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This is an Idea I’m certain we’ve all thought of, but I figured that I would
try to put my ideas into words and pictures. It’s a Castle theme that I’ve
developed in my spare time.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31954
The main purpose of these designs was to try to put together a castle theme
that Lego could feasibly produce, and I would want to purchase. The first
area is fairly simple. I stuck with existing parts that are widely
available in retail or Lego Direct sets. No Retooling of molds or
commissioning new ones would have to take place. To make certain that the
sets could be sold at a reasonable price through the local retailer, I
determined a price per part index (for how this index was determined, see
the bottom of the page) and started building.
The second idea was a little more complex, but a lot more fun. Set’s I like
to purchase (and I think it’s fair to say the general public as well) are
generally strong in a few important areas: Play Value, Price per piece,
Unique parts, and Expandability.
This is only one years worth of sets that could be produced, many other
items could follow, because the possibilities really are endless.
Here are the pictures of the sets as well as brief descriptions of each, and
a piece count and MSRP. For more info on the witherfores and the why’s
continue on to the bottom.
Set 001
Gatehouse - 207 pieces - $19.99
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31962
The gatehouse is a designed to keep invaders out of the castle. Three brave
soldiers guard the entrance and operate the independently working drawbridge
and portcullis.
Outside the gate, the determined forces operate their battering ram, hoping
to get inside.
Set002
Princess tower - 252 Pieces - $24.99
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31958
This tall tower keeps the princess safe from the invaders. Two brave
soldiers guard the entrance. Play is a snap as the tower pops open to
reveal three chambers inside.
Set 003
Livery Stable - 220 pieces - $19.99 (.07 index)
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31964
Mounted knights can cover a lot of territory. In the stable, the Smithy can
give their horses excellent care. Protect your realm with this sturdy cavalry!
Set 004
Corner Tower -180 pieces - $15.99
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31955
The castle is protected by towers along the wall. Can the defenders hold
their position, or will the Black Knights climb the walls and force them
into the tower?
Upper and lower chambers inside the tower provide shelter from the weather
and the enemy.
Set 005
Battle Station - 68 pieces - $9.99
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31961
The fiercest soldiers do battle on the walls of the castle. Who will gain
the victory, The Crusaders or Black Knights? With the Battle Station,
expanding your empire is a snap.
Set 006
Catapult - 52 pieces - $6.99
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31959
The Black Knights are preparing their assault on the castle. The Catapult
hurls stones high over the walls. Two soldiers operate this attack machine.
Set 007
Dark Archer - 33 pieces $2.99
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31957
The Dark Archer fires a volley of arrows at enemy soldiers. Crossbows are
excellent supports for siege troops.
Set 008
NobleMan's Hall - 304 pieces - $29.99
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31966
The Nobleman's Hall is the place to enjoy dinner and ale, or sit and relax
by the fire. Includes the Nobleman, two soldiers, and 1 serf. Connect
Towers or walls to the Hall, or place it in the middle of your castle!
Set 009
Castle Pack - 995 pieces $95.00
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31965
A complete Guarded Castle and Siege Army, plus plenty of Bricks to Build
your Castle any way you like! Who will prevail, The Lions or the Dragons,
You Decide. Contains 1 Battle Station, 1 Gatehouse, and 4 Corner Towers.
The Greatest thing about these sets is that they are all compatible with
each other. Technic pins and pin hole blocks allow for instant
reconfigurations. The combinations you can create are nearly
inexhaustible. You can create castles as large or as small as you like. You
can amass armies, lay sieges, or design a medieval kingdom to your own
specs. Even if you hate these sets, there are more than enough pieces here
to build whatever kind of castle you want! This is a level of
interchangeability only hinted at by the Lego sets of the 1980’s
CONNECTIVITY OPTIONS
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31968
PLAY VALUE – If the set doesn’t look fun, who wants to buy it? The set gets
picked up or passed by based on how well it arouses consumer interest. Lego
sets that feature a man and a car are lame, sets with two men and two cars
create a day at the races. Opening doors, launching catapults, secret
entrances etc… make the model interesting after it is built. PICK UP A BOX
WITH PIRATES ON IT AND YOU ARE INTERESTED, PICK UP A BOX WITH A PIRATE
BATTLE ON IT, AND YOU START LOOKING FOR A PRICE TAG!
PRICE PER PIECE – If a Lego set costs 10 bucks and you get 10 parts (Jack
Stone, how I hate you!) you are not buying Lego, you are buying PlayMobil,
and the last time I checked PlayMobil and Lego were two different companies.
Playing your game is the best way to ensure your personal success, playing
someone elses game plays to their advantage.
The more parts you get, the more alternate models you can make, the more you
can enhance your existing creations, and it becomes easier to convince
Grammy and Gramps that this would be a good value at Christmas time.
Not many of us complained shelling out $100 U.S. on the Black Seas Barracuda
(we aren’t even complaining now) But none of us liked paying $ 100 U.S. for
the Red Beard Runner. WHEN YOU CAN JUSTIFY THE PRICE TAG, YOU START
DREAMING ABOUT THE PURCHASE.
UNIQUE PARTS – Even the most rational of us has walked into store displays
while making our way to the counter as we stare at the box, wondering about
all the things we could do with all those parts, “Three more Knights!” “If I
bought nine of these, I could….” WHEN YOU GET THE PARTS YOU WANT, YOU ARE
HAPPY.
EXPANDABILITY – I don’t know about you, but I get wired when I see the
possibility of creating a small little world within a theme. Gas stations
AND Car Dealerships, Pirate ships AND Harbors, adding to an existing world
is a lot more fun than not. Remember trying to figure out what to do with
your Knights’ Procession? IF you didn’t have 60 bucks for the castle too,
those guys just marched around your TV tray during Tom & Jerry untill
Christmas morning!)
I like to think that this is the direction the castle theme COULD have gone
in 1990, IF TLG had kept with their modular design scheme instead of moving
to the raised baseplate motif begun with the Kings Mountain Fortress. I
used the black knights and the crusaders, for illustrative purposes only,
any group (I’m partial to the falcons, I just don’t have a lot of them) or
groups could be used.
