcon knight in the Joust set. I kinda made a little story to accompany my idea. What if the new King's Castle is actually a Falcon knight fortress. I imagined the Falcon knight in the Joust being a foreigner and being allowed to compete in the Joust, but he wins, and then an army of Falcon knights swarm the Lion kingdom and completely obliterate it. The Dragon Knights are able to hide in the forests and mountains, which is basically me putting a story to the Forest Ambush and Dragon Mountain sets.

So, essentially, the Dragon knights become the good guys, and are a combination of the Forestmen and the Wolfpack. And then the Falcons are the established kingdom, but they are the bad guys.

While this is completely my own wishing, I think that if LEGO were to do something like this, it would be an amazing way of keeping the Kingdoms line alive, while making it all together new and exciting.

I like that dream.

In reality though, I fear that the Falcon's appearance in Kingdom's Joust was the set equivalent of a cameo, nothing more.

I really hope LEGO proves me wrong. *crosses fingers*

I really don't see any reason to reissue the last castle. I do belive the new castle will be falcon castle.

Regarding the CMF's. the only thing about them that may "foreshadow" a new theme is new molds. If they make something cool, such as the new space helmets or Space Marine armor, etc. they will often find a use for it in main themes. It's not so much foreshadowing as simply making efficient use of molds. Molds cost tens of thousands of dollars so reuse is key.

Whereas printing is a few days work for the graphic designers and testers. So the difference between a crown knight, a dragon knight or the evil knight are pretty negligible in terms of what effect they will have on any future themes. Most noteworthy is that the heroic knight does not use any new molded pieces. So really it offers no hints of what is to come.

The same with the Kings Castle set. Chances are it isn't a re-release. They have new parts to play with. The set must have the new horses at a minimum. So it can't be completely the same. And once they start changing why stop? They learned a lot of neat things with Joust and Helms Deep etc. Kings Castle is also a name they have used several times in the past. So it will most likely be a new set with that old name.

Most noteworthy is that the heroic knight does not use any new molded pieces.

Unless you count the sword, which was previously only included in some but not all Kingdoms Chess sets. Admittedly it doesn't give much clues about the upcoming theme, but nevertheless it will probably be used instead of the old short sword or the longsword from LotR/Hobbit and some other CMFs.