Review: 41180: Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle

[Velouria]

Okay, as promised- welcome back to my old wood floor with lots of pics of this huge set! I plan to do the first half today, and the second half tomorrow.

This is a big set that comes in 7 different bags.

Here are the sticker sheets included.

The first bag has Aira and Naida, with hoods, capes and hair pieces. Also, another one of those nifty hourglasses, and the new book piece.

The bricks turn into a neat little catapult that works well. These Elves are so done with being nice! Are those blocks of ice?

And the rest of the bricks turn into the foundations of the castle. This has a sliding mechanism that serves as a drawbridge and also opens and closes a set of dark pink doors.

on to bag 2. Couple of lavender LURPs in here.

The closing mechanism runs nice and smooth.

And then we come to Ragana's couch. Just look at it! It's an evil couch! It comes with a bar of chocolate! It is also designed to be removable.

And now we can see Ragana's living room. After long hard day of doing evil and dancing with dragons she strides trough the door, lights the fire and then sobs on the couch while scoffing down chocolate- looking slightly less glorious than the huge portrait of her behind her. Nobody understands her!

The roof of the living room should be removable, but it is attached with rather many studs, so it does not come off easy. The book cases are a nice touch.

Ragana herself. The poor gal has not been making the best life choices lately.

And then there is bag number 3.

Or 4. I think I'm losing count. Anyway, here's Ragana's bed of Eeeeevil. Thank goodness it comes with a night light as her nights are lonely and restless. Also a drawer underneath hiding a map and a letter.

Ragana's potion making station. I think there are some new part colors in here?

And her detachable bed in the castle along with a little nightstand.

That's all for now folks! I hope to have the rest up tomorrow!

Edited June 9, 2016 by Velouria

[rodiziorobs]

Informative and entertaining review! I can't wait for the second half.

...and seeing all the wonderful parts and build techniques has me pretty much convinced I need this set.

[Orange Leader]

Right now a very nice build up review. Looking forward to the conlusion!

[Lyichir]

Great review so far! I adore all the little details in this set. Can't wait to see the rest!

[Lordofdragonss]

I already looked through instructions, but I'm always happy tose neew reviews and point off views!

I love how Ragana has HUGE picture of herself, and that she loves chocolate and alcochol. Poor gal.

And this set has amazing, usefull stickersheet!

Edited June 9, 2016 by Lordofdragonss

[Littleworlds]

Cool review! Very well written and photographed!

it just made me liking the theme a little more, despite the dolls instead of minifigs all this cute evilness really picks a string on me.

As for the chocolate and the booze i think she simply likes to treat herself from time to time. Being evil can be quite exhausting! So cheers to her!

[PicnicBasketSam]

...dancing with dragons... I see what you did there. Anyways, good review... can't wait to see the rest of this set, it looks as cool inside as it does on the outside!

[Lyichir]

I love how Ragana has HUGE picture of herself, and that she loves chocolate and alcochol. Poor gal.

Personally I interpreted that as more cursed water from the shadow fountain, though that carries with it its own implications... like she's a junkie who periodically needs to get her fix.

[Velouria]

Time for more questionable photography!

This is bag 4 I think...Note the large ornaments which are made in two colors of plastic. Also, dragon and egg!

This turns into Ragana's well appointed rest room. Complete with two mirrors and a line of self-branded cosmetics.

I'm definitely almost pretty sure this is bag 5.

So there's the facade of the main building all built up. I really like the dragon head ornament- it's an interesting little build, and very multidimensional. The light coming trough the stained glass is really nice.

On to bag 6.

Now with this many dragons, there has to be a dungeon hiding somewhere and this is it. It looks slightly flat from the back- I like the stepping stones on the side that have the lime green tiles suggesting that they are slimy and slippery. Getting up there is going to be a tough little journey.

There are two features; a small technic assembly in the bottom right pops out the dungeon's wall, and pulling out the lime ball makes a trap door fall inwards. My only real complaint with this whole set is that it is kind of hard to line up the trap door with the surrounding frame. It's not perfectly even.

