Classic-Castle.com

BrickForge recently had free shipping to promote their new accessory packs so I took the opportunity to pick up a couple of items and hope you find my review helpful. Any opinion expressed is that of myself and in no way connected to Classic-Castle or BrickForge.

Firstly the contents.
- Great Helmet (this item has been available before but is newly printed).
- Double Plume (again newly printed)
- Tunic (a new item that fits of the minifig neck like a bib)
- Waist Armor (this item is made of a coloured rubber type substance, and is newly printed on one side)
- Knight Shield (this item has been avaible before, but is newly printed).
- Sovereign Sword
- Military Sword


Brickforge Crusader Knight Contents by andhe , on Flickr

I think the 'bib' is a great new item and has an excellent quality of print very similar to that of an official LEGO product. It's a shame that the bib doesn't also cover the back of the minifig, but this can be easily covered by a cape or choosing a plain torso.
The 'rubber' skirt/waist armour provides flexibility for leg movement and figure posing, but is not compatible with your knight being able to ride a horse. In some ways the 'bib' also interferes with a minifig sitting on a horse, unless you lean the figure back a bit.


Brickforge Crusader by andhe , on Flickr

Compatibility.

The following picture shows some of the combinations that are available with these new pieces. As you can see, the BrickForge and LEGO plumes are interchangeable in the different helms, but may be a looser or tighter fit, but not to a degree of causing any stress or damage.


BrickForge Crusader Variants by andhe , on Flickr

The LEGO breastplate is compatible with the BrickForge waist armour/skirt but in my mind doesn't look that good together, though I'm sure someone will come up with a combination that works. The shield printing is great and works especially well on the Lion Knight. The Dragon Knight uses a different colour scheme on the shield to the official LEGO version, I'm sure there may have been a reason for this (ie number of printable colours) but I think it would have looked nicer with the yellow/dark yellow quarters. The swords are similar in colour to pearl light grey (for the Lion Knight) and pearl dark grey (for the Dragon Knight). The sovereign sword (bigger one) is a great option, but I found the military sword to be a bit loose in the minifigs hand and rotated easily.

Finally, here's a picture of both knights kitted out in the full Brickforge accessory pack. A Templar Crusader pack and Black Lion pack are also available.


BrickForge Crusader Knights by andhe , on Flickr

Price.
Each pack is currently selling for $6 (about £4) which I think is a great price for such a complete product. I don't know if this is an introductory price, and shipping was currently free when ordering two or more accessory packs.

Over all I'd say these packs currently offer great value for some really interesting pieces. The 'bib', skirt and shield are great new pieces and offer something ahead of what other 3rd party companies are currently offering and I look forward to seeing further innovations and variants from BrickForge utilising these new products and techniques.

Thanks for reading.

~ andhe

amended for corrections.

Nice review! Thanks!

Coolio. I keep going back and forth on whether or not I should pick up a few... this was very helpful. Thanks.

I also am debating picking up a few; good review. Thanks for sharing.
-Tower

Nice review Andhe. The tunic is the only actual new piece in the character pack, as the others have been offered before, but not printed versions. The packs are a better overall value of price per piece. I'd expect to see more character packs featuring other themes in the future. With the success of these particular ones, it is probable that BrickForge will make other crusader packs. I'm kinda hoping some crownie and other familiar insignias make their way on those tunics. The $6 is not an introductory price and I expect them to be at that price for the foreseeable future.

Quickblade22 wrote:Nice review Andhe. The tunic is the only actual new piece in the character pack, as the others have been offered before, but not printed versions. The packs are a better overall value of price per piece. I'd expect to see more character packs featuring other themes in the future. With the success of these particular ones, it is probable that BrickForge will make other crusader packs. I'm kinda hoping some crownie and other familiar insignias make their way on those tunics. The $6 is not an introductory price and I expect them to be at that price for the foreseeable future.

Thanks. I knew someone would be able to correct me! I've amended the review accordingly.

Yes I'd love to see some other insignias show up in the future! Especially at such a great price.

Fantastic review, thanks Andhe!

I've got mine in too, and I must say they are of the most excellent quality. I sincerely hope more of these packs will be offered soon. I wanted the Templar knight but he was long gone. I did get the dragon and lion though. These guys sure are sweet.

Those are great I'm going to have to get a few of them. The only thing I wonder is why does the dragon shield have green and dark grey pattern and not yellow and tan either way I want some.

Purple Wolf

Purple Wolf wrote:Those are great I'm going to have to get a few of them. The only thing I wonder is why does the dragon shield have green and dark grey pattern and not yellow and tan either way I want some.

Purple Wolf

I think it's probably to do with the printing process? And possibly the amount of colours they can print onto the base plastic.