A question to Castle fans who don't care for LOTR movies/films/sto

[Infernum]

Honestly, I can't compare the two. I LOVE LOTR for parts, builds, and figs. I wasn't into LEGO during any castle lines except the current theme, which I find very disappointing. I MOC in GoH, and the LOTR sets have very useful parts in great colors. So, even if I liked Castle and hated LOTR I'd still buy the LOTR sets, just for parts.

[SerenityInFire]

Am I the only one here who actually likes the current castle line? It's no replacement for Kingdoms or Fantasy Era though.

[Dr Leg O Brick]

Am I the only one here who actually likes the current castle line? It's no replacement for Kingdoms or Fantasy Era though.

Off topic as it may be, I've bought all of them, and love them! I've also got a lot of Kingdoms and as you say, theirs no comparison. I still appreciate them, however.

[Deathleech]

I bought them anyway because I am a LOTR fan and hoped that they'd get better with later waves which, marginally, came true. Still, I think they're too fixated on the minifigures and most of the kits are built around some tiny context build rather than capturing the real scope of the saga. The Harry potter theme had the same problem too many mini-figures packaged with vignettes, not enough complete builds. My usual litmus test is to build a set, skip the stickers, and take away the minifigures and all their accessories. If what's left doesn't immediately and uniquely bring to mind the source material, I think there's a problem. There were a lot of problems with the first wave of LOTR sets.

It's interesting you feel that way because I feel the exact opposite. I think the first LotR wave was by FAR the best from either Middle-Earth line so far. Helm's Deep (and Uruk-hai Army by association), Weathertop, and Shelob Attacks were all instantly recognizable. They all captured the look and feel of their source material very well despite being shrunk in many aspects. Even Mines of Moria which catches a lot of criticism hit on a lot of key features like the pillars, big wooden door, tomb, well, etc. despite it only being a few walls not even joined together. On the other hand the second LotR wave was so forgettable. Sure Wizard Battle was nice, as was Council of Elrond. Council of Elrond was WAY to small though, it was a small platform with only 3 chairs. They could of at least made the platform a little bigger and added more seating. The Pirate Ship doesn't even look that distinct, I mean sure it has some features from the film version but the source material isn't that distinct or memorable itself and it's only in the film a few minutes. Black Gates looks nice and somewhat similar to the movie (I would hope so considering it's just a black wall/gate) if you rule out the fact they are a fraction of the height and even combining two as Lego shows doesn't give you the same long opening gate in the middle without MODing it. The Hobbit sets have been even worse imo. I would tend to think it's not Lego's fault since the Hobbit films have changed so much, but the Warg Attack set had a big fat tree that looks nothing like the thin one in the movie. Yazneg isn't even there since he is already dead by that point in the movie. MEA is a wall that doesn't even appear in the film and DGA has minifigures from a scene cut from the theatrical release. Riddles for the Ring is a set that is completely fabricated by Lego and was just an excuse to give us a redundant Bilbo and Gollum.

As per the questions, they don't really apply to me but when I was a kid I was a HUGE Castle fan before going into my dark ages. When I heard my favorite movies were being made into Lego, one of my favorite toys growing up, I just had to buy them all. I think in a lot of ways the LotR has kind of spoiled us and that's why so many are disappointed with the current Castle theme. I think if Lego did an ultra detailed and realistic Castle theme using a lot of the techniques they have for LotR/Hobbit it could be a huge success. Imagine the current castle but instead of blue just more nutural colors and instead of huge panels all over it had detail bricks and tons of small slops and rock work. It might not be the most suited for kids but AFOLs would eat it up.

[Kliq]

Am I the only one here who actually likes the current castle line? It's no replacement for Kingdoms or Fantasy Era though.

Nope, I like it too. I do prefer humans vs humans as it is in the current line, though. I'm not a big fan of the troll minifigures and especially not of the limited articulation of the skeletons.

To answer the original question, I have purchased many of the LotR sets for the fortifications and minifigures. I am happy to see so many 'yellowists' in this thread. I have no tolerance for 'FLESH' tones! I hate when an otherwise great torso has a bit of flesh. The Saruman figure with the Tower of Orthanc is SO GORGEOUS but unusable because of the bit of flesh tone below his neck on the torso. Otherwise I will switch out the hands and heads and they are ready to go. Even with how great many of the fortifications are, I would STILL prefer that the LotR and Hobbit lines be discontinued in favor of better designed Castle sets. Generic castle not based on anything specific is far more appealing to me.

