Castle 2013

[Spartikis]

Kingdoms was way better

[starr]

Kingdoms was way better

Why?

[tytanium]

Picked up 70400 and 70401 today. Going to build em with my nephew. It's an affordable set from the looks of it. Castle is back!

[Darth Lego]

The Castle theme in general is really under-the-radar. What do you guys/gals think about this theme? Will these new sets help it or bring it down?

[steelmelt]

The Castle theme in general is really under-the-radar. What do you guys/gals think about this theme? Will these new sets help it or bring it down?

 

This Castle series is a loser compared to the last one and Kingdoms.  They are plain and boring.

[CNH1974]

As castle is back, should we be stocking up on the remaining Kingdoms sets like 10223 Knights Joust?

[Ronda]

The Castle theme in general is really under-the-radar. What do you guys/gals think about this theme? Will these new sets help it or bring it down?

Hopefully they plan to make several big sets besides that castle, sorta like Medieval Market or Kingdoms Joust or even Village Raid.   For now I don't see any new Castle set I'd love to buy right away.  They are ok, but nothing outstanding as for me.  I'll wait.

 

 

As castle is back, should we be stocking up on the remaining Kingdoms sets like 10223 Knights Joust?

I'm saving money for it.  Hope they will not retire it too soon.  It's still "available now" on Lego.com, and the Chess set is too.

[JoshTX]

Historically the Castle and Kingdoms sets have been investment winners. But this year's sets are really uninspired. I'm curious to see what else they release.

[Lateral-G]

The new King's Castle looks rather nice IMO...

[Guest ph4tb0i]

I think the newer stuff markets nicer to kids. 

[Ronda]

I think the newer stuff markets nicer to kids. 

Hmm... why?

 

I think from kids' point of view this Castle line is probably as good as any one - the Kingdoms, the other Castle...  May be a dragon is a nice addition, comparing to Kingdoms.

[pkieu87]

I have both the Kingdoms and the new Castle.  I actually picked up 3 new castles at ~$75, which I wouldn't mind reselling at retail.  For me, keeping it for myself isn't that bad either because of the sheer amount of pieces and that the castle is easily expandable.  I could always just give it to my kids in the future.

 

In my opinion, I think Lego is very smart in its design and targeting kids.  But as for as investing go, I don't think we will benefit as much.

Here's why:

Kids will love this set.  I can see it already.  Some people here may not see it since they are older, but I can see how kids would love it.  They are more easily impressed w/ bright colors, the faces are more expressive, and the playability of the set is very high (the catapult is quite impressive, for example).  Kids who like lego or like medieval-themed things will be writing this down on their Christmas list.  As parents know, when kids want something, they will usually get it quickly.  Thus, a higher concentration of it will be sold in stores in a shorter period of time (probably before the set retires).

 

Investors do not gain profit from a set unless they got it from a sale or if the set retires.  In the case of this castle, by the time it retires, the market will probably have saturated.  Even if there are kids who want it in the future after the set retired, there probably will be a lot of used sets out there they could choose from.

 

I can see the only way an investor could gain from this set is:

1. They got it at a discount and reselling it at slightly below retail (low profit)

2. So much demand from kids during holidays that stores actually sell out (including Lego store, but I highly doubt it)

3. Lego castle completists who must own every castle set (small market)

4. Adult AFOLs who want to get it for their kids in the future (unpredictable)

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

old castle > kingdoms > new castle > 1-ply toilet paper > Chima

 

I don't know man, have you ever wiped your butt with Chima? It works.

[Ronda]

Kids will love any castle available at the moment. There is no way to compare side by side and choose for them.  It's probably gonna be the only castle they see and have unless their parents are collectors or the kids fell in love with this theme for LONG time.   Bright colors?  You meant red < blue?  Catapult?  The Kingdoms had them as well.  Brighter box may be?

[Diabolos80]

Kingdoms= chrome gold crown. Castle=pearl gold crown.

Kingdoms wins.

[Spartikis]

Why?