By keeping the parts basic, giving each model moving parts and multiple
features, keeping the line expandable, while maintaining a level of
affordability, I believe that it is entirely possible to produce sets that
will fly off of the shelves.
*The Price per parts index is as follows: Lego Direct has offered us the
Black Falcons Fortress, and the Guarded Inn for $.10 per part USD. (Thank
you, Thank you, Thank you!) This is well below the almost $.17-$.20 price
per part in their recent offerings. This low price point can be achieved
for many reasons, but chief among them is that nearly all of the R and D,
and packaging costs were already absorbed by the initial releases of the
product. In This case I have done all of the R and D, so achieving this
index is definitely feasible. The Larger pieces : Walls, Corners, etc. keep
the index in the point tens range.
TLG themselves have given us Daniel Siskind’s brilliant Blacksmith’s Shop
at an unheard of $.07 pricing index, this appears to be because Daniel did
all of the R and D, and used small parts almost exclusively. Smaller parts
cost less.
The sets I’ve designed that use wall pieces and large baseplates are
generally calculated at a 10 cent index and the ones built using only small
parts are calculated using the 6 cent index.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
In lugnet.announce.moc, Jon Furman writes:
> TLG themselves have given us Daniel Siskind’s brilliant Blacksmith’s Shop
> at an unheard of $.07 pricing index, this appears to be because Daniel did
> all of the R and D, and used small parts almost exclusively. Smaller parts
> cost less.
Then why do they keep giving us BURPy-LURPy parts? Drive me crazy...
Jon, I really like all of your sets, and, as you pointed out, even if
someone hated them, there's enough variety of parts to build something else.
(Yay!) I have a question, though...
WHY is the Princess locked up in the tower instead of out kicking invader
butt? ;)
Tanya
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> WHY is the Princess locked up in the tower instead of out kicking invader
> butt? ;)
>
> Tanya
This is the girlie (arwen) princess. The actual female warrior (Eowyn) that
belongs in this series would be a shop at home exclusive. I haven't posted
year two, or the mid year releases either, as I figured this thread might
get trashed, and I wouldn't want everything spoiled! Suffice to say that
the second year release is Black knight oriented with Crusaders doing the
sieging. The Black knights not being a monarchy have a Warrior woman who
operates the boiling cauldron! JOn
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| |
|
I read every word that you wrote…
I viewed every picture you posted…
And I considered your statements in its entirety…
…Thus, all I have to say is:
!!!FINALLY, this is so RIGHT!!!
This is what we want…
This is what will sell…
These are the type of products that’ll
bring TLG back into the forefront.
!!!These sets are PERFECT!!!
Thank you for taking the time to
produce the kind of sets we all
dream about! And thank you once
again for breaking down the concept
so that TLG can see how to get back
on track and return to the prosperity
of their ‘golden’ years.
Jubilantly,
--==Richard==--
In lugnet.announce.moc, Jon Furman writes:
> This is an Idea I’m certain we’ve all thought of, but I figured that I would
> try to put my ideas into words and pictures. It’s a Castle theme that I’ve
> developed in my spare time.
>
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31954
>
> The main purpose of these designs was to try to put together a castle theme
> that Lego could feasibly produce, and I would want to purchase. The first
> area is fairly simple. I stuck with existing parts that are widely
> available in retail or Lego Direct sets. No Retooling of molds or
> commissioning new ones would have to take place. To make certain that the
> sets could be sold at a reasonable price through the local retailer, I
> determined a price per part index (for how this index was determined, see
> the bottom of the page) and started building.
>
> The second idea was a little more complex, but a lot more fun. Set’s I like
> to purchase (and I think it’s fair to say the general public as well) are
> generally strong in a few important areas: Play Value, Price per piece,
> Unique parts, and Expandability.
>
> This is only one years worth of sets that could be produced, many other
> items could follow, because the possibilities really are endless.
> Here are the pictures of the sets as well as brief descriptions of each, and
> a piece count and MSRP. For more info on the witherfores and the why’s
> continue on to the bottom.
>
> Set 001
> Gatehouse - 207 pieces - $19.99
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31962
> The gatehouse is a designed to keep invaders out of the castle. Three brave
> soldiers guard the entrance and operate the independently working drawbridge
> and portcullis.
> Outside the gate, the determined forces operate their battering ram, hoping
> to get inside.
>
> Set002
> Princess tower - 252 Pieces - $24.99
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31958
> This tall tower keeps the princess safe from the invaders. Two brave
> soldiers guard the entrance. Play is a snap as the tower pops open to
> reveal three chambers inside.
>
> Set 003
> Livery Stable - 220 pieces - $19.99 (.07 index)
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31964
> Mounted knights can cover a lot of territory. In the stable, the Smithy can
> give their horses excellent care. Protect your realm with this sturdy cavalry!
>
> Set 004
> Corner Tower -180 pieces - $15.99
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31955
> The castle is protected by towers along the wall. Can the defenders hold
> their position, or will the Black Knights climb the walls and force them
> into the tower?
> Upper and lower chambers inside the tower provide shelter from the weather
> and the enemy.
>
> Set 005
> Battle Station - 68 pieces - $9.99
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31961
> The fiercest soldiers do battle on the walls of the castle. Who will gain
> the victory, The Crusaders or Black Knights? With the Battle Station,
> expanding your empire is a snap.
>
> Set 006
> Catapult - 52 pieces - $6.99
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31959
> The Black Knights are preparing their assault on the castle. The Catapult
> hurls stones high over the walls. Two soldiers operate this attack machine.
>
> Set 007
> Dark Archer - 33 pieces $2.99
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31957
> The Dark Archer fires a volley of arrows at enemy soldiers. Crossbows are
> excellent supports for siege troops.
>
> Set 008
> NobleMan's Hall - 304 pieces - $29.99
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31966
> The Nobleman's Hall is the place to enjoy dinner and ale, or sit and relax
> by the fire. Includes the Nobleman, two soldiers, and 1 serf. Connect
> Towers or walls to the Hall, or place it in the middle of your castle!
>
> Set 009
> Castle Pack - 995 pieces $95.00
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31965
> A complete Guarded Castle and Siege Army, plus plenty of Bricks to Build
> your Castle any way you like! Who will prevail, The Lions or the Dragons,
> You Decide. Contains 1 Battle Station, 1 Gatehouse, and 4 Corner Towers.
