Random set of the day: Dragon Fortress
Posted by Huwbot,Today's random set is 7419 Dragon Fortress, released during 2003. It's one of 20 Adventurers sets produced that year. It contains 732 pieces and 9 minifigs, and its retail price was US$90/£69.99.
It's owned by 1,825 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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32 comments on this article
I wish I'd gotten this one. Not just because I got a good number of the large Adventurers sets, but I love that dragon.
Excellent use of a raised base plate.
Is Chang Wu related to Sensei Wu?
Just ran through the instructions, this set is awesome. Great features and functions, it's practically a complete building instead of a dollhouse, and then when you look at the price per piece and factor in the large parts and the mega baseplate as well as the number of figures and that dragon, man, it makes you wish you had gotten it as a kid.
Also, I just read the comments by Bjarke Lykke Madsen in his Bricklist, and that's got a nice story behind it, too. Also this guy designed some of my favorite sets growing up. What a guy!
https://brickset.com/sets/designer-Bjarke-Lykke-Madsen
What a dragon.
@B_Space_Man said:
"What a dragon. "
I have the Dragon Guardian, Dragon Guard and Emperor Chang Wu minifigures from this set in my display collection. Unfortunately, I don’t have the dragon. I wanted to get it on the secondary market but it was too expensive :~(
I loved this Adventurers sub-theme. So many great sets.
My white whale, in case anyone's looking to give one away! :-)
According to BrickLink, this is one of only two sets ever to include a dark gray 12x24 brick. The other being none other than 4990 The Rock Raiders HQ.
Like others, I never managed to get the China subtheme of Orient Expedition. It's no big loss for me, at least. I have complete retail collections of the India and Mt. Everest subthemes proudly on display.
Wow, just yesterday we were talking about lack of halftrack vehicles in Lego. Coincidence or carma?
I still need this set! And it’s also the only proper LEGO dragon I don’t have!
@Boettner_Builds:
Oh, be careful what you say, there. We have a guy in our LUG who is trying to collect the many, many, many, many dragons they’ve produced over the years. It seems like every year he gets further behind. Either more sets than he can afford are released, or he finds out about weird stuff like all of the Ollie plushes they’ve done over the years.
There's so much I could say about this set... actually, I already did, two and a half years ago. https://brickset.com/article/51076/featured-set-of-the-day-dragon-fortress
Have it, like it. Missing the playing cards, though...
I’ll get this one of these days…
There aren't many sets that I dreamed of having as a kid, but this is one of them. I don't actually remember admiring this at the store, but just looking at the back of the instructions of Passage of Jun-Chi and Emperor's Ship which I had. That picture showed how to arrange the "game board puzzle", but I was never really into that.
Since then I've bought both 7418 and 7419 with my own money and I feel kind of spoiled. :P Of course, it doesn't feel the same anymore, but my dreams have come true ;)
The G.O.A.T. Still one of the finest sets of my collection.
@MeisterDad said:
"Have it, like it. Missing the playing cards, though..."
Me too!
A really substantial set. Great minifigures, accessories and play features. The dragon is great and I loved the extra armour hidden around the build. I was lucky enough to get two at the time so still have one in its box. I do really get tempted though...
I was extremely fortunate to get this as a kid. It is one of the best Adventurers sets ever, easily rivaling 5988 . As a playset, it is balanced in terms of functionality and aesthetics. It was a wonderful building experience; when I built it for the first time, I geeked out over the play function that involves turning two wheels to reveal the Golden Dragon.
LORE TIME (no, really, there were games and comics about this): In Venice, Dr. Kilroy finds part of a map to Marco Polo's long-lost treasure--a Golden Dragon statue, gifted to him by Kublai Khan for his services--that was too big to carry by ship, and was stored in the Dragon Fortress for future explorers to find. Johnny Thunder and his friends traveled across the orient in their quest for the Golden Dragon, while battling their nemesis, Lord Sam Sinister, and making new friends along the way. The map piece led them to India (7418), where they found another map piece, and the Golden Shield. The next map piece led them to the Himalayas (7417), where they found the Golden Sword, and a map piece leading them to the Dragon Fortress. With their new friend Jing Lee, they were able to infiltrate the fortress, which was controlled by the False Emperor Chang Wu and his ally, Lord Sam Sinister. After retrieving the Golden Helmet from the fortress, they put the three Golden Treasures--Sword, Shield, and Helmet--onto the stone guardian, who gave them two Golden Keys. The keys opened doors to wheels, and turning the wheels destroyed a wall that hid the Golden Dragon. Johnny Thunder and his friends put the statue onto their half-track and escaped Chang Wu so that the treasure could be displayed in a museum. The end.
OH MY GOODNESS! It's my favourite set of all time! My main white whale I actually managed to get!
When I was young I really got into the smaller to midsized sets and eventually I even managed to get the 7417 Temple of Mount Everest and 7418 Scorpion Palace. The latter was already so big and expensive that there was no way I would ever get this set from anyone anymore, and I was still too young to raise the money myself through a job.
