WesternOutlaw

My choice is Stone Tower Bridge followed by Forestmen's Crossing and Rocky River Retreat. I remember having Stone Tower in my hands at a local ToysRUs. I couldn't decide between Robber's Retreat (6088) and the bridge. Neadless to say, I chose Robber's Retreat instead. I don't own any of the Forestmen sets but the crossing looks great. Rocky River Retreat would fit in to the Wild West theme nicely (just need to nix the truck). Very nice sets.

I couldn't agree with you more. It's also definately time for Lego to release another Legend.

From the crocodile infested Australian Outback to the highest mountains of Mt. Everest, bridges and crossings have been used throughout many Lego themes. Ninja armies, Royal Knights, Blackbeard's marauding pirates, Forestmen, Johny Thunder, Santis the Strong, Croc Dundee, and other fool-hearty adventurers made their way over these treacherous bridges and crossings :() . Do you have a favorite? I've tried to select a good mix of sets with bridges and crossings from different themes. I had to eliminate a few, esp. from the Pirate theme that has a few different sets with bridges. If there's a much better pirate set than Enchanted Island with a bridge, vote for it and list (Phes). I enjoy looking at these past sets and only have a few myself. If you have the set or not, vote for what you like. As always, these are all great sets and sorry if I may have excluded any personal favorites.

I agree with you; many of the sets on this list are better than the Viking Fortress in my opinion. Maybe it's the overall Viking theme that people are fond of. I recently purchased the viking ship, and must admit that it's much better than I was expecting. It's a very nice set in both look and design. My recent luck with newer sets has not been good. Getting off topic, I recently purchased the new airplane (7893) thinking it was awesome after the pic review. Got it home and really regretted buying. I've felt the same way over some other recent sets. The viking ship; however, was a real surprise. I don't have the Viking fortress, but like the ship, maybe it's better than pictures.

I've built a few of the smaller castle/dragon sets (just recently). The plastic is bad- not much different than I remember. It will not last, and the pieces will wear down over time (it seems to be just a softer material). In addition, some of the pieces are very brittle when attaching (esp. plates), and more difficult to take apart. A while back, I thought the dragons were pretty good, until you take them apart a few times. The pieces wear out and won't stay together. Also, the build is so different than building with Lego. You can definately tell the difference. It's just a lower quality brick. These were all sets released this year.

Nice job EW. I esp. like the rear and front details.

Here's a shot of a custom forestman. These really work well: I'm using just regular sticker paper. How do you stick transparent plastic on top?

I've searched that page before - It doesn't have the stickers, but it has a lot of other useful ones :oD TheBrickster send me a link to a page that has remakes of the good old classic shields and more, You can find it here [Thanks Brickster *satis* ] KimT From www.Classic-Castle.com, I opened the shield images, then copied and pasted them into PowerPoint. They do need to be re-sized. In US, I converted them to .59 inch width. You could do the same in cm by converting to 1.5 cm wide. I did the same with the torso stickers - same ratio. I ended up with a PowerPoint sheet of multiple shields and torso designs. Printed on sticker pages from a good quality photo-printer gives you very nice stickers. The hard part is cutting them. The results are the four knights pictured above. The web site also has Forestmen and custom torso and shield designs that are very nice.

The original knights displaying their bright colored shields and breast plates (and a good wash helped to brighten them up).

Thanks for the tip. I tried it on a few pieces and they look much better. Unfortunately, it does take a lot of time. I need a Lego cleaning machine with this many pieces.

I found this pic of the inner box this evening in searching for sticker sheets: With castles like this, one could build a variety of mocs.

Definately. With all these specialized pieces and technology, Knight's Kingdom just doesn't come close to these sets. What's wrong with Lego. Why can't they make sets like these anymore? Classic Castle was the best! Viking is good, but just doesn't have the appeal that these classic do (at least for me).

Question for you guys, what's the best way to clean Lego? I was noticing that the baseplates and gray plates to this set are very dusty and could use a good cleaning. Mild soap water soak? Is there a better way?

The flags come from a few of Knight's Joust sets (2 flags per set). The original flag was white with a sticker of a crown to go with the blue knights. See Yellow Castle 375 thread. Re. the shields of the white/blue knights, one is slightly faded (worn). The color was originally the same.

