Review: 5004390 King's Guard
Posted by CapnRex101,
5004390 King's Guard is currently available with Nexo Knights purchases at LEGO stores in the UK and is being given away in exchange for the relevant calendar token in North America. I am always pleased to acquire free items like this one and the exclusivity of the minifigure inside is a nice bonus for Nexo Knights collectors who might wish to expand their army.
Box and Contents
The packaging is one of the most significant features of this little set. It contains a single minifigure but opens to reveal some scenery as well which can form a backdrop for the knight. The box is very small but is made from a nice cardboard stock and feels like a product of good quality which is always pleasing where store exclusives are concerned.
The box is sealed by a tab and can therefore be closed very easily if you wish. Alternatively you can leave it open with the backdrop folded out, offering an attractive option for display.
Minifigure
The King's Guard included is currently exclusive to this set but is notably similar to the Royal Soldiers which have been featured in the first and second waves. The blue helmet appears in 70318 The Glob Lobber while the bulky torso armour has been seen in three other Nexo Knights sets and they look great together, particularly when matched with the blue decoration on the torso and legs underneath.
Unfortunately the quality of the plastic used is poorer than usual and indicates that the minifigure was manufactured in a factory outside of Europe. The joints are relatively loose and the light bluish grey plastic is a lighter shade than that of other LEGO pieces which is irritating, although as part of a larger display I am sure it will look fine.
When fully armoured this minifigure looks very similar to that included in 70318 The Glob Lobber which we reviewed in May. However, there are actually many differences between the two, as you can see below. The colour schemes are similar but the printed designs are distinctive as the new one has more blue on the upper chest while the old features segmented armour beneath the king's insignia.
The printing on the head has also been updated with a thicker black line around the face and a new expression on either side. This design is a little less finely printed than that on the original Royal Soldier, shown on the right in the image above, but I am glad of the variety.
Overall
The quality of the plastic and the printing on the minifigure is a little disappointing but the design looks great and I actually prefer this slightly simpler armour to that which appeared on the earlier Royal Soldiers as the older design looks rather jumbled to me. The impressive packaging certainly makes this feel like an exclusive item and it is worth acquiring if you are within easy travelling distance of a LEGO store, whether or not you have a significant interest in Nexo Knights.
This is a good little set for Nexo Knights fans and one which I definitely recommend. The minifigure offers something different to those found in the standard retail sets and I expect it will only be available in 5004390 King's Guard so should retain its exclusive status. On the other hand, one wonders whether something more exciting and unusual might have been offered given the obvious similarities between this minifigure and those included in other sets.
24 likes
22 comments on this article
I prefer the minifigure that comes with the glob lobber...looking at the two side by side the printing on this "exclusive" one looks less detailed, almost like a prototype design.
No longer appears at LEGO shop online in UK. Nor does the poster. "While stocks last"?
I kinda like it I will hopefully get it if I can go to my closest Lego Store because I have the coupon from the calender
This set gives us our third set of torso and leg patterns for King's Soldiers. Another set of torso and leg prints is available in http://brickset.com/sets/853515-1/Knights-Army-Building-Set .
As for my feelings on this figure, it's a good design, but the character selection is a bit underwhelming to me. I'm generally more fond of unique characters than generic army-builders. The level of detail is nice but nothing really extraordinary compared to the standard figures that appear in the sets. On the one hand, this makes him fit in better as part of a larger army, but on the other hand, there's nothing besides his rarity to make him feel any more interesting than his more common counterparts.
Interestingly, the King's Guards/King's Soldiers have yet to appear in the show. Same goes for the various Lava Monster foot soldiers (Ash Attackers, Crust Smashers, and Flame Throwers). Instead, the lava monster infantry consists mostly of Globlins and Scurriers, and the kingdom of Knighton doesn't really have any infantry besides the Squirebots. I wonder if the normal-sized troops will be introduced in Season 2. It'd probably make sense for the King's Soldiers to be a newer invention since they are certainly more advanced-looking than the Squirebots, what with their more lifelike bodies and screen-like faces (the orange color didn't make sense to me until I realized it was meant to resemble the display screens and holograms in sets like the Fortrex).
The packaging of this set is nice, but ultimately I'm left wondering what it costs and whether just packaging him as a polybag would open up more of the budget to give him at least some basic accessories. Pre-assembling the figure and mounting him in a custom-fitted plastic blister can't be cheap, and its bigger than it needs to be for its contents. It doesn't seem to me that this packaging is any more eco-friendly than a polybag, and unlike the Target Minifigure Gift Sets ( http://brickset.com/sets?query=Target%20Minifigure%20Gift%20Set ), which have a clear plastic window to show of the figure, the closed front on this set means that it doesn't have any more shelf presence in stores than any other set. So all this packaging really offers is a more interesting unboxing experience. It's not a big deal since he's a freebie (and other figs like him probably will be as well); the decision to introduce it is just a bit perplexing.
Still, good review!
The LEGO Store in Sweden advertised this Nexo Knights campaign in its magazine and also on the web. Then for some reason the store didn't receive the set, so the campaign is canceled and removed from the store's web page as well as from the online LEGO store. Bummer!
The fact this is not the queen everyone wanted makes me sad and angry. And she would make a PERFECT unique character!
@Aanchir - I assumed these guys are human, the orange being a visor or something.
Quality issue sounds annoying. Might as well get mine, anyway.
I think this is very poor. The king's guard minifigures are fairly ugly in general and to include one like this, in an unnecessary separate box and presumably with 'Made in China' label... Ugh.
We got it. It's ok, but should have come with a weapon.
This may just be me, but the packaging might be indicating the end of polybags for exclusive single figures, as they may be boxed from now on. I'm undecided as to whether this may be a good or a bad thing, if I turn out to be correct. Of course, this is pure speculation, but does anyone else agree?
I tried googling this without success. Can anyone tell me what a calendar token is and how I would acquire one?
^ With qualifying purchases late last year at LEGO Stores, one would receive (at least in North America) a LEGO-themed 2016 calendar. Included with it were coupons for a Creator Parrot, 100 bonus VIP points, and this minifig; each valid at certain time periods this year. You present your coupon to the worker at the register and they'll automatically throw the corresponding gift in your bag. Unfortunately, unless you can snag the calendar in some way like eBay, it's too late to get one 'legally'.
Can't wait to get this one!
I added a cheap £6.99 Nexo Knights set to my order so I could get this. A few days later (two days ago) I received an email saying this was no longer available and sorry about that.
Now I've got a cheap £6.99 Nexo Knights set I don't want on the way and no free gift. *sarcastic thumbs up*
^ Just return it. Customer Services are helpful and will send you labels and so on.
I have 6 coupons for these little guys, but since I recently moved back from the US, I have no easy way of using them :(
@Shib: I definitely understand thinking that, and that was my first impulse too, but according to their character page on the Nexo Knights website (http://www.lego.com/en-us/nexoknights/characters/royal-soldier-72a0448c45704f1eaff345392206cbc6), they're robots.
@HugeYellowBrick
Yeah, I know they'd be fine with me returning it but I think I'll just keep it. It can go on my 'what was I thinking?' pile in the deepest darkest corner of the attic. You never know: in ten years I might stumble across it and find it charming.
I picked one of these up the other day and noted the same issue with the quality of the minifigure. It is much like a CMF in that respect.
Thanks for the nice review.
I don't care for the excessive packaging. A simple polybag will do for such an unremarkable figure.
What a waste of packaging...
only got the poster in Holland :(