Are We Living in THE Golden Era of Lego Castle?

2024 marks the 40th anniversary of Lego Castle becoming an evergreen Lego theme. With the recent castle/medieval releases (Lion Knights' Castle, Medieval Town Square, Medieval Blacksmith, Viking Village, etc.), we began wondering if this is the best we've ever had it as Lego castle fans. But do today's offerings really give us more than the Classic Castle era of the 1980s and 1990s? And what do today's sets mean for the future of Lego castle?
#lego #medieval #castle

[@ferricideX]

We need the playsets / smaller scale sets to go along with these big sets for it to be called a Golden Age.

[@buildingtogether4171]

Yup!

[@Qoonutz]

I am 43 years old. My parents were unable to afford any Lego when I was a kid. I remember staring into Lego sets through a glass panel. I have all Wolfpack sets “donated” to me because my older cousins did not want them. It is the Golden Era for me now. I am happy. I work hard and reward myself with Lego sets. Unmarried, I have no spouse or kids to feed.

[@buildingtogether4171]

That's such a great story! Glad you're able to get the newer sets.

[@jamesmunn576]

I am right there with you, man! Separated for many years, and the free time to build has been fantastic.

[@Ro8st3r]

Golden for Lego, not for the customer. To be Gold many children should be able to get or buy them and build memories with it.

[@BlueDragonBricks]

I would say that these are best sets of Lego Castle, but they are VERY expensive, so this isn't the golden age, until we get some cheaper sets.

[@octav1600]

This is the victorian age, where only rich people could afford anything worth having xD ...

[@TB-fz6jh]

The 3 in 1 is only $100 and the blacksmith is only $170. They are not that expensive really.

[@BlueDragonBricks]

@@TB-fz6jh dude, Lego should ALWAYS have at least one or two options of sets for a theme below $100.

[@TB-fz6jh]

@@BlueDragonBricks the reason for castle they probably don't is because exactly what they said in the video. The target audience for castle is adults. If you an adult and can't afford some of these sets your need to step up your game some how.

[@octav1600]

@@TB-fz6jh or live in a country where the monthly salary is not 100 Euro ... Some people can't afford such high expenses in addition to whatever it is they have to maintain. There should at least be some battlepacks (double duty - for army builders as myself and for people who just want that one or 2 minifigs but aren't able or willing to pay 30 a pop. And I just recently built the Wolfpack tower - that size of set is so good. It doesn't have to be a huge castle. A small river fort is enough sometimes. The foresment hideout would be great as a set - alas it's just a GWP ....

[@psmith6166]

I think the $20-100 sets would sell with everyone. The adult themed sets keep going up an entire income bracket each year. Lego has priced many of us out, even financially secure middle-classers.

[@Nphen]

I agree with the sentiment. I had to save up Insider Points for years to get $200 off and be able to afford Rivendell. I save all my money for the 2x point sales and get double points on almost my entire yearly budget. Don't take this badly, but you might not be "financially secure middle class" if you can't afford $3 to $5 per day for Lego. People spend that much on coffee, which I brew at home for 50 cents a cup. Don't get me wrong, bills & inflation have me down, too. I've done a lot to minimize bills & travel to prioritize Lego. Since I nearly died of C19, and am disabled by Long Covid, I decided to spend more on Lego now than save for a retirement that might not ever come.

[@antonioskanitsakis7374]

It's the golden age for sure. You have to pay the set's weight in gold if you want to buy any. 😊

[@johnlant1730]

I would to see even more enthusiasm out of Lego for Pirates. We could use another imperial flagship and a Pirate Market Village.

[@panboi7490]

real

[@DragonMasterSubo]

90's will always, always be the golden age. We got new factions every year, tons of sets, and it wasn't only very large/ expensive ones. but the current era is pretty fantastic, especially (like you said) if you're the target audience. I wish it was more widely available, but the Bricklink Castle in the Forest is also up there as a phenomenal castle set. Big fan of the remade galaxy explorer and el dorado fortress as well, I just think they're knocking the 'remakes' out of the park.

