We recently acquired three sets from the new LEGO Castle theme, a couple from Billund in July and one when the theme came on sale in Finland in early August.
Forest Ambush is the smallest set in the range and the least favorite of mine, of the three we have. There is nothing really wrong with this set, would seem like a nice army builder, but other than that there isn't anything imaginative or special about it. The new factions look wonderful, though.
Gold Getaway fares a lot better, even though its theme has been re-done many, many times over the LEGO history. Both the carriage and the little piece of castle wall are well done and with nice amount of detail. The brick-built harness for the horse is an especially nice touch. Also, I think this set includes probably the first good use of a flick-fire, ever.
It is used to flick open the locked door on the carriage.
Dragon Mountain is really wonderful for what it is. While I wish TLG would start making proper castles (or enclosures of other kind) for antagonists as well, not just simple walls, what is here is very detailed - not a repetitive step in sight on this set. Highlights of the set include the "Hogwarts" spiral stairs (a little odd one out that, but nice in the end) and obviously the dragon that was far larger than I expected and just positively looms over the entire set.
I have also grown fond of the new factions and their colors, even though in initial pre-release photos I found them boring. In reality, the blue on gold and red on black colors work remarkably well for me, much better than the LEGO Kingdoms colors for example. Really fresh colors, good contrast, a pleasure to watch. My only major peeve are the crappy cheek-protection helmets that don't seem to stay on very well.
Now, if only they stopped with the military-focused themes and gave this range some proper civilian love, we might have a little of that 1984 spirit here...
If someone wants to see my photos of the sets, click here: Forest Ambush
http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/201 ... st-ambush/ / Gold Getaway
http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/201 ... etaway-ii/ / Dragon Mountain
http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/201 ... untain-22/
Read my LEGOLAND Billund reports and my project to build the classic 1984 LEGO King's Castle, using spare parts: [url=http://questforbricks.wordpress.com]questforbricks.wordpress.com[/url]