Quick look: 40775 Mini Knights' Castles
Posted by Huw,
40775 Mini Knight's Castle or, as it might more correctly be called, Mini Knights' Castles is one of several gifts with purchase that'll be available this weekend and next at LEGO.com, free when you spend in excess of £225, $250 USD, €250, $325 CAD, $410 AUD.
With over 500 pieces, it's a substantial gift, although as you would expect given it's microscale, many of them are small.
It's a bit fiddly to assemble, but the resultant fortresses are wonderful homages to the larger models of yesteryear.
Summary
40775 Mini Knight's Castle, 590 pieces.
Lovingly crafted miniature homages to castles of yore
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Given many sets have paper bags nowadays, being able to post this sort of photo is becoming a rarity. Here you can see how much 'stuff' there is in it, including an instruction manual for each structure. Book number two is quite thick, and perfect bound, so impossible to lay flat: you'll need some wort of weight to hold the pages open while you're building, or use the digital instructions once they become available.
Mini 6073 Knight's Castle (1984)
Reference
With 408 pieces, 6073 Knight's Castle was the second-largest Castle set released in 1984, second only to the magnificent 6080 King's Castle. It's incredible to think that this miniature set has more pieces than the vintage castle it's based upon, highlighting that price-per-piece comparisons between sets of the 1980s and those of today are meaningless. Another example of shrinkflation...
As you can see all the main features of the original structure have been captured lovingly in miniature: the red gatehouse and detail above it formed using minifig roller-skates, the turrets, crenellations, drawbridge, and arrow slits.
There's even a miniature knight on horseback, both made using a clever combination of 1x1 pieces.
The walls are hinged either side of the gatehouse, just like the original, enabling it to be opened out to form a longer wall.
Mini 6086 Black Knight's Castle (1992)
Reference
6086 Black Knight's Castle was the largest set of the 1992 Castle wave, which was arguably the last year of 'proper' Castle sets. The structure is built upon a CRAPP, which were prevalent at the time in large sets. They were useful for bulking up a set without adding hundreds of pieces.
This miniature one uses hundreds of tiny pieces to replicate the CRAPP: how times have changed...
Once again, the mini model features all the main characteristics of the large stronghold, lovingly created with tiny pieces and interesting offset stud building techniques.
The knight and his steed are the same design as the one above, but in Black Knights' colours.
This castle takes the lion's share of the pieces in the set, and it really does look magnificent from every angle, dripping with tiny details. There's even a ghost in one of the turrets, but it's difficult to photograph it in-situ, so I'll leave it for you to discover!
The drawbridge is hinged, but the portcullis behind can't be raised.
It even has the dungeon...
The is a fantastic homage to classic castles, lovingly recreated in immaculate detail, and I'm sure every Castle fan will enjoy it.
It'll be a GWP at LEGO.com this weekend, 22-23rd November, and also over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday extravaganza, 28th November - 1st December.
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27 comments on this article
Those little soldiers on horseback are absurdly cute.
Please LEGO, just give us a remake of 6086
@KevinVdV said:
"Please LEGO, just give us a remake of 6086"
Yeah, the microscale castles are cool, but I'd so much rather spend $250+ for a proper minifig scale remake.
@KevinVdV said:
"Please LEGO, just give us a remake of 6086"
Yes, I'm still waiting for the day. Somehow I can't find the will to pay over 300€ for a used 6086, but I might need to bite the bullet sooner rather than later. There's something about the original set that would go amiss if LEGO remade it now and it's not only the 3D-baseplate.
I can’t help but think that remodelling 6083 was a bit of a missed opportunity, considering we got a version of it as an Insiders reward (that’s still available in the UK). Personally, I’d have liked a mini version of Black Falcon’s Fortress; that was the first castle I got, and I think it’s still a solid example of the concept.
This miniature one uses hundreds of tiny pieces to replicate the CRAPP:
It's time to add more fiber to your diet. (sawry)
@KevinVdV said:
"Please LEGO, just give us a remake of 6086"
I'd rather have a remake of 6085. I wanted that set so badly as a kid. A friend of mine had it, and I was so jealous.
@R0Sch said:
" @KevinVdV said:
"Please LEGO, just give us a remake of 6086"
There's something about the original set that would go amiss if LEGO remade it now and it's not only the 3D-baseplate."
The remake of the Eldorado Fortress was beautiful, in my opinion.
I purchased 6086 (and 6973) in 1993 when in college....they were responsible for getting me out of my dark ages. Going to have to drag out 6086 and put it together.
As others say would like to see a remake of 6086 in the similar manner to 10320
They couldn’t have used a better acronym than CRAPP?
@CommanderR3x said:
"They couldn’t have used a better acronym than CRAPP?"
Who is they? It was the LEGO community that came up with the acronym Crummy Ramp And Pit Plate and made it sound that way because it was a big lump of molded plastic rather than brick built. Just like BURP, SNOT, POOP and BOLOCs were all community terms.
@CCC said:
" @CommanderR3x said:
"They couldn’t have used a better acronym than CRAPP?"
Who is they? It was the LEGO community that came up with the acronym Crummy Ramp And Pit Plate and made it sound that way because it was a big lump of molded plastic rather than brick built. Just like BURP, SNOT, POOP and BOLOCs were all community terms."