[@buildingtogether4171]

Absolutely. The Eldorado was such a cool build (techniques, nostalgia). I don't have the Bricklink Castle in the Forest set, but wish I did! That looks like such a cool build.

I love lego castle and your videos keep posting!

[@logansmith2703]

No for the simple fact that I, a Castle fan, either cannot afford OR cannot JUSTIFY buying any Castle sets. Can't be the golden age if fans can't get any.

[@octav1600]

I agree, but chances are this is a good start. Here's hoping for a cross line like they did with space this year

[@SO-ym3zs]

I take your point, and I certainly have no love for Lego's outrageous pricing, which is part of the reason I buy more and more from their competitors and less from Lego. But it's illogical to say that because you personally can't afford or justify buying the sets, other fans can't or won't buy them. Everyone has a different budget and different perspective: for some people, $400 is a very big deal, for others, it's pocket change. Lego pricing is a bigger, broader issue. The question at hand is how numerous and good the current sets are versus during other decades.

[@thegemguy1334]

Affordability is indeed important. I bought the Lion Knight Castle and got a mini rage because it has 2 number 4 pack. I only opened one during assembly and thought I paid a good chunk of money for a dedect product. Got a huge sign of relief when I saw the second number 4 pack. It put a damper on my enjoyment that I had to stop for a while before restarting.

[@octav1600]

@@thegemguy1334 Did you have a missing pack? or was the second 4th pack extra?

[@buildingtogether4171]

That would be great!

[@SergeantZaf03]

I think something that could make a big difference (especially for younger people on a budget) would be the implementation of battle packs similar to star wars.

[@Mahtioh]

Lego seemed to be mainly focused on space this year not castle, with the creator 3 in 1 castle cycling out now it will be interesting to see what comes next year, I think if we see castle or even lord of the rings small sets or battle packs released it could be considered a castle era

[@buildingtogether4171]

I'd love to see that!

[@Zadrigo]

I want to add something to everything you said. You could even combine certain sets to add to the theme, especially for children's play. For example, Barad-Dur from LOTR series is ideal for "bad guys" play. You could add Viking ship from couple of years ago, or you coud "pretend" that new Zelda set is actually a base for Forrestmen faction. The last thing wouldnt even cross my mind until my son asked me if new Zelda 2-in-1 Deku tree is actually Forrestmen's base...and it kind of works. He doesnt know about Zelda and to him it was a mystic tree for green people :) Not to mention Bricklink models (sadly, I live in a country where they dont ship sets, otherwise I would buy them) where medieval themes are so popular they artificially limit the number of those available, if votes were counted with no prejudice every series would contain at least 4 medieval sets, if not all 5. When you go to Bricklink when they put new series to preorder, castle/medieval set gets instantly sold out.

[@WardMaris]

I would also include the amount of castle sets in the bricklink designer program

[@marijn8057]

There are cool sets but they are very expensive so it’s a literal gold age since the sets cost vast amounts of gold.

[@buildingtogether4171]

The Gilded Age of Lego! That sounds about right.

[@alphonsesuitperson]

we have a resurgence, but look at space, its been going hard, and there are small/medium/large sets, it might be golden era of Space

[@buildingtogether4171]

That's a great point: the City and Friends lines, plus the Creator sets focused on space are all great. Add to that some of the promotional items and it really might be a golden era for Space.

[@davidhenry9764]

I’d say around ‘85-‘95 was the golden era of castle. Currently is still a good castle era though and I prefer the larger more expensive sets. In general this is a very good time for Lego - perhaps a golden era in general for Lego with castle, LOTR, icon theme, etc.

[@BDD_Builds]

I was too young to have any classic castle sets, and my childhood castle theme was the two Knights Kingdoms themes of the early 2000s. I do not understand how anybody could argue that the castle sets today are anything but better than any castle theme in the past. Granted, you are paying a premium as such.

[@buildingtogether4171]

That's a solid point, although it's very unfortunate that you had to grow up with Knights Kingdom 2! The execution of these recent sets is incredibly high. You'd expect that given the number of pieces and price tag, as you note. I just wish there were more options at lower price points.

