I have to admit...

[jakelongdragon]

Well I was too young for the older sets so I can't compare. But I like the new stuff and the LOTR feel to it.

The way I figure it is if you get tired of the skeletons or the orcs you can trade them with someone else or sell them on ebay. There's plenty of ppl who likes them. But the main stuff like the soldiers and the castle and the catapults are really great and nice looking.

I think if they added a few more minifigs to the mix to have villagers like
- blacksmiths
- peasants
- archers (not just crossbowmen)
- pages and squires

and their tools and equipments then you have more choices.

Also it would be nice if they had King Arthur type stuff like a sword in the stone and a Round table. But that's just me.

[Quickblade22]

I absolutely love the color scheme of the new sets. The old sets have a nostalgia to them that will never be replaced, but the new sets make me think that if I were just coming into the hobby, I could hardly be dissappointed. Set design is not really a big issue with me anyway. The whole point of having pieces in a set is so that you can make alternate things. I'm a huge fan of the fantasy genere, and I think thus far Lego has given us some outstanding things to fuel that part of my imagination. These are things that I've wanted for years. Having non-violent (or as I like to call it, civilian sets) is also a desire of mine. I think there is an equal interest amoung members here to see both types of sets. I am hoping that after this run, we will see some sets based on regular life in Medieval times. There can still be action involving a squire and his knight, or an inn or taveren. I do hope this line runs longer though, enough to give us more fantasy based stuff like elves, but then soon switching over to a more classic like era. Creator sets give me hope for the best of both worlds, and also the hope that I will not drown in the tears of those that do not like this wave of Lego Castle.

[Aliencat]

I agree with QB here, I love the new line. But either way, Lego marketing research shows them that kids really want action in a set, whether or not someone on some forum "has to admit" they don't like it.
Seriously though, a new civilian set may come up, now that we've seen the maiden minifigure. I'm getting the idea the new Fantasy Era line is doing a lot better than KK2 and the Vikings as far as sales go. At least people's responses are better, unlike KK2. And there is a second (and third) line, unlike Vikings.
We all like the classics better but that's what they are, classics, they tried bringing them back in the Legends series, but those didn't seem to sell as well as expected, so they're not going to bring the Legends back again. This is the now, and I think the Fantasy Era line is a huge leap forward from basically anything after 1993, as far as set design, fig design, etc goes.

[DaleDVM]

Ditto on Quickblade and Aliencats remarks, especially about the great color schemes. As far as set design goes Kings castle siege holds up very well compared to old castle sets. The part selection is great and has no more poop parts than did some of the best classic castle sets. The dwarf mine is an incredible set unlike anything lego has done before. I also feel that the smaller sets: crossbow attack, catapults, and siege towers have a much, much, much better design than the classics. Really take a look at those old battering rams and catapults they put out every year. Set them up side by side. This incarnation is da shiznit.

If people do not like the fantasy line due to the figures. I can understand that. The skeletons are a posing nightmare. I don't really like the zany sets like the battle wheel myself. It is easy to pick and choose amongst the sets to get more classic models however. I applaud lego loudly for the last two years. Keep up the good work!

I think we are all going to be pleasantly surprised by some sort of civilian set. They didn't make the barmaid and jester figures just for the advent calender.

[Tower of Iron Will]

For someone that had the legendary Yellow Castle as a kid I have something from all the different factions over the years. That's a lot of different factions. I loved the human versus human of the Lion vs Black Falcon sets of the eighties, but always new that there was something missing. Having a D&D and LOTR background, I always wanted something more than just the human vs. human conflicts. Finally after all these years the wait is over. Fantasy factions such as the Skeletons are here.

For each new faction there is a "bonding" period where I start to develop a background story and then start to buy the sets in earnest. For some factions this takes a while, for some like the Crown faction it didn't take too long. The color schemes of the torsos; gray, royal blue, and some black are a nice change. This is in contrast to the Skeleton faction, which is easily an "evil" faction. For me there is a lot of room to work with in setting up the Skeleton faction. Hoards of undead armies with undead commanders...

For those that don't like the fantasy elements just sell them to those that do like Jake the long dragon suggests. I think those that like the fantasy elements have been waiting too long for LEGO to come around.

Castle civilian sets would be appreciated, even if it just one new set every two years.
-Tower

[LordZode]

Well, my first castle as a kid was King's Castle (6080), so I am probably a bit biased in that the new King's Castle Siege is similar in being four walls around a floorless area, although KCS does have the fantastical structure at the rear (but also cool doors and pillars).

