Lego Castle 2014 Future Sets?

[Artifex]

I've seen a topic like this in practically every subforum but Historic Themes, so I decided it was time to have the conversation going.

What do you think is in store for Castle in 2014?

I think we'll probably get a couple of civilian sets (a blacksmith will be likely...) and a couple of faction sets (another Dragon Knights small fortress, I'm betting).

Then we'll probably get a Castle Chess Set and maybe an exclusive set (like Kingdoms Joust) by the end of 2014/beginning of 2015. If there's an exclusive set, I bet it will include civilian buildings in the lines of the MMV. But that's for 2015; lets keep that talk for next year .

What I truly wish is that Lego would give us Kingdoms back, although I know that's not the usual policy.

I'd love to see a Forestmen or a Black Falcons come back, but I'd not like to see them as part of the current Castle line (just because I don't like the new Castle heraldry and I'm afraid they would ruin the Black Falcon's Black Falcon ). I truly wish we could have a nice Kingdoms Lion Knights come back, preferably fighting the Black Falcons (maybe as true enemies, maybe like friendly competitors sometimes), with the Forestmen right there in the middle (fighting for the civilians) and (why not?) the Wolfpack sneaking around and taking advantage of the situation (the only true "evil" faction).

[Mesonak]

I hate to say it, but from what I've heard, Castle won't be returning in 2014. I think it was a one-wave return, unfortunately.

Edited September 25, 2013 by Mesonak

[The Cobra]

Castle is a 2nd_half_of_the_year theme; let's try not to worry but just hope for another wave.

[kermit]

If we do get another wave we might get another dragon but this time for the lion knights like in the previous castle theme.

[UberlegoTV]

I hope there will be a new black smith or wind mill set.

[tkatt]

We've been told that there will be a line of sets from the LEGO movie, and that the movie will involve many of the classic themes. So perhaps a new castle set will be a part of that lineup.

[Blakstone]

Castle is also represented in the Minifigures MMO coming out next year. Between that and The LEGO Movie, I am sure we will get more sets but they may not have the Castle brand on them.

I really hope we get an updated look at the older Castle themes such as the Forestmen or Vikings since the movie seems thrive on nostalgia. Of course, I would love more medieval civilian sets.

I doubt Castle would get a Chess set next year though.

Get ready to meet the Minifigures! Collect them all and bring them with you on grand adventures in LEGO Minifigures Online - an epic online adventure where you get to explore colorful locations such as Pirate World, Space World and Medieval World!

Funcom.com

[Artifex]

Castle is also represented in the Minifigures MMO coming out next year. Between that and The LEGO Movie, I am sure we will get more sets but they may not have the Castle brand on them.

I really hope we get an updated look at the older Castle themes such as the Forestmen or Vikings since the movie seems thrive on nostalgia. Of course, I would love more medieval civilian sets.

I doubt Castle would get a Chess set next year though.

Funcom.com

Well, part of the MMV is there in that poster... So we can hope for the best. *crosses fingers*

Poster

But if I get this correctly, the game is based on existing minifigures, not the other way around. I guess that doesn't mean will see any minifigures -- or sets -- based on the game.

P.S.: Here's the trailer --

Edited September 25, 2013 by Artifex

[SheepEater]

I would rather get NO generic castle sets at all so they concentrate on LOTR.

Gondor stuff would easily outclass anything than can come up with on the new castle line, if this year`s castle sets are any indication.

[Blakstone]

It does not appear to be a zero sum formula. We had the biggest year of Lord of the Rings sets release approximately at the same time as the Castle relaunch. While it was the LotR that brought me out of my dark ages, I am still fond of Castle remembering it from my youth.

[Kliq]

I would rather get NO generic castle sets at all so they concentrate on LOTR.

Gondor stuff would easily outclass anything than can come up with on the new castle line, if this year`s castle sets are any indication.

I don't think that I could disagree with you more.

I will choose generic Castle over LotR every day all day. I was on the train that this year's Castle sets were subpar, that is until I owned a few. Don't get me wrong, I would love a Castle set as detailed as the Helms Deep set, but the problem is I don't want Castle to be reduced to licensed sets. I hate flesh figures with a passion. Sure, I can swap their heads, hands, and the occasional torso with flesh print (which is what I do), but even the sets themselves are already based on an existing fiction. I prefer something new. I do love my Tower of Orthanc set, but I would love it even more if it was just a generic dark tower not based on a book.

