10305 Lion Knights' Castle 90th anniversary set

[RichardGoring]

It also makes me realize I need to get on and build my Bricklink Designer Program castle outpost, because the building experience for that is going to be much worse than this set, and I don't want to be disappointed by it, not delay building this one too much.

2 minutes ago, Triceron said:

I do wonder what the size of this is next to the Blacksmith.

I feel like the Blacksmith is overly large, and as big as this castle is it'd still look 'small' next to it.  I might have to look into raising the base of this castle just to give it some height.

I think the blacksmith is just too large to go next to anything else they might produce, and keep the same scale. The blacksmith is 11" tall. This is 14.5", but that's to the top of the flag, and the top of the battlements are going to be more like 12-13".

But put them with a bit of space in between, and it will feel like a trick of perspective and look good.

[Triceron]

3 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

I think the blacksmith is just too large to go next to anything else they might produce, and keep the same scale. The blacksmith is 11" tall. This is 14.5", but that's to the top of the flag, and the top of the battlements are going to be more like 12-13".

But put them with a bit of space in between, and it will feel like a trick of perspective and look good.

I guess that's true, no matter what they make the Blacksmith is just too big.  Maybe I'll have to find some smaller mocs and downsize the Blacksmith, or just keep it displayed on its own.  I did want to make an open Tavern out of this set, maybe it'll split it off onto two smaller buildings.

[HothFan1987]

£344.99 in the UK. I love everything about this. It’s strange that a reveal of a Lego set can make me feel so happy haha. 

[TeriXeri]

22 minutes ago, Triceron said:

I guess that's true, no matter what they make the Blacksmith is just too big.  Maybe I'll have to find some smaller mocs and downsize the Blacksmith, or just keep it displayed on its own.  I did want to make an open Tavern out of this set, maybe it'll split it off onto two smaller buildings.

I'll definately will change the Blacksmith into something else, something akin to medieval market village, just to reuse the roof tiles, or just an addon to the blue-roofed Falcon castle 3-in-1 (or moc variants of it)

This set I'll probably won't change for a while unless that black tree is easily movable it'd be used for more forestmen.

[GeoBrick]

At the same time a tremendous set and a "mmm, must improve/change this...".

But that's Lego for you. 

From the box art scenes, it seems to me that the Lady of the Castle's son is literary "thick as thieves" with the Forestmen's couple daughter. At least, they seem to play well together in and near this bedroom. The bed seems really too small to be meant for the Lady, so I reckon it is the boy's room.

 

[TeufelHund]

2 hours ago, SirBlake said:

Can we please leave identity politics out of this and focus on what is most certainly one of the best sets ever offered? Thanks. 

I appreciate your viewpoint but given Lego are the ones pushing it I think it’s relevant.

I’d have no problem with a Joan of Arc type figure (nor indeed the included queen in armour) but pushing over 50% female representation as European medieval warriors is a bit rich IMO given this set is clearly targeted at nostalgic middle aged guys with disposable incomes.

Look I get it’s a toy and not meant to be historically accurate but it’s just another example of the reality of white European history and cultural heritage being wilfully trampled on for the sake of identity politics. It won’t stop me buying the set but it would be nice if someone expecting me to pay 100s of dollars for something could do it without preaching at me.

Edited June 19, 2022 by TeufelHund

[Triceron]

11 minutes ago, TeufelHund said:

I appreciate your viewpoint but given Lego are the ones pushing it I think it’s relevant.

I’d have no problem with a Joan of Arc type figure (nor indeed the included queen in armour) but pushing over 50% female representation as European medieval warriors is a bit rich IMO given this set is clearly targeted at nostalgic middle aged guys with disposable incomes.

Look I get it’s a toy and not meant to be historically accurate but it’s just another example of the reality of white European history and cultural heritage being wilfully trampled on for the sake of identity politics. It won’t stop me buying the set but it would be nice if someone expecting me to pay 100s of dollars for something could do it without preaching at me.

