Mr Maniac

I love all of these mash-ups, from the Fright Knights hanging out in that Monster Fighters castle (of course), to a rather Christmassy-looking Medieval Blacksmith (not to mention the Ninjago characters attacking the Black Monarch's Castle?) Great stuff here. Reminds me of some of the old LEGO catalogues and promotional images.

Okay, this is pretty fun. Nice use of the tires for shaping on their heads. I'd love to see a setting where they're used. Nice work!

Supremely late to this one but like the others have said, incredible work. And I'm quoting Sarophas above me because he summed up my thoughts on the building perfectly. And of course the ring itself is a work of art unto itself. Really impressed at how well it held together for you.

Whoa! That photo is too cool for school! I'd be curious to know how those monstrous bat wings are attached to Draco the dragon, but even if you don't have another angle, this is still a (wickedly) good build. Those large bat wings definitely fit Basil's aesthetic. Funnily enough I was originally thinking of using the pair that comes with the throne to make a medieval-type glider similar to some of those promotional Shell sets LEGO put out that year. I may still come back to that (along with a launch platform that fits on the Traitor Transport wagon), but I haven't figured out a design I like yet. (And I really enjoy the new face you added to that old Fright Knight torso on the horse. Such a great update of the original head! Out of curiosity where'd you pull it from?)

If LEGO does ever release classic minifigures on their own, I'll be impressed, although that seems unlikely, if only because CMF is probably there to fill the gap with nods to older characters (along with BAM stations and whatnot so you can at least get close enough). That isn't to say I wouldn't want old stuff re-issued and made available again, but, well, it'd be quite a (welcome) surprise for me. Aside from this specific discussion, one thing I haven't seen addressed yet in this thread is whether the broad-brimmed helmets some of the guards/soldiers are wearing in this set are being released in Flat Silver. Because if so, that would be quite welcome, seeing how they were only released in two sets in very small quantities (which is to say there was only one per set). Re-reading this thread also got me thinking about changing up the armor and helmets on my small Black Falcon army to distinguish them from the Lion Knights, and much to my pleasant surprise, it looks like that excellent Shoulder Pad armor is available in Pearl Dark Grey now thanks to the new Ninjago: Core sets! So I guess I'll have to pick some up and see how it looks on the Medieval Blacksmith knights (along with some new Pearl Dark Grey helmets for the soldiers and archers).

I too would love to have another, if only because, with all the fiddling around in PAB, I'm not sure how likely it is we'll be getting reddish-brown Forest People shields available for order. Oh yeah, and speaking of reddish-brown, any chance someone's tried playing around with a reddish-brown version of the tree (or dark brown, if the parts exist)? I'd be curious to see how that works out, especially since the rest of my burgeoning castle collection features reddish-brown/dark brown trees.

Thanks everyone for the kind words! Yeah, like most of my tweaks, this was another happy accident. Playing around with the throne that came with that LEGO Movie 2 set Battle-Ready Batman and Metalbeard gave me the batarangs. I already had the throne partially disassembled and, well, one thing led to another. Triceron beat me to it, but yeah, some of the more recent Harry Potter stuff has that sword in spades. I think it's also available in the new Dumbledore's Office set too, and through PAB, given how often I've seen it used in various MOCs on this forum, like some of the mods people have made to the 3-in-1 castle. Oh yeah, this was one of things where very little changed for me between concept and execution. Outside of rearranging the locking mechanism for the cage, everything else fell right into place, which is always nice. Thanks @MAB! I'm certainly with you there! I love the use of those red inverted arch pieces to make a roof, which meant it was inevitable I'd want to use them as much as possible. I was a tad worried of course about being able to fit a minifigure with a helmet and plume inside, but as the photos show, I needn't have worried. Thank you! I actually spent a lot of time Googling 'Fright Knight MOCs,' and always ended up of gravitating towards the stuff that uses those inverted arch pieces as much as possible (usually for Night Lord's Castle builds, of course). I think @Aanchir deserves credit for pointing out how that is one of the crucial design elements of Fright Knight sets (that and more traditional arches of course, to capture that Gothic atmosphere). Glad you like it!

