Castle before Castle
Posted by Huw,
With excitement growing around the release of Creator 3-in-1 31120 Medieval Castle next month, Wouter has contributed this article about early LEGO castles:
When we think of the Castle theme, many would probably name 1978 as the origins of it all. More than forty years ago, the iconic 375 Castle, with its first medieval mini figure soldiers and knights and rudimentary brick built horses, was introduced.
A case could even be made for 1984, when the Crusaders and the Black Falcons appeared on the scene. Their homes were the grey Knight’s and King’s Castle respectively, providing a more realistic decor than their yellow coloured predecessor. But even way before the mini figure age, LEGO showcased many examples of castle buildings.
LEGO actually began life as a construction system, with the emphasis much more on the building than on the playing afterwards. The first LEGO built castle of which photographs were sent out to the world was however no official set. It appeared as number 0746 in a 1959 retailer catalogue with examples of buildings shop owners could use to promote the Danish toy brand in their store.
This first LEGO castle was white and built on two grey baseplates, totalling a surface of 20 by 20 studs. There were four rather thin towers on the four corners, with two LEGO flags waving on the two on the front. On both sides of the entrance, the word ‘LEGO’ was spelled out. “It has the simplicity and directness many designs from the fifties had”, vintage LEGO expert Jan Kusters said about this castle. “It kept things small, cheap and available to aspiring castle building kids. While simple, it ticks most boxes for a castle.”
The 0746 was followed one year later by the 0765. It is a much larger castle, with the two towers in the back looming over the two in the front. In between them is an even higher tower or keep. An asymmetrical staircase leads to the arched entrance. Judging from the one low resolution scan I managed to find, a moat is suggested by using a border along the edges of the baseplates. To our present day horror, most of the time these builds were glued together, as was common among retailer models back then. Anyone who has build with the very first LEGO bricks will probably understand why…
Although one of these two retailer models was also used in a 1961 British magazine advertisement, the possibilities to build castles using LEGO bricks were introduced to a far larger audience through the LEGO Building Idea Book 1, as it said on the back cover, or 238, as it is also sometimes called. As LEGO historian Gary Istok pointed out, it was released in an awful lot of different editions, but I’m just going to use 1961 for America and Canada and 1964 for Western Europe as the guiding dates.
The first Building Idea Book showed a lot of HO building ideas, as was common before the arrival of the mini figure. It is however the drawing under the heading ‘Even the past can be recreated in LEGO’ that piques our interest. Pictured is a blue building with matching twin towers, a huge amount of windows and red roofs. Some like to call it a northern European late Renaissance style castle. I, for one, am missing such essentials as battlements and drawbridges. Onward with our conquest!
My heart does however start beating faster again when leafing through Idea Book 240 from 1967. Ain’t that just an awesome castle? There is so much to say about this. The building technique for one is astonishing considering the limited types of bricks at disposal back then. The entrance bridge, moat, outer walls and towers are all built at a 45° angle compared to the central castle. It gives the walls so much extra texture. That keep would be impressive if just seen all by itself. And of course the colour would be a sign of more things to come.
So far however we have only seen pictures of castles kids and adults alike could only stare at, drool over and dream about but not purchase as such. This changed in 1970 with the well known Weetabix castle, the first LEGO castle that was for sale. In return for the proof that you had eaten Weetabix cereals and some extra cash, the British company sent you a brown box containing an instruction leaflet and 471 LEGO bricks in every colour that was available back then. It makes for a multicolored castle with an interesting layout, with two towers guarding the entrance, two large towers placed diagonally across from each other, one very cute blue roofed tower balancing on the red wall and the big yellow keep on the opposite corner.
By now, the ideas for castles were gathering steam among the LEGO design team. The 1973 Idea Book 221 includes eight steps instructions for a sweet little white castle. It has red entrance doors which lead to the walled courtyard, the blue keep in the middle and one huge tower in the corner. You gotta love those seventies idea books - this one is particularly inspiring, including instructions for beautiful household items such as a typewriter and a storage box for craft materials.
