6062 Battering Ram, Year: 1987, Elements: 233, Figs: 6, list Price: $19.95 (USD) those were the days... Lugnet score (out of 100): 87, Review #: 6 The Thoughts of the outrageous Norro: ...in under a word per brick... This is one of the best sets ever made (makes my top 10 anyway). It had everything from an affordable price to more playability than a Jack Stone set; and best of all it was modular! If you wanted to build big you could buy 100 of these and be left with no useless parts and a lot of material. This was one of the first sets I retrieved from the age before I began collecting Lego and I was instantly stunned by the quality gap... 'stunned' might not be a strong enough word you really have to build it. The only small drawback to this set is the lack of a horse to push/pull the siege engine. The highest praise I can give this set is that its most maligned element, the siege engine, is itself a brilliant build, see for yourself Guest Minifig Comments: Hey all, vicious battle this-- smiling heads everywhere! I'm bringing up the rear on the siege engine (no sense being overly heroic). I'm on it, so not required to push, but not leading the way over the wall either... perfect eh? The best detail of our attack is how the ram perfectly opens the small, rather conveniently located door in the wall, that's how I'll be going in ; ) Resources: Comments from Lugnet members, Instructions courtesy of peeron, inventory courtesy of peeron Comments Instructions Inventory Detail

 

1463 Treasure Cart, Year: 1992, Elements: 21, Figs: 1, list Price: $2 (USD) those were the days... Lugnet score (out of 100): 64, Review #: 5 The Thoughts of the remarkable Norro: ...in under a word per brick... To be fair it's small and simple and has nothing particularly special to commend it... but it is still a great set, it has a good fig, a nice selection of parts, an extremely reasonable price point, and an all round 'happy factor' that Lego seem to have left behind these days... Guest Minifig Comments: Yes, that' me. I lost the horse in a game of poker and I'm not saying another word... Resources: Comments from Lugnet members, Instructions courtesy of peeron, inventory courtesy of peeron

 

1877 Crusader's Cart, Year: 1990, Elements: 56, Figs: 2, list Price: part of 3 set bonus pack for $10 (USD), Lugnet score (out of 100): 78, Review #: 4 The Thoughts of the exceedingly wise Norro: ...in under a word per brick... Originally sold as part of the 1675 Bonus Pack this was a great set which came with some decent spare parts from 'lesser' themes. I can remember playing with this set for hours, it was only very rarely that the brave patrolling knights discovered the hidden forestman, and more often than not he still escaped in this high-speed getaway cart... Guest Minifig Comments: Years ago we flipped one of those lego coins ('lego' or #) and I lost and have been the one in the hidden compartment ever since... It is actually more spacious than you might think, has some ventilation and fits me 'snugly' when I lie flat. The only downside, and it's a major one, is that I'm down wind of that £$@% horse! Once hidden in the compartment I am unable to move my head and slowly I detect a strong scent drifting towards me. Even if it were possible for a fig to cover his nose (I don't know exactly where mine is and my arm movements are limited) there isn't room for that kind of movement and so, like all early smily figures, I have to just grin and bear it... Now you know why I'm walking in the picture! Resources: Comments from Lugnet members, Instructions courtesy of peeron, inventory courtesy of peeron Comments Instructions 1675

 
6079 Dark Forest Fortress, Year: 1996, Elements: 461, Figs: 7, list Price: $50+ (USD), Lugnet score (out of 100): 82, Review #: 3 The Thoughts of the scintillating Norro: ...in under a word per brick... In my mind this set always promised a lot and delivered very little. I was incredibly excited upon the return of forestmen and now, with the option of brown trees, the sky seemed the limit. Then they released this as the 'big set' and with a hefty price tag to boot. It looks (and is) jumbled, like a team of designers trying to do different things cooperated very poorly and then at the very end of the design process someone said 'and stick it on this new base, that's the selling point...' All my complaining aside this is one of the best ever spare parts sets, featuring 12 brown corner wall pieces, a lot of foliage, some new (and decent figs) and a rather neat base plate. It also had the added attraction of an interesting looking, rather vulnerable cart foolishly passing through bandit country. But unfortunately this is also one of those sets where lego let themselves down continuity wise. The knights are two dragon knights (by this time obsolete) and one is holding a black knight shield (sacrilege to an ardent fan like myself). All in all I would be a lot more positive if I could pick up several cheap copies today... Guest Minifig Comments: No, I can't explain it either. That is me standing next to the catapult apparently about to fire on my own fellow knight from the safety of the woodsmen's 'fortress'. What am I thinking? I must have been lured into believing this wasn't a hideout by the obvious nature of the stables/buildings and the corniness of the falling tree.... Nice ladder catapult design though, very original, if you can say that about a catapult in a lego set... Resources: Comments from Lugnet members, Instructions courtesy of peeron, inventory courtesy of peeron Comments Instructions

 

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