Weekly Set Review: Scorpion Prison Cave

Post by **architect** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 11:34 pm

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 8876 Scorpion Prison Cave.

Scorpion Prison Cave was released in 2005 for Knight's Kingdom II. This tower outpost includes a portcullis which lifts like a drawbridge, a small catapult, banners, and various accessories. Vladek and a Shadow Knight riding a giant scorpion guard the Prison Cave. Jakyo, riding his catapult horse, attacks to rescue Danju.

CAI · Post by **CAI** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 11:55 pm

Could a catapult attached to a horses saddle do any damage to a tower? No. Is a one man army dressed in sky blue any sort of an assualt at all? Not even by night.

Not to mention...a giant scorpion would rip a horse in two.

I'd only buy this set if it were called the Unquestionable death of Jayco.

Post by **JoshWedin** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 12:20 am

I like this set. Sure the Jayko catapult is dumb but the rest is good. The gate mechanism is pretty nifty. The cage with Danju in it, is well done also. Definitely a good set for parts.

Josh

plums_deify · Post by **plums_deify** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 12:28 am

Horse-catapult and silly scorpian aside, I like the set. It has a dark, dank dungenous feel to it, and I like that about it.

It was a fun build, too.

Moroder · Post by **Moroder** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 12:49 am

Not the best design Lego ever released, I would buy this set because of the pieces, as knowing the KK2's obsession for specific ones. The set also follows the ancient rule of the Castle Theme with the skeleton and skull.

Catapults on horses would kill the poor animal. I'm sure that a horse could carry the catapult projectile, but not throw it... without suffering.

The set is good if you're wanting Vladek's Heraldry, of course. Two banners, one shield, armors. And the new spear is really cool. You're not getting such enemies' itens at any other medium set.

Now talking about the scorpion. I'm still not sure if that's a living or mechanic one...

CAI wrote:I'd only buy this set if it were called the Unquestionable death of Jayco.

And of the imprisioned Danju, too...

E of Alshire · Post by **E of Alshire** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 2:19 am

Moroder wrote:Now talking about the scorpion. I'm still not sure if that's a living or mechanic one...

That's the thing that put me off this set. That could've been a really great Brick-Built-Beast, but it wasn't. At least, not in my estimation. Good for peices If'n you've got a Vladek's Castle.

5/10

Ethan

Brickboy · Post by **Brickboy** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 4:23 am

I guess its a good set for pieces, yet the USD price of it is $40.00!!! Bricklink is cheaper if you just want pieces.
-Alan-

ottoatm · Post by **ottoatm** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 1:28 pm

I actually am eager to get this set. It has a really great dark feel to it, and the hanging cage looks really cool. Many parts do seem to be a bit large, but on the bright side the scorpian is cool to me (I have decided long ago that I will consider the scorpian to be living, because a machine scorpian is... odd).

Although I am not a fan of the large pieces or the catapult saddle (although I have found a use for that in my story that I think is cool), I like the imagination that went into designing this set. I think in this case LEGO is showing some creativity in their design, at least.

The Hag · Post by **The Hag** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 2:35 pm

Ottoatm speaks for me aswell .

Ottoatm, I bow before your words of wisdom.

Blueandwhite · Post by **Blueandwhite** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 3:15 pm

This set just doesn't do it for me.

That isn't to say that this set is all bad. It certainly has its share of positives. The gimmicks work well enough, and I must say that I like the dark red/black colour scheme. And even though far too many sets include skeletons, it actually seems appropriate here. The inclusion of four minifigs, and two banners is sure to please the army building crowd (though I still feel today's sets are shortchanged on the figure front).

Unfortunately, for me the negatives outweigh the positives. I'm still not big on the Jellybean heroes (the monochromatic colour schemes just don't do it for me), and the scorpion just doesn't work. I also dislike the use of burps here. Much like

the hemlock stronghold, the burps are poorly used. No matter how you slice it, this just doesn't look like a cave. My biggest issue however, is the price. At $40, 274 bricks seems like a paltry amount. Still, if cost isn't an issue, this set isn't that bad. If your looking for some bang for your buck, this set isn't for you.

Later.

Norro · Post by **Norro** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 4:27 pm

I rarely comment on sets I don't own but... this is the one I deliberately didn't buy from the line... Too many new colours, too low a piece count, a scorpion thing, and jellybeans to boot...

God Bless,

Nathan

wunztwice · Post by **wunztwice** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:15 pm

Ahh, more KKII. I love to hate it. Really though this is not that bad of a set. The price is waaay to expensive for what you get, which is a fair amount of large pieces and bley at that.

But still for today it's not too shabby. My younger brother has this set and I watched him build it. The moving parts, like the portcullis work well, and even in the small catapults wouldn't ride on horses, they still shoot really far for being lego.

I still love the cheek-protector helmets on the minyons, but the other minifigs lack. And what is that scorpion thing? Machine, animal? And none of the other KKII sets (2005) have wierd animals like this, why this one?

I like that there are stairs to get from the middle, to the top. I always disliked it when lego did not provide a way to get up to the next level (in any building including town) for the minifigs. I think this is a chronic problem in TLG and am glad to see somewhat of an attempt to make this a somewhat feasable set.

One more thing, I think this set was mis-named. It's not really a cave, more like a gateway. Possibly something like dark mechanic scorpion threshhold (and death of Jayco and Danju).

God Bless, Chris

Post by **Formendacil** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:41 pm

Possibly the poorest KK2 Year2 sets, in my opinion.

The pieceage selection in this is only good if you like/use larger pieces. I use them, but only for lack of regular bricks. Fig-wise, this set is okay, two Shadow Knights being always a good thing. A horse is good to get as well. The scorpion is a bit of a disappointment, but as a play concept it was good.

Parts: 6.5/10
Playability: 8/10
Figs/Accessories: 7/10
Design (then): 6/10
Design (now): 6/10
Nostalgia: 4/10

Overall Score: 6.25/10

baniaj2 · Post by **baniaj2** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:00 am

This set along with the other Vladek sets has brought me out of my dark ages.

That being said, are there flaws, yes:

1.fewer larger pieces. Less piece value for the money

2.Poor construction design. When complete, there are sections that suffer from structural integrity when built. Castle floors should not give when placing mini-figs.

3.Maybe just my opinion; I think they should have designed all the Vladek castle/fort/building parts to interlock with each other or the main fortress

4.At least design the scorpion to sting past its head. The best it can do is paralyze the rider/driver...

Scurticus · Post by **Scurticus** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:35 am

i just recently bought this set and am glad i did. the pieces are a good selection espcially since im trying to build up my black pieces. as far as the catapult and scorpion i could careless about them. the catapult on the horse is a cool idea but how doesthe knight use it. 7 out of 10.