Catapult could've been smaller to make the Dragon Mountain a bit bigger

Apart from that, lovely

Box - It has some amazing designs and its beautiful!

Instructions - I really enjoy the thickness and the advertisment for castle at the back!!

Play Features - Awesome Dragon, Nice catapult, potions, jail?!! Too much! amazing!!

Figures - At five plus a dragon, Awesome!!

Parts - Nice at a overall of about 382 parts counting extras!

Value For Money/Price - At 59.99, amazing but a little overpriced. It should be 49.99. US should be 59.99! It is way not fair!

Overall Rating - I give it a 9-/10 due to the over pricing.

I reccomend the set for everyone, even fans that are not castle fans!!

Did I mention this set comes with a DRAGON? Face it, that's the only reason you want to buy this set. And that's okay.

Parts

Lots of nice parts, but nothing really new. You get a couple of round 1x1 tiles in flat silver, which is cool. And two 1x1 round tiles with a padlock design, which is useful. And the new great sword, in pearl dark gray, and the other new sword in pearl gray. The dragon's head has been revamped, which I'll get into later. Everything else we've seen before. Still, it's a nice mix of useful pieces, and it all comes together nicely.

Minifigures

Two good guys, two bad guys, and a helpless lady victim. The best minifig is the evil wizard, with the asian beard in black, and a menacing magic staff. The printed design of the dragon on his wizard hat is a nice touch. But I gotta be honest - I'm not a fan of the heraldry or colors of either faction in the 2013 castle sets. Red and black don't really look very menacing for bad guys, and the blue and gold just looks outdated. I much prefer the color schemes from the 2011-2012 sets. But maybe that's just my personal taste.

Still, if you can overlook the colors, the prints on the minifigs are superb, and add a lot of character to them. I've got to give props to TLG, they've really improved their technology when it comes to minifig design.

And then there's the DRAGON!! It's based on the "classic" dragon from the 2007-2009 fantasy series, but they remolded the head. And honestly, the new head design is NOT an improvement. My main complaint with the original design was that it looked like the dragon was breathing fire out of his chin. And guess what? They doubled down on the design, so now it looks even more like the dragon's breathing fire out of his chin. Take a gander:

Before, you had to attach a small flame to the inside of the dragon's lower jaw. Now, there's a big hole in the dragon's chin where you insert the flame. So the dragon ends up having a flaming chin beard. If you ask me, it looks ridiculous. They should have made the flame attach to the inside of the mouth, so it would look natural.

Still, it's easy to overlook this design flaw, because . . . DRAGON!!!!!!1!!1!

The build

Short. Not a lot of pieces, so the build doesn't take long. Most of the cost in this set is for the dragon. Not a lot of surprises either - it's pretty straight forward.

The completed model

Looks pretty good for what it is. I'm a little confused about which side is the front. I mean, I guess the big open spaces tell me that is the back, but then there's this treasure chest just sitting out in front, totally unprotected! So I just don't know what to make of it. I honestly don't think a lot of thought went into the design of this model. Because dragon. (Did I mention this set comes with a dragon?)

Overall opinion

Overall a nice little, if overpriced, set. The completed model is ho-hum, but you're not buying it for the model. You're buying it for the dragon. And you get what you pay for.

DRAGON!!!!!!!!11!!!!1!!!1!!!!

Amidst the popular release of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit sets in 2012-2013 the fate of Lego’s “classic” Castle theme line rests in some uncertainty, and that uncertainty seems to have manifested itself in the latest line of Castle sets for 2013. It is difficult to tell if this years line of sets are a stop-gap, filler attempt at keeping the Castle theme alive or a genuine restart for future sets to come. Either way, it appears that The Lego Group has “juniorized” and “simplified” this years foray into the theme, perhaps catering to a younger audience as other themes have been keeping the older fans occupied. In any event, 70403 Dragon Mountain stands as the most appealing and unique set in an otherwise weaker 2013 Castle line that remains in some obscurity, at least for now. I’ll run through some pros and cons of this set and finish off with some final thoughts in conclusion.

Pros

- Dragon! : One of the best castle theme lines in recent years (in my humble opinion) was Fantasy Era, which included dragons such as the one found in this set. The only difference appears to be a reprinted face and body, and these differences aren't a bad thing. These dragons are great for fortifying an army for those who are into that sort of thing, and its inclusion in this set is great.

- Solid minifigures: This set offers some great minifigures, which include an evil wizard, a princess/young Queen, and 2 knights. The wizards beard is a hard to find piece and adds some value to the set.

- Other great parts: A spiral staircase (beige-tan colored stairs), a catapult, chrome gold bar and new 1x1 round “lock” piece for the door make this set an excellent source of some harder to find pieces.

Cons

- From a Canadian buyer perspective, shelling out $59.99 CDN for this set may or may not leave you expecting a bit more, but I believe with the dragon and intriguing parts, this is a fair price as far as Lego goes.

- I think the set is a little too straight-forward, so if you’re hoping to buy this for someone who is looking for a challenging build, it may not be on top of your list. However, this set is perhaps aimed at a younger audience which may coincide with their expected skill/level of building.

Conclusion

Overall, I believe that good playability yet lesser widespread appeal will define the 2013 Castle line. That being said, this set appears to be the most unique/rewarding set of the Castle lot. The combination of the dragon, great minifigures, and nice elements sets this one apart. Time will give us a better idea on the direction for the future Castle sets, but for now, Dragon Mountain is a solid purchase across the board and is recommended .

I just picked this set up today from my local Lego Store! Overall, I'm very pleased with the set. The Minifigs are designed well, the structures contain some great building elements, and the new Dragon adds a lot to the overall value of the set. Like many other members have stated, this set looks to be aimed more towards the younger crowd for playability, rather than advanced building.

Box/Instructions

Single booklet, very easy to follow. Most steps were only 2-5 pieces. The box was packed well, and seemed a bit fuller than most sets.

Parts

The Dragon is an obvious perk, but I'd like to point out I was happy to see the Gold coins & bar were Gold Chrome, not pearl gold plastic like many of the newer sets (Pirates of the Caribbean).

Minifigures

The Wizard is my favorite in this set. His beard is rubber, not plastic like most. A very nice painted design as well. The princess is also very nice. Her hair is Dark Red, something I haven't seen before with minifigs.

As for the knights, their new paint designs are very nice. The Lion knights feature Lions on the shields, but have Crowns on their belts / chests, which means they will mix well with the Castle series from 2007.

The only issue I have with this entire set is the fact that the Lion knight with a Visor helm was issued with a Silver metallic Breastplate and helm, but the visor is non-metallic light gray. The box / instructions show that it should be metallic, so perhaps this was a last-minute change.

The build

Very simple build. The tower is a 3-section modular structure with several nice additions including vines, the jail cell, even a lock-painted round tile on the bars.

Summary

Definitely recommend this for castle fans, especially the younger ones. Personally, it's aimed a little young for my building style, but most of the pieces / figures will be good for MOCs.