If I understood correctly, 1975’s Idea Book 222 was re-released in 1977 as Idea Book 2 or 225. The first few pages show very, very basic planes, trains and houses, some of them built with no more than three bricks. This section concludes with two castles. The red one is a little too basic for my taste, with the blue roofs in the back seemingly just tossed around a bit.
But the other one, in yellow with red touches, is like the best of everything we have seen before. It has stairs from left and right leading to a gate house which protects a bridge. A gate is lowered down between the bridge and courtyard, which is surrounded by towers and a big keep.
Yes, it is small, but I like to think of it as a vintage microscale castle, showcasing how a small amount of bricks can be enough to let your imagination run wild. And with that front layout and that colour, it is a direct ancestor of the iconic 375 yellow castle, which would appear just three years later as the very first mini figure Castle set.
A tip of the hat here to Jan Kusters, who made me smile by calling the 375 yellow castle “too modern for me” in this Eurobricks thread, which documented his researching and rebuilding of the very first LEGO castles.
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41 comments on this article
Wow, this Idea Book castle from 1967 actually made my jaw drop.
What a great suggestion, especially considering the time it was conceived and constructed in.
Awesome.
The angled base on the Ideas Book castle is a fantastic use of rudimentary parts
I was lucky enough to get my parents to send for the Weetabix castle. I think I still have the sturdy brown mailer box somewhere and I defintely still have the instructions. I built it so many times!
Call me crazy, but I think 31112 and last year's Pirate sets make me believe Creator has a strong possibility for being a good place to do Classic Themes without you know actually investing heavily in a full on revival of said themes. Churn out a few Creator sets themed around Castle, Pirates or Space every few years and it seems to be a solid way to continue the spirt of those themes. I would love to see Lego use Creator to dip their toes into the Western or Adventurers style setting next, imagine a 3in1 style set for those themes...
Obviously Creator will be limited in parts availability. I doubt we will see Bionicle referenced in Creator due to the different part styles, and specialty stuff like Classic Space Monorail sets or Trains with their fancier molds are probably out of the question for 3in1 Creator style sets. But Pirates, Space, Castle, Western, Adventurers all have extremely solid shots at providing infinite fodder to Creator for years to come. Its a nice variety too, since most other Creator sets have previously been just town homes that felt very adjacent to what City already provides too.
A truly great time for Lego, when the word 'MOC' had never been thought of, because that was just playing with Lego. It was the pre-made models that were unusual, and even then, they were usually built once then 'parted out', or rather, 'chucked in the big Lego box'.
@xboxtravis7992 said:
"Call me crazy, but I think 31112 and last year's Pirate sets make me believe Creator has a strong possibility for being a good place to do Classic Themes without you know actually investing heavily in a full on revival of said themes. Churn out a few Creator sets themed around Castle, Pirates or Space every few years and it seems to be a solid way to continue the spirt of those themes. I would love to see Lego use Creator to dip their toes into the Western or Adventurers style setting next, imagine a 3in1 style set for those themes...
Obviously Creator will be limited in parts availability. I doubt we will see Bionicle referenced in Creator due to the different part styles, and specialty stuff like Classic Space Monorail sets or Trains with their fancier molds are probably out of the question for 3in1 Creator style sets. But Pirates, Space, Castle, Western, Adventurers all have extremely solid shots at providing infinite fodder to Creator for years to come. Its a nice variety too, since most other Creator sets have previously been just town homes that felt very adjacent to what City already provides too. "
I love that idea.
Thanks @Wouter for a most interesting retrospective.
I think you meant ‘interest’, not ‘intrust’.
I doubt the red and blue build is supposed to be a castle. Looks more like a European town hall, guild hall, courthouse or other municipal building.
