Ecclesiastes Posted November 1, 2021 Posted November 1, 2021 INTRODUCTION The rumors that started at the beginning of this year were the best ones in a very long time. Finally a castle! But... It was a Creator one. This could have been a huge disappointment, but it most certainly wasn't. Now that I finally have three in possession it's about time to have a closer look at this Castelicious set! SET INFORMATION Number: 31120 Title: Medieval Castle Theme: Creator 3in1 Released: 2021 Part Count: 1426 Box Dimensions: 47.6 cm x 37.4 x 9 cm Weight: 2280 gram Set Price (RRP): 99.99 EUR / 89.99 GBP / 99.99 USD / Price per Part: 0.07 EUR / 0.063 GBP / 0.07 USD / Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX The front side of the box shows us the main build, the Medieval Castle. On the right side, the two alternate versions are shown as is done with all Creator sets. The backside shows the interiors and some of the play features. CONTENTS OF THE BOX Two booklets. One for the Medieval Castle and one for the two alternate versions of the Castle Though the piece count doesn't disappoint, there was a lot of air in the box. Looking at the pile of bags it doesn't look that impressive. A total of seven steps completes the Castle as shown at the beginning of the instructions. THE BUILD Bag 1 Starting with the base of the gatehouse. Which has some nice vegetation with 2 mushrooms and the tree hanging over is a nice touch. The mix of multiple greens took a bit to get used to, but eventually, it does the trick. Bag 2 The castle uses a lot of panels, which could have easily been replaced with normal bricks which is a pity. I'm also not a big fan of the yellow for the Tudor style, but it's a nice nod to the old Black Falcons Fortress. Bag 3 The finished gate looks great. The crenellations should have been a brick higher for proper defense though. Even the bird, I assume it's a hawk, looks good with larger wings compared to the other birds later on. Bag 4 The chickens are just ugly, it fits the Creator line but I"n not a fan of those little brick build birds. Bag 5 Target practice near the chickens, that's quite daring. The house looks ok, but the roof feels unfinished. Some tiles on top could have fixed that. Bag 6 A cell near the market stall comes in handy when thieves steal your merchandise. Too bad the well isn't working in some way. Bag 7 The side of the tower has a weak spot in the wall where the prisoner can escape. By pulling the bar on the right corner you can remove the wall. Looking at his previous state the prisoner never was aware of this unfortunately. The dragon looks more like a table scrap than a completed dragon. The only thing I do like is the head, especially the leaf part is cleverly used! Details By turning the watermill around the hammer hits the sword in the Blacksmith. The interior in the house above looks like it's made for a nobleman, when he comes down the stairs he can put on his battle armor right away. These empty spaces in the towers should have been filled with weapons or beds. A closer look at the hawk. This is one of the funniest additions, a medieval toilet with some toilet paper. Not sure if the designer was going for recreating the original dragon but looking at the colors and size he might have. The three parts are put together by using bars and clips. Which also provides a way to rearrange the castle. First alternate build Secret rock door on the side of the tower. This baby dragon is just too cute! Maybe Majisto does visit this tower sometimes! The top of the tower uses slopes sideways and it looks very nice! So do the larger brick build banner and the gargoyles! Sturdy doors. Trebuchet is almost ready for the siege! It works! And even comes with a proper practice target. It's a shame but these parts are all unused for the alternate build. It could have been even better. Even the weapons or any of the shields aren't used! Second alternate build Small tournament stand is nicely done. Again, not a fan of the birds. But I do like this tree. Starting the wall. Freshly baked bread with some nice spices is available here. A proper staircase! The mill adds to the village feeling, also a smart choice for building it on the wall. Again, this is just so sad. So much wasted potential with all these leftover bricks. Minifigures The main and alternate builds are using the minifigures in a slightly different way. This is neat because that shows kids how to do some figbarfing! Medieval Castle Tower Siege Mill wall. Mixing it up! The instructions don't show this option, but because all the castle