(Calmly) Voice your opinion.

Post by **SavaTheAggie** » Wed May 05, 2004 3:22 pm

LEGO, via Jake McKee, has announced on lugnet:

http://news.lugnet.com/general/?n=47149

That the new light grey, new dark grey, and new brown are here to stay. Much to the joy of train fans, LEGO is keeping train tracks bought in bulk in the old dark grey.

Now perhaps it is because of my position here at C-C, or perhaps because I'm an old Castle Builder, or maybe because I was the only available Castle builder available to chat with, or maybe it was because of my reply on Lugnet, but in any case, Jake wants my opinion.

The opinion he wants is which part or parts we would like to see as a bulk pack release, like train tracks for the train heads, in the old grey or brown.

Jake first suggested Castle Wall Pieces. I said I thought that would be meaningless, Castle Wall Pieces in old grey would only work if the basic bricks were old grey too.

He then suggested certain armor. I said those were the one thing I'd let LEGO change to new grey (minifig accessories in general). I think we all would like to see an armor bulk pack regardless of new or old grey.

So here's my plan. I'm going to post to Lugnet after I post here about my opinions as to which part or parts I think I'd like to see in bulk packs in the old grey or brown, and I'd like to link to this thread.

What I'd like you guys to do is this:

Without bashing LEGO or Jake, without venting, calmly suggest in reply what Castle-specific parts you'd like to see released in bulk packs in the old grey or brown. You can say armor or Castle Wall Pieces, just because I have an opinion on them doesn't mean I don't want yours. You can choose non Castle parts if they're used in Castle a lot (like foliage).

Basically what I'm trying to say is pick something that you'd think us Castlers would like to see in a bulk pack in the old grey or brown, and please try to be nice about it

We can set up another thread if you need to vent.

--Anthony

Loneranger · Post by **Loneranger** » Wed May 05, 2004 3:36 pm

I need to put my thinking cap on

*outs thinking cap on*

forester3291 · Post by **forester3291** » Wed May 05, 2004 3:55 pm

Do we post here or Lugnet?
If here. Here it goes. I would love to see at least two or three of samuari armor and two or three euro in old dark gray or light does not matter. I would also like to see old brown pichforks,old brown spears and old brown robin hood hats. I would like to see a bunch of shields and swords too. A few light gray visors or dark gray visors would be very nice.

Post by **rogue27** » Wed May 05, 2004 3:57 pm

I would like the old style swords to continue using the old dark grey. (and what was up with the light grey swords in BFF?) More importantly, I would like them to switch back to using stiff ABS instead of the flimsy swords we have now.

Also, we could certainly use some pitchforks in old brown.

Armors in the old greys would always be welcome.

I think it would be safe to say that we would appreciate castle equipment packs in general to retain the classic colors.

And please, for the love of God, return to using stiff plastic on the classic swords! Yes, I'm repeating myself for emphasis. These flimsy swords have irritated me to no end after I exited my dark age. I'm glad I still have some of the old ones.

Loneranger · Post by **Loneranger** » Wed May 05, 2004 4:17 pm

I think this guy got the right idea. I think this is what WE all want
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=709986

forester3291 · Post by **forester3291** » Wed May 05, 2004 4:29 pm

Yeah. You got it Lr but I would love these http://guide.lugnet.com/set/5184 http://guide.lugnet.com/set/5135 http://guide.lugnet.com/set/5138 Or somthing like them. I never got a chance to buy older castle sets like these and would love to get a bunch

Post by **architect** » Wed May 05, 2004 4:59 pm

I am copying my post from lugnet here. There should be alot of things that LEGO could do for castle fans that we would all enjoy. What do you think of my ideas?

Hi Jake,

I just want to add my comments on offerings for castle fans

Since the color decisions seem to be final, I think that the best option is to ease this transition into the new colors. Castle builders will need basic bricks, wall pieces, arches, plates, etc in the new light grey color. In my opinion, the best option would be another castle legend in new grey. Another run of Black Falcon's Fortress or a castle like 6080 King's Castle would allow castle fans to quickly build up new grey supplies. Future "modular" legends like Armor Shop and Battering Ram would also be nice choices.

