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The Penguin

Review: 7585 Horse Stable

  

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  1. 1. How would you rate this set?

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    • Above average!
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    • Average.
    • Below average!
    • Poor!


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(The pic is an official box art one.)

Set Number: 7585

Name: Horse Stable

Theme: Belville

Year of Release: 2008

Pieces: 209

Minifigs: 1

Price: $40 USD

Brickset, Bricklink, Peeron parts inventory

All images can be found in my brickshelf folder.

This is a dark and terrifying story of the deepest nightmares of every crime-fighter and ordinary LEGO-fan. This is a story from an abandoned (and seemingly dead) theme: Belville. So do not say that I have not warned you!

The Box

The box seems to be relatively large for a 209 pieces set, even though you can expect some big parts inside, like the horse. It is actually bigger than a System set of the same bricks quantity, but I strongly doubt that the sane “systematic” logic may be applied here. :hmpf_bad:

Above you can see the theme’s symbol with a lifeless, yellowish heart and the word “Belville” over it. You may also see that unlike some sets of that year they do not give the quantity of bricks figure, which has been undoubtedly done for some particular reason, which I can’t really understand now.

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The box art is done in a nice, joyful purple-pink and green color scheme which actually gives us an impression of a peaceful and quiet place. But pray don’t let the looks fool you! The unspeakable horrors, which started with the heart continue here: at the bottom left corner we can see a hideous monster, crawling to a poor pony, with bloodlust on its face and an apple in its hand (no doubt the apple is poisoned!). Where on earth did they find an artist who sees young girls like that!? It deserves a picture of its own:

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The side of the box again is not free of the monster, which is now crawling to a cute little (printed!) kitten. Oh the horror! I just hope it is clever enough not to fall into a trap, since cats do not eat apples. But who knows what that clever vile beast is capable of!?

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To my surprise the back of the box showed some alternative build which I could never expect from this theme. Well, yes, actually it is a stable as well, but an alternative one! And look the beast is obviously trying to tear apart the fence! Run, horses, run! :sing:

On other pictures you can see the monster trying to feed the animals, strangling stroking the kitten, etc.

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Instructions booklet

The booklet is done in the same color scheme as the box art and as practically in every set of that age comes slightly battered. The monster is here as well, so open it with caution!

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Here’s a random page of the booklet. The build is quite simple thanks to the huge parts that are included. Still to be fair I must say that the build is quite interesting, not repetitive at all. And a big amount of arches makes the set quite appealing for, say, Castle MOCers.

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Interesting parts and pieces

Well, that part was hard to write since I was pretty unsure what pieces to include here. Practically all Belville accessories are rarely seen in System sets, so those may be considered useful. But at the same time very few of those can really be applied to normal figures. Still, here are some that may be nice to get from the set:

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The Minifigs

Officially the set contains only one minifigure. Well, yes, they DO call that creature a minifigure, but I’ll also have a look at the horse and the pony, since girls, who are obviously the target category, like ponies and will give them cute names, lovely back stories and such….. Ugh! :sick:

Now the beast itself in flesh plastic. Quite innocent looking, is she not? But I assure you the evil of this scale can not be concealed by good looks. First of all I find her head to be a bit big for her body, obviously hinting to the fact that she’s a master mind who tries to look as a standard blonde girl. Actually if you look at those lifeless, cold blue eyes you’ll see the foul nature of her being. Not to mention that she wears her makeup in quite a professional way which indicates that she may be also older than she wants her prey to think. The horses are frozen in terror before her, like fluffy bunnies before a hungry snake!

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The minifigure itself is supposed to represent a pretty sports-loving girl in her mid-teens, dressed for riding a horse in the classical black-white and red outfit. But to me it looks more like some weird military uniform with those high black leather boots and a tight red jacket. The minifig also comes with the black (probably steel) helmet which can be applied on the hairpiece. While wearing it her head looks even bigger. How can she support the balance, anyway!? (So don't be surprised that I had to bend the minifig a bit on the picture, since her feet are too small and she kept falling on her back!)

