Review: 31120 Medieval Castle
Posted by benbacardi,There’s a lot of nostalgia amongst the adult LEGO community for the classic themes of the company’s past; particularly Space, Pirates, and Castle.
Whilst it’s unlikely that LEGO will ever produce another theme with a modernised take on the classics, they have released a few sets that clearly take inspiration from their origins, such as 70816 Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! from The Lego Movie, and more recently the IDEAS set 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay and Creator’s 31109 Pirate Ship.
After the release of 21325 Medieval Blacksmith, the rumours of a new Castle set did the rounds, and it looks like the result is 31120 Medieval Castle! I’m not sure many of us were expecting it to turn up in the Creator 3-in-1 range, but we’ve ended up with three fantastic-looking Castle-inspired models that really do the theme justice.
Minifigures
As is standard with Creator sets, the focus is on the build rather than minifigures, so only three are included. They are fantastic figures, however!
The updated Black Falcons that made their return in 21325 Medieval Blacksmith are back. An older gentleman archer is accompanied by a female knight with a spear, and both are wearing a different style of helmet to those worn by the knights in 21325.
There are no dual expressions, and I've shown the heads rotated in the photos below to better show the face prints behind the helmets. Similarly to 21325, a shield is included with the Black Falcon insignia, and a second adorns the castle entrance, as you'll see below.
The third minifigure is not a knight, but judging by the tatty clothing and dirty face, he is more of a peasant residing within or around the castle. He's wearing a torn sleeveless blue-and-white striped vest with a belt, the print of which continues to the rear. This torso has only previously been available in 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay. His face sports a happy expression behind the unkempt beard, and he has scruffy orange hair.
The Build
The titular model of the 3-in-1 set is of course the castle itself. It's constructed in three sections that clip together, and can be displayed in either a long line, or as a fully-enclosed castle.
The first section to be built is the fantastic-looking main entrance; a drawbridge over a small moat, flanked by two towers bearing red-and-white banners.
Built from the ground up across three of the nine numbered bags, it's very satisfying to watch the castle take shape. The details around the moat include algae-covered walls (using various different shades of green bricks instead of the usual grey) vines and small rocks, mushrooms, and a tree.
Either side of the drawbridge is a pair of flaming torches, and a Black Falcon crest (one of the minifigure shields) takes pride of place above the entrance.
The towers are joined above the entrance by a wattle and daub building in a bright yellow—a reference to the much-loved 375 Castle, perhaps?
The yellow wattle and daub is repeated on the side of one of the towers for a small room that protrudes over the moat. Knowing the kinds of rooms LEGO seemingly must include in every building, and the period this model is set in, I think I can guess at the interior here…
The rear of the castle is kept open, leaving seven small rooms, only two of which include any detailing, unfortunately. The first of these is the toilet, as I surmised above! The medieval “hole in the floor” is represented by a 2x2 round tile with hole, and a white 1x1 round brick is included as a somewhat anachronistic roll of toilet paper.
The room above the entrance houses the drawbridge mechanism; turning an axle on the side of one of the towers raises and lowers it. In its most upright position, it doesn't quite fit completely snug against the entrance, but is still quite effective.
The mechanism is simple; an axle runs through the centre to which the chains are attached, and as it rotates the chains are coiled around the axle and the drawbridge retracted. The teeth of a small gear in the centre of the axle fit into a bush on a lever, preventing the drawbridge from lowering until the lever is raised.
Completing this section of the build, the two towers are topped with crenellations, which use the pentagonal shields to great effect as architectural detailing on the front. Each tower holds a pole flying a blue flag, and a flaming torch. A large black bird is perched ominously on the corner of one.
A few more bags build up the next section of the castle; a small building atop the wall, with a water wheel attached. The castle walls are once again fairly detailed, with a mixture of dark grey, light grey, and greens, as well as masonry and palisade bricks to provide texture.
The moat continues, and a handful of trans-clear cheese slopes provide the illusion of moving water near the wheel. Around the corner, an archery target is attached to the wall, with a pair of chickens and a rooster clustered around. I hope they move before archery practice!
The building atop the wall is the same bright yellow wattle and daub as the front of the castle, and the chimney snaking up the wall to the roof looks fantastic.
Inside, the ground floor is the blacksmith or armoury, where the top half of a suit of armour is stood next to the furnace, and a sword is held in place on an anvil beneath a hammer. The water wheel is attached to a simple mechanism that raises the hammer and strikes the sword as the wheel is turned.
Steps lead up to the first floor battlements (if you can get past the mouse and his cheese,) and a chest of gold and jewels is hidden beneath them.
The small room above the blacksmith contains a cosy fire and an impressive red chair for the knights to relax in the warmth.
The third and final section of the castle is the tallest; a simple watchtower flying another of the Black Falcon’s blue flags. There's no moat on this side of the castle; judging the water wheel, the moat is probably in fact the bend of a river into which the castle is nestled. I enjoyed the simple way in which the arrow slot windows are constructed (there are two in the main entrance and another here,) providing a narrow slit on the outer wall to protect against attackers, opening to a wider aperture internally.
Once again, the yellow wattle and daub is used to great effect around the watchtower, although there is very little detailing inside on either floor.
The ground floor beneath the battlements, however, contains a small bread and fruit stall with a colourful awning, and a prison cell is built into the base of the tower. Despite being so close to food, it appears the prison’s occupant may have been forgotten about quite some time ago!
It's a shame, then, that they never realised they could have escaped simply by pushing on the cell’s side wall! It is only attached by two studs, and easily pops out for access inside. This theme continues into the first alternative build, as you’ll see later.
Connecting the models
Once built, the three models can be connected together with simple clips attaching to bars built into the opposing section. The water wheel section attaches to the left of the entrance:
...and the watchtower attaches to the right:
Although their attachment points are not hinged, the pieces they attach to on the front of the castle are. This allows the two sides to either be spread out (up to 90 degrees, forming one straight fascia) or angled inwards to complete a square courtyard.
When closed, the castle makes for a very dense, impressive looking build. The three sections have been very well-designed to fit together, with a walkway running around the full interior of the castle behind the battlements, and the crenellations line up perfectly where the sections connect.
If displayed horizontally, the model is impressively wide, with the two sections flanking the main entrance and the river running off to the side.
