CAI is my hero - awesome pic... I didn't know that there were so many fans of the Crusaders! One vote behind the "Black Knights" - which is actually the Black Knights and Black Falcons together - Crusaders rock!
Knight Templar
n. pl. Knights Templars or Knights Templar
1.A member of an order of knights founded about 1118 to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land during the Second Crusade.
I have a theory concerning the popularity of the Lion Knight's (Crusaders) as opposed to the Black Falcons, Black Knight's, etc.
Of course, this is only a theory... In my opinion, the Lion Knight's were always pitched as the good guys. There may not have been an official story line, but the Lion Knight's consisted of brighter colors (reds and yellows) and of course, the Lion itself is the noble king of its territory (didn't you ever see the movie "The Lion King"?).
Conversly, the Black Falcons and Black Knight's both had the words "Black" in their faction title. Everyone knows that the color black is associated with bad or evil, which is why infamous times, days, or things get the word "black" tagged in front, such as Black Thursday, the Black Plague, black hearted, and so fourth. They also consisted of mainly darker colors. The Falcon is a bird of prey, and the dragon was the enemy in many folk tales. This would hint that these were the "evil" factions.
Now, anyone who has ever seen the original Star Wars trilogy KNOWS that the Empire is the "evil" side, yet everyone is drawn to them. You don't see groups of people who dress up like the rebels, but there are a ton of people who want to dress up like stormtroopers. Darth Vader was evil, and yet popular.
Its all about reverse psychology. People are drawn to the faction which is supposed to be "the bad guys". The good guys aren't necessarily hated; they just don't have the cool factor and thus take a back seat.
I do like the Lion Knight's, but they just don't stand out as much to me as the other, darker, more evil factions do.
"A chair like this is like a girlfriend! Why would you trade in an old one that's comfortable for a new one that could be a pain in the butt?" -Archie Bunker-
I've been thinking that perhaps the Crusader's popularity, at least with the kids I used to play with in the States, was due in part to images of Richard the Lionheart and other such English heroes as purely "good". We recognized the falcon as more of a Germanic symbol, and we didn't connect the same way since medieval German heroes aren't exactly household names to the average American 8 year-old. I'm not sure if anyone else felt this way, but we all had the same 1992 catalog that we drooled over constantly. Right there in the catalog it talked about how they were the bravest knights in the land and so forth. The Black Falcons, although well liked among my friends, never had any sort of grand purpose, which made them sort of "the other guys". They sure look cool, though.
Dragonlord Esq. wrote:I've been thinking that perhaps the Crusader's popularity, at least with the kids I used to play with in the States, was due in part to images of Richard the Lionheart and other such English heroes as purely "good". We recognized the falcon as more of a Germanic symbol, and we didn't connect the same way since medieval German heroes aren't exactly household names to the average American 8 year-old. I'm not sure if anyone else felt this way, but we all had the same 1992 catalog that we drooled over constantly. Right there in the catalog it talked about how they were the bravest knights in the land and so forth. The Black Falcons, although well liked among my friends, never had any sort of grand purpose, which made them sort of "the other guys". They sure look cool, though.
Actually, from my experience I think the Black Falcons are generally more popular with fans than either the Crusaders or the Black Knights. Just look at the number of castles on brickshelf which are inhabited by the Black Falcons. This poll would look very different if the Black Falcons were featured!
The Crusaders were the my main faction when I was young, only because they came with the larger sets and easily outnumbered my Black Falcons. That didn't make them heroic though. I always had assumed that most of the factions resided in the same country, as neither the Crusaders or the Black Falcons had their own King. If I had more Black Falcons than Crusaders, they would have been my main faction. For me, it really was that simple
(Besides, the Black Falcons, Crusaders and Black Knights all get along when putting the hurt on the Forsetmen! )
This poll would look very different if the Black Falcons were featured!
So true Blue and White!!
The BF's are one of the most popular factions ever, and there fortress is a legend. If they were in this poll, I think that the results would be very different because without them some of us are voting for our number two pick!!
My take on this is that a lot of AFOLs were born in the late 70s so they grew up playing with the Castle sets in the 80s and early 90s - i.e. lion knights, black knights, crusaders...
(what the - the lion knights are classified under "LEGOLAND Castle" on LUGNet)
The rest is censored.
This picture series is from when the Guarded Inn Legend was freshly released and I only had a poor camera. Though the trashy look of the pics is quite suitable for this pulp.
Gumby wrote:My take on this is that a lot of AFOLs were born in the late 70s so they grew up playing with the Castle sets in the 80s and early 90s - i.e. lion knights, black knights, crusaders...
Yes of course. There is no second chance for the first impression. The first knights I owned were *cough* Lion Knights (6022, 6040), and the first castle was the Black Falcons' 6073.
Gumby wrote:(what the - the lion knights are classified under "LEGOLAND Castle" on LUGNet)
Yeah, the classifications in the Lugnet database are flawed. Not only in the Castle section.
Bye
Jojo
This is just the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put. Winston Churchill