King's Castle 7946 Review

[metalandi]

That thought already came to my mind but... why decorate a horse with a unicorn headgear? I have never seen such critters in real life

But thanks for your advice, Landsmann!

I really think this is a wonderful set! Maybe I'm being a bit picky about the unicorn thing but I really think a plain normal horse headgear would be better... mmh, as I'm writing this, I already like it much better than before! It'll probably grow on me

You know what, if I get this set, I'll most likely put the unicorn-thingie on! :D

funkybrick

In REAL LIFE? You must be really old, cause that would mean you must have lived in the mediaval age.

Just kidding, but i'm still pretty sure they aren't meant to be "real" unicorns. The horses back then hadf all kinds of headgear, i wouldn't be surprised if there was a unicorn-ish headgear aswell. Since hundreds of years there are fairytales about unicorns, so i could definitely see that horses got decorated like that in some parts of the world.

[Artifex]

Thanks so much for this review!

I met this amazing castle in a toy store today, and I was dying to know more about it.

Even though I was so eager to get anything on the castle, I still think this is one of the best and most useful reviews I've read on the internet.

[Bram]

I ordered this one about a week ago for 79 euro, give or take. Last saturday I was at a large shopping centre and they were selling it for 99 euro (at Intertoys, quite a big store chain).

I was a bit irritated about the large difference as the biggest audience for these sets are children I assume and they shop in the stores, not on the internet like I did. So, those stores are really ripping them kids of as I see it because they don't have the 'luxury' to find their Lego elsewhere.

Not sure I would've bought it if I had to pay 99 euro for it either...

[Santhor]

Great review for a great set, but I think the green "knights" need something to help them-a horse, a ballista, (or a ballista set) or maybe even another *gasp* catapult! *gasp*

-Santhor

[metalandi]

I had an really awful experience, when i got this set yesterday and opened the box. I poured out all the stuff, to find completely twisted up instructions (which isn't really new as we all know..), but then the real shock came when i saw that the sticker sheet was twisted even more, and it was STICKING inside one of the instruction books, 2 of the stickers were peeled off halfway and were actually halfway sticking onto the paper of the instructions! It was really hard to get them off, without destroying either the stickers or the paper. Did anybody ever had a similar experience? In all the sets i've bought so far (and that's quite a few) i never ever had that. I had twisted instructions and sticker sheets, but that was just awful. too bad i forgot to take a picture about it.

[squiz]

Great review for a great set, but I think the green "knights" need something to help them-a horse, a ballista, (or a ballista set) or maybe even another *gasp* catapult! *gasp*

-Santhor

Not another catapult !! Loads in this line already. A balista would be cool though

@ Metlandi, sorry to hear about the stickers and instructions. Guess its just the luck of the draw to how the set is handle in transit. Maybe you can contact tlg and they will sort you out ?

[Raubritter]

Thanks for the review.

@ metalandi:

The mechanism to pull up the portcullis does work very well and the portcullis falls down like an axe.

Edited June 11, 2010 by Raubritter

[Derek]

Thanks for the review. I had to do a little digging to find this review, but I'm glad I did. While I think that the design of the Kingdoms line is better than the previous Castle one, I will miss the color schemes, unique figures and general feel of it.

I'm not totally in love with the red color scheme, but I do really like the beefy feel of this set, namely the front gate and back tower. The I really like the roof of the tower.

The figures of this set are great.While the king and his army are nice, as usual, I'm most interested in the Dragon knights! The dark green and dark pearl grey combo is great! I really love the new armor print for the Dragon knight in this set.

Sorry for bumping this, but I had a few things I wanted to say (and I thought it might be useful to any others who might be considering buying this)

Thanks again for the review!

[Sir Dillon]

Thanks for the review. I had to do a little digging to find this review, but I'm glad I did.

It's not always up to date, but we do have an index of reviews that might help you find what you're looking for in the future.

[SirWacky]

Must have

This looks awesome!

Thank you so much for the review!

[Sire Pirol]

BUT I really dislike the unicornish head 'armor' piece, it just does not fit into the set! I mean this is actually a rather historical castle... but the unicorn ruins it all! Why does Lego make a historical castle and then puts a unicorn in it?

I mean, a unicorn really doesn't belong there! I mean, there were castle themes with a major fantasy aspect (e.g. Fantasy Era), there should Lego put a unicorn! But you know, why create an all-historic feel without any magicians or something and then make the king's horse a unicorn as the ONLY truly fantasy-like piece in the set? Probably it's just me, but I really find that head barding to be disturbing...

