I think my brother had this when we were kids. It was a great set!

Two bangers in a row!

@Atuin that’s a shame about 6071 - it’s one of my favorites.

I loved this set as a kid. Man I wish I still had it.

I put together a modified version of this set from parts earlier this year, along with 6071 and 6066.
The forestmen sets are so awesome!

One of those sets that makes me regret not collecting Castle.

Need to buy two of these and build a bridge between them

The best!

I should take this out of the box and build it again :-) Above mentioned 6071 is on my wanted list, but as it was never sold in Europe prices are crazy (bl/ebay price + postage + vat and customs duties)….

I never saw the black parts as trees or wood. I still can't, to be honest. Somehow, weirdly, that does not detract from my appreciation of Forestmen sets in the least. I wish I'd had this and the Camouflaged Outpost in addition to the Forestmen sets I did have.

I still can't believe how my cousin achieved to lost every single piece of this set before even turning 10-y-o... (He chose this set and I went Black Monarch's Castle countless Xmas ago) :P
Definitely one of the most eye-catching (beautiful too but this is subjective as I find 6066 prettier) set clasic forestmen had. Yet one of the easiest/most affordable sets to assemble via bricklink (sans minifigs ofc and buying used bricks).

Forestmen sets are my favourites from the Castle theme, these have so much charm and fun integrated to the relatively small packages, that simply can not be surpessed. As a kid, I could only dream about collecting forestmen sets, my brother had the magnificent 6080 , and I got some smaller lion knights sets but that was it. As an adult I purchesed 6054 , 6066 and the splendid 6071 (this has insane price indeed, but worth every penny), but not this one for some reason. Probably the main cause was that I simply couldn't connet it to my memories of the Robin Hood films. I remember it from the catalogues and always wanted to know what is inside. Yes, it is a bit emty, but looking at the instructions there are marvelous details such as river prison, trap door and the raft. I like the doll house opening as well. Maybe I will give it a chance.

I had this one but I was disappointed with it as a kid. The structure was kind of boring, without much going on inside, but it did at least have a ton of useful parts. I really wanted 6071 instead, but I never managed to get that one. I did have 6066 though, which was the coolest set ever! And I had 6054 which was small but still very cool.

@JavaBrix said:
"
When I first came here, this was all swamp.
Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them.
It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one.
That sank into the swamp. So I built a third.
That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp.
But the fourth one stayed up.
And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England."

Hah, beat me to it!

A sunsetting sun... a metaphor for the next-to-last year of classic castle?

however, an iconic set... Forestmen/Robin Hood (in Italy was called in this way) was my favourite faction!

One of my first “big” castle sets…the satisfaction in opening and closing that hinged section in the back after building it for the first time was immeasurable for a 9-year-old.

Classic being classy

Anybody know why trees are black in old castle? We can see that Brown clearly exists for the wooden barrels and treasure chest, why is everything else black?

@AustinPowers said:
"In the German LEGO catalogue, the Forestman theme was actually called "Robin Hood". At least in the 1990 catalogue which I am currently browsing through. "

It was advertised this way in the UK as well.

This is a great looking set, but as I don't own it, I was surprised at how small it is (it's not much taller than the forest hideout!) and the lack of any real detail inside.

Would love to see an update that gave this the size it deserved (I know castle in the forest did a bit of this).

I got this at the age of 5 as a christmas present and still remember how HUGE it seemed (then). It was also far too difficult to assemble for me alone, so my mother had to do most of the building.

But I loved this set so much, it was literally the homebase of my own little LEGO castle world.
It went the way of all things LEGO eventually (at least back in the day): I was disassembled and the parts went in the parts bin to be transformed into multiple other things.

I still have the manual and surely still ought to have (most of) the pieces in said bin - so I could re-assemble it one day (would be a chore, though).
If I ever find the time and space for such a project, I'd rather resurrect my 'Black Seas Barracuda' that also rests in pieces...

Fantastic set, one I wish I had as a kid.