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I decided to put both the horse and the pony to the shot as well as the standard system horse to show you how useless those figures are for anything not within the Belville line!

Though again to be fair I must say that the molds are very good on their own and would make small girls go “wheeeeee!” because of them. I have never really understood why girls like ponies, unicorns and other things like that. I guess they have never seen real horses, because I bet most will get frightened even to mount one……

Nevertheless these horses seem to be pretty normal to me. I mean no visible fire breath, no horns, no war or famine around, so it’s ok. Still we should be cautious, because the pony does not actually move at all and can not even move its head down or up like the bigger one. Oh, I get it now! The monster actually does not eat animals, it stuffs them! Oh, that villainous, cruel taxidermist! *oh2*

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The Stables

One general thing I don’t quite understand about the stables is why make it white. Yes, I may even understand pink, but why white!? It’ll become dirty in no time! Yes, you may argue that in fairy-tales like that things do not get become dirty, but why have a brush there in that case!?

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Let’s start with the small pony’s stable. If I can call that a stable actually! Because to me it looks more like two arches thrown together. What is really interesting here is the drinking bowl with a golden faucet, which is pretty simple in design, but extremely useful in every theme. The bucket is a bit big, but talented MOCers who inhabit the forum in multiplies will think of a good way to use it.

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The big horse’s stable in indeed….. big, and it looks much more like a stable to me. Actually I must say that it looks very nice with those pink and dark pink roof tiles. Not to mention the large pink fence thing that just begs to be used in Umbridge HP MOC, or some Castle princess one.

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The upper floor is a pretty dull place with a white kitten living there among 2x4 standard yellow bricks, which are supposed to represent piles of hay. You can also see an empty pink cup there, no doubt, left by the monster during its previous attempt to poison the kitty!

You can also see the lovely pink flowers on a bright green branches, which I find to be a very nice and cute touch. I can almost see chirping birds on those delicate thin leaves….. Wait, wait, wait! What am I talking about!? A-a-ah, the foul magic of this place has started affecting me! :sing:

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Complete set

As said before the set is rather big, but TLC’s designers’ goal to create a doll-house look in Belville has been achieved masterfully. You can easily access practically every even smallest location, so in that matter the play opportunities with those oversized monstrosities are endless.

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Play features

Again as every doll-house it’s supposed to be playable. Is this set playable? Not quite. The range of possible scenarios here is quite limited in the stables in fact there are only two possible ways to make a good story with this set. A race and…. a preparation for a race.

The race one is practically impossible to make due to the fact that there is only one “real” horse here. Well you can always make it jump over obstacles and fences, I guess.

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Girls and some boys may find it interesting to be sharing all their love and kindness with dead-cold plastic horses those cute creatures! Brushing them, feeding them, cleaning after them, applying horseshoes, giving them speed boost injections, isn’t it lovely? Not to mention that taking into account the vile nature of the monster in the set, the game may have an interesting turn….

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Ratings

Design: 3/5 I’m no expert (yet!) in Belville sets, but comparing it with those that came before it, shows that this set lacks some accessories and details that were present in all those stables, released before. Well, I guess TLC understood that it was the end of the theme.

Build: 4/5 The build is pretty simple. And such set cannot be repetitive at all. Nothing much to say.

Minifigs: 3/5 Ghastly-looking girl, with some odd moves and terrible representation on the box art. Belville had seen better times in their fairy-tale ages.

Playability: 3/5 – Again as said above, quite a limited number of playable scenarios. Actually, perhaps, it was not the best set to pick up out of the whole Belville line. But you have to start with something, don't you? :wink:

Parts: 4/5 – Well I gave it a “good” rating only for the colors. To me pink and dark pink are very rare colors, so I find them to be pretty useful in certain MOCs.