Honestly, I didn't even notice it for most of the guards till you mentioned it and I took a closer look.

TBH, even though I'm somewhat of a purist, this doesn't really bother me.  Most of those heads can be easily swapped out with whatever I have in my collection, or hidden under a full-case helmet.

And this might actually be a good thing for me personally, as I have a daughter now and while I'm getting this set for me, it'll be something I definitely look forward to building and playing with her when she comes of age.  I think it's good that Lego isn't just pushing for Friends sets to be for girls, and a set like this having plenty of girl minifig options opens up play for all kids, as this really should be for.  As an AFOL, I'd end up customizing the heck out of this anyways, so swapping out heads is something I'd do without even blinking.  It's not like any AFOL is going to be lacking for male heads anyways, and this set certainly won't make-or-break that just because half the guards have female heads.  I mean even the civilian heads can be swapped in so you could have more male guards and more female civilians.

Edited June 19, 2022 by Triceron

[SirBlake]

16 minutes ago, TeufelHund said:

I appreciate your viewpoint but given Lego are the ones pushing it I think it’s relevant.

I’d have no problem with a Joan of Arc type figure (nor indeed the included queen in armour) but pushing over 50% female representation as European medieval warriors is a bit rich IMO given this set is clearly targeted at nostalgic middle aged guys with disposable incomes.

Look I get it’s a toy and not meant to be historically accurate but it’s just another example of the reality of white European history and cultural heritage being wilfully trampled on for the sake of identity politics. It won’t stop me buying the set but it would be nice if someone expecting me to pay 100s of dollars for something could do it without preaching at me.

Ok, so is you or anybody else crying about it on a Lego forum going to change anything? I don’t think so. I recently got myself into a similar discussion (one I bet you and I would be on the same side of), and it accomplished nothing. Please, learn from my mistake, and let’s not bog things down by p!ssing in the wind.

On another note, anybody else see the black sword that the Black Falcon knight is holding? That looks to be a new thing, regardless of which longsword mold it is. Reminds me of 6041 Armor Shop and it’s unicorn short sword. 
 

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=6041-1#T=S&O={"iconly":0}

Edited June 19, 2022 by SirBlake

[natesroom]

58 minutes ago, SirBlake said:

Ok, so is you or anybody else crying about it on a Lego forum going to change anything? I don’t think so. I recently got myself into a similar discussion (one I bet you and I would be on the same side of), and it accomplished nothing. Please, learn from my mistake, and let’s not bog things down by p!ssing in the wind.

On another note, anybody else see the black sword that the Black Falcon knight is holding? That looks to be a new thing, regardless of which longsword mold it is. Reminds me of 6041 Armor Shop and it’s unicorn short sword. 
 

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=6041-1#T=S&O={"iconly":0}

I luckily bought a goodwill lot about 10 years ago. It had one picture but i could identify about 20+ forestmen and the black sword in that lot. I won the lot for $78 and it actually had 31 forestman and a few other minis and the black sword. This was the picture i took when i dumped it all out.

 

photo (2) by Natesroom, on Flickr

Edited June 19, 2022 by natesroom

[Sir Dano]

1 hour ago, SirBlake said:

On another note, anybody else see the black sword that the Black Falcon knight is holding? That looks to be a new thing, regardless of which longsword mold it is. Reminds me of 6041 Armor Shop and it’s unicorn short sword.

Looks like the same sword that's in the Harry Potter chess set and the new Thor sets.

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=18031&colorID=11&in=A

[SirBlake]

15 minutes ago, Sir Dano said:

Looks like the same sword that's in the Harry Potter chess set and the new Thor sets.

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=18031&colorID=11&in=A

Ah, thanks for the education. I looked it up on BL before posting and failed to find it. 