>
> The Greatest thing about these sets is that they are all compatible with
> each other. Technic pins and pin hole blocks allow for instant
> reconfigurations. The combinations you can create are nearly
> inexhaustible. You can create castles as large or as small as you like. You
> can amass armies, lay sieges, or design a medieval kingdom to your own
> specs. Even if you hate these sets, there are more than enough pieces here
> to build whatever kind of castle you want! This is a level of
> interchangeability only hinted at by the Lego sets of the 1980’s
>
> CONNECTIVITY OPTIONS
>
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31968
>
> PLAY VALUE – If the set doesn’t look fun, who wants to buy it? The set gets
> picked up or passed by based on how well it arouses consumer interest. Lego
> sets that feature a man and a car are lame, sets with two men and two cars
> create a day at the races. Opening doors, launching catapults, secret
> entrances etc… make the model interesting after it is built. PICK UP A BOX
> WITH PIRATES ON IT AND YOU ARE INTERESTED, PICK UP A BOX WITH A PIRATE
> BATTLE ON IT, AND YOU START LOOKING FOR A PRICE TAG!
>
> PRICE PER PIECE – If a Lego set costs 10 bucks and you get 10 parts (Jack
> Stone, how I hate you!) you are not buying Lego, you are buying PlayMobil,
> and the last time I checked PlayMobil and Lego were two different companies.
> Playing your game is the best way to ensure your personal success, playing
> someone elses game plays to their advantage.
> The more parts you get, the more alternate models you can make, the more you
> can enhance your existing creations, and it becomes easier to convince
> Grammy and Gramps that this would be a good value at Christmas time.
> Not many of us complained shelling out $100 U.S. on the Black Seas Barracuda
> (we aren’t even complaining now) But none of us liked paying $ 100 U.S. for
> the Red Beard Runner. WHEN YOU CAN JUSTIFY THE PRICE TAG, YOU START
> DREAMING ABOUT THE PURCHASE.
>
> UNIQUE PARTS – Even the most rational of us has walked into store displays
> while making our way to the counter as we stare at the box, wondering about
> all the things we could do with all those parts, “Three more Knights!” “If I
> bought nine of these, I could….” WHEN YOU GET THE PARTS YOU WANT, YOU ARE
> HAPPY.
>
> EXPANDABILITY – I don’t know about you, but I get wired when I see the
> possibility of creating a small little world within a theme. Gas stations
> AND Car Dealerships, Pirate ships AND Harbors, adding to an existing world
> is a lot more fun than not. Remember trying to figure out what to do with
> your Knights’ Procession? IF you didn’t have 60 bucks for the castle too,
> those guys just marched around your TV tray during Tom & Jerry untill
> Christmas morning!)
>
> I like to think that this is the direction the castle theme COULD have gone
> in 1990, IF TLG had kept with their modular design scheme instead of moving
> to the raised baseplate motif begun with the Kings Mountain Fortress. I
> used the black knights and the crusaders, for illustrative purposes only,
> any group (I’m partial to the falcons, I just don’t have a lot of them) or
> groups could be used.
> By keeping the parts basic, giving each model moving parts and multiple
> features, keeping the line expandable, while maintaining a level of
> affordability, I believe that it is entirely possible to produce sets that
> will fly off of the shelves.
>
>
> *The Price per parts index is as follows: Lego Direct has offered us the
> Black Falcons Fortress, and the Guarded Inn for $.10 per part USD. (Thank
> you, Thank you, Thank you!) This is well below the almost $.17-$.20 price
> per part in their recent offerings. This low price point can be achieved
> for many reasons, but chief among them is that nearly all of the R and D,
> and packaging costs were already absorbed by the initial releases of the
> product. In This case I have done all of the R and D, so achieving this
> index is definitely feasible. The Larger pieces : Walls, Corners, etc. keep
> the index in the point tens range.
> TLG themselves have given us Daniel Siskind’s brilliant Blacksmith’s Shop
> at an unheard of $.07 pricing index, this appears to be because Daniel did
> all of the R and D, and used small parts almost exclusively. Smaller parts
> cost less.
> The sets I’ve designed that use wall pieces and large baseplates are
> generally calculated at a 10 cent index and the ones built using only small
> parts are calculated using the 6 cent index.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Thanks a lot for your compliments Richard. I really appreciate the
encouragement! IF we ever got sets like this, or they made these pieces
available from the website, I think I'd pass out! Jon
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Jon,
Beautiful creation. (Though why aren't you busy making LotR MOCs!?!? :) )
I really like this as a theme, even though I'm not a fan of panel wall pieces.
One question, in the corner tower subset, can the walls be attached to any
of the 4 sides of the tower, or just the two you have shown? If you could
put the walls at 90 degrees, 180 degrees, or even 270 degrees it would give
you even greater flexibility in designing your castle layout.
I especially like the Nobleman's Hall and Livery Stable submodels. It's
good to have some civilian life stuff included. I like how your plate roofs
came out. I usually do roofs with slopes, but I'll have to try this sometime.
Oh, one final thing, I especially like the fig's-eye-view on some of the
photos like these:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=306844
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=306868
Now, back to LotR! :)
Bruce
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| |
|
Bruce,
Thanks for your comments! The walls can only connect at the ends of the
walls at this point. Yours is a good Idea however, I think that it would
work as well. This is my first attempt at this type of roof, so I'm glad it
turned out well. I'm kind of taking a break from the LOTR stuff, I kind of
got pidgeon holed there for a while (overwhelmed actually) by e-mails and
the like (I'm certain you know what I mean, with all of your stuff!) but I'm
thinking I'll be headed back that direction sometime soon! Jon
In lugnet.castle, Bruce Hietbrink writes:
> Jon,
>
> Beautiful creation. (Though why aren't you busy making LotR MOCs!?!? :) )
> I really like this as a theme, even though I'm not a fan of panel wall pieces.
> One question, in the corner tower subset, can the walls be attached to any
> of the 4 sides of the tower, or just the two you have shown? If you could
> put the walls at 90 degrees, 180 degrees, or even 270 degrees it would give
> you even greater flexibility in designing your castle layout.
> I especially like the Nobleman's Hall and Livery Stable submodels. It's
> good to have some civilian life stuff included. I like how your plate roofs
> came out. I usually do roofs with slopes, but I'll have to try this sometime.
> Oh, one final thing, I especially like the fig's-eye-view on some of the
> photos like these:
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=306844
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=306868
>
> Now, back to LotR! :)
>
> Bruce
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| |
|
On Wed, 22 Jan 2003, Jon Furman wrote:
> This is an Idea I’m certain we’ve all thought of, but I figured that I would
> try to put my ideas into words and pictures. It’s a Castle theme that I’ve
> developed in my spare time.
>
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31954
Very good. I would quibble about details (like sticking with TLC's short
battlements), but the concept is excellent, and the execution is very
good.
The Great Hall is especially nice---things like the fireplace and the food
give ideas for what to do if you get the bricks to rebuild larger, but are
cleanly executed while keeping piece count/set price down to managable
levels.
One thing I wondered about. . .what forms the connection? All I see is
one pin about five studs in the air. Is there another at ground level?
Although two is much better than TLC's floppy one-pin connection, I wonder
what would be optimal. With 1--3 stud wide walls you obviously don't have
a lot of room to manuever. Would using a brick with two pins
http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/30526
at top or bottom, with one pin at the other location, aid solidness?
Friction pegs, rather than pins, would probably help a lot. . .
--
TWS Garrison
http://www.math.purdue.edu/~tgarriso/
Remove capital letters in address for direct reply.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Thanks,
I would have loved to stick with the short battlements as well, but I was
limited as to how they would connect to the towers. I could make them work
in every set except the corner owers, as they weakened the integrity of the
towers upper floor, or cut the space inside the tower. I decided to scrap
it, infavor of playability. I'm certain someone could make it work. THere
is a pin and block assembly at the top and bottom of the walls so Two pins
connect the upper and lower sections. Thanks again for your input. Jon
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Jon, this is lovely, and you've set yourself a hard problem. The thing that
seems not quite in theme about it is the monochrome colors. Most Lego castles
have a spot of color, a red, black, or blue roof. It keeps the minifigs smiling.
-Erik
In lugnet.announce.moc, Jon Furman writes:
> This is an Idea I’m certain we’ve all thought of, but I figured that I would
> try to put my ideas into words and pictures. It’s a Castle theme that I’ve
> developed in my spare time.
>
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31954
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Erik,
Thanks for your input. THere are two things that I'm not quite satisfied
with, one is the battlements, and the other is the color. I'd have loved to
put some dark grey in there as well as some color, but I am limited by
bricks as well as imagination. THere are only two structures with roofs,
and both are black as I decided to go for a little more "realism" (if you
can call it that while working with plastic bricks) in the color schemes
Stone, Wood, Metal Etc. THanks for your tips though, I'm certain I could
find a way to put more colour in. Jon
In lugnet.castle, Erik Olson writes:
> Jon, this is lovely, and you've set yourself a hard problem. The thing that
> seems not quite in theme about it is the monochrome colors. Most Lego castles
> have a spot of color, a red, black, or blue roof. It keeps the minifigs smiling.
>
> -Erik
>
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
I love this stuff. In my wildest dreams Lego would pick up on this.
Perhaps when the HP license runs out. I think the design is perfect.
Reminds me of the old 80's castle lego made. The blacksmith shop, the seige
tower, the guarded inn, stuff that was designed to be put together. Those
were the good ol days. Anyways, 1 nitpick, in the princess' tower you can't
get from floor 1 to 2. That's not a big deal since most of lego's designs
were made for playing and not for logistics. I would use ANY police station
or airport as an example. If you were selling, I'd be buying. I can just
picture a huge castle with 6 Battle-Stations per side. Anyways, let's see
what you go planned for a follow up!
e.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Erick,
Thanks for the compliments! In the princess Tower, I accidentally left out
the bottom ladder hook when I photographed it. It is actually pinned to the
roof of the second floor instead of on the second story floor itself. this
allows the ladder to be swung up or down allowing passage to the upper or
lower floor, (thanks for catching my mistake!) THese sets were based on the
old designes, but re-imagined with some newer parts and ideas, so they do
conjure up alot of nostalgia for the good old days! Jon
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
In lugnet.castle, Erick Jensen writes:
> I love this stuff. In my wildest dreams Lego would pick up on this.
> Perhaps when the HP license runs out.
Maybe they should have had Jon design the HP sets. That way if you bought them
all, you could snap 'em together into a giant Hogwarts Castle. I wonder what
genius dropped the ball on that one?
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
I couldn't agree with you more Jon. We castle fans don't need any fancy
new pieces to make us happy; just a reappearance of castle sets. Those modular
sets you're created are exactly the kind of thing I want LEGO to bring back to
the market.
I've always thought that LEGO would be smart to do a licensed castle
series. Their Star Wars line did very well as an offshoot of the space system.
I think one of the reasons people buy Star Wars sets is that the model in the
set is something that they've already seen. People recognize something they
already love in the LEGO set.
I would LOVE to see LEGO do an offshoot in the castle series with Warcraft
sets. Lots of people both young and old would see a human barracks or an
orcish tower that they've become familiar with by seeing it a thousand times
during a game of Warcraft.
I know there are people out there besides me who would love to see minifigs
of orcs, trolls and 2-headed ogres.
David
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David,
I think you are right on about a sub license. The only thing that TLG would
have to worry about is parental reaction as the product moves from the
innocuous "sure they've got swords and axes, but look at how happy they
are..." world into the world of actual warfare. It's a minor step but it is
a big one to some parents. I never thought they'd let the cowbys have guns,
but they did so bring on some trolls! BTW that dobby head is perfect for
Goblins!Jon
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Mr. John Furman sir,
That is very well thought out and nicely done.
I am very impressed with your acheivement of what all of us have been
thinking of. The only change I would like to see might be different
knightly characters (think armor like in Monty Python's Holy Grail--bucket
helms!).
Very cool.
Play well,
-Aaron-
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Aaron
It is about time for some new arms isn't it! I'd love to see some more Body
armor, as well as some combed helms. maybe some new swords as well! THanks
for the compliments! Jon
In lugnet.castle, Aaron West writes:
> Mr. John Furman sir,
> That is very well thought out and nicely done.
