CC Set Review: 8822 Gargoyle Bridge

[architect]

Join the 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 8822 Gargoyle Bridge.

Gargoyle Bridge was released in 2006 for Knight's Kingdom II. Karzon and a rogue knight attack with their battering ram. Adric defends the bridge and gated tower with giant falling axes. Various accessories such as a pike, flag, and torches are included.

[friskywhiskers]

What's with these dreadful sets you've been bringing us, Josh? This set is remarkable for all of the wrong reasons. It's design is terrible, and the two sides are woefully mismatched, providing for some very short battles. Parts wise, this set is loaded with clunkers. The only good thing it has to offer is the two iron gates and a cool snake shield.


Value For Money: 2/5
Parts: 2/5
Alternate models: 3.5/5
Play Experience: 2/5
Design: 1/5

Overall: 2.1/5

[Forestboy]

Friskywhiskers really hit it spot on. This set is definitely a prime example of how Castle was failing at being an imaginative and engaging theme. You've got lots of big pieces, a boring, rigid design. The ramp alone is just sad. Compare it to the 7079 Drawbridge Defense which has so much life in it. Shows just how far Castle design has come.

I'm guessing that opinions will be similar.
~FB~

[Athos]

This is a pretty bad set and it only makes it worse that it was one of the better ones of the line. It looks like a MOC by a seven year old. The giant axes are silly. Even now, 8 years later, I still wish I'd save my money and skipped this set.

The only good parts, as have been said, are the bad guy's shield and everyone's armor.

I guess you could use that large helmet for the tomb of a giant... Hmmm maybe I should MOC something like that up. Or it might make for a good set piece in a brickfilm or comic...?

Steve

[JCool]

I picked up 2 copies of this set up years later at Tuesday Morning at a good discount. And even then it was worthless as a parts pack. I regretted buying it. The design is just so poor that I didn't even bother to try and build it. I never liked the KKII sets having grown up with the 80s classics and I still have a hard time figuring out how these made it past the design / playability stage.

So glad castle sets have turned back around and are good again

[friskywhiskers]

Friskywhiskers really hit it spot on. This set is definitely a prime example of how Castle was failing at being an imaginative and engaging theme. You've got lots of big pieces, a boring, rigid design. The ramp alone is just sad. Compare it to the 7079 Drawbridge Defense which has so much life in it. Shows just how far Castle design has come.

I'm guessing that opinions will be similar.
~FB~

That's a great point, ForestBoy! Drawbridge defense has the same concept, but it is the complete opposite of this set. Balanced sides, some great standard castle bricks, and an imaginative design. Admittedly, the price could have been better, but it is over all the "angel" while this set is the "devil".

[Count Blacktron]

I remember buying this set, bringing it home and building it. I was almost finished and it collapsed sideways in a heap of large pieces. It was boring to build and the "adventure" was just not worth the re-build so I scrapped it for parts and just used the minifigures on a Halloween display I had also begun working on. Thank the lord I got it at a low clearance price; it was not worth full-price.

[Redav]

Compare it to the 7079 Drawbridge Defense which has so much life in it.

I find it amusing that this set has come up as I have just bought one. I can't say much for the Bridge set though other than it's a set I'd never want to acquire.

[mpoh98]

It isn't bad. The minifigures are nice, and it has a few good pieces.

[Elephant Knight]

Okay, where to begin? I'll start by listing the bad stuff, may as well get it out of the way.

Flimsy bridge
Giant axes are so obvious, knights should find another bridge to cross.
Hardly any bricks.
UGLIEST ....ummmm... seige equipment.. thingy...
Tower is more holes then tower.
Piece selection is meh.

Okay, now to list the good stuff

Figs are pretty nice.
Bridge actually has ramps on both sides.
Ahhh, that's all I got....

So all in all, this set sucks, even for KK2. I give it a 4/10.

[Elephant Knight]

Okay, where to begin? I'll start by listing the bad stuff, may as well get it out of the way.

Flimsy bridge
Giant axes are so obvious, knights should find another bridge to cross.
Hardly any bricks.
UGLIEST ....ummmm... seige equipment.. thingy...
Tower is more holes then tower.
Piece selection is meh.

Okay, now to list the good stuff

Figs are pretty nice.
Bridge actually has ramps on both sides.
Ahhh, that's all I got....

So all in all, this set sucks, even for KK2. I give it a 4/10.

[captainamerica]

Friskywhiskers really hit it spot on. This set is definitely a prime example of how Castle was failing at being an imaginative and engaging theme. You've got lots of big pieces, a boring, rigid design. The ramp alone is just sad. Compare it to the 7079 Drawbridge Defense which has so much life in it. Shows just how far Castle design has come.

I'm guessing that opinions will be similar.
~FB~

That's a great point, ForestBoy! Drawbridge defense has the same concept, but it is the complete opposite of this set. Balanced sides, some great standard castle bricks, and an imaginative design. Admittedly, the price could have been better, but it is over all the "angel" while this set is the "devil".

8822 doesn't compare favorably to the more expensive (and excellent) 7079 Drawbridge Defense or the cheaper 8778 Border Ambush.

The technic parts and battering ram design are just ridiculous, and the bridge looks more like a ruin than a fort. I do like the Karzon and Rogue knight minifigs, but that's really all the good I found in this set.

[JoshWedin]

What's with these dreadful sets you've been bringing us, Josh?

How is this set my fault?

As for my opinion...this set has one good piece...that snake shield.

Josh

[friskywhiskers]

What's with these dreadful sets you've been bringing us, Josh?

How is this set my fault?

As for my opinion...this set has one good piece...that snake shield.

Josh

*Dope* I meant Ben, Sorry!