the lego castles of the present and the past

Discussion of official LEGO Castle Theme sets and products
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Jojo
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Post by Jojo »

Hello!

Sir Kohran wrote:I'm a bit puzzled as to why you put 1999 as the 'cut-off' point - firstly there were no actual sets released that year
The cut-off point actually is the release of the Ninja theme. Not because it was bad (in my opinion it wasn’t, but in fact kept me buying Lego albeit me being much older than 12 years already…). But the Ninja theme really ended the continuity in the Castle theme as it had nothing to do with anything before. After that the Knights’ Kingdom (Vol.1) was a complete reboot without any roots to older Castle lines. And so were Knights’ Kingdom (Vol.2), Vikings (not even linked to the coexistent ”Castle“ line), and the current Fantasy Castle line.

Before that, after 1993, there was always some link between the actual theme and its respective predecessor. This link usually was marked by a prisoner or attacking enemy in one or more of the main sets of a new theme. We got a Wolfpack prisoner in the Firebreathing Fortress 6082 (Dragon Masters) as well as in the minifig pack 6105, a Dragon Master knight in the Royal Drawbridge 6078 (Royal Knights), another two Dragon Master knights even in the Dark Forest Fortress 6079, two Royal Knights in the Hemlock Stronghold 6046 (Dark Forest). Finally we got a Dark Forest man in the Witch’s Magic Manor 6087 (Fright Knights) and Royal Knights men in the Traitor Transport 6047/6099 and the Bat Lord’s Castle 6097.

Sir Kohran wrote:Most people would put 1993 as the end of the 'golden age'

And rightly so.
The Dragon Masters theme marked a new era by its sheer manner of release. All the main sets of a theme were launched at once since then, merely followed by some small minifig-in-polybag-sets in later years.

However, the Dragon Masters have not been the first watershed in Castle. Actually the Yellow Castle era was also ended abruptly. The new Castle line in 1984 didn’t have any link to the prior Castle sets.

Sir Kohran wrote:Personally I think Castle right now is at its strongest since 1995, or even 1992 - the quality is much higher than anything we've had for ages
I have to admit that’s true.


Bye
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Norro
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Post by Norro »

Jojo wrote:
Sir Kohran wrote:I'm a bit puzzled as to why you put 1999 as the 'cut-off' point - firstly there were no actual sets released that year
The cut-off point actually is the release of the Ninja theme. Not because it was bad (in my opinion it wasn’t, but in fact kept me buying Lego albeit me being much older than 12 years already…). But the Ninja theme really ended the continuity in the Castle theme as it had nothing to do with anything before. After that the Knights’ Kingdom (Vol.1) was a complete reboot without any roots to older Castle lines.
Excellent point! Although 93 was the beginning of the decline (with exceptions, it wasn't until fright knights that lego really began to run out of ideas across many lines (in my opinion).

The new/old debate now though will always be, to a certain extent, a referendum on fantasy, which does obscure the actual sets slightly ; )

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Nathan
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Sir Kohran
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Post by Sir Kohran »

The cut-off point actually is the release of the Ninja theme. Not because it was bad (in my opinion it wasn’t, but in fact kept me buying Lego albeit me being much older than 12 years already…). But the Ninja theme really ended the continuity in the Castle theme as it had nothing to do with anything before.
Well that really depends on whether you count Ninja as Castle in the first place.
Knights’ Kingdom (Vol.1) was a complete reboot without any roots to older Castle lines. And so were Knights’ Kingdom (Vol.2), Vikings (not even linked to the coexistent ”Castle“ line), and the current Fantasy Castle line.
I think it's just a slight change in structure. Originally, there was one big Castle line from 1984-98 with many factions (from the Lion Knights right up to the Fright Knights); now there are just relatively smaller lines with a certain number of factions (king's knights and Shadow Knights and Rogue Knights in KKII, Crown Knights and skeletons and trolls in Castle, etc.)
The Dragon Masters theme marked a new era by its sheer manner of release. All the main sets of a theme were launched at once since then
Interesting point; never thought about that before.
fright knights that lego really began to run out of ideas
The Fright Knights, in theory, actually showed a lot of creativity and potential. It's a shame the actual sets were such a fiasco.
Last edited by Sir Kohran on Sat Jan 31, 2009 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by MaceyWindu »