Oh hey, I've never even seen this part before! Great find, and definitely agree with you there. This is the ideal cauldron shape you'd want to go for (although I've become rather fond now of doing a completely brick-built solution with newer pieces, sort of like what the new Forest Hideout achieves). Thanks @MontyMatte! That unobtrusiveness with the use of newer pieces was definitely what I was going for with my first round of mods and the rest of the Fright Knights line in particular. But eventually I decided to chuck it because there's just so many more parts and colors to choose from!

I'll admit I didn't see the cauldron at first either @Triceron, and I was an adult when I bought this one! But that might be down to, like you said, wrapping your head around the weirdness of this set to see what they're going for. Either way, I'm guessing if LEGO did this now, they'd probably use a larger number of smaller, curved pieces to make a more rounded basket reminiscent of an actual cauldron. I can only imagine they'd find a way to add in handles using some of those macaroni bricks!

Sorry I missed these comments earlier, but definitely glad some readers were able to stop by! And you're definitely right about those candle and lantern parts @Aanchir and @SirBlake. They do go a long way towards improving the original model. Definitely easier to add these in as opposed to trying to build lanterns out of taps and plates. No wonder I ended up sprinkling them in almost every one of these sets. This is such a good point, and not one I immediately thought of, but now I can't get it out of my head. Funny too, since my first impression of Willa (thanks to an astute comment on the old Steve's LEGO Blog) was closer to the contemporary read on Morgan Le Fay, as an enchantress/sorceress/witch who successfully brought about the downfall of a royal kingdom (which sort of fits given how often Royal Knights minifigures ended up as prisoners in Fright Knight sets)! But the design of this windship definitely brings to mind a (supersized) Baba Yaga vehicle. Well said!

