What could a 90th anniversary LEGO castle look like?

Rumours of a 90th anniversary LEGO Castle set raise some questions about such a set’s design choices.

Even if they’ve fallen out of favour compared to their 20th century heyday, the LEGO castle is an idea the LEGO Group has never completely abandoned. The recent arrival of 31120 Medieval Castle is a testament to that, although its place in the Creator 3-in-1 line shows how the popularity of castles more broadly has dimmed amongst LEGO fans.

The rumours of a new, larger castle for the company’s 90th anniversary also suggest that there’s place in the LEGO lineup for a castle pitched at older fans. The set reportedly has an RRP of €349.99, making it considerably more expensive that your typical LEGO castle.

Such a high price suggests a high parts count, and new creative possibilities that prior castles couldn’t explore. But it’s not clear how that would work in practice, especially since such a set may have to balance a retro flavour with modern design techniques.

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LEGO castles in the past have typically followed two broad design templates. Early entries in the Castle range (like 6073 Knight’s Castle) featured an enclosed, brick-built structure around a central courtyard. Sections of the castle were frequently hinged, allowing fans to turn their sets into an enclosed fortress or a stretch of wall as desired.

Later releases (like 6086 Black Knight’s Castle) were instead built upon a pre-moulded baseplate, with various smaller structures built on top of it. This allowed for some interesting ideas (like dungeons and basements) but it’s rather out of fashion with today’s ‘purer’ building techniques. As such, a classic ‘enclosed’ structure seems more plausible.

Regardless of the broader design philosophy, we can probably expect a LEGO castle that’s considerably larger than prior efforts. This might be in terms of a larger footprint or taller towers, or both; 71040 The Disney Castle certainly boasts both of these.

The castle might also feature considerably more interior detail than before. Several LEGO castles are rather sparse, with little interior detail to speak of. A LEGO castle with some serious resources to work with could add things we’ve never seen before, like libraries, bedrooms or extravagant throne rooms. It could seriously bolster the minifigure count; a welcome change, since older LEGO castles have often lacked crucial figures, such as royalty.

We are still waiting for the LEGO Group to confirm its 90th anniversary plans. But if this castle does exist, it could be on track to become one of the best LEGO sets ever released.

If you can’t bear to wait that long, 31120 Medieval Castle is currently available from LEGO.com instead.

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