Subject:
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4x2ReVu: 8877 Vladek's Dark Fortress
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lugnet.reviews
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Date:
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Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:09:08 GMT
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Lord Vladek has maintained an iron grip on the kingdom for more than a decade
now. Where there isn’t poverty and suffering, rich and affluent lickspittle
lords bow and scrape to the dark lord (there is no middle-ground).
Whatever the
source of his power (cruel intimidation, force of numbers or the mystical
energies that emanate from the glowing shard of banefire crystal kept
somewhere in the lower levels of his castle), the sacrifice of many have been
made to put the structural plans of the fortress and a schedule of the regular
guard routes into the hands of rebels that would take their kingdom back from a
bleak, oppressive existence.
With the assistance from a strange wizard known
only as ‘Guardian’, four chosen champions creep over the low hills of the Mertis
plain to reach and breach the dark fortress in an effort to dethrone the
malevolent madman. But does Vladek know each and ever detail of the plan
already?
‘Dark ages’ is the term used for that time that Lego fans spend away from the
habit. My first one occurred during high school. A short time after graduating
I came back to actually start my collecting habit. A second ‘break’ came
shortly thereafter and I picked it up again after getting married. I’ve now
passed through a third and fourth ‘break’ and have been more regularly
purchasing since sometime in 2008. I give this preface because I haven’t
seriously looked at any Castle themes since the Royal Knights in 1995 (which
along with the Fright Knights were a disappointment to me in terms of
construction quality) though I did a brief return for the Ninja theme of 1999.
So now the year is 2010, there’s the promise of a quality theme in Kingdoms and
I’m looking back over what I have missed in the last few years.
I’ve got to say the whole landscape of collecting has changed in just the last
five years: For the ‘better’, with the advent of Bricklink which lets
collectors find and market older sets, and for the ‘uncertain’ double-edged
practice of ‘piecing out’ sets. On one hand, piecing out allows collectors to
find just the right piece that might have gone missing from a beloved set. On
the other hand, cannibalizing the sets to sell pieces (and minifigures
specifically) for an outrageous price has most certainly contributed to the Lego
Group raising their own prices so as not to be left out of the price-gouging
party. Perhaps the oddest thing I find is the way some sets discontinued by ten
years or more go for a reasonable price while newer sets go for ridiculously
inflated prices after only one or two years out of circulation (thinking mainly
of Batman and Star Wars sets). I attribute this (perhaps erroneously) directly
to the ‘piecing-out’ theory and minifig rarity. Sorry about digressing from
what’s supposed to be a review but hey, where else am I gonna go to spout my
opinion since I don’t maintain a blog?
So anyway, I’m catching up on Castle themes I may have missed out on since the
1999 Ninjas and here’s what I’ve found:
The original Knights Kingdom of 2000
which is basically why I went into the dark ages - to hide my head from the
juniorized constructions (though the Bull’s as a sub-theme are cool in theory).
The Knight’s Kingdom (2004) which I’ll talk a bit about if I ever stop
digressing.
The Vikings (2005) which technically aren’t Castle but they’re
close enough to a medieval theme that they ought to be included.
The Skeleton
Army (2007) which is a very tasty looking theme but it’s one of those themes
that has exploded in price since its release. Luckily I was able to pick up a
7092 Skeleton’s Prison Carriage and a couple of the 7079 Drawbridge Defence sets
(which really ought to be considered part of the theme and determined buyers can
still find these on U.S. store shelves as of June 2010).
Finally there’s the
Dwarves/Trolls (2008) sub-theme which was a very creative, almost natural way to
take the Castle theme. I did manage to pick up the 7036 Dwarves’ Mine as a
curiosity but ended up giving it to my kids after the initial build. I do have
to say that the 7097 Troll’s Mountain Fortress is an impressive model (which my
one of my sons received as a gift).
True Castle fanatics can feel free to fill
in any blanks I may have missed.
My exposure to Knights Kingdom II came by way of my sons’ interest in the larger
figures. I remember their getting first the initial figures, then wanting the
second wave of ‘beefier’ figures. At that time I didn’t know there were sets
for the smaller, standard-size figures. As Christmas of 2009 approached, I had
the 7097 Troll’s Mountain on hand for son number two. When he received that for
Christmas, son number three went nuts for the size and coolness of the model. I
knew I had to find something similar for his b-day in June 2010 but as I started
looking I just couldn’t find a decent model for a reasonable price. Imagine my
surprise when I was able to find some discontinued 8877 Vladek’s Dark Fortress
sets for right around $100. Knowing my son was originally into the larger
figures, I automatically figured he’d be interested in this castle. I picked up
the castle, stored it without giving it much inspection, and just this week it
came out for the birthday event. So here’s the review.