This is the assembly from the front. I really like what they did with the part on the right- with a few bricks, a whole landscape is suggested, with a river, stalagmites, crystals...It's like they are switching to a different scale here, and suggest something that is maybe further away and much larger. There is a proper ravine under this bridge!

And now, at last, bag number 7.

So here is the Dungeon part finished. Ragana has a fabulous spinning chair and a Chrystal ball.

So apparently she feeds her cat sushi and ice cream. Which makes her an irresponsible pet owner, but also kind of awesome.

"Oh hello there Aira, would you come over and share some chocolate with me? Muahahaha!"

"Oh and Naira...Mind that bridge....Oh #sorrynotsorry!" The bridge actually has a lot of friction and will stay in any which position you turn it.

Now of course, you know, this means war.

The extra bitsies I was left with! Yay!

And some of the newer and more unusual bits, don't know if any are exclusive to this set though. Note the prints on the hoods, and the not so great white print on the cat.

So here's the whole thing.

One last look at the living quarters.

So what do I make of this set? I think it is excellent progression of the Elves theme. It fits with the existing sets, but it adds a whole new dimension of darkness and evil to the universe.

The main building introduces Ragana as a flamboyant character with over the top tastes. But it is also a very complete and playable doll house. It has a lot of personality, and it is tremendous fun to play with.

The smaller part of the set tries to do a lot. It tells a story- you climb up the mountain over slippery steps, and there Ravana sits on her throne, ready to drop you into her dungeon! Should you escape that a treacherous bridge tries to drop you in a ravine full of nasty pointy stones and a fast flowing river!

There is a whole quest suggested here, and I think it works.

It's a step up from last year's castle, I think, which I found a little one-dimensional and only really had the portal as a playfeature (impressive as it was)

Expensive, but highly recommended!

Edited June 10, 2016 by Velouria

[Fuppylodders]

Being a 31 year old male, into Star Wars, who happens to like dragons, I've only recently started *looking* at the Elves sets because of the dragons they have included, which I think are actually pretty nifty builds. Then I see this castle and think to myself: This looks pretty damned sweet! I'm looking forward to the possibility of an evil dragon too... I really like the build of this, it has a lot going on in it, I think Ragana's minidoll is nicely detailed and portrays an 'evil' elf accurately, this set, as mentioned, adds a whole new level of badness to the Elves line which makes it more interesting, and I think the colour palette for this works extremely well!

I have started buying Elves stuff for a MoC I am doing so will be using the parts... but I am seriously tempted to get this castle for... making as a set, as I really like it! Hope they go further with this sub-theme of Elves and dragons.

[Velouria]

I can remember that there was much resistance against the first Friends sets when they came out. Because the boxes were pink, and we associate that with insultingly dumbed down toys for girls. But since then, I have found that Friends sets tend to be very good builds, but the Elves sets are a step above that. These are consistently creative and colorful sets that push the limits of what is possible with Lego. It's a shame that these are marketed and perceived as girl's toys- it means that a lot of boys will be missing out on some brilliant sets. I think they are actually very gender neutral.

[Fuppylodders]

I can remember that there was much resistance against the first Friends sets when they came out. Because the boxes were pink, and we associate that with insultingly dumbed down toys for girls. But since then, I have found that Friends sets tend to be very good builds, but the Elves sets are a step above that. These are consistently creative and colorful sets that push the limits of what is possible with Lego. It's a shame that these are marketed and perceived as girl's toys- it means that a lot of boys will be missing out on some brilliant sets. I think they are actually very gender neutral.

Couldn't agree more!

[SWNELoveAngel]

As soon as my niece got the Secret Market Place set unwrapped at her birthday party last weekend, her younger brother wanted us to get out Farran and Thorne the Earth Dragon. So we did, after a bit, and he was so excited to play with Thorne.

I don't think he's having any issues with it coming from the Lego Elves sets at all. Of course, he's just 3 --- and he's enjoying any kind of Lego set that he can play with [be it ones that are actually given to him; or ones that are given to his sister .... that he starts to perceive as also being his].