I just loved the lion knights! the silver, gold and red combo combined with the print on the figures made for some awesome minifigs. The new dragons soldiers are pretty terrible looking imo.The sets themselves arent really much different, same basic castle, carriage, tower, etc... the onthing that cant be beat with the new series is the dragon, i always wanted one but didnt want to pay the outrages aftermarket prices, ill def be getting that set for sure.

[@rtisan]

Kingdoms= chrome gold crown. Castle=pearl gold crown.

Kingdoms wins.

That about says it 

[El Guapo]

My son is 5. He can build pretty well for his age (I think). I have the Kingdoms Joust (no way could he build this) and the new King's Castle. He built alot of that himself, except the drawbridge/portcullis part.

 

Just trying to think like a huge corporation, but the LOTR/Hobbit was probably too old of an age range, so they asked their designers to come up with some Castles for the younger demographic. Makes sense to me. It's not as if the builders/designers regressed or anything.

[Diabolos80]

I've built most of the Kingdoms sets recently, including King's Carriage, King's Castle, Prison Tower Rescue, and Mill Village Raid. They are all awesome. I'd never built any Lego castle sets before, and I really enjoyed the experience. And they look supercool when you set them up all together.

[Alcarin]

Thing is Kingdoms look way more ''realistic''  figures are less fantasy more medieval. Also the colors are way more toned down and less sharp (castle 2013 blue is just cutting my eyes!)

 

Overall Kingdoms were almost on LOTR/Hobbit level in terms of age and all other factors at LEGO

 

Castle 2013 is more of entry level.

[redeemed763]

I don't see what all the negativity is about for this year's castle themes, I know kingdoms were a slam dunk and top of the theme, however, I don't see how this fares much differently than any of the other castle years. 

[TheOrcKing]

Has anyone else come across reviews for any of the other sets for Castle 2013? So far The Brick Fan is the only person to review any of these at all.

[JoshTX]

Has anyone else come across reviews for any of the other sets for Castle 2013? So far The Brick Fan is the only person to review any of these at all.

 

I wonder how these are selling. Maybe poor sales due to uninspired builds are leading to lack of interest to review. Seems like a train wreck of a theme in my area. Kids hover around Chima, City, and Star Wars, but these sets linger in my local area. I wonder what happened, when I was a youngster, Castle was the thing. But it might be more that the sets are crappy than it is that kids are over the medieval stuff.  

[Darth Lego]

Has anyone else come across reviews for any of the other sets for Castle 2013? So far The Brick Fan is the only person to review any of these at all.

I have not. I've looked on Eurobricks and Brickset and I didn't see any reviews on either.

These sets were recently stocked at the stores around me, (in the last two weeks), so I don't really know how well they are selling around me. I wonder if the Castle theme isn't interesting enough to kids these days. (Castle related items used to be popular when I was younger.)

[TheOrcKing]

I wonder how these are selling. Maybe poor sales due to uninspired builds are leading to lack of interest to review. Seems like a train wreck of a theme in my area. Kids hover around Chima, City, and Star Wars, but these sets linger in my local area. I wonder what happened, when I was a youngster, Castle was the thing. But it might be more that the sets are crappy than it is that kids are over the medieval stuff.

I have not. I've looked on Eurobricks and Brickset and I didn't see any reviews on either.

These sets were recently stocked at the stores around me, (in the last two weeks), so I don't really know how well they are selling around me. I wonder if the Castle theme isn't interesting enough to kids these days. (Castle related items used to be popular when I was younger.)

I realize there still is a good number of this year's sets without reviews but it is surprising the list of ones lacking anything yet the entire line of Coast Guard and Galaxy Squad have plenty of reviews already and most of those are from before they were even in stores. Then again, those are more popular than the current Castle offerings. Between Lord of the Rings and Castle, there is no competition. Lord of the Rings wins by a landslide which is a bummer in a way. I would like to see something original and great come back to the fold.

And I agree, when I was a kid, Castle was the theme. Now I'm not even worried about if and when I purchase these latest sets. If I do, I do. If I don't, I won't lose any sleep over it.