Monday, April 4, 2011

Not Exceptional But Will Get The Job Done

7946 King's Castle
The Chronicler's Rating - 3/5
Price ~ $100.00
Year Released - 2010


Lego had released numerous castle sets since the theme was introduced in the late 70s.  The style of these sets has ranged far and wide through the years.  This castle is reminiscent of the very first ones released in the late 80's which were characterized by their lack of baseplates and ability to open.  It specifically appears to draw inspiration from 1984's King's Castle and 1986's Black Falcon's Fortress.  In comparison to its many predecessors I can only give this set average marks at best.  There is nothing original here, nothing that has not been done before.  This would be fine if this set did those things better than previous castles, but unfortunately this is not the case.  There is nothing really wrong with this set but neither is there anything exceptional or noteworthy.
                                                                            
FOR PARENTS
Every kid needs a castle set in their collection.  If it is in your power to make that happen I would highly recommend it.  Even if your child does not have any other castle themed sets, a set like this is the perfect place to start and can enable many hours of happy play right off the bat.  This castle will do just fine but pretty much any other Lego castle you can find will have everything this castle does and quite possibly, if you get the right one, more.  In my opinion the best castles thus far released by Lego have been 6090 Royal Knight's Castle and 7094 King's Castle Siege.  If however ease of acquisition is your primary concern this set will do just fine, it is by no means the worst castle Lego has produced, it just isn’t a standout.    

TheLegoChronicler
FOR KIDS
This castle or one like it will provide many hours of fun adventures.  Even if you have not ever collected castle sets before they are a great addition to your collection for two main reasons.  First they are a blast to play with and secondly they come with great pieces that you can use for a wide variety of creations.  If you already have a castle this set would make a great opposing fortress.  If however you already have two castles I would suggest you spend your money in a different theme as there is nothing exceptional about this one that would make it better than the ones you have already. 

CONCLUSION
There was nothing wrong with the castles of the 80's.  They were not however the most impressive.  That is how I would describe this set.  As a castle goes it gets the job done, looks good and will more than meet the needs of any medieval adventure story.  If you don’t have one this one will do fine.  But when compared with the numerous castle sets that have been produced through the years it falls squarely in the average category. 

Happy Building

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