Weekly Set Review: Forestmen's River Fortress

[marbri]

I don't have this set, but I want it, but 'only' one lion knight ....

[BrianofBrick06]

I have some very fond memories of this set placed in the middle of a forestman kingdom (back before i had many legos, and my lego fantasies were sustained by watching the lego worlds created by my cousins). The set has a good number of figures, and definitely an imaginative design. Perhaps the best part of the set was the amount of useful pieces available for other creations...

[Pulsy]

Dang, that's a lot better than today's csets of the same size.

[outcast]

I agree

[Legoist]

I never had this set, as I entered my dark ages around the time when the forestmen line was released.

From what I can see in pictures and instructions, it does seem like a great mid-size set. A very nice departure from the previous castles. The building itself is definitely nice both in look and in construction. I thought perhaps the inside is a bit cramped in space, but some previous comments mentioned that it's not, good. It's also great that such a set, which is not exactly massive, had 6 minifigs, it's a good number!

Thinking about it, there was certainly enough "room" for several factions in the Castle theme without going "fantasy": knights, forestmen, peasants, bandits. That's already 4 categories the first of which can of course be split in multiple factions.

[Sir Prog]

I never bought any of the later forestmen sets b/c 1) I was into other toys around the same time like Ninja Turtles, Dino-Riders, Micro Machines, etc, 2) LEGOs were still relatively expensive for a young child with no job, or perhaps 3) b/c even as a child I thought this design was simply a larger retread of the second forestmen [hideout] release, http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=6054-1.

Because I never owned it and only saw pics from those 80s-style rectangular Lego magazines (MY FAVORITES!), I never saw many alternative angles that could further entice my desire to own.

Plus, during this specific release phase around the late 80s/early 90s phase, I [my parents] only ever bought me the sets that were on clearance.

Although I LOVE the blended tower grown over with greenery (you should have taken better notes, creators of the Troll Mountain Fortress! ), until I see more pics that convince me otherwise, this set is not as impressive from my perspective.

6.5/10

[veevers24]

I don't technically own this set as such but I did get some instructions from a car boot sale once.

still haven't got round to building it up yet but I'm sure i will soon

I like the way the back hinges open

[eilonwy77]

I actually had this as one of my few castle sets that I got when I was young. I remember liking it, but then I pretty much only ever built a set once, and then tore it apart to make new things. It did provide one of the two 32x32 baseplates that I have in my collection, as well as a large portion of the foliage that I own. And now that I'm looking back on it, the forestmen really are pretty cool. I liked them better than all the other sorts of knights, even as a kid.

[BiggerJim]

I loved this one when I was a kid. I was always a fan the sub-themes.

[SevFalcon]

Just another great Forestmen set. Here's hoping they'll get an updated treatment soon....

[Papy.G]

The "brave or stupid" Lion soldier is displayed there attacking a forestman in front of the fortress, but don't be mistaken, those days' sets rarely include two opposing forces all in one, the lion soldier is only here to fill the jail in the setup, he was never intended to strike on the fortress alone, and that's probably why he doesn't have any shield too.

[friskywhiskers]

Great set. The forestmen are awesome though ther should be one more lion knight. The fortress itself is really cool. Baseplate could be better.

9/10