The Skeleton Tower is only a facade (no real interior or rear) but it is absolutely awesome. Even without modding it's an amazing entrance to one's own custom black evil castle.

Dwarves Mine is the platforms and pillars arrangement, but it works. It gives the feel of a structure built against the rock face, and certainly has the impression that it could be expanded. Absolutely fantastic figs and accessories.

The Troll Siege Tower is really impressive - kind of warhammer-ish or something. While I don't entirely agree with having both factions in all sets, it is nice to have a little tower. After all, the old siege tower set (which I also had as a kid) had a little section of wall.

The little sets from 07 are mostly well thought out and a nice variety - the catapult is flawless (down to the cute little barracade), the joust is great for the two knights, the skeleton prisoner carriage is fantastic value.

Mostly all the sets now are a well balanced mix of tiny parts, ordinary bricks and slopes, plates, custom parts, and large parts (rock, pillars, etc.). The prices we pay haven't gone up in years - indeed you get more parts than ever. Lego was hideously priced when I was a kid, no matter how awesome it was.

Folks may complain about the technic, but the "features" are pretty neat. Fun for kids, and inspiring for ones own construction. I think really people should just give it a go to make their own features in MoCs. I think it is far better to have a bit of technic in ordinary sets than to rely on technic sets. I never liked plain technic, but I like being able to use some bits for operating mechanisms and features in my constructions.

I think people overly mysticise the old sets - they had their charm but they were just as unrealistic in other ways as recent sets. They may have had less large pieces than new sets, but on the other hand they were a bit more basic with less detail than some new sets. In many ways the newer sets are more of a challenge - both in building and MoCing. Maybe AFOLs don't like huge instruction books that have just a few pieces each step, and modular construction, but those have allowed Lego sets to become more complicated and detailed again, as anyone can build them without Lego having to resort to juniorisation - it will just take some people longer.

I agree with you.

Also, if you take out the 3 Trolls from the Dwarves mining, it IS a large non/combat set.

The advent calender also has several civilians.

[Aliencat]

Also, if you take out the 3 Trolls from the Dwarves mining, it IS a large non/combat set.

And if you take the blue lights off of 7241 it's a red jeep...

[LordZode]

Also, if you take out the 3 Trolls from the Dwarves mining, it IS a large non/combat set.

And if you take the blue lights off of 7241 it's a red jeep...

My point was that unlike a castle full of soldiers or a catapult or battle wagon, a large mine with lots of mining... blacksmithing.. and other industrious work is not combat oriented.

[Count Blacktron]

Before the Fleshie Invasion and the Great Bley Controversy I purchased heavily from other themes that contained generic looking torsos, heads and hat/hair elements for the creation of a large standing peasant population. Star Wars, Pirate, some Town, Wild West and others held all the people I needed to fuel King Leo's need for more goods and finery with their various labours and crafts. Alas, these days it is not so easy to cross themes and create your peasants and merchants and I have heard and seen many more threads across the internet crying for the need of a proper class of serfs and servants to protect/pillage. Once upon a LEGO set, 'twas the greatest of ease for which to pillage a village; now in these hard times the Kingdom has been over-run by monsters and the dead for the battles have driven off many of the common folk.

Combat is fine, but it needs to move across a farm field, through the streets of the market and burn down a few mills and taverns in the process. Then, and only then can you have a peasant revolt as they take up their torches and PITCHFORKS!!

[Sir Kohran]

its vastly superior. They are using more basic brick, there are normal soldiers, no rainbow knights, and the Kings castle siege does have resemblance to a real castle, unlike KK2s awful "castle".

If it wasn't for KK2's success I doubt you would have the current sets at all. KK2 was the first Castle line in many years to have genuine success; it was that success that allowed Castle to come back.

Anyway the new sets do have their flaws - the endless waves of stereotyped monsters are a bit boring after a while and I find all the chrome and silver stuff a little too 'glitzy' in the sets, and the 'good humanoid species vs evil ugly species' mentality is a little disappointing, but overall I think they are very good sets.

[Jibbajaba]

..I really don't like the new castle sets. It's all fighting and fantasy. Yes, there was fighting in the middle ages, but there were commoners too. And I'm just not liking the skeletons and orcs and I don't really have an opinion on the dwarves. The new castles don't seem like castles to me. There's too many pearl/metallic pieces for my liking and too many big specialized pieces.

I much prefer sets prior to 1997. Anyone else with me?

Yes.