[@vdan2879]

Lego seems to be doing an annual release of this theme. Much like modular buildings and now LoTR

[@buildingtogether4171]

I hope so! We'll find out on castle and LotR over the next 6-9 months if we're getting more.

[@TX_Blake]

I was 100% with you until the “something like a Ninjago”. They already tried that with Nexo Knights and it was a huge failure that kneecapped traditional castle and led to the inevitable jets, tanks and mechs that every action theme devolves into. I don’t know what arcane market research that TLG has in their vault that says a solid regular theme with small, medium and large castle sets won’t sell, but I think it’s a huge mistake.

[@BobJedi]

Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and maybe now with DnD sets coming in, the Castle theme has a lot of competition now. Lego has to decide what to mass produce and fans of lego have to choose as well.

[@buildingtogether4171]

Yup! And it's becoming a tough choice for us. Right now, we're passing on the Harry Potter sets.

[@drmondo667]

To rebut the "It's not" argument, you forgot about the Rivendell (Elrond's castle), Barad-Dur (Sauron's castle) and the Dungeons and Dragons set which came out this year. I'd also point out that the Ideas site has advanced quite a few castle and castle-adjacent sets within the last two years with a lot more in the pipeline. While it would be nice if they would open a new castle theme with multiple crossover sets instead of scattering sets around, I think we can say that we're at least in a very strong era for the castle theme.

[@darkdog42]

Does anyone know if the dragon knights are coming to PAB at some point. I know it’s rather likely we get the wolf pack hoping for the dragon knights as well

[@OhayoMatt_29]

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said it’s the golden age for some fans. I’m fortunate enough to be able to buy the sets and since I wasn’t around in the 80’s it’s definitely a fun time to be getting everything we’re getting. Brickclicker said he’ll have 2025 leaks soon so it’ll be fun to see if we’re getting anything Castle in ‘25 and if we are it’s safe to assume we’ll get at least one set a year from Lego and maybe an occasional gwp. Only time will tell but I’m pretty excited for future sets

[@buildingtogether4171]

I am too! I eagerly await the news on 2025 sets (modular, castle, LotR). We are blessed to be able to buy some of these large sets, no doubt!

[@Nick-y9c]

don't remember which of the youtubers that was invited when lego revealed the medieval town square, posted a video where the lego designer told there will be no more medieval castle theme.

[@buildingtogether4171]

I saw an interview that BrickFanatics did with the designer, but I don't remember him saying no more medieval theme. That would be sad, although I know that can change in time as preferences move around and sales shift. I always hold out hope!

[@Daddadye]

Golden era was Fantasy Era, the best sets and best Minifigures and best theme

[@buildingtogether4171]

Fantasy Era was very good, especially since it followed Knights Kingdom 2, which was hated by many castle fans. It is definitely underrated as a castle era.

[@lochlainn74]

I agree 99%, as someone who got the yellow castle for Xmas in '79 and got hooked on Lego Castle till the early 90's I don't think we are in a golden age at the mo; maybe if more small ish Vikings and castle sets appear it could become a golden age... You didn't mention the D&D set which admittedly is a high end niche product for old well to do farts like myself 😂 I do regret giving away my Castle and Pirates sets to my nephews and nieces but it inspired many of them to become Lego nutters like myself. When the Lion Knights' castle came out I got hooked on collecting and building Lego all over again, not just Castle but even Speed Champions and Harry Potter (not a HP fan at all at all BTW), so I guess Lego is doing something right 😂 Anywho, one of your best opinion pieces so far, keep up the good work 🤘

[@buildingtogether4171]

Thanks for the kind words! You're totally right, I left off the D&D castle, which is a glaring omission (I didn't script out this video). But it is pretty expensive and thus isn't very accessible to the average fan. Some small Vikings sets would be great! I missed the 2005-2006 wave because I wasn't into Lego at the time. But those were some cool sets.