So it slipped by, but I never forgot the set. It kind of helped that the China subtheme wasn't advertised in the booklets I had because I had missed out on the catalogs of 2003. So it was something I could only find again when I had access to the internet. I recall seeing the original 3D model you could spin around on Lego.com at the Shop @ Home site. It showed the side plumes left over from the Dragon Knights plume kit used as red fire coming from the golden dragon's nostrils.
Eventually I got good at using the internet to buy second-handed stuff. I had become an adult and I had opened up a Bricklink shop which I sometimes scooped up stuff for. And it was then that I found it: A used 7419 with box (the top was damaged) and all gear. It was surprisingly affordable too, as it just had to be shipped from Belgium. So I bought it!!!!
I waited a few months before opening it, as I had to order some small replacement parts.
And then my graduation from high school hit. After all the stress, all the constant performance and finally the goodbyes... I was finally able to build this beauty.
I actually have very few display spaces now. I have room for two vitrines, one wide and one a corner unit that's deep but not that useful. And for the years I've been living in this small space, I've always had this set on display. A part of that is the baseplate taking space anyway, but it's also that I just love it too much to rotate it like the rest of my sets.
As for the set itself, it's GREAT! It comes with a generous amount of both good guys and bad guys. The great Chang Wu, Jing Lee and Guardian Statue minifigs are all exclusive, as is this specific version of Miss Pippin Reed. The guards only appear in this and 7416 . It has one of the nicer vehicles from the theme. And of course that delicious dragon! The head only otherwise appears in 8800 but the body and oriental tail (both with metallic gold print) and tr dark red wings are all unique!
The building is one of the more sensible ones made by lego. It's basically on a central platform with grand stairs to the main doors and smaller stairs leading out of the interior to two remavable platforms on the front and past two smaller shed-like buildings to the back. Those house one of the most elaborate play features in sets ever! More on that later. Between them is a remavable section.
The main section is also removable and features a large throne room with gems under the throne. There's a trapdoor that drops rocks over the entrance that doubles as a trapdoor under a shrine holding the golden helmet (chrome gold dragon masters helmet) on the second floor. There's even a ladder to get there!
And now for the main play sequence. You get the golden helmet from the second floor and go down to the basement. The removable section has doors that reveal an (once again exclusive) guardian statue. It will 'come to life' if disturbed to guard the (chrome brass) golden keys behind him. So you switch the rare dark grey bat lord helmet (only otherwise in set 1382 ) with the golden helmet so it's pacified. Those keys actually fit in the keyholes of the doors from the sheds, revealing gear wheels you can turn. That actually unlocks the removable section!
You can then use the chain of the truck to pull that section out, revealing a huge space underneath the fortress that holds the golden dragon!
Turns out every inch of space on this baby is used we
It's hard for me to believe that my brother found this set at a mega discount in 2004 (maybe 2005)--something like $30-$40 CAD. The extent to which sets regularly ended up unsold (and discounted) in that era is hard to believe nowadays--maybe a bit less hard if you were into Vidiyo.
But this is a good set in any era, and in THAT era this should have been gold, but I guess the brand suffering across the board will do that, and there wasn't the same broad adult market willing to drop $90 USD on a set as easily.
I do regret not getting this one, but Orient Expedition hasn't had QUITE a bad inflation as some themes, so perhaps that'll change someday.
(continued)
And the details. Oh my goodness the details. There's those red banners with a green dragon symbol. The lanters and smaller banners, which it shares with 7413 Passage of Jun-Chi. The barrel of fireworks. The means of defense like the crossbows, chutes on the second floor that drop rocks. The catapult. Those torches.
This set is from 2003 and is definitely not as detailed as todays sets. But it doesn't need to be. The use of space is perfect. Each part is used perfectly to convey so much more than your average build. It has wonder. It has amazing physical play features that have been thought out creatively. And the 'special' parts are truly SPECIAL. No pearl gold here! All those treasures are chrome gold. You can even use this as a proper castle if you want. All you need are more quards, and those can be acquired if you can find a 7416 for a good price (that set is also awesome on its own!
Back in 2003 Lego wasn't doing great because they didn't tightly control their budget with too many molds and colors. This set is the crown jewel of that era, using the best of the techniques and parts there were back then and so many exclusive colors and variations. And it remained relatively affordable thanks to the raised baseplate. Nowadays people often tell you they'd rather build it up. But would you, really? In this instance the raised sections can't really be used because of the design of everything. And moreover, it would make the set astronomically expensive. Even panels like 6093 Flying Ninja Fortress would still have limited what this set could do AND be more expensive. That set is mostly the base with some towers and it is already a behemoth for its time on its own. In an age where every other announced set is 200+ euro we tend to forget that stuff needs to be in reach of kids if it's aimed first at kids. This set was already in that ballpark. It was super expensive back then! But it might have become double what it was if it was built like today.