And I'm back, with another installment of my Fright Knights Rehabilitation Project! Last week I posted some mods I made to Witch's Windship, a set that's been pretty...divisive, to put it kindly, among the online LEGO community. This week, I decided I'd show off one of the few Fright Knights sets that seemed to be a little more accessible for fans of Castle. Take a look below at my mods for Traitor Transport!* *Didn't get around to building that cave (and the used model I bought didn't come with one), but Traitor Transport sounds better than Prison Transport, so just roll with it. For those interested, here's a nice profile shot of the whole prison carriage arrangement (we'll circle back to Basil on his horse later). Unlike Witch's Windship, this set proved to be a tad thornier for me to modify, largely because I really liked the contrast between the red roof and the gray that made up the walls of the actual prisoner module. Add in LEGO's solution for creating a locking cage, and I was a tad stumped regarding how I could update it while still maintaining the look of the whole thing. Needless to say this was a Rubicon moment for me of sorts, as this was when I definitively chose to use more modern colors and pieces in all of my Fright Knights builds, and I think the results speak for themselves, especially with how nicely the dark brown and reddish-brown contrast with the bright red on the roof. Moving on, you'll see my solution to maintaining a lockable cage, even after filling in the roof. While my initial designs called for that 1x6 tile with the wood grain sticker to be placed in a manner similar to the 1x6 printed tile used in front of the doors on the Temple of Mount Everest set, I found it slid around too much for my liking. So those SNOT bricks in reddish-brown came to my rescue. Simply pull the tile off, and... ...you can pull the door down, just like in the original model! Needless to say I was quite pleased at how well this worked, making for a very snug fit while still remaining extremely secure. And fortunately that modified plate at the top of the door is still pretty easy for me to grab and pull. Throwing in a front-facing angle of the detachable cage module because I thought it'd give people a better view of how it looks from the front. Overall I think it looks a little stronger now from all angles, whereas the initial model only looked good to me in profile. Now at least it looks a little more regal with that (wrought-iron, let's say) bat at the very top instead of the front. And as you might be able to tell, I made sure all gaps were covered on this bad boy, with a small 1x4x1 fence in black occupying the small gap between the roof and the dark-brown log bricks. And here's one more angle of the cage module in profile, mostly so I can talk quickly about some of the other mods. While I get that some people found the bat or dragon wings on this prisoner carriage a little ostentatious, for me they make the model (along with that great roof design). My only problem with them was their placement. Moving the two wings from the top of the roof to the front created a nice sense of balance, and hey, now I can suggest this module flies. As for the lanterns, they fit in with the zaniness and general oddball nature of the Fright Knights. Seeing how the original set had two trans-yellow cones anyway, it was a cinch to turn them into lanterns. Similarly, swapping out the flaming torches in the rear with red lanterns made sense to me, and now we've got medieval headlights and taillights! As for the flags, those were originally supposed to be the larger Fright Knight kite shields that popped up in a number of sets, but seeing how the carriage driver already had a shield to go with the halberds, the flags made more sense, fitting in with the regal-seeming prisoner carriage. Yes indeed, nothing but the best for the Fright Knights' latest victim, er, prisoner. As for the wagon this ornate cage sits on, that was a very easy fix. Pulling out all the light grey parts and replacing them with black was simple enough, though that front needed work. Adding in two 3x3 wedge plates seemed to help, and throwing a chair in makes for a much comfier ride for this carriage driver. But I wanted to maintain some of the original design elements for this model, which is why I incorporated those curved red bricks. Doing all that gave me a nice little space for storing a prisoner's items so all told that was a happy accident that rounded things off nicely. A few notes on the harness for the dragon. Most of this was already done for me in the base model, including the turntables with finger hinges, but swapping out light grey plates for black tiles and plates make it look far sleeker. And much like my mods for Witch's Windship, adding in a 2x2 black 45-degree slope finishes off the harness nicely. Finally, I did in fact swap out the trans-neon-orange wings on the dragon for trans-red, making it easier for me to distinguish between the two. And besides, trans-red wings on a black dragon still looks pretty boss, right? Last but not least is the Night Lord himself! Yes, much like Willa, Basil is back to put the 'evil' in 'medieval!' Like most of the Fright Knight minifigures I've collected, I didn't change too much here. The two things I really liked adding included an updated bat scepter (modeled largely off of the one in @Oky's wonderful Time Twister MOC), and giving Basil the Sword of Gryffindor, which honestly fits him much better than the chrome broadsword, with those blood-red gemstones in the pommel and hilt. As for his steed, the addition of a batarang to the horse's champron was always planned, although not on this part. I initially wanted to use the old champron that was introduced through the Dragon Masters, only to discover it wouldn't work with the newer horses. Oh well. I've come to love how ridiculous the horse looks with the red clip and batarang on it, but it was definitely an acquired taste. At least now the red champron and batarang give the horse barding for the Fright Knights a more unique look, instead of merely copying the Dragon Masters. So there you go. Two down, three (or four?) more to go. Given the way things went with this project, this will be the last set that still resembles the original model. Everything else from here on out will be more of an MOC, and I cannot wait to show you all of them (though we may have to wait a little while on Night Lord's Castle. That's been giving me trouble lately). For those interested, here's a link to more photos in my Bricksafe folder. So in closing, I'll leave you with one of Basil's favorite past-times, as indicated on some of the box art for Traitor Transport: Prisoner versus Dragon! (Or as the dragon might call it, canned food). Thanks for reading!

While I realize everyone's understandably excited about the new Lion Knight's Castle (myself included), I felt like this was a good time to start unveiling a project I've been working on for the past few months. Because as nice as Black Falcons, Lion Knights, and Forestmen are, for me the Fright Knights are one of the coolest factions around, with their gothic imagery and downright spooky-looking dragons, complete with black bodies and fire-orange wings. In any case, I hoovered up most of the sets from this subtheme back in 2019, and found them...wanting. But hey, the beauty of LEGO is making fixes as needed, right? So I began with a set I actually did a review of around that time, probably because it was one of those sets that was rather representative of the Fright Knights subtheme, for better or for worse. In any case, take a gander at the new-ish Witch's Windship! Below I have some more angles on this odd beauty for those interested. As much as I adore @The Librarian's take on this strange medieval flying craft, I've played too many rounds of LEGO Racers to feel comfortable making drastic changes to the basic silhouette. So yeah, I just updated the halberds from dark grey to dark bluish gray and changed the clips too, from gray to black. Actually, out of all the changes to the Fright Knights sets, this one was probably the easiest, since all I needed to do was scrub any yellow or light gray out of this set and replace it with black or red. For those interested here's a photo of the interior of the basket. Probably one of the biggest disappointments of the original set was how, despite all of the available space, the only place for Willa to stand was on a measly 2x6 red plate. So I turned that design decision into a newt (it got better) and instead added two 3x6 wedge plates in red which helped. And of course adding two modified bricks with clips in the back for Willa's wand and broomstick means she'll have her hands free for steering. Because safety always comes first, especially when you're driving a dragon-powered airship. Despite getting this set MISB, those modified plates with the clips holding the wings were frequently coming off, so I ended up covering them with some of those handy curved slopes in red. Oddly enough the slopes only came into play during my second pass of mods to this set, and it's all the stronger for it. (The dust on the wing, however, was not part of the plan, but oh well.) Speaking of second passes, the addition of these two tail (lantern) lights were also not in my initial round of mods to this set. At first it was just that red hook, which does have a purpose, but after increasing the height of the basket candles, I felt like this set needed more zaniness. So in a nod to the original set, I threw them in. As for the trans-red cones that sat on the rear of this windship, worry not, as I added one to the crystal ball of this set and the other one to my own version of that little bat-wing flyer that shows up in 6087 Witch's Magic Manor (more to come on that). So there you have it! Admittedly these are minor, easy mods, but hopefully this works as a nice preview of what else I've got in store. Seeing how this is one of those 'iconic' sets that tells you what a subtheme's all about, I was quite pleased at my execution here, keeping the stuff I liked while jettisoning the rest, and fortifying some other parts. If you want to see more photos, check out my Bricksafe folder, though you're not missing much. Thanks for reading, and now I'll give Willa and her two pets, Nox the cat and Ignatius the dragon a chance to say see ya next time. Happy Haunting!

