Exclusive EB Review: 7093 - Skeleton Tower

[Starwars4J]

Set #7093

Skeleton Tower

Price: 49.99USD

Hey all, I can't let *yoda* have all the fun with the 07 lines! :-P

Today my 7093 Skeleton Tower came in the mail, it's the smaller of the two Castle sets available in the US at the moment (lucky coincidence CC reviewed the larger one). I was skeptical of this set at first, as most of you probably are, but it's really not that bad.

Let's start with the box

I apologize for the shine

You can see some nifty features of the set (again, sorry about the glare)

The box opens in a strange way, the side has two pieces of tape keeping it closed. Cut those, and it opens up nicely, to allow it to be used again later. Nice, I guess.

The bags are numbered, which at first glance would be a huge life saver! However there are only two segments, and they're broad. For example the first contains the first half of the castle and the figs, instead of just the figs. You still end up with a lot of pieces, and...it really didn't make much of a difference. They should have just divided it into more segments.

And here's the cast!

The heroic knight is fantastic, I love the armor and helmet and the classic chrome sword, it's a shame his torso is blank :-/

The beautiful princess, with a fantastic new braided hairpiece

And a second face! I'll leave all jokes out of this X-D

The wizard is fantastic! Printed hat, hips, and legs

Even the torso is printed! I think it's an Imperial Guard torso

Here's the scythe, the new sword clips onto a pole. I love the sword except...it's a little soft, and the tip isn't a point, as I had hoped.

Here's the mace. One piece mold. I've hated this since day one. It looks too megablokish

Now, the meat of the set...the castle! Or rather, the Skeleton Tower *skull*

I really disliked this when I first saw it, but it's grown on me. I actually like this now. Sure, it's not very realistic, but it looks menacing. It reminds me of back in the days of Majisto. It's lacking details, but it works I guess. It has some nice pieces, and is worth picking up, but not if you're hard on cash.

The "jaw" of the skull opens and closes, allowing entrance into the gaping maw of the tower

The "drawbridge" (though it's way too short to be one...eh) opens and closes via the following simple, yet effective mechanism

The two side towers snap on via technic pins. The one on stage-right is really bare, and adds nothing to the set, really

The stage-left tower adds a lot more, though not all that much. A rotating catapult, and the wonderful bone-cage

The catapult works really nicely, and has a wide range

The back is also sadly bare...they should've included a treasure chest or some more items or features or SOMETHING...

And finally, the dragon!

This thing is a monster, and by that I mean big and ugly. It is a mix of the Dino-series dinos, and faux-bionicle beasts. They have some nice parts, but...eh, I hate this thing

The major parts are the arms:

Legs

And the head

The head actually has a LOT of articulation around the neck, and the jaw opens as well

Here are the extra pieces:

Included are some nice pieces that are new...at least new to me

(note the new lightening pieces are two-toned: purple and blue)

Overall I liked this set. It was nothing special, but it wasn't as horrible as I thought.

Pros:

-Nice figures

-Nice parts

-Decent Price

Cons:

-Few figs

-Dragon

-New Skellies

-Bare interior

As the the instructions, they were fine, though they took it a little slow (1 or 2 pieces per step generally...), and I have trouble telling dark bley from black, and red from dark red.

Oh, and I hate those new skellies. Hate. Hate. Hate. They look like robotic zombie monkies. And their arms are at a slight angle too! Argh.

Price: 8/10

Figs: 7/10 (great, but needed more)

Parts: 8/10

Swooshability: 0/10

Playability: 9/10

Overall: 32/40

[DoubleT]

Thanks for a great review...

Funny how Orgel also comes to play when Skeleton armies are around, but the wizzard is great.. Like the other human ones, the skeletons are okay, i have some also, and they are not half bad...

Question: is it good or bad for you that the bags comes with numbers?

[Starwars4J]

Well, I normally like the numbered bags, but I think in this case they didn't really use them well.

[DoubleT]

Ahhhh thanks *sweet*

What you gave it 0 Swoosh points he he

[Starwars4J]

Ahhhh thanks *sweet*

What you gave it 0 Swoosh points he he

Well, the whole thing! I tried swooshing the tower and it didn't end well :'-( THe dragon can swoosh, but it's so ugly it doesn't get any points in that either |-/

[Asuka]

Thank you very much for an interesting review. *y*

Like you

[Bonaparte]

Very informative review!

If I would buy this set, it would be for the minifigs that it contains.

Oh, and I hate those new skellies. Hate. Hate. Hate. They look like robotic zombie monkies. And their arms are at a slight angle too! Argh.

I fully agree. I prefered 2 real factions. I won't use these skellies unless I'm building a graveyard.