> I am very impressed with your acheivement of what all of us have been
> thinking of. The only change I would like to see might be different
> knightly characters (think armor like in Monty Python's Holy Grail--bucket
> helms!).
> Very cool.
> Play well,
> -Aaron-
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In lugnet.castle, Jon Furman writes:
> It is about time for some new arms isn't it!
Well, we do have those basketball figs . . .
ducking, running,
Bruce
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Hahaha , by arms I meant Armaments, but those NBa guys might help us make
some very cool Islamic soldiers if we added them to those guys from the
orient expedition! Jon
In lugnet.castle, Bruce Hietbrink writes:
> In lugnet.castle, Jon Furman writes:
>
> > It is about time for some new arms isn't it!
>
> Well, we do have those basketball figs . . .
>
> ducking, running,
> Bruce
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Jon,
These sets are excellent. I love the modular idea. Your livery stable is a
must have for any castle.
Ben
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Thanks Ben,
With so many great blacksmith shops out there, I had to try something a
little different! Jon
In lugnet.castle, Benjamin Ellermann writes:
> Jon,
>
> These sets are excellent. I love the modular idea. Your livery stable is a
> must have for any castle.
>
> Ben
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Jon - absolutely superb (and an awful lot better than the
attempt I made to do something similar a few month ago).
Well thought out from the commercial axis as well - a
nice mix of subjects & good 'price points'. I for one
would like to see your mid-year & year 2 sets ... maybe
a nice chunky keep and a castle well ? An in-line tower
would be a nice addition too. Keep up the excellent work !
In lugnet.announce.moc, Jon Furman writes:
> This is an Idea I’m certain we’ve all thought of, but I figured that I would
> try to put my ideas into words and pictures. It’s a Castle theme that I’ve
> developed in my spare time.
>
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Ian,
It'll be a couple of weeks before the finished versons of the year two items
are finalised, but the mid year stuff will be up soon. Thaks for your
compliments! As far as chunky goes, it's hard to make chunky happen in a
slim price range! Jon
> >
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Jon, I just had to say, very tastefully done! I really like the livery and
the gate house. The nice part is, you can 'buy' extra wall sections to
expand the sides making it a much deeper walled city. That way you could
fit everything inside the walls.
It could be interesting if we all picked one price point/piece count, and
tried to build something going by your rules. If I get the chance this
weekend I'll see what I can come up with. There's a couple of price points
I'd like to take a shot at!
Tamy
www.tanarth.com
-----Original Message-----
From: news-gateway@lugnet.com [mailto:news-gateway@lugnet.com]On Behalf
Of Jon Furman
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 6:13 PM
To: lugnet.announce.moc@lugnet.com; lugnet.castle@lugnet.com
Subject: My modular castle creations
This is an Idea I’m certain we’ve all thought of, but I figured that I would
try to put my ideas into words and pictures. It’s a Castle theme that I’ve
developed in my spare time.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31954
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Sounds like a great idea Tamyra! I'd love to see what every body else comes
up with as well. I'm certain everybody has some great ideas. The
expandability was the most importand part for me, so it would be cool to see
what other stuff folks could add to it. Jon
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In lugnet.announce.moc, Jon Furman writes:
>
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31954
And they said this .castle group was dying...
> The Greatest thing about these sets is that they are all compatible with
> each other. Technic pins and pin hole blocks allow for instant
> reconfigurations.
Which is exactly what the original classic-gray castles promised but never
quite lived up to. Your designs are so simple as to be brilliant, and I
like how there would be a range of sizes and prices within your hypothetical
theme. Also, your little "advertisment blurbs" in your post were equally
well played!
Throw in a compatible sister-theme of Medieval Villagers, and I'd say this
is one theme I would have bought when younger, and might even buy again now.
Thanks for the fun!
-Hendo
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Thanks for the compliments Hendo,
At one point as I was developing this idea, I thought that it would be great
to have a series of polybagged sets that accessorised the theme: A villagers
picnic, an accountant, an armourer, a falconer, etc, some could be placed
inside the corner towers to "furnish the castle" etc. I wasn't sure how to
follow through on it, but your ideas of a sub theme are really a great
starting off point! Jon
In lugnet.castle, John P. Henderson writes:
> In lugnet.announce.moc, Jon Furman writes:
>
>
> Throw in a compatible sister-theme of Medieval Villagers, and I'd say this
> is one theme I would have bought when younger, and might even buy again now.
>
> Thanks for the fun!
> -Hendo
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That is a wonderful idea Jon! Some small polybag sets with a fig and a
couple of things to add into any village setup! I especially like the picnic
idea, it would be a great way to stock up on food for royal parties. I'm not
totally sure of the falconer, we've got quite a few falcon's from sets
already, though they could include a fig in some set for all of them! I
wouldn't mind seeing more street vendor type sets, I don't remember who did
it, though that little knife sharpening cart was very sweet, I've made a
couple for my village already. I'd love to see a real jester hat instead of
having to paint chefs hats.
That's the one thing I've been missing since freestyle, they had some decent
polybags with classic smilies. I like smiling figs better than those cowpack
moo-boy heads.
Tamy
www.tanarth.com
-----Original Message-----
From: news-gateway@lugnet.com [mailto:news-gateway@lugnet.com]On Behalf
Of Jon furman
Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 11:29 AM
To: lugnet.castle@lugnet.com
Subject: Re: My modular castle creations
Thanks for the compliments Hendo,
At one point as I was developing this idea, I thought that it would be great
to have a series of polybagged sets that accessorised the theme: A villagers
picnic, an accountant, an armourer, a falconer, etc, some could be placed
inside the corner towers to "furnish the castle" etc. I wasn't sure how to
follow through on it, but your ideas of a sub theme are really a great
starting off point! Jon
In lugnet.castle, John P. Henderson writes:
> In lugnet.announce.moc, Jon Furman writes:
>
>
> Throw in a compatible sister-theme of Medieval Villagers, and I'd say this
> is one theme I would have bought when younger, and might even buy again • now.
>
> Thanks for the fun!
