Weekly Set Review: Bat Lord

[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 6007 Bat Lord.

Bat Lord was released in 1997 for the Fright Knights. He rides his pet dragon armed with a magic bat wand and a sword.

[Webrain]

Not a lot to say, I bought 2 back then in 1997 when the set appeared, pretty cheap set for a dragon, and I had none, well before there were only green ones in DM anyway. The Batlord minifig was good when I had one or 2 but when I had too many it became annoying really. The helmet is unique and suitable for the fantasy idea of Vampires.

[TwoTonic Knight]

Bats on dragons? No. No, no, no, no, no! Sorry, all Dragons are immediately taken from Bats and Bulls and given to the Dragon Masters.

Other than that personal ban, it's a cheap gift to kids to add a dragon to their collection. Dunno why the Bat Lord doesn't get the classier and excellent breastplate torso from the same line. The bat-winged helmet is a great one to make modifications to. The bat scepter and cape are nice touches. The black dragon looks snazzier than the green one. It will be interesting to compare the rather static dragon to the new Vikings ones when they are finally available. 7/10.

[JoshWedin]

Strange little set. I have gotten a couple of them over the years. I have cut the wings off of several of the helmets, makes an interesting helm that way. The torso isn't bad. Makes a decent middle class person, or poorer nobleman. The black dragon is nifty, but needs new wings immediately. I don't have any real strong feelings about this set. Odd (what fright knights sets aren't?) but a decent fig for parts and a black dragon if you need one. 5/10.

Josh

[The Hordesman]

I remember these. I was kind of poor back then, so each month I got to the store and bought one. After that, I had too many dragons(or sizewise, drakes)... But they are good. You can mass these for the sword, helm, cape, torso, bats, dragons for a swarm, well, it was about 2$ in the store so I had alot of fun.

Many complaint on the wings; But I see them as thin wings on which you can see the blood circulate(making it orangy) and semi-transparent. Reminds of pterodactyls.

I dont personally like the face(one of the first angry faces?) but one of my friend loved it, he allways played the Bat Lord (we let the other mix with other guys(often skeletons) to form some sort of elite rank within the army).

A good set for being a FK set. A cheap way to get a dragon and a fig with good pieces. But no building pieces makes me wonder if this can be called Lego.

[kajo163]

Not too bad really.

I mean, I would like to have a black dragon, and that minifig could actually be usefull.

There aren't many nice things to say about a lot of the FK sets but this one must be one of the better...

Joel

[eNiGMa]

This was my first FK set. I love the dragon, but I like to swap the wings for the black ones that came with the windship. The bat lord is cool, and if you get enough of them, they make semi-decent peasants (but only if you're short on jedi, of course). Bats are always good to have, and the helmet is great for customization and fantasy settings.

4/5

[Dragonlord Esq.]

No shield = lame.

However, I must admit it's a good small set for people without a dragon, and it also includes a hero/bad guy for people with nothing but generic soldiers.

[Jojo]

Hello!


Hmyeah, a black dragon. The Batlord's torso is OK. Don't like the large silver swords anyway.


Bye
Jojo

[Sir Kohran]

My favourite Fright Knight set. It was an easy way to get a black Dragon, and I've always liked that Bat Lord.

8/10

[Lord Mikal]

Ah, yes. The only Fright Knights set I ever actually got, solely for the purpose of having this dragon. Sadly, I foolishly traded it for an alligator and I'm now in the possesion of some four alligators. But I still have the Bat lord.

In My opinion, this is the best Frights Knights set there is. You get a Bat lord with a cape, a bat, and a cool black dragon. Had I realised the potential of using the Basil minifig as infantry, I'd have bought two or three of these.

[bannear]

I think this is a great small set for adding dragons to your realm - black dragons are great! Well - in our household all dragons are great ...
I have yet to modify any of these helms, and I don't find the faces angry in comparison to some other faces - you know those viking beserker fellows in the front ranks of battles ...
I like the set and give it 8/10.
Cheers,
SirBert

[Formendacil]

A set similar to the Black Knight or the Royal King, in that it comes with a steed and rider, this Batlord set is similarly useful as a cheap army-builder.

Unlike the Royal King, it's fig remains useful in large quantities (if you like bat helms or will cut them up), but the steed becomes useless a lot faster than the horse. Dragon saturation in one's collection IS reachable.

I would have preferred a different weapon from the chrome sword, but it's manageable. The batstaff is interesting enough but I would have prefered a shield.

Parts: 5/10
Playability: 7/10
Figs/Accessories: 7/10
Design (then): 6.5/10
Design (now): 6.5/10
Nostalgia: 6/10

Overall Score: 6.33/10

[ottoatm]

Bats on dragons? No. No, no, no, no, no! Sorry, all Dragons are immediately taken from Bats and Bulls and given to the Dragon Masters.

I agree - and I do the same thing - dragons go to dragon masters. Still, for what it is, this is not a bad little set for figs and dragons (if thats what you want).

7/10

[Robin Hood]

Meh. Not too bad of a set. I have seen, and owned worse.

For pieces it is very nice. Its the cheapest way to get a dragon, and the fig is ok. The shirt is cool, and the face was neat. The staff was an interesting idea, but pointless. The helment is ok, so long as you only have one or two of them.

The design? Well how bad can you get with a guy riding a dragon?

I can see how a kid would like this set. An evil villian riding a black dragon. The kids finally get a bad guy to play with. I know a lot of people hate the Fright Knight line, but to a kid it wasn't bad.

Dan