Battle of the Castle Sets: 6073 vs 6074

[ludzik]

Just recently I was able to acquire (don't have it in my hands yet as it's still en route) 6073 - Knights Castle. Originally I wanted 6074 - Black Falcon's Fortress but those are usually more then what I'm willing to pay for them. In any case - after looking at the two sets I started to wonder what makes 6074 so sought after? From the minifig perspective, the two are pretty much identical. Both of them have 6 minifigs - 4 foot soldiers and 2 mounted knights. The difference between the two sets is that 6073 has a mounted knight with the rare black plume set as well as it comes with more shields (total of 6 vs total of 2 in 6074).

The castle building differs a bit with layout - 6074 has the gatehouse between the two towers while 6073 has the traditional LEGO castle design of two towers in the back. The cool part of 6074 is that it has a "building" of sorts in the back. Otherwise then that, the sets are not that much different from each other..... so again, what makes the Black Falcon's Fortress so sought after? The name?

[Redav]

The roof line at the rear of the castle and probably the imposing entrance. I have both. I had 6073 as a kid but always wanted 6074 and only acquired it as an adult. I don't dislike the 6073 but 6074 looks and builds nicer.

[Bruce N H]

Hey Ludzik,

I hope you don't mind, but I'm hijacking your thread a bit by adding a poll and renaming it, but your call for comments on these two sets is the perfect setup for another Battle of the Castle Sets -

Two sets enter the arena, only one can emerge victorious! Set 6073, Knight's Castle, versus 6074, Black Falcon's Fortress. Which castle set reigns supreme? Vote and share your thoughts on these two sets.

[Bruce N H]

On the merits of the two sets, I see your point that they are very similar. I give BFF the slight edge because, if you're going to go with panel wall pieces (not my favorite), the corner panels give the D-shaped towers to the gatehouse a nice look. Add to that the yellow tudor wall and the sloped roof in the back portion give this a unique look. Also, I just think the yellow accent colors in the castle fit with the blue-with-some-yellow scheme of the Black Falcon livery. This continues on in the flags of the BFF (though I'm confused by the red saddle and the red plume - seems like those should be yellow). While the Knight's Castle is better as far as saddle and plume colors go, the red around the gate and the green and white flags seem like a mistake.

Bruce

[rogue27]

I voted for 6074.

I have both sets. The minifigures and castle sizes are comparable, but 6074 has more interesting elements overall.

The roof at the back, the black falcon flag, the yellow tudor wall section. Plus the front looks better, the angled tower walls look great, and the color seem to fit better.

[dyntar]

I think that most people are going to pick Black Falcons Fortress over the older smaller set. I have both sets and there's no competition. The Falcons fortress is superior in height and size with a much better gatehouse. It is also visually more interesting with the contrasting tudor building. But Black knights Castle does have a nice small prison though.

[Adolfo]

There are more interesting parts in 6074 Black Falcon's Fortress. The set got my vote.

[BlackenedPurple]

Considering the Black Falcons' colors are black, white, blue, and sometimes yellow, it is odd for 6073 to have the red highlight around the gate; seems it looks more like a Crusader castle.

As far as BFF, it wins style-wise in my opinion. Along with the other points above, BFF stood out from the competition at the time by being the first castle to have towers built out of the angled corner wall pieces and was also the first castle to incorporate the sloped roof pieces. While 6073 looked like a miniature version of 6080 King's Castle of the opposing faction, the unique design elements of 6074 really allowed the Black Falcons to distinguish themselves and establish an identity all their own

Re-visiting the old catalogue scans, I just think BFF looked more appealing

http://www.peeron.com/catalogs/1986/medium/21/

http://www.peeron.com/catalogs/1987/medium/17/

http://www.peeron.com/catalogs/1988/medium/5/

[Lil_Curt]

Yea sorry... The BFF 6074 wins in my book as well. it was more visually appealing and had more non standard parts. so I voted for it. Now if I was purchasing these set I really would do either. so there really is no winner to me both had there merits and down falls... No if lego would just bring back the Forestmen...

[Athos]

Tough call. I've build both from spare parts I've accumulated over the year. I'm going to have to go with the 6074 (Black Falcon's Fortress) for the yellow tudor wall, the sweet new angled castle walls and cool flag.

Steve

[Brother Steven]

I would have to say Black Falcon's Fortress. One of my favorite sets of all time!

[ludzik]

Since my thread got hijacked I might as well weigh in and cast my vote

So I see some very interesting points made here. From aesthetic aspect it seems that the red gatehouse finish doesn't "fit" the color scheme... to me it's a better fit then yellow in the BFF. Bricks are red and castles were mostly built from rock and or bricks in those days

I like the structure (based on pics as I don't own either set yet... 6073 won't get here till Saturday) that 6074 has in the back BUT the yellow is kind of an odd color for me. That type of a wall finish to me would usually be done in whitish color though I could see it yellowing with time.

The big part for me of any castle is also the crew. To me, the knights inhabiting or rather even defending a castle are very important and what kind of a knight are you if you do not have a shield? To me that is a very big disappointment that on top of the two mounted knights the pikeman don't have shields as well.... this would bring up the number of shields to 4 making it somewhat bearable. I do understand the bowman not being equipped with shields although when the heathen attackers storm the walls the bowman grab pikes, swords and defend the castle (and even if they decide to pull Legolas they need a shield to skate down the stairs on).

Also looking at the RRP the price jump between 84 and 86 is very significant in my opinion. We go from $27 to $35 without gaining all that many extra parts. I can see the price jumps in the newer castles comparing to the old ones where we gain a significant number of pieces but back then over the course of 2 years that's a major price hike

I guess at the end my choice would be combining the parts from the two to make it a slightly bigger castle with small quarters of sorts and keeping the 6 minifigs while making sure all of them are armed properly.

[mpoh98]

I am going to have to cast my vote for 6074. Although I am not a fan of the panel castles, the BFF definitely reigns supreme, with better pieces, and imo a better look as well.

[Frank_Lloyd_Knight]

...BUT the yellow is kind of an odd color for me.

HERESY!

[Kev]

This isn't much of a competition. KC always came off to me as a cheaper, simplified keep for those not willing to pay for the big one, while BFF is a reall well designed, aesthetically cohesive structure.