Masked Builder Posted August 12, 2014 I was excited to hear about a polybag with the Laketown Guard in it as I had Laketown but only one guard, and had to have at least two. At $5 this was a half decent deal, not the Elf polybag mind you, but still pretty good. Enjoy this pecial Reviewers Academy Anniversary edition review! Set Information: Name: Laketown Guard Set Number: 30216 Pieces: 31 Price: $4.99 Ages: 6-12 Minifigs: 1 Theme: The Hobbit Year of Release: 2013 Brickset Bricklink Flickr Set Baggy: The front of the bag is graced with some beautiful artwork showing Laketown in the winter. The banner at the top of the bag is also quite lovely, the muted colors and the company trekking across a ridge look great. Nothing much on the back of the bag as usual. Just "The Hobbit" in various languages as well as a wall-of-text warnings. Contents: As this is a small set, here's all of the parts included. Nothing super extraordinary since this is a poly bag and the main draw is the minifigure. These are the only two extra parts, really excited to see some extra dark green cheese! Manual: Here is our manual. The light grey background for this is a good choice; it really plays on the snow aspect. The back of the manual is split between a half page ad for the rest of Laketown and the final instructions for the set. Minifigure: This figure is just so cool! All of the curves in the figure flow so well; not to mention the colors. The purple, dark red, and brown flow together quite well. Laketown has some great colors. There's quite a bit of detail on this guy too, you can see the chain mail skirt sticking out from under his robes. Less to see on the back. His belt continues around and his shirt has some nice printing. Now the Master of Laketown has has two guards; as he should! The Laketown figures are so wonderfully designed and have great color schemes. Finished Model: There's really not a whole lot to this set; it's a polybag after all. But one gets a nice little armory and a decent catapult. It's a pretty standard armory design that we've seen repeated for years now with only slight changes. The catapult is pretty good though. Here's the armory compared to the one that came in the Laketown Chase set, the one here is actually more impressive. Our original guard has a more enjoyable time with a friend now. Conclusion: This isn't a terrible set at all if one is army building with the figure. Otherwise there's really not a reason to be getting more than one. (I'm a bit of a completionist myself. ) The figure is really quite pretty though. Ratings: Playability: 4/10 Okay you get the catapult, but who's he supposed to fire it at?? Design: 5/10 It's a pretty standard set model wise; we've seen similar stuff quite often. Price: 8/10 I can't complain about the price to much. Minifigures: 9/10 I absolutely love this figure! So detailed and wonderfully colored. Parts: 6/10 Nothing spectacular at all in this set. Total: 32/50 "Mine's bigger!" Like this review? Want to learn how to make good reviews? Then join the Reviewers Academy! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mutant Orc Posted August 26, 2014 I knew I wanted this polybag as soon as I saw it, and now I'm even more frustrated I can't get it..! The picture with the Master of Laketown really highlights my need to get another guard, it's not as good having just the one. Thanks for the review. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sahidko Posted August 26, 2014 (edited) I like design of the minifig itself but i am not a huge fan of what it actually represents therefore i voted above average. I would prefer armored elf, armored orc or armored dwarf anytime. Edited August 26, 2014 by sahidko Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hive Posted August 26, 2014 Nice review, average set. As I don't particularly like the figure, which is the main selling point of this bag, I find it hard to get too excited - but the accesories are nice and the bricks have a good colour scheme. And it's always good to get an army builder in a polybag for a change, instead of all the Frodos, Gandalfs and Legolas'... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheLegoDr Posted August 26, 2014 Thanks for the review. When these were available I tried picking up as many as I could. The main problem was limit of 4 per order (since they didn't have them in stores near me). But he looks great and I love the colors. He even looks good with a standard silver metallic kingdoms helmet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChubbyMcPorkins Posted September 9, 2014 It's polybags like this that make me even more annoyed we can't get them in the UK! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites