Classic LEGO: Classic Castle
Posted by SprinkleOtter,
With the release of Nexo Knights just around the corner with its robotic knights, monsters, and app-shields, let us take a look back to a time when all LEGO needed to sell Castle sets was a good number of generic minifigures, creative models, and a touch of imagination. I will be taking a look at Castle sets made before 2000, excluding Forestmen and Ninja. If you want to read about Forestmen, The LEGO Chronicler wrote an excellent review here.
Small set: 1888 Black Knights Guardshack
Black Knights Guardshack exemplifies what I think is missing from Castle themes of recent – a small location around which a story could develop. Black Knights Guardshack, though containing only 49-pieces, included a sizeable tower, two minifigures, and enough weapons for a small army. The Guardshack itself consisted of two levels, the lower of which housed a glow-in-the-dark Ghost minifigure. The turret level could be accessed by a ladder (not always the case with Castle towers), and provided a defensive lookout for the Black Knight soldier. A pair of swords and spears projected from the tower, to ward off attacking knights.
Ship: 6057 Sea Serpent
Classic Castle abounded with small ships for combat or transporting soldiers, but only one really stands out to me – Sea Serpent. Aside from being the largest Castle ship at the time, Sea Serpent really captures the essence of medieval ships. The fore and aft sections of this ship are literally made out of castle wall parts, and Black Knight shields adorn the sides of the ship. Sea Serpent is the first Castle set to come with a cloth sail, and can also be powered by oars if there is no wind. Steering is accomplished by a pair of oars attached to the back of the ship, though they seem less than effective. Three Black Knight soldiers man the Sea Serpent, defending it against two Black Falcon knights.
Siege weapon: 6061 Siege Tower
Classic Castle offered versions of nearly every siege weapon ever made, from catapults, crossbows, and battering rams. Out of all these siege weapons, 6061 Siege Tower is my favorite, for being the most realistic. The Siege tower in this set is made out a combination of castle parts and SNOT plates, designed to give the tower the appearance of being held together by boards. All common features of a siege tower are captured in this set, from a lowering gangplank to the top turret, as well as the handles for pushing the tower into position. (All other Classic siege weapons omit these). Not only does 6061 contain a siege tower, but also a modular section of wall for it to conquer, as well as a superfluous brown ladder (though a rarity in Classic sets). Four minifigures are included to man the tower and wall, but all are Lion Knights, which is a little odd.
Carriage: 6044 King's Carriage
Though Castle had been around since 1978, it took seventeen years before the first indisputable king minifigure was made, complete with shining crown and sword. The carriage is one of the largest seen in Classic Castle, and had space enough for the king to ride in comfort, a treasure chest, and three soldiers to guard them both. Fortunately for the king, Forestmen had been discontinued five years earlier. The carriage had exactly two horsepower locomotion, turning front wheels for steering, torches for driving at night, and opening doors and roof. The carriage boasts a regal blue-and-yellow color scheme, but the inclusion of black parts does seem a bit unusual.
Small Building: 6067 Guarded Inn
We now come to what many consider to be the best Castle set of all time – the Guarded Inn. Guarded Inn was the first full-sized civilian(ish) building. The main part of the inn consisted of a red two-storied building, complete with opening front for play inside. To the side of the inn is a modular section of castle wall, which works great as a stable, but is nearly useless for defense. At the top of the inn's sloped roof is a turret, which is notoriously impossible to reach because of the lack of a ladder. Guarded Inn also comes with a great many details, from a table and chairs, to a fireplace complete with chimney, and secret hiding place for a treasure chest in the rafters. Guarded Inn included four minifigures, three Crusader Knights and a rare maiden. Guarded Inn was so popular when it was released that it warranted a re-release in 2001 as 10000 Guarded Inn.
Fortress: 6074 Black Falcon's Fortress
Black Falcon's Fortress has a unique distinction among Castle Fortresses – the inclusion of a living area for its resident garrison, instead of a prison. Roughly half of the top of the back wall is devoted to living quarters, consisting of a pair of rooms separated by an arch. The architecture of these rooms is quite interesting for a Castle set, and they included a rare yellow timber frame wall panel. The front of the fortress consisted of a pair of massive towers connected by an arch over a drawbridge. Six soldiers man this fortress, paired up by job as archers, men with spears, and cavalry. Like Guarded Inn, Black Falcon's Fortress was re-released in 2001 as 10039.
