A Email I sent Lego, A reissue request fo 6059

[SPACE MARINE]

Here's my email to them:

Dear Lego,


I know you folks have made some decisions that set you back. Lately, you've been creating vintage minifigure collections. I think, if you look at those sales, they sell decently. This is why I believe you should re-issue #6059 Knight's Stronghold, with a few changes. Since you don't have the bullet helm mold any more, replace the bullet helm with a kettle helm. Also, since you probably don't have the old plume molds anymore, use the new ones. Definately update the colors to fit your new palette. You would probably have to change the wall design a little bit unless you still have the old panel mold. If you want even throw in an extra catapult and minifigure. In addition to being a set adult fans would want, child and teenage fans such as myself would enjoy the set. For the target age children, this set has everything they'd want in such a set, two distinct "teams", a wall to defend, a catapult to attack it, even a knight on a horse. Teenage fans would want it because it has a good parts selection, and a couple of factions besides the current two to make their creations more diverse. Adult fans would love this set for the memories it would bring back from their child hood. In conclusion, I believe that with minor changes, set #6095 is a wonderful candidate for a reissue.

Charles Behrens, devoted Lego fan

[dyntar]

Although it is a good set... by the way its number 6059 not 6095..
This set is basically an expansion to the Black monarchs castle 6085. I can't really see Lego reissuing this set with black walls with bluegrey highlights and releasing it with the classic figures. Whats the point in a castle wall expansion without a castle for it to be attatched to?

I don't know about a reissue.. but it would be a great set to have a remake of.

maybe it could be a gate house addition to the Dragons castle [if we ever get one] and the lions could be the ones with a giant crossbow. [think we have enough catapults in the current line]

[SPACE MARINE]

Lego responded:

Dear Charles,

Thanks for getting in touch with us.

I think your Knight's Stronghold would make a brilliant revival of a LEGO® set. We have a team of experts in Denmark whose job it is to dream up new LEGO sets, themes and toys. They tell me it actually takes years to plan everything. They need to test all the new ideas, talk to the factory about how to make them, work out what sort of box is needed and then deliver the new sets to all the shops in 130 countries! This means that there's a good chance they're already working on something similar to your idea.

Have you seen the Outpost Attack set number 7948? It sounds similar to your suggested set. You can find it on our website here: http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.as ... n=640&d=70

You sound like a huge LEGO fan! Are you already in the LEGO Club? If you'd like to join, it's free! We'll even keep you up to date with all the new toys and send you free LEGO magazines! All you need to do is call one of our experts at 1-800-835-4386 and let them know you want to join.

Or how about designing your very own virtual LEGO model? All you need to do is download our free software called LEGO Digital Designer and then just let your imagination run wild! You can upload your models to the Design byME gallery for other fans to admire!

Download the software here: http://ldd.lego.com/download/default.aspx

Visit the online gallery: http://designbyme.lego.com/en-us/Gallery/default.aspx

Thanks again for telling us about your idea, I wish we could use it!

Happy building!

Thomas
LEGO Direct Consumer Services

I made a response to theirs:

I understand that, although I believe that you should give people like me who weren't around to experience the classics without paying hefty prices on ebay. I understand that Lego has had some economic troubles, but I prefer to buy older sets on ebay over new sets many times because of the saddening decrease in quality and part selection. The problems with new sets that aren't related to the quality of the bricks include the shortage of basic bricks and the skimping on the quantity and quality of minifigures. Your knights used to have garrisons with an average of 12 men from the owners factions as there big set, with shield variations so they didn't have to be on the same side but could be, and came with enough basic bricks for children to build something besides a castle. Another problem is that you tend to focus on one faction with your castle line. For example, in the original Knight's Kingdom, the Lion knights received many buildings, but all the Bulls got were a few catapults that resembled nothing from the middle ages. Also, the new faction of dragon knights has more in common with the dragon masters than the black knights featured in Knight's Stronghold. Which brings me to my final problem with your current lines, the lack of various factions, your lines tend to focus on two distinct factions, when you could have four. Your current line has a Lion faction and a Dragon faction. Why not expand to include say a Falcon faction, and a faction of Robin Hood-esque foresters such as the wolf-pack, or dark forest factions? After all, the current medieval line is called Kingdoms.

Thank you for your response,
Charles Behrens

[davee123]

Jamie Berard (LEGO designer still? I think he's been promoted a couple times) has told us that LEGO will probably not be doing any more re-releases of sets, thanks to their experiences with the Legend lineup. Most re-releases were targeted at the hobbyist market, and supposedly many had poor sales because people weren't interested in buying sets that they already owned.

Additionally, thanks to the color change (part quality from China wasn't a factor at the time, but probably would be now), many fans weren't interested in buying sets that wouldn't actually be true replicas of the sets they remembered. Replacement pieces also weren't accepted well (LEGO used a bunch in the re-released Main Street set, as I recall), and some were unfaithfully reproduced (like the Black Falcon torsos with the incorrect printing, or the front-facing injection point of the half-timbered walls).

In the end, LEGO decided that its efforts would be better spent actually creating NEW sets that were "in the spirit" of the old sets, such as 10176, which was intended to be a castle in the same "style" as 6090 and 6091. Hence, you're not likely to see any more re-releases of fully-fledged sets any time soon. They're not 100% out of the question, but probably best not to expect them.

DaveE

[nanuck95]

I can appreciate the nostalgia, I was around for many of the early castle sets, but didn't collect many of them as my brothers and I were more into space at the time. They are pretty cool, they did come with a lot of figs, and gave great ideas on the box of other stuff you could build out of it.

When I came back into Lego, I owned a grand total of 2 classic castle sets from my childhood, and have since purchased 20+ or so more off ebay and bricklink to get some of the cool ones I missed. While the old sets are pretty cool, and there is some nostalgia attached to them, I have to admit that the new sets are pretty cool as well, and it seems like most people have been pretty happy with Kingdoms so far.

This has been debated before on the forums, I'm sure if you search you can read all the discussions, there are great points on both sides. I think though, if you really take a look at what we have now, things have been pretty awesome for Castle builders. Especially if you consider the fact that we recently took a poll to pick the greatest castle set of all time, and the winner was a set released only 2 years ago. Clicky Link!.

Anyway, not trying to pick a fight, just giving you something to consider. It's easy to miss the good things happening now if you spend too much time looking back at the good things that happened before.

[SPACE MARINE]

Their latest response:

Dear Charles,

Thanks for getting in touch with us.

I think different factions would make for a brilliant addition to the Kingdoms line, but for legal reasons we can't use it! We have a team of experts in Denmark whose job it is to dream up new LEGO sets, themes and toys. They tell me it actually takes years to plan everything. They need to test all the new ideas, talk to the factory about how to make them, work out what sort of box is needed and then deliver the new sets to all the shops in 130 countries! This means that there's a good chance they're already working on something similar to your idea.

I have been a fan of the medieval lines since I was a kid and I completely agree that several different factons would make the line better, as it does create more possibilities and different alliances. Keep in mind that we have just recently launched this new line, so we have a lot of different ways we could go with it!

Thanks again for telling us about your idea, I wish we could use it!

Happy building!

Jeff
LEGO Direct Consumer Services



I give up, not replying, I thought they couldn't use any of my suggestions, but now I know why he said: I wish we could use it.

Although I will be laughing when Lego comes out with a new Falcon faction.