Weekly Set Review: King Leo's Castle

Discussion of official LEGO Castle Theme sets and products
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quiksand
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Post by quiksand »

A really terrible castle. The only thing this base plate is good for is making a street scene with shops on top of small hills and a road going through the middle. Whoever said they would give this a higher score now then back then has not lived too long, because usually when we talk about "they didn't make 'em like they used too", we are refering to these sets. Compared to back then, this is a 2/10. The only redeeming value is that is made of Lego bricks.
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TwoTonic Knight
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Post by TwoTonic Knight »

Blarg. It's not even worth the effort of a fancy put-down.
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Webrain
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Post by Webrain »

Ok it's really far being from being my ideal castle however I'm not gonna bush it. Outside rather looking - the castle got a cool look - I like it beside a few minor changes that I made for it and the fact that I would have made another normal back tower for symetery. Bricks point of view it's not the best I agree, it could have been easily better so building it was rather disapointing. The minifigs are rather cool. It was the first set to include brown crossbows and gave us back again light gray axes. It got some playabilty which I rather hate and the Bulk bricks which of course ruins the set. The box of that set is wonderfall, one of the best really.
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Tanotrooper
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Post by Tanotrooper »

Webrain wrote:Ok it's really far being from being my ideal castle however I'm not gonna bush it. Outside rather looking - the castle got a cool look - I like it beside a few minor changes that I made for it and the fact that I would have made another normal back tower for symetery. Bricks point of view it's not the best I agree, it could have been easily better so building it was rather disapointing. The minifigs are rather cool. It was the first set to include brown crossbows and gave us back again light gray axes. It got some playabilty which I rather hate and the Bulk bricks which of course ruins the set. The box of that set is wonderfall, one of the best really.
Is there really nothing in the back? Geezzz

I kinda like the turret wall piece, because i got 20 or so from legoland :)
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The Hordesman
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Post by The Hordesman »

I bought it and modified it heavily. I mainly bought it for the barding, baseplate and the queen. Its quite ugly. There are still two left over at the nearby TRU, the price is probably 20$, worth it?
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MrDelish
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Post by MrDelish »

The Hordesman wrote:I bought it and modified it heavily. I mainly bought it for the barding, baseplate and the queen. Its quite ugly. There are still two left over at the nearby TRU, the price is probably 20$, worth it?
I want them :(
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Zacku
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Post by Zacku »

The Hordesman wrote:I bought it and modified it heavily. I mainly bought it for the barding, baseplate and the queen. Its quite ugly. There are still two left over at the nearby TRU, the price is probably 20$, worth it?
If they are, buy them for the parts, specifically the gate/gate track. That's what I'm using for my castle.
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Ibzonder
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Post by Ibzonder »

This is a good set in my opinion. It's reasonably well designed, with several minifigs and with a little cannon thing to boot. It was, however, horribly expensive so I never had it... :(
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jamtf
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Post by jamtf »

Although I collect castle sets, this one will never be purchased. It has been mentioned but it really does not add much besides a queen, a barding, a baseplate and a stained glass window + some old grey. A modified queen is also in the 3739 blacksmith shop (which I have) and I got the stained glass window in a 6095 set. The barding and the baseplate can be picked up somewhere on eBay perhaps so why spend $50 or more on a juniorized model like this.

Having said this, I rest my case.

Final rating: a 4 out of 10 at the most for the bricks snf pieces since it does not look as good as the older castles.
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ottoatm
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Post by ottoatm »

Nothing really new to note - the figs are good, Princess Storm and the Queen especially. Some of the pieces are cool, and the big tapestry is either cool or tacky (depending how you use it).

There's a lot of other stuff there that is just parts fodder -

Also, I believe this castle was the beginning of these Facade-like castles - with a skimpy front and no back!! :cry:
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Blueandwhite
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Post by Blueandwhite »

This set cost $90!!

-Poor ratio of specialized elements to basic Bricks!
-Yet another Raised Baseplate!
-Simple, throw-together design; lacking a proper drawbridge or gatehouse!
-A surprising shortage of minifigs for a castle set in this price class
-Bad colour choices (a trend common to juniorized sets)
-Low piece count
-Lack of modularity

+Awsome minifigs
-All of whom are available in other sets at a better cost!

Is it any wonder that I could never justify the purchase of this set? When I saw this set fully built, I was astonished by its poor design, lack of pieces and incoherent and jumbled combination of colours.

2/10.
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Nick
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Post by Nick »

I wanted this castle very much for several months, but now I see how awful this is! It is a parody on Lego's previous castle's, such as the royal knights' one. It is a degraded ill-designed, infantile and primitive brick fodder bunch. I wouldn't build or display it anywhere, and of course I wouldn't pay more than several pounds for it. The half-complete towers and the useless cloth piece at the back illustrate the greediness of the designers. The catapult shoots out a completely unrealistic missile (?) well, what ever that thing is, it there just for small kids' play.
I do have to say that the set might be of good play value to small kids, and the lack of architecture on the back proves this - a child sits behind the castle, manipulating the minfigs etc.
The minfigs are quite good, so are the accessories and rare pieces: lion heads, painted window, roof tiles etc. Also, there is basement place for dungeons, which is slightly redeeming.

So, kids' playability: 7/10
Collector value: 2/10
Design: 0.5/10

P.S. The lifting gate is so terrible!
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Kanduu
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Post by Kanduu »

Hmmm, I guess the main reason to get this set would be the parts. Although you can get the window in the Joust...and the lioin head pieces there too. You can also get the turret and roof pieces in the Guarded Treasure. And the barding and neat helmet in the Joust.... Hmmm, I guess this means buying several small would do just (or almost) as well. (Except for the baseplate, and sail thingy, of course.)
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Graynar
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Post by Graynar »

So now the real question is, is Leo's castle better than the castle of Morcia? :wink:

I would say Leo's for the figs, old grey, and umm...the figs.

Graynar
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Damien
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Post by Damien »

This set was probably the second-lamest castle set LEGO ever put out (the first being the Morcia castle).

The set itself is pretty much crap. But the parts and minifigs can make it worth buying. So for parts, yeah, it's not too bad of a set (though there are better ones), but as a set it's really not worth it.
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