Price:3/5 – The price is terrible! The set is practically the same size and bricks quantity as the Batman Penguin’s sub one, and costs twice as much. Not to mention that it’s not even a License!

Overall: 3/5 – The set is quite weak, perhaps only slightly better than some 1999 Belville sets. In fact I even wouldn’t mind them reviving the theme, should they consider going back and making sets like they used to during their fairy-tales ages.

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Good day, ladies and gentlemen! ) :classic:

Edited by WhiteFang
Indexed

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Very interesting and humorous review, The Penguin! It's an alright set, with a few good accessories, but your commentary really made this great to read. Thank you!

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Comprehensive, informative, hilarious! :laugh:

I'm still laughing now and will probably revisit the review, to read it again.

I shall endeavour to keep this manifestation of evil from our LEGO collection, as a result. (Shouldn't be difficult)

Thank you for the review, and I really, really hope you decide to review more Belville sets. :devil:

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Now this is totally unexpected, from Batman to Belville huh? The world must be going upside down! :laugh:

Nah seriously, it's quite refreshing to see you coming out of your comfort zone to take on this review The Penguin, and I must say you've really come a long way as the quality of this review is great with all the excellent photos, comprehensive commentary and your signature funny comics. Really very well done! :thumbup:

As for the set, even as an AFOL who isn't interested at this theme, I'd still think that this set is quite ok for the target market of the Belville theme = the little girls. This set offers a Barbie-ish figure, with girly-visually pleasing pink-and-white motif, I think it has the elements that would really capture the attention of the little girls.

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*rofl* Did you lose a bet, Mr. Penguin? :D :D :D

Fantastic review, I am still laughing! Love those pics with the wobbly posture of the girl figure and the unconventional play features :laugh:

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:laugh: Penguin, this review makes me laugh every time I read it. Not only is it hilarious, it's also informative, and beautifully presented. You've done a super job, and I'd recommend anyone to read this even if they're not interested in Belville.

As for the set itself, I agree with your thoughts. I've been tempted to get some Belville for the interesting parts, but you are paying a premium for the large molds, and I don't think the big pink parts would be particularly useful. I think that's where Belville fails - it's too firmly in its own niche, so there's no appeal at all outside the target market.

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That girl who appears on all of that year's Belville box art truly is the pinnacle of uncanny valley. I'm curious if she is drawn by the same artist who illustrated the characters for the last year of Exo-Force. At least Exo-Force was looking for a fierce-looking aesthetic, so the sketchy attributes felt moderately appropriate. In this case, there really was no excuse, especially since on their own Belville figures aren't quite that fearsome-looking.

Anyway, cool review, even though I'm surprised you didn't list the ribbons as interesting pieces. Those are only occasionally seen outside of Belville, and could be fairly versatile even in System.

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Thanks 'The Penguin' for this quite funny and informative review, and yes that picture of the girl.....hmmm, she must be evil ! :devil:

Girls go crazy over this theme, I guess a launch pad into minifig scale later down the track for them eh ? :wink:

Plenty of pink there to build a fashion store or beauty salon in city style - though it's not my cup of tea ! :wink:

I hope Batman recovers and he can also......Bat=brick On ! :grin:

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Holy Pink Batman!

I never expected that you will be reviewing set like this mr. Penguin!

But you did it great! I love how you always make up a story for sets. Thankfully Batman helped you and you don't get poisoned or even sacrificed!

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Very interesting and humorous review, The Penguin! It's an alright set, with a few good accessories, but your commentary really made this great to read. Thank you!

Thanks a lot! I'm glad that you like my reviewing style! ) :classic:

Great review! I remember seeing this at the RA I think you have fixed it and made it perfect.

I like some of the pieces in it. :classic:

Thank you. ) :classic:

Comprehensive, informative, hilarious! :laugh:

I'm still laughing now and will probably revisit the review, to read it again.

