Kev wrote:I speculate that the current castle line will die off in 2011 with maybe a couple small new sets, and will be replaced with licensed sets from the upcoming Hobbit movie in late 2011/2012.
From my observation, Lego has a standered followed by most themes: A intruductory line of 5-10 sets, A second line of 3-4 sets, And a Third line again with 5-10 sets with new characters/minifigures/story over a span of 3 years.
Example: Atlantis had a line of 9 sets, a second line of 5 sets, and is in middle of a third third line which has 5 more sets, 2 of which are unavailable in Canada and U.S. ( Cited from Brickipedia)
Therefor I would assume that Kingdoms would end in late 2012 or early 2013. As for Hobbit lego, TLC has never been able to get a license for LOTR despite thousands of requests and I don't see (If made by the same company - IDK) that they would get a license for The (drasticly behind, over budget) Hobbit. Even if they did, it would be a individual theme. TLC wouldn't get away with replacing Lego Castle.