Castle

Bringing Myth and Magic to LEGO Castle: The System Years 1992-1999

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Last year, I started to explore the way in which the LEGO® Castle theme has developed over the years. In our first installment, we looked at some of the ‘Pre-minifigure’ Castle history and continued to look at the way the Castle theme developed during the period of LEGOLAND Branding (1978-1991). In particular, we saw the development of factions, advanced use of landscaping, compared to other themes and the development of multiple animal moulds.

But what happened next? We have previously seen that 1990s were a period of diversification of material in both the LEGO Town and Space themes, with an increased number of factions and sub-themes. I apologize to those who have been waiting patiently for the follow up to last year’s article: Let’s take a look to see what happens in the realms of the Castle themes during the SYSTEM era..

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When You Wish Upon A Star: 43222 Disney Castle Revamp Revealed.

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It feels just like last year when you could get a Disney Castle LEGO Set with over 4000 pieces and came with 7 minifigures. Wait, it was, and with classic iconic characters such as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Daisy, along with the signature Tinker Bell, and a random statue. Back at the time the set was released (September 2016), this was the first time we would see Tinker Bell in true minifigure form. And it has taken another 7 years before she would appear as a minifigure once more!

But we are not going to talk about that set much today (initially at least)

Instead, we are going to talk about a brand New Disney Castle, set to form the centerpiece of the 100 years of Disney Celebrations, in LEGO form. The minifigure selection Highlights Disney Princesses from across the years, including Snow White (her first time in minfigure form)and Prince Florian; Cinderella and Prince Charming; Princess Tiana and Prince Nareen; Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder. With 4837 pieces, the set is due for release on July 1 (VIPs) and July 4 (every one else). It is priced at £344.99/ €399.99/$399.99/8999.9 TRY/169990.0 HUF/3299.0 CNY/519.99 CAD/
599.99 AUD.

Now, as I implied earlier, the previous Castle was retired just 6 months ago. Does this set offer enough reasons to make chasing it down worthwhile, despite the increased price tag? Let’s take a closer look at the set, and perhaps compare what we know of the two. (And read the press copy along the way.)

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LEGO CON REVEALS: 10305 LEGO® Lion Knights’ Castle

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It seems like a lifetime ago that the LEGO Ideas fan vote took place, to select the theme for a 90th Anniversary, AFOL level build. It was a close call between the castle and Space themes, but this seems to be the grander of the two sets. With 4514 pieces and 20 minifigures, this set goes on sale to VIPs on August 3, with general release August 8. The set is aimed at an adult audience and will cost $399.99 / £344.99 / €399.99 /549.99 599.99 AUD/449.99 CAD.

If you are a fan of LEGO Castle, this has almost everything, and everyone: villagers, Black Falcons, Lion Knights, Forestmen a wizard and a queen. But no King! I wonder if there will be a realistic way to obtain one in the months to come?

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LEGO IDEAS® REVEALS MEDIEVAL SET STARRING THE UNSUNG HERO OF THE MIDDLE AGES – THE HONOURABLE BLACKSMITH [Announcement]

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A little over eighteen months ago, Clemens Fiedler’s LEGO® Ideas Submission ‘Medieval BlackSmith’ reached 10000 supporters on the crowd-sourcing platform. Finally, we can reveal the official details about this set. Last year, 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay saw classic Pirates given the LEGO Ideas/ AFOL Audience Treatment. This year, the 21325 Medieval Blacksmith sees the same treatment meted out on the Classic Castle/Medieval Market village style sets.

With 2164 pieces, and costing 149.99 USD/ 199.99 CAD 146.99 EUR / 134.99 GBP /249.99 AUD, this set will be released through LEGO Branded Retail on February 1st.

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Expanding LEGO® Super Mario: Bowser’s Castle Boss Battle

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This is the big one. The showdown. The final conflict.

The Boss Battle: After covering the rest of the LEGO Super Mario Expansion packs, we come to the final Boss Battle, with Bowser.

Mario has gone through a lot to get here: After getting Started, we passed the Piranha Plant Bower Slide, and crossed the river past the Boomer Bill Barrage. We visited Toad’s Village, and then had a little lie down in the hammock at Mario’s House. We have visited the Dungeons with Whomp’s Lava Trouble, as well as Thwomp’s Drop, We got to the Guarded Fortress, and visited the Haunted Yard. Finally the time has come to take on Bowser in the Bowser Boss Castle Battle!

This is the largest set in the range: while 71360: Adventures with Mario is the set that everyone will get, 71369: Bowser’s Castle Boss Battle is the set that many will want. Bowser is Mario’s nemesis, and leader of the turtle like Koopa race. And so it makes sense that the flagship set in the theme will involve LEGO Super Mario taking him down.

Even with all the wits and power ups at his disposal to, Mario will still need a little bit of luck to defeat Bowser.

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The Rambling Brick’s Advent-ure #8

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AS we continue Further and further into advent, we continue to look at short lived Advent Calendar themes.  While Castle has been a long standing theme since the beginning days of the Minifigure, it has not been an endless source of Advent Calendar based material.  this is a shame, as the daily development of accessories and stories works quite well in this context.

There have been two Castle themed Advent Calendars over the years: ‘Castle Advent Calendar 7979’ in 2008 and Kingdoms Advent Calendar 7952 from 2010

7979 Castle Advent Calendar – 1978

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Minifigure 40: Classic Castle [Advertising Archive]

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In recent weeks we have celebrated the 40th Birthday of the LEGO® Minifigure by looking at the ways in which print advertisements evolved over the years for City, trains and Space.  City had us building what we knew, Space let us look towards an optimistic future, and today, I would like to look at Castle. The knights of the LEGO Castle theme took us back in time. These were stories we already knew: King Arthur, Robin Hood, the Crusades, and now LEGO brought us a way in which to explore and reenact these stories our selves, in the comfort of our own home.

Once again, we visit advertising material from a number of different sources, predominantly European comics. I have had a bit more help with the translations here, as some of the concepts were too much for a simple machine translation engine… Read on and enjoy…

In the beginning:

Ad 1978_64
Build your own Knight’s Castle. Populate the Legoland castle with small funny colorful figures Just like at King Arthur’s time when Prince Valiant passed the Camelot drawbridge on his adventures.

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