@TheRichrocker said:
"I believe to have read somewhere, that black was chosen to enhance the usability of the parts. You could use these black 'tree parts' to build or enlarge any other castle, without having brown pieces sticking out like a sore thump."
Imagine that. A time when they actually cared about reusability of parts in a set... ;-)

I was in to my dark ages by this time and was mainly space oriented anyway.
But, I thought, this looks good, wonder how easy it would be to build a modern one. My goodness, those wall parts! Not such an easy task as I imagined.

my parents got this one for me when I was 3 or 4. I still have it, although it isn't currently assembled. Such a cool set! I always loved the way the back opened up.

This set would look amazing with a modern makeover!!!!

One of my favorite sets growing up…! :) :)

910001 was a nice homage to this and other Forestmen sets, but would love to see more official sets from LEGO.

My best friend in childhood had a bunch of Forestmen sets. I remember spending a lot of time playing with them at his house. Pretty sure this was the main base for them, despite it not being in the forest.

I have since acquired all of Forestmen but 6066, so I'll make a nice river that leads to this lake, with some of the modern outposts scattered around.

@StyleCounselor said:
" @brick_r said "Well...it's not "Airplane", but:)
HERBERT: But I don't want any of that. I'd rather--
FATHER: Rather what?!
HERBERT: I'd rather...[music]...just... sing!

FATHER: Stop that! Stop that! You're not going into a song while I'm here. Now listen, lad. In twenty minutes, you're getting married to a girl whose father owns the biggest tracts of open land in Britain.
HERBERT: B-- but I don't want land.
FATHER: Listen, Alice,--
HERBERT: Herbert.
FATHER: 'Erbert. We live in a bloody swamp. We need all the land we can get."

@Brickalili said:
" @JavaBrix said:
"
When I first came here, this was all swamp.
Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them.
It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one.
That sank into the swamp. So I built a third.
That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp.
But the fourth one stayed up.
And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England."

Hah, beat me to it!"

One day, lad, all this will be yours!

What? The curtains?"
"I thought your son was a woman!"
"Well, I can understand that."

@TheRichrocker said:"I was disassembled and the parts went in the parts bin to be transformed into multiple other things."
That's what you get for living with a mad scientist.

It's a cool set. I just wish they used more of the baseplate. And that the piece of land at the front was not just so tiny. And the interior...
I think this one would be ripe for a modern remake (hopefully still with some baseplate esque space on it). This set is cooler as a concept than as an execution.

What happened to the medieval village reveal?

God Tier set.

@ForestMenOfEndor said:
"Two bangers in a row!

@Atuin that’s a shame about 6071 - it’s one of my favorites."

Yes, definitely. It also partly explains the astronomical prices for it now.

@AustinPowers
1990 marked the beginning of sub-themes being explicitly named in catalogues. Forestmen was still called 'Robin Hood' in Germany when the sets last appeared in the catalogue in 1992. Some sets' descriptions even say he is one of the included minifigs. Judging from the fact, that the all green one (who shares his torso with Majisto and the grey Peasant) is the only figure of those to never have duplicates inside the same set, I guess he was supposed to be Robin.

There is even a 1990 advert that mentions the captured red collar one from 6042 as 'Little John', so that rules him out as well.

@ecleme11 said:
"Need to buy two of these and build a bridge between them"
6071

@AllenSmith:
Black walnut can have black bark...but doesn't appear to be native to Europe.

@Atuin:
I always figured the green one was Robin Hood, just because he had the only unique torso (besides the Forestwoman), but the problem was I got one in 6103, 6054, and 6077. I had no black, two blue, and four red. I think Little John ended up being blue, and one of the red ones became Will Scarlett.

@PurpleDave said:
" @ecleme11 said:
"Need to buy two of these and build a bridge between them"
6071

@AllenSmith:
Black walnut can have black bark...but doesn't appear to be native to Europe.

@Atuin:
I always figured the green one was Robin Hood, just because he had the only unique torso (besides the Forestwoman), but the problem was I got one in 6103, 6054, and 6077. I had no black, two blue, and four red. I think Little John ended up being blue, and one of the red ones became Will Scarlett."