Inside, the walkways only connect when the castle is fully closed, but however it is displayed it looks fantastic.
Once the castle is built, however, we are not yet done! The final model to build is a dragon, a foe for the two Black Falcons to vanquish.
Constructed around a torso made primarily of ball joints, the dragon has two hind legs with clawed feet, two curved and clawed wings, and an articulated tail. It’s quite top heavy, which makes posing it fairly difficult.
The Watchtower
As a 3-in-1 set, instructions are provided for two other similarly-themed sets, the first of which is a tall watchtower. Obviously this necessitated dismantling the main castle, which I was slightly loath to do, although it was an enjoyable build, so I will have that to look forward to again in the future.
The watchtower uses around three-quarters of the parts of the main set (at an eyeball; I didn’t count them) and instead of building out, builds up! With the flagpole on top, it reaches a height of 43cm, and has five stories. Constructing the walls is very similar to those of the main build, but it’s interesting to see the innovative use of the included parts to produce variety, such as the shields providing detailing to the roof.
The tower is connected to a bridge across the river, at the end of which are a pair of functioning heavy wooden doors leading inside to the first floor. Again, the mixture of greys and greens used in the walls, as well as the variety of plain and masonry bricks provide good detailing.
The second floor houses a large bird of some kind sitting on a perch, and the third has a telescope looking out of a window as well as a desk and a book. The top floor affords a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside through latticework windows.
The ground floor contains another jail cell, and as mentioned earlier, another escape mechanism is integrated here, by rotating the large mossy rock away and revealing a hole in the wall.
Also included with this alternative build is a fully working trebuchet! The archery target has even been attached to the barrel and repurposed, perched atop a simple stand ready to be knocked off.
The mechanism is a simple reconstruction of exactly what they would have used in medieval times—winding the winch pulls the level down, a 1x1 round brick can be inserted into the bucket, and when the winch is released, the counterweight flings the arm forward, launching the brick into the air. I played for quite a while attempting to knock the target off the stand, but it was surprisingly difficult!
The Windmill
After more dismantling, I put together the second alternative build. Here we have a small section of castle wall that bridges the river, a short turret, and a windmill. This is the smallest of the three builds, and most of the techniques used to construct the previous walls, battlements, and buildings are familiar. There’s a small food stall beneath the walls on the exterior of the castle, and an alternative red-and-white banner hangs from the tower.
The windmill is joined to an axle that passes through the roof of the small room, and can be turned hand with the spindle at the rear. This section of the wall is hinged, although when displayed at any other angle the door to the windmill room opens to a rather steep drop!
Of course there’s another jail cell, although this one doesn’t hide a secret escape mechanism, much to the disappointment of any future occupant, I’m sure. A chest is tucked away under the staircase, although the contents of this are less appealing than that in the primary build—but I’ll leave that as a surprise.
There are two smaller models also included; an armoury stall and a tree. The archery target has moved to the tree trunk, and the weapons and suit of armour previously being worked on in the castle blacksmith are now seemingly for sale.
You'll need 3 copies of the set!
The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed that both the watchtower and the windmill builds include a clip and a bar at either end of the walls, in exactly the same place as all three sections of the main castle. They’ve presumably, been very cleverly designed to fit together as one much larger castle compound if multiple sets are purchased. Unfortunately we were only sent one copy to review!
Conclusion
The return of a castle-themed set (or line of sets) has been long awaited by fans of the original theme. I’d also be surprised if children nowadays are not still as enamoured with medieval castles, knights, battles, and dragons, as they were in the 70s when the eponymous 375 Castle was released.
This Creator set is a fantastic modern take on a decades-old theme, using the latest building techniques and available parts to great effect, with nods back to the original inspiration. Not only are there numerous play features involved (as there should be in a set from a theme that’s primarily aimed at children!) the models also look great on display. Although the main castle is the most impressive, all three builds are brilliant and the fact that they could all connect together if built at the same time is a bonus.
A few more knights wouldn’t go amiss, but as minifigures are generally not the selling point of a Creator set, I understand why they haven’t been included.
We’ve had some truly well-designed models in the Creator range recently, and this one is no different. I don’t yet know the price, but I suspect it will be fairly reasonable given the lack of licensed branding. Regardless, I highly recommend it, and if you can afford it, purchase more than one!
Thanks to LEGO for providing the set for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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99 comments on this article
I liked this set since I first saw it. Now that I've read the review, I'm absolutely blown away by the sheer quality of it. The cohesiveness and imposing nature of the primary build, the functioning superior siege engine, there's so much to like here!
Brilliant review of what looks like a fabulous set! Can't wait to pick (at least) 1 of these up! Brilliant photos too, thanks!
It looks great, but that 3rd Minifigure looks completely out of place. It was very lazy and cheap of Lego to put that figure in instead of designing a peasant.
What a great looking set, and thank you for the review with a lot of helpful pics. I'll need to get a least one of these!
Great review! I was moderately interested when this was announced, but seeing the review, I definitely want one, maybe even three!
Functional machicolations! That is certainly an unusual and appreciated feature among the various LEGO castles.
Excellent review, Ben!
Creator puts all other themes to shame at the moment
One of the best reviews I’ve read! I love this set. I’m interested to see how all three models would fit together. Also, that tower secondary model looks like what I imagine Sauron’s tower from the Ley of Lethian looks like. I can just see him in wolf form taking in Huan the hound on that bridge!
Unlike mosaics, this set will be easier to expand with parts from your collection.
Blacksmith was one of my favorite recent sets, this is a must-buy.
Thanks for a fine review of a great set.
I was on the fence, a few more figs or at least a(nother) new torso would have made it a instant must-buy but seeing it built in this review pushes it even closer. Will wait on the price for a final decision.
Just want to see the three models all put together now...!
Making the 3 builds connectable is pretty genius. Nostalgia starved AFOLs are going to spend $300 to collect the entire castle complex, but you stay at the $100 price point to be marketable to kids and the traditional target audience of the 3-in-1 line.
Great review and thanks for covering all 3 models!
As mentioned that peasant looks like he stumbled off the Barracuda, and it’s a shame there wasn’t a different torso created.
Thanks for a great review. Day one purchase for me!
Did you have to be so positive, Ben? Now I want this more than ever. Great review.
Awesome review! The main build is cool! Man, I wish I had some extra $ to buy the set. There are other sets I want, too. I like those alternate builds. Go Falcons!
