Jojo's Chess Set Review

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

Wow, thanks for the great review! Time to pre-order! :twisted:

My thoughts: The Shadow Knights are cool as always. The evil king is cool, and the queen freaks me out. The brick-built parts on both sides are so-so. I expected the king to be Matthias, and he looks cooler with the cape, but I'm dissapointed with the queen. She looks a bit thrown together, with her young face and gray hair, blue armor and bley dress. Still, parts-wise, she's great! The Morcians are interesting. I don't like the torso design, but the faces rock! I certainly can't remember seeing them somewhere else. Though they are probably a City face. The barbie blue helmet and crossbow are going to be hard to work with, though at least I can sticker the torso.

All in all, I can't wait to get this set! And thanks for the review and excellent pics, Jojo! :D

One last thought: I find it interesting that even the brick-built parts are pre-assembled. This must be the first LEGO set where some assembly is not required! :lol:
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Post by Norro »

Hey JoJo,

A quick note of thanks for those lovely pics (they're so nicely presented they even agitate us 'flash happy' camera users : )

Thanks again and God Bless,

Nathan
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Post by ottoatm »

Not much to say that hasn't been said, but I did want to thank you for this amazing review as well - I could not have asked for anything better.
King Mathias looks much better with the cape, and the queens aren't that bad
I agree with this - King Mathis looks LOADS better, and I think that with this set, we get a truly worthy King of the Shadow Knights too... with the only possible exception being that he doesn't look evil enough (certainly not compared to his wifey... I have a hard time believing she or the Vladek's would take orders from a regular looking dude... but maybe... and anyway, he looks cool.

I don't mind the pawns for their color... I think I am the only one. :wink: :oops:
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Norro
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Post by Norro »

ottoatm wrote:
I don't mind the pawns for their color... I think I am the only one. :wink: :oops:
No, I think they have potential as well; if only for ceremonial occassions...)

God Bless,

Nathan
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Post by Lord_Of_The_LEGO »

Oh, just a note on the gray capes, this is NOT the first set to include them. They also come in three Harry Potter sets (under the Peeron color name MdStone)

http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/522
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Post by plums_deify »

See, I figure with the Moricans, Jayko can stage a coup and one up Vladek, and take the kingdom as his own. :D

I'll be picking one up, definantly.
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Post by Teh Stud »

At $50 that's a tough call. I'll buy at least one for the cool carrying case, but I might stick to Bricklink if I want more figs. If the pawn's helmets and crossbows were dark grey and brown I would buy more for sure. I would also have liked to see a different torso for the pawns. Still, it's exciting to see Lego come out with a set like this!

Does anyone think that TLC created this set to use up existing inventory? The armour and shields are from year one of KKII, they aren't the new stuff from year two. Did they have inventory to use up so they created this?

Also, I might use the baby blue helms and armour as mithril armour from the elves of Tolkien fame.

Thanks for the great pictures and review Jojo!
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Post by eNiGMa »

Redaxe wrote:Also, I might use the baby blue helms and armour as mithril armour from the elves of Tolkien fame.
*slaps forehead* Of course! That's an awesome idea! :o

I think you could be right about the old inventory thing. Those pawn torsos from that board game set are starting to age a bit, and they're using the old Vladek and Jayko armor for the queens, too. Then again, that doesn't explain the baby blue helmets and crossbows... perhaps a failed idea from before?
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Post by 00Psyren00 »

Thanks for the great review, I've got mine ordered already 8)

My lego world at the minute is populated with daemons and possessed warriors, and those baby-blue knights, with a few head swaps, would make perfect ice warriors. The evil army are perfect as they are to be servents of the Blood God :twisted:

And could the chess board be used as a floor in a lego palace?
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Post by Green Fox »

Hope no one's pointed this out already, but the cyan pawns' head is that of the police commisioner from the first World City police station (the one with dark-blue cops and orange-clad prisoner).
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Post by Assassin »

Thanks JoJo, nice review.

I for one, will NOT be buying this set. I am not an army builder and I can better user my money trying to get bricks (mainly arches) in new grey.

Without wishing to start a new colour rant, the change sure screwed my collection of arches, slopes etc. Still, thats life I suppose.
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Post by The Hordesman »

Reasons to buy it(for me):

Talonjay Crossbowmen
Shadow Knights
Grey Capes
My first Mathias figure
New awesome face!
Johnny Thunder heads
Horse masks
Extra pikes!
More Vladeks
More Jaykos

Surely, the "Shadow King" has nothing to do with the KK2 universe, its just for an equal to the king(actually, I would put Vladek as the king and the elite Shadow Knight as a bishop).

Great review, in every detail!
Last edited by The Hordesman on Sun Jun 12, 2005 3:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by ottoatm »

Hope no one's pointed this out already, but the cyan pawns' head is that of the police commisioner from the first World City police station (the one with dark-blue cops and orange-clad prisoner).
AHHHH!!!

I would have NEVER guessed that! Thanks for the note...


I actually like that head, so I'm glad they included it... although it is a bit odd to have an army of old men with baby-blue cross-bows. ;-)
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Post by The Hordesman »

ottoatm wrote:I actually like that head, so I'm glad they included it... although it is a bit odd to have an army of old men with baby-blue cross-bows. ;-)
Lookie at this comic from Lego-knights gallery:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Lego- ... _comic.jpg

Apparently that is how they dress(but I agree, its wierd that they paint their helms and crossbows and just isnt satisfied with the tabard). The chess figs seem to be Talonjay troops (morcian general troops wear Mathias-blue color). The oldie face, well, Danju is in his 50's or something, and they say old people are easy to anger so an army of old cranky grandpas is Morcia's answer to the vikings' berserkers. :lol:

A fun note: every piece except the light blue transparent cone and the kettle helm and crossbow can be found in other sets! Isnt that wierd?
Apparently the prototype Shadow Knight also had the Johnny Thunder face, and things seem to been thrown together for cheapness, but thats actually a plus. We get pieces we need more of, for a cheap price so no real prob.
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Post by Snap Dracone »

ottoatm wrote:I don't mind the pawns for their color... I think I am the only one.
You aren't; I think that in an entire faction, the color can work. Just not for an individual knight. I, personally, rather like the two groups, but the Morcian soldiers would have been better in Mathias's blue.

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