What makes a banner year?

Post by **rogue27** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 6:41 pm

The story thus far...

A banner year for castle was promised by the great lord Brad.

An advertisement depicting horrors beyond comprehension was found in a club magazine.

The armies gathered on the battlefield of forums and laid siege to the official spokesman.

Jake, agent of Brad, stated that there is still hope for Castle.

New castle sets are revealed, but the people are still unhappy.

Is there yet another surprise waiting for the legions of Castle followers? Is there still a chance for the prophecy of a banner year to be fulfilled?

... or has our story ended?

There are some useful and interesting parts in the new castle sets, but we could just keep on buying Harry Potter if we wanted bad sets with a few good parts. It seems like the new castle sets are a step sideways from the awful attempts of the late 90s. These new sets aren't really any better or worse, they are just different.

There is still room for surprises later in the year, but what would it take to make 2004 a banner year? Some ideas:

A new minifig pack
A new accessories pack
A castle or medieval designer set
Another legend
A S@H exclusive in the Sculptures series.

I don't want to believe we've seen everything yet. I must hold hope, right?

Anyway, here is the best idea you will hear this year:

Keep in mind that this is just my idea and it is not based on anything.

What if LEGO made a designer set with instructions and parts for building a handful of different castles? To take it a step further, perhaps the main model could be a grey version of the yellow castle? Obviously it would have some part substitutions, but, as long as it was very walled and bricky, I think it would capture the essence of the original.

It's not too far-fetched, is it? They have designer sets for boats, houses, animals, wheeled vehicles, flying vehicles, robots, and other things. Why not castles?

I believe adding what I suggested above to the mix would make 2004 a banner year.

Any comments, opinions, or ideas?

Knight Of Weaselton · Post by **Knight Of Weaselton** » Wed Dec 24, 2003 9:00 pm

I would call it a banner year, not because the sets are all that good, but because there are castle sets. I can see geting another Legend but the rest-although good ideas-seems doubtful. But who knows? 2004 ain't over till, it's over.

wlister · Post by **wlister** » Thu Dec 25, 2003 9:45 am

I think that many of these ideas could potentially become part of a banner year.

1) I think a new castle legend is very likely.

2)I also think a new castle accessory pack could be in the works. There have been several occasions when the castle accessory pack was backordered on S@H here in North America. This might mean that the accessory pack is selling quite well. If it is selling well, could another pack be far behind?

3) A minifig pack would make a lot of sense given that the MegaBlok Dragon tins are selling very, very well. we may not like them, but their success could stir TLC into action.

The only two options that seem a little far-fetched are the designer castle and the S@H castle sculpture. I just don't see TLC producing a castle scultpture. The designer line seems to be more reality based and not to minifig scale. A castle without any figs may have trouble finding that broader audience TLC is aiming for.

The first 3 ideas could be possible and a year that would include 2 of the 3 ideas would to me make a banner year.

Will

Post by **rogue27** » Thu Dec 25, 2003 4:24 pm

wlister wrote: 1) I think a new castle legend is very likely.

Yeah, I heard the Legends were doing well, so I would expect some new legends in the not too distant future. The Castle Legends seem to do especially well, considering how often I've seen Black Falcon's Fortress on backorder since it was released.

2)I also think a new castle accessory pack could be in the works. There have been several occasions when the castle accessory pack was backordered on S@H here in North America. This might mean that the accessory pack is selling quite well. If it is selling well, could another pack be far behind?

Since there are a bunch of new elements in the Summer 2004 Knight's Kingdom sets, I would think it is time for a new Castle Accessory pack. I would guess it will be late in 2004 if one is produced, because the new castle sets won't be out until around June. On the other hand, I've been waiting for an Orient Expedition accessory pack to be released, and I've seen nothing on that front yet.

3) A minifig pack would make a lot of sense given that the MegaBlok Dragon tins are selling very, very well. we may not like them, but their success could stir TLC into action.

One problem: What would a minifig pack contain? The rainbow knights? I think everybody is going to end up having duplicates of those guys anyway, so that would make a pretty poor minifig pack. However, there is a lot of room to put other things into a minifig pack, but minifig packs have always been based on figs from the current product lines in the past.

The only two options that seem a little far-fetched are the designer castle and the S@H castle sculpture. I just don't see TLC producing a castle scultpture.[/quote

I considered this to be my most far-fetched idea - but they have made a green dragon sculpture in the past. Besides, they've released a famous plane sculpture each summer for the past 3 years. I would think they are out of famous planes by now. Perhaps they will move on to something different?

The designer line seems to be more reality based and not to minifig scale. A castle without any figs may have trouble finding that broader audience TLC is aiming for.
Actually, a good deal of the designer sets are minifig scale, they just don't include minifigs. Of course, if the "likely to be released" minifig pack was available, would that be a problem? Also, castles do exist in reality, so I wouldn't say that they aren't reality based. If you mean modern times, then you are right so far. The designer sets up to now have been based on things that exist in today's world. However, one of the 2004 designer sets is a large T-Rex, so it would appear that they are starting to broaden the themes of the designer sets. I still don't think a castle designer set is too far fetched. A siege weapon one would be nice too. They would loosely tie in with the KK product line, which is something TLG always likes.

If not the designer line, we can't forget the discovery sets. The 2003 Discovery sets were based on space travel. The Discovery Channel also does things about historical stuff, so a castle-themed Discovery line could come out someday. Granted, there are tons of possible themes to use, but at least castle is one of the possibilities.

The first 3 ideas could be possible and a year that would include 2 of the 3 ideas would to me make a banner year.

The way I see it right now, I'll pick up 8777, 8778, and 8780 for some of the new parts, but I will want at least one decent castle to purchase in multiples and a decent source of good minifigs in 2004 before it can be called a banner year. Note that in 2002, we got both of those things with the re-release of Black Falcon's Fortress.

2003 just plain sucked, with exactly zero new things for Castle.

In February 2004, there is supposed to be a toy fair where LEGO tends to show most of their new stuff for the coming year. When that toy fair comes around, I'm going to keep an eye on the Designer and Discovery lines, because we already know what the KK line has to offer and it isn't too impressive.

wlister · Post by **wlister** » Fri Jan 02, 2004 6:32 am

That designer Dino is awsome, I am hoping against hope that that will become a trend for 2004. I would love to see more beasties being made from brick... As to the castle line, we will see in about 5 weeks what will be what for 2004.

Will