As one of the original minifigure themes, the LEGO Castle theme has a history with many Adult Fans: initially as an item of childhood joy, and subsequently as a nostalgic call back to simpler times. While the regular Castle playsets dwindled into nothingness almost a decade ago, their legacy has been revisited through 2022’s 10305 Lion Knight’s Castle, as well as a number of Gifts with Purchase: 40567 Forest hideout along with 40601 Majisto’s Magical Workshop.
10193: Medieval Market: The Largest Castle Set
But before the great Castle Renaissance of recent years, the largest castle set (by number of pieces) was 10193 Medieval Market. With 1601 pieces, this set from 2009 was the largest castle set released prior to the 10305 (with 4514 pieces). If we include surrogate castle themes such as the inital Hobbit and Lord of the Ringssets, and (if you dare) Nexo Knights, it outsized only by the Tower of Orthanc. Harry Potter might be considered another surrogate castle theme, but only the larger Diagon Alley sets, along with the microscale builds of Hogwarts have more pieces than 10129 Medieval Market.
7189 Mill Village Raid
Suffice to say, for many years, this has been one of the largest Castle sets, embodying the civilian aspects of medieval life. Prior to this, we had the occasional blacksmith, and tavern, and subsequently the not infamous 7189 Mill Village Raid – part of 2011’s Kingdoms line up , this civilian farm had the opportunity to be overrun by the Dragon Knights (who seem a little different to those depicted in the early 1990s.
This is of course the one and only set that previously brought us the LEGO Goat. Just why we never saw another goat for years remains the subject of speculation – the official line is that the mould was ruined- although the relative scarcity did allow for profiteering and investment, with the iconic animal rarely fading into obscurity, of only because of outlandish behaviours on the secondary market. Tes – thats right, over $100 for a Goat.
The Role of Collectable Minifigures in keeping our Castles Populated
Now, while the 10305 Lion Knight’s Castle brought us a ‘proper’ castle set, fans have never really be left alone, with Collectable minifigures revisting some aspect of medieval life with almost every one of the numbered sets over the year.
Ultimately, series 25 brought forth great cries of excitement from The People with the arrival of the Goat herd, as well as the reimagined Bat-Lord. The Goatherd brought us a new remoulded goat – this time with unprinted sided.
The LEGACY/ICONS castle range has included Lion Knights, Black Falcons, Forestmen, and Dragon Knights. In collectable minifigures, we can add Fright Knights( Fright Knight in Series 19, along with the Vampire Knight in 2024) , along with a Wolf pack Rogue, wayback in 2016.
The Big Reveal: 10332 Medieval Town Square
And so it is into this Millieu that the latest LEGO ICONS set is announced: the 10332 ICONS Medieval Town Square. With 3304 pieces, 8 minifigures and a newly minted Grey Goat this set will be released on the 1st of March 2024.
The model features two large structures that open to reveal detailed interiors, including a tavern, cheese factory, shield-painting workshop, guard tower, woodworking shop, and weaving workshop. There is also a tree and vendor stall in the town. There are also functional features including a crane and a small water mill.
The Minifigures
We see the weaver, wood worker, the cheese maker, the shield artistthe barmaid/landlady as well as the local noble… tax collector and a lion knight. But wait… who is that sneaking around the edges? could it possibly the return of the wolf pack? Oh yes.. there is a Dark Stone Grey Goat!
Return of the Wolf Pack
The Wolf Pack – a gang of ruffians have not been seen in full since the Rogue in Series 16 Minifigures, and they have seen a significant upgrade since their original appearance back in the 1990s.
Tribute to the Yellow Castle Era
Looking further into life in the village, I love the tapestry and the tribute it pays to the original yellow Castle sets from 1978-79:Including the iconic cypress trees.
From the outset, castle sets, and castle builders have been at the forefront of developing new techniques for architectural detail as well as landscaping, and you can see how the design of these thatched roofs has evolved since the days of the Medieval Market, where simple, long 45º slopes would do the job.
The increased parts usage can be seen, in part, in the level of detail in the roof, as well as the overall structure and surrounding landscape – something which is developed significantly in theis new set compared with the 10193 Medieval Market.
Here is a closer look at the tavern in the older set, compared with the new version. As I rebuilt the bed, every reddish brown 1×1 tile I touched split in half… so glad we are past this era of brittleness…
It is an interesting exercise in looking at the evolution of building techniques employed in this type of set, as well as the evolution of the LEGO colour palette over the past 15 years.
I am excited to see this set in real life, and I expect it will be the launchpad for a number of medival MOCs that will spring up over the next few years. The presence of the LIONs Knight in this set suggests that this vilage might be under the watchful eye of the the castle released in 2022, and I suspect that, side by side, they will form a formidable display.
The set will be priced at $229.99 / £199.99/ €229.99/399.99 AUD/1999 CNY/93990 HUF/299.99 CAD/5499 MXN, and will be available at LEGO.com on March 1 2024.
I love the way this set captures the look and feel of a contemporary Castle Construction, using increasingly specialised techniques to capture the details in ways that would not have been considered 15 years ago. This detail, in combination with new figures (and of course the goat) all contribute to making this set one to look out for in MArch – particularly if Castle is your thing
What do you think of this set? Is it a fitting sequel to 10129? How about as a companion piece to 10305? Why don’t you leave your comments below!
You can keep up to date with the Rambling Brick on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr (or just sign up for our mailing list) and find some extra content on Instagram and TikTok. And feel free to share this post with anyone who might be interested…
Until Next Time,
Play Well!
I will definitely be getting this set. I never had a LEGO Castle set growing up in the 80’s; my toys were mostly Star Wars and toy cars. But my brother and I used to play Crossbows and Catapults, a game where two people build castles out of plastic bricks and then use projectiles to try to knock them down. We also went to UK twice in the 80’s to visit family but we also went to several castles and cathedrals in England and Scotland and my brother collected figures from everywhere we went. Fast forward to about 10 years ago when I was still in a dark age (and Castle was no longer an active theme) but my kids were toddlers who had big building blocks and the first things they built were castles.
So I have nostalgia for castles even though I never owned a LEGO set related to the Castle theme until I got the Medieval Blacksmith Ideas set. I initially wasn’t going to get that set, but I did and it is now one of my favorite sets ever. I have since gotten the Lion Knights Castle set and the Creator 3-in-1 castle set and I am very excited to get to experience this theme (despite my many years of life experience).
Oh, my, Goodness……. A definite must have set, (not necessarily for the goat, I think the whole, ‘goat’ thing has been exploited to death – for my Castle MOC I have sheep, lots & lots of sheep – less expensive & fits in the theme), this is a nice looking set to fit into the village theme.