Photo review of 6918 Blacksmith Attack
Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 9:06 pm
I've just picked up the new Kingdoms set Blacksmith Attack this morning, and thought I'd provide a little review of it.
Flickr set.
Firstly, I must say, I'm probably a bit biased. This is, in my opinion, one of the of the best Castle sets in a very long time. It reminds me distinctly of 6041 Armor Shop, which is quite a classic, and I think this one is destined to be one as well. I know I'll certainly be buying multiples. The new Blacksmith's shop comes with 104 pieces for $9.99 (in the US), which is just a little under that magic $0.10 per piece ratio, so it starts off on good footing there. The shop itself is rather nicely put together, with lots of playability. Personally, I feel rather sorry for the Knight, because unless he can manage to sneak up on the Blacksmith, the Blacksmith's going to be quite a foe, what with a vast assortment of weapons, and even armor to don. I suppose, however, this explains the title, which is, after all, "Blacksmith Attack" not "Attack on the Blacksmith." Anyhow, the water wheel spins, and with a clever little mechanism, bangs the hammer down on the knife on the anvil. The armor rack isn't anything special, but it is nicely built for what it is.
And now my inner parts monkey wants to talk about all the individual pieces. The blacksmith himself is a lovely leather apron print, and quite finely detailed on both front and back. I'll pass over the knight, because--although he's fantastic--he's not new, having appeared in several sets in the Kingdoms line already. The new chicken feels very Lego-y to me, with some incredibly dexterous printing on the comb and eyes. The new weapons are more detailed and hard-edged in design than most of the previous Lego weapons have been. They're certainly a very far cry from the old shortsword, though you get one of those too. There are 6 new weapons here: a Bow/Arrow, a Sword, a Double Axe, a Scythe-like weapon, a Mace, and a Knife, of which two are included. They're made of a sort of rubbery-plastic, definitely much softer even than the shortsword, but not worryingly soft. I'll note that although they are all the same dark-bley colour, they don't come on a sprue or anything. The blade of the Scythe is actually quite thick, and so the whole piece ends up looking rather more like a banana strapped to the end of the stick than any dangerous weapon. Next up, we have the bucket, which some of you may have already seen in the POTC sets. It's great to finally have a minifig-sized bucket. It's the width of a 1x1 round at the bottom, and it naturally has a stud-hole on the bottom, and the inner lip of the top is exactly the same diameter as the outer dimensions of the bottom, though it will not grip a 1x1 round tightly. An unsurprising selection of spare parts is included, with the exception of the bucket handle, which seems an odd one. And finally, here's a look at the set inventory.
Cm2
Flickr set.
Firstly, I must say, I'm probably a bit biased. This is, in my opinion, one of the of the best Castle sets in a very long time. It reminds me distinctly of 6041 Armor Shop, which is quite a classic, and I think this one is destined to be one as well. I know I'll certainly be buying multiples. The new Blacksmith's shop comes with 104 pieces for $9.99 (in the US), which is just a little under that magic $0.10 per piece ratio, so it starts off on good footing there. The shop itself is rather nicely put together, with lots of playability. Personally, I feel rather sorry for the Knight, because unless he can manage to sneak up on the Blacksmith, the Blacksmith's going to be quite a foe, what with a vast assortment of weapons, and even armor to don. I suppose, however, this explains the title, which is, after all, "Blacksmith Attack" not "Attack on the Blacksmith." Anyhow, the water wheel spins, and with a clever little mechanism, bangs the hammer down on the knife on the anvil. The armor rack isn't anything special, but it is nicely built for what it is.
And now my inner parts monkey wants to talk about all the individual pieces. The blacksmith himself is a lovely leather apron print, and quite finely detailed on both front and back. I'll pass over the knight, because--although he's fantastic--he's not new, having appeared in several sets in the Kingdoms line already. The new chicken feels very Lego-y to me, with some incredibly dexterous printing on the comb and eyes. The new weapons are more detailed and hard-edged in design than most of the previous Lego weapons have been. They're certainly a very far cry from the old shortsword, though you get one of those too. There are 6 new weapons here: a Bow/Arrow, a Sword, a Double Axe, a Scythe-like weapon, a Mace, and a Knife, of which two are included. They're made of a sort of rubbery-plastic, definitely much softer even than the shortsword, but not worryingly soft. I'll note that although they are all the same dark-bley colour, they don't come on a sprue or anything. The blade of the Scythe is actually quite thick, and so the whole piece ends up looking rather more like a banana strapped to the end of the stick than any dangerous weapon. Next up, we have the bucket, which some of you may have already seen in the POTC sets. It's great to finally have a minifig-sized bucket. It's the width of a 1x1 round at the bottom, and it naturally has a stud-hole on the bottom, and the inner lip of the top is exactly the same diameter as the outer dimensions of the bottom, though it will not grip a 1x1 round tightly. An unsurprising selection of spare parts is included, with the exception of the bucket handle, which seems an odd one. And finally, here's a look at the set inventory.
Cm2
) other wise a good set.