I’m blown away!!! This thing is HUGE!! The box touts this monster as featuring
967 pieces!! I don’t think I’ve ever built a castle set that had so many
pieces.
The castle is comprised of a central tower and flanking walls. The flanking
walls are three-level structures with the ground level walls composed of brown
rock/earth elements and grey stone. Second levels are made of black castle
walls. The third level is composed of battlement terraces and walkways and
(elastic band propelled) fireball flinging catapults. At the far end of each
flanking wall is a fourth level turret and parapet. Stairways enable access
from ground to the second levels but no ladders are in place for access from
second to third or fourth levels (this is a very minor quibble). The flanking
wall groundfloors feature a crystal ball and forge/firepit on one side and a
sliding wall with access to a room full of scorpions on the other side (this is
either or a trap for invaders or a very dangerous escape route for prisoners).
There’s also a second story wall that revolves holding a skeleton on one side.
The castle is otherwise bedecked with spiderwebs, a glowing spider and (plastic)
scorpion banners.
The first floor of the central section is comprised of a
chain-driven drawbridge and heavy doors. The second level houses a large brown
vat for carrying glowing coals. Coals are fed from the third level above
through a chute into the vat and a mechanism on the second floor allows for
dumping the vat onto unsuspecting intruders caught between the drawbridge and
the heavy doors. The fourth level of the tower is a battlement featuring an
enlarged shield/replica of Vladek’s flared helmet (very cool!)
Invaders/attackers of the castle are outfitted with a horse drawn
(flip-activated) catapult and a decent looking wheeled ballista that oddly
enough launches by way of a gear/gear rack mechanism (rub your thumb on the gear
real fast and the rack lunges forward throwing the missile). There’s also a
mini catapult that mounts on one of the horses (a bit of the kitschy trademark
that unfortunately characterizes most of the KKII sets).
The set comes with a total of eight figures and two horses. This is a bit odd
when considering that the 6080 King’s Castle from 1984 and only 664 pieces came
with 12 figures and four horses, but the minifigure is quickly becoming a more
prominent/highlighted feature of modern models (Lego, please keep in mind that a
well-constructed model should also remain a priority). The included figures are
four good guy knights (purple, light blue, red and green) and a main bad
guy/boss (Vladek) with three badguy knights (smoked chrome armor with black
flecks). All of the armor and helmet/visor pieces are very well done. Each
colored knight comes with his own contoured visor, decorated breastplate and
shield (this is a nice touch), they also have their own colored grand sword
(blue, gold, bronze, silver). Vladek gets a tear-shaped shield with a scorpion
design and a black grand sword. The badguy knights are armed with various
weapons including poleaxes and spears.
This is a masterpiece of a model and I can’t imagine any true Castle fan missing
out on the set (though for the oddities of the theme mentioned below, I can
understand how it might be overlooked). I should also put a word in here for
‘juniorized’ parts. Where they were initially abhorrent in my opinion, I
believe Lego is gradually finding the balance on use of these parts. While they
restrict alternate building possibilities, they do allow for larger/sturdy
constructions (such as replacing five 1x1 bricks with a solid beam, and in some
but not all cases-the castle walls). There’s definitely a fine balance to keep
when utilizing these parts (this very theme demonstrates the pros and cons of
doing so) and hopefully Lego will keep that in mind as they progress.
The bottom line on this set (and it took us a long time to get here!) is that
for the unique knights and a terrific, imposing finished model this is a GREAT
purchase. The theme is odd in that there seem to be some releases that were
region specific (i.e. available only in Europe or only in the U.S.). The theme
also struggles between juniorized constructions with almost infantile, garish
traps (giant axes, etc.) and multiple bright colors (I must assume these were
targeted at younger builders) as opposed to sets that provide improved
constructions and more muted hues. Interested buyers will want to be careful
and do a bit of research on any sets they plan to purchase from the Knights
Kingdom II theme.
!!! 4x2ReVu Stats !!!
Rating: Eight out of eight studs
Pros: Tremendous castle structure, great size, good value with some
excellent/unique minifigure designs.
Cons: No real cons, but avid collectors
will want to be cautious on purchasing other sets from this particular theme.
Walletwise: 967 pieces for originally about $100 though you’ll probably have
to pay around $150 for an unopened one now (still a good deal).
Date:
6/24/10
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