Chess Set Review

MoonCheese · Post by **MoonCheese** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 7:12 pm

Mog wrote:I really want this set, but I'm never going to be able to justify spending $200 on LEGO at once (especially not after moving out!). I mean, I just spent a tenth that on five Crossbow Carts (real name?) at Target, and I feel sort of bad about that (and they were 30% off!).

Crossbow Attack? With the firing ballista?

Foxglove · Post by **Foxglove** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 4:24 am

Count Blacktron wrote:I ordered this set on Friday and received it today. HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THAT IS CASTLE THE BOX IS HUGE!! I've never seen a "book" this big outside of the Huntington Museum Library and Gardens copy of the Gutenberg Bible. Seriously;
HUGE.

Nothing could prepare me for how big this set really is. When the courier dropped my order off at the door this morning, he brought two similiar sized boxes. My initial thought was "What? Did Lego manage to send me extra sets again?" (Wishful thinking, I know

). Imagine my suprise when I opened them and one was just the Chess set.

I haven't had the opportunity to examine it at length yet, but if the size of the box is any indication of the size of the set, I'd call it money well spent.

I also got my two Advent Calenders. Huzzah!

Mog · Post by **Mog** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 2:49 am

MoonCheese wrote:
Mog wrote:I really want this set, but I'm never going to be able to justify spending $200 on LEGO at once (especially not after moving out!). I mean, I just spent a tenth that on five Crossbow Carts (real name?) at Target, and I feel sort of bad about that (and they were 30% off!).
Crossbow Attack? With the firing ballista?

That was it. I think I got a pretty good deal - it came out to $1/each for each of the minifigs/animals (since there's four in each box) and that's not including the, y'know, other pieces.

But I almost never buy "bulk" LEGO, nor do I usually buy more than one of each set. I'm glad I did it, but I also feel kind of foolish. But whatevs.

DaleDVM · Post by **DaleDVM** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 12:59 pm

HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THAT IS CASTLE THE BOX IS HUGE!!

Very well said! The box is gigantic. Too bad it needs modification to store the set intact. The only flaw I have found in the set to date. Ben if you would like I can store the box for you and any other extra lego stuff you don't have room for at home.

As for the price, IMHO this set is fairly priced. If you calculate at $4.00 per minifig each completely decked out with gear that is $128.00. Not to mention two of these are trolls and you get the 4 horses. Add in 30 dollars worth of baseplates. Thats 158 bucks not even including the parts you get.

I picked up two of these now. I got them for $160.00 because I purchased them at Brickfest, and no shipping charges either. When you can get it for 20% off this set is an incredible deal. If you can get to any of the conventions each year it is worth it for the discounts. The lego deals alone pay for the price of admission.

This set has so many useful parts it is staggering. The accessories are insane. I hope they go on sale for even more off so I can use it to build my dwarf and Orc armies.

Blue Monarch · Post by **Blue Monarch** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 4:05 pm

Great set, but I don't think I'd buy it unless it were on high discount. Paying fifty bucks for about twenty figs isn't so bad... like the past chess sets. But paying $200.00 and not getting any castle or buildings from it... I just can't do it!

WhiteFang · Post by **WhiteFang** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 2:16 am

I had noticed that my Giant Chess set Review is featured in Classic Castle. Athos, thanks for highlighting it here.

To all whom has taken time to read this review. First of all, I am an avid castle collector, whom collect all past chess sets, mainly for its minifigs. This Giant Chess set is unlike the usual ones that we have seen earlier. This chess set is truly remarkable for display and parts purposes. However, there is no unique characters featured inside and the hefty price is the main issue for some castle collectors that can't afford it.

I own two of these, even though its dear. The main reason why I get 2 sets, is the amount of dwarves, orcs, bricks and weapon accessories included in this set. However, the storage of the giant boxes is a main problem. It's heavy and bulky which takes up lots of storage space. I do look forward to more of such chess sets. Perhaps, a much affordable price tag will be much ideal.

Username · Post by **Username** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 2:29 pm

I am hope this set will be on clearance one day.

MoonCheese · Post by **MoonCheese** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 2:46 pm

I have the smaller chess set, but not the Giant one. I might get the Giant Chess Set if the price drops...

timber_wolf899 · Post by **timber_wolf899** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 8:02 pm

I keep hearing how great the parts are, the figs, etc.

well that's fantastic if you want a 200 dollar parts pack, but...........call me strange........I dont want a 200 dollar PARTS PACK! i want a castle.

Nice try Lego, now make me a fort!

