Weekly Set Review: King's Castle

Post by **architect** » Sat May 08, 2004 5:20 am

Join the weekly Classic Castle set review discussion. Please post your opinions on the set play ability, piece selection, design, etc. Which sets stand up to our catapult of critique and which ones crumble in shame!

This week’s set is 6080 King’s Castle.

King’s Castle, released in 1984, was the first Lion castle. It has a central gatetower with a plate portcullis and a drawbridge. Two side wings fold open. They contain two archer towers, stairs to the battlements, and a jail. Four knights, four archers, two axemen, two spearmen, and accessories are included with the castle.

metalsluguy · Post by **metalsluguy** » Sat May 08, 2004 5:35 am

Great Set!

I wish this was the legend we are getting. It has a great assortment of parts and the amount of minifigs is awesome! You could have a nice little army with 1 and a very decent one with just 2 of this set.

-Jose

ezehogan · Post by **ezehogan** » Sat May 08, 2004 6:41 am

I owned this castle only briefly. I know that my comments will probably not be popular here, but I was not overly impressed.

First of all, I will say that the castle does have some things in its favor. It has a multitude of pieces, especially wall pieces, which lend themselves to various designs, as well as three separate base plates to acomodate alternate designs as well, as opposed to the ramp and pit plates. It comes with a welcome number of minifigures as well. This is something Lego needs to revert back to. The castle also has a very nice looking front gate.

The design itself is lacking however. The castle is much to square for my tastes. Diversity is not present in the design. Had the towers been rounded, it would have improved the asthetic appeal of this set greatly. I do not like the portcullis which must be assembled as much as the portcullis in later sets. The biggest strike however is the interior which is lacking of anything but a jail. I think had the interior included more than some steps and a small jail, my enjoyment of this set would have improved greatly. As it stands, I just do not like the bare interior of this castle.

There have certainly been worse sets than this, and if Lego put out any sets half as good as this now I might still be buying castle products from them. But conversly I do think it is safe to say that there have been better castle's produced than this one. The Black Monarch's Castle for instance shows what rounded as opposed to squared towers can do to boost its looks. A decent set, and nice for an older set, but its true value now lies within the pieces it contains. I'll have to split this into two verdicts. 6 of 10 as a set, but 10 of 10 for its pieces.

Post by **Athos** » Sat May 08, 2004 6:45 am

The penultimate castle in my opinion. The first Castle I ever owned. I remember getting it for Christmas. I was too young to build it, and my dad had to do it for me, while I played with the knights. Nice fortress look, not as open or fantasy like as the later castles. Excellent use of the pieces available at the time. And it even had a stair way to get up to some of the walls.

I'd love to see it as a legend, though I hope they hold off a year until I'm out of school and can afford it.

Steve

TheCastle · Post by **TheCastle** » Sat May 08, 2004 12:16 pm

as i just got 3 of them MISB last weekend i love this set so much playability + i have alot of them :evil: 10/10

Mr. D · Post by **Mr. D** » Sat May 08, 2004 12:17 pm

One of my two favorite castles. Great set! Nice pieces, huge amount of figs!

David Girard · Post by **David Girard** » Sat May 08, 2004 12:55 pm

A great set, definitely.
With lot of minifigs and possible alternatives.

I prefer this castle to the 6085. 6085 is to much dark for me. This was my first Lego set and it was a really good moment for me. It change my life. I got basic set when I was young, but that's not the same thing.

The fact that this castle is square is not a problem for me, because, many early castle were build square back in 11th century.

All is really well done in this set. And it respect hitoricism and realism.

I have no bad point, sorry. I like it too much. It's perfect. All details are thinked in this set. It's my favorite set.
10/10

LEGO_KNIGHT · Post by **LEGO_KNIGHT** » Sat May 08, 2004 1:05 pm

Hi

One of the best official LEGO castle sets of all time. Great castle with lots of playability and fun. It does not come with a King minifig despite the name. I love the design of the central gatetower with a plate portcullis. Simply wonderful! I give the set a rating of 9.5/ 10.

Erwin

Post by **rogue27** » Sat May 08, 2004 1:22 pm

This set will make it difficult for me to ever complete my Legoland Castle collection.

In 1986 and 1987, this set was still available from time to time and was still displayed in the catalogs and flyers. Talk about staying power. New Lego sets stick around for 2 years, max. All too often it is even less than that.

