The LEGO Bull Knights Sets 2000

[SirSven7]

Hello again all my favoured LEGO Enthusiasts

It’s time again for another instalment of my attempt to go through all the sets from the Castle era, today I have the bull Knights from 2000.

The LEGO Bull Knights Sets 2000

I hope you all enjoy, and any comments would be most welcome.

Cheers all

[The_Cook]

As ever a well thought-out, thorough review of the faction.

This is a faction that fell well within my dark-age, but since returning I've often looked at whether I should pick up a 6096 Bull's Attack and you've probably swayed me into picking one up if I find it at the right price.

Lookig forward to the King Leo side of the theme.

[DawnCrusader]

Once again, great review SirSven7

You point out several good points on why this faction could be much more, the main one for me being the lack of a Castle and the repetion of the characters (Cedric, Gilbert and Weezil) over all sets.

Maybe if the line went on for more a couple of years we could see the fleshing out of the bulls, even the addition of new armor / weapon pieces as their trademark visual, just like King Leo's soldiers received a new helmet mold.

A pitty it didn't.

Edited March 9, 2012 by DawnCrusader

[Hive]

Wow, and I who thought that Fright Knights was the worst faction in Castle history...

Now don't get me wrong, the faction itself is not bad - but the sets... oh my, I have never seen such a horrible range of sets before. There's not a single good one! I had no idea the Bulls were *that* bad off untill now, thanks for the (kinda sad) review!

Edited March 9, 2012 by Hive

[Niku]

Wow, and I who thought that Fright Knights was the worst faction in Castle history...

Now don't get me wrong, the faction itself is not bad - but the sets... oh my, I have never seen such a horrible range of sets before. There's not a single good one! I had no idea the Bulls were *that* bad off untill now, thanks for the (kinda sad) review!

I completely agree, the Bulls have no soul, no charisma at all.

[SirSven7]

Yeah these guys were difficult to write about, I like the figs and a few of the seige weapons are cool, but theres a limit and these guys started getting very dull to build

still King Leo next (at least i get to talk about a castle again )

[Clone OPatra]

I always hated this theme, and especially this faction. Their vehicles/weapons are so blocky and boring. The only redeeming thing about the faction is the minifigures, and even then it's really just about the torsos and leg prints. The only face I like is the eyepatch guy. It's a shame when all of the figures have names because LEGO makes them look specific and it's harder to have a little band of generic goons. One can say a lot of bad things about Knights Kingdom II, but the generic shadow knights were awesome.

[CMP]

I loved the Bull Knights. While their sets downright sucked, and lacked variation among the figs, their armor and ideals really made them stand out. (The gray eyed thing, while a bit odd, was fairly interesting, and like you I was a sucker for Gilbert the Bad ) Unfortunately, yes, the first Knight's Kingdom pretty much marked the beginning of juniorization. It's a shame, because had this theme come earlier on the Classic Castle roster, it would've been awesome.

[Hive]

One can say a lot of bad things about Knights Kingdom II, but the generic shadow knights were awesome.

Amen to that, I really need to get myself some of those bad boys. And their shields!

[de Gothia]

Great job again Steve on this theme!

I just love the bulls! Not the sets, they are pretty crappy but the minifigs! Wow! They reminds me of the evil fella in Ivanhoe with the bull emblem!

I like the fact that they don´t have their own castle. For me these guys are nomads, plundering their way through the kingdoms. Why does every single faction need a castle?! This variety is great! The same for the new dragon knights! I don´t think that there should be a big great castle for them that I´ve read so many times here on EB. They are the evil ones with smaller hideouts!

[DawnCrusader]

Great job again Steve on this theme!

I just love the bulls! Not the sets, they are pretty crappy but the minifigs! Wow! They reminds me of the evil fella in Ivanhoe with the bull emblem!

I like the fact that they don´t have their own castle. For me these guys are nomads, plundering their way through the kingdoms. Why does every single faction need a castle?! This variety is great! The same for the new dragon knights! I don´t think that there should be a big great castle for them that I´ve read so many times here on EB. They are the evil ones with smaller hideouts!

After thinking a bit, I have to agree with de Gothia. The Bulls may not have the most beautiful or complex sets, but at least they're pretty consistent. I mean, their goal is to siege, and siege weapons they have! That's their thing

For me, thematically, the only set that doesn't make sense for The Bulls is Cedric and the Dragon... A Knight of a faction with a bull as a symbol, riding a Dragon, isn't aesthetically pleasing, and it's plain weird

Edited March 9, 2012 by DawnCrusader

[SirSven7]

Cheers for all the wonderful comments guys, for me the sets were bad, but I loveed the minfigs so that made up for it somewhat, theres alot of flavour in the ifgs its just a shame the sets they got where so poor.