First of all, great article! The castle from 1967 looks amazing. Are there more detailed photos available, or perhaps parts breakdown? Looks like it would be fun to build
@Lordmoral said:
" @xboxtravis7992 said:
"Call me crazy, but I think 31112 and last year's Pirate sets make me believe Creator has a strong possibility for being a good place to do Classic Themes without you know actually investing heavily in a full on revival of said themes. Churn out a few Creator sets themed around Castle, Pirates or Space every few years and it seems to be a solid way to continue the spirt of those themes. I would love to see Lego use Creator to dip their toes into the Western or Adventurers style setting next, imagine a 3in1 style set for those themes...
Obviously Creator will be limited in parts availability. I doubt we will see Bionicle referenced in Creator due to the different part styles, and specialty stuff like Classic Space Monorail sets or Trains with their fancier molds are probably out of the question for 3in1 Creator style sets. But Pirates, Space, Castle, Western, Adventurers all have extremely solid shots at providing infinite fodder to Creator for years to come. Its a nice variety too, since most other Creator sets have previously been just town homes that felt very adjacent to what City already provides too. "
I love that idea."
While I don't love this, I'm resigned to the fact that these classic subjects will not come back as their own themes anytime soon, and that if I want new Space or Castle or Pirates or whatever, I should hope that Creator takes it on in ones and twos over time. Licensed themes and the occasional attempt to repeat Ninjago's success as a long-lasting homegrown theme with multimedia tie-ins (and apps?) are the only types of System themes I see on the horizon...
That keep on 0765 looks rather surprised by something.
@xboxtravis7992 said:
"Call me crazy, but I think 31112 and last year's Pirate sets make me believe Creator has a strong possibility for being a good place to do Classic Themes without you know actually investing heavily in a full on revival of said themes. "
It's not crazy. I'm fairly certain that was confirmed as Lego's exact intention in a recent interview.
Great retrospective article on castles. Always fun reading stuff like this alongside the usual 'the cult of the new' hype over whatever is being released next.
Sharing my admiration for that angled castle. Interesting read, but since none of these were generally available, I'm still going to consider 375 the first. Speaking of which, it's about time I rebuild mine again.
This was a great dive into the history of castle. The only problem with this article is it makes me want more castle sets!
Great article, and some neat castles as well.
I’d love to see instructions for that 1959 castle. Seems like it would be super easy to get pieces to recreate it (minus the “LEGO” on the bricks.)
Castles were often built with stone that could be quarried locally, which determined the color of the walls. I’ve been able to find pictures of yellow, tan, rose, white, black, and stereotypically grey castles. I even found pictures of one that had been covered in stucco and various sections were painted wildly different colors. It looked like a kid’s LEGO MOC.
@Zander:
A castle does not need to be a walled fortress.
That angled castle is something else. I wonder why they never used that technique in any modern sets. Today we may get strange geometries, but that one is so simple and so effective. I may have to build that castle myself.
@alfred_the_buttler said:
"That angled castle is something else. I wonder why they never used that technique in any modern sets. Today we may get strange geometries, but that one is so simple and so effective. I may have to build that castle myself. "
I have a very strong suspicion that the central tower is not attached to the outer build or base as there is no way to attach bricks at a 45 degree angle on multiple places (I believe 10264 Corner Garage is the first official set to build a major section at 45 degrees? And that is mainly due to the 1x2 rounded plates allowing a bit of leeway. Other builds typically use a turntable, with a secondary turntable and Technic axle to lock the angle).
The castle’s central tower also seems to be resting directly on top of the studded surface below.
@Andhe said:
" @xboxtravis7992 said:
"Call me crazy, but I think 31112 and last year's Pirate sets make me believe Creator has a strong possibility for being a good place to do Classic Themes without you know actually investing heavily in a full on revival of said themes. "
It's not crazy. I'm fairly certain that was confirmed as Lego's exact intention in a recent interview.
Great retrospective article on castles. Always fun reading stuff like this alongside the usual 'the cult of the new' hype over whatever is being released next.
"
That would be quite disappointing if true.