> -Hendo
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|
> This is an Idea I’m certain we’ve all thought of, but I figured that I would
> try to put my ideas into words and pictures. It’s a Castle theme that I’ve
> developed in my spare time.
First off awesome designs but I must also add that they are very
monochromatic. Colors would have been nice. If nothing else perhaps some
of the banners used in HP but in different colors. They could be hung off
of the corner towers. Overall excellent idea and worthwhile for LEGO to
look into. Perhaps this could be the next MOC from LEGO. Where are the $2
to $5 dollar sets though?
> The Greatest thing about these sets is that they are all compatible with
> each other. Technic pins and pin hole blocks allow for instant
> reconfigurations. The combinations you can create are nearly
> inexhaustible. You can create castles as large or as small as you like. You
> can amass armies, lay sieges, or design a medieval kingdom to your own
> specs. Even if you hate these sets, there are more than enough pieces here
> to build whatever kind of castle you want! This is a level of
> interchangeability only hinted at by the Lego sets of the 1980’s
Speaking of those sets, are they also compatible or could they be made
compatible? It would be great to add a guarded inn to one of the walls.
-Dan
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YOu are right on about the Monochromatic aspect of the sets, THat is an area
where they could use some more work! I like the Idea of hanging banners, I
must have gotten too caught up in the whole battle concept to think farther
ahead into the whole "stone buildings can be drab" thing. thanks for the tip.
> First off awesome designs but I must also add that they are very
> monochromatic. Colors would have been nice. If nothing else perhaps some
> of the banners used in HP but in different colors. They could be hung off
> of the corner towers. Overall excellent idea and worthwhile for LEGO to
> look into. Perhaps this could be the next MOC from LEGO. Where are the $2
> to $5 dollar sets though?
I'm not certain I've even seen a $2 set recently, the cheapest I can find is
the 2.99 and that is covered by the Dark Archer, but the $5 dollar set
didn't make it out of R and D unfortunately. Too Flimsy and poorly executed.
It has been relegated to "Lost or Deleted scene status".
> Speaking of those sets, are they also compatible or could they be made
> compatible? It would be great to add a guarded inn to one of the walls.
>
> -Dan
THese sets use a 1x1 pin hole block, and I believe that the older ones use a
1x2 pin hole , so swappin those out would be the only thing to change to
make them compatible! (although I'm not sure of the height issue, som work
would have to be done to the battlements as well.). Jon
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oh wow beautiful.
if i ever saw these in a store i would poop my pants!
thanks so much for sharing.. this makes me wish i wasn't at work so i could do
some amazing castle work. this is great, not just because it would regenerize
Lego Castle, but is also regenerizing Lugnet castle!
-lenny
In lugnet.announce.moc, Jon Furman writes:
> This is an Idea I’m certain we’ve all thought of, but I figured that I would
> try to put my ideas into words and pictures. It’s a Castle theme that I’ve
> developed in my spare time.
>
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31954
<snip>
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I think we may have to start a .adult diapers newsgroup! Thanks for the
awesome compliments Lenny! I think everyone should be able to take a Sick /
Build day! Jon
In lugnet.castle, Leonard Hoffman writes:
> oh wow beautiful.
>
> if i ever saw these in a store i would poop my pants!
>
> thanks so much for sharing.. this makes me wish i wasn't at work so i could do
> some amazing castle work. this is great, not just because it would regenerize
> Lego Castle, but is also regenerizing Lugnet castle!
> -lenny
>
> In lugnet.announce.moc, Jon Furman writes:
> > This is an Idea I’m certain we’ve all thought of, but I figured that I would
> > try to put my ideas into words and pictures. It’s a Castle theme that I’ve
> > developed in my spare time.
> >
> > http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=31954
>
>
> <snip>
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Beautiful! I have also been thinking along similar lines recently, and you
have captured much of what was on my mind. The monochromality of your stuff
doesn't bother me so much, castle tended to be all the same colour.
I would however, suggest you might want to see if you can put doors in say
the corner towers and gatehouse which can be accessed from the battlements.
The certainly is space for this. I would personally also raise the
battlements by a brick or two, but I realise there are parts restrictions.
I think it is important for us castleheads to distiguish between what is an
awesome modular set for us, and what is the kind of modular set that lego
would consider producing for mass sale. Also, your sets seem to be pretty
much a return to the modular system of the mid 80s, but I think that for
Lego to really do a modular castle theme again, they would want to do
something new with the idea, rather than just go back to building sets the
way they did 20-15 years ago.
One thing that more recent sets have going for them is more playable
accesories, and this could be incorporated into a modular castle theme
without compromising historical realism. I think today's kids expect more
workable playable parts than kids did back in the golden age of lego castle.
But playability doesn't have to "juniorise" a modular castle set like this.
I'm thinking of stuff like working locking beams on gates (like was used in
the Fort Legorado), perhaps a sally port somewhere in a tower or wall,
ladders or staircases linking all floors to each other, machicolations which
you can actually drop small bricks through, etc.
Another thing which could be explored is the kind of varied minifigs and
smaller sets which woudn't necesarrily have to be part of a modular wall.
How about a peasant's hovel (built much like Hagrid's hut), complete with a
few farm animnals in a small fenced enclosre and a plough. That could be a
kinda cool 35 buck set. How about a big medieval warship, the size of a
medium sized pirate theme ship? Lego never really put out an even remotely
realistically scaled cog with fighting platorms. If you want to add more
colours to the theme without sacrifising realism, you could use lots of the
brown timber walls parts for buildings, a siege tower, and maybe even hoardings.
Just some ideas. Please don't feel I am criticising your stuff, I think it
really rocks. I just think that one needs to be more ambitious then simply a
return to the old Black Falcon and Crusader type sets.
cheers
Magnus
PS: I'd be interested to see you try your hand at a small church.
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Magnus, thanks for your comments, I like them all-
In lugnet.castle, Magnus Lauglo writes:
> I would however, suggest you might want to see if you can put doors in say
> the corner towers and gatehouse which can be accessed from the battlements.
> The certainly is space for this. I would personally also raise the
> battlements by a brick or two, but I realise there are parts restrictions.