I think I'm with you there. Not too many nits to pick with the (rather broad) outline of the actual set we've gotten so far, but having a small alcove to tuck however many horses we get here would be nice. (Not that it's a deal-breaker for me or anything, although stables would be nice to see in a large-ish Castle set seeing how I'm running into similar horse-storage problems on another Castle MOC I'm working on right now.)

This right here gets me a tad curious to know if they're going to keep the tree this hideout is built around black like the original or if they're going to use some of the newer parts and colors to make it appear more vibrant. Don't get me wrong, getting a new Forestmen set from LEGO is exciting, although having spent enough time ogling Castle in the Forest and building a new version of the Ghostly Hideout set from Rebrickable gives me the feeling that going with black parts to recreate the tree is a missed opportunity given all the lovely plant foliage parts we have available now.

Beautiful work here, and a welcome update to some of the older Pirate forts with plenty of silliness of course. One thing I'd love to know is how you secured that red roof. It offers such a welcome contrast from the white and is sloped at a very effective angle. I've tried sculpting a terra cotta-like roof using similar round bricks for the Imperial Armada, but never got the angle right.

Excited to see more of these Star Wars bounty hunter mechs after this one and the Boba Fett versions. Also the best picture by far has got to be the one with the minifigure-scale IG-88's head sticking out of the massive body (which now attaches apparently? Great work there). One question is who the humanoid skeleton is supposed to be. Is that a helmet on the skull or something else?

These are so much fun. I don't see too much love for the classic battle droid nowadays, so these are quite welcome for me. One question however: How flexible are they? Both droids look very poseable, although I didn't know if pieces might fall off if you're trying to pose them a certain way (those hands, for instance, look like a single-stud connection).

I'm at a loss to understand why no one else commented on this, so let me be the first to say that this is an incredible build! While the size of the room alone would be enough for me normally to view this as an impressive MOC, your two 'magic avatar' builds take this from impressive to sublime. They're the real stand-outs here, especially since you gave us an updated Majisto to boot! While I've admired many of the other MOCs other people have made here, using some of the original characters LEGO created in newer builds will always be my favorite, especially when the results are this good! You've done an amazing job showing us how proficient Majisto is with magic, and I absolutely love your decision to use an enchanted lantern to contain several dragon spirits, a device I've never heard of before, but one which I'm finding very cool. As for the dragon spirit itself, all I can say is wow! It may not resemble the classic dragon mold, but it is rather striking, especially with your use of those old flame pieces to create a 'tail' for the spirit coming out of the (again, excellent) brick-built magic lantern. And of course the unnamed upstart mage fighting Majisto is also great, even if he looks a bit like a dwarf with that helmet and beard. But great use of that Ninjago head with the bright green eyes, which complement his equally wild magic portal! I don't know how you positioned it, but it looks great and offers a welcome contrast from Majisto's dragon spirit, with the demonic/ghostly warriors all looking very cohesive (great job marrying Hidden Side and, again, Ninjago parts here) with the portal and the mage's eyes. Lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't praise your lighting. That black light(?) really makes the magic entities pop and adds an otherworldly vibe to the whole scene! Great work all around, and all hail the Dragon Masters!

