LEGO Castle 2013

[Ridge Montante]

Aanchir, I totally had that megablocks castle too. Who knows where it disappeared to though.

[Aanchir]

I'm beginning to fear that you are right... I see 'Castle' mentioned at no local shops at all, nor on our branch of LEGO's own site. Would they really delay a release in North America by 6 months in Europe...?

Definitely, and it wouldn't be the first time some countries have had to wait a full half a year for the release of a theme. I believe some countries were waiting for quite a while on the first wave of Galaxy Squad, this year's Space theme. Then again, we in the United States sometimes have to wait a half a year before we get certain sets available in Europe: the final waves of Power Miners and Atlantis were released in Europe at the beginning of 2010 and 2011, respectively, but in the United States we had to wait an additional six months before the release of the two largest sets from either theme's final wave.

Also, I'm surprised to find so many people who had that Mega Bloks castle! It was not an especially good set but it still comes to mind whenever I think about what LEGO Castles are still missing today. Since the new LEGO Castle, like the Kingdoms one before it, has a modular design, I wonder if anyone will design new modules for it that incorporate some of these features. I haven't collected LEGO Castles for a long time, but I know my way around LEGO Digital Designer and wouldn't mind giving it a shot myself!

[Hive]

Also, I'm surprised to find so many people who had that Mega Bloks castle! It was not an especially good set but it still comes to mind whenever I think about what LEGO Castles are still missing today. Since the new LEGO Castle, like the Kingdoms one before it, has a modular design, I wonder if anyone will design new modules for it that incorporate some of these features. I haven't collected LEGO Castles for a long time, but I know my way around LEGO Digital Designer and wouldn't mind giving it a shot myself!

I've thought about doing additional modules for the Kingdoms castle several times before, doing a modern version of this set among other things:

I think it's a huge shame that LEGO never themselves these day follow up on the modularity of their castles. I personally think such smaller wall pieces, similar to the one they did for LOTR, could be great sellers - and something people would buy multiples of.

[parksroad]

Agreed. I think the big Hogwarts castle had at least one additional set that could be attached to it. That one also had huge interior detail. I'm not too impressed with this line just yet but I'll be curious to see what kind of sets follow in subsequent waves, assuming that's the intent here. As others have said, every set in this line looks like a version of something in Kingdoms.

[Artanis I]

+1 to castle wall panels from me too. I think the people that have a negative opinion of them tend to be people that like to make really detailed walls with bits of imperfection here and there, variations of colour etc. Like what you'd find in the Guilds of Historica. Me: flat walls? Who cares. The attacking army is just going to smash them down anyway.

I think it's a huge shame that LEGO never themselves these day follow up on the modularity of their castles. I personally think such smaller wall pieces, similar to the one they did for LOTR, could be great sellers - and something people would buy multiples of.

Careful, we'd need to be specific that we are referring to the 80s style of modularity, and not the Knights Kingdom style...

[Aanchir]

I've thought about doing additional modules for the Kingdoms castle several times before, doing a modern version of this set among other things:

I think it's a huge shame that LEGO never themselves these day follow up on the modularity of their castles. I personally think such smaller wall pieces, similar to the one they did for LOTR, could be great sellers - and something people would buy multiples of.

Well, this year TLG did follow up on the modularity of 7946, in that both 70402 and 70404 are compatible with it. 70402 is nice in terms of being stylistically compatible with 70404 while still being unique enough not to feel like "just another wall segment". It'd be nice to see more modular expansions, though, with more of an emphasis on different interior details.

Agreed. I think the big Hogwarts castle had at least one additional set that could be attached to it. That one also had huge interior detail. I'm not too impressed with this line just yet but I'll be curious to see what kind of sets follow in subsequent waves, assuming that's the intent here. As others have said, every set in this line looks like a version of something in Kingdoms.