This was definately a parts restrictions issue. These sets are really only
something that I would buy if Lego produced them. They aren't really
something I would build on my own. I myself would have had taller towers
and bigger battlements (check out how puny the ones on top of the tower
are), with a lot more detailed attention paid to the entrances and exits of
the structures, but I worked and worked to get the model to be something I
could say was "realisticaly" featured, but still in the $15 price range.
Theseare sets I would buy, for kids 8 -12 yrs old to play with, and adults
to purchase in mass quantities to build whatever they wanted with.
> I think it is important for us castleheads to distiguish between what is an
> awesome modular set for us, and what is the kind of modular set that lego
> would consider producing for mass sale. Also, your sets seem to be pretty
> much a return to the modular system of the mid 80s, but I think that for
> Lego to really do a modular castle theme again, they would want to do
> something new with the idea, rather than just go back to building sets the
> way they did 20-15 years ago.
I lightly touched on this in the initial post, but I was really going for a
direction that Lego could have gone somewhere in early 1990, instead of the
direction they did (which I liked until 1995). I didn't really see this as
a move for the future of Lego Castle itself, but more like what I would like
to purchase, instead of King Leo's Castle (Which I can't even purchase now!)
You could build almost all of this stuff by just purchasing around three of
the black falcons fortresses. THis was more of an attempt to show how much
more they could have done to actually deliver on the hint of Modularity that
they started with. Admittedly, this is a recombination of existing parts,
of course if LEgo was to do this themselves they could do so much more, I'm
kind of limited to working with what they did 20 yrs ago, so most of what I
do will a new design of what they've already done. I'm not so much asking
Lego to do this, as I am showing others my Idea of what more could be done
in Lego's price range. (instead of the INSTANLY FORGETTABLE "aragog in the
dark forest" set)
> One thing that more recent sets have going for them is more playable
> accesories, and this could be incorporated into a modular castle theme
> without compromising historical realism. I think today's kids expect more
> workable playable parts than kids did back in the golden age of lego castle.
> But playability doesn't have to "juniorise" a modular castle set like this.
> I'm thinking of stuff like working locking beams on gates (like was used in
> the Fort Legorado), perhaps a sally port somewhere in a tower or wall,
> ladders or staircases linking all floors to each other, machicolations which
> you can actually drop small bricks through, etc. • This is definately a great Idea
> Another thing which could be explored is the kind of varied minifigs and
> smaller sets which woudn't necesarrily have to be part of a modular wall.
> How about a peasant's hovel (built much like Hagrid's hut), complete with a
> few farm animnals in a small fenced enclosre and a plough. That could be a
> kinda cool 35 buck set.
check out my comments to John Henderson a little earlier
http://news.lugnet.com/castle/?n=15658
> How about a big medieval warship, the size of a
> medium sized pirate theme ship? Lego never really put out an even remotely
> realistically scaled cog with fighting platorms. If you want to add more
> colours to the theme without sacrifising realism, you could use lots of the
> brown timber walls parts for buildings, a siege tower, and maybe even hoardings.
Again, these are really awesome Ideas you are quite the think tank. this is
stuff I'd really like to see! Really ambitious. Good stuff.
> Just some ideas. Please don't feel I am criticising your stuff, I think it
> really rocks. I just think that one needs to be more ambitious then simply a
> return to the old Black Falcon and Crusader type sets.
No worries here mate. I think you are right in almost everything you've
touched on, and your Ideas are first rate. You'd do great as a New Theme
Designer!
I guess I'm not really looking for The Lego Group to do this as a future
project, more realistically, something that Lego Direct could do now with
the parts they've already gotten from TLG. Thaks for your awesome comments
Magnus! Jon
>
> cheers
>
> Magnus
>
> PS: I'd be interested to see you try your hand at a small church.
Funny you should say that, I just started to build one this weekend, I'll
e-mail a pic this week!
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In lugnet.castle, Jon Furman writes:
> (instead of the INSTANLY FORGETTABLE "aragog in the
> dark forest" set)
Hee-hee! I told my husband I wanted Legos for Christmas (No brainer!), and
knowing he wouldn't plan far enough ahead to get the Blacksmith's shop,
Black Falcon Fortress, or the Guarded Inn from S@H, I told him that any
Harry Potter sets would be fine. (Hoping for Hogwarts or the Chamber of
Secrets.)
Then...
I remembered Aragog. I spent two weeks hoping he had enough sense not to
buy that *thing* for me. He did. :)
My tangent for the day,
Tanya
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In lugnet.castle, Tanya K. Burkhart writes:
> In lugnet.castle, Jon Furman writes:
>
> > (instead of the INSTANLY FORGETTABLE "aragog in the
> > dark forest" set)
> I remembered Aragog. I spent two weeks hoping he had enough sense not to
> buy that *thing* for me. He did. :)
Funny... Aragog is one I wanted because I want more of the green foliage
pieces and 16x16 baseplates. Unfortunately, most of the other parts, like
that spider, are completely useless to me, so i'ts not worth $20.
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Rocco J Carello wrote:
>
> In lugnet.castle, Tanya K. Burkhart writes:
> > In lugnet.castle, Jon Furman writes:
> >
> > > (instead of the INSTANLY FORGETTABLE "aragog in the
> > > dark forest" set)
>
>
> > I remembered Aragog. I spent two weeks hoping he had enough sense not to
> > buy that *thing* for me. He did. :)
>
> Funny... Aragog is one I wanted because I want more of the green foliage
> pieces and 16x16 baseplates. Unfortunately, most of the other parts, like
> that spider, are completely useless to me, so i'ts not worth $20.
At $15 with K-Mart BOGO I think it's reasonably worthwhile. Like you
say, it's got good terrain bricks, and two decent minifigs (ok, so you
need to loose the Harry Potter head, but otherwise the minifigs are
good). The spider has some good parts (including 2 dark grey 2x2 inverse
corner slopes). The spider is even a decent creation.
I'd say this set has no more useless parts than many other sets. And
it's a lot more likely you can find something to do with the
"tail/tentacle/leg" pieces than the dozens of extra Adventurer car
bodies and hundreds of extra wheels I have.
I love the printed tiles... And you get an extra of the 1x1 one too!