[@NimbleSaucepan]

We need more options for it to be golden era

[@TheOzelot11]

There are some good sets right now, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, the Castle Line is kind of dead, sets are nice, but always big and expensive. Most of it is a nostalgia bait and lego is very careful not to give us an actual castle line of sets, but just a few minifigures and big sets, put in other lines. It's very clear lego will only create a full line / theme of sets with some sort of IP attached to it, either licensed like LOTR, Harry Potter or a Disney Castle or homegrown, like Ninjago. Every other classic lego line like Castle, Pirates, Western or whatever will occasionally be sold under ideas or creator or something. i grew up in the Castle/Kingdoms golden age from 2007 to ~2012. There were smaller and mid range playsets, clearly made for kids to play with, actual castles and new ideas. All ot that is missing from the current sets. Those are mostly nice to look at. Which parent buys their kid a 300€/($) set to play with? Don't get me wrong, these massive sets we have were maybe missing then for adults to put in a shelve and occasionally look at, but lego right now is not interested in a new generation buying castle stuff. Maybe because the new generation really isn't interested in anything with a movie, series or a game they regularly watch or play. I don't know. But to call this the golden age of Lego castle is peak delusion in my mind.

[@MNeuenswander]

Design wise, it's a golden age compared to the nothingness of 2013-2020 but lack variation in torsos and barding, limited armor, and large piece count make it a pass for many.

[@laurihasko2153]

There should be own themes: - CASTLE - CITY - PIRATES - SPACE

[@hanzocloud]

Golden age is mid 80s to early 90s. Today is the encore

[@ecclesiastesbuilds]

Definitely NOT the golden era. A well-defined castle era means the availability of castle sets of a themed line under, let's say, €80,-. And the availability of sets that are, or could be considered a battle pack. So the last Golden Era ended with Kingdoms, which gave us a splendid combination of medieval variation. Personally, the golden era was from the 90-95 but that's also based on nostalgia.

[@Nphen]

If you forward inflate $55 from 1986, it's $157 today. Meaning the 3-in-1 Creator Castle is more affordable than the 1980's castle(!). Meaning a $15 set back then would cost $43 now. So consider that when you buy presents for kids. I'm with you in the need for some vehicles, war equipment, small buildings and creatures like dragons, priced at the $30-$80 range. As you said, like how they do Ninjago. In the mean time, Lego, please bring us 3-in1 Creator castles for Forestmen, Wolfpack, and Dragon Knights. Parents can buy 1 for their kids, AFOL can buy 3 to 6 to make Rebrickable builds.

[@8Smoker8]

Short answer: no, because we have just expensive sets and no medium sets nor battlepacks. For a Golden Age minifigures are important AS WELL. And we had some insanely good ones in 2012 (?) and now we have downgrades from those. So I'd say no, not yet.

[@ingvar3072]

I wouldn't call the current state of Lego Castle as the golden era. At least because it is not affordable to start a castle for everyone. And I'm speaking not only about the price (even if it would be great to have smaller cheaper set with just a minifigure and a couple of details to make a cart, catapult etc. like it was in the past). You can't just go to the closest store that sells Lego and buy a castle related set. There is even no dedicated Castle or Knights theme. And I don't count as Lego Castle sets from other franchises like LotR, Harry Potter etc.

[@buildingtogether4171]

Agreed. I share a narrow definition of "castle" in that it has to be in a medieval context, and HP doesn't meet that. That said, I know that in the early 2000s, when the Knights Kingdom 2 sets were out (and hated by many Lego castle fans), HP was as good as it got. So I do find some value in those sets, even if they aren't castle.