Indeed. It's a recursive acronym. 'Crummy' is a more polite word than that usually used for the 'C' :-)
“It's incredible to think that this miniature set has more pieces than the vintage castle it's based upon”
That is a fact that boggles my mind for reasons I can’t quite nail down
@saltytbone said:
" @R0Sch said:
" @KevinVdV said:
"Please LEGO, just give us a remake of 6086"
There's something about the original set that would go amiss if LEGO remade it now and it's not only the 3D-baseplate."
The remake of the Eldorado Fortress was beautiful, in my opinion."
Oh, yeah. I might well have bought that even if I hadn't lost the original. Or if I'd never owned the original in the first place.
If supplies last until next week, people who buy the Enterprise are really going to be eating good.
Going to get one of these and I'm really thinking about making up a custom version of 6081. I love these two (I only have 6086 though I'm going to attempt 6073 soon) and they will live on my desk with the micro monorail from 40290. These are such cute remakes, I wish they'd do an entire line of them and make them for sale. Just the best and biggest sets of yesteryear, now in affordable and desk-sized form!
Would have prefered a remake of 6035 or 6034 minifig scale.
This is decent nothing more
Wow, the building techniques on the mini Black Knight's Castle are fantastic. I wasn't stunned by the photos of this set but this review really shows off how cool it is! Thanks :)
Had to re-read the article on CRAPP. Marvellous old sets really now from another era! I do miss a good CRAPP in a set now and again.
Forgot about BOLOCs thanks Hew, tho I always preferred Rainbow Build.
What was the one for Stickers over multiple parts?..... SOMP? Can't be right.
@beatnik said:
"Had to re-read the article on CRAPP. Marvellous old sets really now from another era! I do miss a good CRAPP in a set now and again.
Forgot about BOLOCs thanks Hew, tho I always preferred Rainbow Build.
What was the one for Stickers over multiple parts?..... SOMP? Can't be right."
STAMP, for STickers Across Multiple Parts.
I must say this GWP nonsense has gone a bit overboard when not even a full-price modular is enough to qualify for the "gift".
@beatnik said:
"I do miss a good CRAPP in a set now and again.
"
Have you considered getting a cat? I hear it’s the sort of thing they do…
This review does show them to be a lot more detailed than I had imagined, and it’s a lovely job, but without much attachment myself to the originals, they’re a fun curiosity rather than something I’m willing to spend extra to reach.
Maybe the varied responses here show why there’s no direct castle remake as other themes have enjoyed - everyone wants “their” castle, and there seems to be no single standout candidate
@stefwaffles said:
" @beatnik said:
"I do miss a good CRAPP in a set now and again.
"
Have you considered getting a cat? I hear it’s the sort of thing they do…
This review does show them to be a lot more detailed than I had imagined, and it’s a lovely job, but without much attachment myself to the originals, they’re a fun curiosity rather than something I’m willing to spend extra to reach.
Maybe the varied responses here show why there’s no direct castle remake as other themes have enjoyed - everyone wants “their” castle, and there seems to be no single standout candidate"
Yeah, as I said, the castle I wanted most was 6085. Actually, it was the only one I ever really had eyes for; I was more of a Forestmen guy otherwise.
For me, it is a must-have, because I have both original sets!
@TheOtherMike said:
" @beatnik said:
"Had to re-read the article on CRAPP. Marvellous old sets really now from another era! I do miss a good CRAPP in a set now and again.
Forgot about BOLOCs thanks Hew, tho I always preferred Rainbow Build.
What was the one for Stickers over multiple parts?..... SOMP? Can't be right."
STAMP, for STickers Across Multiple Parts."
Oh yeah STAMP. Thanks
It’s a little surprising to me that almost no one is discussing these sets in terms of how well they might go with 5008074 Grey Castle set / 6487474 Buildable Grey Castle. Mister_Jonny seems to be the only one even alluding to that / those set(s), but it’s the thing that immediately comes to mind when I see this 40775.
Seeing another microscale castle set like this immediately gets me thinking about whole little microscale layouts (and not just for Castle but Space, City, Star Wars, whatever). At the same time I do find myself wishing this had even one printed microfigure, like the ones found with that earlier castle. I think I’ll have to repurpose Jack (of “and the Beanstalk” fame, from the Ideas Pop-Up Book) to use with these li’l castles, and keep an eye out for other suitable microfigure prints (as well as unprinted ones in quantity, of course).
@huw: Would it be an idea to record more extensive info (than "free with qualifying purchases at LEGO.com [month] [year]") about GWPs in the database? Like the date of introduction, end and (if applicable) when it actually sold out, spending limit (in $/e), the fake "MSRP", which sets/themes qualified, if it stacked on top of other GWPs etc?
@stefwaffles said: "Maybe the varied responses here show why there’s no direct castle remake as other themes have enjoyed - everyone wants “their” castle, and there seems to be no single standout candidate"
Even if I had both 6073 and 6080 first, my favorite was clearly 6074 as it had a good selection of wall and the then-new corner panels at a reasonable price, and even something very vaguely resembling a keep. That was my major gripe with the classic castles, they were just a wall with no living area and it had to be cold as hell in the winter.
It was enough of a standout that it actually got a remake (10039), but now it's been longer since that remake than it was between the remake and the original (feeling old yet?).
@Blondie_Wan said: "At the same time I do find myself wishing this had even one printed microfigure, like the ones found with [5008074 Grey Castle set]
Personally I find the nano/trophy figures to be a bit on the small side, especially how the stud socket makes up a large part of them. I'd prefer a slightly larger castle with "baby" figures (like in the 40712 and 40786 space sets) as they're small but not *too* small.