Castle: 6086 Black Knight's Castle
Classic Castle produced seven full castles (depending on how you count them). Some of these are more successful than others, and I think Black Knight's Castle stands above the others. Black Knight's Castle is built atop a raised baseplate, but unlike other castles, actually utilizes the baseplate to its fullest. Black Knight's Castle used the sloping section of the baseplate to lead to the main section of the castle, where a “prison pit” was located inside the hollowed-out section of the baseplate. Also built into the baseplate was a well, though no means of extracting water from it is given. Along one wall of the castle is a covered room, with table and barrel. Two more yellow timber frame wall panels are used in this part of the castle. Two corners of the castle boast high towers, perfect for keeping a lookout and raining arrows down on attackers. The gatehouse stands above the rest of the castle, and provides protection for the main entrance to the castle in the form of a portcullis and drawbridge. The drawbridge can be raised and lowered by a wheel on the side of the gatehouse. A staggering twelve minifigures are included in this set, ten are Black Knight soldiers, one Wolfpack soldier to be imprisoned, and lastly a luminous ghost to haunt the castle.
All of these sets can be acquired for surprisingly reasonable prices, especially once you adjust for inflation. That is, unless you want a sealed Guarded Inn, which will set you back more than five hundred dollars.
Below are the links to find these sets on both Bricklink and Ebay. As always, the commission Brickset receives from any sales using these links helps keep Brickset free to use and free of ads.
Black Knights Guardshack:
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Sea Serpent:
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Siege Tower:
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King's Carriage:
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Guarded Inn:
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Black Falcon's Fortress:
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Black Knight's Castle:
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17 comments on this article
Great overview of some awesome Classic Castle sets. I am a little disappointed that nothing from Wolf Pack made it in. I consider Wolf Pack to be one of, if not the best, sub-themes of Classic Castle.
What I loved (and now sorely miss) about the old Castle sets was the number of modular wall sets that could be combined into a huge elaborate curtain wall if you had enough (you never would). Along with the guarded inn and seige sets mentioned here, there was a blacksmith, armoury, gate and more. It was a really good idea and well overdue a revisit.
I loved the modular wall parts when I was a kid, I'd always just click whatever I have together to make it bigger, and therefore obviously better. Been using my disposable income now I've gone and grown up and got a proper job to buy other vintage castle sets so I can merge them together into a superstructure. I've got 6040, 6041, 6061, 6067, 6074, 6080 and 6081 all going together well, been having fun trying to see if I can arrange them into a wall around 6090 as a central keep.
The Black Knight and Dragon Knight stuff looks like it should go together well, the colour schemes generally match, but their less modular focus (at least with the Dragon Knights) makes it a bit tricker to join them up, without modification at least.
Thanks for bringing back some nostalgia. I recall playing with Black Night Castle for countless hours.
This is also a very well written article and I hope there will be more.
Minor suggestion, it would be good to have the production year of each set appear.
Not a bad list. I think it's weighted too far to the early 90s. As far as small sets go, I think 6035 Castle Guard is a better representation of good small set. 1888 is sort of a weird, semi-nonsensical set. It combines a lot of little elements just never quite work together properly. Whereas 6035 strikes me as a bit more realistic and I think this looks cooler.
Castle ships I think are a hard category, there is not a lot to choose from and are often small and uninteresting sets. There is something about 6057 that has never quite worked for me and I can't put my finger on it. If I had to pick a ship I would go with 6049 Viking Voyager. It's smaller and a bit cruder than 6057, but for the time I think it does in outstanding job of capturing the essence of a small longboat.
There are so many great siege weapon sets of the classic era I think it's hard to pick just one. That said 6061 is certainly a great choice and I think you covered all of its bases.
I'm not a particularly big fan of the Royal Knights line. It along with the Dragon Masters introduced a number of undesirable elements into the Castle theme. As such I never would've picked 6044. If we're excluding Forstmann, I think my pick would have been 6038 Wolfpack Renegades. This is an awesome little carriage with a ton weapons, treasure chest, hidden compartment and is a Wolfpack set.
Is not much to say about either 6067 or 6074. Both are outstanding sets in amongst the best ever released.
