Review: 41183 The Goblin King's Evil Dragon
Posted by Huw,
Here's another Elves set review by Shib:
Cronan Darkroot, the Goblin King, takes to the skies on the back of Ashwing, the earth dragon, in the search for magic crystals to power his evil portal. Last year's Elves sets had a strong focus on Dragons, but this, 41183 The Goblin King's Evil Dragon, is the first set to feature a villainous dragon and is also the first time an Elves set with a RRP below £75 has featured that year's main villain.
Before even building this set appears to have a lot going for it, but looks can be deceiving, so is the set as good as it appears?
Mini-dolls
Cronan Darkroot is the only traditional minidoll in the set, and features a new, currently unique hairpiece that features a crown. The moulding of the crown detailing is very good and ties in with the eye symbol that has been used throughout this years sets. However, it does mean that it is unlikely this piece could be used for any other character. There's some excellent printing, including metallic prints which do a good job of conveying a royal character who is prepared to enter a battle himself. Unfortunately there is no rear printing, however this is covered by a dual coloured cape so it's a minor concern.
As well as the Goblin King, this set includes one Goblin figure – Jimblin. As with the other goblins there is no print to the rear of the figure. However the detail on the front of the figure is significant enough to show some element of the character. While it would perhaps be nice to see some more variation between the Goblin characters, such as different moulding or different styles of clothing, this does seem a decent enough way to include some variation on within a budget.
As well as the figures, this set includes two moulded animals – Blubeary and Lil' Blu. Blubeary is the bear mould that has been used in the Friends theme for a few years, moulded in dark azure and facial printing that matches the other Elves animals. Lil' Blu, who is described as Blubeary's cub uses the hamster mould that was introduced last year cast in light royal blue. This seems an acceptable way of creating a bear cub within the Elves universe, had it been done in the Friends line the odd scale to the minidolls wouldn't have worked, but a magical setting easily explains scaling issues away.
Parts
This set features a lot of new spring yellowish green parts, many of which are currently exclusive to this set. Given that the colour was only introduced in 2012, and has been used for a relatively small number of parts, this is still a relatively new colour. All this means this set is a pretty good parts pack for those looking to boost their stock of this colour, I'm certainly tempted to pick up another with spring yellowish green spaceships in mind.
The Completed Model
As with most Elves sets, this set includes a small piece of scenery, in this case a small waterfall and crystal cave. The crystal, which forms part of this years story, is hidden behind a crystal wall, which is built with an explosion function, similar to those frequently used in Superhero sets. Within the context of the story this a decent play feature to include but ultimately this little piece of scenery adds very little.
There is also a small cage, which according to the description is for the crystal to be carried in. However, the crystal doesn't fit particularly well, but Lil' Blu does – I suspect it was originally intended as a cage for the cub but was changed during development, most likely because of a change in the story or play testing.
The main event of the set is Ashwing, the earth dragon. This is the second earth dragon from the Elves theme, the first of which, Thorne, featured in 41176: The Secret Market Place. Ashwing is a lot larger than Thorne, features a different colour scheme and is a different style of dragon. This style of dragon would typically be described as a Wyvern. As a fan of fantasy and mythology I have thoroughly enjoyed the range of dragons that have featured in the Elves theme and featuring such a different style of dragon is a fantastic choice.
The build of the dragon is excellent, it uses a range of building styles and techniques and draws on different systems. I am aware that some people are opposed to the combining of standard system, technic and constraction parts, but I enjoy seeing how these different elements can be combined, and the result here speaks for itself. The core of the build is a strong technic combination which sets up for a lot of the posability of the finished model. Thanks to the numerous ball joints used, a huge range of poses can be achieved, and I'll admit to having had a lot of fun positioning the dragon and playing around with how it can look.
My favourite part of this build was the legs, the initial shaping is interesting, but is really made by the SNOT work finish in spring yellowish green. The combination of the shaping and detailing instantly creates a reptilian look.