[@QuattroSG]

If you got the money, yeah. These sets are amazing, Im feeling tempted and I don’t collect lego. Ive just been looking into toys for my kids

[@panboi7490]

Buy yourself a set, you'll get hooked

[@MightyThorngren]

I wouldn't say it's a golden age because there's no main theme. The Creator 3in1 Medieval Castle is AMAZING with all the parts and what you can do, but it's still $100 abd it's the cheapest Castle set. We need a proper full line, as in like 10 sets with a variety of price point. We don't need as many sets each year as City, Star Wars or Ninjago get, but give us a good solid price range of 10 or so sets and let those hangout for a couple years before switching them out for new ones. So I totally agree with your points on price range and sets for younger fans too. It's all stuff I've said to my partner countless times when talking bricks. Everything said could also be said about Pirate themes. I like Pirate theme even more than Castle, but Castle seems to get all the hype from what I see online. I would love a variety of priced Pirate themed sets along with Castle if they could. I don't understand why classic themes like Castle, Pirate and Western get ignored when they're themes/ideas that still resonate with young boys and have adult fans. I get that Star Wars also probably sells better than generic Space, but I have to imagine the lack of license fees makes up somewhat for it.

[@Tuemtuci]

I think we are but not because of Lego type in the set 31120 in rebrickable. But once that set goes I worry.

[@williamharris1890]

I think you have a point, rebrickable did wonders for that little castle

[@buildingtogether4171]

The options for that are so good! But many of them require multiple copies of the set and greatly increases the price.

[@BarlayMountain]

It's a purely theoretical question, because practically no one can afford these sets.

[@marijn8057]

I don’t think those disney castles and harry potter sets count towards castle sets but I do like the harry potter sets.

[@buildingtogether4171]

I tend to agree with that and want "castle" to include a medieval context. HP and the Disney castles wouldn't fit that. But for some fans who like castle, HP is the only way they get castle options at an affordable price. I like those sets, but wish we had true castle options for under $50.

[@patricer.9022]

more than castle, I would say medieval age: for example I have no interest for Disney castle, but I like so much Hocus Pocus manor, which looks like a house of this era 😎

[@joshlyman7059]

the sets are definitely the best they have ever been. just look at lion knights castle and blacksmith, incredible sets the one problem is price but I imagine Lego have done their research and its possible msot castle fans these days are adults so pricier one off adult sets might be the best way to go about it does it suck there are no cheaper sets? sure, doesnt change that the sets weve goten lately are maybe the beste we have ever goten since castle audience is now grown up for me personally its easier toa fford these pricier sets now than it was to afford the ''cheaper'' sets back when i was a kid

[@JackTheGrincher]

As much as I love Lego, I think the price for collecting has become an issue with most themes. I’m debating selling all of my sets and just collecting speed champions. Collecting Marvel and certain icons, ideas, Star Wars sets has become an expensive hobby.. I also have the Indiana jones and Jurassic park anniversary sets.. there should be a rehab to get off the Lego. It’s too fun and addictive 😅

[@buildingtogether4171]

Lego Collector's Anonymous! When I got back into Lego in 2006-2007, it was easier to collect an entire theme or even the Creator Expert sets as there weren't all that many of them. But it is now cost-prohibitive to fully collect an entire theme for almost all fans.

[@JackTheGrincher]

@@buildingtogether4171 Lego collectors anonymous sounds amazing right now lol. I traded in some sets and got the black pearl today.. it was only $77 for me after which was nice. But I agree, there are too many releases per year for collectors who try to be completionists. I can’t imagine how anyone collects most Star Wars sets. Marvel is expensive enough for me even though they make fewer sets and I don’t collect 4+ sets. Just have to learn how to say no and pass on some sets. It doesn’t help that Lego makes 18+ sets that are really cool but also really expensive

[@manshadow513]

Not quite sure golden era or not. I prefer something like kingdom series. Good guys /bad guys /battle pack something like that. Blacksmith is good set but weird to put beside lion castle

[@BiyikliMehmedPasha]

The new sets are great but definitely not a golden age. I'm fine with remaking older sets but they are unfortunately too expensive.

[@williamharris1890]

Yep, they have put Lego castle out of reach for the average kid. As a big fan of knights and castles , I highly enjoyed lego castle as a kid in the early 2000’s. My family didn’t have a lot, so the most I got was a 20 dollar set on Christmas and my birthdays. Now I spend thousands of dollars on lego and to think that probably never would have transferred into adulthood if not for the cheap castle sets of my childhood. Their losing future customers, no doubt

[@buildingtogether4171]

Yes - getting small sets as a kid sparked my imagination and affinity for Lego. I got a couple of the bigger sets, but not many, so the small sets were key for me to get back into Lego as an adult.