Yeah, Hogwarts Castle definitely had more interior details than a lot of LEGO castles. And it's somewhat noteworthy that like some other licensed themes, the Harry Potter sets were included in the "Building Sets For Girls" category on shop.LEGO.com. So it's clear that even before LEGO Friends, TLG recognized that these kinds of details were things girls tended to like. One wonders if some of these details were included in the sets to cater to a more diverse audience or whether the sets were advertised to a more diverse audience because they included these details. A real chicken-and-egg question, and I'd be willing to wager that it was a mix of the two. Obviously some of the interior details like the great hall were just inherent to the Harry Potter franchise, but the set designs still had something of a dollhouse feel that surely anticipated the interest girls would have in the theme.

This is the kind of multi-demographic appeal I'd like to see in LEGO Castle sets one day. The question that arises is how feasible this is. With licensed themes like Harry Potter and Spongebob Squarepants, courting an audience is not as much of a challenge because an audience of boys and girls alike is basically handed to the LEGO Group on a silver platter. Boys won't start thinking Harry Potter is girly just because girls happen to like it as well; that just comes with the territory. There's more risk of that kind of stigma arising in a non-licensed theme that has to generate its own appeal from the ground up.

[Kliq]

Wow, I was so happy to see that my local Target had three of the five new Castle sets (one was sold out [70403] the other just wasn't being sold at all [70400]). It's too bad about 70400 not having any shelf space, I would have happily picked up as many as I could. Either way, I purchased one 70404, two 70402, and one 70401. I have to say, the new castle has become one of my favorites of all time, and this is coming from someone who vastly prefers the castles of the '80s and early '90s. The modularity of the new castle is awesome. I bought two of 70402 so I could attach it to the castle. I didn't realize that 70402 came apart in three sections. That way I could attach each section in a separate part of the main castle. The resulting layout is pretty cool. Everything fit together perfectly, including the ramparts along the top of the walls. One of the big castle set and two of the gatehouse sets combined leave a nice footprint and create an awesome castle. Also, because each wall section is attached to one another both at the top and the bottom, it makes it easier to transport. Even with all of the extra sections added, I can still lift the whole castle and move it around just by holding it by either of its diagonal towers. You do have to be a bit careful, though, but it is still a pretty strong connection.

Oh man, what I wouldn't do for LEGO to release just one modular civilian set to fit right in...

Edit:

I thought I would add a quick pic...

As you can see, I put one of the crossbow wall sections from 70402 on either side of the portcullis, a gatehouse on either side wall, and the two prison wall sections together in the rear next to the dungeon tower that came with the castle. You do have a lot of freedom about where you put each section as long as each opposing wall has the same number of that size of section.

Edited June 23, 2013 by Kliq

[Hive]

All the sets are available at amazon.co.uk now, so I guess Europe didn't have to wait too long after all.

[TeufelHund]

I definitely like the castle better with those Gatehouses added to it, but it's not enough to make me splash out for it.

I'll get a few of the smaller sets but generally I find the garish blue and kiddie-friendly heraldry of the Lion/Crown knights a bit to offputting to spend big on this line.

[Artanis I]

I have to say, the new castle has become one of my favorites of all time, and this is coming from someone who vastly prefers the castles of the '80s and early '90s. The modularity of the new castle is awesome. I bought two of 70402 so I could attach it to the castle. I didn't realize that 70402 came apart in three sections. That way I could attach each section in a separate part of the main castle. The resulting layout is pretty cool.

Thanks for sharing that. That's pretty cool, and an improvement on the last few castles.

[NiL_FisK_Urd]

I definitely like the castle better with those Gatehouses added to it, but it's not enough to make me splash out for it.

I'll get a few of the smaller sets but generally I find the garish blue and kiddie-friendly heraldry of the Lion/Crown knights a bit to offputting to spend big on this line.

I totally agree with the heraldry part. The lion looks like it is falling asleep, and the dragon's head looks more like a frightened squid.