I started buying and playing with Lego in 1988, and along with Futuron space sets, I immediately got into Castle. My first Castle set was a birthday present, and was the Black Monarch's Castle. For the next 4-5 years, I probably bought or had given to me almost every Castle set released. I went into a dark age after that (sometime before the Dark Forest line came out), which I didn't come out of until about a year or year and a half ago. I missed the whole KK and KK2 thing, but I have seen some of the sets for sale at places like Kay-Bee Toys outlets, and they certainly are appalling. I definitely see the new sets as a vast improvement, but if they had come out right after the awesome sets of the late 80's and early 90's, they would have been seen as a pretty big step backwards by a lot of people.

I certainly don't hate everything about them, and I have bought more of the sets than I haven't, but they just leave me with an empty feeling. I buy them just because I want to buy a new Lego set, but after I buy them I just shrug my shoulders and wonder why I didn't just keep my money. I agree with everything the OP said. Too many pearly pieces, metallic pieces, big pieces, I don't like the plastic that the weapons are made out of now, I don't like the plastic that the bricks are made out of now, I hate bley, and I don't much care for the skeletons and the trolls.

All of that negativity being said, I have to admit that I absolutely love the dwarves. I think that they would have fit in well in the classic sets, right along with the forestmen and wolfpack. The only thing that bothers me is that the only way to get the dwarves is to either buy the Dwarves' Mine set (which I bought but don't care for because I don't like the pieces that it is made out of), or to buy the Dwarves' Mine Defender, in which case I have to buy two trolls and yet another cart just to get one dwarf. I already bought two advent calendars, but I can't get any more because Lego, in their infinite wisdom, decided that North Americans don't need free access to such an awesome set. I could buy the giant Chess set, but there is really nothing there that I want aside from the dwarves, so it is hardly worth the $200 from my perspective (although I will admit that on the whole that is a sweet set. There just isn't anything else there that *I* need.)

I think my main problem is that I basically wasn't buying Lego sets for about 15 years, and if you look at all the changes that were made between 1992 and 2007, it's a pretty stark contrast. I will always look at the era of the Black Falcons, Crusaders, Forestmen, Wolfpack, and Black Knights as the golden age of Castle Lego, and in my eyes nothing will ever measure up to that. We are lucky that we live in a time where you pretty much have access to anything you want to buy. It doesn't really matter that I don't like the current Lego sets (with the exception of the City line, which gets better every year) because with places like eBay, Bricklink, Craigslist, and Lego forums, the older sets and pieces that I love are readily available.

Chris

[Richie]

I only buy the new sets as partspacks and army builders. Useful figs and pieces, but not as good as the '80s - early '90s sets. I hate the skeletons, dwarfs and orcs.

But the new sets are better than KK.

[MarioDAlessio]

I think it gets to what type of collector of castle Lego you are, some here like to build Mocs and see all sets as pieces others like to chop up and paint to customise while others just want to own a sample or complete collection of opened/unopened boxes.

Then there are those in the army building stage.

Now most importantly Lego IMO should be aimed primarily at children, the sets I value highly contain lots of playability (a mini universe of possibilities). I think it’s easy to be nostalgic about the great sets of the past without seeing whats good like now. Good more recent value for money sets in this category include:

Royal King's Castle
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=10176-1

King's Castle Siege
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=7094-1

I was quiet happy to pass on many sets in the KK2 range and have no regrets, if you dont like the fantasy era sets just wait until this phase of castle has passed.

I think many will look back at the current range especially the 2007 sets as another golden age of castle.

Now because of space considerations I collect in two ways:

1. Select castle Lego sets MISB, I have the entire KK1 and Fantasy Era collections, had I been in this frame of mind earlier I would have liked to have collected the Forestmen or Dark Forrest ranges.

2. Good value for money sets (including non-castle sets, like designer sets) when available to build tudor MOCs and obtain minifigures.

3. Bricklink & Lego Factory to build my Mocs.

So I am building up a select cabinet say a trophy cabinet of what I consider the best of Lego Castle sets MISB and my best Mocs & copies of others I admire highy say James Brink (Butchers shop & AtilliatorShop) and Dan Sisking (Cross Road Inn) built up also over a number of years.

I am happy that castle Lego explores many aspects of the broad possiblities of the castle theme, I really enjoyed ninjas, samurais and Vikings.

I see the fantasy era the same as in the past when the castle theme was expanded to include forestmen and Wolfpack. Those sets only ever included a single female, I think where up to about 4 with the current theme (2 each in the advent calender and chess sets).

Regards
Mario

PS I hope that their will be an elf range.

[LordZode]

Royal King's Castle
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=10176-1

What a great set, I went back and picked it up after Fantasy Era brought me out of my Dark Age.

It does have alot of pieces and playability for the price!