Top 5 Must Own Castle Sets - Post 1995

[Legomyeggo]

Looking to get back into collecting Castle sets. However I'm not interested in the OLD sets even though I know these are widely regarded as the best. Just think these are a tad dated looking. Can you give me your TOP 5 Must own Castle sets from 1995 - Present. Gimme some reasons why these are your favs.

Edited February 18, 2009 by Legomyeggo

[meschepers]

1) Medieval Market Village (incredible set, looks great and has plenty of minifigs)

2) Dwarves Mining (lots of parts, multiple factions)

3) The Knight impulse (simply for army building)

4) Crossbow defense (once again, army building)

5) The Final Joust (cheap way to get the knight with the closing visor)

These are the sets that I would recommend out of the currently running castle line. 3, 4 and 5 are cheap sets that you can get multiples of to build up an army. The last 2 (Dwarves Mining and Medieval Market Village) are a bit on the expensive side but are totally worth it. I am especially fond of the village. I hope this gives you some ideas of sets that you want.

Also, there are battle packs available for the knights and for the skellies. If you are interested in army building that may a good option as well.

[MarcusV3]

1Troll Tower Raid

2Castle

3Skeleton Tower

4Dwarve Mine

5Troll Warship

1 it's a great set with nice pieces and you could buy it for $40 from lego but now I just got mine from Amazon for $22. I suggest it because it's a great set and right now it's cheap (or was :P)

2Now since meschepers covered all of the cheap good sets I'll talk about the expensive ones This set is great for lot's of reasons if you are a fan of castle sets you need a place for you king and for all of your soldiers to go while they're not in battle it comes with a great dragon, a bunch of skellies and crownies, and of course the King!

4 For all of the reasons meschepers covered great minifigs and awesome parts! 4 Gold and 4 Silver rock raider rocks New beards :D New helmets (they're awesome) and really cool mining gear. Plus of course the trollies 2 trolls 1 shield (Urghh!!!) and a giant mountain troll with a huge club.

5Troll Warship is great because a lot of the sets include very few trolls but this set makes up for it with tons of trolls tons of equipment and a cute mountain troll to play the drums while they row. Also the set includes a dwarve and a knight on a Dragon to fight back the trolls!

[Sir Dillon]

While we might be able to help you get an idea of the better sets, it's really going to come down to your personal tastes and what you like most. My suggestion is to look through the Classic-Castle Set Index and our Set Reviews, and find some that you like.

One thing to remember is that all Castle sets from 2004 and on will be using the current bluish grey colour, which is slightly different from the "old grey" of previous sets.

Good luck with your collecting!

[Derek]

1) Tower Raid- Great set, fantastic value, cool figures. It could have easily had been $10 more. I would reccomend this set to anyone looking for a good Castle set.

2) Dwarves Mine- I don't own it, but I really think that anyone would be happy with this.

3) Market Village- Don't have this either, but hope to get it eventually. All new figures, cool buildings, AND a turkey. What more could you want?

4) Either of the impulse sets (Troll and knight)- A little steep in price, but one of the cheapest ways to build an army and get some cool accessories

5) Dwarve's Mine Defender- A really nice cheap set, with 2 troll figures and a dwarf. This is the cheapest way to get dwarves, so I reccomend it. It has some nice pieces as well, such as dark brown 1x4 slopes, and 2 chains.

I would steer clear of the Skeleton Prison Tower, unless you see it on sale. I got it for $12.48 (75% off! ) and I was really glad that I didn't pay MSRP for it. It has a terrible parts to price ratio, and the set is rather childish as well. Some of the good parts are the Wizard and Princess figures.

Hope this helps.

Edited February 18, 2009 by darthperson

[bamaker]

I didn't get into the Castle theme until mid-2008, but you'll find with a lot of the post-1995 Castle sets, especially with Knights Kingdom and the current Castle line, there is a definite level of fantasy blended into the depicted medieval lifestyle, e.g. dragons, trolls, undead skeletons, wizards, giant beasts, etc. I like the fantasy aspect, allows for a more variety and frees the imagination, so a lot of my favorites will be from the fantasy sets.