MarioDAlessio · Post by **MarioDAlessio** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 4:17 am

Foxglove wrote:
Count Blacktron wrote:I ordered this set on Friday and received it today. HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THAT IS CASTLE THE BOX IS HUGE!! I've never seen a "book" this big outside of the Huntington Museum Library and Gardens copy of the Gutenberg Bible. Seriously;
HUGE.

Nothing could prepare me for how big this set really is. When the courier dropped my order off at the door this morning, he brought two similiar sized boxes. My initial thought was "What? Did Lego manage to send me extra sets again?" (Wishful thinking, I know ). Imagine my suprise when I opened them and one was just the Chess set.

I get all my Lego Castle deliveries sent to my work this sets size generated a lot more than the typical gasps in the office when I opened it.

MD

KingDavid · Post by **KingDavid** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 2:31 am

Okay, well, I finally got my giant chess set today. I've read about how big the box was numerous times, but I was still surprised. You could pack a week's worth of clothes inside it, literally.

The parts were very well sorted in the bags and each separate section was easy to assemble by the instructions and sturdy when built. Compared to the Medieval Market Village, building this one was a snap. Including keeping an eye on the kids, eating two meals, and watching parts of various movies, I managed to get it completely assembled in six and a half hours. I imagine your average builder could assemble it in roughly four to five hours without the distractions.

The minifigs are pretty nice, although there were none in the set that I didn't already own, except for the two Good Wizards. It's also a great way to stock up on dwarves, weapons and shields, round 4x4 brick wheels (20 of them in there), etc. For parts, it's even better than I could imagined.

I'm particularly fond of the dwarves' corner of the board, which has inspired me to take my second Dwarves' Mine set and use it to expand my first mine.

One weird thing, though. I knew that the minifigs were all completely assembled right out of the box, but they were assembled very oddly. All of their weapons and shields were in the wrong hands (either that, or all of my guys are left-handed), the shields were upside down, the flags on the glaives were upside down, the trolls' horns and spikes on their heads and backs were turned upside down/backwards, and everybody's hands were turned down instead of up, if you know what I mean. And to make them fit into the box trays, the minifigs were facing backward. Even the bow and arrow attached to the one knight's horse's barding was turned backward. I think the assemblers at the factory must have fun doing weird things like that.

But all the parts were there, including a number of spares, and everything turned out flawlessly. I would recommend this set to anyone who's into the Castle theme, especially if you're a chess player. All in all, I give it an 8/10. I admit, I too would rather see a $200 castle. Or a $500 one. I mean, why not? Star Wars fans get a $500 set. Why not us?

Sir Nelson · Post by **Sir Nelson** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 3:54 am

Ed Grimley wrote:I admit, I too would rather see a $200 castle. Or a $500 one. I mean, why not? Star Wars fans get a $500 set. Why not us?

You're probably just kidding but I wouldn't hold my breath. There are way more die-hard SW fans out there than there are Castle fans, and the majority of the latter would probably wait and hope for a clearance sale on said set anyway.

KingDavid · Post by **KingDavid** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:58 pm

Sir Nelson wrote:You're probably just kidding but I wouldn't hold my breath. There are way more die-hard SW fans out there than there are Castle fans, and the majority of the latter would probably wait and hope for a clearance sale on said set anyway.

Yeah, you're probably right. But, if LEGO made a decent $500 castle, I'd buy it. I really couldn't afford it, but I'd find a way. It really sucks that the Brickmania sets aren't being sold anymore. I would have loved to have gotten my hands on some of those. Oh well, I have the instructions and there's always BrickLink.

Anyway, as for this giant chess set, I'm still not so sure it's worth the price tag, but I don't particularly regret getting it. If I were to get another one, I'd be hard-pressed to do so unless I got it for $50 or so. There's a lot of good parts in it, but as some people have already noted, BrickLink's a much better way to simply get extra parts.

I think the best part of getting it is looking through the instructions and learning a couple new building tricks, such as the clever way the crown knight kite shield is attached to the corner of the set using a megaphone. It's a bit odd, but works well.

outcast · Post by **outcast** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 8:46 pm

I just got my gcs and I am amazed at the amount of detail.

Word of advice-dont get this just for the parts. Its way too
beautiful to even think about dismantling it

Voran_the_Scholar · Post by **Voran_the_Scholar** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:09 pm

outcast wrote:I just got my gcs and I am amazed at the amount of detail.

Word of advice-dont get this just for the parts. Its way too
beautiful to even think about dismantling it

Too late.