Castle vs Castle

[Werlu Ulcur]

Guys, I'm in a minor dilemma. Let's suppose I don't have anything in the Castle line but by chance got my hands on a "Dragon Mountain" set (70403) just because of the oh-so-cool dragon. And now because of that darn red worm I'm starting to think that my future Legoville could spare a corner for a castle . The idea would be to have only one castle based on a regular set, not too massive and that more then probably I would improve upon (a little!), with extra sections.

So here's the dilemma: what would be better to have as the only one castle in Legoville, the current 70404 "King's Castle" or the 7946 from 2010 ? I have never even seen these two sets in the flesh, only know them through videos and pics, so they're totally alien to me, but both look pretty nice. So far I was able to make a very short list of pros and cons for both:

• Price & availability: The new 70404 is quite cheaper and easier to find then the older 7946, and that's a BIG plus.
  
• Minifigs: From what I saw both sets are basically equivalent in the minifig department. However, I currently have quite a few red troops (from the chess set), so I would have more "human material" to go along with the red 7946.
  
• Architecture: Both sets also seem to be similar here too, though being quite honest I don't like very much the red & blue used on both for roofs and details - I would rather have something more realistic. Of course I could mod them to my liking, but in theory I would have more sets to add to the 7946 if I leave it alone, like that nice 10223 Joust set.
  

I even looked towards the LOTR theme, specially the Helm's Deep set, but even though it's an overall nicer set (in my eyes at least), it looks like I would have to get at least two to make a full castle, since it's basically a wall in front of a mountain. And that would mean a more substantial investment in a theme (Medieval) that I don't collect. I looked on evilBay and BL and even the used and incomplete sets are basically more expensive then a MISB 70404. I could of course go the MOC route and build a castle exactly to my liking, but that would entitle all the fuss of organizing a parts list and, worse of all, the looooong wait to have everything at hand. I would rather take the easy road (= buy a commercial set) so that I don't have to deal specially with the waiting for parts.

From the list above the red 7946 would be the set to choose, but because of price I think the best option would be for me to get the new 70404. What do you guys say?

[Sigolf Brimabane]

I just got the 70404 castle today and building it was very nice. It does seem to be a bit lacking designwise compared to the 7946 castle (which I don't own myself, unfortunately). I don't really know what the prices are now for the 7946 (but they are probably very expensive) so getting the 70404 might be the wiser choice, and then you can just get some extra bricks from BL to modify it with :)

[Creator]

If I were you, I would acquire two copies of the Kingdom Joust (10223)... That one would look amazing in a regular Lego town!

Edited September 10, 2013 by Creator

[Ludzik]

the problem that I have with 70404 is all those darn blue pieces.... they just don't fit! 7946 overall was a lot nicer set. Also Helms Deep might be a good way to go: if you poke around you can find them on clearance (I scored two for $65 each couple weeks ago).

[Deathleech]

Here are some more comparisons:

2013 King's Castle - 70404

Piece Count - 996

Minifigure Count - 8

Average Price - $99.99

New Horse

2010 King's Castle - 7946

Piece Count - 933

Minifigure Count - 7

Average Price - $110-150 (opened), $180-250 (MIB)

Old Horse

Personally, the new King's Castle seems like a no brainer. It's way cheaper, has more pieces, a new horse, and has an extra minifigure. I think the design of 7946 might be SLIGHTLY better, and the red may be more attractive, but you can easily replace all the blue slopes on 70404 with red ones for under $10 shipped on BL. That's still way less than buying 7946, unless you have some way of getting it cheaper than the current eBay prices. The only real issue seems to be the minifigures, which the chess ones obviously would go better with 70404 since they are the same red Lion's. This seems like a small compromise though, especially if you aren't going to use them all that much and just want a nice castle for your town.

Edited September 10, 2013 by Deathleech

[Werlu Ulcur]

Down here I looked around and no luck finding a 7946, but the new 70404 is easy to find. I can find the new one for a pretty good price on BL (better then locally), but the the 7946 is basically double the price at least among vendors who do ship here to Brazil. The same goes for Helm's Deep: expensive new locally but available and 2× the price (and that's opened) of a MISB 70404 on BL. So unfortunately, price is the big factor here . And yes, the 10223 Joust set looks VERY good, I'm now seriously thinking of integrating it somewhere. About the red × blue bricks I guess it's nothing that BL can't easily resolve, and the best part, since it would only be a substitution job, I can build the castle as is and then later on I can replace what I think is wrong.

[Omega 8]

Creator's plan is a good one but, WOW it's not as cost effective. $240 is no joke.

[Artifex]

On the one hand I love 7946 -- it was the one set that got me out of my Lego Dark Ages back in 2010. And from then on I fell in love with the whole Kingdoms theme. So much so that it really hurts when I see that Lego has moved forward and released a new Castle theme.

On the other hand, the 70404 has a very nice design. I'm not fond of the j-u-n-i-o-r-i-z-e-d heraldry of the new Castle theme, but I've been giving some serious thought on getting at least the new castle and gatehouse. They do look good.

But then, there's the almighty Kingdoms Joust... One of the best Castle-theme sets ever!