I do not think that old color wall pieces would be very popular or sell well at shop at home. Sets seem to do much better than some bulk packs (ie: Castle Accessories vs. Guarded Inn)

Castle fans would also like improved selection in minifigure accessory packs. Popular items in a pack (in new or old colors) would be round shields, euro breastplate armor, archery targets, forestmen caps and peasant cowls (in colors like green, black, brown, grey, tan, and red), plumes in new colors (orange, tan, etc) grill helmets, bullet helmets, flared helmets, axes, swords - in brown or black perhaps

These are just a few ideas off of the top of my head. Basically - with existing molds and new colors - LEGO could make the best castle accessory pack ever.

Another popular idea could be making a "classic" accessory pack in old light grey of weapons, shields, armor, and helmets (substituting new pointed visors) of the 1978-83 castle sets. Instead of releasing a legend of Yellow Castle, how about a minifig pack or accessory pack with these pieces and stickers.

Many castle fans would also like more accessory packs for buildings. This could be curved top windows in several colors, brown doors (rectangular), steep roof peaks (we have been waiting forever to get more of these...) or a good roof pack, 1x4x3 windows with lattice panes in colors like black and brown, folliage (in orange perhaps), and another food pack.

These are just a few of my ideas. But there are alot of options available. I think we want more variety to add to our minifigs, buildings, and villages.

Ben Ellermann

Gumby · Post by **Gumby** » Wed May 05, 2004 5:22 pm

I'm pretty much in agreement with your thoughts, Anthony.

Castle walls in the original colours would kinda be pointless if they didn't match the surrounding bricks.

Minifig accessories are much much smaller compared to the structures and/or models, so it's not as big of a problem (or eyesore, haha) whether an army had old grey swords, new grey swords, or a mix of the two.

Therefore, the best solution (apart from reversing the change completely) would be to continue production of the bulk dark grey and light grey packs.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The new light grey is not THAT bad. It's the new dark grey that REALLY clashes with the old dark grey.

-Bryan

P.S. Anthony, not only are your creations wonderful, but I've always been impressed by the way you carry yourself here on Classic Castle. You always give your opinion in a constructive manner (including this touchy colour-change issue), and you never hesitate to take a leadership role if/when the need arises.

I just wanted to point that out.

Oh yeah, I'd lump Architect into that category as well.

Loneranger · Post by **Loneranger** » Wed May 05, 2004 5:39 pm

I think a big grey tub with plates roof tiles and doors and minifigs would do fine

LR

Mookie · Post by **Mookie** » Wed May 05, 2004 5:43 pm

Of all the parts we use in castle building, the 1x1, 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8 and all 2x versions are what's needed to for building in the old greys. I should be getting my packs of grey and brown that I ordered in the mail today, though I don't believe it's going to be enough to keep me happy in the long run.

Slopes are another aspect that we need to build decent buildings and landscapes.

Someone kind of suggested this on lugnet I believe... do yearly runs.. They could be limited like the first one... say 10000 packs of each. It would be like waiting for the new sets to come out, we'd know that we only had to wait a year to get more bricks, you could add in a couple of different specialty packs every year, say bags of 4 or 5 different arches, bags with a few different slopes.. Maybe that lovely 666 Set from a joke a while back, Windows and fences. We'd all buy up what stock you gave us, and be happy, knowing next year we could do the same thing. Slowly we'd be able to integrate the new grey (since it looks like we'll have to

)

What upsets me most, is all the new parts that will never be made in the old grey. That is where you've upset most of us I believe. Give us new parts, though we can't integrate them easily because everything around them won't match.

Minifig elements in either color don't matter to me, I don't "build" with those, they don't sit next to parts in the old grey, seeing the difference in those is negligible. And asking for those to be run isn't a color issue, it's a normal "lack of" issue for a long time standing.

What about doing parts that there haven't been many made of in the past? one I can think of off the top of my head is the Extreme corner in light grey, there's only been 1 set with it and that was a pirate set. We could use these for castle building!

Arches are what I know I'll be seriously lacking soon, having just gotten about 200 arched windows, I know I don't have 200 more 2x4 arches to go with each one, Yes, I could get the arch pack they currently have, though I don't need most of that pack, I'd rather just be able to buy 2x4 arches and go from there. (gets rather upset about those pictures from Billund again)

Before I go into a rant about our pitful selections here and wanting that kind of PaB here I'll stop now.

Just a few of my ideas, maybe someone else can take them and expand upon them.

Tamy

Post by **rogue27** » Wed May 05, 2004 6:27 pm

Packs of slopes to go with the bricks would be good. Especially light grey. A pack of 45 degree slopes in various shapes and sizes would be great. I know there was a black pack like this a couple years ago, and in the 80s, there were often red ones.

