Weekly Set Review: The Knight

[architect]

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 5615 The Knight.

The Knight was released in 2008 for the King's men. This impulse set contains a knight and a weapons rack. Various accessories such as a spear, sword, shield, armor, and an extra helmet can be stored on the weapons rack.

[J_MAN]

This is defiantly not my favorite King's men set but looking back I wish I would have bought a few copies just for the mini-fig and extra accessories. The Fantasy Era line is the best castle line that Lego has had in over ten years. Overall I'd give this set a 6/10.

[Handar]

I think I bought about a dozen of these when they first came out, maybe more. What's not to like about the set? You get a good selection of weapons and armour; indeed, there's enough here to outfit two knights, although one will be short a shield. With a little bit of ingenuity, one could even use the armour to recast an old figure as a crown knight, thereby doubling one's crown army with each purpose. That's not a bad way to boost one's ranks of a new faction very quickly, and I think it adds a significant amount of play value to the set.

Even the piece selection is particularly strong. Thinking about the knight's accessories, I appreciate the fact that a shield is included, and the weapons--a sword and a spear--feel 'classic' and thus comfortable to me. The helmets are also both classic elements, which again helps this to feel like a 'normal' knight to me. Thinking about the stand, the bricks used are all very useful for landscaping or other castle themed building; they're a good inclusion.

I'd rank this set, for what it is, as a 5/5. It's not flashy; it doesn't have a high number of rare or sought after pieces; and it's not much good on its own. But, given that these things are obviously not the purpose of the set, one really can't hold them against it. All the pieces are useful, and the fact that the accessories can be used to outfit a second figure to look like a crown knight doubles the impact of the set. I hope future impulse buys are all as good.

[mrkovach]

I was never able to get this set, but It was my desktop wallpaper for about a month and I really wanted it. Since it does not have many pieces, it is easy to see everything about this set. 5/5 and 6/5 if I could have gotten it. Who couldn't use a fully armed knight with gear to share?

[CastleLord]

Well i got myself 12 of this set so you coul say i really loved this set. You got a fully equipped knight and some other good parts so what's not to like?
10/10.

CastleLord.

[Athos]

Best impulse for army building in a long time. I'm not much into army building, but if he came with an extra shield, I'd have snagged multiple copies to better equip my soldiers...

Steve

[Nicker]

This is one of those sets that I wish I would have picked up while it was still available in stores. I won't be making that mistake again with Kingdoms.

[DerBum]

I bought quite a few of these while they were available. This set reminded me of the old polybag sets I got from Toys R Us when I was a kid. This is a good stand alone, it provides a guy and his gear, which if you had no other Castle sets would still allow you to build a basic house/building and play Castle to your heart's content. Impulse sets in general are my favorite part of the recent Castle line (and even Pirates and Town), they allow me to spend a little money on my daughter when she has been good without purchasing a Lego set which I might otherwise buy as a birthday gift. Also, these are a great way to get started with Castle (or the like) because there is little investment, but a lot of play value.

The accessories were excellent, I have no complaints about what was included. This set also allows you to outfit another generic figure as a knight, which is nice. At the time this torso was unique, so these guys became a form of royal guard, my kid liked that idea. Overall 5/5.

[Username]

I really wish I would have bought more of these. Only have ten of those torsos and would like a couple more. It's not very exciting as a set but nice as an army builder.

[DraconisTerrena]

Fantastic set. It's a great army builder-- a soldier (with my favorite Crownie torso, no less) with armor, an *additional* helmet, a shield and two weapons. I was thrilled to find this set. I was more disappointed with the troll counterpart, but even that set was great. I love impulse army builders.

[Formendacil]

An excellent impulse set--one of the best sets of this size of all time. Not a piece in it that you would be wary of multiple copies of... which is not true, for example, of the Good Wizard.

Personally, I liked the Good Wizard too, and this little guy is also exemplary. The Castle 2007+ theme did a marvellous job on their impulse sets. I believe I got three of these... and then there were no more to be found.

Parts: 10/10 (for the size)
Playability: 8/10 (given the size, what can one fig do? Armour-weapon changing's not bad)
Figs/Accessories: 8.5/10 (I'd have preferred a visored helm and a second shield)
Design (contemporary): 8.5/10
Design (universal) 9/10
Nostalgia: 8/10

Overall Score: 8.67/10 (A---another excellent score for the Castle 2007+ line)

[Funnyham]

I actually managed to get one of these somewhere obscure in Switzerland, mid 2008. For this size, I don't think it could have been better. One of the best heads used in this line (in my opinion), a not completely common torso, a nice arsenal of weaponry, and bricks on the stand that could easily be used elswhere ( brown round 1x1). A must-have when released, now a classic, "Argh, why did I not get a dozen copies of this!".

[nanuck95]

I only picked up one of these, wish I would have purchased a couple more. I agree with everyone else that the piece selection and accessories were great. The torso design in this set was my favorite of all the crown figures, mostly because you didn't necessarily have to use it as armor. I also really liked the green plate included. Although it isn't necessarily a rare piece, green plates are hard to come by in sets and was a welcome addition to my collection.

[Alex the Great]

I picked up 6 of these, it's a great little set with all useful pieces. I'ts even better because I gave the armour and second helmet to a regular Harry fig and you have double the army.

[Forestboy]

I didn't get this set when I had the chance because it was $5 (USD) when I found it (At the Lego Discovery Center). My friend did, and it looked pretty cool. Like all impulses, it's good for army building, but the price per piece is always kinda low. If I would have found it at $3.49 when it first came out, I probably would have gotten one. You get some good armor and weapons, which is pretty good. 7/10