When I was young, this was always the ultimate Lego set. I've never owned it, but it was the one my friends and I would look upon as the biggest and coolest set ever made. Looking at it now, it is a bit crude due to some parts not being available at the time. On the other hand, comparing it to the new bit castle in KK2 makes this look like the best set ever produced.

The brick built portcullis is great. 12 minifigs is amazing. All of the big sets used to come with 10+ minifigs. That is rarely the case anymore. The outside details are nice for a structure of it's size, but the inside is rather plain by today's standards.

A better castle could be built today. The fact that TLC doesn't want to give us a good castle makes this set seem better than it is. That is not to say that it isn't great, but this set is more of a highlight of how bad things have gotten in Denmark in the years that have passed.

I do intend to own this set someday. I would buy a couple of them right now if I could, just for the parts. Since that is not an option, I'll settle for one whenever I can find one and have enough money for it.

My desire to own this set is strictly for parts and completing a collection and not for the set itself. I guess that means I can't give the set a 10. Regardless, it is an 8 by today's potential, 10 by today's standards, and a 10 in it's own time.

kajo163 · Post by **kajo163** » Sat May 08, 2004 1:24 pm

Actually I think any old big castle would make a good legend, and this is definetly on of the top candidates, it just seems so solid.

I want this thing

Jojo · Post by **Jojo** » Sat May 08, 2004 1:59 pm

Hello!

This is a wonderful set.

I've standing it infront of me on the desk while typing this, so I bet my review will be influenced by sentimentality. It's simply great how they got to draw out the imagination of a real castle by using such a square design, but they got it however. I don't mind the lack of interior because this is what makes LEGO fun: You can add anything you want yourself. And, it's more interior than 6085 ;)

The portcullis is fantastic. I prefer built ones far more over those thin prefab pieces they use these days. You get the impression of a heavy portcullis built of strong oak beams. The standard this set set (harhar) is still the archetype for all my own potrtcullis.

The amount of figures and weapons is exemplary. The archers with the golden lion on their breast look noble and are my favourite Lion knight figures (of course no chance against a Black Falcon...).

I can't think of any set that comes with more useful light grey (old) pieces. And I do not even count the 30 (!) castlewall parts. This set was the basis of my collection of grey parts. It has everything one can possibly be looking for. The black prison door with its grey hinge brick was especially precious.

So, not liking this set means not liking Classic Castle ;)

Bye
Jojo

Skudmunky · Post by **Skudmunky** » Sat May 08, 2004 2:44 pm

this is definetly one of the best castles LEGO ever made. It had back walls... if only allthe new castles had walls.....
Also, it came with lots of knights and stuff... less and less minifigs are coming with sets...
I wish i had it.

Sir Terrance · Post by **Sir Terrance** » Sat May 08, 2004 3:28 pm

One of the best castle sets ever. Huge selection of figs and a very nice castle to go with it.

Post by **Formendacil** » Sat May 08, 2004 4:36 pm

Drool!!!

I never owned this set. I never even learned about it until that last couple years. Of course, it was released before I was, and between the two factors, I never owned it.

I love the design: its functional, and more importantly: fully defendable on all sides. Once the ramp&pit baseplates came out, moats or cliff drop-offs were almost always necessary on at least one wall of the castle.

It's also big. I like big. I like the big fortress, the big towers, and the big complement of soldiers and knights.

Speaking of knights, and noticed something: in this era of Legoland Castle, it would seem that the yellow-shielded knights took precedence. Would anyone agree that this changed around or before 1990? In specific, I am thinking that the blue-shielded knight was given precedence in 6081. Not that it matters.

All in all, a beautiful set: 9.8/10. (.2 off because it isn't an ultimate favourite of mine)

Teh Stud · Post by **Teh Stud** » Sat May 08, 2004 5:33 pm

Jojo wrote:This is a wonderful set.

I've standing it infront of me on the desk while typing this, so I bet my review will be influenced by sentimentality. It's simply great ......everything one can possibly be looking for. The black prison door with its grey hinge brick was especially precious.

So, not liking this set means not liking Classic Castle

I agree with everything JoJo wrote. This is one of the best Lego sets ever made. Period. Can you believe all of this was available for $52.75? (According to Peeron. I can't remember how much I paid for it way back then.) Even with inflation, nothing Lego makes now comes close to this kind of value!