Random set of the day: Dragon Master Chariot
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 1794 Dragon Master Chariot, released in 1994. It's one of 4 Castle sets produced that year. It contains 36 pieces and 1 minifig.
It's owned by 590 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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Dragon Masters was my first Castle theme! I don't remember if I had this set though. My favorite Dragon Masters sets were always the ones that had either a dragon or Majisto the wizard (who was apparently just called Merlin in the UK catalogs). Given that some of my favorite themes these days are magic– and dragon-heavy themes like Ninjago and Elves, I suppose my tastes have not changed all that much — in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this theme helped shape my interests.
The triadic color scheme of this minifigure's outfit is a bit odd by today's standards. I suppose back at this point, before the advent of printed minifigure legs or fabric skirts, the outfit divided into broad fields of color was meant to evoke a colorful surcoat. Today, seeing an outfit with this many colors can't help but remind me of the gaudy outfits of the Swiss Guard.
The helmets with their little dragon wings were also quite fun, even if it's not one of the archetypical medieval helmet styles I'm accustomed to seeing in media! The little bitty dragons on top were quite fun and I remember that piece being used decoratively outside Majisto's Magical Workshop, one of my favorite Dragon Masters sets.
The halberd pieces this theme introduced are a fun weapon to use as traps in castles, though compared to most LEGO Castle weapons at that time I suppose they're not all that realistically scaled to minifigures, rivaling even many of Ninjago's over-the-top weapons in size! I don't mean this as a mark against them by any means, just a comment on how they compare to the axes and spears that had come before them.
This was my first castle theme too! I had this set along with a few of the other small ones.
Would love to see a modern theme similar to this return some time soon.
A cute, simple set with no unnecessary fillers. Lego doesn't make sets like this anymore. I really miss the original Castle theme.
Was this one of those special, limited-release sets? Because we never saw any of these in Australia. More's the pity.
Anyway, I loved the dragon knights. Leaving aside the obvious drawcard (of the dragon himself. Sure, he's primitive and dull by today's standards, but in the mid 90s, those dragons were the coolest Lego ever. Ever. Until Aquazone and Spyrius came along, at least), I loved their fabric capes, and the helmets with the dragon insignias on them were just lovely.
Classis Castle set must come back!! No those Nexo Knights, who are not Middle Age, not Space men!!
@Zordboy:
This was actually a part of 1723 Castle/Pirates Value Pack.
As far as I know these types of sets were all US (or perhaps NA) exclusives. They always came as double-packs with a similar sized set from a different theme included (this one had 1795 Imperial Cannon (Pirates - Imperial Guards).
The strange thing is that they were not the value pack type sets, that were just sold together, more or less one set with just one instruction booklet. Still the individual models got their own set numbers...
What's also strange is, that 1994 was one of the few years that didn't saw new Castle releases in Europe. More oddly is that the Dragon Masters line was split into 2 series in the US with one being released in 1993 (6082, 6076, 6048, 6056) and the other in 1994 (6043, 6020, 6105 and US exclusives 1906, 1794, 1712, 1732).
I guess the EU castle stop had something to with it being considered too similar to the new Indigo Islanders sub-theme from Pirates, in a similar way as the Pirates Introduction caused a break in castle releases in 1989.
It might also be related to the fact that Wolfpack had so few sets. Maybe it was supposed to be the real 1993 castle series (Dragonmasters meant for 1994) and they had development issues?
Funny thing is that the knight from this set ('The Dragon Master') never appeared exactly the same in 2 sets, all 4 sets that contain him have minor differences.
Also the German Audiodrama tapes 'Hokus Pokus Zauberstab' ('Hocus Pocus Magic Wand') and 'Der Sohn des Königs' ('The King's Son') that were released in 1995 revealed his name to be 'Sir Francis' and he has a daughter called 'Rusty'. Majisto there was called 'Cerlin' just like in the German name for set 6020 ('Cerlin, der Zauberer mit Geheimlabor') and his dragon's name is 'Dragomil'.
@Atuin: I really love insights like this into how themes were released/marketed differently between countries! Thank you for sharing them! ^_^