1. 7036 Dwarves' Mine - originally previewed in 2007, became widely available in 2008. This set has so many wonderful features from tracks & carts, elevated mining crates, cranking wheel, catapult and lots of gold & silver crystals. Another plus, LEGO didn't take the easy way out on the interior of the set and actually put in a little kitchen for the dwarves to catch a coffee break. There are 7 minifigures: 4 dwarves, 2 trolls, and 1 large troll.

2. 7029 Skeleton Ship Attack - I had to get this one of eBay, but I believe it was a TRU/LegoS@H exclusive in 2007, early 2008. This one gets a lot of grief; the main complaint being the Skeleton Ship appears incomplete, but I think it works and LEGO did a good job of filling out the ship. Also the set also came with a port town to attack and once again LEGO did the right thing and filled out the backside of the town. Again, you get 7 minifigures: 3 skeleton warriors, 1 skeleton captain, 2 crown knights and an archer.

3. 7037 Tower Raid - A wide release set that is still readily available in most toy retail spots. As darthperson said in his post, this set offers a lot of bang for the buck. You get a ton of pieces, a tall tower to add to your Castle structures, and an equally tall siege tower. This set comes with 5 minifigures: 3 trolls, 1 knight, and 1 archer.

4. 7093 Skeleton Tower - A wide release set that LEGO just retired. It may be available in some out of the way stores, but it's becoming harder to find. I'm in the minority, but I like this set. I like the whole idea of the huge skeleton on the face of the Tower with the lower jaw as the door way. I like the evil Wizard and the damsel-in-distress Princess; plus I think the dragon really fits the atmosphere of a fire & brimstone kingdom that is warring against the Crown king. Sure the tower is sparse and LEGO didn't really go the extra mile on the Tower's interior, but for me it's enough to get into my top 5. You get 5 minifigures: 2 skeleton warriors, 1 evil wizard, 1 princess, and 1 knight + his horse.

5. 7092 Skeleton Prison Carriage - Another wide release set that LEGO has just retired. Getting hard to find, but I recommend trying to pick up this set. This set depicts a very eerie & creepy scene as the poor captured crown soldier is being transported to who knows what kind of hell back at the Skeleton Tower. Also, the Carriage can be removed and converted into a small Skeleton stronghold. This set comes with 5 minifigures: 3 skeletons (2 white, 1 black) and 2 knights. It also includes 1 horse and 3 skeleton horses.

As an honorable mention I also want to include 7094 King's Castle Siege mainly because, if you're going to collect Castle sets you ought to have a castle.

I did not include any sets that I don't personally own, but I believe other quality sets to be 10193 Medieval Market Village (get some civilians for ye ole towne, available now on S@H), 8877 Vladek's Dark Fortress (from the much maligned Knights Kingdom line, retired), 7097 Trolls' Mountain Fortress (upcoming Summer 2009 release). There are many others that I could recommend and very few that I would recommend avoiding at all cost.

Edited February 19, 2009 by bamaker

[SiRoa]

1. King's Castle Siege (7094) this is the best building in Fantasy Era Theme..

2. Skeleton Tower (7093) I love undead, and I don't buy that set only one...

3. Skeleton Prison Carriange (7092) same reason as 7093, I love undead...

4. Dwarves Mine (7036) this is the second best building in Fantasy era theme...

5. Final Joust (7009) For Army building cause I like to be a great army builder (you could trade with human fans, cause i need the only the undead)...

I think, the 10193 will go to my top 5 Must Own Castle Sets and the non released set that has joker, gold knight and skellie minifig will go to my top 5 too.

I will include gear in my opinion, the first one is GIANT CHESS SET, second is Castle Tic Tac Toe and third one is Skeleton Battle Pack.

