Discontinued in 2010?

[Count Blacktron]

I miss the days of Brad Justus' open communication with the fans. That was really heartwarming and brought me a little faith in TLC.

[Garbageman13]

The real question we should be asking is, will the theme be the same "crownie" fantasy theme, or something completely new....

That is what I've been wondering....

Josh

Indeed. I like the Crownies alright, but I think I am ready for something new. Hopefully new forestmen!

Oh, that would indeed rock. Although I'm expecting and fearing Lego to do something completely new and different all together...

God bless.

-Garbageman13

[Robin Hood]

I think it can be safely assumed that the crownie faction (or if you prefer, theme) will not continue next year. Not only does TLC seem hesitant to have specific themes/subthemes for more than 3 years, but the significantly diminished set quantity (and some might argue quality) this year is also, I think, a sign of the end of crownies.

Which is good! The crownies were great, we all loved them, but I think it's time we had something new in castle. And there has been plenty of musings over what we need/want, so I leave it there.

Dan

[Athos]

It seems we have a bit of confusion of terms. What do we mean by theme?

Will any 2010 castle sets be a different theme, if they sets have no crownie knights? What about if they have no skeletons or trolls? Or, if because it features castley buildings, does that make it part of Castle theme? If so, where does KK2 fit in? Or, even better, older castle sets?

Personally, I think there are three castle themes: (1) the old castle theme from the 1980s through KK1; (2) KK2, sufficiently different to be placed in its own theme; and (3) the Castle line, commencing with the crownies. I can't lump the first and third themes together, because they are so stylistically different from each other (particularly in minifig design). What that means for categorization of future castle sets, I don't know. I probably won't be able to say until we've seen them.

But, here's my prediction: we'll have castle sets (confirmed by Ben). They will likely be a new group/race (faction, if you will) or two. There will be some connection with the prior sets and factions (i.e. a figure or two from the prior factions included in a set or two, much like the royal knight guy in the Fright Knights sets and the dragon master in the Dark Forest set). So that we'll have (lets say for example) Elf sets with a troll prisoner.

Steve

[davee123]

Personally, I think there are three castle themes: (1) the old castle theme from the 1980s through KK1; (2) KK2, sufficiently different to be placed in its own theme; and (3) the Castle line, commencing with the crownies.

A bit off topic, but from 1978-1983 there were no factions-- there were just knights. There were a few different bits of heraldry, but no defined factions to speak of.

1984-1992 factions were introduced periodically, and started to become more defined. Crusaders and Black Falcons were really only faintly defined in terms of character, and Forestmen, Black Knights, and Wolfpack were added later with a bit more definition.

From 1993-1997, new factions were introduced in spurts, primarily an initial year of release and then no real followup sets (except for perhaps a few promo sets and stray figs). Arguably, this started with Wolfpack, but continued with Dragon Masters, Royal Knights, Dark Forest, and Fright Knights.

Then, from 2000-2009, we've had complete castle "universes" get revealed-- each with distinct factions involved, but no crossover to subsequent or from preceding sets. Knight's Kingdom 1 (King Leo versus the Bulls), Knight's Kingdom 2 (with two sub-iterations, King Mathias versus Vladek (2004-2005), and King Jayko versus Vladek (2006)), and finally "Castle", aka Fantasy, with sub factions all involved in the same universe.

Depending on how the current fantasy-era goes, it might be a new beast, since it's gone beyond KK1 and KK2 in terms of introducing factions, and possibly phasing some out entirely in time. In a lot of ways, it's far more similar to the 1984-1992 setup for releases, with different factions being represented in each year's release of sets, with factions consistently getting new sets in following years. Personally, I hope it stays with the current groups of factions for a long time (though I'd be happy to see more factions join the party).

DaveE

[Blueandwhite]

It seems we have a bit of confusion of terms. What do we mean by theme?

Will any 2010 castle sets be a different theme, if they sets have no crownie knights? What about if they have no skeletons or trolls? Or, if because it features castley buildings, does that make it part of Castle theme? If so, where does KK2 fit in? Or, even better, older castle sets?