Somehow that basket backpack made me think of the black collar one as Friar Tuck.

I'm still curious if the four Dark Forest figures were considered direct upgrades to old Forestmen or are just a reinterpretation entirely. The one with the bare arms (reusing the Cavalry General's face) was given the name 'Rob N' Hood' in both Mania Magazine and Racers 1, but since Dark Forest was mostly NA exclusive, information is quite sparse. Although I think the one with the blue plume is supposed to be second-in-command.

@Atuin:
I am almost certain, that the plate, which was dedicated for this set was used in Forbidden Island. I've build the River Fortress on this island baseplate and it fitted ideally! The shape of the Fortress fits exactly in the coastline of the island. Even the minilake inside the castle was placed exactly between the arcs and above the floor landing.
I suppose, that when the first pirate wave came, there wasn't considered any pirate base at all, so Lego hurriedly and univentedly designed this pirate island, where all the parts were all over the place, just to be included. And once they used island baseplate for the pirate set, they had to quickly find an alternative baseplate for the River Fortress, which happened to be be all blue...

@Kusuri_Uri said:
" @Atuin:
I am almost certain, that the plate, which was dedicated for this set was used in Forbidden Island. I've build the River Fortress on this island baseplate and it fitted ideally! The shape of the Fortress fits exactly in the coastline of the island. Even the minilake inside the castle was placed exactly between the arcs and above the floor landing.
I suppose, that when the first pirate wave came, there wasn't considered any pirate base at all, so Lego hurriedly and univentedly designed this pirate island, where all the parts were all over the place, just to be included. And once they used island baseplate for the pirate set, they had to quickly find an alternative baseplate for the River Fortress, which happened to be be all blue..."

Interesting to here of that. But what about the white dots, that for some reason were reintroduced briefly during that time?

Around the early '70s (or probably even earlier) when the first baseplates appeared in sets with instructions, the plates were marked with painted white dots on the studs for easier building (imagine that nowadays xD). That somewhat unsightly practice vanished during the '80s, but sets 6270 and 6071 still got them. I also have not been able to find versions of the specific plates without the dots.

@Atuin said:
" @Kusuri_Uri said:
" @Atuin:
I am almost certain, that the plate, which was dedicated for this set was used in Forbidden Island. I've build the River Fortress on this island baseplate and it fitted ideally! The shape of the Fortress fits exactly in the coastline of the island. Even the minilake inside the castle was placed exactly between the arcs and above the floor landing.
I suppose, that when the first pirate wave came, there wasn't considered any pirate base at all, so Lego hurriedly and univentedly designed this pirate island, where all the parts were all over the place, just to be included. And once they used island baseplate for the pirate set, they had to quickly find an alternative baseplate for the River Fortress, which happened to be be all blue..."

Interesting to here of that. But what about the white dots, that for some reason were reintroduced briefly during that time?

Around the early '70s (or probably even earlier) when the first baseplates appeared in sets with instructions, the plates were marked with painted white dots on the studs for easier building (imagine that nowadays xD). That somewhat unsightly practice vanished during the '80s, but sets 6270 and 6071 still got them. I also have not been able to find versions of the specific plates without the dots."

I've got a couple of these plates, so I'll check if i could find any without those dots. Nonetheless, I can imagine, that the white dots could be printed at the later stage - after the islands were all printed.

@Kusuri_Uri:
Possibly. The 6270 pattern is almost 4-way symmetrical, and close enough that it wouldn't matter which way it was oriented before it got dots painted on. The 6071 pattern isn't even close to being symmetrical, but should be hard to mix up, and easy to quickly spot if you did.

Normally, it's easiest for them to just print in steps all at once, so they don't have to worry about orientation for successive print layers. Baseplates are jobbed out to another company, though, and the patterns printed on them look more like they were done by spraying from directly overhead. The dot patterns look more like they're pad printed, so it may not have even been possible to print the dots at the same time as the island and river patterns.