Stiel

:laugh: Cool idea.

Nice castle! I see that you like the idea of a yellow-black side building. Also, nice overall color scheme with the gold triple slopes. And... what's with the fish on the side of the horse?

Wow, that's great! Just love the colors and details. Might even be better than the original in some aspects.

Fantasy Era is over, so no, it's not going to happen. And I encourage you to use the question mark when asking a question.

He meant that you can't buy them in stores, only get them with a larger amount of other Kingdoms sets (in which case, however, they are free).

Thanks for the comments! I actually don't mind if it's smaller, as I have limited funds and display space. Size of the closed fortress is 24x16 studs, not counting the stairs in front (+6 studs) and the galleries (+2 studs on each side). Yeah, that's a good remark. I remember now that at some point, it used to be the way you describe. I think I changed it to better display the armored knights, but it's true that the current arrangement is not so good from a strategic viewpoint. I'll change it back. Edit: new pics! I added the ship (I simply forgot it last time around). Also, archers and armored knights swapped. Large version. Tower with scorpion archer and spearman. Gallery - this time with armored knight! And a shot of the various types of defenders. Almost like a battle pack or something. I like to give each of them clear identities, so each weapon class got a different helmet. I love the hooded archers; the armored knights are as cool as ever, and I also equipped the halberdiers with shields. A couple of spear guys fill up the ranks.

I wanted to make a good stand-alone castle for scorpion knights, starting out from 8802 Dark Fortress Landing. I started making changes; its current form is still not final, but close, and I thought that I would share it at some point. Biggest change is the addition of a third wing, but there is a number of other minor changes as well. (How many can you spot? ) I also added minifigures with different weapons (archers, yay!) and a king. Here is the castle: (Large version of the same picture.) Some close-ups of the separate areas of the fortress. The king and archers: Archer's gallery: Entrance: I also added some interior (cell, ladder and a furnished basement): The interior basement separately, from the other side: Brickshelf folder when public. Comments and critiques welcome! I am also looking for some more ideas on the interior.

Now that I finally got my forestman from the minifigure series, I compared the bows. On the left, you can see one from Fantasy Era and on the right, a new forestman's bow. I also included plumes for comparison (again, old one is on the left). The new plume is almost the same as the old one, just a little bit smaller, I don't know if that can be seen on the picture. Differences between the bows are clearly visible though. The new bow has the string drawn at a different angle; the arrow has smaller fletchlings and is altogether longer. Color is also slightly different (might not even be visible in the picture), the new version is less shiny and more pale somehow, but then again, the difference is very small and could be due to production variances. Edit: oh yeah, and the quiver is the same (at least I couldn't spot any differences), that's why it's not included in the picture.

Lightsaber hilt also works as head piece: Picture of a classic wizard's staff (using the hilt) and a scepter-like thing (inspired by the Kingdoms battle wagon promo set):

The base of the tower is not a single plate, it's two 4x10 green plates. That tile helps them hold together.

Quite the opposite. Carrying a bow is easier, yes, but using it is an entirely different matter. Generally, bows were cheaper and had a higher firing rate, but harder to use, e.g. archers needed more training. Actually, English kings encouraged active practice of archery among common people (tournaments with prizes etc.) in order to always have enough archers to recruit. Wikipedia has good articles on this: Training for longbows, Comparison of bow and crossbow, their role in the Hundred Years' War. Go ahead, read them, they are not that long.

I voted Oustanding, and I mean it. I remember how unimpressed I was by the Dragon Masters big castle, so this castle was a real winner after that. I like this line in general and the details of this castle in particular. Too bad I didn't have enough money for the biggest sets back in the day.

I saw a picture recently which shows that the minifig series' bow is a little smaller than regular ones. The quiver too. Alas, I can't find the link anymore. I will take a pic myself once I get my hands on that forestman. In any case, the differences are small, I think you could consider it the same item.

Some seriously scary speeder! I think it befits Crainiac very well. There are some nonconventional techniques (revolvers, engine attachment), but the end result is great. In retrospect, Happy Birthday!

I think he refers to blue vs dark blue and yellow vs metallic gold contrasts. However, for me it looks just fine. Different shades of blue look good together.

Thanks for the good review with nice pictures! They are very 'appetizing', if you know what I mean. This set is definitely a must-buy, and probably a nice present for small kids (maybe even girls) in the family.

Thanks for the review! $20 sets are always nice, however, fantasy era counterparts had 5 and 4 figures respectively, so the number of minifigures is a slight letdown. On a more positive note, the catapult and the tower are good. The catapult is executed solidly, and they applied the dragon color scheme nicely. The tower is good-sized and looks good from the outside, but lacks some interior. Fair amount of weapons & such, two dragon shields are definitely welcome. Overall, the set is highly playable, with the focus more on catapult vs tower (which are certainly good value for $20 if you like them) and less on minifigures. Had they included one more dragon guy, this set would have been over the top, but as it is, it's just average for me.

Wow, you even included the colored bricks! Simple, but nice, I like the details like the different torsos and the green flag on the glaive.

Great castle. Very nice and detailed towers. I love the gargoyles and also the use of weapons & shields for decoration. Total of 9+2 figs (skeleton and ghost apart), including two archers and three horseback riders is good.

Archers (alright, that's more about the weapon than the figure). More ladies in general. Bard is also a nice idea. Herald (see the bishops in the small fantasy era chess set). Come to that, priest, bishop etc. are also welcome. :) They played an important role in medieval times. Alchemist, merchant, healer, different craftsmen, so in general, the non-combat side of medieval life. Blacksmith was ok too, but it's time for a change.

Don't take it so hard. First, the change is only for swords. Spears, halberds, polearms etc. are made of the same hard, shiny material even today. And for the swords: I don't mind it much, the rigid ones also bend a little, the soft ones just a little more, it's really not that much of an issue. Also, it's easy to understand the reasons behind the change (e.g. less accident-prone).

My 6020 and 6105 sets (6105 is apparently from 1994) have soft swords. That's all I have from the Dragon Masters line. My copies of 6009 and 1695 (from 1992) have rigid ones. One possibility is that they stopped producing rigid swords in 1993, but they still used up those already produced, so some sets come with the old version sword and some with new version sword from that era. This is just a guess though, any confirmation from others would be nice.

6020. See later post as well.

Definitely soft. In fact, I'm surprised that your Dragon Masters have the rigid version. All of my sets from 1993 and later have soft swords. Edit: I always thought the change occurred around 1992, but now that you ask, I'm not so sure. Anyway, it was before 1995.

Yes, yes. There is also a new 4-stud wide wall panel. Both are very welcome.