As a big fan of the original Adventurers line, you did a superb job updating the Scorpion Tracker for the 21st Century! I especially like how you built the headlights and grille for the hood of the car, aping the original part introduced in this theme but with newer parts (sort of like how LEGO re-created this modified brick with new parts in the Pirates of Barracuda Bay set)! Well done!

Late to commenting on this, but did want to praise you for preserving some of the original Adventurer building techniques while also introducing more contemporary pieces and colors to this wonderful LEGO theme! I'm especially fond of your half-buried statue, which looks to have a very similar look to the statue in the 5958 Mummy's Tomb and the sphinx in (what else) 5978's Sphinx's Secret Surprise! (And those canopic jars are killer too @Sebeus I! I may want to borrow those designs if I end up dipping back into this theme! They look very sturdy and evocative of the real thing!)

I have to say, when I first heard of that character in the 2020 City Deep Sea Explorers subtheme, I had no idea how much mileage you could get out of a minifigure face with a headband. But man, after seeing that face pop up in the IDEAS Medieval Blacksmith, and now here, all I can say is that she's far more versatile than I would've thought. Excited to see what additional, ah, adventurous usages we see out of that face!

Gotta say, this is a very nice-looking castle! While I don't ordinarily like these complex building techniques for Castle MOCs with lots of small tiles and plates, I think sticking with a simple color contrast (dark bley walls with light bley highlights) makes this a real pleasing build to look at, along with the rather amusing proportions of that castle keep. But what was most interesting to me is the use of that Pirates of the Caribbean scabbard as reins for the horse. It looks very naturalistic and is a fairly creative parts usage for me. Nicely done!

Thanks @Pdaitabird! Glad to see I'm not alone in that phenomenon, although I'll admit it came as a bit of a surprise when it first happened. Like, I get the Aquazone arm pieces breaking, but I always thought this mold was fairly sturdy.