If you want ONE castle, and you do want a CASTLE, I'd say to go for the 7946. The design is great and so is the heraldry.

But if you want a castle-like area for your town, then go for the Kingdoms Joust. It will be more than enough.

Here's the catch: whatever choice you make, try getting 2 or 3 of the same set if you got the coin to spare. It's really worth it and there's nothing like a big castle! :thumbup:

On the side: can anyone please post comparison pics (or just a regular pic, whatever) of 7946 and 70404 side by side?

[Hey Joe]

I also recommend Kingdoms Joust 10223. It's an awesome set, and the design fits right in with both MMV 10193 and the Chess set you have.

Happy Jousting! Joe

[scottjs]

I had the same dilemma earlier this year about acquiring a 7946 and at that point I could have paid $150 CDN for a MISB shipped but I ended up passing it up. Overall I think 7946 is a better castle, and that's just my personal opinion as I like the red better then the blue and the dragon knights just don't do it for me. However I still don't regret my decision to not pick one up as the price difference (I always try to pay maximum 20% under MSRP with a few exceptions) was just not worth it. I generally have a hard time paying a premium on any Lego though as I'm not a hard core collector. The Joust set is a really nice set and since the lion knights are the same as the chess set that combo is a no brainer to me. I plan to buy everything from the current Castle line even though I don't love the line compared to the last but it is growing on me.

One thought since the minifigs are equal in your eyes is that the red guys or whoever you have less of could be a special faction or a neighboring kingdom if you really need a reason as to why they're different.

[Werlu Ulcur]

On the side: can anyone please post comparison pics (or just a regular pic, whatever) of 7946 and 70404 side by side?

Oh, I too would love to see that!

It looks like the general consensus is that castle for castle the older 7946 is the better one, but why exactly ? At least from the individual pics I've seen they look at least equivalent.

[scottjs]

Oh, I too would love to see that!

It looks like the general consensus is that castle for castle the older 7946 is the better one, but why exactly ? At least from the individual pics I've seen they look at least equivalent.

Personal preference I would say. When 70404 was released it didn't have the best reception (among non-kids anyways). I prefer 7946 for the lack of tan bricks at the bottom, the red roof area, the design of the draw bridge, and the minifigs. 70404 is still nice but like others have said it seems more orientated towards the younger age group and LotR can grab the older kids and AFOL's. The last part is anyone's guess though. It sounds like you don't have any issues (as do many others) with 70404 which is great because financially that is definitely the better option.

[AncientDayz]

If I were you, I would acquire two copies of the Kingdom Joust (10223)... That one would look amazing in a regular Lego town!

That's exactly what I did. I highly recommend two of these ...of course, if price isn't a total issue.

[The_Cook]

So here's the dilemma: what would be better to have as the only one castle in Legoville, the current 70404 "King's Castle" or the 7946 from 2010 ?

Try turning the question around? Describe to us what Legoville is and qualities you want in the castle and then the medieval experts here can make appropriate suggestions as to suitable sets or other options.

Is Legoville a city layout? Modern or historic?

Is the castle in your city layout intended to be a historical castle that protected the city in distant ages past? A fantastical creation in a theme park?

Do you have any size constraints? Cost constraints?

Does the castle have to fit a colour theme?

With a greater depth of knowledge we can provide you with more insight which is tailored to you, otherwise we're just comparing the two castles.

[Werlu Ulcur]

Cook, Legoville will be a modern city, with trains, buildings, super heroes, the works . I'm not totally sure how I'll integrate a castle there, because as I said, I never thought about the Castle line before . I guess that the most sensible way to do it would be to make it a sort of "renascence park", and put it right next to all the modern stuff. If everything goes to plan I'll have enough space for a not-too-big castle, so one of the commercial sets (without huge additions) would fit nicely. And if I do go the theme park route, then the castle can be flamboyantly colored.

The other option would be to make it a sort of estate, a local landmark of the city. In that case I would have to do something about the reds and blues, and worse of all, I wouldn't be able to use knights, horses, kings, etc, and that would be a true waste . The allure of that game plan is that I could concentrate on making it look more real (= moding it), which would mean many hours of planing, building and having fun.

Our new house is almost finished (if everything goes well we intend to move in October), but I still have to get the tables that I'll use for the city in the attic made, and that demands money. Money that in theory isn't exactly in surplus because we have to focus on little details like bedroom furniture, kitchen hardware, etc . The tables won't be exactly expensive, but since the whole idea of creating an attic (that wasn't in the original house project) just to become a Legoland was mine and was expensive, I'm kind of not in the best position right now with my wife to try to divert funds for my play room .

[Werlu Ulcur]

I thought this over and I'm going for the current blue castle . I'm also ordering one or two of the Gatehouse Raid (70402), still haven't decided yet, but I'll wait to get the Kingdom's Joust (10223). I think I'll probably integrate the castle in Legoville as a theme park, but I want to see the size of the whole thing to be sure I can fit the joust set. So if all goes well the sets will be here by the end of the week and then to temporary storage until the move . With these sets if I did the math right I think I'll have 21K+ parts waiting to be assembled .