As a mid thirty’s dad I am struggling to find exciting LEGO sets for my two boys (7 and 4 years old). At the moment both their rooms are flooded with Firefighters and Police sets. Which are great offcourse! But still I find myself limited in options for non-licenced (read: affordable and: my kids have never seen Marvel movies, Harry Potter, Star Wars or monkey kid (what ever that is...) they most definitely will eventually but they are not old enough) smaller sets.
I have a personal disapprovement for Ninjago. The first two years the sets were creative en richly filled with fantasy. In The Netherlands we now have the (excellent!) tv-show: Lego masters. There is one key element for the Brickmaster when he judges a build: does the build tell a story you can instantly see?
The more recent Ninjago sets miss this in my opinion.
Where are the Pirate, Castle, Western and classic/alien space themes?
I really like the new Creator Pirate and Castle sets.
I simply love the two Idea’a sets.
But all of them are way to expensive for a 7 year old. And the sets are to big a build for a 7 year old as well.
I can vividly remember my birthdays. Almost every LEGO gift I received for a certain birthday fitted in one or two of the above named ‘classic’ themes.
There was a certain coherency between the sets within the line-upp of a theme.
Please TLC bring back the old themes. And please give us a small set with just a raft and 2 surviving pirates, and a small deserted island with a couple of stranded soldiers and a big pirate ship and an even bigger Admirals ship (not for the kids, but for daddy to show off!).
@PurpleDave said:
"A castle does not need to be a walled fortress."
‘Castle’ is indeed a fuzzy set, but a core characteristic is defensibility through fortification. That needn’t be a perimeter wall, but the supposedly defensive structures of the red and blue build look more decorative than functional to me. I say that as someone who has visited the best part of two dozen castles across ten European countries.
@raven_za said:
" @alfred_the_buttler said:
"That angled castle is something else. I wonder why they never used that technique in any modern sets. Today we may get strange geometries, but that one is so simple and so effective. I may have to build that castle myself. "
I have a very strong suspicion that the central tower is not attached to the outer build or base as there is no way to attach bricks at a 45 degree angle on multiple places (I believe 10264 Corner Garage is the first official set to build a major section at 45 degrees? And that is mainly due to the 1x2 rounded plates allowing a bit of leeway. Other builds typically use a turntable, with a secondary turntable and Technic axle to lock the angle).
The castle’s central tower also seems to be resting directly on top of the studded surface below. "
I think your right about it resting on top. I just zoomed in on the picture and that appears to be the case. Well there’s no reason why I couldn’t pull off this sort of design today. 45’s are definitely difficult due to the math, but perhaps it could be more easily approximated using a 3-4-5 right triangle, I have used those in some of my designs and they are quite effective.
Alternatively, it might look cool if the whole thing was built on a 45. It would certainly look different.
@kmvk83:
Monkie Kid isn't a licensed theme. It's Lego's own creation.
You know, quite aside from the impressiveness of the castle, that '67 Idea Book picture is just a nice piece of photography. I love the lighting.
Are there are any instructions available for those older Castles? I am amazed at how good the 1967 one looks, and I would kind of love to build it myself. Though I wouldn't be surprised if those instructions where lost through time long ago...
@alfred_the_buttler said:
" @raven_za said:
" @alfred_the_buttler said:
"That angled castle is something else. I wonder why they never used that technique in any modern sets. Today we may get strange geometries, but that one is so simple and so effective. I may have to build that castle myself. "
I have a very strong suspicion that the central tower is not attached to the outer build or base as there is no way to attach bricks at a 45 degree angle on multiple places (I believe 10264 Corner Garage is the first official set to build a major section at 45 degrees? And that is mainly due to the 1x2 rounded plates allowing a bit of leeway. Other builds typically use a turntable, with a secondary turntable and Technic axle to lock the angle).
The castle’s central tower also seems to be resting directly on top of the studded surface below. "
I think your right about it resting on top. I just zoomed in on the picture and that appears to be the case. Well there’s no reason why I couldn’t pull off this sort of design today. 45’s are definitely difficult due to the math, but perhaps it could be more easily approximated using a 3-4-5 right triangle, I have used those in some of my designs and they are quite effective.
Alternatively, it might look cool if the whole thing was built on a 45. It would certainly look different. "
I've realized since that you could probably build the central structure on its own baseplate that can rest on top of the studs - at least that would put the central structure exactly 1 plate higher than everything else, which can then be hidden using Tile 45° Cut 2 x 2 in the front, and other techniques around the side and back.
This should also be able to provide a decent amount of stability (and transport-ability).
@PurpleDave said:
"Castles were often built with stone that could be quarried locally, which determined the color of the walls. I’ve been able to find pictures of yellow, tan, rose, white, black, and stereotypically grey castles. I even found pictures of one that had been covered in stucco and various sections were painted wildly different colors. It looked like a kid’s LEGO MOC."
Yes, it's a commmon misconception these days that all castles used to be grey. In addition to stone/brick variations, many where in fact plastered and whitewashed to protect the stones and mortar from rain. Coloured paint was sometimes used to show the wealth of the owner. But this paint has weathered away over time, leaving only bare stones.
AFOLs would be historically justified to make more colourful castles, instead of just boring gray ones!
@kmvk83 said:
" @Andhe said:
" @xboxtravis7992 said:
"Call me crazy, but I think 31112 and last year's Pirate sets make me believe Creator has a strong possibility for being a good place to do Classic Themes without you know actually investing heavily in a full on revival of said themes. "
It's not crazy. I'm fairly certain that was confirmed as Lego's exact intention in a recent interview.
Great retrospective article on castles. Always fun reading stuff like this alongside the usual 'the cult of the new' hype over whatever is being released next.
"
That would be quite disappointing if true.
As a mid thirty’s dad I am struggling to find exciting LEGO sets for my two boys (7 and 4 years old). At the moment both their rooms are flooded with Firefighters and Police sets. Which are great offcourse! But still I find myself limited in options for non-licenced (read: affordable and: my kids have never seen Marvel movies, Harry Potter, Star Wars or monkey kid (what ever that is...) they most definitely will eventually but they are not old enough) smaller sets.
I have a personal disapprovement for Ninjago. The first two years the sets were creative en richly filled with fantasy. In The Netherlands we now have the (excellent!) tv-show: Lego masters. There is one key element for the Brickmaster when he judges a build: does the build tell a story you can instantly see?
The more recent Ninjago sets miss this in my opinion.
Where are the Pirate, Castle, Western and classic/alien space themes?
I really like the new Creator Pirate and Castle sets.
I simply love the two Idea’a sets.
But all of them are way to expensive for a 7 year old. And the sets are to big a build for a 7 year old as well.
I can vividly remember my birthdays. Almost every LEGO gift I received for a certain birthday fitted in one or two of the above named ‘classic’ themes.
There was a certain coherency between the sets within the line-upp of a theme.
Please TLC bring back the old themes. And please give us a small set with just a raft and 2 surviving pirates, and a small deserted island with a couple of stranded soldiers and a big pirate ship and an even bigger Admirals ship (not for the kids, but for daddy to show off!)."
Absolutely, yeah. If a kid wants to play with pirates say, they'll want more than just 1 big ship to be getting on with. This way you lose out on the variety, mostly getting the obvious choice once every few years (a castle for castle, a pirate ship for pirates) and more importantly lose the crucial sets under 20 quid.
It was interesting to see the instruction pictures of some of the castles. It looked as if the pictures had been touched up to show the joins in the bricks. I think on the yellow micro scale castle the person got carried away and included an extra join in the arch brick over the 'moat'.
In the last few micro-castles I assume they took photos and then added the black lines around the bricks so you could figure out what was used where? Alternatively, if they are completely hand drawn then they have done a great job with the studs and round bricks! In either case you still needed to source the bricks to build, so I wonder if anyone actually ever built?