While Jurassic Park rightly deserves a lot of credit for re-introducing audiences to the pleasures of mankind encountering living, breathing dinosaurs (before said dinosaurs eat man, leaving women to inherit the earth), let's not forget some of the earlier versions of this, including the 1925 silent movie The Lost World, based on the 1912 Arthur Conan Doyle novel of the same name. I bring this up mostly because the Adventurers' Dino Island subtheme, first released in 2000, has more in common with Doyle's work than Crichton's more contemporary version. And as an avid fan of both dinosaurs and turn-of-the-20th Century adventurers, this was a pretty solid third wave for one of my favorite LEGO themes. So hold onto your butts, as we explore: Info Set # - 5955 Name - All Terrain Trapper Theme/Subtheme - Adventurers/Dino Island Year - 2000 Piece Count - 185 Minifigures - 3 Price - MSRP $30 US Links Brickset, Peeron, Bricklink, Bricksafe Box 65 million years ago, I did have a box for this set in my collection. But alas, it has since been lost to the ravages of time, (otherwise known as the parents recycling it) so we'll just have to push on without it. Although for those curious, it looks like Bricklink has a listing for the box. Instructions Aside from the usual wear-and-tear, along with some postmortem contractions of the posterior neck ligaments, this is probably one of the better Adventurers instruction manuals in my collection (especially compared to my River Expedition one, yikes). The world map graphics bordering the actual set image is a great change of pace from the previous imagery around the two earlier Adventurers subthemes, suggesting Johnny Thunder and friends (along with his nemeses) are well off the beaten path here. While the background is very clearly computer-generated, I don't mind the swooshing lines for the trapper or the stationary net, which help to highlight the play features. Moving closer, we can also see a revision to the old Adventurers logo, which I'm personally not too crazy about. What was great about the first two was that it gave you everything you needed in one concise package. You had the brand-new hero for this brand-new theme in the center, along with the new wildlife molds in the border. Add in palm leaves in the background of the Jungle subtheme logo, and pyramids (plus that all-important biplane) in the Egyptian one and you've got a pretty great logo. The fact that it looked like an old-school stamp you might see on a steamer trunk or a passport didn't hurt things either. But this logo's a touch too sprawling for my tastes, even though it still gives you everything you need to know about this subtheme (namely that it has dinosaurs and Johnny Thunder). So while I'm nitpicking, it still gets the job done. Much like in previous manuals, this one also offers alternative builds, and given how this subtheme featured more blocky, less specialized pieces, it could make for a bit of a mixed bag. Fortunately there's mostly good stuff here you can create, from a nice little jeep and storage depot in the bottom-most image (even if that plane is severely lacking in controls), and a pretty good barge in the smaller image. Also, there's a fun little comic here, which helps to explain the different alternative builds, even if it's clear the two lead characters are dreaming a little bigger than what's actually possible with the pieces in the set. And for anyone who always wished they could actually build the alternative models, LEGO kindly incorporated abbreviated steps for a few of the designs, which is pretty nice. I can't remember how often I'd try replicating one of the cooler alternative builds with the earliest Star Wars sets, only to run into a wall during the attempt. As an added bonus, you also have fun infographics near the end, offering interesting facts on each Dino Island dinosaur, such as their weight, size, what they eat, and most importantly of all, which sets they came in, so, like Pokemon, you can collect them all. Moving on to the interior of the instruction manual, you can see it's a pretty basic layout, with the background vaguely continuing the atlas-like motif, with some latitude and longitude lines. The color distinction is perfect, while sub-models get call-out boxes and steps. But for those of you used to having individual piece call-outs for each step, get used to carefully looking over each image for new pieces that are added on, before doing the same with your pile of parts. Pieces As you can see, we spared no expense sorting all 185 pieces of this set. Aside from the bright yellow and red, which will mostly be covered up by the rest of the vehicle, the brightest color will be blue, which is the dominant color scheme for the villain's vehicles on Dino Island (minus one glaring exception). Plenty of green and light gray will make up foliage, while black will help round out the shaping of the Trapper. Much like how frog DNA easily slots into prehistoric dino DNA to fill the gaps, LEGO opted to use mostly generic bricks for the Dino Island subtheme, which can fit in everywhere. Similarly, the unique pieces aren't too out there, largely being quite common, although that only makes the set more attractive if you're not looking to keep it built. Take for instance the ubiquitous string net, 10x10 square. which appears in 55 sets in black, used in everything from Pirates to Ninjago. Or the plate, modified 2x2 with bar frame square, appearing in 35 sets total. The same goes for all the other pieces pictured here, which are interesting compared to the rest of the pieces in this set, but aren't too unique when you look at the bigger picture. The biggest exception to this rule might be the slope, curved 2x2x1 double with two studs and the vehicle, base 6x5x2 with two seats, both of which were introduced in the Adventurers line, but have since been incorporated in a number of other sets. Again, owing to this theme's relative simplicity in parts usage, there are no printed parts here. Fortunately, LEGO spared no expense in providing plenty of accessories for this motley crew, which is always nice. Here we have