Overall
The dragon is an excellent model, and is definitely my favourite of the Elves dragons I've built so far. There have been some dragons in the Ninjago line that I prefer, but this set is a must for any LEGO dragon fans in general. For its price point the finished dragon is an impressive size, suits the Elves theme while being an excellent stand alone piece.
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17 comments on this article
Lego are doing two-colour capes now? I see an empire strikes back Lando Calrissian coming...
That dragon is really nicely made!
The Friends and Elves stuff holds no interest for me, but I have to admit, the dragon looks pretty neat.
Great review! I had been hoping for an evil dragon since last year and love how this set turned out.
Interestingly, this is not only the first set of this size to include a year's main villain, but also the first such set to lack any "good" mini-doll characters at all! Still, despite this set's cheap inclusion of Cronan the Goblin King, there's still an incentive to pick up the larger castle in the summer since this set lacks Cronan's evil gold and green amulet.
Personally, I don't find the little bit of scenery to be superfluous considering that it not only introduces some conflict, but provides a bit of staging for Blubeary and Lil' Blu so that they don't feel totally removed from the other contents of the set. The shaping on that scenery is also great, with some great crystals and a cute little trickle of water.
Ashwing is truly great. The two-legged posture is enabled by the high friction of the legs, using the same method of adding friction used by the larger, four-legged Queen Dragon from last year's sets. The spikes (especially the "crown" of spikes at the back of the head) give a great menacing appearance. I appreciate the bars that provide a way for the goblins to hang on while in flight even though Ashwing's "saddle" isn't quite large enough for other passengers.
This set pairs quite well with Aira's Airship, another great Elves set I'm hoping to see reviewed in the near future!
Have to admit, this is one I ran out to get on release day and for that price it's still one of my favourite sets for 2017. Dragon looks great posed about to 'take off' from a very high shelf! Keeping an eye out for a discount to get another now
Great review, that dragon is amaizing.
The dragon looks gorgeous (and yeah, I'm probably gonna end up buying the set), but don't the red and pink accents on the underside of the beasts just look really strange? Even forgiving the red, the jump from the spring-green and black colour scheme, to bright pink flashes, just seems the wrong kind of eye-catching.
@Speed champions fan, it's not the first time Lego has made a duel coloured cape, and in fact did make one for the Empire Strikes Back version of Lando for the 2003 Cloud City set. That minifigure is one of many reasons I'd love to have that set, yet also one of many reasons that set is astronomically expensive on the aftermarket. Maybe one of these years Lego will get around to making a new version (UCS I hope). As for this set my daughter has some Elves sets and the dragon looks great, especially for the price. I'm going to try to convince her she needs this one lol.
Great review! I really liked the build of the dragon as well, plus I do like how the Elves designers manage to put in play functions in just about every set, as evidenced by the explosion function in this one.
I'm with Zordboy is that I think the colouring of the underside is a little offputting - I with they would have stuck with all magenta or all red, but I'm guessing the parts weren't available in all one colour. Regardless, it's a pretty cool dragon.
This isn't actually the only evil Dragon. Another notable example is Smaug from The Hobbit sets (I don't remember which one).
The reviewer meant the first evil dragon in the Elves theme.
Looks like a really fun set!
Nice review! Good to see more parts in that spring green color.
Also did the likable comments feature just come back, too? :D
Nice review and interesting pieces. Unless I've missed it I think it's good to put a link to the actual brickset set page somewhere as I got to the end and immediately want to know what the price is. (It's £25 in the UK)
@Andhe Click the set number in the first paragraph and you get taken to the set details page, which holds the information you're looking for.
I picked this set up a month or two ago, and as soon as I'd built it I rated Ashwing the most beautiful model in my collection, narrowly edging out Agent Coulson's car, Lola. It is simply wonderful to behold, and anyone with an interest in Lego dragons should try to get one.
@Zordboy, it looks great in reality. Photos don't do this set justice imo.
One thing that struck me from Huw's photos was the construction of the legs. It reminds me a lot of the T-Rex from this year's 31058 Mighty Dinosaurs, but improved in terms of strength and shape, although it looks like it lost mobility.
The designers of the elves line are doing a really nice job - you can see their love for details and creativity. Thanks for this review!