[@amraeternalchampion8203]

It will never crossed my mind that anyone will call this best era of Lego castle because it's not even a "castle" theme; it's "medieval village" or "modulars in medieval era" or "farmers life" o r something like this, there are just 2 knights on 2 horses in all these sets and this is nothing it has nothing to do with real "castle " theme from 80/90s; for me all this sets sucks

[@RETROSPACECOATS]

The golden era was 1992 mate just so you know 🤙

[@Caladon]

No we arent all the sets are way too costly were are are 10 to 50 price sets

[@vdan2879]

No.

[@Caladon]

Shill shill. Dibt get me wrong the castle set we are gerring are good but costly

[@SimplyEricc]

Support comment supports. Lego knows a castle theme would dominate other themes financially and that scares them because castle is a difficult theme to infuse modern wokeness and garbage into. Really sad how companies are forced into terrible decisions because of politics.

[@williamharris1890]

Yep

[@ClassicStudStudios]

@@williamharris1890it really isn’t difficult to infuse modern politics into lego caslte 😂, there have been a LOT of female knights, and a single queen since 2021. People call lego woke for doing that, so there you go

[@williamharris1890]

@@ClassicStudStudios I don’t know if Lego is woke or not but they do push the gender neutral agenda. Which does both genders a disservice IMO. I didn’t infuse politics into it, they did. I don’t care too much though, reality is the best fix for dumb ideas and we all are about to be slapped in the face by it.

[@QuattroSG]

I’m a very right leaning guy, but other than having a hate boner for anything military or forearm related, I don’t consider lego woke at all. Maybe I haven’t been paying attention close enough though. I think I noticed recently I thought was goofy is the aston martin f1 and safety car set has the f1 driver as a female. I can assure you neither aston martin driver is a female, I don’t think there is any females outside of the paddock at all in f1.

[@neilrusling-je6zo]

I take offence at the term "Golden Era". That implies that having more castles is a good thing, I think we can all agree having more than one castle looks terrible. A city with ONE castle on the hill looks okay, but any more just look awful and stupid. So I would say we are in the "Runny Brown Era", the "Diarrhoea Era" of castles, they have taken over BDP to the point they may as well call it BCDP, Bricklink Castle Designer Programme. Series 3 and 4 have FIVE CASTLES out of ten sets, its half castle when it should be ALL TRAINS.

[@pseudoty]

So you like trains more than castle, got it 😂

[@octav1600]

Well, my personal opinion is they shouldn't make any more big castle sets for a while in the Bricklink program. At least not until they make new factions or new remakes. We have a forestmen set, a lion knights port, a falcon fortress and a falcon siege camp. Now they need a small to medium wolfpack set, and then they need to wait until they get a new faction (with proper pieces to equip the castle with). And they should think about modularity. I have a dream that they are smart enough to realize this sooner rather than later, and when they do a black knights castle remake, they would just make an icons style castle on a built up raised baseplate and leave openings for the set to connect to walls - walls that can be parts of a lego creator set to extend the fortifications around the black knights castle , hopefully made with similar style so they mesh well together.

[@williamharris1890]

I hate trains like you hate castle, that makes us even lol

[@buildingtogether4171]

I don't know if a Golden Era would mean more large castles, but certainly more castle-era sets. That would, ideally, include civilian-based sets like what we got with the Medieval Town Square. Some outposts could be included, along with carts (Lego sure does love vehicles). Back in the 1984-1993 period, we got a large castle every 3-4 years and a medium-sized castle at the same rate. That wasn't too bad, given the number of kids aging into Lego (6-12 years-old).

[@Badgers_9]

@@octav1600that is not how the BDP works. It all depends on the voting, after portfolio conflict sets have been removed. Then there is a limit on each theme and price point. Castle keeps getting picked, and at the high price point because those sets are getting the most votes. Castle and pirates will keep getting more sets and it tells us Lego directly is not going to bring out many of these.