Apart from Helms Deep and the Tower of Orthanc, there aren't any other LotR sets that I like. I NEED more generic Castle, and if that means getting rid of LotR, so be it. How well is LotR selling? I thought I had heard it hasn't met revenue goals. Castle, on the other hand, constantly sold out on LEGO.com in the U.S. for the first couple months upon its release, and did well in retail around where I live.

I'd still love to see a UCS Castle built in minifigure scale. I like the joust set that they did and the market village, but it is time for a castle.

Edited September 25, 2013 by Kliq

[Infernum]

That brings up an interesting point: will the LOTR designers migrate to castle when LOTR ends? I'd love to see some generic Castle stuff from the designer (I forget his name) that made Helms Deep, Unexpected Gathering, Council of Elrond, and was in the team that made Orthanc.

[Nightstalker]

Given the way a lot of the orc sets were produced, it would be awesome to have more orc and troll sets in a generic LEGO castle theme. I also think trying to expand Castle off of some of the CMF's would be good as well. If LEGO had stopped Ninjago, I would have suggested another Eastern/Orient based castle theme too.

I also wouldn't mind a darker theme of castle similar to the Fright Knights. We don't seem to have enough "scary" castles out there (or evil castles for that matter).

[dj2005]

I'd still love to see a UCS Castle built in minifigure scale. I like the joust set that they did and the market village, but it is time for a castle.

That would be wonderful.

[Ecclesiastes]

Changed the title because there are no real rumours yet. I'll change it back when set numbers will be released etc.

[Kerntechniker]

I guess there will be no new second castle theme wave and I also guess there is no Gondor wave before summer 2014.

[Professor Flitwick]

If there is a new Castle theme ever, it'll be like every other wave, and be of Medieval European-influence that follows this pattern:

• Small set with two figures, typically at a joust.
  
• Slightly large set involving a wagon, typically siege weapon or prison transport
  
• A small tower/fort for the good guys to defend, against one (or, if the 'creative' team behind the Castle sets are feeling particularly, two) bad guys, carrying some light siege weapon.
  
• A bad guys tower with a black/red colour scheme (larger than the previous fort, smaller than the next set) being defended by two or three bad guys against two good guys. If there is something good on TV, they'll throw in a dragon and call it a day.
  
• Good guys castle. Big. It'll be a square, with the front side having a drawbridge, the back side having a tower, in which there'll be a throne. The minifigs will be four good guys, the good king, the good princess, and two bad guys, one of the which is their leader. Some siege weaponry included.
  

I hope I'm wrong (well, not really, I quite like LorT/Hobbit theme, but you take my meaning), but I've seen this pattern too many times to think it'll be anything else. Star Wars will keep recycling their ships, City will keep releasing Police and Fire squads, and Castle just keeps to this list.

[Piranha]

Well, part of the MMV is there in that poster... So we can hope for the best. *crosses fingers*

Poster

But if I get this correctly, the game is based on existing minifigures, not the other way around. I guess that doesn't mean will see any minifigures -- or sets -- based on the game.

P.S.: Here's the trailer --

Actually that poster is Pirate world. This is Castle world. Lot's of nice designs in that picture. Funcom said they used LDD for every LEGO model in the game, so if you have the parts you can also make them. It would be really nice if they made the LXF files available, but I doubt that. Not much has been shown for each world, but I expect a lot of LEGO models.

The second part is both correct and incorrect, it is based on the series Minifigures theme yes, but they will integrate it with the physical product:

Funcom and LEGO are working closely together to blend the physical world of LEGO with the digital one; for instance players who purchase bags containing real minifigure will immediately be able to jump into the game and play with their virtual counterparts!

Funcom also revealed at Gamescon, a future series next year (probably 14) will feature new minifigs designed specifically for the game. They said their art dept. worked closely with the LEGO design team to create the minifigs in that series. Also, the plan is when a new series is released, codes will be included to use in game.

So, I am expecting a few new castle type figs in S14.

That brings up an interesting point: will the LOTR designers migrate to castle when LOTR ends? I'd love to see some generic Castle stuff from the designer (I forget his name) that made Helms Deep, Unexpected Gathering, Council of Elrond, and was in the team that made Orthanc.