Epilogue of rant
So after I got this set I quickly bought 7416 for a great price. Then I finally got the remaining mid-to-small size sets and now I have Orient Expedition complete. The theme is great to own, and even after all this time I love each set a lot. I am very much aware that I was lucky to find it for an okay price. Nowadays you'll have to pay through the nose to find one at all. But I just hope other people can experience this with their white whale.
@Bricknave said:
"I was extremely fortunate to get this as a kid. It is one of the best Adventurers sets ever, easily rivaling 5988 . As a playset, it is balanced in terms of functionality and aesthetics. It was a wonderful building experience; when I built it for the first time, I geeked out over the play function that involves turning two wheels to reveal the Golden Dragon.
LORE TIME (no, really, there were games and comics about this): In Venice, Dr. Kilroy finds part of a map to Marco Polo's long-lost treasure--a Golden Dragon statue, gifted to him by Kublai Khan for his services--that was too big to carry by ship, and was stored in the Dragon Fortress for future explorers to find. Johnny Thunder and his friends traveled across the orient in their quest for the Golden Dragon, while battling their nemesis, Lord Sam Sinister, and making new friends along the way. The map piece led them to India (7418), where they found another map piece, and the Golden Shield. The next map piece led them to the Himalayas (7417), where they found the Golden Sword, and a map piece leading them to the Dragon Fortress. With their new friend Jing Lee, they were able to infiltrate the fortress, which was controlled by the False Emperor Chang Wu and his ally, Lord Sam Sinister. After retrieving the Golden Helmet from the fortress, they put the three Golden Treasures--Sword, Shield, and Helmet--onto the stone guardian, who gave them two Golden Keys. The keys opened doors to wheels, and turning the wheels destroyed a wall that hid the Golden Dragon. Johnny Thunder and his friends put the statue onto their half-track and escaped Chang Wu so that the treasure could be displayed in a museum. The end."
I loved the online comics they had for this theme. The older Adventurers website worked until at least 2010 when they redesigned the main site, getting rid of KK2, Alpha Team, Adventurers, Spybotics, and a whole host of other lost treasures. It was as if a great many old themes cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.
@Binnekamp said:
"OH MY GOODNESS! It's my favourite set of all time! My main white whale I actually managed to get!"
Ah, so this set is to you what 4990 is to me! :)
They need to make more sets like this. Just before the massive amount of smaller special pieces that make the build take all day.
@SaintJ:
Hey, I built 21330 in an afternoon, and it has over five times as many pieces, and results in a larger model. Based on what they said on LEGO Masters last season, this set should take under 90 minutes for an experienced builder, and there are more sets being released each year now then back then with piece counts under 2000. If you really want stuff that takes no effort, modern City seems to draw a lot of those complaints.
It occurred to me (thinking about this set, as one does of RSOTD, while grocery shopping)--this was the last appearance of the 90s three-to-a-wheel dragon plumes, right? Was it it also that last three-to-a-wheel set of plumes--period? I think it might have been.
This is an amazing set! My sunset set of childhood collecting.
I really don't know how I managed to get this at 13 or 14.
I had a paper run earning $20 a week. This would have been about $200 in NZ at the time. (Maybe more?) My mum bought it, and put it away in the cupboard, and I paid her something like $10 a week until I had paid it off. I am so glad I got this when I did.
I also got most of the other Orient sets, apart from the scorpion palace 7418, and the smallest India set 7410 I now have managed to get those sets, and all but a handful of the earlier Adventurers sets. Mostly just the small kabaya ones.
The play features on this are really fun, the build is enjoyable, and the figures are cool. Peak Lego building for a kid in my opinion.
Adventurers was the best Lego theme ever created in my opinion. All of the subthemes were awesome (Dino Island is the least good I think since it's basically just Jurassic Park). Orient Expedition was the best of the subthemes I reckon.
The characters were fun, creative, and most importantly three-dimensional. These days Lego just dumps a theme on shelves "hey kids here's a spaceship" or "hey kids here's a castle, play with it" with no thought. Or like in City, they come up with named characters, but don't give any reason why kids would want to play with these named characters.
I love the interwar theme of Adventurers, it had such awesome vehicles. Halftracks, biplanes, flying boats, zeppelins, steamboats, elephants, all the kids of cool transport kids love!
Adventurers was also a great way to explore different cultures which was really nice.
Lego really invested in Adventurers with the playing cards, detailed stories and biographies for the characters etc. It's a shame so many original lego themes after Adventurers did not have this level of investment.
I'm really not sure why Lego has never brought back this theme. (Pharaohs Quest doesn't count because it was another one of these short-lived themes that were dumped on shelves with no investment and no real time taken into developing the characters and story).
As for this set, it's an awesome playset with great new pieces, a fun vehicle (that doesn't take away from the main model), and lots of cool play features that help the story (without taking over the set like some giant red knob saying TURN THIS IT DOES SOMETHING).
Probably the most important set in my collection, the masterpiece at the time I started both my city and my SW collection. 18 years of service and still magnificent!
I never saw this theme. It was apparently during my college years. What a great set and awesome theme I missed out on.