Fright Knights?

[Invaderjes]

Hey all. Just curious about something.
Everyone seems to speak of Fright Knights only in hushed whispers, spitting the name out like it's a foul phrase they don't want to be overheard using.
Now, the Fright Knights happened while I was too old and cool to play with toys, but looking it up online shows me it wasn't too bad.
Yes, the flying thingies were..well...just odd; but I kind of like the batty helmets, and I can't argue with the witches and dragons!
So while there was some overall goofiness, I think alot of cool minifigs and accessories came out of this system.
So, why is this system so looked down on?

[Athos]

I think its because its viewed as the beginning of the end of Classic-Castle. Its when the construction techniques really went down hill, the sets relied on large pieces and the storyline went all fantasy.

I didn't think it was as terrible as everyone has made it out to be.

Steve

[Jacob C.]

The Fright Knights line actually had some excellent figs with great torso designs, the best horse barding (in my opinion), and some useful pieces in the sets.

The reason why the Frights Knights line is looked down upon is because of the poor set design (some of the smaller sets are good though).
Still much better than KK2!

[Heir of Black Falcon]

Some of the new elements were cool for sure.

The small sets some were good as well but most of the sets were just not that hot. I was not a fan of the bat helms. Wish they made at least some/most w/out wings.

I love the flame thrower and the crossbow carts from this series... sadly I did not buy any FF, though two of my brothers owned a few of them.

I think the larger buildings just were wierd and less than a castle looking fortress should be.

R

[Sir Kohran]

It's because the theme represents the end of genuine Castle (the end had begun about four years before, but culminated here). The wacky style, ridiculous designs, and absurd ideas (a helicopter?!) were completely removed from the fantastic stuff Lego had been making just some years before (even the Dark Forest one year before is far superior). Sure, there were some good bits here and there in terms of figs and parts, but overall it's a bad theme that essentially ended the golden age of Castle, and it took almost a decade to get Castle fully back on track. I can still remember when they came out and blinking a little at the catalogues; it was such a let-down.

Still much better than KK2!

How so? I'll grant that many of the 04 designs were poor in comparison, but overall? For instance - 8877 vs 6097, or 8813 vs 6087 (and please don't bring bley into it).

- Matt

[Lord Of Pies]

I think that a combination of poorly executed fantasy designs, lack of decent sets, use of huge BURP pieces and a fairly ugly colour scheme ruined Fright Knights.

I have to say though I like some of the pieces, for example the torsos are nice and the bat mould is cute!

Oh and yes, I think it did signal the end of decent castle sets till ten years later, with the new fantasy theme.

[Brickzone]

The Fright Knight's castle is actually a fun build, useful parts and lots of them, and fun features. The structure is actually quite well done.

I think the FK got a bad rep cause older kids who'd had "proper" knights thought the kid's fantasy world of the FK was stupid. Actually I think it was probably great for kids imaginations.

Also the colour scheme isn't as coherent as earlier themes, I think this didn't help things.

The witch is pretty annoying and is in pretty much every set.

[architect]

Fright Knights is one of my favorite themes for castle figures and piece selection. Low prices of these sets make them a great way to build up your castle collection of elements. I do agree that many of the set designs were weak, especially the flying contraptions. This is probably why the line is not a favorite of fans.

Ben

[Paradosis]

I went into my dark ages about four years before Fright Nights came out, so I had to review the sets on Lugnet before posting. Basically I'd just echo what others have said: too many large pieces, not a fan of the shields or colors, etc. As I look back over the sets, 2872 Witch's Fireplace is the only set that I see that I'd definitely buy; though as others have mentioned, some of the sets would be good for parts.

[Count Blacktron]

Fright Knight's were no worse than other themes. The toys were LEGO elements, but yes there were a lot of strange designs and larger parts that seemed harder to use with a lack of smaller construction element bricks. That problem is acually a complaint I had way back with the introduction of the Castle wall with window element in Classic Castle. It was not that it happened all at once, but the Classic Castle foundation paved the way for BURPs, POOPs and the afore mentioned wall.

Before FK, the sets had all been built mainly on baseplates, and then raised baseplates. What Fright Knight's did was throw out the flexible baseplate in favor of a more sturdy proper brick height base. To me this was an advantage that could truly exploit the BURP to build mountains as the old baseplate can only build up or out. The FK bases could be built in more 360 degree themes.

The sets did not have the outright beauty of the Ninja theme, but it brought out many Castle elements that otherwise were scarce, and in very nice color patterns. I particulary liked the minifigures in the line and the fact that they were clearly villans.

It helped a great deal when the FK theme was on the decline and outlets like Tuesday Morning, KB Toys and others held great discounts on vast quantities of sets. The Bat Lord's Castle alone was shipped in cases of 8 or 10 sets to KB Toys where I worked for a shelf price of $39.99 (plus my then 20% discount). My collection was small before then, and lacking in proper dark Castle elements.

When King Leo arose to power in Knight's Kingdom v.1 he was already facing a firmly placed opponent in the kingdom of the Fright Knights. The Bat Lord quickly employed the mercenary Bulls to threaten the valiant knights of the Lion. To this day the battle ensues, and the enemy continues to gather allies. Will the forces under the visage of the Lion triumph? Only time will tell...

[Jacob C.]

How so? I'll grant that many of the 04 designs were poor in comparison, but overall? For instance - 8877 vs 6097, or 8813 vs 6087 (and please don't bring bley into it).

Set design aside, both 6097 and 6087 are better sources of pieces and figs. It doesn't bother me that the set design is awful because I rarely keep sets built for long anyways. Its the figs and pieces that entice me to buy a set and I would gladly take the Fright Knight sets over any KK2 sets.

Both 8877 and 8813 use way too many pre-fab pieces.
6097 and 6087 are guilty of that too but to a lesser extent.
Also, 8877 is mostly made of black pieces which I have almost no use for.
I also don't care for any of the figs in 8877 or 8813.

[Sibley]

To be honest, I liked Fright Knights in 1997 and I still like them now, though I only ever got the Night Lord's Castle (instead, I got a lot of Exploriens and Insectoids...the Dan of today would have made different decisions).

I think the theme and the large castle in particular have a lot going for them:

• No raised baseplates
• All the torsos are great, and because they're generic they're flexible
• The barding is great, and again generic
• I like the heraldry, and think it's very useful for an evil faction (Also, the Night Lord's Castle comes with six shields compared to its five Fright Knights)
• The design of the NLC, both in style and layout, is unique among LEGO castles.

Of course, it wasn't a perfect theme, and I guess many fans get hung up on these downfalls:

• NLC has an extremely patchy color scheme, with ltgrey, dkgrey, and black scattered about as if at random
• Witch's Magic Manor is a hideous BURPfest
• The witch, I admit, is silly, particularly in the facial region
• The name "Fright Knights" itself is silly, but I guess a villain that's supposed to be marketed to children can't be too terrifying
• The figs, while useful, don't quite live up to their spooky reputation. Red and light grey isn't a particularly frightening color scheme. Also they lack cohesiveness.

[Kozai13]

Dude, you rock! Your like, the only other person I know who likes those sets. I think it was a good thing for lego castle, and they really should have darker, creepier, gothic castle sets.

[Sir Brithead]

Willa Witch, I think we all hate her face.

[litenDavid]

...darker, creepier, gothic castle sets.

You've just described 7093!