Which Castle set would you like to see as a Legend next?

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

What are the reason Lego decided to not bring back those splendid piece (pichfork and cypress tree) ?

They cost to much to make ?

If someone no I'll be happy to know.
(But not so happy to know that they will not bring them back) :?
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Post by architect »

Molds for creating pieces can only be used a certain number of times before they wear out.

The cost to make new molds is very high. Creating molds for pieces that are not used heavily in all LEGO themes is not practical or cost-effective.
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Post by stuifzand »

I thought that children could hurt themselves at the sharp points of the tree, it would be the same for the pitchfork I guess.
Stupid, because you see the spears over and over again and they have sharp points.
Well, than in probably is a mold-issue.
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Post by medib »

I hate this argument. Lego Direct makes it a point of pride to not use new moulds. LEGO itself makes hundreds of
new moulds every year. If LEGO really wanted to it could make thousands of Pitch Forks and Cyphress trees and
still make a truck-load of profit.

Late 2002 and early 2003 have been good to Lego Fans.
Let's hope that 2004 has some good stuff. New stuff
continues to pour out for Starwars fans, and I suspect
that in the spring the new Harry Potter stuff will be out
(for the 3rd installment).

I wonder what is up with the lack of LEGENDS and the
My Own Creations lately. We had a windfall late fall 2002
and the early part of 2003, but there has been no news
of anything new as part of that.

I like the Designer series, but I don't wish that LEGO
abandon or delay the release of any more of the LEGENDs or MOCs because of them.

because of them.
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Bruce N H
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Post by Bruce N H »

I just wanted to echo Medib's point here. They make this argument about molds, but then turn around and make a mold for that creature in the Star Wars Gungun Patrol model, which can only ever be used for that one set, or Count Dooku's lightsaber, which has thus far been used for one set (perhaps we'll see another Dooku set when SW Episode 3 comes out, depending on his role in that movie). There are other pieces that only ever get used in one set, I'm just more familiar with the SW line.

Bruce
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Post by architect »

medib and Bruce,

You both have the right to be upset. It is frustrating that new sets get a wide variety of new pieces.

I did say:

"Creating molds for pieces that are not used heavily in all LEGO themes is not practical or cost-effective.

Themes such as SW can get away with molds for obscure items because those themes are very profitable. LEGO is revamping old SW sets and will still make tons of money!

I would love these old pieces, or new castle pieces, but we are not the main priority right now. Back to basic sets (designer sets) and liscenced themes seem to be.
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Post by The Wolfpack »

My want is not necessarily for a remake of a castle, but for the reissue of the triangular shields. The Black Falcon shield has to be one of the greatest items ever made in the castle series with its gold trim and blue trim variations. Lego should abandon those oval inferiorities and return to the classic triagular shield.
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Post by Dragon Master »

I would love to see Black Knights or Dragon Knights sets re-released. Mostly the Black Knights or Black Monarch's Castle. Personaly I don't think that Yellow Castle should be re-released. By all means it is a legend, but if it was widly available again, wouldn't it make it seem less special :? . I mean to see a little kid smashing and breaking "castle" would be heart breaking. If it does become a Legend than I think a limited number should be produced, around 1,000. And yes it should include the 'block' horses.
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Post by David Girard »

If Lego dedide to rerelease yellow castle, I don't think I'll buy it. The blok horse are a good reason to not buy it.

Maybe it's because I was not born when they released Yellow Castle, and because I start with 6080, King Castle.

The Yellow Castle doesn't correspond to my tastes. I think it's a legend only for those who owned it.
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Post by Jojo »

Hello!


Dragon Master wrote:
Personaly I don't think that Yellow Castle should be re-released. By all means it is a legend, but if it was widly available again, wouldn't it make it seem less special
That's exactly my thought! And that's what I'm sermonising since they re-released the Guarded Inn...


David Girard wrote:
I think it's a legend only for those who owned it.
I disagree here. In my opinion sets are considered "legendary" precisely because many people do not own them but very much would like to :-) That's been the case in case of the Guarded Inn 6067.

As for the Yellow Castle 375: It wasn't too appealing to me back then. Yellow, pshaw! However, later I deeply desired the set both for its status as the very first Castle set of all and for its uniqueness. And I was so happy when I finally got my hands on a complete copy!
When it will be re-released and available easily by a simple Shop-at-Home order this special happiness will get lost for people who never got the original set before.


Bye
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David Girard
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Post by David Girard »

Maybe I doesn't undestand you for loving this castle.

However, all the lego castle line could has not existed if this castle didn't existed. I was a success in it's time I presume. But it doesn't appeal me. This is a classic because it's the first.

So if lego fan want it, lego can rerelease it !
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Post by rogue27 »

Personally, I would prefer that the yellow castle not be re-released for the following reasons:
It came in last place on the poll, so it might be unprofitable for TLG.
I personally don't think I would buy it. Part of it's appeal is some of the rare parts it contained that would be replaced in the re-issue.
It's cool because it's old and hard to get. Being a legend would change that.

I think if a set is going to be re-released as a Legend, it has too look cool on the store shelf and on the display in a Lego store. All existing Legends do that. Some sets, such as Siege Tower (6061) would probably not look as interesting because the wall section is pretty small and plain in appearance.

