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The Cobra

Review: 8873 Fireball catapult

How do you rate this set?  

16 members have voted

  1. 1. On a scale 1 to 5

    • 1 – Poor
      3
    • 2 – Below Average
      5
    • 3 – Average
      5
    • 4 – Above Average
      1
    • 5 - Outstanding
      2


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"...and then the sky turned red... Hey! They're throwing trans orange propellors!"

Set data:

8873: Fireball catapult

Year: 2005

Theme: Castle

Subtheme: Knight's Kingdom

Pieces: 47 (including extras and "Rubber band holder" )

Price: 8 USD / 9 EUR / ?? UKP (sources: Peeron, German S@H Catalogue)

Building time: less than 15 minutes

MISB on review: Yes

More info: Brickset - Peeron

Box front: European version, no set name and no details.

887301.jpg

Box back: Showing how the catapult works, and a mediocre alternate model

887302.jpg

Box content: Two bags and a one instructions sheet.

887303.jpg

Pieces inventory: Main colours are Red Brown and Dark red. We'll find a few differences in extra pieces compared to Peeron listing.

887304.jpg

Random instructions page: How to set up your horse; by the way, this set has no extra 1x2 plate and 1x2 brick as an alternative to horse saddle.

887305a.jpg

Random instructions page: Building the catapult.

887305b.jpg

Shadow knight: The villain has no armor but a printed torso with the Scorpion emblem.

887306.jpg

Sir Santis: The good minifig has a name (he's not a mass product like his foe), and the bear pattern on armor and shield.

887307.jpg

When color choice becomes a problem : I can hardly understand how Peeron can claim the bar being white; But my main question is: do we need all these kinds of grays (and bleys)?

887308.jpg

Ready to face the fire: The "knight" has no horse. The "Sir" has. Oh, well, whatever...

887309.jpg

The catapult: Front has two wheels and two teeth (for short-range killing).

887310.jpg

The catapult: Shooting is based on a rubber band; shooting range = approx. 1 yard / 90 cm.

887311.jpg

The "bullet": I like the idea of using a transparent piece (as much as I like TrOrange round 2x2 bricks).

887312.jpg

Armed and ready: The catapult is ready to shoot

887313.jpg

Leftovers: How many of you wondered "where do I have to use the rubber band holder in this set?" the first time you found one?

887314.jpg

Complete set: let the battle begin.

887315.jpg

Review:

For a small battle set / army builder, this one is O.K. On one side we have one of the usual KKII colorful knights with his own attire and emblem, a "triangular" sword, his "custom" shield and a horse with head armor. On the others side, one Shadow knight wearing red and black like his master (Lord Vladek) and most everyone in their army, plus a small (but effective) battle machine. Kids should have enjoied themselves withe the shooting; I practiced a little and found out I shouldn't have pulled too much, otherwise the "fireball" would have fallen backwards! So much for target practicing.

Rating:

Color scheme: 4,5/5: nothing bad to say about the SK and the catapult; Santis looks better than some of his colorful buddies.

Minifigs and accessories: 4/5: both guys have their hands full; having another SK included would have been great, but 1 vs. 1 is Ok.

Pieces: 3/5: You surely won't buy this set for the pieces it's made of. There's nothing rare or special in here, and we're far under the 10/1 ratio.

Playability: 4/5. As I said, it takes a while to find how to use your hands on the catapult. But I strongly hope that's not something that can discourage kids from playing with Lego!

Design: 4/5. See above.

Overall rating: 4/5.

The final words: To the few people that don't dislike KKII: :tongue:

If you can grab it for 8 Euros or less (like I did), you should consider buying this set; I own two of them, and they look great in the sort of "siege" of the Mistlands tower I have made. Please keep in mind that 8 bucks was the standard price for the Final joust, which -as good as it is- looks now a bit overpriced.

Edited by WhiteFang
Review added to index.

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I remember this line. I hated this version. The Castle ones overshadow the Knights Kingdom sets by infinity. As for the catapult, it's quite fun flinging it and knocking the horse down.

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Nice review, The Cobra :thumbup: , it is very useful for those that are interested to the theme, sadly I am one of the many that dislike it...

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I remembered I have bought quite a few sets of this, just to build an army of Scorpion Knight and that white horse. I remember horses are not a common sight at that point in time, and this was one of the most affordable methods which could allow collectors to buy. Even though, the red knight looks colorful, but the scropion foot soldier makes up for its flaw. Guess, I have nowhere to spend my castle collection on, and some of my money went into these eventually. By the way, I have added your review into the index. Thanks for sharing another KKII review. :thumbup:

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