I agree, LOTR and Hobbit sets have great designs, some of the best I have seen in years, I hope they migrate back to traditional Castle when the theme ends. I tend to think they worked on Kingdoms prior to LOTR.

[Deathleech]

Any Castle sets coming out next year based on the MMO or movie will probably be a random mix with other themes, much like the actual minifigures are. We might get one castle set or minifigure, but anything besides that is unlikely since they will have so much other stuff to jam in the wave from the other themes.

I don't think that I could disagree with you more.

I will choose generic Castle over LotR every day all day. I was on the train that this year's Castle sets were subpar, that is until I owned a few. Don't get me wrong, I would love a Castle set as detailed as the Helms Deep set, but the problem is I don't want Castle to be reduced to licensed sets. I hate flesh figures with a passion. Sure, I can swap their heads, hands, and the occasional torso with flesh print (which is what I do), but even the sets themselves are already based on an existing fiction. I prefer something new. I do love my Tower of Orthanc set, but I would love it even more if it was just a generic dark tower not based on a book.

Apart from Helms Deep and the Tower of Orthanc, there aren't any other LotR sets that I like. I NEED more generic Castle, and if that means getting rid of LotR, so be it. How well is LotR selling? I thought I had heard it hasn't met revenue goals. Castle, on the other hand, constantly sold out on LEGO.com in the U.S. for the first couple months upon its release, and did well in retail around where I live.

I'd still love to see a UCS Castle built in minifigure scale. I like the joust set that they did and the market village, but it is time for a castle.

I gotta agree with SheepEater here, if nothing else because after the LotR/Hobbit license ends the chances of Lego coming back and doing sets based on the license are pretty much zilch to none. Castle on the other hand WILL return, maybe not next year but sometime in the future no doubt. And, as Flitwick points out, it is fairly boring when they do the "generic" Castle line up. We have gotten dozens of square castles over the past several years, a slightly different shape or design and color doesn't make it terribly appealing. Now if they do something new like they did with the Vikings or Fantasy stuff, that might peak my interest, but a generic castle theme is kind of boring to me at this point. That's one of the main reasons why I have no desire to get the new Castle sets. Plus seeing my favorite movie locations in Lego is just great! How can you NOT want to see a Helm's Deep or Weathertop in Lego? Sure it may be from a book or movie, but it's generally something very different than the generic Castle stuff Lego does.

Lastly I dunno where you live, but I have not seen the Castle sets sold out once at my local Target. Actually, if you look online at Amazon, the biggest Castle set is only ranked 2,573 in sales while the Pirate Ship Ambush is 1,607. Sure it's on sale for $15 off, but it's also one of the least appealing LotR sets to many. Helm's Deep is still 2,799 after being out over a year.

If you look at the smaller new Castle and LotR sets, the only Castle ranked under 2,000 is Dragon Mountain which is just barely cracking it at 1,928. Other sets like the Forest Ambush and Gold Getaway are doing rather poorly, both being ranked over 7,000. The Worst wave 2 LotR set is only 4,200 (less than half Gold Getaway's 8,700), while Wizard Battle is also under 2,000 in rank. Even Orthanc is currently 1,879 on Amazon and is nearing being sold out with only 18 currently left in stock. That means we have 3 of the 5 current LotR sets all cracking the top 2,000 sales rank while only 1 of the 5 Castle sets is. Keep in mind too this LotR wave have NO advertising like the Castle did. The first LotR wave was much higher for a longer amount of time.

Sorry to get off on a tangent there, but without any sales numbers on a theme basis it's hard to judge how well a theme is actually selling. Just because it's sold out at your local store doesn't mean that's what's going on all over your country, or the world. I find Amazon somewhat helfpul for this because they rank the sales against other toys. It's still not perfect but gives you a bit of an idea of how a set is doing as a whole in your country.

[Kliq]

And, as Flitwick points out, it is fairly boring when they do the "generic" Castle line up. We have gotten dozens of square castles over the past several years, a slightly different shape or design and color doesn't make it terribly appealing. Now if they do something new like they did with the Vikings or Fantasy stuff, that might peak my interest, but a generic castle theme is kind of boring to me at this point.

We will have to agree to disagree here.

Lastly I dunno where you live, but I have not seen the Castle sets sold out once at my local Target.

Nope, I haven't seen them sold out where I live either. I just said they've done well. Typically they stock the shelves pretty deep and the Castle sets (especially the Wizard's tower which is personally my least favorite) usually only had a set or two at any one time. Now online at LEGO.com in the U.S. they've been sold out. It took me a couple months to place an order for the large castle set!

