Dear Castle Designers [Updated]

[The_Vanquished]

Where did the idea for the silver and gold parts come from?

[Kev]

Another question:

Why did you choose to give the king a Vikings torso under his armor? Did you develop a back story that this faction is composed of a later generation of Vikings after they had conquered a new land and settled down?

[Emp.Justinian]

Was the reason you discontinued Knight's kingdom a result of: too expensive, negative customer input, negative fan site input, you were just board with jellies, other?

Is this line going to last more than three years, and if it does will it delve further into the realms of fantasy with more mythological creatures for both factions, or one, or none?

Will their be a battle pack?

Are their going to be more factions?

God's speed

Emp.Justinian

[DARKspawn]

Thanks Ambassodor Ben! & Thanks to LEGO for some great sets My questions ...

Why were no plumes included for the Knights' helmets in the new line?

At this stage, does LEGO intend to continue this line, or will it be a short lived one like the Vikings theme?

[Brickzone]

Is there any prospect of a "mediaeval life" aspect to the Castle line? The poor innocent peasants caught between the undead and the knights, or being defended by the knights?

What precipitated the change in direction for the Castle theme compared to Knights Kingdom? i.e. the use of more simple bricks and traditional castle pieces (wall panels, arches and ordinary bricks)?

[Emp.Justinian]

Oh I forgot this:

What are those troll things in the side of the origional picture? Were they parts of sets that never made it, or a forsadowing of things to come? In the same vein what about the shadowy ship and aleged "army in shadows"

God's speed

Emp.Justinian

[Blueandwhite]

I'm wondering why you (the designers) chose a modular design for this year's castle? Was it the intention to allow for expansion in the future, or was this simply a feature added for play value?

Expanding on my question a bit, why did you (again the designers) elect not to use hinges for this castle. Previous castles from the 80s and early 90s incorporated hinges to allow walls to bend and create enclosed structures. Was there a reason this idea has not been used here?

[Donut]

I just have a generic question:

In the future will you create sets that branches from the medieval time period? As in will you create sets from other historical time periods such as the greeks, romans, etc.?

[architect]

I just have a generic question:

In the future will you create sets that branches from the medieval time period? As in will you create sets from other historical time periods such as the greeks, romans, etc.?

Designers are not allowed to take suggestions from fans about what products we would like to see. Please only ask questions about the current castle sets which were just released. Thanks.

Ben

[timber_wolf899]

My question has to do with the King's castle siege.

The two front towers are much like what we saw on classic castles. The back towers are very stilty and not nearly as well done. Was it part conservation or some other factor that lead to the open air back towers?

[Mikael-o]

My god, what a great read that was ... I find the marketing side of Lego fascinating, and it was great getting a peek at the design aspects of the line.

I'm dying to see these civilian sets they had prepared. Even if they're never released, a instuction book of these sets so we could build them from our own parts would be a nice gesture.

And the very special item for the end of 08? Any ideas? I'd hope for a big S@H Castle set a la Cafe Corner but I'm sure I'm dreaming ...

Kel.

[RichardAM]

This was a great Q&A process, and as Mikael noted, a really interesting look into Lego from beyond the toy shelves.

It's nice too that this new iteration of Castle is open-ended with plans for the future, I know myself i'm looking forward to future sets on the strength of this year's line-up alone, so hopefully they can keep the momentum!

Great work!

[Tedward]

I'm dying to see these civilian sets they had prepared. Even if they're never released, a instuction book of these sets so we could build them from our own parts would be a nice gesture.

This is where LEGO Factory and/or a new sort of "Idea Book" would work very well. They could release "virtual" sets using LEGO Factory by adding a few parts to the palette perhaps even creating a section like Modular Houses for castle.

What would be even cheaper for the company rather than having to re-tool LEGO Factory would be to create a new series of Idea books or booklets that focus on specific themes or even one model.

[jokkna]

nice I am looking forvard to next year.

[Kev]

Well I really enjoyed reading that article. Thank you very much for taking the time to read and answer our questions so thoughtfully.

As much as it pains me to admit it, I'm sure you are correct in believing that civilian sets would be relatively poor sellers. However I do have faith that you can create both attractive sets (guarded inns, farms under attack by marauding ghouls) that fit these parameters, as well as work out a system for selling them. After all, something like a mining set could be considered a civilian activity, until you throw in some trolls and arm the dwarves in the mine's defense! Likewise, there might find an angle with a farm or walled village being attacked by an exclusive beast such as the abovementioned trolls?

I'm really looking forward to the new sets - don't be afraid to throw out some cool new classic heraldry on a fig or two in an exclusive or limited set - we'll army build it anyway!