Weekly Set Review: Scorpion Prison Cave

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

I'm not fond of this set at all. :roll: Unlike the optimism displayed by a few preceeding posts, I find this to be KK2's absolute worst. One of the things that deterred me from buying it was the scorpion. What is that thing? Is it live or was it stolen from an amusement park for 4 year olds? :roll: Although its pieces (ex. the stairs and mud foundations) can be alluring, its price is not. You're paying $40 USD for a small castle, Vladek inc., and two jelly beans (The worst of the four). To top it off, Jayko (You spelled it wrong ;) ) is riding a lopsided horse! :o I am not a fan of small catapults :roll: If I had the money to buy this set (I just wasted a lot :) ) I would get it for the stairs, chain, and shadow knight. :wink:
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Moroder
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Post by Moroder »

Well, I was really trying to be optimistic at my post, 'coz I agree with you that it's KKII worst set. Scoring 5/10.
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Graynar
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Post by Graynar »

I own this wonderfull set, and I must say, the box size, price, and poor fig selection killed me. Why can't TLG dump Vladek and have two Shadow knights instead!?? :x

The box was way to big for the small amount of pieces this set contained. Barely half the box was full. A poor way of advertising and a waste of carboard.

The scorpian thing doesn't bother me, it is merely a supply of some what usefull pieces. I would rather though, have the Scorpian thrown out and put in a Shadow knight in it's place.

Though the pieces were few, there were some good parts. Brown bricks, fence pieces, the stairs, and the horse, were all good.

That's all I have to say, not a horrible set, but it is the worst KK2 set.
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ottoatm
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Post by ottoatm »

Graynar wrote:The box was way to big for the small amount of pieces this set contained. Barely half the box was full. A poor way of advertising and a waste of carboard.
I'm going to sound a little nerdy here... but I think I can explain the large box size... as I was studying for my marketing exam, I came to learn that most studies find larger packaging sells better than smaller (perhaps more realistic) packaging. Therefore, for the extra cost of more cardboard for a larger box, LEGO gains more sales that provides greater profits...

Ok... sorry... nerdiness leaving me now... ;-)

I enjoyed reading this post because the opinion is really mixed, and everyone has a good point (also the Hag's post was quite cool to read... heh heh heh). For me, the benefit of a fairly unique assortment of parts and a creative set make this set a worthy buy... but then again, you are listening to a man that has built up most of his collection through the "fair" prices at E-Bay... :?
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Post by The Hordesman »

Far from being the worst KK2 set! I mean, thats the overstatement of the millenium! The entire year 1 except perhaps the barding set was worse! Do you even remember the awful shield designs and one-coloredness? It was far worse back then!

But yeah, four figs and a high price makes this the baddest set in year 2, but not worst KK2 set.
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The Hag
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Post by The Hag »

I feel i need to explain my positive attitude towards this set a bit. First of all, i didnt know this set would be that expensive .. i was counting on something like 25 euro's, but not not 40 !
Second, i dont own any KK2 set yet, so this would be a nice start to get me so new figs and pieces. I actually like BURPS, and dont have any brown ones yet. The jellybean knights can be painted and cut to pieces :twisted: heheh.

Extra black ladders, chains, weapons and the scorpion flags are also always welcome. So, piece-wise , this set is interresting to me. But for that price ? maybe
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Post by The Hordesman »

The Hag wrote:Extra black ladders, chains, weapons and the scorpion flags are also always welcome. So, piece-wise , this set is interresting to me. But for that price ? maybe
I think you should go fetch a Vladeks Dark Fortress instead, even though the size and price, its totally worth it.
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Post by Robin Hood »

From what I have seen, this set doesn't seem to great. The building seems to have a rather hap-hazard look to it, the whole catapult-horse thing makes me want to puke and the scorpion thing is strange. That being said, it certainly looks usable for the pieces. And the scorpion's design has an interesting methood or two in it.

All in all though, I don't think I would buy it.

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Post by fuzzy »

I dont like it. That's all there is to it



2/10 :roll:
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Post by lord azreal »

i have this set (xmas pressy mistake from granny) and have to say that its pretty good except for the lack of figs and the amazingly strong horse that can somehow carry a huge catapult on its back and a knight and ammo, poor horse :?
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Post by Slobey »

I admit this set isn't as good as it could have been but there is something about it I like.

There are quite a few handy pieces and if you don't use the scorpion for something for the mini-fig to ride on it's actually quite cool as a giant scorpion.

I really like the vladek side of the kkII theme. They have to be up there with the most evil bad guys TLC have ever brought out.
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DraconisTerrena
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Re: Weekly Set Review: Scorpion Prison Cave

Post by DraconisTerrena »

Huh. I'd never seen this set before. Admittedly, it came out during my dark age, but I'm still surprised that I'd never seen or heard of it.

Overall, the set is typical of the crud they released with this line. A horse-mounted catapult? What was it with KK2 and putting catapults on everything? The scorpion was a neat idea, but it doesn't look like it was very well designed.

On the plus side, it looks like there are a few neat pieces. Brown BURPs are hard to find, and I don't mind using BURPs for large-scale mountains and rock formations (after adding a few pieces to make them less uniform, anyway).

Overall, I wouldn't buy it, though. There are only a few parts I'd be interested in, and they're not worth the price tag.

Parts: 7.5/10
Playability: 7.5/10
Figs/Accessories: 5/10
Design (then): 5/10
Design (now): 5/10
Nostalgia: 3/10
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BrianofBrick06
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Re: Weekly Set Review: Scorpion Prison Cave

Post by BrianofBrick06 »

Wow, i am so surprised how many critical reviews there are for this set. the Kk line in general was not exactly the best of castle lines, however I bought two of these sets for a few reasons. Personally, I dont have enough earth tone bricks to put together a quality piece of landscaping, but this set gave me some good brown and other dark colors. Also, there were a decent number of figures and random odd pieces that I find either interesting or useful. The scorpian prison cave appealed to me because it seems like a fun set (mini tower carved into cliff with hanging prison...)

I admit that the design for the "battle horse" is a bit contrived, but I do not use the set or its pieces based off of what TLC designs. I have gotten used to the incorporation of strange catapults and other such parts in sets, and simply use them for MOCs. Overall i thought the set was about a 7/10 around when I bought it, and a 5/10 in general compared to my favorite sets out there...
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mrkovach
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Re: Weekly Set Review: Scorpion Prison Cave

Post by mrkovach »

They should make a catapult for Jayco's left arm :lol:
Oh, I don't like the set.
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Heir of Black Falcon
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Re: Weekly Set Review: Scorpion Prison Cave

Post by Heir of Black Falcon »

I think the catapult is a bit lame but apart from that the set is a nice one. One of the few KKII that I liked though never got. I agree the scorpion could have used some more work... he seemed a bit poorly done but I like the idea of a giant beast like that protecting the prison. Jayko being baby blue..... yeah thats old news.

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