Sorry to get off on a tangent there, but without any sales numbers on a theme basis it's hard to judge how well a theme is actually selling. Just because it's sold out at your local store doesn't mean that's what's going on all over your country, or the world.

I never said Castle outsold LotR. What I DID say, though, was that LotR hasn't sold as well as LEGO had hoped. That is pure speculation based on prior posts here on Eurobricks, so take that with a grain of salt. Castle, on the other hand, I believe really surprised people with how well it did. Even with what many see as a subpar line up of sets, it still did well. Imagine how well it would do with a fresh design!

I'd still prefer generic Castle over a continuation of LotR/Hobbit, though. I'd just prefer that the Castle sets were designed at the same level as Helms Deep or the Orthanc tower as Infernum posted above.

Edited September 27, 2013 by Kliq

[Deathleech]

Nope, I haven't seen them sold out where I live either. I just said they've done well. Typically they stock the shelves pretty deep and the Castle sets (especially the Wizard's tower which is personally my least favorite) usually only had a set or two at any one time. Now online at LEGO.com in the U.S. they've been sold out. It took me a couple months to place an order for the large castle set!

I don't really recall how well the Castle stuff sold on the Lego website when it first came out, I just know at my local store they seemed to be stocked as much as the next Lego theme. For awhile they had a ton of Chima in the Lego aisle and on an end cap, and then when I checked recently they had moved the castle stuff there. They had to have at least 3-4 of every set on the end cap and then another 1-3 in the main aisle except for the big Castle set. The second LotR wave, on the other hand, only has 1-2 of any given set in the aisle and sometimes none are sitting out on shelves. Of course I don't know if this is due more to lower stock being shipped to store, or it selling well. All I know is the LotR stuff seems to be selling significantly better than the Castle stuff according to Amazon's sales ranks. Of course neither is doing as well as say the Minecraft stuff or the BTTF set, but then again both of those are much newer too. I know last year the first LotR wave was in the top 100 building sets on Amazon for several months after their release. It's really hard to say without actual sales figures for each line though and production costs for them.

I never said Castle outsold LotR. What I DID say, though, was that LotR hasn't sold as well as LEGO had hoped. That is pure speculation based on prior posts here on Eurobricks, so take that with a grain of salt. Castle, on the other hand, I believe really surprised people with how well it did. Even with what many see as a subpar line up of sets, it still did well. Imagine how well it would do with a fresh design!

I know, I was talking more in general than specifically to you. I see a lot of people make claims that a theme is selling well or not selling well based on their own personal experience at their local stores. I will often see someone know a friend of a friend of a friend who is a Lego manager and they say soandso is doing poorly at their one store they run so that theme MUST be doing poorly overall. Of course I then see these same people suddenly later claim the exact same line is doing well if we hear news another wave will be produced.

A number of people have said the LotR line is doing poorly but I find that hard to believe when we have NOTHING to base it on except rumors. So far we have gotten 2 LotR waves and will be getting 2 Hobbit waves, as well as a big D2C exlusive. The CEO also said the LotR line specifically was doing very well last year when asked about licensed themes in general. This leads me to believe the line is doing better than the doom and gloom crowd would have us believe, but only time will tell...

[Kliq]

Don't forget, LotR has no choice BUT to sell better than generic Castle, being a licensed theme and all. Plus, it really should sell well since it appeals to not just LEGO fans, but also to fans of the movie and the books. I'm still holding out hope for a future generic Castle set (or even a whole line) designed as well as some of the better LotR sets.

Edited September 27, 2013 by Kliq

[Artifex]

Pics for City, Friends and Star Wars are out... No news about Castle 2014?

[Ardelon]

Pics for City, Friends and Star Wars are out... No news about Castle 2014?

If Castle is a summer theme, I wouldnt expect news for some time yet.

Edited November 14, 2013 by Ardelon

[Deathleech]

If Castle is a summer theme, I wouldnt expect news for some time yet.

Right, 2014 Castle would probably be a summer/June release, much like a third LotR wave. Everything being shown off right now is January 2014, or early 2014. We won't be getting any news on the summer 2014 stuff till probably March or April (and maybe a hint at a LotR wave in the back of the Hobbit instruction books...).