[INTENSS]

I’m really happy with this set overall. I have a few small gripes but nothing is ever going to be perfect based on price limitations, part availability, and meeting many competing demands.  I’m most happy with all of the new torso prints, barding, and (cloth?) flags/cape.  I don’t have any major complaints, just a few “would have been nice” suggestions.  However, based on reintroducing the barding, creating a lot of new torso, shield, and cloth prints, I’m guessing that we’ll see some of these elements show up in another set or more in the next year.  Lego will get their money’s worth out of them.  Of course, once they’re available on PAB, they won’t be able to keep them in stock.

[SirBlake]

Has anyone noticed how well the CMF king and queen would work with this? They keep calling the minifig in this set “the lady” of the castle. These two will probably end up being her parents on my shelf. 
 

[Black Feather]

Not too much to criticize about this. Especially after seeing all the shields and other parts I was not expecting.  I prefer the old bullet helmets, because I am old and the new version wasn’t out in the sets I had as a kid. But I knew they weren’t bringing back old parts.  I really wanted the double axe torso, especially when they were making so many figures.  Would have preferred that to some of the others that are included.  Kind of odd that they added that double axe shield which I don’t think was ever used before but didn’t do the torso.  I was still hoping that would be a surprise in the reveal.  But don’t see it.  Though some torsos are covered in the pictures.  I was annoyed at first about only one forestman torso.  But I think that is in the context of having this plus the GWP at the same with all forestmen the same, which is something you never saw in the old sets.  If there was more than forestman in a set, they were always different.  My hope is that they are saving that for a forestman set where we get the torsos, brown hat, feathers.  But overall, the best LEGO set ever in my opinion.

[jodawill]

I haven't been this excited about a Lego set since the '90s. This is absolutely fantastic. This is at the very least the best set made within the past 25 years, if not all time.

 

 I don't want to get into politics here, but honestly, I find the number of female soldiers in this set to quite patronizing. Having a queen in a full suit of armor is pretty cool. I can't find any evidence that queens ever wore armor, but I could imagine at the very least, a ceremonial suit used during a time of war. But having half of your military being female soldiers? That's just completely laughable when you consider not only the time period, but the physical requirements of being a soldier in medieval times. And, as someone else pointed out, this set is targeted at 30/40 something year old dudes like me. It's not for children, and the vast majority of people buying this will no doubt be men. I will switch the heads on my set, but it's unfortunate that I can't change the box art.

 

Majesto is really out of place in this set, and his portrayal was executed so poorly, I would have preferred they threw in another forestman or soldier. Not a huge deal. The parts will be useful at least.

 

Those are really my only gripes about this set. They'll never make a perfect set because everyone has different preferences, but this set is just absolutely fantastic. I love the fact we got several factions, and everyone has their own spot here. The hideout for the forestmen was the perfect touch. And the working portcullis? Amazing.

 

Hats off to the designer of this set. He really knocked it out of the park.

[Lord Insanity]

Best. Castle. Ever.

Seriously I have been waiting for the deluxe direct to consumer castle set ever since the 10193 Medieval Market Village came out and made it a possibility.  It doesn't disappoint at all.  The design manages to exceed my expectations in every regard.  It's like the perfect modern design quality blend of 6080 King's Castle and  6081 King's Mountain Fortress.

I mean it should have had 4 horses like a real castle set but I can forgive that by having two new horse bardings and 8 new shield prints.  Of course that also leads to the biggest flaw in this set... it has no smaller supporting sets.  I don't want only 1 of any given shield or barding, I want several of each.  The figure (and horse) parts are the most important aspect to me.  I can acquire the parts to build structures easily.  I can't print my own bardings, shields, and figures.

Back in the "fantasy era" castle I bought 7094 King's Castle Siege but I bought 8 each of 7009 The Final Joust, 7090 Crossbow Attack, 7091 Knight's Catapult Defense, and 5615 The Knight.  See a castle without the army to defend it is completely pointless to me.