These are the kinds of sets that I've always wished that they would have had almost 20 or 22 years ago. Still, shouldn't stop people from enjoying them at any age. It can be just as much fun trying to figure out how to build them more like how they appear in the mini movies and webisodes, as building the sets as the instructions show. [it just pretty much takes buying two of a set to build it bigger, plus sometimes switching in or adding in new pieces].

Edited June 10, 2016 by SWNELoveAngel

[Lordofdragonss]

Dear Velouria. Two bricks you showed in leftowers should be in the set somewhere :P

I need this set and Its funny this set and Aira castle have same pricing but this set has +200 pieces more.

[Venkefedo]

Being a 31 year old male, into Star Wars, who happens to like dragons, I've only recently started *looking* at the Elves sets because of the dragons they have included, which I think are actually pretty nifty builds. Then I see this castle and think to myself: This looks pretty damned sweet! I'm looking forward to the possibility of an evil dragon too... I really like the build of this, it has a lot going on in it, I think Ragana's minidoll is nicely detailed and portrays an 'evil' elf accurately, this set, as mentioned, adds a whole new level of badness to the Elves line which makes it more interesting, and I think the colour palette for this works extremely well!

I have started buying Elves stuff for a MoC I am doing so will be using the parts... but I am seriously tempted to get this castle for... making as a set, as I really like it! Hope they go further with this sub-theme of Elves and dragons.

...or you can remove the dragons & Elves, plop CMF Maleficent in there, give her a red lightsaber, and voila! A Dark Lady of the Sith in her fortress on an alien world.

[FortNerd]

Dear Velouria. Two bricks you showed in leftowers should be in the set somewhere :P

I need this set and Its funny this set and Aira castle have same pricing but this set has +200 pieces more.

And Dragon Queen has rougly the same part count as the sky castle, but costs 100zl less ;P

[Velouria]

Oh, I looked it up- the little grey arm with hands on both sides in the middle here is a new part. It's 6146061 and it is not on bricklink yet. It looks like a very useful part. Also, the two large roof ornaments (6153482) seem new. Also, the hoods of course.

[telaruhn]

...or you can remove the dragons & Elves, plop CMF Maleficent in there, give her a red lightsaber, and voila! A Dark Lady of the Sith in her fortress on an alien world.

This!

Thanks for the excellent pictures and review. I am definitely buying this set and modifying it for Maleficent. This castle suits her just as much as it does Ragana...

[Velouria]

Ragana and Maleficent definitely share some family ties...

[Littleworlds]

Your review is really outstanding! Very playful and fun - just like a good Lego set should be More of this please!

[DraikNova]

This is the one Elves set I want to get. It's got precisely the right flavor of cutesy evilness to hit my buttons and a beautiful color scheme. Not sure what to do with the minidolls. Ragana could work as some form of slime creature or other monster, considering the stretched-out and smooth appearance relative to normal minifigures, but what to do with Aira and Naida?

[Marishka]

Excellent review, thank you! I had some doubts about to collect money to buy it, but now I'sure I really want it. And I'm happy that there were no elves sets in my childhood and it appear just now because only now I'm able to collect most of them! :)))

[Iria]

Thank you for the review and taking so many photos! They Elves Lego team really improved on last year's castle and addressed it's issues regarding playability and making it look good on the back. Ragana's living space is really well done and so detailed. I feel the colour scheme works really well for this set and is so much more vibrant than the spring ones this year. I'm definitely looking forward to picking this one up this summer.

And I'm happy that there were no elves sets in my childhood and it appear just now because only now I'm able to collect most of them! :)))

That's a great point! No way would have I been able to collect so many as a kid.

[Venkefedo]

Oh, I looked it up- the little grey arm with hands on both sides in the middle here is a new part. It's 6146061 and it is not on bricklink yet. It looks like a very useful part. Also, the two large roof ornaments (6153482) seem new. Also, the hoods of course.

Isn't that grey arm just this? They debuted in 2012 in the Arkham Asylum set, but they immediately took a break until last year... now they're in a few sets, including the TARDIS and in the Gollum Dimensions set.

[Velouria]

I think you are right. Strange that the number they gave it in the booklet does not yield any results in google searches. Anyway, it is a very promising piece.