Edited January 6, 2014 by Kliq

[dyntar]

I have bought many of the Lord of The rings sets but mainly for parts. I'm not a huge fan of the movies or books but i do like the new pieces and designs of the figures.

I've collected all the castle sets from the 80's and all from the mid 2000's so flesh tones don't fit into those castles. I've been replacing the flesh tones with yellow faces that suit the face and expressions on the original flesh heads.

Here's my little yellow elf army

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83062844@N05/11367820746/

The figures and parts look great. [after a bit of colour adjustment on the faces and hands] . but the sets I'm not really impressed with.

[Blazej_Holen]

Nope, I like it too. I do prefer humans vs humans as it is in the current line, though. I'm not a big fan of the troll minifigures and especially not of the limited articulation of the skeletons.

To answer the original question, I have purchased many of the LotR sets for the fortifications and minifigures. I am happy to see so many 'yellowists' in this thread. I have no tolerance for 'FLESH' tones! I hate when an otherwise great torso has a bit of flesh. The Saruman figure with the Tower of Orthanc is SO GORGEOUS but unusable because of the bit of flesh tone below his neck on the torso. Otherwise I will switch out the hands and heads and they are ready to go. Even with how great many of the fortifications are, I would STILL prefer that the LotR and Hobbit lines be discontinued in favor of better designed Castle sets. Generic castle not based on anything specific is far more appealing to me.

I feel it exactly same, but opposite :) I hate those bits of yellow skin on perfect female minifigs from castle theme.. :)

I have bought many of the Lord of The rings sets but mainly for parts. I'm not a huge fan of the movies or books but i do like the new pieces and designs of the figures.

I've collected all the castle sets from the 80's and all from the mid 2000's so flesh tones don't fit into those castles. I've been replacing the flesh tones with yellow faces that suit the face and expressions on the original flesh heads.

Here's my little yellow elf army

http://www.flickr.co...05/11367820746/

The figures and parts look great. [after a bit of colour adjustment on the faces and hands] . but the sets I'm not really impressed with.

Sorry man , but those elves looks kinda weird (thats only my humble opinion) but on a contrary I understand that not everyone can like those fleshies s...These licensed minifigs has to have realistic look asfar as its possible, so thats why they are flesh :)

Anyway I must admitt that these sets from LOTR and HOBBIT except some weird constructions such as Attack of the Mirkwood Spiders structure, or Barrel escape structure are far more better than those childisch colorfull castle sets (except Village and Joust)...

Edited January 6, 2014 by Blazej_Holen

[fhomess]

I'm a LOTR fan, and enjoyed the books, but am not tremendously into the LOTR Lego line. I have bought a few of the sets as I really love some of the torso prints and they do have good parts in them. However, I really don't have much use for some of the very LOTR specific parts. I'm a yellowist and generally leave the fleshies out of things I build, so that's part of it, but I also am less into the fantasy aspect and more into human v. human. Whether it's castle or LOTR, I generally build the set and let it sit for awhile before I take it apart to build my own thing. I really only keep sets intact in the City line. I'm ok with the current castle line. I'm happy we have it to give us another faction. I think the colors are a bit over the top, although they do look better in real life than in the pictures. I wish Lego would've stuck with Kingdoms, though. Lego castle was at its strongest, IMO, in the late 80's/early 90's when they stuck with factions for several years, opting to supplement them rather than coming up with a new pair of conflicting groups so quickly. It can be discouraging to start collecting a wave of Green Dragon Knights only to find that the next year they're gone. It makes it hard to build up any sort of cohesive world over time.

[gedren_y]

I have no problem with fleshies next to yellow figs. My castle building is primarily for GOH, and fleshies abound there. We also have blue, green and orange skinned peoples there as well. Strip the sci-fi from Ster Wars and you get some good fantasy figs.

[ZCerberus]

I have purchased the LotR sets almost exclusively for parts. I have also used some of the figures for various MOCs as with a little yellow parts surgery, they can become quite appealing.

Best sets for MOCers... I have to agree Helms deep and Uruk-hai army from wave 1 were very excellent if you were looking for gray bricks and some nice SNOTable pieces.

I also picked up several Escape from Mirkwood Spiders on clearance which had some nice dark red (my favorite LEGO color) and black.

