Anaxamander wrote:Sir Kohran wrote:The past few iterations of KK included kings and heroes and Vladek with almost every single set, with nary a regular soldier to be found. But with this line, we get little sets like the crossbow attack to build with, plus the tic-tac-toe and chess sets.
Um...the chess sets
started with KK2, and they contained -16- regular soldiers, and other KK2 sets like
this also contained lots of regular soldiers. Sure, the first year was a bit weak but the second and third were a big improvement IMO. Please, make sure you know what you're talking about before you post.
- Matt
Um, I do know what I'm talking about and thanks for being jerky. I'll respond in kind.
So you really think that powder blue crossbowmen mesh well with the green and gold soldiers in the Battle at the Pass? Answer: no. With Castle 07, we get regularized troops that are consistent throughout the sets. With KK2 we got Vladek and the Power Rangers in almost every set. You cite Battle at the Pass (an awesome set) as offering more troops, but they obviously have NOTHING to do with the Vladek vs. Power Rangers storylines. The only regular troops were the Shadow Knights.
Sorry for my attitude, unfortunately I have a bit of a reputation round here for being harsh at the wrong points.
I wasn't trying to start an argument, just address some points on your post.
I'm not contesting about the consistency of the figs; that's a different matter. But anyway...styles change. Lego Castle sets in 1984 and Lego Castle sets in 1994 were also very different...yet no-one would deny they were both Lego Castle. Things just have to change to keep it original. Sometimes they change for the better (blue crossbowmen to golden-clad knights), sometimes for the worse (Black Falcons to Fright Knights). But it's the same line. I don't see why they have to mesh well. They're from different factions. No-one criticises the Wolfpack for being different to the Black Knights...why would they? No-one expects a bunch of rough bandits to be clad in full armour with huge dragon shields. It's similar here. Don't expect each faction to be the same as each other - styles should be different to create contrasts and make factions stand out more. One of my few problems with 80s Lego is that the Lion Knights and Black Falcons sometimes lacked individuality.
The official word from Lego is that 04 was focused on introducing the king and knights as characters; it was 05/06 that focused on the warfare. Also, apprently the theory is that the years 'mature' with the children. Hence 04 was bright and colourful - it appeals to young kids who like bright heroes. But as the years pass they get older and start to look for different things, so the theme becomes darker too - you get the change from caricatured baby blue knights to more realistic gold/green knights.
Also, the KK2 line in 06 was set many years after the 04/05 'era' and so armour and styles would realistically change. And anyway, if they had kept baby blue soldiers constantly, year in year out, I'm sure we'd have complained
However you stated that in KK there was 'nary a regular soldier to be found'. The fact is that there was, regardless of whether they were consistent. Perhaps less than we wanted or at the right time but they were there. You just had to know where to look. I would agree that Castle 07 does it a lot better.
I also think it's a bit unfair to say that Castle 07 is consistent when KK2 'wasn't'; Castle 07 has not had a second year yet like KK2 had (though one is coming) so no-one can yet say whether it is also consistent.
- Matt