It seems that you can’t keep a good LEGO theme down, as this summer LEGO Castle will have its third coming! The LEGO Castle 2013 theme will be the second revival of the legendary LEGO Castle theme that debuted in 1978 and ran until 1997. LEGO Castle returned briefly in 2007, and it’s back for a third go in August 2013. The LEGO Castle Summer 2013 sets range will consist of five different sets. This time there’s no trolls, dwarves, or skeleton warriors. Instead it’s just good ol’-fashioned knights, horses, and oh yeah–a giant red LEGO dragon…

We’ll start with (what I consider) the best set: the LEGO Castle Dragon Mountain 70403. Let’s not ignore the dragon in the room and discuss that first. This LEGO red dragon is very classic-styled and has limited articulation, making it feel much more like a vintage LEGO toy and not at all like all the hyper-stylized LEGO Ninjago dragons that are full of articulation. The LEGO Castle Dragon figure has a great retro charm to it and is probably the single coolest part of the whole LEGO Castle 2013 theme.

The medieval structure included in the Dragon Mountain set isn’t all that much to look at, but I really love any time LEGO makes spiral staircases on sets. Even the Blue Lion Knights’ catapult looks like a lot of fun–and is that an evil Red Dragon Knight Wizard minifigure?!

The LEGO Dragon Knights minifigures have a catapult of their own, and they aim to use it to bust into the Blue Lion Knights’ Gatehouse in 70402 LEGO Castle The Gatehouse Raid!

This is sort of a cute set, but I won’t be buying the large King’s Castle set (I’ll talk about that momentarily), so I don’t know if I need this one either.

Third is the LEGO Castle army-builder battle pack! Get yourself four LEGO Knights minifigures and a dog for a low, low price of $10-$12!

Anyone who plans to get into LEGO Castle in a big way is gonna want a ton of knights, and the LEGO 70400 Forest Ambush is a cheap and efficient method of army-building.

Next up is a cute little $19.99 LEGO Castle Summer 2013 set: the LEGO Gold Getaway 70401. Not a whole lot to say about this set. I never like flickfire missiles and none of the minifigures included here are particularly memorable. The actual carriage with imprisonment cell is pretty cool looking, though. However And take a gander at that horse…

Man!! Even the Red Dragon Knights’ horses look evil! Look at that scowl on the LEGO black horse’s mug! I don’t know that I’ll purchase this set, but the LEGO horse makes it awful tempting.

Last but certainly not least, it’s the 2013 LEGO Castle King’s Castle 70404! You can’t have a theme called “LEGO Castle” without having a castle, so this set being made was a foregone conclusion. I don’t like the Red Dragon Knights’ chances in this battle, although who knows what kind of capabilities that crazy Red Dragon ATV/Catapult machine has!?

As far as castles go the 70404 King’s Castle is a solid entry, but it’s nothing particularly enticing that I feel like I need to own. This is, however, the only place to get the Blue Lion King minifigure and the Blue Lion White Horse figure (at least for now).

All five of the Summer 2013 LEGO Castle sets are scheduled to be released in August 2013. I’ll post links to order the sets once they become available, as well as full reviews of any sets that I pick up (hint: I’ll be buying at least the set with a giant mythical lizard in it).

What do you think of the new LEGO Castle 2013 theme, LEGO fans? Are you in?