dark forest

timber_wolf899 · Post by **timber_wolf899** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 5:10 am

never having had any DF, and having had a ton of forestman sets i was wondering.

what do you guys/girls think of the two themes, relatively speaking?

see blue that above line was amended just for you! haha

Draygen · Post by **Draygen** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 5:15 am

I was a bit too young for the Forestmen, but I was raring to go when Dark Forest came around. I LOVED Dark Forest.

Although on purely comparison, The original Forest men were better and had some very neat sets. Most of which involved hidden things in nature and tree forts. That beats the Dark Forest, but I think Dark Forest had its charm with the great figures.

tanzirian · Post by **tanzirian** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 5:51 am

The original forestmen had the most magical sets from the good old days of castle...before design went downhill in 1993. The addition of forestmen added depth to a previously 2D world of lions vs. falcons.

Of the dark forest sets, I think dark forest fortress had some very nice concepts, but suffered from general decline in set design during the period. The other sets are all ho-hum. As for figs, I prefer the simple smileys of the originals.

Luís · Post by **Luís** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 8:03 am

Sorry, I am too young to know.

Jojo · Post by **Jojo** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:04 pm

Hello!

For me the Dark Forest sets are a sequal to the original Forestmen line. After five years without any new forestmen sets in 1996 they (TLC) decided to bring back this line but in a pepped up version, fitting to the standard then.

I like Dark Forest, mainly because of the figs that are spectacular in my opinion. Unfortunatelly they (TLC) decided not to release Dark Forest as a regular catalogue-line in Germany and as far as I know it this line was very short-lived also in the US. This of course boosts the attractiveness and the desirability of sets...

Bye
Jojo

kajo163 · Post by **kajo163** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:10 pm

Hello fellow castleheads!

I like the original forest men the better. Those figures are classic and you can't take that away from them, and their sets were great, simple but great.

DF, on the other hand, well the fortress looks good and I dont agrre with you on the set design after 1993, much because that year started the golden Lego age for me.

I wish I had got me some more of the FM sets though':X'

-Joel

Post by **rogue27** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:47 pm

I totally loved the Forestmen in the late 80s and early 90s. I still say that it is the best castle theme ever. (not that they've had much competition since then.)

1992-2002 was my dark age. Anyway, during one of my rare dark age visits through the Lego aisle, I saw the Dark Forest sets. My initial impression of them was, "blah, a cheesy Forestmen rip-off."

After my dark age, I initially ignored the Dark Forest sets while I was collecting classic sets on eBay. However, earlier this year, I began to look at them more closely and I now have 2 of the 3 Dark Forest sets. I've slowed warmed up to them, and here is what I think:

The minifigs are excellent. The 3 new Dark Forest torsos are all very good, and the two hard to get ones are two of my favorite torsos ever. The faces, while not standard smileys, are tasteful and generic, and not overdeveloped like many of the faces from 2000 and forward.

The set designs are inferior to the original forestmen sets, so my initial reaction was not out of line. However, the Dark Forest sets were great for parts and minifigs, and I wish I had bought them in multiples back when they were still widely available. They are among the best sets from 1993 and forward, and Dark Forest Fortress is probably the most mature and least juniorized retail castle set in the past 10 years.

Sadly, I get the impression that they did poorly at retail which means that TLC will be reluctant to design in that direction again. I think there will eventually be a KK2 forest set when they release a castle for Rascus, but the set design will probably compare to Dark Forest the way Dark Forest compares to the original Forestmen.

I consider Dark Forest to be an extension of the Forestmen theme, and not a separate faction.

Post by **Formendacil** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 5:36 pm

Forestmen?

Oh... You mean the old Dark Forest!

Seriously, the Forestmen were before my time, and so by the time our household acquired any, the Dark Forest were a deeply entrenched theme. Once we did acquire some used Forestmen, they were just assimilated whole into the Dark Forest. I mean, they had identical shields and more or less the same colouration, if the Dark Forest was a bit more brown.

Set-wise, I think the Forestmen win hands down, although the Dark Forest figs are way cooler. Faction-wise, I look at them as one and the same. (Although the Roleplay is changing that...).

Webrain · Post by **Webrain** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 5:46 pm

Unlike Jojo, surpirsingly those sets were actually available in Israel

and it was just after I returned from my dark ages so I bought 6024 and 6046 (and recently purchased also 6079).

I very much fond of those 3 sets, I mean the minifigs of course are great, I tend to agree they are some sort of seaquel to the old FM dynasty. Unlike the old sets the DF sets are more BURPy kind of type (well I even have this thoery that those sets were made to get rid of left out stock of the old FM, DM and WP sets). Well since I have a special childhood fond of the old FM I probably fond of them a bit more, but 6024, 6046 and 6079 are pretty much good sets - and a bit more parts then the old FM sets.

timber_wolf899 · Post by **timber_wolf899** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 8:25 pm

hum
i'm surprised at the good reviews dark forest fortress is getting.

The baseplate seems kinda useless to me. Now i do very much like the wagon. actually wouldnt mind finding a parts list so i could build it. : )

Emperor James · Post by **Emperor James** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 8:49 pm

I have actually two copies of the dark forest fortress, each got from a different family friend who outgrew their Lego. Its a really cool set.

Anyway, I like dark forest figs better, because they are look like and I think are meant to be more robin hoodish (being released around Royal Knights is a hint), but from Lugnet pictures forestmen sets are quite obviously better than most dark forest.

Post by **Robin Hood** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 9:20 pm

When I started really buying lego, forestmen had just left the scene. I at one point I considered Dark Forest my favorite theme.

I was really happy when The Dark Forest came out. I was really sad that I had missed the Forestmen. The DF were a replacement. Though I always considered them and the Forestmen on type.

I think that they should be one type. I mean they have the same shield design and they are basicly the same apart from the fact that DF have slighty more detailed shirts.

Dan

wlister · Post by **wlister** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 10:06 pm

I quite enjoyed the Dark Forest theme when it was released. I was able to purchase a few of these sets at very big discounts. I still wish I had bought more. I don't currently use the two favored torsos with my Forestmen, but I do use them with my mercenaries. I have 5 each of the two brown torsos. These two pics are a little old now, but you can see how I have used some of the Dark Forest torsos.

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/wlist ... aries0.jpg

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/wlist ... aries2.jpg

Looking back, the set design wasn't that stellar for these sets, but they were excellent parts packs. I only wish I had purchased more 6079s. I have come up with a few plans that would have worked great with about 4 of that baseplate.

Will

Post by **rogue27** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 1:45 am

wlister wrote:I only wish I had purchased more 6079s. I have come up with a few plans that would have worked great with about 4 of that baseplate.

I think the raised baseplate in 6079 is one of the best raised baseplates ever made. It seems much more flexible and versatile than the other raised baseplates, and it's the only castle road plate in existence.

I wish I had more of them, but Dark Forest is long gone now.

AdamB · Post by **AdamB** » Wed Sep 22, 2004 12:07 pm

I have always considered the DF sets to be the last hoorah of the classic castle theme. Even though the sets from the mid-90's don't stack up to earlier sets, they are still worth owning IMHO. On the other hand, I haven't given a second look at any of the castle stuff released from 2000-present.