6083 Samurial Stronghold Review

[WhiteFang]

Hello Everyone!!! :-)

This is my first time doing an offical review in any forums especially in LEGO. I will like to contribute my little bit of effort into this lovely and wonderful community that i had discovered which rekindle my strong passion for wonderful hobby.

As i have noticed that all recent Castle series sets have been reviewed, guess i will need to review some old sets which is one of my favourite classic theme: Ninja Series. Hope everyone will enjoy reading a review of an antique set. I bought it recently in a consignment shop, paying quite a hefty price for it. Well, it's been out of production for 10 years, guess i have to bear its inflation.

Without further ado, let me present you the box art of 6083 Samurial Stronghold

Front Image

Back Image

It showed some box-wear. :-/ At least, i bought it in MISB! X-D

First page of the Instruction Manual and some special pictures!

Let me present you the mini-figures

:-P 2 Samurials and a Black Ninja

Unique parts/Weapons presentation

I love the printed flags very much! It's really hard to find now. Furthermore, those koi fish really look very cool and oriental for any asian flavour ;-)

Rest of the weapons

I love the old brown spears instead of the new ones. Somehow, i feel that the new weapons cannot be match with the old ones. :-X

Building process, Gate

Front

Back

Ninja in action

Both separate parts

On the right side, there is a defensive mechansim. Falling bricks, haha, typical kind of sabotage ;-)

On the top, pull out the red brick, a swinging axe will hit any intruder whom had intentions on the jewel.

Final Image

Playability: 8/10 (Defense Mechansim and interesting parts)

Design: 8/10 (Simple and nice)

Price: 7/10 (I paid a premium price for it :'-( )

Overall: 8/10 (A must have for all Ninja fans)

Hope everyone enjoying reading my opening simple review! Any questions are welcomed.

More pictures can be found in My Brickshelf (When moderated)

I will try my best to improve in my presentation if it does not meet EB review standards! *sweet*

Thanks for your time taken to read this simple topic!

P.S: Background used are MISB sets of 5378 Hogwarts Castle and 7997 Train Station (Just bought this train station) ;-)

Hope you guys don't find the images messy. :-D

[simonwillems]

This is a very rare set, it was never available in The Netherlands.

Thanks for reviewing it, it seems a rather simple set but the simplicity makes it great. I do not own any Ninja sets but I have always liked the idea of the theme.

[I Scream Clone]

Nice Review, straight to the point!

Well done *sweet*

[iamded]

This really is a great set! I was playing with it last time I was at dragonator's, it's really fun! X-D :-D Thanks for the neat review too. *y*

~Peace

[hollisbrick]

Great reveiw for a great set! *sweet*

[WhiteFang]

Thanks everyone! Your words give me encouragement *tongue* I really do hope i am able to do a much better review in my next attempt *wink*

Ninjas was one of my favourite. It was short-lived and there were many good sets i had missed such as Emperor Stronghold. When i managed to obtain this set, i was very thrilled and excited! Glad to have this in my Ninja Collection! *laugh*

[Asuka]

Thank you very much for an interesting and informative review of a really nice set, WhiteFang!

[Nikola Bathory]

I love those pictorial reviews and yout is a very good one, White Fang! (btw I love the book).

As for the Ninjas - they really aren't my stuff, I can't say I like them very much. But this set looks to be a nice little fortress with some traps.

[Sugar]

Very cool set, you are lucky lol.

I like how the Ninja looks, how much was it?

[WhiteFang]

Asuka, Nikola Bathory and Sugar thanks for your wonderful apperication and encouraging comments!

Very cool set, you are lucky lol.

I like how the Ninja looks, how much was it?

I bought it in SGD currency from one of the consignment shops. I convert it to USD currency for easy reference. It cost roughly USD$125.00 for a small to medium sized MISB set. I know it's rather expensive, but i guess it really worth it since it's so hard to find ninja sets nowadays.

[Nikola Bathory]

$125.00 for e medium sized LEGO set? You really like the Ninjas, I guess :)

anyway, you look happy about it and that's what matters.

