How kings get into Castle Force 1.

@jkb said:

No Lion Knights in this set. I believe it's a drill at the remnant of the old castle wall.]]

Look at the shield of the one with the feathered helmet.

@TheOtherMike said:
" @Brickchap: I always liked that shield too; I've only got one, but I'd like to have more. I'd really love to have some of the trans-red ones from 6951."
Except that they break so easily, that’s what happened to mine from 6951

One of the few Castle sets my brother got (sadly), but it instilled enough of an impression on my that I have almost all of the 80's Lion and Black Falcon sets now. Nice use of a 'modular' castle idea that I wish LEGO would revisit as these walls could be added to the other castle's in the line.

@jkb said:
" @Vladtheb said:
"Is this set representing a civil war between the Lion Knights? Looks like all four figs are from the same faction."

No Lion Knights in this set. I believe it's a drill at the remnant of the old castle wall."

Not really versed on Classic Castle factions, but they’re tagged as Lion Knights on their Brickset descriptions

@Vladtheb @Quinnly Ok, ONE Lion Knight but the soldiers aren't his. Also, don't trust names and descriptions. They're made by humans. Humans make errors.

@tees It depends. Certainly, the 80s and 90s haven't seen SNOT to today's degree, but you would find it here and there, rather for cosmetic than structural purposes.

@ElephantKnight said:
"I got half this set in a used lot. It was very much HALF the set. I could build almost exactly half the wall. Got two minifigs. And the siege tower, well, it wasn't exactly the left side, but it was very much 50% there."

Me too. A friend handed me the box for this back in the 1990s, without instructions and I didn't look at it until quite recently. When I eventually got round to sorting through the parts inside, I was able to part-assemble not just 6061 but also most of a 6040 and some of 6881.

I always wondered where the other pieces ended up but I doubt I could go back to him now and get an accurate answer!

"Gazooks, tis 'Captain Crusade' and his unbreakable shield..."
Sorry, couldn't resist: it was the first thought I had (kinda') when I first saw though round shields back then...
Also for the record: my fave-faction were the original knights, with the heraldry shield/crest done a four-part checkerboard...ah, simplicity:)

The wall isn't much, but the siege tower is really great.
There is even a SNOT construction in this set.
That was quite rare for back in the day,

This feels little too barebones for what it is.

This set combined with the 6040, 6080 and 6073 made up my massive Knights Castle whom the Black Fakcon tried to conquer using the siege tower from this set time after time to no avail.
You also had set 6062. The one I never got..

I had this one :)

Great accessory set, and the siege tower could be incorporated into the castle wall to make a mini-castle of extend another set. Ladders are great buy all those arrows and people pushing the ladder away meant that something was needed to level the playing field. Also the top level of the siege tower could also be used to fire down on the castle inhabitants.

Got this one this year. I'm not a huge fan of Eighties Castle with all the panels, but they do join up nicely: terrible photo here of mine https://photos.app.goo.gl/pTj6edXCo2kbiZWp6 (you can just make out the tower from this set back-left).

@sir_vasco said:
"They felt a little silly having built an entire siege tower after seeing how effective the ladder was..."

Was it though? I see no one on top of the ladder except a dude with a very large axe just waiting for someone to try anything. I think the siege tower might have been plan b after one two many knights trying the ladder ended up with splitting headaches!

@jkb:
The crossed axes are Crusaders, which are only ever included in Lion Knights sets with three exceptions. Two are Castle minifig packs, and the third is 6062 where a Lion Knights bartering ram is attacking a Black Falcons fortress. The two minifigs with crossed axes are holding lion shields. Confusing the matter, Bricklink has Crusader minifigs and Lion Knights sets listed, but no Lion Knights minifigs or Crusaders sets.

@brick_r:
I don’t remember any checkerboard heraldry in Yellow Castle…

@ambr said:
"Great accessory set, and the siege tower could be incorporated into the castle wall to make a mini-castle of extend another set. Ladders are great buy all those arrows and people pushing the ladder away meant that something was needed to level the playing field. Also the top level of the siege tower could also be used to fire down on the castle inhabitants."

i found this photo on internet:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KorMD1EIDvE/TlQrMg3Jj3I/AAAAAAAAAP4/UjFwEc9NOSY/s1600/modul07.jpg

and this promotional photo:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3pc39jqTDMI/Trs7NZW_MRI/AAAAAAAAAXA/DIHzHLpd3nA/s1600/Pic.png

I totally loved the castle theme as a kid and wish they did more now so I can enjoy it again. It feels so long since Kingdoms.