I wasn't too excited about Orthanc, but I used it to make this MOC, which is sort of like Orthanc on crack.

If you want to make a lot of rocks though, there are several sets that can still be found which are loaded with excllent pieces to make ROC formations. Riddles for the Ring and Dol Guldur Ambush are both relatively inexpensive and packed with dark bley.

As for the new sets- I think people are just looking at the sets for what they are and not what they COULD be. The new Dragon Knights (with some changes) are going to be my faction of choice in GoH. Here is a MOC I did using the new figures and the new lion knights color scheme. Forest Ambush is a great little army builder. I have purchased so many I might be keeping TLG in business all by myself!

[agadoijo]

Although I am a fan of the LOTR movies, in my opinion, most LEGO sets are quite expensive and incomplete ... and so, although some are attractive, I decided that I would not collect them.

On the other hand, since I left my dark age not long ago, I only got the last sets of Castle... and have decided to buy them all, that is, my wife did.

Now I really want to see some sets of the Fantasy Era...

Edited January 7, 2014 by agadoijo

[Tzar Samuil]

I'm not exactly the target audience for your question, but you may find my answer interesting all the same:

I love the Middle Earth books/films/sets, but it exists as an entirely separate entity for me. I literally have 30 years worth of Lego castle on one side of the room (not every set, but all of my favorites from 1984-present), and most of the Hobbit/LOTR sets on the other side of the room.

Middle Earth makes for great Lego IMO, but it doesn't truly replace castle. I have bought multiples of some LOTR sets for castle MOC parts. This licensed theme also helps fill the void left by the dearly departed Kingdoms line. I haven't found anything to like about the current Castle line.

Dido,

I totally agree, I see them as two separate lines also, and being LOTR it is a line that won't be around after the movies are done. I have every set. The are well detailed and the mini figs are awesome.

[rriggs]

I enjoyed the LOTR films but wouldn't particularly consider myself a fan. However, I do own a number of LOTR & Hobbit sets:

- Did you still buy some of the LOTR/Hobbit for the parts they provide?

Yes. The parts, building techniques, some of the minifigs and weapons are all great for MOCs. I'm not an historical purist so have no problem mixing Middle Earth with the Middle Ages!

- Do you prefer the LOTR/Hobbit sets' minifigs, or parts, or accessories?

Some of them. The detail on shields and minifigs, for example, is great and variations in helmets and weapons is good too. I'm not so fussed about orcs or dwarves but I can easily just out them to one side...

- Which are in your Castle MOCer opinion, the best LOTR/Hobbit sets to use as parts pack for your own MOCs so far?

Helm's Deep is great. So many pieces in the gatehouse and keep and great techniques to use along with the parts.

- Do you like some of the sets because they also work as a generic medieval fantasy Lego set? (I remember reading a guy saying he hated LOTR but bought Orthanc because he needed an evil wizard tower for his layout)

Yes. Helm's Deep and the sets with wall sections have been useful in generic castle expansion.

Cheers

Rog

[TheLazyChicken]

I have only bought Mirkwood Spiders because of the cool looking spiders. I do like the classic castle better though. There is something I like about LOTR, the orcs and the trolls. They are wonderful minifigs!

[Itaria No Shintaku]

If faces were yellow, LoTR would not only have been the best theme around, but it would have merged both the factions...

[Blazej_Holen]

If faces were yellow, LoTR would not only have been the best theme around, but it would have merged both the factions...

Yellow faces on LOTR fellowship heroes and bright green orcs (like Fantasy Era) uaaargg :)

[SerenityInFire]

I didn't like the flesh tones at first, but I've grown to like them. I just make sure to use them for more specific "heroes" among my collection if you'd like to think real time strategy. I much prefer the different colored orcs or the LotR/Hobbit lines than the sand green orcs of the fantasy era though.

[naf]

On minifig skin tones, I'm a yellowist for life, but I also don't mind the fleshies. I understand their place, licensed materials have characters with different skin tones, and this should be reflected in the minifig. The only place where everyone is yellow is Legoland. I see my LotR and Star Wars as collectibles that happen to be Lego, the skin colors don't bother me that much.

