Weekly Set Review: The Good Wizard

[Blaze Ryder]

And also in limited avaliability in Canada's Tor 'R' Us...

Alas, however, not in any of the Toys 'r' Uses in my neck of the woods.

I know the feeling (I have the same Toys 'R' Uses). I checked multiple times for this set, but eventually gave up. I'm beginning to dout if either TRU ever carried them. Fortunately, I received one as a gift from a friend who went to Europe, and I can't relaly say much about it. You need KCS to actually do anything with it, IMO.

[architect]

I know the feeling (I have the same Toys 'R' Uses). I checked multiple times for this set, but eventually gave up. I'm beginning to dout if either TRU ever carried them. Fortunately, I received one as a gift from a friend who went to Europe, and I can't relaly say much about it. You need KCS to actually do anything with it, IMO.

It is interesting that the only people on bricklink selling this set are located in Europe or Asia. Perhaps the Canada TRU sales were very limited or non existant?

Ben

[Jevil]

Alright; This is going to blow you guys out of the water...

Believe it or not, I saw this impulse set around the time the New castle line was released earlier this year at a Target in my neighborhood. I wish I bought it, or at the very least took a picture for posterity, because The Good Wizard was only on shelves in America for about a week or less, if the Target in my neighborhood is any indication of anything.

[dyntar]

It was also in stores in Australia but not for very long or in many stores.

Its a good set with some great parts. But I prefer the impulse sets with a more generic character so that I can buy more of them. I only have 1 of this set.

[Jojo]

Hello!


Why does everybody seem to hate the wand? It’s a wand, for Simon’s sake! The same kind that’s used by sorcerers in the Harry Potter world. (Which would be some kind of England.) I like the set. The wizard is a nice figure, the furniture places him in a somewhat cozy environment. It sure isn’t action-packed, but then again, would we rather like to see the gazillionth catapult?
As for the lack of cape here: Majisto didn’t come with a cape in his impulse set 1736/1746, either.

And it really is peculiar that Lego, after years and years of US-only-releases for certain sets, now tends to a Non-US-release fashion. That’s not comprehensible. On the other hand the current three Castle sets (Troll castle, drawbridge tower and 1HP chariot) are not regularly available in Germany, either, but at least you can get them through Shop-at-Home or amazon.


Bye
Jojo

[Robin Hood]

It is interesting that the only people on bricklink selling this set are located in Europe or Asia. Perhaps the Canada TRU sales were very limited or non existant?

Ben

I would lean toward non-existant myself. While I certainally didn't peruse many Toys'R'Us', but I never ever heard of them being sold in Canada until this thread was started. I don't know though.

Looking at my desk, I find that I have an unopened set of this. It brings back interesting memories from when we all in North America wanted them and made that big old order. Good times.

For a impulse set it's about as good as you can get.

Parts:
Like most impulse sets, the only parts are the minifig. And the minifig in this set is quite a good catch. Only avaliable in the chess set, this is a must have for those who want to get a wider range of crownie figs.

Design:
Not too bad, all things considered. Just a little table and owl stand, but hey, it's a impulse set. The owl stand really makes it for me. It's a good enough build and I'm glad to see that they bothered enough to make it, as opposed to just having the wizard hold the owl, which is what one might expect Lego to do.

Playabilty:
Well I guess it's pretty good in this field. If a kid has other castle sets, this will add many levels of new playabilty. A wizard without any specific allegiance is always a good time.

So all in all, as good of impulse set as there ever was.

Dan

[Count Blacktron]

The way this set was designed, and The Knight impulse set also, it is perfect to add to the King's Castle Siege open and rather empty turrets. Every single part of this set is functional to the character included and has no super-structure to get in the way. You simply put the parts together and send him to his appropriate home within your castle without any modifications. This series of Impulse sets is like getting an Advent Calender bonus with every official release, and being seasonal they come at a rate of three every season. So in effect LEGO is coming up with all these great ideas and pushing out the ones that don't make it into sets in an inexpensive way we can add them to our sets as we grow our collections. The Wizard is just a great little bonus that says "We know what you really wanted, but couldn't get it in at the price targeted, so here it is in another format anyhow." Thank you LEGO.

[MarioDAlessio]

Widely available impulse set in Sydney, Australia.

Purchased a number of copies.

As a non-military impulse castle mini figure, I would have preferred a peasant or blacksmith.

The owl is a good element.

Mario