6086 Dungeon Master's Castle (the set's true name) is an interesting pick and not one that I would've made. But nonetheless is a good one. It's the last truly outstanding castle set made and is only one of two sets that I feel benefit from the ramp and pit basement. It has a lot of elements and details 6080 and 6085 don't have. It is a beautiful set in combines its elements wonderfully. I think the flaws are minor and can be easily overlooked. I am consistently annoyed by the renaming of the set (yes, I know the reasons and the history behind this) and the Internet's continued use of the rename (absolutely idiotic in this day and age). Ok that rant is over.
In honorable mention needs to go to 375/6075 the yellow Castle. Because without it all the rest of this would be moot.
Don't do this to me anymore.
I read a title, saw a picture and thought TLG would rerelease those! (fainted)
The best thing about Nexo-Knights is that it answers an age-old question I've had:
What would a castle theme look like if designed by a dedicated Spacer?
Remember kids: all parts are Space parts! :)
All great sets. Yes I would consider the Guarded inn one of the best. However the knight that comes with the Guarded Inn is not a Lion Knight (or crusader) he's a Black Falcon knight. The extra shield mounted in the Inn is generally considered his.
I'd put 6034 Black Monarch's Ghost (http://brickset.com/sets/6034-1/Black-Monarch-s-Ghost) above the one listed here. It's almost the same number of parts, comes with a horse and a bird, and has two doors, effectively making it a good starter set for building a larger castle. To this day, I still own my ghost from that set!
I'm trying to like Nexo Knights on its own merits, but I really long for a good Castle line that isn't so cartoony. I liked the sets that came after the KKII line, with the skeletons and trolls, but the main castles since then have all been too colourful. I wish there was a castle whose main parts came only in grey, like the good ol' sets of old. I also miss the days of modular sets that can be combined together to make larger castles.
^^ Well, the Lego Movie Castle Cavalry was just cut by a third in price on Amazon...wasn't that our last real "Castle"-y set? It's basically a micro castle with a Micro Manager and civilian to boot.
Ahhh...memories! What a great article. My brother owned the Sea Serpent and Black Monarch's Ghost sets amongst others. My favorite sets I owned (beside Forestmen) were the Armor Shop and the Knight's Challenge sets.
After having been reading a lot of posts in this website, this exceptional article about Castle theme (and constrasting it with Nexo Knights) has lead to write my first comment:
First of all, I must admit that Classic Castle is my favourite theme...and some many times I have thought that those Lego Castles are the reason for loving the medieval area as I do. Although being an engineer and loving construction subtheme of Castle, Castle is my favourite.
So, being reading the article with all my classic Lego castles around me in my room, and loving the Serpent Sea, that big boat compared with the small boats of this serie, the incredible Guarded Inn (that I was able to buy the released versión during my Erasmus stage in Germany in 2003) and the amazing 6086 Castle which is full of Blach Knight soldiers, I was full of nostalgia and I write this praise.
I am skeptical about the return of Classic Castle theme. They prefer to excite children with futurist versions of them. Last Castle theme included 7 articles but has no continuation...it is unbelievable!! What for they have done them? Al least, the previous one line, Red Lion Soldiers lasted 2 years!!
Fourtenately, this kind of articles remind us great ítems and better times, don't they?
I couldn't agree more! These sets were some of the best from my childhood. I loved the Castle themes through the years. I remember how excited I was when they first released the shiny silver swords in the 1995 sets. For me, this was a great conduit to a world of adventure, as well as a way to learn and inquire about history. I remember buying several books on knights, and medieval warfare. Some of my fondest memories as a kid revolve around these classic Castle sets. I'm not all that excited about the new Nexo Knights, but maybe I'm just old fashioned! I'm sure I'll give them a chance once they are here, because after all, it may be the only castle theme we get for the foreseeable future!
Another thumbs up for the Modular aspect of Classic Lego. Such a great play feature.
@Brickalili That's something I'd love to see. I don't think I've ever seen them all linked up. Even a search through Google Images only shows maybe two joined together.
The thing I miss most of all in the new castle sets is the number of figures and knights that come with in! Before you could get 2~4 knights (on horses) + at least 5~6 figures as soldiers if you bought a big main castle set. The last big castle released was such a shame, so few figures that couldn't even fill full the towers of the castle itself, just one lonely knight on horse.
Other think is thats the recent castle things are too colorful. I wanted them to be more black, gray and brown, with greens just for plants and the reds and blues just when is really necesary...
@HeriSanmi
I couldn't agree more!