Post by **Bruce N H** » Wed May 05, 2004 7:15 pm

I'm a little confused, is this a question of "What bulk packs should be produced in old colors to extend our old collections?" or "What bulk packs should be produced in new colors to kick-start our new collections?" I'd love to see both things--of course I want old grays, but the new light gray would be okay IF AND ONLY IF I had enough useful pieces to build with, which is difficult unless you buy a massive number of new 2004 sets.

Personally I would not buy wall panels. Aside from the log panels from my Fort Legoredo, I pretty much never use these. What I would like to see is a series of packs:

Arch pack: In both grays, brown, black, tan. 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, 1x6x2, 1x5x4, 1x5x4 inverted -- plus a dream for future parts would be some inverted arches, for the ability to make things like this: http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_go ... 18_24.html
without resorting to SNOT

Windows and doors: Including these doors:
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=2554
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=3644
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=40241
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=30223
hinges in light gray, dark gray, brown, and black
rounded top window in both grays and in brown, preferably with the twisted bar pane:
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=30044
and then this window:
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=3853
with shutters and both "pane" and "pane latticed"
This bulk pack would of course sell to Town builders as well, though they also might want some of the more modern looking windows and doors

Roof packs in various colors - including double, triple, double/inverted, double concave, and double convex slopes. Even better if there were 45 degree and 33 degree roof packs

Basic brick packs and basic plate packs in new colors (similar variety to the one-time-only old gray packs recently offered)

Weapon pack: variety

Armor pack: 2 each armor breastplate, armor breastplate with leg protection, and armor ninja style, 2 each of 4 different helms

Food pack -- just think how popular it would be if there was a pack with two red apples, two green apples, two banans, two hot dogs, two drumsticks, A TURKEY, two breads, and two croissants! Throw in some goblets, plates, the cauldron, and a ladle to make this even more exciting

Bruce

Troy T. Moore · Post by **Troy T. Moore** » Wed May 05, 2004 9:41 pm

Brucw NH wrote

Food pack -- just think how popular it would be if there was a pack with two red apples, two green apples, two banans, two hot dogs, two drumsticks, A TURKEY, two breads, and two croissants! Throw in some goblets, plates, the cauldron, and a ladle to make this even more exciting

Yes! Although it has nothing to do with the new colours.

I have no opinion about what will make the new colours better. Why could they not have been "universal" before? Why is it so hard for them to say, we made a mistake and will drop these new colours, the "old" are universal?

Section8 · Post by **Section8** » Wed May 05, 2004 11:14 pm

I still say make any new legends that were part of the modular series old grey, as the new grey would make the Legend BFF and Inn outcasts among the Legend lines. If you do use the new grey, perhaps issue wall piece and brick pack so we can rebuild those two sets into new grey, and also so we can build up a pool of new grey quickly.

For brown, spears, hoods, hats, barrels, chests and doors I would like to see continued in old brown; these elements in various packs or sets would do nicely.

Finally, it's not castle but I'm not registered on lugnut: a Legend version of the 6274 Caribbean Clipper with the old brown hull and rigging (and grey for the cannons. I know a lot of people have the Legend Black Seas Barricuda and would love a color-matching counterpart for it. Also, being smaller than the BSB, it would be a nice source of old brown hull pieces for those building MOCs.

LEGOFREAK · Post by **LEGOFREAK** » Thu May 06, 2004 4:02 am

Ok - its been said before, and better said I might add and probably will be again, but here is my two crowns worth:
At this point, no one or two items are going let a person continue making castles out of old gray. If you have arches and 2byX bricks, you will still need plates, hinges and angles. If you get angles and hinges, you will still need bricks. It seems to me that instead of focusing on what sort of old grey we need TLC would do better to start coming out with new grey castle, and bulk packs. Lets face it. The April fools day tub with bricks, doors arches, etc would still be awesome even in new grey. Bulk bricks, plates, arches, windows, doors, hinges (both brick and for the doors), stairs, barrels boxes, armor, minifigs, and monkeys are all things that we use in our castles. So they should simply make all of these items available in new grey. Right now I have stalled out on buying any grey at all because I don’t know what sort of castle I will be able to build. I have all the arches and such that I need in old light grey, but not enough bulk brick. If TLC makes bulk brick and no arches, doors, etc in new grey, then I am just on the opposite side of the coin.
IF nothing else, then as I build up my new grey I can give my son the old grey!

Freak