Maybe I will include Skeleton Ship Attack after I have money to buy this set, as I love ship and the undead.

cheers,,

[gogobig]

Looking to get back into collecting Castle sets. However I'm not interested in the OLD sets even though I know these are widely regarded as the best. Just think these are a tad dated looking. Can you give me your TOP 5 Must own Castle sets from 1995 - Present. Gimme some reasons why these are your favs.

6090 Royal Knight's Castle-1995 (good knights castle)

Amazing castle design, lots of figs, great parts.

8877 Vladek's Dark Fortress-2005 (Evil fortress)

Superb evil fort regardless of what others might say. Decent amount of figures, very cool colors and design, lots of pieces.

7036 Dwarve's Mine-2007 (neutral/dwarves hideout)

Brand new figures (dwarves, orcs, trolls) interesting design.

10193 Medieval Marketplace-2009 (common folk, part of the castle)

Amazing pieces, price per piece and structure.

7097 Troll's Mountain Fortress -2009 (evil fortress lookout)

So far from the pictures it seems like its a great evil fortress with plenty of useful figs.

[TLV]

I think alot of people forget that knights kingdom II had one really good set.

8813 Battle at the pass.

It had some really good pieces, like a castle door and a stairs piece with is really useful. Also came with plenty of weapons. Best of all, plenty of minifigs! 10 minifigs to be precise. Each one of them comes with euro armor. 10 euro armours in one set. Its a really good set I'd say. Pity it is getting a little rare these days though.

apart from that set, my other pick of the top five are:

2) 10193 Medieval Marketplace

This one needs no explanation. Everybody sings praises of this set.

3) 7094 Kings castle siege

The best castle set I've seen in recent years. Very nice modular design.

4) 7037 Tower raid

Useful pieces, cool siege tower that works well, plenty of minifigs, weapons and accessories.

5) castle chess set

great army builder, great way to get all the rarer minifigs like the princess, king and evil wizard.

Edited February 20, 2009 by TLV

[gogobig]

6090 Royal Knight's Castle-1995 (good knights castle)

Amazing castle design, lots of figs, great parts.

8877 Vladek's Dark Fortress-2005 (Evil fortress)

Superb evil fort regardless of what others might say. Decent amount of figures, very cool colors and design, lots of pieces.

7036 Dwarve's Mine-2007 (neutral/dwarves hideout)

Brand new figures (dwarves, orcs, trolls) interesting design.

10193 Medieval Marketplace-2009 (common folk, part of the castle)

Amazing pieces, price per piece and structure.

7097 Troll's Mountain Fortress -2009 (evil fortress lookout)

So far from the pictures it seems like its a great evil fortress with plenty of useful figs.

Hello Mate. I thought of putting Battle at the pass as well. One of those sets I always wanted but never got to put my hands on it. I was actually going to buy one and the next day Shop@home sold out :(. Anyways, this set is hard to find and extremely pricey-unfortunately. But I agree with you that its a great set. Cheers!

[Minifig Lecturer]

Looking to get back into collecting Castle sets. However I'm not interested in the OLD sets even though I know these are widely regarded as the best. Just think these are a tad dated looking. Can you give me your TOP 5 Must own Castle sets from 1995 - Present. Gimme some reasons why these are your favs.

I suggest you just buy basic pieces and build your own. I'm sure you can make stuff alot better than any Post or Pre 1995 set!!

[Donut]

My top five Castle sets from 1995 to present are

6090 Royal Knight's Castle - Simply beautiful, it has everything.

6046 Hemlock Fortress - Unique figs and creative design.

6031 Fright Force - The battlepack during that era.

6089 Stone Tower Bridge - Fun and interesting set from the Ninja Theme.

10193 Castle Town Square - A Classic in the making!

[Fluyt]

I don't know a top-5, but Medieval Marketplace an the Castle Advent Calendar are both great sets, and the latter one is cheap too.

You should check out 6090 - Royal Knights Castle as well.

But pre-1995 there are a lot more interesting sets than post-1995.

Edited February 21, 2009 by Fluyt