[LegoLyons]

Ahhhhhh Ninja. Good review, and a nice set, envious that you own it. I have many ninja minifigs but no actual sets. . . . . . yet!!!

Thanks for the review. I'll keep an eye out on bricklink and ebay for a cheap deal.

[The Rancor]

Ahhhhhh Ninja. Good review, and a nice set, envious that you own it. I have many ninja minifigs but no actual sets. . . . . . yet!!!

Thanks for the review. I'll keep an eye out on bricklink and ebay for a cheap deal.

You'll find it hard to get a low price on that baby!

Nice review whitefang, it's as if you've been reviewing all your life. But of course the review is better when the set is great.

I still have this set, along with 3 others (can't remember the numbers or official names) the set with a group of good and bad Samurai and ninja warriors, Samurai Surprise and the evil ninjas large hideout. Ninjas are the best theme ever. Now where's that 'WW vs Ninja forum'...

[WhiteFang]

$125.00 for e medium sized LEGO set? You really like the Ninjas, I guess :)

anyway, you look happy about it and that's what matters.

Ahhhhhh Ninja. Good review, and a nice set, envious that you own it. I have many ninja minifigs but no actual sets. . . . . . yet!!!

Yes, i love Ninja very much. It's one of my favourite theme. I spend quite a sum of money in the past to acquire my Ninja and Samurial Mini-figs. Why i am very happy? Because this is my first Ninja base (Ok, rather small for a base. I use it as a treasure trove). I only had very small Ninja sets which isn't worth mentioning compared to Emperor Stronghold and Ninja Flying Fortress.

Nice review whitefang, it's as if you've been reviewing all your life. But of course the review is better when the set is great.

I still have this set, along with 3 others (can't remember the numbers or official names) the set with a group of good and bad Samurai and ninja warriors, Samurai Surprise and the evil ninjas large hideout. Ninjas are the best theme ever. Now where's that 'WW vs Ninja forum'...

Thanks for your kind words. This is my first attempt in review and i will defintely hope i can do better and contribute within my limit. Look at these Ninja Sets Maybe you will be able to find what is set number and names for it.

Edited April 15, 2008 by WhiteFang

[I Scream Clone]

The good reviews just keep coming, i love the nostalgia of the old set reviews. Nice job Whitefang!

Ninja's and Samurai look cool

[WhiteFang]

The good reviews just keep coming, i love the nostalgia of the old set reviews. Nice job Whitefang!

Ninja's and Samurai look cool

Thanks for your comment! I am planning to do another Ninja set review soon. Do watch out for it

[Manta]

This set looks awesome, and I am sad I don't have any ninjas.

[Klaus-Dieter]

That's a very nice review, Whitefang!

I voted for Above Average:

The set looks really nice and includes some nice additional stuff. Which I don't like that much is that the diamonds are standing totally unsecure outside - and even in the way that people can't pass. Otherwise it's great - and I really plan to buy this set from Ebay in the next years since it'll surely make a good outer bailey to the big Samurai fortress.

Klaus-Dieter

[cdljal]

I came out of my Dark Age just at the end of Fright Knights and the beginning of Ninja. I have this set and really like it. I usually use the Ninjas as an eastern Kindom in my Lego Castle world. I wish there had been more bows in the theme though as sameria were even more proud of their skills with a bow then they were their great skill with the famous katana.

[supertoad64]

What a lovely set! The stone lanterns look quite realistic. I've always liked Ninja, even though it seems to divide castle fans. It introduced some really interesting parts and figs and most of the designs were quite nice.

[Big Cam]

Whoo, happy for the bump as this review happened before I joined.

What a sweet set, expensive but those 3 ninjas are spectacular! If I had been aware of how awesome LEGO had gotten, I would hvae never entered a dark age :(

[samurai-turtle]

Great set, I aways thought it was some sort of temple. This is one of the three ninja sets that I have the other two being Shanghai Surprise and Ninja Knights. One thing that looks off in the review is the "halberd trap" the ax blade is supposed to be resting on the technic axle but it looks like the spear tip is resting on the technic axle. I am wondering if the halberd was cut short?