3 in 1 and 3 for all!
With this set, and the recent pirate ship, it’s very clear to me that the creator 3-1 sets are the epitome of what a Lego set can, and should be. It can be taken apart and built into 3 usually wonderful models, and really shows the wide range and ingenuity Lego has. I continue to be impressed by these sets. Plus, from a marketing perspective, it’s an excellent way to get people to buy more sets lol.
@benbacardi, Thank you for a great review and set of pictures.
Am I understanding correctly that if you got two of these and joined the A-build to either the B-build (the tall tower) or the C-build (the windmill), it would form an irregular pentagon when seen from above? If you assembled all three (A, B & C), would the top elevation be a rectangle?
These lego creator animals are so ugly ...
Lovely set, nice alternate builds.
The only thing I'm curious about is why the banners in front are red and white.. Surely they ought to be black and blue to match the Black Falcons colours? I actually quite like the added colour splash they make, but it also makes me think of the Lion Knights from the Kingdoms theme.
@TomKazutara said:
"Bricks and no panels for the castle walls, that is great.
Sure this will be a best selling set in the creator line."
I'm afraid there are some panels, but they're generally pretty well hidden.
Great review. Looks like 3 copies will be finding their way to my house, *ahem* for my daughter, of course :-)
In answer to the question posed in the review: I can confirm that kids are just as interested in pirates, castles and space as they ever were (plus superheroes, of course).
Kinda sucks it doesn't scale with the Medieval Blacksmith
@Pekingduckman said:
"Kinda sucks it doesn't scale with the Medieval Blacksmith"
How badly will they look together, I wonder.
I've always wanted Lego to explore the 3 in 1 format to allow building modular castles or other older themes. I do like this but I definitely prefer my Kingdoms theme, which itself had a modular aspect as part of the jousting set (although I never found a second one). I suspect this will grow on me and will hopefully be cheap enough to explore building all the models together.
@Pekingduckman said:
"Kinda sucks it doesn't scale with the Medieval Blacksmith"
It would probably have to be two to three times the price to even come close to scaling to the Blacksmith. Castles tended to be really, really big, after all, and the Blacksmith set is more similar to a semi-realistic "dollhouse" scale than to even earlier castle sets, which tend to be much more modest in size in order to fit as many interesting features as they could into an affordable playset.
Seriously impressive, hope I get around to buying it. That said, I wish it had some bad guy minifigs as well.
Not sure if only two knights and a pirate *cough* I mean peasant are enough to run a castle effectively, yet alone fight a dragon
I'm saying we needed four knights at least
As to price, it's already up on Lego.com UK site at £89.99.
That's right on my target price. Nice!
@CapnRex101 said:
"Functional machicolations! That is certainly an unusual and appreciated feature among the various LEGO castles.
Excellent review, Ben!"
I know, I thought at first that the main build was just a L shaped set but I am very happy that it is a square that can go on a 32x32 baseplate and the Mediaval Blacksmith added on the side for flavor.
Great. Thanks for making me want this even more now.
Thought this was releasing on June 1? I’m on LEGO.com right now and it says August 1 ($99.99). I guess we’re getting it later on this side of the pond...?
The US is getting most of the summer sets in August, as was the case last year. I think it's because it suits the retailers there better.
Thank you for a fantastic review, very comprehensive and accompanied with lovely photos. Great to see all 3 builds too. This one feels like a real winner.
Outstanding review of an outstanding set. This is pretty much the heart of Lego. The three builds are top quality, and the useful assortment of parts available just beckons for building and rebuilding.
I don't know where the perfect balance between a construction toy and a playset lies, but this has got to be pretty close.
Thank you for detailed review, I'm sure the windmill could be enlarged into a larger more impressive multi-story build. Glad as a creator set they have chosen to use bricks and no castle panels as in the original, so you should be able to make some interesting designs of your own rather than just variations around the dozen panels, or more easily combine with other creator sets, e.g. if buy twice then you can build a castle with 4 turrets!
Well you had to buy 2 copies of Barracuda Bay to display everything at once; might as well buy 3 of these.
Creator 3-in-1 are the best line of Lego. The sets feel more "Lego-y" and "bricky" because of the need to build multiple sets. A good Creator set has an organic brickness to it.
This set is a great example and I think it will fit well with prior Castle sets.
I give the set a grade of A. Fun build and it invites play.
Long live Castle!!!
If you buy 3 copies of this set, you get a more or less enough amount of knights for a big castle plus a nice addition to your pirate ship crew, which is not very big either in 3-in-1 recent set. Double win :)))
I'm really excited about the Creator Medieval Castle. LEGO hasn't made a Castle series since Ninjago started (with the exception of NEXO Knights) so I hope they'll take the hint from the inevitable good sales of this set.
"Whilst it’s unlikely that LEGO will ever produce another theme with a modernised take on the classics, they have released a few sets that clearly take inspiration from their origins, such as 70816 Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! from The Lego Movie, and more recently the IDEAS set 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay and Creator’s 31109 Pirate Ship."
To add on to this, I think LEGO's realized at this point that one off sets do better among AFOLs than full lineups. Despite BIONICLE Gen 2 being a flop Sodoka's Legend of the BIONICLE was the most hyped set of it's Ideas Review. Barracuda Bay was last year's best seller despite Pirates 2016 being shelf warmers. Your average kids aren't going to have that much interest in older themes, and AFOLS are more likely to buy one $100-200 set than $200-300 worth of individual products. One offs like these help keep nostalgic fans like us happy without putting too much of a financial risk on LEGO.
Now we just need them to expand Ninjago Legacy into a full fledged Legacy theme with six sets based on the best sets of old IPs every year.
Best set of 2021 for me, even surpasses the Blacksmith.
Really has huge potential on multiple sets, even moreso then the 2020 Pirate ship (which honestly was outclassed by the much larger Barracuda Masterpiece.
Now there are things missing like horses and more figures, but this is a great start in terms of structure parts, and expandable with already existing owned sets/parts due to it's not too strict color scheme.
Yellow, Brown , Darkblue was also fairly common in other 3-in-1 sets of previous years so will fit nicely to expand this.