I agree that not all factions need a castle, but all factions still need decent sets and that was something missing for these guys as none of these sets are a must have Bull Attack is the best and it is a nice set but it is nowhere near as vital a collection piece as say the Fantasy Drawbridge Defence or the Woldpacks Fortress these sets I need, Bulls Attack I just want.

I hope that makes sense.

[Ardelon]

I also think the Bulls didnt need a Castle, I saw them as a mobile faction, moving often to escape discovery by the Lion Knights. I think of the biggest set as their camp. I think attempting a faction with no fixed buildings was an interesting and challenging idea.

Even without buildings though, TLG still could have diversified the line more, with a more proper camp (with tents, a spit or cauldron over a campfire, a siege workshop for Gilbert, etc), a supply wagon, an ambush set like Kings Carriage Ambush, etc.

I dont find the siege weapons blocky, the only ones that irk me are the cannons, I always found them un-LEGOish. Of course, if catapults work poorly, that is a big drawback. The biggest siege tower / battering ram is pretty cool, though, IMO, it really seems to give the Bulls a decent chance against he castle.

I agree the figs are best part of the faction, they really stand out among the other factions (though the gray eyes are strange), and I really like the bull shield. And its true they should have included some generic soldiers, so wouldnt be limited to three characters. I tend to think they are just the survivors of a bigger rebellion against the king (those skeletons in the Lion sets probably belonged to their less fortunate comrades). They really do come off as the pitiful underdog fighting the Lion machine, the fact tha they can still mount attacks on the Lion castle shows just how heroic, competent and motivated they are, and it makes the lions look pretty incompetent or unmotivated, if their biggest enemy are three washed-out attackers.

Funny, this review, unlike others, actually lowered my opinion about the KK1 line, I didnt know the sets were as <insert that tiresome argument> and the catapults were as lousy. Still, I have have a more positive view of the Bulls then most, the biggest drawbacks being no logistical support for their siege engines and too few figs.

[JackJonespaw]

Very good review! I guess we'd have to wait a few more years to get some more evil looking knights.

[Javert]

hello SirSven7 and once again a great review! Unfortunately, this is the only one so far I disagree with. For me this theme was amazing! I remember the first sets I got out of the theme were the catapult crusher and the axe cart, which I got on my first ever visit to Legoland Windsor back in 2001. I remember on the car journey home from legoland, I opened the boxes and inside both of them was a leaflet, showing all the sets of the KK1 theme. I remember saying to my mum when we got back to our cottage in Surrey, "I love the look of all these sets, do you mind if I write my Christmas list early this year?" (I was 6 at the time)

Jump to Christmas and I got the King Leo's Castle, The Bull's attack, The Defense Archer, The Guarded Treasury and the Royal Joust sets. I spent hours of building time on them that day. This was my second proper lego theme I collected. And I loved it! Jump forward to my birthday and I got the Dragon Rider, The Rebel Chariot and the Dungeon sets (never got the catapult on wheels). Those shiny pieces were brilliant! I still have the chestplate and helmet (my dog chewed the shield ). Then on a trip to York in the Easter holidays, I got given the Fire Attack set as a present for being so good that day (I know, I was a bad kid at times haha!)

I spent hours playing with these sets, and building them up, and taking them down again and again. I got the computer game and played it so much (I loved the way the walls for the castle on that game were built!) I even spent time building the alternative ideas from each set.

I have recently just completed building the King Leo's Castle again and I can understand why I loved this set! It has everything, a drawbridge, a portcullis, even a throne! But going back on topic to the Bull's theme...

I think overall the best Bull set is the Bull's attack because of the mighty attack tower, I used to spend ages pushing it around my KLC set and didn't get bored! I was only 6 at the time but being a child, I loved these sets! Jump 11 years forward and I've started to try rebuilding them again, but I think a few bricklink orders are in order, as some pieces are scratched, chewed, broken and lost

I'm looking forward to seeing your opinions on the Lion Knights sets of 2000/2001

[just2good]

I'm loving these Castle overviews, 'SirSven7'! Keep up the good work!

The sets of the 2000 Knights Kingdom reminds me of the one from 2004 for some reason...

[TheLegoDr]

Very good review again. I missed out on everything beyond the Dragon Masters era, so this is all new to me. Thanks to bricklink I did purchase one figure of the Bulls, sadly it wasn't Michael Jordan. This is more of a Toni Kukoc.

I actually do like the figures quite a bit and if I had been out of my dark ages before they came out, I would probably have an army of them. But since I missed out, I doubt I will go back and buy up sets/figures to that great of extent.

Some of the sets actually aren't that bad. It definitely fits with the style TLG was going for back then. I don't particularly care for the shiny elements, but it is neat that they had a "collect them all" idea behind it.

I do like their re-used helmets and their shields. Now, if only they had some barding!