I love most of the Middle Earth sets. While some people are disappointed with shrunken structures (weathertop, rivendell, etc), Lego is a toy company and must strike a balance between accuracy and cost. They need to provide sets at multiple price points. We'd all love it as AFOLs if every set was a $200 movie accurate set, but then the next generation of Lego fans wouldn't be able to enjoy these sets. I think the biggest thing that hurts the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit line are useless play features that detract from the aesthetics of the build. The Gimli-catapault in Council of Elrond and Helm's Deep is just unnecessary, kids are more than willing to use their imaginations to act out those scenes. The latest Hobbit sets are a bunch of uninspired walls with great minifigs, so it looks like Lego might have shifted design resources elsewhere and is hoping that the minifigs alone sell the sets. As stated before, all of the Middle Earth sets have great parts for historical MOCing, so any castle fan should probably look at buying a few for parts.

I'm a castle fan from way back, I loved the black knights and forestmen. Fantasy era came out during my dark age, but looking at the sets I probably wouldn't have been that interested if I were into Lego at that time. Kingdoms really struck a chord with me. I think the sets had a great classic feel to them, while using updated parts and build techniques. The sets were varied, and included civilian as well as castle and military outposts. The theme had some great minifigs to boot. I was highly disappointed when they killed it for the current castle theme.

[Hive]

Kingdoms really struck a chord with me. I think the sets had a great classic feel to them, while using updated parts and build techniques. The sets were varied, and included civilian as well as castle and military outposts. The theme had some great minifigs to boot. I was highly disappointed when they killed it for the current castle theme.

I couldn't agree more. The highlighted part especially is what really drew me in.

Good thing the Dragon Knight green goes well with Helm's Deep...

[naf]

I think it's interesting that some of the best looking castles that Lego has produced have come from themes other than 'Castle.' Helm's Deep from LotR, and the Vampyre Castle from Monster Fighters. It seems like the designers are stuck on making the big boxy castles with towers on the corners for the official castle theme (maybe this is a restriction in design imposed by Lego?), while they go out of the box a little bit for other themes. I know Helm's Deep had to be modeled after the movie set, but it's still nice to see a castle structure that breaks out of that norm.

I couldn't agree more. The highlighted part especially is what really drew me in.

Good thing the Dragon Knight green goes well with Helm's Deep...

[AmperZand]

I'd prefer yellow-faced minifigs and hairpieces that don't have ears...

I can't stand fleshies but do like the LotR/Hobbit sets (as well as Castle for the last 20+ years), so I replaced the heads and hands, and recoloured the ears and neck-lines as seen here:

and here:

[Deathleech]

I can't stand fleshies but do like the LotR/Hobbit sets (as well as Castle for the last 20+ years), so I replaced the heads and hands, and recoloured the ears and neck-lines as seen here:

Is Frodo crying because you made him yellow instead of leaving him a fleshie?

[AmperZand]

Is Frodo crying because you made him yellow instead of leaving him a fleshie?

Funny you should say that. Since I took the picture, I removed the tear. So he's still sad, but not tearful. And secretly, he's delighted he's not a fleshy.

Edited January 9, 2014 by AmperZand

[rriggs]

I have all the current castle sets except the one with the big dragon. I think they're pretty neat. I have replaced most of the blue with grey but that would be my only criticism.

I'm another one who has no problem mixing fleshies with yellows. Real people are all different shades of colour after all.

Cheers

Rog

[TheLegoDr]

I loved classic castle growing up in the early 90s, so it's hard to beat them, just for nostalgia purposes. And coming back to LEGO in 2010, I absolutely loved the Kingdoms line. I obviously missed out on Fantasy Era, but I didn't particularly care for most of them, so that doesn't bother me. There is something off about the new Castle line though. I don't like the color scheme or the insignia or something. But I loved Kingdoms.

With that said, LOTR is one of my favorite themes (if not my favorite), so I have loved all of those sets. The figures, of course, are a huge draw and they look great. But also the piece usage is great. The color scheme is well used and can be used for many builds, instead of a more "cartoony" feel I get with the Castle line. I prefer the Licensed skin tone over yellow, even though I love the classic Yellow figures. Although, I do like putting the classic smiley on random figures. It is interesting how the lack of details/features changes how a figure looks. As in, put that smiley on the Roman or something from CMF line. It's quite humerous.

So to add to that, I haven't (and won't ) purchase any of the Castle line, even though I really want that dragon. But I have purchased ALL of the Hobbit/LOTR sets and will continue to do so as long as LEGO makes them. It's one of the few guaranteed purchases every year, along with the Modular buildings and the Winter Village. Basically sight unseen I will buy them just because of the theme it is in.