10305 Lion Knights' Castle 90th anniversary set

[TeriXeri]

A seperate ramp/bridge house in front of the actual Castle's drawbridge, reminds me of how the 1995 Royal Drawbridge set was sold seperate from the 1995 Royal Castle.

Last year, almost exactly 1 year ago, I made a quick alternate build of 31120 (mainly inspired by 7079: Drawbridge Defense) 

This was long before 10305 was known, but the idea is still the same, a seperate bridge that could fit in front of the castle.

Of course for 10305 it'd likely be styled a bit differently, and maybe I would not put a big tower in front of an already big tower.

 

 

Edited August 22, 2022 by TeriXeri

[woodford86]

Thats exactly my inspiration, I never got the drawbridge as a kid so maybe some kind of unfulfilled desire here ^^

End of the day I think its the lack of balance/symmetry that I don’t like. Its the same reason I display the castle with the armoury open but house wing closed.
 

My latest inspiration is to make it more of a bridge and then the castle will be on a rocky island, similar to some of the castles in that video on the previous page. So many ideas!

Edited August 22, 2022 by woodford86

[TeriXeri]

16 minutes ago, woodford86 said:

Thats exactly my inspiration, I never got the drawbridge as a kid so maybe some kind of unfulfilled desire here ^^

I'm the opposite, 1995 Drawbridge was my only big Castle, but I don't think I would put a big tower in front of 10305 in this case, but a longer bridge would help more with the suggestion of castle being surrounded by water or at least a river.

Not that water would stop Forestmen, as seen by their River Fortress or Crossing, and their widely used whips/vines to swing from trees, 10305 might be Siege proof, but the secret caves are a nice touch that it's not invulnerable.

Surprisingly no whip pieces in either the Castle or Forestmen Hideout.

Edited August 22, 2022 by TeriXeri

[woodford86]

17 minutes ago, TeriXeri said:

I'm the opposite, 1995 Drawbridge was my only big Castle, but I don't think I would put a big tower in front of 10305 in this case, but a longer bridge would help more with the suggestion of castle being surrounded by water or at least a river.

Not that water would stop Forestmen, as seen by their River Fortress or Crossing, and their widely used whips/vines to swing from trees, 10305 might be Siege proof, but the secret caves are a nice touch that it's not invulnerable.

Surprisingly no whip pieces in either the Castle or Forestmen Hideout.

Thats actually makes me think, bricks_fan_uy on instagram posted a really nice small boat that would be perfect for forestpeople to use for smuggling into the castle if the water is made a bit bigger. I’m gonna aim for that I think.

[RichardGoring]

3 hours ago, brimbolet said:

 

Yeah sorry, that's what I meant. 

 

3 hours ago, SirBlake said:

Hah! Sorry I was slow on that one. Pretty funny. 

I moved from the UK to the US eight years ago. Recently renovated a house and have been amazed at the ability to just cut through walls to do anything you like. I've run a bunch of stuff through the walls now. Life changing! I was even considering doing pretty much this, cutting a hole in a wall behind a bookshelf, into a closet behind, to make an ultra deep book nook using Diagon Alley from Harry Potter.

[natesroom]

15 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

I moved from the UK to the US eight years ago. Recently renovated a house and have been amazed at the ability to just cut through walls to do anything you like. I've run a bunch of stuff through the walls now. Life changing! I was even considering doing pretty much this, cutting a hole in a wall behind a bookshelf, into a closet behind, to make an ultra deep book nook using Diagon Alley from Harry Potter.

haha you'll also be surprised at how temporary and flimsy the houses will feel over time vs those nice stone building in the UK...

[RichardGoring]

2 minutes ago, natesroom said:

haha you'll also be surprised at how temporary and flimsy the houses will feel over time vs those nice stone building in the UK...

Oh, I know it. We've had eight years in a house that I daren't even look at the walls because they crumble. But the new place has been gut renovated, and I have photos of everything behind the walls, so know exactly where I can and can't put stuff. Very different from breaking a power drill trying to get through old, old brick back in the UK!

[SirBlake]

2 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

I was even considering doing pretty much this, cutting a hole in a wall behind a bookshelf, into a closet behind, to make an ultra deep book nook using Diagon Alley from Harry Potter.

Brilliant! I would love to see something like that done. Gives me some ideas too. 

[dimc]

12 hours ago, TeriXeri said:

I'm the opposite, 1995 Drawbridge was my only big Castle, but I don't think I would put a big tower in front of 10305 in this case, but a longer bridge would help more with the suggestion of castle being surrounded by water or at least a river.

Not that water would stop Forestmen, as seen by their River Fortress or Crossing, and their widely used whips/vines to swing from trees, 10305 might be Siege proof, but the secret caves are a nice touch that it's not invulnerable.

Surprisingly no whip pieces in either the Castle or Forestmen Hideout.

I was always annoyed that Knight's Stronghold didn't fit in front of Black Monarch's Castle since they use plates and baseplates, respectively. I may have to modify the stronghold and set it on a baseplate so that they connect; it would also remove the drawbridge but add in some defensive areas.

[Rjbricks]

Finally built this today. It’s huge. For people who don’t usually display massive Lego structures on their house, it’s somewhat overwhelming.

It’s also fabulous.

and now sadly has been deconstructed and put inside bags and packed away in the loft already.

Only bugbear was 2 missing parts, which was a bit of a shame.

[Roebuck]

41 minutes ago, Rjbricks said:

Only bugbear was 2 missing parts, which was a bit of a shame.