[Palathadric]

Good job and another great read. These guys were really not the vision when it came to Lego. Seriously, more seige equipment than they had men to use it. I quite liked their torso designs, at least.

Excellent reviewing though, SirSven7. I look forward to more of your works. I saved the page for later reading and further analysis as I usually do, but I don't seem to have seen the "Dragon Rider," and the "Bull's Attack" did not have the set name and number, nor the piece count, which you usually put. Don't know if this was just an oversight or...

I don't think I've ever "Weezil's Stone Bomber." Odd set!

Again, great job though!

[Brinstar]

Another great read Sir Sven 7! I agree with pretty much everything you said about these sets. The Bull Knights are a difficult faction to love and the quality of the sets was generally substandard compared to the 'golden age' of classic castle. I will say that I really liked the premise of Bull's Attack (6096) in providing a collection of siege engines in just one set. Unfortunately the actual models were not as well designed as they might have been. I think its a shame that Lego haven't returned to this idea since. A collection of Dragon Knights siege engines would have made an excellent Kingdoms set...

[SirSven7]

hello SirSven7 and once again a great review! Unfortunately, this is the only one so far I disagree with. For me this theme was amazing! I remember the first sets I got out of the theme were the catapult crusher and the axe cart, which I got on my first ever visit to Legoland Windsor back in 2001. I remember on the car journey home from legoland, I opened the boxes and inside both of them was a leaflet, showing all the sets of the KK1 theme. I remember saying to my mum when we got back to our cottage in Surrey, "I love the look of all these sets, do you mind if I write my Christmas list early this year?" (I was 6 at the time)

It sounds like you have some wonderful childhood memories of these sets which is a really special thing and nothing I say could or should change that, I hope you don't mind that I was a little harsh and remember its just one fools opinion nothing more

I love the figures for these guys the green torso espeically is very handy for the forestmen to have a bit better armour and some of the sets are reasonably ok, (Bulls Attack has some interesting highs and depressing lows) its just not my childhood which is why I am being a bit more synical, out of interest how was the game? did it play well?

Cheers for the comments though guys to great to see others opinions on my work

saved the page for later reading and further analysis as I usually do, but I don't seem to have seen the "Dragon Rider," and the "Bull's Attack" did not have the set name and number, nor the piece count, which you usually put. Don't know if this was just an oversight or...

Thats weird are you saying there not appearing? as they have been included, if more people are missing elements of my reviews please let me know, I'm not sure if its a loading problem your end or and uploading problem mine

however let me know if its working perfectly too as then I will feel less of a luddite

cheers again all, I have now started cracking on with King Leo and his group (a female knight ), so I should start getting something down in a week or two.

cheers again all

[Palathadric]

Odd. Now it's all there. When I looked at it the first time everything between the "Axe Cart" and "Bull's Attack was not there. Now it is. ...odd indeed . Sorry about that. Again, great reviewing going on!

Ah! Just discovered something. In Firefox it shows the whole thing, but in Internet Explorer it cuts off the middle part. Try it. That is really, really weird!

Edited March 12, 2012 by palathadric

[SirSven7]

Odd. Now it's all there. When I looked at it the first time everything between the "Axe Cart" and "Bull's Attack was not there. Now it is. ...odd indeed . Sorry about that. Again, great reviewing going on!

Ah! Just discovered something. In Firefox it shows the whole thing, but in Internet Explorer it cuts off the middle part. Try it. That is really, really weird!

Your right when I logged onto my account in explorer this came up

"Your browser is no longer supported by Blogger. Some parts of Blogger will not work and you may experience problems.

If you are having problems, try Google Chrome."

I upload all my work on chrome so i can't account for this, hmm, I will have to ask a more technically minded friend at the first opertunity.

cheers for pointing this out

[marshall]

I really enjoy these, SirSven7--thanks for all your hard work. This theme came out during my dark ages, but I got a box of legos at a garage sale that had King Leo's castle as well as the largest of the bulls sets. I never bothered to put together the various siege weapons, though. I never realized that there were only three guys in the faction, and they all had names--my lot did not include any of the weezil guys, but I have multiple of the other two.

I really liked the comment you made in your review about "nostalgic goggles." I suppose most of my preference for the older sets is nostalgia-based--my 5-year-old son certainly prefers the newer legos to the older.

[Ardelon]

Now that I returned to view the post a second time, I also noticed that some sets were missing the first time I read it, namely the sets with the chrome parts. I use IE, btw. But its all there now. Funny.

[madoka]

I love the figures for these guys the green torso espeically is very handy for the forestmen to have a bit better armour

Thanks for the trip down memory lane SirSven7.

I agree that they green torso guy is pretty good. Since my Forestmen population is large enough, I've paired that torso with the green unicorn shield to create a new faction, which I think is a good-looking combo.