I had the Knights' Kingdom II equivalent of this set, 65527 (comprised of 8799 and 8800), and gained hours of fun from them in my early teens; so I can easily imagine this was a very fun set too. The siege tower certainly looks less fragile than Vladek's, which can only be a good thing! Though I think I prefer Jayko & co.'s more substantial wall section (and not just because it had named characters and a single chrome piece; though those are both points in its favour in my book!)

@PurpleDave said:
" @jkb:
The crossed axes are Crusaders, which are only ever included in Lion Knights sets with three exceptions. Two are Castle minifig packs, and the third is 6062 where a Lion Knights bartering ram is attacking a Black Falcons fortress. The two minifigs with crossed axes are holding lion shields. Confusing the matter, Bricklink has Crusader minifigs and Lion Knights sets listed, but no Lion Knights minifigs or Crusaders sets.

@brick_r:
I don’t remember any checkerboard heraldry in Yellow Castle…"

Technically there were no 'true' factions before Black Knights and Forestmen appeared. Some older catalogues Put both Falcon and Lion Knights under the Same generic Castle category (at one Point called 'Guardians of the Grey Castles'). In the early '90s this category suddenly became known as Crusaders and still included mostly stuff they didn't know where to put Else (like set 6818). Black Falcons was no longer available at that point, so they never got an official name (Lego did however accept the fan name many years later).

This little set provided me with hours and hours of fun as a kid. I even memorised how to make the siege-tower from scratch!

@cm5878: One of those things is not like the others, one of those things just doesn't belong...

@Atuin: I'm assuming you meant 6018, not 6818.

@sir_vasco said:
"They felt a little silly having built an entire siege tower after seeing how effective the ladder was..."

You made my day, ty. :D

@TheOtherMike said:
" @cm5878: One of those things is not like the others, one of those things just doesn't belong...

@Atuin: I'm assuming you meant 6018, not 6818."

Oops^^ Yes, you're totally right.

@CCC:
If they make it patently clear on the box that it’s a modular system, it might cut down on complaints during its retail lifetime (RSOTD is a different matter, if it’s not shown on whatever artwork is default for the Brickset listing). I mean, with a modular system, you can not only buy just the parts you want, but you can army-build sections of the castle wall. How many people bought one Helm’s Deep and a stack of wall expansion packs?

@Atuin:
I don’t remember much between the Yellow Castle and Forestmen, so I have no idea if it was different in the US. I do know that some of the early Castle sets (including Yellow) had mixed heraldry without clearly defined factions, and that Black Falcons is really the first instance where everyone was wearing a single* design.

*technically, there were four, because the falcon looks both left and right, and the black and white pattern is flipped, with all four variants having been proven to exist during the original run.

1984 was a peak year for Castle.

Unfortunately it was in the middle of my dark years.

@TheOtherMike said:
" @cm5878: One of those things is not like the others, one of those things just doesn't belong..."

Yup, those blue bricks definitely didn't fit with the 1984 Castle aesthetic! Wonderfully nostalgic in their own way though.

$17.50 in 1984 is supposedly $49.23 in today's dollars, so, neat set and all, but yikes. (If the price is accurate.)

Anyway, It's a nice set, and one I wanted extras of. I never did get any other sets that could connect to it, either.

IMO, "Castle" was kind of mis-named-- "Knights" or "Medieval" would've been more accurate-- the smaller sets rarely seemed to have many castle segments like this one. (I guess Space had a lot of ground vehicles, but somehow that seems different to me.)

ANYWAY if they brought back Castle (or something very much like it) they need to have the mix-and-match modularity and hinges for the castle/tower walls.

Also also, add me to the list of kids who didn't realize 'til later that Castle had factions back then-- I had a quasi-dark ages for a bit a little before and during Forestmen, at least as far as Castle went.

@mkrey said:
"1984 was a peak year for Castle.

Unfortunately it was in the middle of my dark years.
"

1984 Was the castle reboot year. In the 6 years before - that is, the first six years minifigs were available - there were only three castle sets (375-2; 383-2 and 677) released, if you don't count minifg booster packs, which weren't available everywhere. While Town and Space were thriving, castle fans had to wait.

@CCC:
Nah, you show it in a way that it’s clear you’re connecting multiple sets. They’ve done this on occasion, like the Modulars long ago started showing a row consisting of all the current/recent sets lined up like a city block, and the Ninjago docks and gardens sets showed similar arrangements. Nobody seems to freak out about multiple large sets not being included in the box because of how it’s presented.

