For the Love of Fright Knights!

[eNiGMa]

I consider that Lego castle torso design reached a high point between Dark Forrest/Fright Knights and KK1 that has stilled not been equalled

I agree, though the new Castle line comes very close, in my opinion. Specifically from Fright Knights, I find the Fleur De Lis to be one of my all-time favorite torsos; I've used it more than any other, I suspect, with the exception of Jedi torsos for peasants.

And to be honest, I like the Fright Knights, albeit from a purely sentimental standpoint. They were the current line when I first started getting serious about collecting Lego, and I'll never forget the fun I had when I got the Night Lord's Castle for my eighth birthday. Until I started sorting my sets into a general piece collection, this castle was the set I rebuilt the most; it was a fun build, and the height of the tower always impressed me.

[CVfan13]

Have you ever tried cutting the wings off the bat helm? Pretty good for an executioner, or something, that way.

that's a pretty good idea. without the wings, the helm is actually quite good. it even has a stud at the top for plumes or other moc. makes a good viking helmet too.

Well, you can't attach a normal plum without first putting a 1x1 cylinder piece, and that just looks awkward. I still like using it alone, though

I really don't understand why you would want to cut the bat helmet. I think it is a very menacing looking helmet. It's perfect for a clan leader, strong arm, or evil royal guard character.

Yes, that's right. I never said it was good as it is, I just meant to express that it also looks good without the wings. When you have as many Fright Knights sets as I did, over the years, you don't have to worry about wasting any helmets.

[Chrislad77]

I remember seeing the Fright Knights in the catalog when I was about 10 years old. I was pretty dissapointed TLG didn't continue the Dark Forest theme and blamed that on the Fright Knights.

So I asked for the Manor, it was reasonably priced, had barding and rocks. Most importantly that precious dark forest figure. I ended up liking the set alot except for the stupid helicopter thing.

The frights knights have a certain appeal to me because of being the last classic castle theme. The small connection to the dark forest and royal knights was and still is appealing to me on a sentimental level.

The overload of the Willa and Batlord would be very frustrating, I never dealt with that so it doesn't affect my feelings to the line as a whole.

I actually got a bunch of the accessory packs for the Fright Knights, so I've always had a bunch of wands, bat helms, and bat shields laying around.

[Formendacil]

I wonder how much Fright Knight antipathy comes from those who only ever had the smaller sets? Those, particularly if you got into the Shell promotionals, were quite poor, but the large ones had a wealth of pieces, even if the actual design was a bit lame. Comparing Night Lord's Castle with any KK1 set, the NLC has much better parts.

Personally, I never "liked" the Fright Knights, but I have to clarify that by this I mean, I never thought they were the good guys and they were never my favourite faction. As far as bad guys went... I was pretty happy to have them, because Royal Knights, Black Knights, Crusaders, and later Black Falcons were all just too cool to be bad guys. The Fright Knights on the other hand, were so clearly cut out to be evil. In those days when I was barely beyond rainbow castles in my MOCs, I just kind of figured that ugliness was a part of the Fright Knight promotion.

And, like a lot here, I really like the fig designs, and at the time I was also highly appreciative of the dragons. I never got one with the Dragon Masters (I never got a Dragon Master set at all, actually...) and two cheaper sets with them here, one green, one black, was pretty awesome.

[Tower of Iron Will]

Have you ever tried cutting the wings off the bat helm? Pretty good for an executioner, or something, that way.

To be honest I have but then if I think about it too long I get the chills. Even when I was a young kid with the yellow Castle I wanted to take very good care of them. It would just feel wrong, like I'm purposely distroying them as other kids did with their toys when they were young.

If LEGO released them now without the wings I'd think I'd be cool with it, oddly enough.
-Tower

[The Crusader]

I allign Fright Knights with the evil Wizard, skellies and Orcs. Nothing wrong with being different.

[CVfan13]

So I asked for the Manor, it was reasonably priced, had barding and rocks. Most importantly that precious dark forest figure. I ended up liking the set alot except for the stupid helicopter thing.

Yeah, I also got the Manor, and LOVED it, for Christmas of '97, I believe. I was... 4? Yeah, I that has to be it.

To be honest I have but then if I think about it too long I get the chills. Even when I was a young kid with the yellow Castle I wanted to take very good care of them. It would just feel wrong, like I'm purposely destroying them as other kids did with their toys when they were young.

Haha, yeah, I never feel that way though, when customizing bricks. I only do it if I really need to, and want a specific figure made for something special. I suppose if it were a really rare or special pice, I'd be afraid of making it look worse, but usually, If I have many of a piece, I won't have any trouble.

[Pallando the Blue]

They had possibly my favorite lego head for a foot soldier:
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?M=cas029

I have also come to love this torso. And (old) dark grey arms have become something of envy for me now.

[Richie]

6004 was my first castle set and I loved it. For a long time I didn't have an enemy, but I played a lot with it.
I think Fright Knight sets did have too much fantasy (the castle looks more like a palace or something to me), however it was better than the skeletons now. The minifigs were great. The bat helmet looks awesome.

[Blue Monarch]

Like others have said... I think the figs were pretty decent. The sets were pretty terrible, except for a few lower priced sets. I loved the inverted red slopes introduced with this year of Lego. I think KKI makes me actually appreciate the fact that it can get much much worse than Fright Knights.

[Username]

One of my favorite castle sets was from the Fright Knights line:

[Real Savage Like]

Well, I must admit, I think KKII is the most bashed LEGO castle theme ever, and while the fright knights do seem to lack alot of what made other castle themes great, they did give me the fluer-de-leis torso!

I LOVE the fleur-de-lis torsos, which are probably my favourite piece from any Fright Knight set.

[Lord Brian]

I think that Basil Batlord's helm could have definetely been redone. It was not very evil at all, if they engaged in combat with the enemy I'm pretty sure the other side would only die of laughter from the oddness of his helmet...Although I must say the witch idea, the longsword and staff for Basil Batlord were very awesome ideas.

[lord azreal]

If you trim the wings of the batlord helmet you actually get a nice full helmet that is at least a lot more usable

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/lord- ... helmet.bmp

[jadden77]

i love Fright Knights.

It was different from all the other previous themes.

it was dark and brooding.

the bat helm is highly sought after for it's high level of customization.

i personally own lots of Fright Knight sets and elements.

i don't consider Fright Knights as a theme that nearly destroyed the Lego Castle theme. If anything, i believe it enhanced it.

Because without flaws how do we grow? How do we improve. sure the Willa head is not good, but without her we would not have gotten the new current witch. As fellow illustrious C-C'er "CVfan13" has pointed out the similarity. in this post

viewtopic.php?t=15219&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

so i say thank Lego for Fright Knights.