Evidence that unicorn armor exists!

Edited July 15, 2010 by Sire Pirol

[KristofBD]

I just bought this set. It's great.

The black tower is probably the most innovative of the Kingdoms series, but this one just plainly has it all: it's beautifully designed, has great accessories a beautiful roof and throne chamber, great minifigs and a perfect overall feel. This one is 'finished' - a feeling I did not have with the black tower. That set was cooler, but had some glaring weaknesses and was basically half unfinished. It does challenge you less as a moccer, but this set is more satisfying when it's built.

Best,

K.

[Euvor]

After reading your review I'm hesitating whether or not I should buy this set. Frankly, I decided long ago I wouldn't. But now I'm feeling a sudden attraction to this set. I'll keep pondering...

[KristofBD]

After reading your review I'm hesitating whether or not I should buy this set. Frankly, I decided long ago I wouldn't. But now I'm feeling a sudden attraction to this set. I'll keep pondering...

Well, I can tell you: in real life the castle looks even better than in the review. Best, K.

[AMK152]

Nice review. This new castle looks awesome.

[fred67]

As long as you can buy horses or knights separately or in small minifig sets, the limited number of horses is not an issue for me. I can understand that they want to save every dollar to remain competitive and I prefer less horses but more bricks or better quality. (However I understand that may seem to be penny-pinching)

It's really hard to objectively come up with a good value indicator of a good set. People often look for that "magic" $0.10/piece ratio, but that's only a wild ballpark figure that needs a lot of modification.

If minifigs are worth $3/each - that's what they cost in the battlepacks, which I think is a fair deal considering that "build your own" minifigs are $3.33 each and come with only one head gear and one other accessory, whereas knights often have two accessories (like a sword AND shield) and often two headgear, if you count plumes and such - then the values of the sets including minifigures needs to be adjusted.

If you separate out the 8 minifigs from the set (and value them at $24, total), you get $75 for around 933 minus about 48 pieces (for minifigs and accessories), which is 885, I think, it shoots well below that $0.10/piece mark.

I've been wanting horses too, lately, and think we need a lot more... but most soldiers were foot soldiers, so I don't know what a good ratio is... but I just read a review of the prison carriage in another thread, and it's $10 for three minifigs AND a horse AND a crappy carriage... for $40 you could build a large carriage pulled by four horses and have 12 minifigs! So I think a $100 castle set is easily filled out with figures and horses for a pretty decent value, IMO.

[Ravenclaw2010]

A good review, but you never showed us the interiors of the towers! I like the figures, but I wish they would put the whole royal families(Kings, Queens, Princesses.) in the castles.

[mrplease]

i really like this set but i think its a bit to small. my son has a hard time playing inside it when its closed. a problem he doesn't have with his crownies kings castle seige set.

i get inflation, so instead of making the set so small for $99 make it a good sized castle for $119-$129. people should understand prices go up...

that being said, i give it an above average vote.

[Gabe]

I got this set yesterday and can i just say, it's effing brilliant! My partner dug out her old 6080 and we put them side by side, and you really can see the pedigree. The octagonal bastions on either side of the gatehouse are genius and the gatehouse itself is wonderfully imposing. I did pull off the silly catapult things though.

[Flare]

Great review! I don't know if I'll get this set, but I'm going to try to get some of the others... dark pearl does look beautiful!!

[Milargo]

A good review, but you never showed us the interiors of the towers! I like the figures, but I wish they would put the whole royal families(Kings, Queens, Princesses.) in the castles.

Hey, that sounds cool to me!

Fabelhaft review, as a fan of the castle theme I really love this aesthetics of the castle. Not to mention the armor , I'm also a fan of the dark pearl pieces.

Though I do miss the "jellybean" knights.

They were cool.

[Captain Becker]

I got this set 2 days ago and builded it, its a really nice set but i also founded a one ting wich i didnt like. The prison, its so small at even a minifig cant get there, so that was a really stupid at me. But otherly, it is a really nice set, wich was a dang expensive though

I have placed all my lion knights over there and my Dragons on their own castle (Tower rescue, but i like the Lions much more)

Oh and nice rewier btw

Captain Becker

Edited October 26, 2010 by Captain Becker

[the teutonic knight]

Definetly buying this.

[snefroe]

thanks for the great review!

this castle reminds me of the classic 6080, even though this model misses something. not quite sure what, however...

still, probably the best castle since the late 80s, i think... and the minifigs are getting better and better too

[Artanis I]

this castle reminds me of the classic 6080, even though this model misses something. not quite sure what, however...

Number of minifigs & horses?