Nexo Knights got me back into LEGO , so I don't mind the bright colors it had, but LEGO did lack a good non-licensed Castle location set in a while , and this is awesome, no parts wasted on a vehicle , and the dragon parts are still useful in other builds.
I certainly look forward customizing this, Nexo Knights had a whole lot of printed/stickered shield tiles that would be the first step to change those flags/tower colors if desired, especially with multiple sets.
As far as the IDEAS Blacksmith set, it's great, I just recently built it and love it, but I'll probably end up using it's parts for customizing into a smaller (different color) Guarded Inn type build combined with this.
Last Year I did collect the Ninjago Dungeons sets, so maybe I'll set those up as a opposite smaller skeleton/orc faction akin to 2007 which was during my no LEGO period from 2001-2015.
The brick-built animals ruin it for me. I know this may be considered a childish opinion to have - I could just leave them out. But then I'm left with a bunch of loose parts and a set that's not exactly the product as it was designed. It's very subjective... but I can't help but feel this way.
I'm still tempted. Especially since the alternate models look amazing and match the quality of the primary build more than any other set that I've seen.
@benbacardi said:
" @TomKazutara said:
"Bricks and no panels for the castle walls, that is great.
Sure this will be a best selling set in the creator line."
I'm afraid there are some panels, but they're generally pretty well hidden."
A bunch of panels! 15 Dark Bluish Gray 1x4x3 panels! But they definitely don’t steal the show on this model.
@Huw said:
"The US is getting most of the summer sets in August, as was the case last year. I think it's because it suits the retailers there better."
I think the ongoing difficulties with import shipping in the US are certainly playing a part in the delayed US releases. Even transportation within the US is challenging right now. If anything, Lego was right to factor in the additional time as a buffer to ensure adequate supply in all markets.
This will be a as soon as possible buy for me. I might even have my second and third set on my Christmas list so that I can try and build a super castle!
I have four of the CMF 20 Tournament Knight who need a home. Problem solved!
The set name "Great Knight's Castle" is a clear reference to a previous Falcon Knights castle, 6073 Knight’s Castle from 1984, albeit with a different color scheme. The yellow sections also seem to be inspired by 6074 Black Falcon's Fortress from 1986, which included a tower (?) with yellow walls as well as a yellow arch above the front entrance.
For me this seems like a great set with only a few minor issues for improvement / MOC'ing:
- I would have liked it if they included brick-built horses as per 375 or 6346105 instead of some of the other brick-built animals.
- The color of the banner - in my opinion - this should have been black/blue, blue/white, or black/white to match the Black Falcon's colors.
I feel that this set has truly returned to "classic castle" of the early 80s-90s, and will most likely buy this set as my first castle.
Great review - can't wait to add this to the collection... I'm thinking one for me and one for the kids!(mainly so I can poach their knights and build that trebuchet!)
The only thing I'm more impressed with than the set is the quality of Ben's review. Both are a home run.
Great set, great review! :)
Summer releases delayed in the US, AGAIN. This is like the 3rd or 4th year in a row, so this was happening long before the pandemic. Getting pretty sick of this. On top of that, it was recently announced that the Bricklink Designer Program will also be delayed. I was really looking forward to all of this but now I'm just frustrated.
Lovely set, and thank you for the review!
@Huw Does Brickset only add prices when a set goes up for sale? Lego already has a price on the website. Apologies if you get these types of questions a lot. I enjoy the behind-the-scenes details.
^ Yes, we can add them manually but usually wait until they are imported automatically when the products appear in the affiliate data feed.
There are only so many hours in the day... :)
Smart castle, indeed! I suppose, that is a black weathercock on the roof of the water-mill.
I appreciate the effort of 3 models and connectivity. And cheer the clever minimized dragon!
But as a old long term collector, I am unexcited about the set: New style but old equipment (helmets, bows, spear, ..), working but well-known mechanics (same wheel-hammer-know-how, rise-and-lower-bridge), and very boring skeleton-in-jail again .. To me, the most interesting part is the trebuchet .. As result, I wish, I were a beginner, not a AfoL. I will pass ..
So many new brick shapes and colours in comparison with the old Castle sets. I love it.
Is it possible to add comparison pictures to the review: this castle and the 2013 castle, this castle and the 2010 castle?
I bet this will be one of the best sellers this year.
The peasant doesn't look like he belongs in this set.
Great review, and thank you for taking the time and effort to cover all three builds!
One aspect of this set that is not mentioned in this review or any of the ones I've seen so far is that the minifigures are built diferently in each of the three models. Most notably, the peasant/blacksmith is transformed into an enemy knight in the B-model using the helmet and breastplate from the main model's smithy, and into a merchant woman in the C-model using the head from the main model's female knight.
Your comment that "I think I can guess at the interior…" makes a very strong point about how "samey" traditional castle sets often are in terms of features (for example, a gatehouse, dungeon, throne room, treasury, and some stone towers). However I'm honestly really impressed how this one goes "above and beyond" by including features that you wouldn't see in a typical "king's castle" set: arrow loops, half-timbered walls, working machicolations, a watchtower with a wooden hoarding, a garderobe, a fireplace, a smithy, a market stall, and even a moat! Not to mention the numerous landscaping elements like the mossy green hill, flowering tree, wildflowers, mushrooms, and crawling ivy.
Mind you, this still lacks a lot of stuff I've been longing to see in a LEGO castle since my childhood. It's long been a frustration of mine that actual castles in themes like Castle and Kingdoms have rarely included "lifestyle" features like a banquet hall, kitchen, bedchamber, library, or stable — especially now that we've seen various features of that sort in castles from other themes like Nexo Knights, Elves, and Disney. If LEGO ever decided to introduce a big, $120+ castle as a D2C or 18+ set at any point in the future, I would certainly expect more of those sorts of features than what we see here. But for this set's price point, the number of clever and innovative features (including "lifestyle" features) is honestly very impressive.
It goes without saying that brick-built animals tend to be divisive, especially smaller ones like birds that would usually be molded in "play themes" like City, Castle, Pirates, or Friends. But in the Creator 3-in-1 theme, they're to be expected, and I'm very impressed with a lot of their designs, even the most minimalist of them like the mouse. The dragon/wyvern in particular appeals greatly to my nostalgia for the classic green dragon from Dragon Masters, my first Castle subtheme as a child — but with the much-improved articulation, complexity, and detail that a brick-built dragon can offer. Also, shout out to whichever designer had the brilliant idea for one of the birds in the A-model to be an actual Black Falcon!