[Flieger]

Edit:

I thought I would add a quick pic...

As you can see, I put one of the crossbow wall sections from 70402 on either side of the portcullis, a gatehouse on either side wall, and the two prison wall sections together in the rear next to the dungeon tower that came with the castle. You do have a lot of freedom about where you put each section as long as each opposing wall has the same number of that size of section.

Thanks for the info! Modularity seems to be a great plus for just about everything... After all, sticking together different bricks to build a bigger one is pretty much what Lego is about. :)

[Aanchir]

Thanks for the info! Modularity seems to be a great plus for just about everything... After all, sticking together different bricks to build a bigger one is pretty much what Lego is about. :)

Another cool feature is that this castle's modular design is compatible with the modular design of 7946. So with some simple changes to colors and heraldry you could easily mix-and-match sections from the two castles. Architectural differences between the two castles might bother some people, but if the sections were arranged a particular way they could lend themselves to some nice variety. I hope TLG releases more castles and castle segments based on this modular design, and I'd love to see castle MOCists design new and unique castle segments (I might even try my hand at it on LDD, even though it's been many years since I last built a castle).

[Flieger]

Another cool feature is that this castle's modular design is compatible with the modular design of 7946. So with some simple changes to colors and heraldry you could easily mix-and-match sections from the two castles. A

Cool! his may incite me to buy the castle yet...

[Dragonfire]

Cool!

Edited June 29, 2013 by Dragonfire

[Faefrost]

Wow, I was so happy to see that my local Target had three of the five new Castle sets (one was sold out [70403] the other just wasn't being sold at all [70400]). It's too bad about 70400 not having any shelf space, I would have happily picked up as many as I could. Either way, I purchased one 70404, two 70402, and one 70401. I have to say, the new castle has become one of my favorites of all time, and this is coming from someone who vastly prefers the castles of the '80s and early '90s. The modularity of the new castle is awesome. I bought two of 70402 so I could attach it to the castle. I didn't realize that 70402 came apart in three sections. That way I could attach each section in a separate part of the main castle. The resulting layout is pretty cool. Everything fit together perfectly, including the ramparts along the top of the walls. One of the big castle set and two of the gatehouse sets combined leave a nice footprint and create an awesome castle. Also, because each wall section is attached to one another both at the top and the bottom, it makes it easier to transport. Even with all of the extra sections added, I can still lift the whole castle and move it around just by holding it by either of its diagonal towers. You do have to be a bit careful, though, but it is still a pretty strong connection.

Oh man, what I wouldn't do for LEGO to release just one modular civilian set to fit right

As you can see, I put one of the crossbow wall sections from 70402 on either side of the portcullis, a gatehouse on either side wall, and the two prison wall sections together in the rear next to the dungeon tower that came with the castle. You do have a lot of freedom about where you put each section as long as each opposing wall has the same number of that size of section.

That looks fantastic. So good that you inspired me to run out and get 2 Gatehouse raids.

[parksroad]

Wow, I was so happy to see that my local Target had three of the five new Castle sets (one was sold out [70403] the other just wasn't being sold at all [70400]). It's too bad about 70400 not having any shelf space, I would have happily picked up as many as I could. Either way, I purchased one 70404, two 70402, and one 70401. I have to say, the new castle has become one of my favorites of all time, and this is coming from someone who vastly prefers the castles of the '80s and early '90s. The modularity of the new castle is awesome. I bought two of 70402 so I could attach it to the castle. I didn't realize that 70402 came apart in three sections. That way I could attach each section in a separate part of the main castle. The resulting layout is pretty cool. Everything fit together perfectly, including the ramparts along the top of the walls. One of the big castle set and two of the gatehouse sets combined leave a nice footprint and create an awesome castle. Also, because each wall section is attached to one another both at the top and the bottom, it makes it easier to transport. Even with all of the extra sections added, I can still lift the whole castle and move it around just by holding it by either of its diagonal towers. You do have to be a bit careful, though, but it is still a pretty strong connection.

