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In lugnet.castle, Ed T. Toton III writes:
<snip>
> I think one thing that's been lacking all along though is modularity
> and scalability. So here's what I think would be really awesome:
>
> 1) Sets that consist of maybe a section of castle wall and a tower
> that snap together with pin/socket joints. Each one could come with
> a catapult or some other siege engine, some good guys, and some
> bad guys. This would allow you to build a castle or fortress as large
> or small as you want, depending on how many of the sets you buy.
>
> 2) One or two different gatehouse sets, with portculleses and
> drawbridges. Also modular.
>
> 3) Seperate fantasy packs that have dragons, wizards,
> skeletons, ghosts, the like. That way you can add as much or
> as little of a fantasy element as you want.
>
> 4) Peasant/village sets, so you can build an outlying village around
> your castle (or in it) if you want.
>
> 5) Service/expansion packs with soldiers or peasants (extra
> minifigs), or dungeon trappings, or packs of weapons and
> armor and horse trappings, etc.
>
> Thoughts? Ideas? Comments?
I agree, in general. In fact, your ideas are remarkably similar to some
thoughts I had a few weeks ago, so I'll toss in mine too:
A basic underlying precept I have is my belief that, if Lego really wants to
be competitive in the toy market[1], every Lego set that costs more than,
say $15 should be designed and marketed as _two_ models.[2] What I'm
talking here is: every catalog identifies set with both model names; box
has two "fronts" instead of "front" and "back", with each "front"
emphasizing one of the models, with the other as a smaller picture on that
"front"[3]; designers are authorized to include up to 10% more parts to make
sure that both models look equally impressive/accurate. This is the way to
_demonstrate_ that Lego is really "twice the toy".
That said, here are my notions:
I think, with the cost of Lego, the only way to go is modularity, with two
or three Technic pins[4] connecting each wall or tower set at each end. The
other model, of course, should then be something truly different (and
capable of standing on its own, for those parents who think a set isn't
complete if it has no back).
(~$60-80) Gatehouse/Small Fort. It's not just that I like keep-gatehouses;
if you think about it, you could make a town-size (i.e., small) gatehouse
out of the Black Falcon's Fortress. . .*if* you added walls to make a
passageway down the middle and a couple sets of doors. So I think the
largest set needs to be the gatehouse, and this piece selection would lend
itself admirably to a stand-alone "castle" like the King's Castle, etc.
(~$30-50) Corner Tower/Church. I'm thinking a corner tower on the scale of
David MacAuley's _Castle_, not those little turrets on Lego Castles. This
should come with a siege engine, made of wood. This wood could then become
the pews of the church. One neat (from a marketing view) aspect of this set
is that the church would appeal to townies, thus getting them in to Castle,
while the blood'n'guts crowd would buy it for the militaristic components,
but would eventually try building the Church model once they had it, and
might get hooked on Town.
(~$20-40) D-Tower/Mill. Same idea as the Corner Tower/Church: a
combination of military and civilian (the Tower probably needs an attacking
siege engine), that could work in either a medieval village or as part of a
castle. Just smaller.
(~$15-25) Wall section/???. A nice basic wall section to link up the
towers, probably hinged to let kids close up their castle without getting
all the components necessary for a square castle. The other model should be
some other civilian building made of stone--say an inn, or a blacksmith
shop.[5] Since this would definitely be something people would get in
quantity, perhaps the siege engine could be something common and useful,
like those portable, wheeled wall sections besieging archers stand behind
for cover.
(~$20) Peasant Cottage/Merchant. Simple wattle-and-daub construction; you
need 'em to make a village. (And I can't think of any obvious military
model that you could make out of a medival house.) Think of it as a purely
civilian set to balance the purely military Gatehouse/Small Fort.
Siege engines--both to come with the wall and tower sections and as small
sets on their own. Choose from trebuchets, catapults, ballistae, siege
towers, battering rams---but please no more of those silly
hand-of-God-powered "catapults"[6]
And of course the other sets would be smaller things (carts, minfigs, etc.)
and the occasional "special" set like the Knight's Challenge or the
Forestmen sets[7].
I think modular wall sections are the way to go. Even when I was 10 I was
very aware that the sets TLG was passing off as "castles" were much too
small---and that it would take a lot of bricks to do better. With a section
of wall, you can enact a siege if you wish, and with enough sections you can
build as big as you wish. This sort of Castle lineup would also *encourage*
kids to get more Lego, and buy additional copies of sets (and I think AFOLs
would be quite happy as well. ;) Something that amazes me about Lego
marketing is how "unexpandable" much of System seems to be.[8] With a
modular theme like this, each Kmart could offer a decent chunk of the theme,
and kids would be asking their parents for all they could afford, and people
wouldn't be afraid buy Lego as a present for relatives (Who cares whether
the kid already has two corner towers? He'll still love another one or two!)
That's my input. Take it as you will.
TWS Garrison
http://www.math.purdue.edu/~tgarriso/
[1] Which is of course open to doubt; things like sets 3342 and 3344 suggest
that either TLC is out to lose money, or several key marketing people work
for Ritvik. . .
[2] It might make sense to make an exemption sets that are clearly supposed
to be something whose basic design falls outside of TLC's control, such as
Model Team or Star Wars sets. On the other hand, those are precisely the
sets that seem to have the best alternate models already.
[3] This would also alleviate the persistent habit of retailers of putting
Lego boxes on the shelves backwards.;)
[4] What *were* those designers thinking in 1984 when they used one Technic
pin, when the flopping-apart staircase in the King's Castle is the most
egregious example of why one pin is not enough?
[5] If TLC were to ever make something like this, they could easily change
models every few years to allow all possibilities, while still keeping the
number of sets in production each year manageable.
[6] Why I love the Knight's Stronghold (6059): it includes (practically as
an thrown-together afterthought) the only really good siege machine Lego has
made---a trebuchet that actually works like it's supposed to!
[7] Dribbled out, like the Forestmen sets were---not present in force one
year, and forgotten the next (anyone else still remember a sense of betrayal
at the callous abandonment of Futuron?)
[8] Not only does TLC make sets that don't encourage the
less-than-fabulously-rich to buy multiple copies, but they don't even expect
their customers to want to buy a whole year's addition to a theme. I mean,
what kid would want to buy all of the Knight's Kingdom when it means ending
up with three kings?
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Ultimate castle theme..
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| wow. if only. I have always seen the modular sets to be a far better idea than the stand alone playsets. If TLC released these sets I'd have no money left. I love the concept of marketing the products with 2 set options. we all buy 2 of the sets and (...) (24 years ago, 5-Apr-01, to lugnet.castle, lugnet.dear-lego)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Ultimate castle theme..
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| Hey there everyone! I was just curious as to what everyone's thoughts are as to what they think would make for the ultimate castle theme. I've got some opinions on it myself, and a lot of it stems from the frustrations of starting out only with the (...) (24 years ago, 27-Dec-00, to lugnet.castle)
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