'09 Castle sets at the U.S. Toy Fair

[albero78]

These pictures give of course a better idea of the 2009 sets. At the same time I cannot hide my general disappointment.
I like better the bridge than the fortress but it will depend on the price. About the troll fortress I think it is the "style" that doesn't convince me that much: I would prefer something like MOCs I've seen posted here. Like this:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=347362

I think that this is the kind of troll building style I'd like to see in LEGO sets.

[Brik Masta]

I'm definately saving my money.

[timber_wolf899]

hum, so for some oddball reason i can't really see the troll fort well. annoying.

drawbridge looks much more substantial than i had suspected. While the bridge thing isn't exactly new, and the approach ramp is.......eh......the bridge tower i think is the best execution of said concept ever.

I wonder how modular both of these structures will be?

[DaleDVM]

I am very interested in that piece that makes up the catapult. Has anyone seen that before? I also will like the new flames and new color for the seaweed pieces. All that dark brown will come in handy for forests.

Note the large trolls are not in the pics. I wonder if the new printing on their armor is not set yet?

I think the gold knight looks great. I was worried he would look rainbowish but I don't see that at all. Mixing and matching his body parts will be a joy and then some.

Overall I am happy with these sets. A few too many exclusive figures for me to collect these in very large numbers however.

[Tower of Iron Will]

I like the figs obviously. Apparently a new cape as well... Honestly, I only buy sets for the parts anyways, so the build doesn't affect me much.

Same with me. I can't wait for the figures, especially the Orc Shaman, the Queen, and the golden knight. One more reason to haunt my local LEGO store with more LEGO Castle goodness for 2009.
-Tower

[Spongey]

These are pretty good. I'm still a bit iffy about the troll fotress; it has its good points (the nice gate) and bad (childish design). The gold knight will be absolutely awesome to lead an army, and the drawbridge is very solid. The figs are probably the best parts of these sets, and I'm looking forward to picking these up when they are released.

[Munchy]

TAUNTAUN!

TAUNTAUN!

*faint*

*edit1*

Ok. Now that I got that out of the way, I like the look of a lot of the sets. They look a bit more polished than some other images I've seen so I can only hope for more improvements before release.

CASTLE:
Things I like:
Golden Knight
Female Orc
Orc themed bases (love the drab green/brown colors. So useful for many other themes)
Another female in a dress
Large flames!

Things I don't like:
The sets seem small. Could be the images.
Lack of quantity of sets. Three?!?!?


Other Stuff:

Space Police - I like the look of the ships and look at all those alien heads
Star Wars - It's gonna be a good year! TAUNTAUN! Rebel's in Camo! Aliens! More Ewoks in different colors!

It's going to be a good year from me to LEGO.

*Edit2*
Am I the only one who saw LEGO Shriners when they saw the bad guys hat for the IJ Boat Sets?

[RichardAM]

It's a good thing we got the MMV first, because the new Castle sets look pretty disappointing.

What money I do have will be getting spent on the Pirate and City themes.

[Thor]

Does that Troll/King hero on the box have a gold Kings helm or do you think it's a new head piece? He's not wearing headgear in the pics so I'm wondering if there will be a newhelm? Also, the Mounted Knight on Horseback is not pictured....

I'm going to be tempted to buy both!

[Bruce N H]

I am very interested in that piece that makes up the catapult. Has anyone seen that before?

I assume you're talking about [url=http://peeron.com/inv/parts/44358]this piece:
[/url]
It's half of a ball-and-socket joint seen in several SW sets.

At the front of this space-hotrod there are some interesting new pieces:

that might be a new edged weapon.

Good fantasy helms here, especially that spiky one:


Mostly I'm excited about the new female figs, including new hairpieces, and that the jester will come down in price on Bricklink.

[KingDavid]

I'm not super impressed by the troll's fortress set, but the other three factions from the fantasy era have a home base, so it's about time the trolls had one, too. There may not be a lot of new elements included in it, either, but it appears as though there are a few in it that aren't found in the other recent Castle theme sets, so it's all good. I'm sure the U.S. price for this one will be $99.99, which is unfortunate. I'll probably get it, though, even at that price. But I think $79.99 would be a more appropriate price point.

As for Drawbridge Defense, I like it. And for $39.99, I'll buy it. No problem at all. After all, that's six minifigs I see there. I'm not as excited about it as some people are, because I already have the jester minifig. But I'll take another one. And I already have a skeleton reaper like that, too. But I don't have a queen.

[puddleglum]

Am I the only one who saw LEGO Shriners when they saw the bad guys hat for the IJ Boat Sets?

Just FYI it's called a fez. Personally I thought "How am I going to get it to stay on a monkey's head so I can make Abu?"

[rogue27]

I'm definately saving my money.

I'm saving my money too, but I think I mean it in a different way.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I do not like the direction the castle sets are taking. It's like how KK2 started out awful and slowly got better. These new sets started out all right and seem to be growing more gaudy and outlandish.

I realize they're going for a fantasy theme, and they've put out some of the best castle figures in ages, but the set designs still don't feel as tight as the stuff in the good ol' days. They all have a bulky and cluttered feel to them.

However, it's not all bad. The bridge set looks like it has a lot of good parts and figures, but the Jester seems kinda random. I also like the brick-built doors on the troll fort. I only wish they were non-symmetrical to give it a more chaotic look.

I hope there will be some smaller sets to go with these, but there's probably a limit on how many fantasy siege weapons/contraptions people are willing to buy.

Right now though, the Medieval Market is the only 2009 Castle set that's on my "must-buy" list. These others... we'll see when the time comes.

[burkey42]

I'll buy at least one of each (including the non-pictured chariot) to add to my unopened collection. I'll get two Market Villages and two Orc Fortresses but the others - not doing it for me!

[timber_wolf899]

Brick built gate is a huge plus. I've been wanting another one of these since the viking fortress! ah the viking fortress!

I think the designers are having a hard time being original within their design constraints? If so, it is a sure sign they need elves! haha