architect wrote:Lion Knights/Crusaders were in production continuously from 1984 to 1992. I believe these nine years are the longest of any Lego Castle faction.
While this is certainly true, we must remember there were several years in this run that had very few sets released. Often these were very small sets as well. In 1991 only one set with 29 parts was released keeping the castle line going but I would say just barely.
I voted for elves/forestmen because of the popularity they would have. The more castle sells the longer it will keep going and the happier I will be.
I have heard rumor of only one civilian set for next year. Other than that all seems quiet. I think the castle theme will go on like this. Only 1 or 2 sets a year until the Prince of Persia line dies out. There is also some credible chatter about a possible Harry Potter release which would certainly mean putting Castle on hiatus for a while. This all makes me very sad as I really love the current castle line.
I know a lot of classic castle fans don't like to hear this: I do think that when the theme picks up again they will continue with the fantasy elements. TLG told us that kids absolutely prefer having humans fighting against designated bad guys like the skellies and trolls. This worked much better than 2 human factions in their focus groups.