I'd have to say that the new Castle line is my favorite. KK was not as good as the others because it didn't have any armies. I didn't like (like many others) that it focused on characters and ousted the aspect of generic soldiers. The new Castle line has brought that back and even better has given us Dwarves and Orcs. I can't speak for the old castle lines as I was into Star Wars and City in my earlier years of LEGO collecting.
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Post by Bandit »

Hey, not all LEGOs past 1993 are bad. I mean, even though the general Fright Knights were awful, their Night Lord's castle is decent, and most of the Dragon Masters sets that included Majisto (Majisto's Magical Workshop, Majisto's Tower, Majisto's other sets) were good too. So not everything past 1993 is officially "bad".
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my opinion

Post by TerdVader »

It seems that with exception of the late 90's which everyone seems to despise for one reason or another, most agree that the new line is only now catching up to the line that ended with the '93 Dragon Masters line.

IMO, the older castle sets seemed to have more imaginitive quality to them, and were a bit more "model" like, yet still having great play value. As the line went on more and more specialized pieces came into play, as well as a more diverse cast of characters, even if their roles weren't very difined. And in the modern age Castles aren't very model like at all, but have much more action features than previous sets and have taken the Tolkeinesque approach to its midievel fantasy.

For as different as the sets are through the ages, most will agree that the best ones are the ones the came out when Castle first captured their imaginations.
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Post by CastleLord »

I Think that all the castle set up to 1993 are really awesome, but from there on the sets got stranger. :wink:
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Post by legokilt »

I like the Kings Castle Siege set. It has some nice features that aren't too much. It reminds me of some of the old sets (pre 1990) where it was a building with a few rooms and people. The only complaint that I had was that the main tower is held in with a pin so as to be removeable. I removed and refitted that section and it looks great. I love the darker grey in the walls and the mottled green. It makes the castlelook older and somehowmore menacing, not as bright and cheery as the older castles, but not so sci-fi-ish as the Knights Kingdom ones. I have been modiying and expanding my King's Castle set and making it cooler (in my opinion), but also much larger to accomidate more knights.

For starters, I had to make it narrower (because it sits on a new table) so I made it so the walls aren't separatable (that kind of sucks), but lengthened the two side walls by about six inches. It gives it a nice open feel. I also expanded the king's throneroom (the first level of the main tower) by placing the throne on the dias and building the floor out. This made it so I needed support pillars from the courtyard which adds a nice touch. The best part is that expanding the throneroom made it so I could expand the chamber above it a bit. As such I used two types of stairs to make it so access to the above chambers. In addition I finished off the top tower and turned it into a wizard's chamber, complete with bookcase and magical stuff. Lastly I added the tower from the Troll Tower Attack set to the back section of the castle and revamped it into two cells. One whose wall could still be knocked down. I plan On adding more to it, perhaps building on a stable to the outside as the castle is really inteded (by me) to be the main keep of a muchlarger structure. Once I find my camera I will take some shots and put them on my brickshelf page.
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Re: the lego castles of the present and the past

Post by gormadoc1 »

I agree sets were better before the millenium so I just hope that things will regenerate again. :)
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Re: the lego castles of the present and the past

Post by Colonel Strider »

The new pieces are better but the old castles were better all the new ones are too similar.
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Re: the lego castles of the present and the past

Post by albero78 »

I'm 30 and so I like a lot old castles sets, but I admit that 2008 sets were very good. For example it was a long time without a set like the dwarves' mine and also, I think that 10193 "Medieval Market Village" is the best LEGO castle set EVER.
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