[phoinix]

this was my least favorite set from the new line and i guess it kind of still is

not because its so bad but the others are better!

its really empty on the back-you have a point there

and thee tower on the left really dosent add all that much

personally i dislike the new dragons

not because they are worse than any older ones but cause they have terrible colors!! (hate it)

the princess and the wizard are the main reasons to get this set..

other than that its kind of...been there...done that

i just get the feeling i have seen smth like this one too many times

[gylman]

I have no use for this set at all - the ONLY useful parts are the knight and princess figs. They'll fetch a pretty penny on Bricklink until the set goes on sale for half price at S@H

EDIT:

Oh, and Starwars, thanks for the effort of the review. Great pics and useful info. A review that tells me I don't want to buy something is often more valuable than one that tells me a set is great.

[Corpreal363]

The "drawbridge" (though it's way too short to be one...eh) opens and closes via the following simple, yet effective mechanism

Tomatoes? What Does That Have to do with anything? And you build legos in the kitchen?

Wierd. *wacko*

[Starwars4J]

Tomatoes? What Does That Have to do with anything? And you build legos in the kitchen?

Wierd. *wacko*

Let's see, maybe I was taking pictures in the kitchen, and there happened to be tomatoes in the background? :-|

[Corpreal363]

Oh, you have a nice kitchen. :-) what did you did you cook them with? Yes.

[Sir Dillon]

It seems the wizard had some sort of accident. :-P

Anyway, thanks for the review. I will almost certainly not buy this. I suppose it's a decent set, but it just appeal to me like the others do. Like mentioned before, the main reason for to get this would be for the Wizard and Princess...

[WesternOutlaw]

Great review Jay. I love it! Looks like a fantastic set. Great minifigs, esp. the wizard and the princess. I love the scythe! That will come in handy as we get closer to Halloween.

I plan to buy this, esp. after your review. Thanks for taking the time to share the images.

[Piranha]

Hmm what am I doing in a castle topic??

:-D Anyway good review

The only disappointment was the wizards staff

I hoped the lightning would be all trans light blue :'-(

Piranha

(Why?Because it would make great force lightning X-D )

[MatthewUSA]

You did a great job on the review SW4J. I give you two *y* up. I would have to say that I am only interested in the figures too. I really like the skeleton figures. They remind me of the Warhammer figure sets. I thought the price was just a bit much. Definitly priced at a little more than 10 cents a brick. This could be one of the sets I would look into when it goes on clearance. Thanks again for the review, Model On.

[Starwars4J]

Yeah, I agree that the figs are the best part of the set, and as I mentioned I'm really disappointed in the interior |-/ I still think it's a fun little set though, but it had a lot more potential that it didn't use, it's definitely NOT the star of the theme

The only disappointment was the wizards staff

I hoped the lightning would be all trans light blue :'-(

Piranha

(Why?Because it would make great force lightning X-D )

Actually, the amount of purple seems to vary from piece to piece, I'd assume blue was the primary color used in injection, and if you're lucky you might get one that had a low amount of purple. I took a comparison of the three my set came with for you to see what I'm talking about

As you can see, the first would be fine for force lightening :-)

Edit:

Bonus Picture

[Piranha]

hehe thats a great Pic there of luke getting blasted with lightning

I would prefer that piece then the one I am Currently using

X-D I kinda liked the seaweed as force lightning

So I will buy the "New" force lightning on BL and hope it has very little light purple :-D

Piranha

[phoinix]

starwars4j could you take a picture with the gate closed?

i really wonder how that looks...

thanks!

[Cabby]

Thanks for the nice review !

Damn i come much too late for any kind of tomato-joke now... X-O

Apart from that very childish looking (yeah, i know) dragon - i like the vikings line dragons much more - this set is appealing in many ways: minifigs (especially if you're lucky enough to LOVE those skellies, new parts, nice overall design... i'll get one for sure. :-)

[Shakar]

Ha, awesome, just like I'm going to do for my magicians (I hope that in the future Lego makes this piece in other colours).

Thanks for the review. I guess this is my least favourite set of the line. Sure, it's pretty good, but it misses something (first off, an interior). The minifigs are awesome, two more skellies (which I LOVE) are always welcome, and then there is the Wizard (who will become a lich- an undead wizard), the beautiful princess (guess I'll turn her into a sorceress) and a nice knight. The dragon is weird, I prefer the black version from the King's castle set, still it certainly isn't the reason I'm getting this set.

Oh, there's a black Viking horn in the spare parts! Please, could you tell me how many there are of them in the set and how they are used?

Shakar

[Norro]

Thanks for the review! (even of a poor set...)

This seems to be the main redeeming feature (besides the obvious figs):

It'll be perfect for My sheath design...

Thanks again and God Bless,

Nathan

[Brainbox]

Hmm, I like the Wizard, the bone cage is really great and the lightning-things are good. As for the princess, I think I'm in love! ;-)

Other than that, it's not bad, just not great.

[xwingyoda]

Hey all, I can't let *yoda* have all the fun with the 07 lines! :-P

How dare you !! :-D :-P

Very nice review SW4J 8-

[Wout]

Never too late for a tomato joke :-P

Maybe Ogel is allergic (don't know it's the right word) for tomatoes, easy way to defeat him.

Nice review, thank you :-)

Could you make a picture of the head of the knight without helmet please?