two different kinds of firearms, along with a hammer and wrench for making quick fixes to the Trapper, a crate to carry it all around, and some cooking supplies. Let's just hope they don't mind sharing utensils. Minifigures While we don't have Dodgson here, what we do get is the entire villain's team in one set, which is rather nice. From left to right we have Baron Von Barron, er, I mean Sam Sinister, his sister Alexis Sinister, and their intrepid big game hunter/guide, Mr. Cunningham, which, while not as much fun to say as Rudo Villaino, still gives you a good enough idea of his character. He's cunning! And judging by that shirt of his, he's a big fan of ham. As for the other two, Alexis Sinister is a nice way of shaking things up in the villain department, since I don't think the Adventurers theme ever had another female villain (who's apparently rather interested in getting Johnny Thunder to work with the bad guys, if the September/October 2000 issue of Mania Magazine is any indicator), and Von Barron, or rather, Sam Sinister is the quintessentially perfect pulp adventure villain. I can't really blame LEGO for re-using his character so many times (though I can blame them for changing his name), since he's got everything you need in a villain, from the snooty-looking monocle, to the nasty scar and the hook for a hand! He's honestly perfect. I decided to skip photographing the backs of the minifigures' torsos, since there's no printing there anyway, so we can move onto the real reason you'd buy this set in the year 2000: Dinosaurs! While they've made more detailed ones in the Jurassic World sets, with better articulation, these ones are still fun to have around and get the job done. Aside from the baby T-Rex which I forgot to include here, there are no predators in this set (aside from the human ones, that is), with a Stegosaurus and Triceratops making up the quarry for our nefarious trio. The Build We kick things off by building the titular Trapper, which is nicely symmetrical, and actually rather intricate. We start off with some white plates and vehicle axles... ...followed by some tiling and a few 1x1 blue round bricks. The tiles will become part of the main play feature. Add in a covering for the back, along with a propeller, and it's starting to take shape. But first, a sub-model. Here's one of the two sub-models. This piece fits over the blue tiles, which will make contact with... ...this axle brick. While the yellow and red stick out a bit, they'll mostly be covered up in the final model. So installing these two and covering them with another plate, we'll have... ...a fairly complete model! But first, after some tires are added, and... ...we get to move onto the actual trap part of this All Terrain Trapper. Using these 7 pieces, we create... ...a weighted net, which still looks the part with those 1x1 round bricks in blue. Add that to the end of Trapper, along with a chain and the cab, and... ...Behold! If you want something that'll let you get around Dino Island easily while catching said dinos, this is the vehicle you'd want. Some additional perspectives of the All Terrain Trapper. One thing you don't get from the image on the instruction manual and box is how the vehicle seems designed for amphibious use, able to drive right into a river or lake and get to the other side without getting the minifigures wet (though I wouldn't try this in real life). The propeller in the rear, along with the wedge-shaped plates help contribute to that look, while the cab, typically situated closer to the ground, is near the top of the vehicle. And those tires look like they're made for the type of rugged environment I'd imagine Dino Island to be, making this a vehicle that can traverse through a variety of different terrains, including long grass. An added bonus of this vehicle is how, unlike the jeep in Spider's Secret, there's more than enough room to place a headlight or two on here if you want, since, unless I'm mistaken, Dino Island doesn't have electricity or running water that isn't a river. Of course this group couldn't call themselves effective poachers if they only had a single trap, so we get a stationary one as well, for all the clever girls who avoid the Trapper. We start by taking the big 8x16 green brick and attaching it to two more 2x3 green bricks. The two 1x8 light gray tiles will be part of a play feature, which comes next. We start by building the mechanism that will support the net, with one 2x10 blue plate and two 1x10 light gray plates to start. Two 1x1 round bricks in blue will get added later. Speaking of, this particular brick did not hold up. Not sure if this has happened to anyone else, but it's a good lesson kids. Always treat your bricks gently. Fortunately I had a spare, and the part of the trap that supports the net is done. Now we move onto the platform that'll trigger the trap. Add some bricks onto the grille plate, and boom, we have a trap! Just attach it to the plate, and... ...we have trap number two! While not as striking as other booby traps in the Adventurers theme, the low profile works well for Sinister and Company's prey, especially with the camouflage on either side. Some more angles of the stationary trap. While with current parts (or even parts back then, if I'm being honest), you could probably add more camouflage to the grille plate and net, resetting it would be a pain after springing the trap, so it's fine. Last but not least, we have the actual campground for Sinister's base of operations. A 4x8 blue plate makes for a nice river, and provides some welcome change to the set's environment. So after building up a solid connection between the two baseplates with bricks and plates... ...we can get started on the campsite proper, with a barrel complete with a tap on top and a 2x2 round brick in brown, which will become a stove of sorts. So after adding a few more pieces, along with the Trapper's super-simple repair kit, and we have... A campsite, complete with Alexis Sinister and that pesky baby T-Rex I missed up above (though you tell me whether he's supposed to be an accessory or wildlife. Guess it depends