Well, the original question was whether the Castle line would continue, so I would assume that Ben's answer was refering to the existing Castle line (though I could be mistaken).

Personally, I think there are three castle themes: (1) the old castle theme from the 1980s through KK1; (2) KK2, sufficiently different to be placed in its own theme; and (3) the Castle line, commencing with the crownies. I can't lump the first and third themes together, because they are so stylistically different from each other (particularly in minifig design). What that means for categorization of future castle sets, I don't know. I probably won't be able to say until we've seen them.

But, here's my prediction: we'll have castle sets (confirmed by Ben). They will likely be a new group/race (faction, if you will) or two. There will be some connection with the prior sets and factions (i.e. a figure or two from the prior factions included in a set or two, much like the royal knight guy in the Fright Knights sets and the dragon master in the Dark Forest set). So that we'll have (lets say for example) Elf sets with a troll prisoner.

Steve

I think this is a subject that can be debated ad nauseum. Defining a boundary line between the different lines is a difficult task and I don't think there's any one correct answer. I do suspect you are correct in saying that next year's line will probably introduce another faction into the current Castle mix rather than being an entirely new line. I'm hoping for a return of the forestmen or something similar (not elves), but I'd rather not speculate. It seems that speculation amongst LEGO fans leads to some pretty wild rumours.

[architect]

There are three evergreen playthemes: Town (City), Space, and Castle. I do not know whether the "LEGO Castle" theme of 2007-2009 and it's factions will continue or not. But the overall Castle theme (1978-1998, 2000-2009) is not going anywhere. With the exception of the Lion Knights/Crusaders (1984-1992), Black Falcons (1984-1992), and Black Monarchs/Black Knights (1988-1993), all sub-theme factions have been discontinued after 1-3 years. While the Crownies et al. could continue in future years, the odds are not favorable.

Ben
CC Sets Admin

[Athos]

There are three evergreen playthemes: Town (City), Space, and Castle. I do not know whether the "LEGO Castle" theme of 2007-2009 and it's factions will continue or not. But the overall Castle theme (1978-1998, 2000-2009) is not going anywhere.

So... did your discounting of the rumor mean we are getting Castle sets in 2010? Or were you just meaning that, Castle will return at some unspecified future point?

Steve

[JoshWedin]

There are three evergreen playthemes: Town (City), Space, and Castle. I do not know whether the "LEGO Castle" theme of 2007-2009 and it's factions will continue or not. But the overall Castle theme (1978-1998, 2000-2009) is not going anywhere.

So... did your discounting of the rumor mean we are getting Castle sets in 2010? Or were you just meaning that, Castle will return at some unspecified future point?

Steve

If Ben could have said more, I'm sure he would have. Castle isn't going away. It may change, it may stay the same, but its not going away.

Josh

[Aculon]

So it does my heart good to see that it looks like Castle did better with the Trolls than with the evil wizard and his pack of no-sense-of-humor skeletons. Those guys need to lighten up.

"Why so serious?"

I honestly think that while 2007 may not have had the same variety of minifigs; the sets themselves were actually quite a bit nicer.

Yes, I think the Castle 2007 sets may have been nicer...they had a good price variety, too.

While the Crownies et al. could continue in future years, the odds are not favorable.

Man, that's too bad. Save Ninja, this is the only LEGO Castle theme I've ever bought.
Not quite sure how well TLC will be able to pull me into a different Castle theme...but we may see...
Thanks for sharing what you could, architect!

I don't think LEGO touched on the mysterious sea too much on this line (or whatever it was called in the map).
It showed sea-serpents I believe. Oh well...

God bless you all!
-Aculon

[pijani]

The castle line has been hard to find in the shops near me too [in Australia] but that's because there was a few big sales a month ago and all of the castle sets sold quickly

MEGAbloks , we do not have sales in my country! what price it is at the beginnign, it will stay untill they ship the set back