parts have connection points it should have a purpose. Which is obviously meant for mixing up the different parts. So having all the parts gives you a proper castle. With a good amount of minifigures, because three is just not enough. Should have been at least five, and no I don't count a skeleton as a minifigure! A horse would have been nice as well. But unfortunately, that wouldn't have really fitted the Creator theme. Overall It's not mind-blowing, as a castle fan it lacks a lot if you compare it with the old castles. But that's mostly about the minifigures. The castle itself is solid, especially for a brick-build one without the usage of any burps. But seeing a proper castle set after such a long time, it does the job perfectly. Completing it with a bit of nostalgia by reviving the Black Falcon Knights shows TLC cherishes afols! It makes you want more, so hopefully with the new rumors of the Viking Ship medieval sets will get a boost again! SCORE How do I rate this set? 8 DESIGN A nice tribute to classic castle themes 8 BUILDING EXPERIENCE Fun, especially the first alternate build is fun with working siege engine. Though it has too many leftover parts which is too bad. 7 FEATURES Working blacksmith, gatehouse, trebuchet, and much more! 7 PLAYABILITY It lacks minfigures, you need more knights or even villagers to play out o proper story. 7 PARTS Basic parts, nothing special. 8 VALUE FOR MONEY Great price per piece ratio, though too much yellow for castle builders. Quote
Clone OPatra Posted November 2, 2021 Posted November 2, 2021 Fantastic review Ecc, pointing out some of the best details and also giving warranted criticism. Personally I wasn't keen at first when LEGO started to take Creator in a very Minifigure-oriented direction. At that time, the majority of LEGO's sets and lines were Minifigure ones, while Creator was about showing how creative LEGO could be without Minifigures! But with sets like this, plus more and more non-Minifigure sets now, the concept has grown on me. If they don't think a whole line of Castle/Vikings/Pirates or whatever can sell, they can at least do something in Creator, and show that even specific models can be rebuilt into other things as well. I'd love to read an actual designer's take on this, but I don't think it's their point in the 3-in-1 to even try and use all of the pieces. The different models provide different experiences, especially in amount of time needed. Have less time, build the smallest one, have more time, the bigger one and so on. Plus, the leftover pieces can then serve as inspiration - the instructions have told you what to do with some of the parts, now try and use the rest by yourself. In any case, what with the Viking Ship rumoured it seems this set was a preview of things to come. I hope they cover even more historic themes, like Western. Quote
AmperZand Posted November 3, 2021 Posted November 3, 2021 (edited) @Ecclesiastes, Great review! I especially like how you pictured all the bags/steps as you went. If you're not familiar with the 3-in-1 concept or the set though, you might be left thinking that all the parts needed to create the combined version of two sets shown at the top of the review are included in just one copy. You may want to make it clearer that you'll need three copies to achieve the splendour of your opening pic. Admittedly beyond the scope of the review, but if anyone is interested in what the castle would look like with more minifigures (and some cosmetic changes), this picture might help: Edited December 5, 2021 by AmperZand Quote
MKJoshA Posted November 4, 2021 Posted November 4, 2021 What a great review! I love how it looks when you put all 3 builds together. Really makes it feel like a proper castle. That dragon though. It's so scrawny. A nice nod to older castle themes, but not well executed. Quote
Captain Braunsfeld Posted November 5, 2021 Posted November 5, 2021 Fine review! I took a look at the ratings you've given. To me the set is somewhat divisive: Yes, you get those great new knights - but at the same time only two of them. There used to be many more in Lego's earlier castle sets. 2 knights would have been something for a 18€ set (not too long ago). Yes, you get a few bricks for your own castle design - but some are just panels (very disappointing). So, I would reduce both "playability" and "parts" to 6. Otherwise I agree with your results. Quote
Fraunces Posted November 15, 2021 Posted November 15, 2021 Very nice review indeed. Agree with you on all points! Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.