6066 - Camouflaged Outpost

When the Forestmen faction arrived on the scene, I was amazed. I already had an interest in Robin Hood and this line up of sets really fired up my imagination. I remember the birthday like yesterday when I scored this set. It was a rainy day and didn't want to go to school more than usual.

For me it introduced new pieces like foliage, corner walls and half arches that make up the branches. It didn't strike me as odd that the wood was black until recently. I just put it down to being from a dark neck of the woods and added to the atmosphere of an uninviting place to be which would be rather important for an outlaw bunch of people who are trying to hide.

It's a neat set with a decent number of minifigs giving a good amount of playability. The set is hinged to allow access to the inside as well as the front which lifts open. A second entrance to the hideout is a rock which rolls aside and inside there's room for a few minifigs and the chest can be stored in the back. The thing I liked the most was that as the set is hinged which meant that it could be integreated and expanded into a larger scene or cave and forest system.

And the Classic-Castle inspired scoring is;

Pieces: 7/10
Design: 8/10
Minifigs / Accessories: 8/10
Playability: 8/10

Overall: 7.8
(Nostalgia: 10/10)

6066 - Camouflaged Outpost
Parts list and instructions

6073 - Knight's Castle

To start my reviews, let's take it back to the beginning. For me, I believe this is the set that started it all. I used to refer to the owning faction as Eagle Crest, for obvious reasons.

It's an alright set that has a reasonable amount of bricks albeit nothing that's really special. The design isn't anything grand other than appearing to be a solid haven for the garrison. As a kid I used to wonder how the minifigs would get up to the towers and one quirk is the green and white flags when most of the others are blue and white.

One feature I quite liked was the dungeon which had what felt like a solid iron door tucked away in one of the corners. It also came with a reasonable complement of soldiers.

I played with this one for hours at a time and pulled it down and rebuilt it many times. It remained my largest castle until I started reacquiring these sets recently. I have since sourced the 6074 - Black Knight's Fortress which is far more attractive however I have found a near new copy of 6073 to bolster my collection.

And the Classic-Castle inspired scoring is;

Pieces: 7/10
Design: 6/10
Minifigs / Accessories: 7/10
Playability: 7/10

Overall: 6.8
(Nostalgia: 9/10)

6073 - Knight's Castle
Parts list and instructions

LEGO© Speak and MOC's

There's a whole swag of acronyms that go with LEGO© these days. Here's some of them for the uninitiated;

AFOL - Adult Fan Of LEGO©
BURP - Big Ugly Rock Piece
MOC - My Own Creation
SNOT - Studs Not On Top

(and I'm sure I'll add some more)

Over the last few years I have seen many MOC's online and they are impressive using SNOT and smooth plates. Whilst I plan on building my own, I don't think I'll come close to nor for the moment will I try and build in the style they do.

I'm not knocking what others do and like but for me I'm still quite a fan of sets that are faithful to the original style from LEGO©. Sure, you ask yourself questions like 'Where do the minifig's live?' or 'How does a minifig get up there?' but I reckon that's a part of the charm and here's why.

Sure, the details you see in these MOC's are great but if we look at Star Wars for a moment (and this is the original trilogy here), there was one thing I loved about it - it didn't spoonfeed you everything you ever wanted to know or show you anything that wasn't needed. It left alot up to your imagination and to me that is king and for LEGO© it is the same.

Keep it simple I reckon because simple is fun.

My LEGO© World - Then and Now

I have had a love of LEGO© for a very long time and unfortunately (for my wife), it has resurfaced in my adulthood. But it's all a bit of fun so what does it matter :)

My brother and sister also had LEGO© but it was mostly Space and Town. I had several Castle sets but there were always others that I wanted and I loved lusting after the sets in the brochures or stores. LEGO© absorbed many hours where I'd escape into another world. I'm sure the mess annoyed my parents but at least they knew I wasn't running amock on the streets.

During my teens I started reading a fantasy series called Lone Wolf and I always wanted to build the Kai Monastery but I never had enough pices. Times have changed and that's one task I want to attempt. Another is to build a castle that's featured in Knights and Castles, a book I read many times while I was at school. Last year I managed to track down Usborne Time Traveller which is an omnibus of the four books including Knights and Castles.

So, over the last little while I have been acquiring sets that I never owned plus ones that are in better condition than the sets I do.

I guess we'll see where this ends.
Anyway, enough of me...

Brick on!

Another Blog...

Yup, who'd have thought... but who'd have thought LEGO©? In a way, it was inevitable and probably not entirely unavoidable.

I'm not really sure what I'll do with this thing so I guess we'll see. Half of what I thought I could put here like reviews and stuff already exists on other sites and since when has it been smart to reinvent the wheel... but I guess this is my wheel....

Anyway, this is a sister site to Have Board Will Travel and neither sites are particularily serious as they both poke fun... and usually at me. So I hope you enjoy. All one followers of mine :)

My Dark Forest Sets

6024 - Bandit Ambush
6046 - Hemlock Stronghold

My Wolfpack Sets

1596 - Ghostly Hideout
6038 - Wolfpack Renegades
6075 - Wolfpack Tower

My Lion Knight Sets

1463 - Treasure Cart
1480 - King's Catapult
6010 - Supply Wagon
6012 - Siege Cart
6016 - Knights' Arsenal
6017 - King's Oarsmen
6021 - Jousting Knights
6022 - Horse Cart
6023 - Maiden's Cart
6039 - Twin-Arm Launcher
6040 - Blacksmith Shop
6041 - Armor Shop
6042 - Dungeon Hunters
6049 - Viking Voyager
6055 - Prisoner Convoy
6060 - Knight's Challenge
6061 - Siege Tower
6067 - Guarded Inn
6080 - King's Castle
6103 - Castle Mini Figures

My Forestmen Sets

1680 - Crusader's Cart
1974 - Smuggler's Hayride
6054 - Forestmen's Hideout
6066 - Camouflaged Outpost
6071 - Forestmen's Crossing
6077 - Forestmen's River Fortress

My Black Knight Sets

1547 - Black Knights Boat
1624 - King's Archer
6009 - Black Knight
6018 - Battle Dragon
6034 - Black Monarch's Ghost
6057 - Sea Serpent
6059 - Knight's Stronghold

My Black Falcon Sets

6011 - Black Knight's Treasure
6030 - Catapult
6035 - Castle Guard
6062 - Battering Ram
6073 - Knight's Castle
6074 - Black Falcon's Fortress