One of the most exciting surprises for me when we first got detailed pics of this set and all three of its models was that it not only has a modular design that can be split apart and re-arranged (like most recent LEGO Castle), but also hinges to allow for "off-grid" layout (as was common in Castle sets of the 1980s) and alternate builds that all conform to the same modular connection standards. I will be excited to see how many builders buy multiples of this set in order to combine all three models, or even create their own alternate builds that can be linked together with the official ones!
The alternate builds are phenomenal designs even on their own, albeit nowhere near the spectacular size and grandeur of the A-model. Based on its contents, I suspect the room of the B-model with the telescope, desk, and curio cabinet is meant to resemble the workshop of a court wizard/alchemist/astrologer. I also love the gargoyles, since they seem to be at least loosely based on the traditional meaning of "gargoyle" (a architectural element used for water drainage and carved into a fanciful shape, rather than just statues/grotesques which appear more frequently in sets and are often colloquially referred to as "gargoyles".
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My main disappointment with the alternate builds is that the barred door is used for a jail or dungeon in all three models, which feels very redundant if you intend to combine the models. I feel like it would have been nicer if the B-model had used the barred door as a cage for the bird (or small dragon — I've seen reviews describing it as both), and the C-model had used it as some type of secure storeroom or even a yett (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yett).
Another thing I find mildly disappointing in all three models is the lack of ladders to access the higher levels of the towers (although I'm grateful that stairs are included in all three models to access the top of the curtain wall and the rooms level with it). I can't imagine it would have cost a lot or added a lot to the piece count to include some ladders — but then again, considering this set's enormous piece count and impressive price-per-piece even by Creator 3-in-1 standards, perhaps the set was already running up against the limitations of its budget even without ladders. And of course, it would not be not too difficult or expensive a modification for buyers to add a few ladders using parts from other sets.
All in all, for the Creator 3-in-1 theme's first castle, this is an incredible first showing, and makes me hopeful we'll see more medieval-inspired 3-in-1 sets in the future! Even if some Castle builders might not find the actual builds a natural fit for their layouts, the set still holds incredible promise both as a parts packs and as a source of inspiration for original creations — which is a big part of the Creator 3-in-1 theme's enduring appeal!
Top class review of what looks like a brilliant set :)
The second I saw the first picture my brain shouted MULTIBUY!!! This is essentially a whole Castle theme in one set. Buy three of them and you'll have a very significant medieval setting packed with multiple structures, a sizeable garrison of knights, and loads of spare bricks in all the right colours to upscale some the official buildings or create your own in a unified style.
What a great idea!
Having three of the 'peasant' figure won't really work, so some additions from the CMF range or the ones available from LEGO shops will help to populate the theme, along with some wagon wheels and horses.
The peasant isn't a peasant by the way, and neither is he a pirate... he's the blacksmith!
@ComfySofa said:
"Top class review of what looks like a brilliant set :)
The second I saw the first picture my brain shouted MULTIBUY!!! This is essentially a whole Castle theme in one set. Buy three of them and you'll have a very significant medieval setting packed with multiple structures, a sizeable garrison of knights, and loads of spare bricks in all the right colours to upscale some the official buildings or create your own in a unified style.
What a great idea!
Having three of the 'peasant' figure won't really work, so some additions from the CMF range or the ones available from LEGO shops will help to populate the theme, along with some wagon wheels and horses.
The peasant isn't a peasant by the way, and neither is he a pirate... he's the blacksmith!"
Yes the Smithy... He looks like Peter Dinklage, just needs short legs
A serpent with only two legs and wings would be called a wyvern.
If you ever do happen to get a couple extra, I would love to see all the models put together. ;)
Thanks for the review. This is shaping up to be a must buy. I was torn at first. I love castle so I'd want to get it, but since I haven't built official sets in quite some time, and instead choose to MOC a lot, I didn't know if I should make the purchase. But after reading this review, I think it would be wise to look into this (especially if on sale, although highly unlikely). I doubt I will buy 3 of them though. I may have enough of my own supply to add to it if I did decide to build it.
I like how they allowed it to be attached to each other among the different versions. It will be neat to see an official set x3 with all the bells/whistles. And then to see people's MOCs of course.
Again, I have to commend Lego's forethought into this. I certainly believe that dedicating a full theme to Castle (or Pirates, or Space) carries a lot of risk since if executed poorly it could just be another short lived one off wave of mediocre sets mixed in with one standout. Look at say what happened to the last Castle themes or Galaxy Squad. But by using Creator to put out one high end set for each theme every few years years in a cycle, and then using Ideas to bolster the demand when possible (Barracuda Bay, Blacksmith shop) Lego has found a way to keep those old themes in circulation without actually having to invest in the THEME portion. Why release seven Castle sets for a full wave, when you can release two and one of them is a Creator set with a 3-in-1 instruction booklet? Its brilliant.
Unfortunately, it remains to be seen if they can apply this to other classic Lego themes that fans always demand to come back. I have mentioned it before, but both Trains and Bionicle are locked out of this due to their more unique part molds not fitting into a Creator 3-in-1 set which usually uses the most basic bricks possible (although the return of 18+ Trains with the Crocodile last year has me hopeful we get more high end trains regularly). Not to mention the story element of Bionicle would be sorely missed even if we got a box of Technic parts for "build your own Rahi" like the Master Builder set of old. Adventurers and Western feel like the next best bets to make a 3-in-1 Creator set inspired by a classic theme in my mind, especially Adventurers. Just slam Johnny Thunder and Pippin look alike into a set and give us a tomb to raid in a 3-in-1 set combo. People say Western might not work in the modern day due to the American Indian depiction in the old sets, but just focus a Creator set on the less complicated "cowboys vs outlaw" dynamic that was going on in the original theme and you could have a set that could give us a combo such as a bank-stagecoach-outlaw outpost and give us plenty of bricks to create our own Western builds.
They could even give us a Paradisa style set if they wanted to just with a house and pastel colors, although Friends arguably already covers that genre I guess.
Again really of the "themes fans demand to be revived" again, Bionicle is just kind of borked due to its specialized molds. So this whole Creator 3-in-1 thing just doesn't work for it.
