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Subject: 
New castle! Huge pieces abound!
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.castle
Date: 
Wed, 15 Dec 1999 16:14:03 GMT
Viewed: 
786 times
  
Well, last night I managed to pick up 6091 (the castle), 6096 (bull's attack),
6094 (Guarded Treasury), 4086 (axe cart), and 6026 (King Leo). Actually, that
was every 2000 set that the TRU in Framingham, MA had (they had only 1 more
6091 after I was through, and NO new Star Wars stuff!)... otherwise I would
have gotten more.... Well, despite the fact that I got home at 9PM and had to
work this morning, I just couldn't resist building the sets.... So I stayed up
till about 11:30 building :) Upon reflection, I have to say I'm really
dissapointed in most of the buildings-- they're mostly made up of the new 3x4x6
castle "tower" pieces, and the 1x2x5 & 1x1x5 pieces. It was painful to know
that for $171.00 on 5 sets, I wasn't even getting 1000 pieces.

6091 - King Leo's Castle: Cool figs. As has been said, they're a lot more
decorated than castle figs ever have been-- most of the characters have
decorated legs, and some of the belts are even drawn on to the minifig
waists... Pouring out the pieces to build it though almost made me cry.
Everything was huge pieces. And the absolute WORST part of all-- the new
archway over the main entrance. GAG! It's a single piece with grooves cut in
the inside to fit the portcullis, its 2 studs thick, and yes, those inverted
slopes just above the archway? They're part of the arch piece. All three of
them. On both sides, as I remember (although it could be just one, I forget
now) Someone was also wondering about whether it was enclosed or open backed--
it's open backed. Let me try to describe it a bit--

It's the rock raiders HQ/Amazon baseplate-- about a 12x24 brick (unsure of
dimentions) goes in the center to join the two "mountain-ish" outcroppings on
either side, and an 8x8 brick with a little structure goes on each corner. The
"inside" of the castle is the center baseplate and two of the rear 8x8 bricks,
with a bit of the actual baseplate as well. The entire second level is
supported by pretty much 1x1x5 and 1x2x5 supports (there's a couple of dark
grey castle wall sections in the front though, and some of the new 3x4x6
towerish pieces). The front two 8x8 brick-"modules" are really unaccessible
from the interior... they're just there to look cool I guess.

Playability? About what you'd expect. There's an axe-type-booby trap in one of
the back 8x8's (with a GREEN jewel piece!), the portcullis opens/shuts, there's
a catapult on the castle, the king's throne opens to reveal the "real"
treasure, while an empty treasure chest sits on top of one of the front 8x8
modules, waiting to be knocked out of the castle by the spring-firing bull's
weapon. However, I tested it a bit, and I couldn't get it to work very well...
the treasure chest JUST barely makes it over the battlements and outside the
walls. However, this IS the first castle that I can think of offhand with NO
dungeon! There's no little jail cell for Leo's enemies! Oh well... a
dissapointment... they had all that space underneath the main baseplate and
they didn't even use it! Sigh....

6096 - Bull's Attack: Pretty cool, for the most part... lots of things to do
with this set, although I would have expected more figs... (Same with 6091-- it
was REALLY skimpy on figs) Comes with 3 Moo-Men and 1 of Leo's soldiers. Most
of it is pretty self explanitory from the pictures... the one part *I* didn't
expect though was that the big huge vehicle acts as both a battering ram AND a
siege tower with an extendable ramp (and as a jail cell!).  That was kind of a
pleasant surprise, although it leaves no real way for the figs to climb the
siege tower... The battering ram functions pretty well though... The one thing
that really surprised me was the fact that they used the frames of the
reversable walls as part of the main vehicle (just without the interior
section)! That REALLY dissapointed me-- they're just going out of their way to
make me miserable and use less pieces.. :(

6094 - Guarded Treasury: Actually, I like this set. It's got the jail cell door
frame in grey (instead of black which is the only thing I've seen it in
heretofore) AND, the prize of prizes-- a 1x2x2.5 GREY arched window! (just like
in 6097.. but GREY!) That alone will probably mean I'll buy a bunch more of
this set. In terms of pieces, not too surprising... more 1x2x5's and 1x1x5's,
and another 3x4x6 castle tower piece. It's also got another axe-trap, this time
with a 2x2 grey round brick that also falls on the victim, as if being chopped
by 2 huge axes wasn't enough... but still an almost half-decent set.

4086 - Axe Cart: What can I say? I didn't need the directions to put it
together, I just built it from the box's picture... It's pretty
self-explanitory... although there was a piece I had never seen before-- we've
all seen the 1x2 plates that have the upward facing 'hook' on one side (bent at
90 degrees)... but this one has a 1x4 plate with a downward facing hook! (it's
in red)... think that's the first time I've seen it... is it a new piece?

6026 - King Leo: Wow. This set didn't even contain an instruction manual! The
tower consists of a mighty 4 pieces-- a 4x3x6 tower, a 1x2 grey brick, and 2
1x1 grey bricks! Alternate models galore! Just THINK of the possibilities with
4 whole pieces! ... sorry... being overly sarcastic... can't help it... still
annoyed with castle sets.... grrrr....

Anyway, all in all, it's just more of the downward spiral. It's a good thing
these sets LOOK good (and they're European castle!) or else I probably wouldn't
have bought them at all... oh well...

DaveE



Message has 4 Replies:
  Re: New castle! Huge pieces abound!
 
(...) Nope. The newer pirate ships use this to attach the spars to the masts. I just bought a horde from MA12 so I can convert all my pirate ships to studs up spars (so figs can stand on them). Hm, now if I can find red 1x4 plate w/towball, I could (...) (25 years ago, 15-Dec-99, to lugnet.castle)
  Re: New castle! Huge pieces abound!
 
In lugnet.castle, David Eaton writes: ... although there was a piece I had never seen before-- we've (...) at (...) No. This piece most notably appeared in Pirate ships, among others. You can also find it in some Town sets. (25 years ago, 15-Dec-99, to lugnet.castle)
  Re: New castle! Huge pieces abound!
 
(...) <sigh> Oh well. At least it's castle. Demented and sad, but castle.(1) Well, get out that big "sucker!" stamp, and apply it straight to my forehead, because I'm going to go right out and buy them anyway. (as soon as I see them up here in (...) (25 years ago, 15-Dec-99, to lugnet.castle)
  Re: New castle! Huge pieces abound!
 
(...) Everytime I look at 6026 I think they should have called it "Royal Outhouse". I think that guard is there so the King can do his business in private. Julie (25 years ago, 15-Dec-99, to lugnet.castle)

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