Damien wrote:I don't think the set -suffers- because of the armour. But rather to anyone (or perhaps almost anyone) with an interest in actual history, the plate armour showing up in a set with the title 'Vikings' on it can seem jarring. Personally, I'd prefer a lack of armour, just to be more Viking-ish. Ya know? I certainly wouldn't refuse to buy the set because there's an extra set of armour in it. Haha.
It's the bad helmet along with the bad sword along with the inappropriate (though useful) armor that gets to me. Layer upon layer upon layer of getting things wrong. I toss the helmets for the most part - my vikings generally get nasaled helms or spectacle helms. I toss the new swords - on top of being an awful design their material is rotten for modding. The original lego swords would have worked much better for the Vikings (but I got a number of Little Armory viking swords). The axe is a little too large for my taste, but still useful. The shields I love (and this set lacks that). The armor is fine from a part standpoint, but the euro-armor is dirt common now.
It's nice that LEGO made a small cheap set. Lots of people will no doubt love the set for what it is. It just doesn't do it for me.