A working trebuchet?? Sold! Creator has really become one of the greatest themes in the past few years--knocked this one out of the park, love it!
Alright, this has already gone on my want list for my upcoming LEGO store shopping spree in Sydney for my 18th!
Just reading the review and seeing the pics I see so many similarities to the classic 6080 set. Normally only go for Lego Star Wars sets, but so tempted by this!
@Sethro3 said:
"Thanks for the review. This is shaping up to be a must buy. I was torn at first. I love castle so I'd want to get it, but since I haven't built official sets in quite some time, and instead choose to MOC a lot, I didn't know if I should make the purchase. But after reading this review, I think it would be wise to look into this (especially if on sale, although highly unlikely). I doubt I will buy 3 of them though. I may have enough of my own supply to add to it if I did decide to build it.
I like how they allowed it to be attached to each other among the different versions. It will be neat to see an official set x3 with all the bells/whistles. And then to see people's MOCs of course."
Not why you think its highly unlikely to be on sale, Creator 3 in 1s are always on sale, the pirate one last year was 33% fairly often! I will assume this one will be as well
Having built a functioning trebuchet irl I appreciate there being a LEGO version.
@xboxtravis7992 said:
"Again, I have to commend Lego's forethought into this. I certainly believe that dedicating a full theme to Castle (or Pirates, or Space) carries a lot of risk since if executed poorly it could just be another short lived one off wave of mediocre sets mixed in with one standout. Look at say what happened to the last Castle themes or Galaxy Squad. But by using Creator to put out one high end set for each theme every few years years in a cycle, and then using Ideas to bolster the demand when possible (Barracuda Bay, Blacksmith shop) Lego has found a way to keep those old themes in circulation without actually having to invest in the THEME portion. Why release seven Castle sets for a full wave, when you can release two and one of them is a Creator set with a 3-in-1 instruction booklet? Its brilliant.
Unfortunately, it remains to be seen if they can apply this to other classic Lego themes that fans always demand to come back. I have mentioned it before, but both Trains and Bionicle are locked out of this due to their more unique part molds not fitting into a Creator 3-in-1 set which usually uses the most basic bricks possible (although the return of 18+ Trains with the Crocodile last year has me hopeful we get more high end trains regularly)."
I don't really see any reason to think train parts would be a deal-breaker for Creator 3-in-1, considering that Creator 3-in-1 has used similarly specialized parts when it's necessary from a functional standpoint (e.g. 2x2x10 truss supports, roller coaster cars/tracks, Technic suspension rods/motorcycle wheels, aircraft rotors/windscreens, etc).
The only specialized train parts that I think would be entirely necessary for a minifig-scale 3-in-1 train would be the tracks and wheels. Otherwise, there are plenty of ways to construct features like couplings, buffers, bogies, and pantographs using more generic parts, including many that have actually been featured in past train sets.
Bionicle 3-in-1 sets would be less viable, even though I wouldn't attribute that to a strict need for specialized parts. After all, brick-built renditions of Bionicle characters or mechanical action figures in general can be pretty impressive in their own right.
Rather, the main stumbling block I see for Bionicle is that a stand-alone 3-in-1 set would not likely be accompanied by the sort of supporting story media that kids would need to contextualize the set and understand what it represents — as opposed to Ideas sets and other "premium" sets, which have room for lore, character bios, etc. in the introductions and margins of the instruction manuals themselves.
@Nick said:
"The brick-built animals ruin it for me. I know this may be considered a childish opinion to have - I could just leave them out. But then I'm left with a bunch of loose parts and a set that's not exactly the product as it was designed. It's very subjective... but I can't help but feel this way.
I'm still tempted. Especially since the alternate models look amazing and match the quality of the primary build more than any other set that I've seen. "
I also don’t care for small-to-medium brick-built animals, but I don’t have an issue with modding sets either and will be excluding those builds from my displayed castle. That said, I respect your LEGO collecting credo and in a parallel universe would do the same.
@raven_za said:
"The color of the banner - in my opinion - this should have been black/blue, blue/white, or black/white to match the Black Falcon's colors."
Totally agree. I’m going to go with blue/white. I considered black but the backing piece of the banners is black, so black both in front and behind would have created too much of a dark clump when viewed from the side.
@Frostvik said:
"A serpent with only two legs and wings would be called a wyvern."
Or a dragon. While I belong to the Tolkien school of dragon design in believing that dragons should be winged quadrupeds (four limbs + wings), historically, both dragons and wyverns were sometimes depicted as bipedal. The idea that dragons are exclusively the former and wyverns the latter seems to originate with Dungeons & Dragons. While I appreciate D&D’s contribution to the fantasy genre, I don’t regard it as definitive. My LEGO orcs, for example, are green; D&D’s are grey.
does anyone know where I can see all 3 builds combined, or will I have to wait for june 1st for that?
I might have to get this if only for the superior siege engine
@Zander said:
“Or a dragon. While I belong to the Tolkien school of dragon design in believing that dragons should be winged quadrupeds (four limbs + wings), historically, both dragons and wyverns were sometimes depicted as bipedal. The idea that dragons are exclusively the former and wyverns the latter seems to originate with Dungeons & Dragons. While I appreciate D&D’s contribution to the fantasy genre, I don’t regard it as definitive. My LEGO orcs, for example, are green; D&D’s are grey.”
Actually it’s far earlier than D&D, it’s a classification from medieval heraldry. A true dragon had four legs and wings, only two legs with wings was a wyvern and no legs at all but still winged and you had a lindworm. How much this relates to actual folklore is questionable, obviously, entirely possible terms like dragon, wyvern and wyrm were largely interchangeable if you were a humble peasant. But the people who put this stuff on their shields and flags were very particularly about knowing exactly what they were putting on their shields and flags
It looks way too cartoonish. More like a theme park castle than an actual one.
It looks like it'll be £89.99 available from 1st of June https://www.lego.com/en-gb/product/medieval-castle-31120
Americans will have to wait until 1st of August however for some reason.
“Whilst it’s unlikely that LEGO will ever produce another theme with a modernised take on the classics”
Why not? I love Lego, but if it focusses almost entirely on licensed IP then it loses much of what makes it great, which is original themed sets. I have a real hankering for a new space theme.
Three mini figures is extremely miserly. Should be four soldiers and four other figures for a set like this.
