Set Review: 7040 Dwarves' Mine Defender

[cagri]

7040 Dwarves' Mine Defender

Theme: Castle

Released: 2008

Price: 10 USD

Pieces: 73 (3 minifigures)

Introduction:

Here I am, with one of the newest Castle sets realeased in early 2008. It's a small battle wagon with blades on the front, probably to demolish rocks in mines. But in this case, our hero dwarf has to use his machine against the evil trolls who want to destroy his happy kingdom.

There is only one small booklet for instructions, no alternate model:

Parts come in two bags, one for small pieces and one for bigger ones:

Apart from the lovely figures, the brown parts will be quite useful for any castle builder.

Extra parts are not even worth mentioning, there are no stickers:

Figures are detailed enough, dwarf is lovely with his beard but his legs won't move because he is short:

Figures are the main attraction for adult players. We haven't seen castle army builder sets for a long while and this is closest we've got in recent years.

The dwarf is a little taller than it should have been but it's not possible to do so without creating a completely new mould for figures and that would be expensive. Its beard is oversized as well but that gives him a Legoish look which I like a lot. The trolls - that's what everybody calls them but I say they are orcs - are obviously evil but they are friendly enough not to scare our munchkins. But I wish they had different torsos or at least different faces like crownies.

There are not enough weapons to arm everyone but the flag pole is really nice:

Unlike the Star Wars army builders, this set has very little weaponry. Only one sword and one pike creates scarcity for 3 figures - Star Wars sets had 4 figures for same price! So I hope our middle age warriors don't come across any stormtroopers :)

Building in progress:

When you pull the chain the catapult fires a round brick:

The set has quite good playability, moving blades and firing catapult should be fun for little children. I wouldn't expect more functions for such a small sized model, it hardly covers my hand.

The blades move with the front wheel on the right:

There is only one little downside, there is too much friction for the wheel and blades won't move synchronized. You may come over this problem by adjusting the blade height and lining them with the wheels.

Mow the little buggers!

You can adjust the blade height:

There isn't enough room for the dwarf:

Folder when public:

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=338578

Rating:

-Figures: 8/10 Dwarf is amazing, trolls are great too but I wish they had different faces.

-Parts: 7/10 Brown slopes are new, rest is ok too.

-Price: 7/10 Acceptable but we have seen sets with more figures for less.

-Design: 6/10 It looks kind of steampunkish but could be better with a little detail.

-Building: 6/10 Not repeating itself, still nothing exciting.

-Total: 34/50 Castle fans will definetely order this one but average Lego player may not be interested.

Conclusion:

Overall, it's a nice set and I'd recommend it if you like the castle theme. You'll find some good use for the figures and this is the cheapest figure set of the year - at 3.33 USD each. It could have more armory and weaponry but otherwise it's quite alright. Skip lunch today and order this little set!

Links:

Brickset Reviews

Bricklink Entry

Peeron Inventory

[Tacitus]

Lovely review, really. But the sad fact is we've seen it before, twice.

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=20293

[KimT]

Lovely review, really. But the sad fact is we've seen it before, twice.

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=20293

Jeez your comments are getting on my nerves.

More than one review per set is allowed here.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this set with us.

A great set now has (another ) great review.

I'll add it to the index. As soon as the poll on "how the index is to look", is over (phew...long sentence)

Oh yeah and I'll rate this as above average. I think it needs at least one minifig more than there is.

[Cardinal Brick]

A great review of a very good set, I must echo KimT though (I seem to be doing it an awful lot) it would be improved by the addition of one more fig to the set, as it’s the same price band as last years catapult.

[KimT]

I've skipped a few lunches on behalf of this set.

It's a great army builder, but so are many of the new castle sets.

What makes this great in my opinion is the figs - 2 orcs and 1 dwarf - what else could one want?

Thanks TLG for making this set and thank you for reviewing it for us

Review added to the index

[Vestabuyer]

Nice review!

I just recently purchased it for our future son and had to break into to it to get a first hand account of the merchandise! I am not that big into the castle theme...being a city/town person myself but I must say that this set is awsome!

[UsernameMDM]

This set pulled me out of my Dark Ages. Thanks Lego!