Oh man, what I wouldn't do for LEGO to release just one modular civilian set to fit right in...

Edit:

I thought I would add a quick pic...

[pic]

As you can see, I put one of the crossbow wall sections from 70402 on either side of the portcullis, a gatehouse on either side wall, and the two prison wall sections together in the rear next to the dungeon tower that came with the castle. You do have a lot of freedom about where you put each section as long as each opposing wall has the same number of that size of section.

Wow, it does look much more enticing with what you've done with it...

Edited September 3, 2013 by parksroad

[Kliq]

That looks fantastic. So good that you inspired me to run out and get 2 Gatehouse raids.

Thank you! Yes, excellent, that is great to hear. I hope these sets sell well enough and that LEGO gets decent enough feedback to continue with modular sets in the future. :]

Wow, it does look much more enticing with what you've done with it...

I am really happy with it!

[Only Sinner]

I like what Kliq did with the sets. But, does anyone have photos of the new sets without that garish blue color added? I know MOCs would be preferable, but some of us might like to see the actual intended sets looking so much more majestic with just the earthtones.

[Arborea]

I'll never for the life of me understand what people have against bright colors. And no, I don't give a flying damn about what was "realistic" for historical castles. This line includes a set with a wizard and a dragon, so introducing complaints about "realism" and related points should really be considered off-topic.

[Alcarin]

I'll never for the life of me understand what people have against bright colors. And no, I don't give a flying damn about what was "realistic" for historical castles. This line includes a set with a wizard and a dragon, so introducing complaints about "realism" and related points should really be considered off-topic.

Because movies of wizards and dragons all had BRIGHT BLUE on the castle walls (or anything bright for the matter of fact)

Its a disturbing element of the build and without it the castle is not 100% complet (as per LEGO instructions)

So show me a movie (not a cartoon) that had bright blue walls or parts of wall on fantasy dragons etc...

Its fantasy theme allright but that does not mean that everything looks good and we cannot have anything against dumb decisions of developers or designers.

[Dragonfire]

I am thinking about getting some of the new 2013 Castle sets. Currently, the only castle-related sets I have so far are a Brickmaster book from 2008 with a crownie and a skeleton, and the smallest Kingdoms set from 2012 with a Lion and a Dragon knight. I am interested in the Forest Ambush and the Gatehouse Raid. Should I buy sets from this wave, and if so, which ones?

(I am also interested in LOTR, but I prefer yellow figs to fleshies and therefore I am planning to buy the Uruk-hai Attack, because I can use the Uruks as Hand of Corruption soldiers in GoH. For any GoH members reading this, would these new soldiers fit better into Kaliphlin or Mitgardia?)

[Captain Settle]

They'd fit better in Kaliphan because it doesn't really have a set colour, while Mitgardia has to have some yellow or green. I think the dragon soldiers would fit well in Nocturnus.

[Aanchir]

I like bright colors on castles, myself. They make them feel a bit less boring, not to mention more "LEGO-ish".

Even castles built with earth tones would look really bland without a splash of color. I feel Helm's Deep is very much improved by the Sand Green elements scattered throughout its build, and the Battle at the Black Gate is improved by its reddish-brown accents.

Monochrome MOCs can be cool, of course, but factors like lighting and viewing angle will play a much bigger factor in how cool a monochrome MOC looks than it might with a more colorful design. With some brighter-colored accents, the MOC's shape and details really "pop" even in less-than-ideal lighting conditions.

[gedren_y]

Some people assume that castles didn't have color. Don't.

Some people assume that castle builders are looking to build medieval Europe. Don't.

I do find that dragon a bit colorful, but I'm completely willing to paint it. I say again, the big draw for me are the new parts and colors for existing parts.

Bricklink has yet to give this incarnation a sub-group name. I still say it should be called Fantasy Era 2.