@Rogue10 said:
" @Pekingduckman said:
"Kinda sucks it doesn't scale with the Medieval Blacksmith"
How badly will they look together, I wonder."
I'm guessing about as good or bad as a Creator 3in1 house looks next to a Creator Expert Modular... ;-)
I DESPISE fact they made HP set with black helmets and they are giving falcons Silver/Gunmetal ones
Still This set is amazing - even if you not adore it as I do its amazing partpack for any castle/pirate fan just like Pirate ship was before!
I wish it had no minifigs so it would be even better priced. (Because figs are so cheap to get anyway from different places)
I appreciate the fact that there are only two knights included. I actually want to stack it with my royal knights, who are currently homeless, and from that point of view, not providing an entire expeditionary force of black falcons, with the associated expense, is pretty reasonable.
@Brickalili said:
" @Zander said:
“Or a dragon. While I belong to the Tolkien school of dragon design in believing that dragons should be winged quadrupeds (four limbs + wings), historically, both dragons and wyverns were sometimes depicted as bipedal. The idea that dragons are exclusively the former and wyverns the latter seems to originate with Dungeons & Dragons. While I appreciate D&D’s contribution to the fantasy genre, I don’t regard it as definitive. My LEGO orcs, for example, are green; D&D’s are grey.”
Actually it’s far earlier than D&D, it’s a classification from medieval heraldry. A true dragon had four legs and wings, only two legs with wings was a wyvern and no legs at all but still winged and you had a lindworm. How much this relates to actual folklore is questionable, obviously, entirely possible terms like dragon, wyvern and wyrm were largely interchangeable if you were a humble peasant. But the people who put this stuff on their shields and flags were very particularly about knowing exactly what they were putting on their shields and flags"
The interchangeability of heraldic terms had more to do with place than feudal class. In the British Isles, a distinction was made between dragons (four limbs) and wyverns (two) but no such separation was made in continental Europe where both were considered dragons. The fantasy genre has been more greatly influenced by Britain’s culture than continental Europe’s, so the former’s conception has prevailed. When Peter Jackson’s ‘Hobbit’ films portrayed Smaug with two legs, many criticised it as being a wyvern. But that’s mostly because of the influence of recent fantasy, especially D&D. Had the continent’s culture more directly influenced the fantasy genre and been less mediated by the UK’s/Ireland’s, we would have no qualms about describing Peter Jackson’s Smaug or this LEGO set’s green monster as a dragon.
(And yes, I’m aware that D&D is predominantly American. But US fantasy is more directly the result of British fantasy than continental European).
@Spike730 said:
"It looks way too cartoonish. More like a theme park castle than an actual one."
E.g. Castle of Legoland ^^
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.burgerbe.de%2F2013%2F07%2F28%2Fdie-sache-mit-den-mittelalter-irrtuemern%2F&psig=AOvVaw26oTy4P_KEHDTycOtCUvof&ust=1621167478217000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCPCoktfVy_ACFQAAAAAdAAAAABAr
@gasdoc said:
"I appreciate the fact that there are only two knights included. I actually want to stack it with my royal knights, who are currently homeless, and from that point of view, not providing an entire expeditionary force of black falcons, with the associated expense, is pretty reasonable."
I really hope if LEGO (remakes) more knight factions , they'll pick Royal Knights , still my favorite faction color scheme and shield design, and a great wave of sets back in 1995 (never had the carriage or big castle but that Drawbridge and Skeleton Tower were great Starters back then).
@Spike730 said:
"It looks way too cartoonish. More like a theme park castle than an actual one."
Disregarding the fact that this is a building toy aimed at children as well as adults, what exactly is "cartoonish" about its looks? The overall layout may not be representative of many castles in reality but many Lego castles in the past have utilized this same general template.
Is it the color scheme? Is it too far off from what an actual castle with newly painted wooden/wattle and daub structures during the Middle Ages would have looked like? It's not like medieval European audiences aesthetically preferred (or even had access to the pigments for) the more muted color palette appreciated by modern aesthetics where bright primary colors are now often seen as garish or childish.
@Zander said:
" @Brickalili said:
" @Zander said:
“Or a dragon. While I belong to the Tolkien school of dragon design in believing that dragons should be winged quadrupeds (four limbs + wings), historically, both dragons and wyverns were sometimes depicted as bipedal. The idea that dragons are exclusively the former and wyverns the latter seems to originate with Dungeons & Dragons. While I appreciate D&D’s contribution to the fantasy genre, I don’t regard it as definitive. My LEGO orcs, for example, are green; D&D’s are grey.”
Actually it’s far earlier than D&D, it’s a classification from medieval heraldry. A true dragon had four legs and wings, only two legs with wings was a wyvern and no legs at all but still winged and you had a lindworm. How much this relates to actual folklore is questionable, obviously, entirely possible terms like dragon, wyvern and wyrm were largely interchangeable if you were a humble peasant. But the people who put this stuff on their shields and flags were very particularly about knowing exactly what they were putting on their shields and flags"
The interchangeability of heraldic terms had more to do with place than feudal class. In the British Isles, a distinction was made between dragons (four limbs) and wyverns (two) but no such separation was made in continental Europe where both were considered dragons. The fantasy genre has been more greatly influenced by Britain’s culture than continental Europe’s, so the former’s conception has prevailed. When Peter Jackson’s ‘Hobbit’ films portrayed Smaug with two legs, many criticised it as being a wyvern. But that’s mostly because of the influence of recent fantasy, especially D&D. Had the continent’s culture more directly influenced the fantasy genre and been less mediated by the UK’s/Ireland’s, we would have no qualms about describing Peter Jackson’s Smaug or this LEGO set’s green monster as a dragon.
(And yes, I’m aware that D&D is predominantly American. But US fantasy is more directly the result of British fantasy than continental European)."
I mean, I love D&D and enjoy playing it... but its a bad habit we have in US nerd culture right now to treat the D&D Monster Manual as our go to be all reference for mythical nomenclature; which is not a good habit to have. Half the monsters there are outright fabricated for the game, and the other have had serious changes to make them playable and easier to fit into the game. The Monster Manual is a fun book and neat little fantasy bestiary, but it has to be understood its creatures and rules only apply to the game it was written for and its not intended to be a catch all guide to mythic creatures outside the game itself.