Frank
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In lugnet.castle, Frank Filz writes:
> Rocco J Carello wrote:
> >
> > In lugnet.castle, Tanya K. Burkhart writes:
> > > In lugnet.castle, Jon Furman writes:
> > >
> > > > (instead of the INSTANLY FORGETTABLE "aragog in the
> > > > dark forest" set)
> >
> >
> > > I remembered Aragog. I spent two weeks hoping he had enough sense not to
> > > buy that *thing* for me. He did. :)
> >
> > Funny... Aragog is one I wanted because I want more of the green foliage
> > pieces and 16x16 baseplates. Unfortunately, most of the other parts, like
> > that spider, are completely useless to me, so i'ts not worth $20.
>
> At $15 with K-Mart BOGO I think it's reasonably worthwhile. Like you
> say, it's got good terrain bricks, and two decent minifigs (ok, so you
> need to loose the Harry Potter head, but otherwise the minifigs are
> good). The spider has some good parts (including 2 dark grey 2x2 inverse
> corner slopes). The spider is even a decent creation.
>
> I'd say this set has no more useless parts than many other sets. And
> it's a lot more likely you can find something to do with the
> "tail/tentacle/leg" pieces than the dozens of extra Adventurer car
> bodies and hundreds of extra wheels I have.
>
> I love the printed tiles... And you get an extra of the 1x1 one too!
>
> Frank
I have to agree with Frank,
I think this set has great value in the parts for realistic landscaping.
The problem with most MOC Castle creations is that the focus is too heavy on
military, castle walls using very simple designs and pre-fab bricks. If you
wish to make a castle look realistic, you need to round it out with foliage
and landscape so it doesn't look so drab and toy-ish (I know, they are).
Besides, giant spiders aside (way cool) if you build space stuff too, those
spider bodies have a lot of good color and parts for things of MOC Space
design. I am in Castle for the fantasy aspects, so Space is up my alley to
in that vein.
If you set value at part count, then Dueling Club is an even bigger stinker
without any parts to clearly make it a value (or really any parts at all,
'tis light!).
Every Castle needs a little Dark Forest around it!!
-Aaron-
#279
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[aragog]
> I have to agree with Frank,
> I think this set has great value in the parts for realistic landscaping.
> The problem with most MOC Castle creations is that the focus is too heavy on
> military, castle walls using very simple designs and pre-fab bricks. If you
> wish to make a castle look realistic, you need to round it out with foliage
> and landscape so it doesn't look so drab and toy-ish (I know, they are).
> Besides, giant spiders aside (way cool) if you build space stuff too, those
> spider bodies have a lot of good color and parts for things of MOC Space
> design. I am in Castle for the fantasy aspects, so Space is up my alley to
> in that vein.
> If you set value at part count, then Dueling Club is an even bigger stinker
> without any parts to clearly make it a value (or really any parts at all,
> 'tis light!).
> Every Castle needs a little Dark Forest around it!!
> -Aaron-
> #279
Yeah, Duelling Club is horrible for the price. I guess the spring loaded
wizard ejector is the cause of that. The spider is sorta useless to me, but
the pic on the back of the box wth all of the spider leg parts put into a
tree looks freaky like something out of Diablo II or something. I liked that.
I'm into fantasy, so I think a forest near a castle is a must. That's why I
loved the original Forestmen series so much when it came out. I wasn't
collecting when Dark Forest was available, but they don't look anywhere near
as good. Now all that's available for good forest and terrain pats is aragog
and the werewolf monster set. Speaking of which, the monster sets are good
for fantasy type stuff, but I would't buy the pack more than once since it's
got a lot of stuff I'd probably end up selling.
I always like double convex slopes, but I have more uses for the
non-inverted ones. Fortunately, that problem will be alleviated later this
year...
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I really like the overall idea, and it's quite similar to something I have
been slowly developing. (school and work get in the way) I especially like
the way you have ladders and doors connecting almost everything and I hope
you will post more of this stuff in the future.
The only thing I would criticize would be the battlements. They don't seem
very protective for the minifigs and I would have made them a bit beefier.
I'm working on a similar system on a very slightly larger scale that I'll be
sure to post when it's ready. Perhaps you'll get some good ideas from my
creations. Yours already contain several good ideas that are sure to inspire
others.
Rocco
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> The only thing I would criticize would be the battlements. They don't seem
> very protective for the minifigs and I would have made them a bit beefier.
Don't worry , as evidenced by other posting, the battlements were something
that had to be sacrificed to lower parts count. These arent really
something I would build to show off my design skills, rather something I
would buy , to build what I wanted from.
> I'm working on a similar system on a very slightly larger scale that I'll be
> sure to post when it's ready. Perhaps you'll get some good ideas from my
> creations. Yours already contain several good ideas that are sure to inspire
> others.
>
> Rocco
Sounds awesome, I'd love to see it sometime. I love to see good castle
stuff! Thanks for the tips and insights. Jon
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JON,
I think what you've done here is perfect. Though the "sets" may
not be as big as some would want, they definitely make for some nice
add-ons. Since seeing your creations, I've started making "modules"
off of your ideas. I agree with you 100 percent on this.
Thanks for inspiring a long ago castle fan to start creating.
Jeff (BLASTERMAN)
http://www.the-little-armory.com
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Jon,
I just saw that the "Connectivity" folder is up (it wasn't moderated
yesterday). Your castle looks even better when you put the other buildings
in the middle.
Bruce
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Very well thought out Jon! I have a feeling Lego Direct may already be up to
something like this, considering both of their classic castle re-issues are from
back in the modular castle days. It also fits into the modular My Own Train and
Super Chief, which beckon the buyer to get all of the expansion sets and in
large quantities.
Dan
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OK, I would buy this. I would buy all of these. They're fun, they're
"real Lego", they're modular, they're open to possibilities. AND they're
all priced within a lower price range, which would oddly encourage me to
spend more overall in buying each one than would a neat $100 set.
Did I mention fun? All these look like a fun build, and they'd get me
thinking of other stuff I could do, and get me wanting to build more.
As Harvey Henkelman writes in .trains
(http://news.lugnet.com/trains/?n=19044) it should be about the quality of
the set, not the numbers. When sets are high-quality (measured in fun,
expandability, and price/piece ratio, as you've done here), they sell. It's
as simple as that.
Good work, Jon!!
Peace and Long Life,
Tony Alexander
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