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