If the barding, shields, and lion guards show up on "bricks and pieces 2.0" (like the falcon parts) and I can get a few dozen extra guards and knights, I will happily buy this new castle.  Much like the random officer in the UCS Stardestroyer I would rather have none (and not buy the set) than only have one of a figure that should be common and easy to army build.  Unlike the Imperial officer there is no license rights barrier to the parts being sold so it should be all good after a few months, right?

Edited June 19, 2022 by Lord Insanity
Fixed Typo

[mirkwoodspiders]

I don't think I'll have the funds to do it, but I wonder if someone bought two copies and did some finagling they could create a larger castle with a decent courtyard to house a large army, etc. The lack of an inner courtyard in the set is the only major flaw for me.

[Doddsino]

Definitely a beautiful set. 

I do wish it wasn't classic gray though...like I get it, but of all the colors, it's just rather plain by itself. I would have preferred if it was a combo like Black Knights 6086 castle...but I'll still settle for this as is. Crusaders was a decent series, but I always preferred Black Falcons, Black Knights and the Royal Knights when it came to the castles.

 

Now the real test...do I get 21325 and 10193 to compliment it?

[Undi3sss]

I only don't like how the trees are black, brown trunks would've looked so much nicer imo. I get it's to match the forestmen/classic sets but still.

[PacificDuck]

 Am I the only one ready for a Black Knight counterpart castle? 
 

In all seriousness though, this for me is the greatest Lego set of all time 

[Triceron]

I'd love to see an update to Black Knights and Wolfpack since that was the time when I was old enough to appreciate Castle Lego.

I'm torn between seeing what they'd do with an updated Wolfpack torso though, since I feel like the wolf emblem is iconic, but also quite tacky for what is supposed to be a ragtag band of bandits and not a uniformed army.

[Blazej_Holen]

37 minutes ago, Undi3sss said:

I only don't like how the trees are black, brown trunks would've looked so much nicer imo. I get it's to match the forestmen/classic sets but still.

If u get it then there is no “still” :) Its meant to be Anniversary set with throwback to multiple sets and designs of old. 

[Sir Dano]

I'd like to see them done like the CMF Rogue was, where the wolf was an accessory on the torso, except this time in proper Wolfpack colours (brown/black/gray/red).

 

I'd also really love to see a full workshop set for Majisto(with a proper Majisto and a few Dragon Masters)

Edited June 19, 2022 by Sir Dano

[Black Feather]

My three favorite sets as a kid were Kings Castle, Camouflaged Outpost, and Black Monarchs castle which was the last set I bought before I got back into LEGO.  So I had only two sets with Black Knights.  The other being Knights Challenge.  But I really liked that faction and that castle.  So I would be thrilled if this is so successful they feel obligated to give Black Monarchs Castle the same treatment.  Those two original sets looked so awesome next to each other.  Hope to replicate that with modern versions of both.

[Roebuck]

1 hour ago, Lord Insanity said:

I mean it should have had 4 horses like a real castle set but I can forgive that by having two new horse bardings and 8 new shield prints.  Of course that also leads to the biggest flaw in this set... it has no smaller supporting sets.  I don't want only 1 of any given shield or barding, I want several of each.  The figure (and horse) parts are the most important aspect to me.  I can acquire the parts to build structures easily.  I can't print my own bardings, shields, and figures.

If the barding, shields, and lion guards show up on "bricks and pieces 2.0" (like the falcon parts) and I can get a few dozen extra guards and knights, I will happily buy this new castle.  Much like the random officer in the UCS Stardestroyer I would rather have none (and not buy the set) than only have one of a figure that should be common and easy to army build.  Unlike the Imperial officer there is no license rights barrier to the parts being sold so it should be all good after a few months, right?

If the barding do not show up on B&P it will cost a fortune to get more horses with barding for the set

The following quote is from the press release made by Lego:

"Plus horses, cows and even a castle cat!"
I assume it is no typo so the cat was changed for a lamb in the last minute which is a good call however we lost a cow it seems At least we got a "ox" draw cart for the first time and that I have been waiting for 10 year to see in an official set