Weekly Set Review: Hemlock Stronghold

by **forester3291** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 5:33 pm

It's is a cool set compared to a lot of set released then AND now. But it isn't the best set in the line of Dark Forest sets.

Though it has a nice fig selection, catapults, weapons, and a fountain which has usefull peices. The skeloten is another plus to the rating.

So in the end I'll give this set an 8.5/10

by **Commander Redbeard** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 6:42 pm

The well and figs are cool, but I don't like how the sets from this period seem weak and unrealistic, especially the Fright Knights. The use of too many BURPS and LURPS make the sets kind of fragile and rob them of the "solid" feeling you get with sets like the older Forestmen ones. If I had this set, I probably wouldn't even bother building it, but just assimilate the pieces into my collection.

Because of the figs, I'll give it a good 7/10

by **ottoatm** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 6:59 pm

Eh...

Just a couple "newbie" questions...

I know what a BURP is, but what is a LURP?

And also, I never really caught the difference between the foresters and the "dark forest", other than release date... is there another difference?

Gracias ~

by **architect** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 9:17 pm

Hi Ottoatm,

A BURP is a Big Ugly Raised Plate and a LURP is a Little Ugly Raised Plate. This can refer to the dark grey rock pieces in Hemlock Stronghold or a raised baseplate for castles such as 6086 Dungeon Masters Castle.

The Forestmen were the first "outlaw" faction in LEGOLAND Castle. Their sets started in 1987 with Camouflaged Outpost and continued until Wolfpack sets came out in 1992. In 1996 LEGO decided to bring back the Forestmen under the "Dark Forest" theme. This theme had figures with new heads and torsos. The printing on the forestmen shields also differ slightly. Three new Dark Forest sets were released and some of the bandit minifigures were also in Fright Knight sets, mainly as prisoners.

Ben E.

by **Teh Stud** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 12:40 am

architect wrote:Hi Ottoatm,

A BURP is a Big Ugly Raised Plate and a LURP is a Little Ugly Raised Plate. This can refer to the dark grey rock pieces in Hemlock Stronghold or a raised baseplate for castles such as 6086 Dungeon Masters Castle.

The Forestmen were the first "outlaw" faction in LEGOLAND Castle. Their sets started in 1987 with Camouflaged Outpost and continued until Wolfpack sets came out in 1992. In 1996 LEGO decided to bring back the Forestmen under the "Dark Forest" theme. This theme had figures with new heads and torsos. The printing on the forestmen shields also differ slightly. Three new Dark Forest sets were released and some of the bandit minifigures were also in Fright Knight sets, mainly as prisoners.

Ben E.

I was around in rec.toys.lego when BURP and LURP were created. I'm pretty sure that they stand for "Big Ugly Rock Piece" and "Little Ugly Rock Piece". Please keep in mind this is based on my memory from over 10 years ago, but I'm not that old yet. :wink:

by **JoshWedin** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 11:38 am

Redaxe wrote: I'm pretty sure that they stand for "Big Ugly Rock Piece" and "Little Ugly Rock Piece". Please keep in mind this is based on my memory from over 10 years ago, but I'm not that old yet.

That is what I thought they stood for as well.

Josh

by **Silent Arrow** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 2:15 pm

The design of this set is disapointing.... The sets with the forestmen which were released during 1987 and 1991 are impressive, this set however released in 1996 is amateur's work...........

by **architect** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 3:31 pm

I was around in rec.toys.lego when BURP and LURP were created. I'm pretty sure that they stand for "Big Ugly Rock Piece" and "Little Ugly Rock Piece". Please keep in mind this is based on my memory from over 10 years ago, but I'm not that old yet

You are correct. However I believe the terms are also interchangeable for raised baseplates as well. But in the case of this set they are definitely rocks

Ben E.

by **howie** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 4:21 pm

I never had the chance to buy one of these but i remember playing with it every time i went to my best friends house. It's a fun set (or atleast it was back then). I'd give it a 8.5/10.
howie-
BTW i also thought BURP and LURP stood for Big Ugly Rock Piece and Little Ugly Rock Piece.

by **Fry_slayer** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 11:57 pm

Overall really awkward design, catapult seems out of place being stationed there. Tactically some one can storm them as forestman hide on the tree top they turn their head n saw the catapult...how convenient :twisted:

.....

Any how i never got a set of these, was in the beginning of my dark ages when it came out i think

by **ottoatm** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 3:57 am

Thanks for the feedback guys ~ good to know the terminology - it's been driving me crazy.

by **rogue27** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 9:00 am

Dark Forest Guy: "Okay, if somebody brings a cart of treasure right past our well-marked fortress, we will attack them with catapults and arrows!"

Other Dark Forest Guy: "Are you sure that will work? What if they just avoid our easily identifiable fortress and fixed catapult?"

Royal Knight's Guy: "Instead of going around the catapult, we can use this shortcut through the rock beneath that tree with those enemy banners flying above."

Other Royal Knight's Guy: "Good, I'm getting real sick of carrying this treasure. The sooner we get to the castle, the better."

Skeleton: "How did I get here? Why am I here? This doesn't make any sense."

I recently picked up two of these on eBay MISB. If the dialogue above is not a clue, I believe the Dark Forest sets make no sense conceptually. There is a good reason none of the original Forestmen sets have catapults. I don't know who thought that ALL of the Dark Forest sets needed catapults, but this person should have been questioned a bit more by somebody who had a clue.

In addition to the awful concept, the design of this set is terrible aside from the nice well. However, the design isn't really much better or worse than the average KK2 set, so I guess this is okay if you look at it like that.

Fortunately, this set has some good parts to make up for how badly it sucks. Four (great) minifigs + skeleton in a $25 set sounds like an excellent deal by today's (lower) standards. A half baseplate, some macaroni bricks, BURPs, and foliage are all nice as well.

If it was 1996 - 1997 and you were buying these for $25 or less (on sale), this is a good parts and figs pack. For the prices people are asking on BrickLink, this is not worth purchasing unless you absolutely must have this to complete a collection.

4/10 (those points were earned for part selection)

by **ezehogan** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:47 pm

I'm a big fan of the Forestmen. I want to own every single Forestmen set released...... except this one.

Compared to other Lego sets, and especially Forestmen sets, this just isn't very good. I thought the other two Dark Forest sets were pretty good, especially for a mini-line that was only meant to get rid of spare parts.

This one was a big let down though, and I think it was an important set. A lot of kids can't get the "big" set for each mini-line, but can often get the small and medium sized sets. The small Dark Forest set was great, but this important mid-sized set really dropped the ball. Its not terrible, but unless you're a completist it isn't worth picking up either.

by **Teh Stud** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 12:31 pm

You are correct. However I believe the terms are also interchangeable for raised baseplates as well. But in the case of this set they are definitely rocks

Ben E.

Hmm, I've never seen BURP used for a baseplate. If someone did use it in this fashion, I'm pretty sure it wasn't used correctly. There was some other term for those raised plates that I can't recall right now.....

by **Daimyo** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 9:09 pm

Well... considering the Dark Forest is my favorite faction, I'll give this one extra points. The figs are cool, the accessories are cool, heck, even the name is cool, which is a rarity for a LEGO Set, which tend to have more generic names, I could count off at least 3 sets with "Fortress" in the title.
The premise of the set is excruciating, as described in Rogue's post. Too many catapults, an amazingly stupid staple in Lego sets as well.
The design is mediocre.
In all I would give it a 6.0/10. With an extra .5 thrown in for it being Dark Forest.

Weekly Set Review: Hemlock Stronghold

Who is online