Weekly Set Review: Night Lord's Castle

[Kamzel]

In 1997 I switched my interest from Pirates to Castle, so I bought all the little sets like catapult, treasure cart or crossbow cart, but I didn't have money for this castle. Then my Dark Age begun and I've lost most of my LEGO collection. But one year ago my Dark Age ended and I became an AFOL - the first big set I bought was 6097 castle. What I really like about this set is that it is unique - there is no other castle similar to it. Its design really makes it look like a place full of dark magic and sinister schemes. The witch is somewhat stereotypical with her single tooth face, but apart from this the minifigure seems to be really useful. Soldier torsos are really beautiful, I especially like the one with fleurs-de-lis.
What I don't like in this set: open gates in back section; lack of place inside the castle; too much colours (why they had to use both dark and light grey everywhere around?).

[Tower of Iron Will]

I don't think that I own this set, but wish that I had bought it and kept it in the box. Its definately a good starting point for a small keep. I'll give it a 8/10.
-Tower

[Heir of Black Falcon]

I saw one not too long ago but passed as I am more interested in getting some of the newer sets.

It looks odd to me, especially Willa... ugh, but to each his own.

R

[Odysseus]

This theme is what made me give up on Lego and enter my dark age. To me the sets were a bit corny and did not blend well with previous themes.

Jonathan

[hulk hogan]

So is this the tallest castle piece in all castle lego?

[architect]

So is this the tallest castle piece in all castle lego?

I believe that it is. Some raised baseplate castles are likely close in height.

Ben

[Athos]

So is this the tallest castle piece in all castle lego?

I believe that it is. Some raised baseplate castles are likely close in height.

Ben

I think if the new Castle isn't as tall, it may be pretty close. That back tower is rather tall.

Steve

[DaleDVM]

It is definately the tallest set as I have all of the castles built in my garage right now. Crazy I didn't notice that until I read it in this thread? If you only count occupyable floors it is the tallest by two stories. Many of the other tall castles just have towers with flags at the highest levels.

That being said I hated this castle when it came out, and it started my dark age of almost 10 years. Now that I have rebuilt it and have experienced some of the horrible designs in the KK collection, it has grown on me a little.

The design is unique. The Fright Knights introduced chains into my lego world. I thank them for that. The inverse red roof slopes are a great decorative element. The telescope and skull that pops up into the crystal ball were great ideas as well. The problems with the overall design have been discussed already by others. Worth mentioning the base of the tower is a thick green plate with grass growing on the third story of the fortress? With all of its drawbacks the parts in this set are pretty darn useful.

The biggest problem I have with this set is the color schemes are too dramatic for me. The yellow in particular in the castle made it seem less forboding and more cartoony for my taste. Combined with the design made this castle too kidified. As an AFOL it turned me off. The more recent vladeks fortress and skeleton tower use the new dark colors to great affect and are likely what lego strived to accomplish back in 1998.

The minifigs have thier uses and I give this set
5/10 then.
7/10 now.

[Bruce N H]

Hey,

On first look, this castle is pretty horrendous. I've never actually seen this set in person, though, and had always assumed it was overly dependent on juniorized parts in addition to the ugly design. Looking at the inventory, though, this is a tremendous parts pack: 269 studs worth of 1xn bricks in gray, another 178 studs of 1xn bricks in black, tall slopes and inverse slopes in gray and black, 40 different slopes, a bunch of castle detail pieces like goblets, chest, weapons, shields, arched windows with both types of grill, etc. Plus, aside from Willa, I've always loved the torsos from this theme. The gray one with the fleu-de-lis, in particular, is one of my favorite torsos of all time.

Design: 1/10
Parts: 9/10

Bruce

[dragonblade24]

This set was pretty cool. I really liked the amount of bricks and the useful pieces. I wish LEGO still made sets like this because many people enjoy them incuding me. Overall, this set was a good weekly review choice

[wallgorn]

I wasn't collecting any LEGOs by the time Fright Knights was released. From what I have seen, it looks pretty cool.

[Coatsy]

The Fright Knights were the line that was out when I came back into the LEGO fold. What a way to return eh? But it didn't send me running to the hills and I have most of the Fright Knight line. I actually lucked up and got this set off of Ebay for less than it originally sold for in stores. As my subject line says it is an interesting set. There is no way for a fig to get to the top of the tower without the use of a dragon or Willa's crazy spells. That is the biggest turn off for me. But with every thing I do not like I can just "fix" it to make it work. No big deal.

As others have said this set is great for parts. I like the large base plates that came with the set, the columns, and the min fig toros are sweet. The bat helms are tought to like, but I've grown used to them, and now since I've gotten a good 15 dragons, all the bat helmed figs are dragon riders, so it is sort of a symbol to which mini fig does what in the military heirarchy. I actually need more foot soldiers from this set. The gray studded torso and the fleur de lies are great as generic soldiers or foot soldiers in the Grump Bat Lord's army.

I really cannot knock it and it is a far sight better than the Willa's fortress which is really goofy.

[Gumby]

This castle began my dark ages. I'll never forget the fact that I was waiting for the "new" castle line and when I got the catalogue, I about died. Horrid!

Surprisingly, this is the set that took me OUT of my dark ages! Design wise, I think it looks goofy, but it does have a lot of useful parts.

[Wolfpacker]

I personally would only snatch one up for the parts, but I like this "castle" for a few reasons. For one thing, it looks sort of cool. Evil tower, with someone cackling over a crystal ball, lightning cracking in the background? Cool. Second, it's minifig selection is perfect for someone who's just dabbling into the FK, not collecting.

And finally, it's DIFFERENT. Simply 4 walls and a tower or two (or three, or four...) can get boring.

Anyhow, just my two cents.

[jangofett14]

Hahaha!
I buy this set 3 weeks ago!
This set is ingenious, and very Playability!
Great SET!

Parts: 8/10
Playability: 8.5/10
Figs/Accessories: 9/10
Design (contemporary): 7,5/10
Design (universal) 7,5/10
Nostalgia: 8,5/10