Lego Castle sets- made in standard "types?"

[Commander Redbeard]

I've noticed the similarities between different castle sets from different themes, and wonder if it means something.

The "Joust" sets always seem to include a grandstand for a king, two horses, and a small baseplate with a rack for some kind of weapons or flags. These include the older and the KK joust sets.

The large castles with raised baseplates always include from 4-8 good guys, 2-4 bad guys, and some type of small siege engine or cart. The two KK castles, Several older ones, and even the Orient expedition's Dragon Fortress fall into this catagort.

The "King Packs" seem to include a king on a horse, one soldier, and a stationary "filler" item such as a small pre-molded tower or a... *COUGH*
"catapult".

Wall packs: Siege tower and Battering ram fit into this description: a small section of wall, several soldiers, and some large siege insturment. Except for the fact that today's version is in two seperate sets 'cause TLC WON'T give us 5 minifigs in such a "small" set, and that it costs about twice as much as any of the other ones,our very own Castle Talonjay is one of these, too.

Small one-man army builder- These sets have some type of virtually useless small siege engine, one soldier, and usually some extra weapons or armor. Defence Archer and King's Catapult are these.

Does anyone agree with me, or have I gone mad? i just had to post it, it kept bothering me...

[kajo163]

Hmmm, I think in many cases it looks like you´re right. Before (and also in) the new KKII-line some sets show disturbing similarities to earlier sets.

It seems clear that TLC uses some sort of pre-mould for some of the set types, like jousts and castles. Your point with the raised base plate castles is good, I would also like to draw attention to the two sets that shows a castle like construction in water (6075, wolfpack tower, and 6078 royal drawbridge)

Maybe this is because it's hard to do something new with a set that to some amount has already been done.

joel+

[Emperor James]

I don't think you are at all on to something. With the joust sets, what else could you put into one? The only castles with the formula of figs you mentioned are the KK I and II, Dragon Fortress doesn't count as castle. As for King packs, there have only been two as far as I know, those being 6008 "Royal King" and the KK1 "King Leo" that I can't remember the number of of, and only the King Leo fits your criteria. As for wall sets, I think you are on to something there, as that kind of set is pretty easy to buy off the shelf for playing. I can name 6061, 6062, and 6059 that are like that, and of course Vladek attack stuff. And small, one man army builders... you're being too general there. You're basically sayin that they come with one fig and something else, which encompasses a lot of dissimilar sets.

[Commander Redbeard]

If you think about it, it's true. S cary, but true.

[rogue27]

Yes.

There were many types of sets that would be repeated every few years.

For example:
Wall vs. Siege Weapon:
1984: Siege Tower
1987: Battering Ram
1990: Knight's Stronghold
(dark age, I don't know what was in here)
2004: Vladek Attack Kit


Likewise, there have been joust sets, catapult sets, minifig packs, small carts, and accessory packs every few years.


It would get pretty dull if that's all TLC did was recycle old concepts over and over again. Fortunately, some other ideas have appeared to spice things up a bit.

1984 gave us the Blacksmith Shop, while 1986 gave us the Armor Shop and Guarded Inn. Sadly, that is basically a complete history of civilian castle sets.

1987 introduced the "castle boats" idea with Viking Voyager and King's Oarsmen. Later years bought us newer boats like Battle Dragon and Sea Serpent. However, it seems that they haven't done any boats in more recent years.

1987 also introduced the Forestmen with 6066 Camouflaged Outpost, which was definitely the most creative and unique castle set of it's time. 6066 completely broke out of the "structured organized army" approach that had been used in all castle sets before it, and set imaginations on fire with it's "secret hideout" concept. This was, of course, followed up by more Forestmen sets, then Wolfpack, then Dark Forest, so the idea no longer seems as original or creative by today's standards. These "secret hideout" type sets seem to have gone extinct too, for they haven't been seen in 8 years now.

Anyway, this shows that the Castle line does tread new ground from time to time. It would be dull if TLC only stuck to releasing variations on the basic castle set themes for the past 20 years. It's these experiments (civilian sets, secret hideouts) that keep the castle line fresh and interesting.

Sadly, their latest experiments seem to involve targeting a younger audience, spoon-feeding people a generic good vs. evil storyline, and releasing over-sized bionicle wannabe castle action figures. Hopefully this is just a phase they are going through that will eventually vanish like civilian sets, boats, and Forestmen.

They've been doing this "target young people with stupid castle sets" thing for about 8 years now, so maybe they'll try making something a bit more mature in the near future. We can only hope.

Whatever the future does hold for us, you can be pretty sure a jousting set and wall with a siege weapon will be a part of the next castle line.