@Tynansd said:
"“Whilst it’s unlikely that LEGO will ever produce another theme with a modernised take on the classics”
Why not? I love Lego, but if it focusses almost entirely on licensed IP then it loses much of what makes it great, which is original themed sets. I have a real hankering for a new space theme.
Three mini figures is extremely miserly. Should be four soldiers and four other figures for a set like this. "
The IP sets are too popular and make too much money, to help blunt. As much as many of us enjoy classic castle, space, etc., I just don’t think Lego thinks they’ll see the the same profit margins or success.
$300 for a one-way trip to Coolsville?
I’m in.
If you think the toilet paper’s an anachronism, check out the female knight.
Great review! As a Castle theme lover from the 80s, I expected a more realistic castle, especially after seeing (and buying) the new blacksmith. I think it is the yellow colour of the non-grey parts of the wall. It is the only thing I do not love.
But I will buy it...it is a must for Castle lover!!
@HeriSanmi said:
"Great review! As a Castle theme lover from the 80s, I expected a more realistic castle, especially after seeing (and buying) the new blacksmith. I think it is the yellow colour of the non-grey parts of the wall. It is the only thing I do not love.
But I will buy it...it is a must for Castle lover!!"
The yellow is a reference to the yellow walls and details in the previous Black Falcon castle 6074 (as well as the original 375-2). The red and white banners, while attractive, do not quite fit in with the Black Falcon color theme (the red should be either green or blue) but it's not like medieval soldiers necessarily followed a completely uniform color scheme (unless they were part of the military orders like the Templars).
Excellent review and excellent set. You could get a lot of good pieces. My only complaint is that lego didmt take the time to dasign a peasant minifigure.
@Zander said:
" @Brickalili said:
" @Zander said:
“Or a dragon. While I belong to the Tolkien school of dragon design in believing that dragons should be winged quadrupeds (four limbs + wings), historically, both dragons and wyverns were sometimes depicted as bipedal. The idea that dragons are exclusively the former and wyverns the latter seems to originate with Dungeons & Dragons. While I appreciate D&D’s contribution to the fantasy genre, I don’t regard it as definitive. My LEGO orcs, for example, are green; D&D’s are grey.”
Actually it’s far earlier than D&D, it’s a classification from medieval heraldry. A true dragon had four legs and wings, only two legs with wings was a wyvern and no legs at all but still winged and you had a lindworm. How much this relates to actual folklore is questionable, obviously, entirely possible terms like dragon, wyvern and wyrm were largely interchangeable if you were a humble peasant. But the people who put this stuff on their shields and flags were very particularly about knowing exactly what they were putting on their shields and flags"
The interchangeability of heraldic terms had more to do with place than feudal class. In the British Isles, a distinction was made between dragons (four limbs) and wyverns (two) but no such separation was made in continental Europe where both were considered dragons. The fantasy genre has been more greatly influenced by Britain’s culture than continental Europe’s, so the former’s conception has prevailed. When Peter Jackson’s ‘Hobbit’ films portrayed Smaug with two legs, many criticised it as being a wyvern. But that’s mostly because of the influence of recent fantasy, especially D&D. Had the continent’s culture more directly influenced the fantasy genre and been less mediated by the UK’s/Ireland’s, we would have no qualms about describing Peter Jackson’s Smaug or this LEGO set’s green monster as a dragon.
(And yes, I’m aware that D&D is predominantly American. But US fantasy is more directly the result of British fantasy than continental European)."
Yeah, I generally prefer not to interpret heraldic terms as strict definitions of what different creatures would look like outside that specific context, considering that heraldry also differentiates between "leopards" and "lions" based on what pose they're depicted in. :P
Moreover, in pre-medieval writings, the Ancient Greek term "drákon" and Latin term "draco" (which preceded the English word "dragon") were used for pretty much ANY dragon- or serpent-like beast, including mythical monsters with wildly varying numbers of limbs, wings, or heads.
@Prydonian said:
"If you think the toilet paper’s an anachronism, check out the female knight."
Female knights were never the norm, but they definitely existed. There are plenty of medieval writings featuring female knights or other women who took up weapons, wore armor, and rode into battle alongside their male comrades-in-arms.
Some of these, such as Joan of Arc, Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd, Isabel of Conches, Matilda of Boulogne, and Petronella of Leicester, were unambiguously real historical figures, even if some of the accounts of their exploits may be heavily mythologized. Others like Muirisc (a warrior princess of Irish folklore) and Brunhild (a shieldmaiden or valkyrie from Germanic heroic legend) were popular "folk heroes" of dubious historicity, akin to male folk heroes like King Arthur, Merlin, or Robin Hood.
Regardless, it'd be absurd to act as if dragons, wizards, or toilet paper are somehow more accurate or plausible for a medieval European setting than female knights.
@Aanchir said:
"Female knights were never the norm, but they definitely existed. There are plenty of medieval writings featuring female knights or other women who took up weapons, wore armor, and rode into battle alongside their male comrades-in-arms."
The Royal Armouries has a late 13th/early 14th century AD illustrated German manuscript (untitled but now called I.33) on fighting with sword and buckler. One of the trainees is a woman. We know that not just from the illustrations but also from the text that gives her name as Walpurgis, a female name of the period. She may not have gone into battle and may have been learning martial arts for self defence - we don't know - but in the manuscript she is depicted as no less able than the male trainees. I was lucky enough to handle the manuscript at an event at the Royal Armouries many years ago.
I wasn't really excited when I first saw this but it steadily grows on me. It reeks nostalgia ¨:P
Still the only complain is the minifig number in this castle. I mean if you want to do it (bring back castle line even that way), do it right and let the minifig clouds upon the sky, rain, well, minifigs!!! Hopefully they'll appear at future lugbulks.
Now all we want is for a reader to pickup 3 sets and connect main and alt builds all together.
OMG I just love this - a childhood dream! Really like the layout of the main build - the way it can be closed into a square with courtyard or splayed out horizontally. Unexpected but wonderful that the overall styling is somewhat juvenile and stylized, rather than a more serious, historical style castle. Fun! Also just brilliant that the alternative builds can be attached to expand the main layout. Will definitely be getting 3 of these! Going to look beautiful with the blacksmith.
Agree with others on wanting more minifigs - I have a few castle-themed CMFs that will fit in, but hope they do a castle-themed people pack soon.