Mistland Tower (#8823) Review

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Athos
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Mistland Tower (#8823) Review

Post by Athos »

Snagged this set at TRU today. And thought I'd try my hand at a review, since no one has done this set yet.

The pre-lims:

Cost: $49.99
Piece Count: 431
Figures: 5


The box:

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml01.jpg

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml02.jpg

Nothing special, though I must say I miss the boxes with that open up...

Everything out of the box:

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml03.jpg

The instructions:

Colors are easier to distinguish that previously, but the greys have a very inaccurate green tint to them and the gold has a very inaccurate orange tone. I must also say I miss the old high quality instruction booklets...

The build:

First floor: Very wide open, though I must say those green-grey pieces will be nice for landscaping cliffs (especially in my JT stories ;) )

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml05.jpg

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml06.jpg

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml07.jpg

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml08.jpg

Second floor: note the forge and anvil

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml10.jpg

Pull the pin for a trap, I don't quite understand...

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml09.jpg

Third floor: notice the crappy one piece wall... and not sure what the skeleton elevator is all about either...

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml11.jpg

Also note the treasure, for those of you newbies lacking gold coins

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml12.jpg

Fourth floor: nothing to see here (except the crossbows, which I don't think are connected very well), move along...

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml13.jpg

Top floor: gentlemens wear... er I mean, dragon skulls, flames, and goofy shiney balls...

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml14.jpg

The gates: Not much too these. The arches look nice. They connect with a double technic pin brick. Nice to have a few hinges and doors...

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml15.jpg

Better build that the last two lines, but still does not compare to the classic-castle era.

Bags were numbers, but there was no sub-building, as in Vladek's Fortress

Took me just under an hour and a half to complete (including pauses for pictures).

The model:

The catapult:

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml04.jpg

The fortress, sans figures:

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml16.jpg

The fortress, with figs:

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml17.jpg

Fair design. Still very open. Not much of a fortress. Strangely enough there is a ladder (which I forgot to take a picture of) to get from the 3rd floor to the top level, but nothing to get you to the 3rd. Still suffers significantly from the crappy design style of KK2.

The figures:

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml18.jpg

Armor designs are nice, though the gold one is ruined by the stupid hawk printing on it. Also very disappointed that the only new face was on Sir Adric. Seems quite strange that King Jayko uses the same face as King Mathias. And even stranger that Vladek has not aged at all... Other face is the Maharaja from the adventurers and the Yelling face from the vikings. Torsos are all blank... :(

New parts:

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml20.jpg

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos ... s/ml21.jpg

Don't know what to say... other than they don't do anything for me.

Conclusion:

Ehhhhh... I'm not impressed. Price was a little high. If I had it to do over again, I'd pass and wait for a sale on this one and tried my luck on another set...

6/10

Steve
[url=http://www.johnny-thunder.blogspot.com/]Travel with Johnny Thunder![/url]
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stawastawa
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Post by stawastawa »

the part on left is not new.

other wise interesting. i dont really liek teh anvil. i think the figs are probably the best part. the shield of ages (or whatever its called) taht teh brown dude has looks kinda cool...

eh ye ai porbly wait for a salse as it does seem overpriced
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Lord_Of_The_LEGO
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Post by Lord_Of_The_LEGO »

The Wizard dude looks like a Wookie without it's head... :?

Meh. I like dark green. The fortress pretty breezy, though. The armor's the best part of the set. Recycled heads are lame.

Does anyone else feel this line was rushed? No printed torsos, only one new head....


I'll keep my cash for a Batman or Avatar set...
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ragnarok
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Post by ragnarok »

The figs are the attractive part of the set and yet they come with blank torsos ?!!! Rushed on the double... even on the triple.
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RichardAM
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Post by RichardAM »

Umm, no thanks, I think i'd be better off buying Arkham as my big set this year.

I do like those dark green bricks though. :)
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