on if you're in Sinister's camp or Johnny's). Some more views of the campground from different angles. Dino Research Compound this is not (for one thing, this model has a completely different name), but it's still a great addition to this set, giving our villains room to scheme and plan their next trap while enjoying fresh fish or whatever else they have on hand to eat. And there's plenty of room, which ensures all three minifigures can fit on here easily when the Trapper's engine is on the fritz. Let's just hope that they set up camp away from a game trail. And now you have the whole set, with all characters and vehicles included. As you can see, there's plenty to do here, so let's move on to the play features. Play Features Once you've built your top-of-the-line, custom vehicle designed for capturing dinos, it's only natural if the next thing you wish to do is give it a little field test. In the case of the Trapper, which capably traversed the rough terrain of my white tablecloth, we see it's encountered a rather docile Stegosaurus, caught unawares. Let's see how it does. Well, Mr. Cunningham must be a religious man, since it seems as if he got an assist from the Hand of God. Aside from outside help, you can see how the arm propped up launches the net. Once the Trapper hits a dinosaur (or a hand, wall, or pet), the front plate will be pushed in, sliding along the tiles to push the arm carrying the net up. It's pretty clever, and works wonderfully every time (although you do need to hit it like you mean it to get any kind of trajectory. Otherwise it just lands on top of the engine). Moving onto the stationary trap, we see Alexis Sinister has kindly offered to demonstrate how it works for us. By placing something on the black grille plate and pushing down... ...the net gets lifted up and falls over the quarry, leaving them a little tied up. Between the two traps, this might be the better one, since it doesn't require any finessing. Just stick something on the plate and let 'er rip. Finally, there's the campsite, which again, isn't anything noteworthy in terms of play features. But given how we get two really good ones with the other two models, having a bit of scenery where your minifigures can just hang out is nice. Although that flame under the frying pan might be a little strong if it's holding it aloft. Might want to turn that thing down, unless you like your food burned to oblivion. Final Thoughts Following my new tradition of trying to use numbers in my set reviews, let's see if I can sum this set up fairly. Pricing and Value - According to Brick Insights' statistics, which will probably be skewed a bit once this review is added to their index, the price-per-part for this set today is $0.24, an improvement over the initial price-per-part in 2000, which stood at $0.26. Overall, I'd say the value of this set is a 7/10, since you get a fair number of pieces for the price (and if Brickset is any indicator, the prices on this set used haven't gone up too much). Pieces - Sadly, this is where the set takes a hit for me (along with the other Dino Island sets), since so many of the actual parts aren't that unique. Unlike the Egyptian or Amazon subthemes, which offered a wealth of printed parts, here the only printed piece which is unique to this subtheme is a film strip tile, which is nice but a far cry from what we received in previous Adventurers subthemes. And the foliage isn't even that interesting, with all of it variations on this piece. On the other hand, you get two dinosaurs and two nets, along with some other useful, cool pieces, so it's a 7/10 for me. Design/Build - Here's a set which shows that, despite a lack of interesting or unique parts, you can still accomplish a lot with basic bricks, slopes, and plates. The design of the Trapper is fantastic, and the stationary trap is good too, while the campground has enough diversity in appearance to make it fit in with the other two models without completely disappearing. So it's a 9/10 for me, due in large part to the dedicated campsite and unique amphibious design of the Trapper. Playability - No preoccupations about whether or not I should try and trap a dinosaur with the Trapper or with the stationary trap, only that I can do so and should honestly do it more often. This set is very playable, and offers just enough accessories to give each minifigure something to hold or do. While the Trapper only seats two, you can still give the odd man out (or woman, if it's Alexis) something to do at the campsite or the stationary trap, which is great. While the net-launching feature on the Trapper doesn't always work if you aren't actively ramming the target, the rest is fine, so 8/10 for me. Verdict: All told, I'm glad life found a way to bring this set to me. While it was sacrificed at the altar of Star Wars, and later, Indiana Jones, it was a real treat to put it back together and play around with it some more. While some of the Dino Island sets are a little wonky now, especially in the surrounding environmental design, this set is a perfect balance between cool vehicles and playable terrain. Plus, if you're trying to avoid overdoing it with your LEGO purchases (preposterous, I say), this is a great set to get since it has all the villains. But again, the blocky design is a little primitive and lackluster compared to the designs of the previous two Adventurers subthemes, so the total score is a 77.5% from me. So while this isn't, say, a UNIX system, it's still a set I'd absolutely recommend picking up. Welcome...to collecting LEGO sets. Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave questions or comments below.

Excellent point. Wrote this elsewhere, but for me, one of the more interesting aspects of Hidden Side was how it struck that balancing act (at least among the location sets), between working as a perfectly good City set (if a bit more run-down and dilapidated) in addition to appearing more 'haunted.' Obviously some of these worked better than most (wish the Wrecked Shrimp Boat had more transformation features), but on the whole, there was plenty of good here for me to get a few.