I shall endeavour to keep this manifestation of evil from our LEGO collection, as a result. (Shouldn't be difficult)

Thank you for the review, and I really, really hope you decide to review more Belville sets. :devil:

thanks a lot, I'm glad that you liked it! ) :blush:

But, of course! I couldn't possibly say no to a lady, could I? ) :laugh:

Now this is totally unexpected, from Batman to Belville huh? The world must be going upside down! :laugh:

Nah seriously, it's quite refreshing to see you coming out of your comfort zone to take on this review The Penguin, and I must say you've really come a long way as the quality of this review is great with all the excellent photos, comprehensive commentary and your signature funny comics. Really very well done! :thumbup:

As for the set, even as an AFOL who isn't interested at this theme, I'd still think that this set is quite ok for the target market of the Belville theme = the little girls. This set offers a Barbie-ish figure, with girly-visually pleasing pink-and-white motif, I think it has the elements that would really capture the attention of the little girls.

Thanks a lot! :classic: Well, I wouldn't want to stay within one theme anyway. Especially when we get such a great fiel;d of work! :laugh:

*rofl* Did you lose a bet, Mr. Penguin? :D :D :D

Fantastic review, I am still laughing! Love those pics with the wobbly posture of the girl figure and the unconventional play features :laugh:

No, more likely I lost my head. Gone bats! Get it? Get it? G-o-n-e B-a-t-s! Oh those bat-puns never get old! :cry_happy: ( :laugh: )

:laugh: Penguin, this review makes me laugh every time I read it. Not only is it hilarious, it's also informative, and beautifully presented. You've done a super job, and I'd recommend anyone to read this even if they're not interested in Belville.

As for the set itself, I agree with your thoughts. I've been tempted to get some Belville for the interesting parts, but you are paying a premium for the large molds, and I don't think the big pink parts would be particularly useful. I think that's where Belville fails - it's too firmly in its own niche, so there's no appeal at all outside the target market.

Thanks a lot, Rufus! :classic:

Comments like that really inspire me to keep moving forward! And thanks for you help! :wink:

That girl who appears on all of that year's Belville box art truly is the pinnacle of uncanny valley. I'm curious if she is drawn by the same artist who illustrated the characters for the last year of Exo-Force. At least Exo-Force was looking for a fierce-looking aesthetic, so the sketchy attributes felt moderately appropriate. In this case, there really was no excuse, especially since on their own Belville figures aren't quite that fearsome-looking.

Anyway, cool review, even though I'm surprised you didn't list the ribbons as interesting pieces. Those are only occasionally seen outside of Belville, and could be fairly versatile even in System.

Ribbons? Well, ribbons can hardly be even held by a minifigure. Still I'll make sure to include those in some upcoming reviews! :laugh:

Thanks 'The Penguin' for this quite funny and informative review, and yes that picture of the girl.....hmmm, she must be evil ! :devil:

Girls go crazy over this theme, I guess a launch pad into minifig scale later down the track for them eh ? :wink:

Plenty of pink there to build a fashion store or beauty salon in city style - though it's not my cup of tea ! :wink:

I hope Batman recovers and he can also......Bat=brick On ! :grin:

Thanks a lot! ) :classic:

Holy Pink Batman!

I never expected that you will be reviewing set like this mr. Penguin!

But you did it great! I love how you always make up a story for sets. Thankfully Batman helped you and you don't get poisoned or even sacrificed!

I? It takes more than some vile creeps to poison or sacrifice me! Not to mention that i have batman at my side! :wink:

hahaha really funny review :laugh: :laugh:

Thank you! ) :classic:

Good day, ladies and gentlemen! ) :classic:

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My God, that was hilarious! :laugh: And a very good review aswell. I too would like to see a revival of the Belville theme, but it appearss it will be replaced by a minifig girl theme somewhere in the future.

TT

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No, more likely I lost my head. Gone bats! Get it? Get it? G-o-n-e B-a-t-s! Oh those bat-puns never get old! :cry_happy: ( :laugh: )

:laugh::thumbup:

*high fives*

And all that :D

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