"It has the simplicity and directness many designs from the fifties had... It kept things small, cheap and available"... Why it can't be that way anymore?
@BrickRandom said:
" @PurpleDave said:
"Castles were often built with stone that could be quarried locally, which determined the color of the walls. I’ve been able to find pictures of yellow, tan, rose, white, black, and stereotypically grey castles. I even found pictures of one that had been covered in stucco and various sections were painted wildly different colors. It looked like a kid’s LEGO MOC."
Yes, it's a commmon misconception these days that all castles used to be grey. In addition to stone/brick variations, many where in fact plastered and whitewashed to protect the stones and mortar from rain. Coloured paint was sometimes used to show the wealth of the owner. But this paint has weathered away over time, leaving only bare stones.
AFOLs would be historically justified to make more colourful castles, instead of just boring gray ones!
"
To an extent. Bare stone/brick or whitewashed were the most common finishes on Medieval castle walls, followed some way behind by (pale) puce. Very bright wall colours such as minifigure yellow, fire engine red or apple green were extremely rare. Deep blue was unheard of as a wall colour owing to the prohibitive cost of rich blue pigment in the Medieval period. We know all the above from the archaeological and iconographic records.
Lego needs to believe more in their basic bricks.
@Zander said:
"I doubt the red and blue build is supposed to be a castle. Looks more like a European town hall, guild hall, courthouse or other municipal building."
In Denmark many Castles look like that...
@Zander:
It sounds like castles were indeed fortified residences at the start, but as firearms made plate mail a liability in battle, cannons basically rendered stone walls an expensive decoration. The name stuck, but the essence of what they referred to shifted more towards a country mansion. You could still defend them against a few assailants with small arms, but a stone fortification wasn’t really as big a deterrent to an organized military as it was during the days when knights were armed with lances and swords.
@BrickRandom:
A lot of people don’t realize ancient Greek statuary was the same way. You can still find enough trace bits of paint to figure out roughly what they used to look like in their prime, but bare white marble is the only look people really understand.
@Zander:
Mmmm...Tyrian purple castle... *Homer-drool*
Thank you, wonderful bit of history for the most important LEGO theme ever of course : )
@Martin_S said:
" @Zander said:
"I doubt the red and blue build is supposed to be a castle. Looks more like a European town hall, guild hall, courthouse or other municipal building."
In Denmark many Castles look like that..."
The urban ones in Denmark like that without further fortification, though sometimes called castles, are more like palaces. Most of the rest, outside of city centres, have further water defences: moats, lakes or sea, or a combination. Kronborg, for example, which I've been to, looks purely palatial until you realise it's on a rise with a walled drop to a moat surrounded by a strip of land and then the sea. Conceivably, the red and blue LEGO creation represents *part* of a castle. I wonder if it is based on an actual edifice.
What a nice article.
I love the Weetabix Castle and the 1973 Castle from the Ideas Book. Well, I love Lego Castles!
Can't wait to buy the new Creator Castle!!!
How is it built at a 45 degree angle? How is the castle at a normal angle?
I scream, for I do not know...
@CaptainVictoria said:
"How is it built at a 45 degree angle? How is the castle at a normal angle?
I scream, for I do not know..."
The central tower is just resting on top of the 45 degree studs, it is not attached.
@Galaktek:
Batman, of course! Hey, he’s been a knight, a wizard, a Scottish clansman, a fairy princess, a Roman centurion, a pirate, a clown (which is just a modern form of jester), and a mermaid (in case he wants to live in the moat). And he’s got a tuxedo made of money, in case he wants to buy an old castle in the modern age.
Every theme is Batman...
Thank you, Huw! Interesting article. Please sequel! Reminisce trough Lego castle history. Maybe in parts, classic, 90's,...
https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-8028486a388593598b9f4d7413b703f8
Maybe reminisce trough famous Lego castle mocs? This one is from 1986 by Robert Carney