Random set of the day: The Mermaid Castle
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 5960 The Mermaid Castle, released in 2005. It's one of 5 Belville sets produced that year. It contains 237 pieces and 3 minifigs, and its retail price was US$70/£49.99.
It's owned by 126 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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24 comments on this article
So are they supposed to be mini mer people? Or is that a GIANT sea horse?? Friends and Disney Princess sets were such as improvement over this abomination.
There's an Erin Esurance style looking comic in the back of the instructions. Pretty bland story (really, another fish person wants to be on land for some rando?), but the art looks great.
What is that horrifying rendered doll in the bottom corner...
It... it scares me.
Today in ‘Pieces You Never Knew Existed’ - big ‘ol seahorse.
I liked the idea here, but Scala always seemed like it was too big to be Lego, but too small to make for a satisfying doll's house. Look at the castle structure, here, it's barely a couple of walls.
Although I like how they got some use out of the Spinosaurus/Dimetrodon spinal piece (that had come out with the Dinosaurs theme prior) as undersea decorations for the castle wall.
Are there some mermaid Belville aficionados out there who can educate us all on the lore of this set in the same way we get an explanation of the background for Bionicle sets?
I’m dying to know who these characters are and their place in the canon.
The main draw from my perspective is that Belville figures scale well with 3 3/4 action figures. They really work as civilians.
I was actually just looking at one of the mermaids from this set on Bricklink earlier today, as a thing to get an order over a limit. To me, the tail looks more like a kid's sleeping bag than it does a tail. Minifigs and Minidolls have their legs replaced with tails.
@Mr__Thrawn:
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_YUWsB-dKD3c/RnGZB7GXidI/AAAAAAAAATw/sYSUfGTRp98/s1600-h/futurama_comic_sea_monkey_ad.jpg
@Mr__Thrawn said:
"What is that horrifying rendered doll in the bottom corner..."
Horrifying? That's the best computer generated art that money could buy back in 1998!
Wait, what's that? This is from 2005? Oops! Nevermind. It sucks.
@MCLegoboy said:
"There's an Erin Esurance style looking comic in the back of the instructions. Pretty bland story (really, another fish person wants to be on land for some rando?), but the art looks great. "
Seems like the comic is half-finished. I wouldn't say the art is THAT great, either. Needed to look up Erin Ensurance, I never had heard of her.
But Huwbot, Halloween already passed.
Set as a whole doesn't interest me, but all those various trasnparent parts sure do look nice. I especially liked that trans-pink fish ornament and the chest at the top of the tower.
A few pieces in the Bellville line interest me, but the actual builds (this included) don’t justify!
I actually kinda like this set to be honest. The build is pretty bare-bones, I agree, but it's fantastic as a parts pack. So many unique transparent pieces! The ones that immediately catch my attention are those trans-pink dinosaur spines, those look really nice.
This is one of the best sets I’ve ever seen.
I remember seeing this all the time in the Lego catalog when I was younger! I guess its... uniqueness... made it memorable for me.
Although not a fan of Belville as looks more mini-barbie than Lego to me, I do prefer the style and build of this set compared to the current Princess Ariel 43176 Duplo set, as I can see far more possibilities for adventures and stories.
From big Scala to medium sized Belville to MiniDoll Friends.
Honey I shrunk the toys ;)
I'm wondering how they keep their hair so neat and tidy underwater. Mermaid magic of some kind I suppose
omg i must have one of those seahorses!
@CarolinaOnMyMind said:
"Are there some mermaid Belville aficionados out there who can educate us all on the lore of this set in the same way we get an explanation of the background for Bionicle sets?
I’m dying to know who these characters are and their place in the canon. "
This particular line of Belville of sets was based off of the fairy tails written by Hans Christian Andersen, such as the Little Mermaid and the Snow Queen (which also happens to be the fairy tale that Frozen is based on). All of them are actually much darker than the stories that most people are familiar with, a misinterpretation which you can blame on Disney.
I'm sure many others have a daily routine like mine … check brisket, check the Brothers Brick … So it was great to see that a BB MOC from yesterday features the doors from this set as it's featured pieces: https://www.brothers-brick.com/2020/11/01/green-tinted-window-canopies-for-everyone/
Never seen those doors before, then twice in 24 hours. And a wonderful example of MOCers doing something far beyond the intended use.
Even the sprue is shaped like a heart: https://www.bricklink.com/r3/catalog/parts/Retired_&_Miscellaneous/Belville/product.page?P=6176c01&idColor=47
I own a lot of Belville sets. My mother bought them when I was a child. Me and my sister actually loved these sets. We used the parts to build fantasy castles and we really liked the dolls. I kept it all and even though I now build with 'regular' pieces, I still get all my Belville sets out once a year and build a big castle. Many of the big sets contain big raised baseplates like the ones from the Castle theme and there are many unique pieces like cutlery, baby bottles etc. It's nostalgia for me but my nieces love to play with it as well so I guess it does appeal to younger children.