LEGO Castle 2013

[Kai NRG]

...Are the coins new? These coins show single-digit numbers, while I only know of coins with values of 10, 20, 30, 40...

No. At least not that new. They're the same as far as I can see as came in some of the PotC sets (a year ago now I guess?).

[Maxim I]

I still gonna buy those sets

[Drachmyre]

'I think the new sets aren't too bad. Not up to par with the Joust or Market but passable for what i call "general consumption". id really like to see a Collectors series castle set. Something in the 2000-2500 piece range. Preferably a castle.

[just2good]

Some of the Castle stuff is listed on Toys"R"Us, but none of them are available for order.

[Peppermint_M]

I love the Dragon Knights! My ever growing Dragon Alliance will be mustering some more allies!

[The Cobra]

My two cents:

Fantasy era was great. Kingdoms was OK. Castle 2013 is sub-par.

When I saw preliminary images I thought I like the new line, and would have bought every set except the bigger one. Now I'm thinking I will surely buy 70400, maybe the Gold gateaway and that may be it.

I'm also regretting not buying a few more kingdoms sets.

[Rogue Angel]

Kingdoms was aimed more at AFoLs while the 2013 Castle line was aimed at kids, so it's not an apples to apples comparison. I am happy with the sets themselves, the reappearance of the Dragon, the barding and a few of the rarer minifigs. I think that the King's castle is very nice, and I like the layout of the Dragon mountain. The smaller sets are about as appealing as the usually are -primarily parts packs.

[Graysmith]

I'll get the Gatehouse Raid set. You get a knight and a soldier from each faction, a black horse with barding and a pretty nice-looking little structure. The catapult looks terrible, but I quite like everything else about it and it's not like it'll be a huge investment at 248 pieces.

[DroppinSuga]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I'm excited for these sets. I really like Dragon Mountain and King's Castle.

[DrasticPlastic]

Very weak theme - when you consider the build quality and the minifig design work in The Lord of the Rings line...and then compare it to this...damn

Whole theme looks like its 15 years old - Lego ditched that approach and has thrived since. Very disappointed in the reused helmet molds, feels like leftovers from a previous year

[GregoryBrick]

Is it wrong that I really, really like these sets? The builds look really childish, but just so sweet and simple it's like Dawww! Some of the minifigs look pretty great as well.

Forest Ambush is a darling set.

I guess I'm in the minority, but I'm excited for these sets. I really like Dragon Mountain and King's Castle.

I also like them. They look like they have a lot of play value, moreso than LotR, and a much more versatile palette.

[Marckeyh]

What's with the coloured slopes on everything?! Don't like it much.

[Wolf_Gang]

I missed out on getting Castle sets as a child, and although many people are disappointed with these sets, I am excited. I will probably get the dragon set.

[Shakar]

I'll buy the smallest set and that's it.

Really, the only appeal for me are the bad guy minifigs, especially the soldiers. Unlike many, I happen to like the heraldry a lot.

[domboy]

I actually like this line a lot better that Kingdoms, which I bought almost none of. I don't care for the really small sets, but I'm fairly sure I want to get two of the middle ones. 70403 Dragon Mountain - I love the dragon (have all three fantasy era ones), and the little ruined castle bit itself is kind of neat. 70402 The Gatehouse Raid - love the dragon knight, and I like that the castle wall has technic connections on the side. Sure this line may not be LOTR, but as somebody that is rather broke, there is no way I'm getting into LOTR... it would trigger character collection obsession, and I would be even more broke!

[Cardinal]

I'm back to say that this confirms the theory that LEGO is intentionally destroying their classic lines to make room for more licensed themes.

These Castle sets are truly horrendous. Ugly colors, and perhaps the most boring, stale design imaginable for each and every set. They couldn't be any less interesting.

Keep in mind I'm not knocking LEGO at all. These sets are intentionally designed not to sell. LEGO has achieved their goal. They want to make Lord of the Rings and Hobbit their permanent medieval themes, just as Star Wars has basically eliminated LEGO space themes.

I just had to post here on this. The set pictures speak for themselves. Go on, admit the theory was right.

Edited April 30, 2013 by Cardinal

[Blakstone]

If your theory is correct, It seems like a waste of money. LEGO could simply not make any Castle sets. They stopped Pirates for a while now.

To the 10 year old kids that do not recall the classic yellow castle, the forestmen, or even any of the Kingdom sets, these sets are perfectly suited. There are even AFOLs in this thread that love the theme.

It is not a conspiracy setup by "The Man". LEGO just release a wave not targeted to you... or me for that matter. I will probably buy a few of the smaller sets though.

