Artifex

Just bought the Kingdoms 7948 set (Oupost Attack) and the Archer from the Collectible Minifigures. :D :D :D

Just bought one! Just got home! GONE to build my new tower! Cya!

Thanks for the great review, Metalandi! Thanks for bringing up the plastic quality issue - I was ordering a couple of Battle Packs, but I'll now buy only one to check it out first. And I, too, ask for a pic comparing the standard minifigs with the battle pack ones.

Once again, thanks for a terrific review, TheBrickster! I have to say I like this set: the tower looks really solid, the minifigs are great and I even like the catapult - those wheels look quite menacing, although it feels rather short in length! (IMHO, the siege weapons have not looked very nice since many lines ago, so my liking this one says something to me) Oh, man, can you please post a couple of pictures? Doing that was the first thing that came to my mind while reading the review.

From what we've seen so far, I guess this new line will be more realistic than the previous ones. Although there are some magical or fantasy elements (the blue and green wizards - and the baby dragon, someone might add), I guess the level of magic/fantasy will be left to each fan: you may have your wizards casting fireballs on each other, or they may be simple alchemists and masters of old/secret/occult knowledge/lore.

Hmm... Thanks. Those 4 little steps are really useful. They really got me thinking.

Wow! That's awesome! Do you use the parts much for castles and villages?

For custom designs, I mean. I've seen how people around the forums seem to use many parts from this set, building houses, shops and villages and hamlets - so I ask: How many are enough? I know the answer is probably "as many as you need", but for a custom castle design, how many would you buy or how many would you use? For a stable, blacksmith or something like inside a castle, I mean? Thanks in advance!

Can anyone please confirm if the King that comes with the Kingdom Castle is the same one in the Key Chain? Below the armor and for the color of his crown, I mean. Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the great review, TheBrickster! I have to say that I'm no enthusiast of this set - it's probably one of the poorest I've ever seen (sorry for the negativity, guys, but I spent the past three days reading reviews of all the previous castle sets). I may get it because of the minifigures, which I find great (although I'm not in love with the Lion's color scheme and grill helmets), and some pieces, great for custom building.

Oh, yes, that's it exactly: I intend to exchange the new figures for the old ones (which I like best). Thanks for the advice!

Hail, friends! I'm not sure about what I should do, so here I am asking for your advice. I've been searching all over e-bay and the Lego official site for Castle sets and figures. Both have things that I want, namely Black Falcons, Lions and Crusaders figs and sets. Thing is: I really like the new king's Castle and the Dragon minifigs, but I'm not sure about the new Lion ones. The grill helmets and lack of heavier armor also make me a bit meh. I don't know if I should get just the castle and one or two Dragon Battle Packs and go for the Crusaders and Black Falcons minifigs and sets on ebay. So this is where I ask: What would you do? Thanks in advance, all the best, Artifex

Really nice review, but - what happened to the images?

In my Legoverse, I would always have the Pirates metting my Castle minifigs. The Castle guys usually ruled the inland, and the Pirates were ever there on the seas. The Imperials would keep the Pirates at bay, guarding the shores, and have Castle reinforcements from the inland. Although Pirates and Imperials had gunpowder and guns and cannons, that was never an issue for my brave knights and their bigger numbers. The Imperials were more of newcomers to the Castle lands (sort of "we didn't really intend to come here and now that we did we are few and need help and a little settlement of our own"), and the Pirates were ever the menace. Did you play or is/was your Legoverse in any way similar to that? EDIT: Sorry, but the title should read "+" instead of "=". I couldnt really change that... :( EDIT: Thanks for fixing the title!

I read so many castle reviews these past two-three days that although my favorite castle is still the 6080, there's a combination of features from different castle settings that i think would make for the "perfect" castle (IMHO, that is - pleae don't get offended in any way): * The 6074, Black Falcons' Fortress and its cool, solid design which says "it may not be a castle, but it does feel like one" (hey, it's even got a drawbridge, folks!), one of the coolest keeps ever and the overall 'feel' of this set (not to mention the way they blended a little bit of yellow with all that grey and the black roofs); * The 6081, King's Mountain Fortress and its overall, simple and functional design (drawbridge gate on the front, keep in the back, patio on the side, another playing area on the other side and a wall between them), the balcony right by the drawbridge and the "lower" arched wall on the right side of this fortress (nice combination of tall and not-so-tall walls); * The 6085, Black Monarch's Castle and its solid, impressive design which says "don't mess with the guys in this castle!", the different and original design of the drawbridge tower (with two windows in the front) and the overall design (with drawbridge tower in the front and two smaller towers in the back); * The 6086, Black Knight's Castle and its ingenious design (with drawbridge tower, keep on the side and two smaller towers), the amazing keep structure (it's amazing the way its red + yellow colors add so much to this castle!) the red roofs (in the drawbridge tower and the keep- roofs rule) and again (like in 6081, King's Mountain Fortress), the tall wall on the side and not-so-tall one on the other; * The 6090, Royal Knight's Castle and the two nice towers: the gate entrance one and the drawbridge tower (castles looks so much cooler when they have drawbridges!), the roof on both towers (that's a nice addition to overall Lego castle design, IMHO), the well (what a nice and lively touch!), and, of course, the secret passage!; * The 7094, King's Castle Siege and one of the coolest designs ever, keep plus tall tower and some of the coolest Castle minifigs in any set; * The 10176, Knights' Kingdom King's Castle and the many armored minifigs, overall design (with many towers all around and one main more spatious "wizard tower"), the blacksmith area and the skeleton with the rat; * The 7946, King's Castle and the keep and tall tower (and that IS a nice and tall tower) many separate structures, the great figures (design, color, armor...), modularity (always expanding!), decoration and overall design of the castle as a whole (tower roof, windows, doors); Add all that to a spatious castle as the 6080 and voilà! you have the perfect castle! (Or as close to that as you can get, IMHO). What the 6080 lacks in ingenious design (hey, it's the father of all castles, the original one, don't you forget that! (ok, ok, I do know about the yellow one)), it's got in space, functionality, playability and modularity (and don't forget you can add many things to its spatious interior). What I feel that many castles lack is more minifigs and horses - the older ones brought more than the newest ones do, but they didn't have all those cool breastplates and helms; the newest ones have the coolest armor and fig design and art, but there are just too few minifigs to man our castles properly and too few horses for a charge. But that can be overcome with a couple of Battle Packs, I guess. On the side: I have to say the Lions (Crusaders) and the Black Falcons are my favorite Castle minifigs ever! The figs from 7094 (King's Castle Siege) and 7946 (King's Castle) run a close second (great art), with the Black Knights as third. EDIT: I decided to add some links to make it easier to find the mentioned features.

Was it really a good idea? Did it really work out well? In Brazil it didn't have any success... So that's why I ask. And also, we see lots of new Castle sets every now and then, but no more western for a looong time. So, should western be a Playmobil thing?

Which one is the coolest-looking or your favourite castle (you may find one cool, but not your fav) of all times (so far)? I really love the Royal Knight's Castle, Black Monarch's Castle and King's Leo Castle designs, but the Crusaders' King's Castle was always the one of my childhood. I guess that's why I'm getting a new castle after all these years - the new 7946 Kingdom's Castle, which looks so much as the Crusaders' King's Castle! What about you?

Thanks so much for this review! I met this amazing castle in a toy store today, and I was dying to know more about it. Even though I was so eager to get anything on the castle, I still think this is one of the best and most useful reviews I've read on the internet.