The army leaving the castle on their way to battle:

There's two alternates on the back of the instructions and as I recall, some sort of bridge on the inner fold or back of box. I threw away the box to this set years ago- just lucky to still have all the pieces. With standard pieces, you can build all these alternates and many more. That's why I don't particularly care for the new castles (like Vladek's). They make building so difficult and duplicate pieces are so limited. Here's an old shot of the castle in the city that it use to guard. We played for hours back in these days,

I purchased one of each set (castle, joust, and procession) in Germany and picked up a few extra of the joust and procession a few years later when they hit the U.S (early 80s).

These are all equally great sets. They also all have great features making each unique.

Image Link from Brickset I thought I would do a pic review of the 1st Lego Castle, The Yellow Castle, #375- released in 1978. First, let me say that this set was truly "ahead of it's time". It introduced new building concepts (such as the hinge and new figs (most were still the armless, faceless mini-figs during this time). This set introduced me to Castle which was my first real favorite theme. I enjoyed breaking it out from the garage and building it again. The majority of the pieces are 1x1, 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, and 1x8 standard yellow bricks. The set also includes yellow 1x4, 1x6x2, and 1x8x2 arches, yellow 2x2, 2x3, and 2x4 bricks, various grey plates, 1x2 black inverted slopes, red drawbridge pieces, two classic red castle doors, 8 hinges (2 for each corner), and a few other nifty pieces including six red 1x1 windows. A complete inventory is available at Peeron: 375 Inventory. A view from the front. The drawbridge is 6x8. The front tower stands 12 1/3 bricks high (plenty of room for horses). The drawbridge does work. The string (originally black) is attached to the opposite side between a plate and the arches. The right side of the castle (identical to the left). I've always loved the 2x2x3 sloped bricks (and corner pieces): The back. I love these red doors. A 1x4 brick attached to the other side of the baseplate keeps intruders out. That banner was the original sticker piece. Notice the wear. The rear tower, largest of the towers: And backside: Two hinges at each of the corners allow the corners to open for playability: Before opening: Open: Lots of arches add to the detail of the inner walls: Inner front: This set included 14 figs (how about that for quantity). Unfortunately, I peeled off worn stickers from the shields and the breast plates years ago. The blue castle guards and knights are the keepers of the castle. I still think that these helmets are the best Lego ever made. They just look good. The black and white knights: And the red knights: I've always prefered to use the black and red guards and flags from the knight's joust set(s): Conclusion The Yellow Castle is truly a classic set and I'm so glad I kept the pieces to this together after all these years. If you have a chance to buy one or even obtain the set instructions, it's worth building and wouldn't be difficult to substitute grey or other colors. I hope you enjoyed this review and feel free to share your comments.

Thanks. Here's a better resolution shot of the whole army (didn't build all the horses yet and the figs from the yellow castle aren't included).

I wanted to test out a new digital camera and take some shots of some classic castle figs (all this discussion re. forestmen), so here's a few shots of some early Lego Castle Figs that I dug out of the garage. Knight's Procession - from a few of set 677 - this was a great set to build an army: Royal Guards - from a few of set 383 (Knight's Joust): Still working on learning a new camera. I'll post some more images as I make these sets.

I really missed out on these and never had an interest in buying (until now). As I look at these sets, they're awesome. Looking forward to some of your pics.

I never purchased any of these sets although I remember seeing them in stores. They were very nice sets and I wish I had a few. I esp. like the green figs and hats.

Here's a new thread to discuss Forestmen.

<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Forestmen Collection</span> An index of the Forestmen Collection that originated from the Favorite Fortress Poll: Forestmen Sets (1988-1990) - Part of the Legoland Castle Series 1680/1877 Crusader's Cart (1990) 1974 Smuggler's Hayride (1989) 6042 Dungeon Hunters (1990) - included one forestman 6054 Forestmen's Hideout (1988) 6066 Camouflaged Outpost (1988) 6071 Forestmen's Crossing (1990) 6077 Forestmen's River Fortress (1989) 6103 Castle Mini Fgures (1988) - included two forestmen Forestmen sets released in 1996 as part of the Dark Forest Collection: 6024 Bandit Ambush (1996) 6046 Hemlock Stronghold (1996) 6079 Dark Forest Fortress (1996) I think this is all of them, but if I've missed any, feel free to add. These were very nice sets, share your thoughts and opinions here.