On the other hand, Black Monarch's Castle (6085) would look awesome at first glance and I think it has a legendary quality about it. It was the first "Black Monarch" set, it gives castle builders a lot of black parts which would be a nice break from the grey we get in everything else, and it would look impressive and imposing if you saw one on display next to the other castle stuff.

I also think the "merchant" sets would do well as legends. Things like Blacksmith's Shop (6040), Armor Shop (6041), and Supply Wagon (6010) could probably bundled together for $20-$25 and I think they would be popular. It would also fit in with the Guarded Inn and Daniel Siskund's Blacksmith Shop as medieval village type things. They have a lot of detail for such small sets and their ability to fit in well with the existing castle re-releases makes them likely IMO. (well, there is the pitchfork issue, but more on that later...)

What I really hope to see is a re-release of 6066, Camouflaged Outpost. It was the start of the Forestmen theme which is actually what got me interested in Castle. (Sadly, at this point, all of the 1984 and 1985 sets were no longer in stores where I lived.) It also looks good, comes with lots of foliage pieces, and has a good amount of minifigs. Unfortunately, it does break away from the modular castle design (though it does have a technic brick for such purposes, it just makes no sense to attach it). Since they would probably raise the price to $30 if it was available today, maybe they could bundle it with one of the carts like Smuggler's Hayride or Crusader's Cart to make it a fair price. Unfortunately, I could see them not re-releasing this solely because it doesn't have much synergy with the few castle offerings currently available.

With regards to pitchforks, I have never seen it said that they will definitely not make more pitchforks. (That does not mean that it hasn't been said, it just means I haven't seen it written anywhere official, but if somebody has a link to such information, I'd be glad to click on it.) What I read about pitchforks was they still have the mold put away somewhere, and they just don't currently have any compelling reason to dig out the mold and set up the factory to do a run of pitchforks, because there is no current use for them aside from a handful of people who all want to buy a bag of 100 pitchforks. It sounded like the pitchfork could come back if it was needed in a model, and with the built up demand for pitchforks among some portions of the community, I could see them intentionally using the pitchfork if the opportunity arises. Unfortunately, pitchforks are only in small castle sets, and it's probably not profitable enough to do a small legend like 6040 Blacksmith Shop when they would have to dig out the pitchfork mold to do so. However, maybe the next Castle line TLG does will have a couple sets containing pitchforks because they know people want them? You never know.

Also, just because I want to see more Castle Legends doesn't mean I don't also want to see a real castle line again sometime. Both would be ideal. What's his name said the Castle line does have a future in his QA session at brickfest, so that is a good sign. I just hope that they don't do something retarded like fright nights again. Actually, I hope they don't do anything similar to anything that came out after the early 90s if they can avoid it.
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Where are they?

Post by Toombinator »

I mean, where are all of those castle Legos? Legends? We have 6 sets, not including the keychains, on the market right now... Odd, anyone? Harry Potter is no substitute, but I guess it appeals to other people... But you can only get so many Castle Accessories Packs before you start to wonder...

Will they come back?

PS: Are you sure they never are going to remake the pitchfork? I never got a single one, awwwwww...
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medib
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Post by medib »

Brad has said there is no never....anything is a possibility.

If there were enough people e-mailing LEGO to want
Cyphress Trees and Pitchforks, and LEGO was true to
their word (especially with what they said at LegoWorld)
to pass on our concerns to their marketing department
and set designers, I don't see why they couldn't be used
in a future set....

say they decide to do a World City City Hall per se, and
the designers want a front park with tall trees and
a fountain... voila... the cypress tree mold gets created
again, and LEGO Direct can mass produce them again.

A pie in the sky example, but it all goes back to the
mold argument. LEGO wants us fans to be creative,
but there is only so much imagination we can perform...
it then falls to them the manufacturer of our beloved
medium (at least in my opinion thats what bricks are)
to start making the desired parts we want.

I guess it all depends on what the designers want.
If they need the pitchfork to be in a particular situation
as an element, it will get picked up...regardless of
mold punches left....it will get re-created...

anyways, the bottom-line is that there is no such thing
as never...anything is possible....nothing is completely
dead!!!
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Post by Troy T. Moore »

First off, I must say that there are some good points here, and a variety of opinions. The common denominator is that we who are here would like to see more "good" castle sets, mini-fig packs, etc. available. I have the yellow castle, I got it when I was 6 years old. Before it was a legend, I have adored it. I loved it because it was a castle with "knights" and because it was Lego. Unfortunately I missed out on some good years, early 80's -1990. A lot of missed opprotunities in hind sight. The round shield would be cool to see again as well as those brown siege ladders. The broad brimmed helm (kettle hat, chapel de fer) is actually a very historically accurate helm and was very common. The conical helm with nasal and "neck protector" (aventail) is also very good (Norman and Saxon type helms) The other conical helm is good for archers. The Dragon Master helm is atrocious. A few look kinda neat, but 30 men in a 100 man army loog ridiculous. These are a few of my opinions :wink: The new year is almost here!
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