@Lance_McCormick:
At $0.081/pc, that was actually a sweet deal, especially when you factor in four minifigs and a horse in a set that small. $21.49 would have been a more standardized price for the era.

@pazza_inter said:
" @ambr said:
"Great accessory set, and the siege tower could be incorporated into the castle wall to make a mini-castle of extend another set. Ladders are great buy all those arrows and people pushing the ladder away meant that something was needed to level the playing field. Also the top level of the siege tower could also be used to fire down on the castle inhabitants."

i found this photo on internet:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KorMD1EIDvE/TlQrMg3Jj3I/AAAAAAAAAP4/UjFwEc9NOSY/s1600/modul07.jpg

and this promotional photo:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3pc39jqTDMI/Trs7NZW_MRI/AAAAAAAAAXA/DIHzHLpd3nA/s1600/Pic.png"

That first photo is great, but that second photo is not a promotial picture, but from the 200 ideas book: http://peeron.com/scans/200-4/44

@PurpleDave said:
" @CCC:
If they make it patently clear on the box that it’s a modular system, it might cut down on complaints during its retail lifetime (RSOTD is a different matter, if it’s not shown on whatever artwork is default for the Brickset listing). I mean, with a modular system, you can not only buy just the parts you want, but you can army-build sections of the castle wall. How many people bought one Helm’s Deep and a stack of wall expansion packs?

@Atuin:
I don’t remember much between the Yellow Castle and Forestmen, so I have no idea if it was different in the US. I do know that some of the early Castle sets (including Yellow) had mixed heraldry without clearly defined factions, and that Black Falcons is really the first instance where everyone was wearing a single* design.

*technically, there were four, because the falcon looks both left and right, and the black and white pattern is flipped, with all four variants having been proven to exist during the original run."

I have Seen them, but I'm pretty sure those were unintentional misprints.

@TheOtherMike said:
" @Brickchap : I always liked that shield too; I've only got one, but I'd like to have more."
I’ve got one of the grey ones in my display collection and, I think, a spare in my reserves.

Back in the ‘70s or early ‘80s, I had a couple of this shield in trans clear. They came in a Classic Space set. Sadly, I don’t still have my CS LEGO from back then; it all went to a family that couldn’t afford LEGO.

I wish LEGO would bring back this mould and a few other discontinued pieces as part of its 90th anniversary.

@Atuin:
I’m sure they were (shades of the 2008 Harley Quinn), but I think I also read that someone had found at least one variant from the modern era, starting with the TRU Bricktober box sets. There’s just something about that design that people can’t get right.

@PurpleDave & @CCC: I really regret not getting that wall. For one thing, it was the only set to have Eomer!

@TheOtherMike said:
" @PurpleDave & @CCC: I really regret not getting that wall. For one thing, it was the only set to have Eomer!"
Do you mean 9471? I picked up two of them when they were reduced (at Argos?). I modded the wall section so that it’s double the usual height and replaced the fleshy minifig bits with yellow ones.

@TheOtherMike:
I think I managed to get every set from all six movies except the three non-exclusive SDCC minifigs. Anyways, that was the one failing I saw with that set is Eomer was the only unique part of something that was clearly meant to be bought in bulk. I guess it allowed you to turn him into the entire Rohirrim, but I’m not familiar enough with their armor to say if they all looked like him, or if there was something about his outfit (besides the horsehair tassel on his helmet) that denoted rank.

@Zander:
That’s the one. The main Helm’s Deep set came with the keep, the gate, the ramp, and the bit of wall that had the culvert. This set had a bit of generic wall and mostly army-builder minifigs (Eomer being the exception). In the movie, there’s a very long wall, with just a tiny culvert somewhere near the middle. One Helm’s Deep and maybe 20-30 Uruk-Hai Army sets would allow you to build a reasonable facsimile of the entire Deeping Wall (the culvert section was removable, so you could space it out from the gate area). And you’d have two modestly large armies to square off as well.

I think of the crossed axe crests as lower ranking solders and guards of the Crusader/Lions.

@PurpleDave: 6002 First and Third from the left...although I never had the 'Jousting Helm'...which I wish TLG would bring back in a similar style (NOT the one that came after it...yesh, 'accurate' maybe, 'stylin'; No...)

@brick_r:
I’m assuming you meant 6002-2? And also that you missed that I said “in Yellow Castle” in response to your comment about the “original knights”. The original knights had stickers on removable tabards, with designs that included a crown, chevrons, an 8-point cross, and something that looked like clubs from playing cards. No checkerboard pattern. That came later with the first grey castles.