[Speedboat]

I have to say, those sets are very underwhelming! The colour scheme is badly chosen in my opinion, the builds are unimaginative and lackluster and the minifigs don't look very well designed either. When you look at the licensed sets coming out this year, the quality of these new Castle sets is mediocre at best. Just compare the torso prints to those from the Lone Ranger or LotR sets. I for one am very disappointed and will rather buy some of the older Fantasy Era sets on ebay than these new ones.

Edited April 30, 2013 by Speedboat

[Zeya]

I missed out on getting Castle sets as a child, and although many people are disappointed with these sets, I am excited. I will probably get the dragon set.

I'm happy for you! I came out of my "dark ages" around the first wave of Kingdoms, due to that line and also Pirates. I had mainly castle and pirates as a kid. I think you'll be happy with 2013 Castle as a newly reborn fan of lego. :)

[Erynion]

WOW!!! These Castle sets look almost just like the sets they had in the, err, 70's and 80's, or something.

They could probably get the same market by just recycling the old sets. There'd be more appeal to the older fans, too, because of the nostalgia, I presume.

(Pardon my sarcasm. I couldn't resist that one)

[Ajax]

These new sets seem very childish, what castles have red and blue trimmings? Don't like these sets at all.

[Flieger]

just as Star Wars has basically eliminated LEGO space themes.

Star Wars has a permanent presence and is extremely kid friendly, unlike the Hobbit&LotR which only comes up in waves and is rather for young adults (i.e. those who stop playing with Lego). Unless Lego is persuing a permanent license for a similar broad and long lasting medieval themed series, I do not think the Castle-line is in danger.

In fact, the only med-themed series that could establish a long term presence is Game of Thrones / ASOIAF, but that hardly appeals to kids. Star Wars is so incredibly powerful because it captures a most broad audience.

These new sets seem very childish, what castles have red and blue trimmings? Don't like these sets at all.

How dare they having childish elements in a children's toy!?

[Cardinal]

Flieger, a lot of monied interests want LOTR to be to medieval what Star Wars is to Sci-Fi. And they have been fairly successful within the last 15 years or so in implementing this.

[Flieger]

They may try but they are really not even remotely comparable in the results concerning licensed toys, books (naturally!!), games etc. And, most important: Tolkien was great, but he is dead. The franchise will never develope much. People here frequently argue that LotR/Hobbit-Lego only sells when there is a movie to push it, although I'd doubt it. Nevertheless Star Wars has a huge bandwith of NEW media content appealing to kids and adults alike, and therefore can easily push any toy sale at any given time. Tolkien-Franchise cannot do this equally well, if at all. Go in any shopping mall, book store etc.: the SW stuff outweighs the Tolkien stuff by far, and easily so.

Even worse for it, GRR Martin put up some serious modern contender with GoT/ASOIAF - something that SW does not have to bother with. If any line could be to the Castle what Star Wars has been for Space, it is GoT. The ASOIAF book series is still running and there will be numerous more TV seasons of GoT. All one has to fear for Castle from Tolkien are paltry two movies with content largely known already - hardly enough to kill Castle permanently.

So I think you and I can rejoice. Castle will live. I mean seriously, it survived the KK2 Power Rangers only to bring us some of the best Castle stuff after that abomination.

[Str0ngbad]

Flieger, a lot of monied interests want LOTR to be to medieval what Star Wars is to Sci-Fi. And they have been fairly successful within the last 15 years or so in implementing this.

Monied interests? Intentionally destroy their classic lines? Bahahaha! I had no idea Donald Trump was such a big LEGO LOTR fan...

I am a HUGE Lord of the Rings Geek/Nerd/Dork and would LOVE for it to stick around on the LEGO aisle but there is no way it makes it past a max of four years, most likely only three. Tolkien didn't approach his world like a business the way that Lucas did/does. The downside of that is he didn't even finish the Silmarillion (what he considered the most important book for middle earth) before he died. The upside is I won't be strung along for the rest of my life and I will never have to endure the equivalent of Episodes 1-3. There are going to be six movies based on four books for LOTR; the story has been finished for decades with a clear beginning and end. Star Wars will never be finished because the motivation behind it has been different from the very beginning. They will keep writing books and making movies because they sell which provides marketing and material to keep making toys. Even if this weren't true, your suggestion is absolutely preposterous. For one, LEGO still makes space themed sets outside of Star Wars 13 years after taking up the license. Second, why would they need to waste resources to cause old lines to tank, wasting more resources? The fact is, LEGO understands its customers' demographics; LOTR is targeted at older kids and adults and the Castle line this year is providing an alternative for younger LEGO fans. It's not objectively bad. It's just not what most mature castle fans are looking for.

Otherwise, LEGO City fans had better watch out. It's about to be run into the ground to make room for SIMS.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Str0ngbad