Contact Lego on the "missing parts page" and they will send you the parts (often wise to double check all the left over bags first to be sure they are missing)

 

[natesroom]

Yeah i was missing the black elbow macaroni for the forestman hideout, emailed CS and sent me one in like 5 or 6 days. Felt bad when i found it later 8 feet way hidden under something, lol

[Follows Closely]

I returned an amazon order to kohl's yesterday and got a free $5 card. It was going to expire so I had to find something to buy. Ten minutes of feeling the packages and I got what I wanted. At least the knights in 10305 don't look like this:

Spoiler

 

[Aanchir]

On 8/22/2022 at 2:34 AM, qbrick said:

I actually did check out my local lego store, whilst they did still have multiple 10305 still in stock, its just too big for it to be a toy and still be unobtrusive on the shelf.

I think what i really wanted (nostalgia for) would have been if they just reissued 6103 with the modern prints for bulk purchase.

As charming as minifig packs like that were back in the day, I can't really imagine LEGO making a set like this today without some sort of build to accompany the figures and accessories. Generally, modern minifig packs from other themes have at least a small side build. I suspect this is partly to push back against some parents' perception that modern LEGO sets are made up entirely of specialized pieces, and that they're now more about collecting than building.

A small Castle "starter set" with three or four Castle minifigs and a small build (along the lines of sets like 40372 and 40525), or even a larger playset with 6 or 7 minifigs and a small scene (kind of like 71735) could definitely be nice to see in the future, though — and would surely be greatly appreciated by army builders!

23 hours ago, jodawill said:

It looks good, but it should have a right angle like the original so enemies can't bring a battering ram up the door.

Huh, I never even thought about that as a practical reason for having the ramp at an angle! I mostly figured the designers did that so the set would fit more neatly on a shelf.

[iragm]

Honestly, PAB is pretty fantastic for army building.  I picked up a ton of black falcons for about $2 each, and I was even able to give them black legs to make them look more old school.  I'd like to see more small castle sets, but all I really want is for the figures from this set to be available on PAB.

[Sir Dano]

4 minutes ago, iragm said:

I'd like to see more small castle sets, but all I really want is for the figures from this set to be available on PAB.

Agreed. I'd also love a wave of CMFs that's entirely castle themed, with a mix of peasants and soldiers for classic factions.

[Follows Closely]

5 minutes ago, Sir Dano said:

Agreed. I'd also love a wave of CMFs that's entirely castle themed, with a mix of peasants and soldiers for classic factions.

That would be great, but will never happen. Be happy with the one fig ever few series.

[dimc]

3 minutes ago, Sir Dano said:

Agreed. I'd also love a wave of CMFs that's entirely castle themed, with a mix of peasants and soldiers for classic factions.

I'd settle for a CMF line of 12 that is the 3 "other" original factions, being Castle, Pirates, and Space. I love that we got the "wolfpack" rogue and "blacktron" bounty hunter and pirate woman and "forestmen" bard in earlier lines; there are probably a few others that fit in but I don't remember them. More throwbacks to the subthemes would be nice like Futuron (though we got a similar space police CMF), M-tron, blue or redcoat imperials, and of course castle themes of any sort.

[woodford86]

I'm surprised they haven't just done a nostalgia CMF. 12 minifigures representing major themes/subthemes over the last 40 years...space, castle, pirate, adventurer, rock raiders, wild west etc etc. Seems like that would be the ultimate 90th anniversary release so I'm kind of surprised they didn't do that.

Instead we get a costume line...ugh.

[eldiano]

4 hours ago, Rjbricks said:

Finally built this today. It’s huge. For people who don’t usually display massive Lego structures on their house, it’s somewhat overwhelming.

It’s also fabulous.

and now sadly has been deconstructed and put inside bags and packed away in the loft already.

Only bugbear was 2 missing parts, which was a bit of a shame.

Hahaha I did the same thing and now want to build it again, when I take them apart I combine two bags into one making it more difficult for me.  
imagine dumping 4,500 lego pieces into the table just for a challenge? Nope haha glad lego does not that do anymore!

1 hour ago, woodford86 said:

I'm surprised they haven't just done a nostalgia CMF. 12 minifigures representing major themes/subthemes over the last 40 years...space, castle, pirate, adventurer, rock raiders, wild west etc etc. Seems like that would be the ultimate 90th anniversary release so I'm kind of surprised they didn't do that.

Instead we get a costume line...ugh.

With my luck lego will release this but with the new boxed design hahaha, fml

[SirBlake]

2 hours ago, iragm said:

Honestly, PAB is pretty fantastic for army building.  I picked up a ton of black falcons for about $2 each...

It USED TO BE fantastic for army building. TLG has gutted PAB, and is showing no sign of returning to it's former usefulness.

[eldiano]

45 minutes ago, SirBlake said:

It USED TO BE fantastic for army building. TLG has gutted PAB, and is showing no sign of returning to it's former usefulness.

That it was, It’s sad to know that they know this and want us to charge more for minifigure army building 

[mirkwoodspiders]

8 hours ago, iragm said:

Honestly, PAB is pretty fantastic for army building.  I picked up a ton of black falcons for about $2 each, and I was even able to give them black legs to make them look more old school.  I'd like to see more small castle sets, but all I really want is for the figures from this set to be available on PAB.

That's great. What do you search to find Black Falcons on PAB? I can't seem to find any 

[Sir Dano]

That's because they're sold out now. Will they ever restock? We just don't know.

Edited August 24, 2022 by Sir Dano

[Rjbricks]

5 hours ago, eldiano said:

That it was, It’s sad to know that they know this and want us to charge more for minifigure army building 

By making us buy £350 sets? Can’t see that working long term. No one who wants 200 new Lion Knights is going to spend nearly £10,000 on sets. 
 

I see the logic in waiting a few months for that exclusivity to fade but after that? We know how quickly the Black Falcons sold, I can’t see the new Lions selling any less quickly.