With so many LEGOs, I really do need to find more ways to enjoy the ones I already have rather than buy more! Ergo, I recently cleared away the items that had called the top of my Ethan Allen Shaker Office File and replaced them with a slopping green LEGO incline making room for the creation of a Medieval Village and Viking Out Post.
Back around 1980, LEGO made the first of many decisions that would lead to its current global success. Designers were allowed to diversify their creations around a series of themes. The first included: Space Exploration, Medieval Kingdoms, Caribbean Pirates, and an exploration of Urban Life that branched out along many sub-themes like, Train transportation, Air transportation, Police, Fire Fighters, Harbors and Boats/Ships. It was a heady start that in retrospect looks humble by today's LEGO diversity with franchise contracts and dozens upon dozens of diverse themes.
Of the first three mentioned themes (Space, Kingdoms and Pirates) there was a deeply pugilistic element. Sets were developed with two teams (good and evil). There were soon Space Police. Kingdoms and castles came with mascots (Wolves, Ravens, Lions, Elk, Dragons...) to help us create conflicts. And for every (on average) male LEGO person, there was 1 female. The odds were much better with the Urban sub-themed sets, but still skewed to male LEGO people.
Now, this new approach proved wildly successful, even if it took a few lean years to catch on. LEGO is one of the most savvy corporations on the planet. As more themes emerged, and first sets reflecting corporate sponsorships arrived (Indiana Jones, etc.) a growing movement to elevate girls found bloom in 2012 with the introduction of the "Friends" series. By now, conflict between two opposing "teams" had also disappeared from the story-lines presented other themes.
For the Medieval sets, this meant that Castles became more about commerce and social intercourse. The Villages within and without the Castles took on an elevated presence.
Back to my office File Cabinet. My construction focused on a Medieval Village rather than building a Castle, per se. Though I have tons of bricks in storage from the multitude of castle sets. I began with the two cantilevered buildings from the 2009 Medieval Market Village (10193) set. I opened them up and placed them on the upper end of the slope along with a Cheese Mongers stand. Next, it was 2011's Medieval Mill Village Raid (7189) set which came with both a Barn and a Windmill.
The Aforementioned Viking Village (21343) from 2023 was nestled up against the right edge and the barn. This left a generous central space that I occupied with the two main structures from the 2024 Medieval Town Square set. Once in place, I created from scratch a pig sty mimicking the same thematic design elements. The final touches (still ongoing) bring in the people with their horses, cows, pigs, sheep and chickens. The little mill creek even has a couple of ducks!
Enjoy these pics!
