Review: 6081 King's Mountain Fortress

[metalandi]

Set Number/Name: 6081 King's Mountain Fortress

Theme: Castle/Crusaders

Year Released: 1990

Pieces Count: 435

Minifigures: 8

Price: Depending on condition and so on, between 40 and 100 € on Ebay

As i promised, i will review some of my classic castle sets over the next weeks, and today we go on with the 2nd installment in these series: A review of the first real "big" castle i ever owned! When i got this set i was probably only 4 or 5 years old, and i think i might have built it with my grandpa back then. Anyhow, this isn't the version i had back then anymore, but luckily i managed to get one back off ebay about a year or 2 ago. Let's begin the review!

The Instructions:

I forgot to make apicture of the instructions, so ust posted the picture from brickset this time.

The Minifigs:

We have 8 figs all in all, not as much as in Black Knight's Castle, but thinking of that this one is a bit smaller, still a very good amount. 4 Foot Soldiers, 2 Knights on horses (with different saddles and colors), the usual ghost plus a lovely maiden figure, which is (i believe) exclusive to this set.

Overall Views:

Detailed Views:

At the front we have this wonderful piece of architecture, which can be opened...

...to reveal something extremely scary!

Inside the castle, there's a treasure chest, little prison, and a hidden room under a door in the floor, in which you can store some more chests or barrels:

A step higher in the tower, there's a door in the back that looks like a prison door (what i find a bit strange, since the prison already is downstairs), and inside a trap door (which needs a little finger help to open):

And finally at the very top, there's the point to defense the castle with a crossbow stand:

Ending Statement:

Another castle with very good playability, though the design lacks a bit in comparison to other castles. Still a very good set with a good amount of figs and accesoires which was common for the time it was released. It gets a 8/10 rank from me for sure!

[The Eye]

Hi metalandi,

An excellent review of an excellent set! This looks like a pretty interesting build, and in my opinion, it looks better with the baseplate than the two newer "modular castles" do. The minifigures are great and the barding on the horse shows the beautiful simplicity LEGO used to have (which is replaced with beautiful detail). I don't really like the crossbows and the front gate is strangely to the side, though I guess there's nothing really wrong with them other than being inaccurate. Looking forward to your other reviews.

[Raven Brickroft]

Also the first big Castle set I had. I remember fondly playing with it with my brother. The drawbridge was what I disliked about this set. It was too difficult to raise. Unlike the 6080 King's Castle's drawbridge, this one didn't have a handle to turn. I loved the ghost minifig, we'd always have it "charged" up and always put it in the tower so it would glow. I also like the raised baseplate. As a kid, Bigger is always better. So, having a raised baseplate meant that I had to use less bricks just so I could enlarge my castle. I still have parts of the maiden in my collection, sadly, I'm missing the torso. Ahh~ King's Mountain Fortress, I shall be completing you again, one of these days.

[samurai-turtle]

Ahhh memories. I got this set for Christmas (well my brother too, we had to share). At the time the ghost and princess with the barding where the best(the only ones we had at the time). But sadly the instructions went missing that irked me at the time, good thing I found them online now I can rebuild the set. My set is complete but, the base plate is cracked in spots (sadly that is my fault it is cracked another thing that irked me) fortunately is still usable.

[Admiral Croissant]

This one is great It has a lot minifigures and a great drawbridge.

I believe I don't have this one but I always made drawbridges so it's great that this set has one as well.

Good review!

[Palathadric]

The great thing about these older sets are that they have an incredible amount of minifigs. A 32-by-32 set having 8 minifigs is quite superb. Frankly, I don't care much for the castle itself. A bit boring, Not bad, but no particularly beautiful to look at or fearsome either. Gave it "average" but it could have also received an "above average" score.

[Flint]

My first lego set ever! I got this when I turned four years old. I still think it's a great set. I've built and rebuilt it dozens of times.

This got me hooked on lego.

[just2good]

Nice review, 'metalandi'!

This set was truly a marvel back then and is nostalgic now.

[Matej_Emperor]

Well, amazing review!

This set brings me back memories. I never had it, but I had the same baseplate (with different patterns, though) and I always wanted to build castle like this. It is beautiful, playable... it is just great.

But i voted Above Average, because this isn't the very best castle TLC has produced.

[fhomess]

Ah, this set always brings back sad memories for me as it's the set that first caused me to question whether or not I was becoming too old for Lego, and eventually resulted in my dark age, which I only emerged from a year ago. I was hugely fond of the Crusaders and Black Knights, slightly less so of the Black Falcons, and this set just did everything wrong compared to those sets for me. The baseplate was a cop out in my mind, and I was particularly upset with the 1-brick tall wall on the side with the treasure hatch. I didn't like the crossbows as a means of defense, either, or the big wooden doors. Where was my portcullis?

Looking back at it now, I think I shortchanged it a little bit. By today's standards, the minifigs are excellent and the play features are quite a bit of fun. It's funny to think I was upset with the crossbow defense and would've preferred a small catapult given how catapult crazy Lego is nowadays. Personally, I'd rather have another archer than the two silly little catapults on the most recent Lion Knight's castle. The little trap door is cool, too. I certainly can't begrudge anyone from liking this set. Still, I can't help but look at this set and think of what a downgrade it was compared to what had come before and what I was used to.

BTW, did anyone else assume the ghost was the king who had died?

Edited February 14, 2012 by fhomess

[Shroffy123]

Great review. I remember as a kid I wanted this castle so bad. My friend owned it, and I'd always be over playing with it. Thank goodness for ebay, as I am now a proud owner of the set.

BTW, did anyone else assume the ghost was the king who had died?

I didn't, no! I never even thought about it. I just thought it was an extra play feature for the set.

[Jesperallen]

I like this set, never had it as a kid as I had become "to old" by then. Now when I´ve become old enough I had the luck to be able to buy it quite cheap with box and all. I like to see it as small retreat, not as a castle. The feeling of it I think is great but some of the walls are too low and there are arch´s in walls that create annoying openings that render the gates useless.

Looking back I would loved it as a kid.

[Stewie.Mtron]

When i was young this is was my favorite castle set with 6086.

Sadly i never owned this castel, and all i had was to admire on catalogues and hoping to have at Christmas.

But now, at 26 years old, i'm trying to collect all these childhood's sets.

Thanks Metalandi for this dive into past

[legocanuck]

Missed out on this a couple years ago at a garage sale.

Great castle!

[legomonk]

This set is currently sitting on a shelf in my house. I never take it part. 6081 will always have a place in my heart.

[Cult_Of_Skaro]

Just rebuilding this now. It's a real beauty, much better than the castles we get now. Not as good as Black Monarch's Castle or Black Falcons' Fortress, but on up there.