Review: 6077 Forestmen's River Fortress

[dj2005]

Title of Set: 6077 Forestmen's River Fortress

Theme: Castle/Forestmen

Year Released: 1989

Pieces Count: 348

Minifigures: 6

Original Price: $37.50 (USD), Unknown (EUR), Unknown (GBP)

Current Prices: BrickLink Price Guide

Further Information: Brickset, Lugnet, Peeron, Photobucket Album

In the dank, dark marshes the Forestmen bunker in their fortress. Using their surroundings as an advantage, the Forestmen quickly silence any lumbering predator or foe that may lurk near. Due to this, it is undetermined where exactly this fabled fortress, that was constructed half by man and half by nature, actually resides and whether it truly exists.

Instructions:

Not a hard build. The instructions are clear and actually make use of different angles, which I found lacking in a decent amount of the vintage Castle sets. Total of 22 steps. The back of the booklet includes two alternative builds.

Minifigures:

Five Forestmen and a lone Lion Knight with the nice Lion printed torso. Plumes displayed are not exactly the same as what is included in the set.

Accessories:

Three ABS swords, two bows, two quivers, two spears, two Forestmen shields, various plumes (as displayed previously), a lance, a green vine whip and a chest. Not really all that much for a fortress. A Lion Knight shield and an extra container or two would've been much preferred.

Vehicles - Barrel Raft:

Front:

The front of the raft holds a spare sword.

Left:

Right:

Back:

A large amount of space for a small raft. Contains a brown chest to store goods and/or treasure. The set includes a few yellow round studded pieces to represent gold.

Completed without Minifigures:

Front with Gate Raised:

Front gate is raised giving a small view of the inside of the fortress. A small green plate provides grass.

Front with Gate Closed:

Front gate closed shutting off outsiders. Uses four black 1x8 tiles to create an impenetrable gate. The black walkway connected to the grassed land lifts up using hinges to create a drawbridge effect.

Left:

A view of the left side of the fortress. Not much to see. The archery tree provides a much needed atmospheric addition.

Right with Back Open:

The back swings open to the right when fully opened.

Right with Back Closed:

Similar to the left side. Make note of the slopes that create the foundation of the fortress to emulate a tree's trunk.

Back Open:

The back uses a three hinged system. Needless to say, it is very stable and works like a charm.

Back Closed:

Closes nicely and stays closed unlike some sets which swing open at the slightest touch.

Inside Lower:

Bare interior. A jail to the left and a weapon storage area to the right.

Inside Upper:

A view of the architecture. Yep, still bare.

Closeups:

Prison:

Small prison using four black antennas. The poor prisoner probably gets eaten by the fish. Definitely not a nice way to go.

Back Underside:

A closeup shot of the waterway under the fortress. To the left is the jail. This is a nice architectural detail, and perhaps the best of the set.

Gate Raised:

Closeup shot of the gate when raised and the entrance.

Closeup of Top with Gate Raised:

Here we can see the top of the gate once fully raised peaking out the top of the fortress.

Top Back View:

Some space for minifigs.

Top Side View:

Foliage provides camouflage.

Top Flag Straight:

The flag is on a small hinged piece that can be raised and lowered.

Top Flag Bent:

Another shot but when fully lowered.

Front Windows:

Two nice windows behind some leaves.

Archery Tree:

A closeup of the archery piece. It is printed and a great piece to have.

A farther shot than before showing more of the tree. A very nice tree it is, though lacking some brown...

Completed with Minifigures:

All six minifigures fit easily onto the set. Still room for more on the raft and inside the fortress.

Front Row Seats of the Action:

The fortress's location stays safe once again as a lone Lion Knight is no match for five Forestmen. Still, for how long until the next adventurer stumbles upon this fortress, and when he does, will he be the lucky one that escapes?

Reviewer's Score:

Playability: 8/10 - Gate works very well. The hinged back provides easy access to the interior, which has a jail to stick prisoners into (one at a time).

Design: 7.4/10 - Nothing impressive due to the lack of a furnished interior. Still has the Forestmen feel to it since it is a giant tree.

Price: 8/10 - Compared to other sets of the era, it is quite pricey when the piece count is factored in. It does have a lot of wall panels but no special pieces.

Total: 23.4/30 - Not the best of the Forestmen sets, but it is still a very nice set to own. Looks good when fully built as well. The 32x32 blue baseplate is very useful, too.

[KimT]

Thanks..I so wish I had this great set.

Will be added to the Review Index shortly.

[Jipay]

Thanks..I so wish I had this great set.

Will be added to the Review Index shortly.

You can have it

Nice review. The photography is excellent, I especially like the little touch of the green border.

This set is definitly one that we all wanted. I remember trying to create one homemade as i was a kid, but it never met the standard.

I'm not sure that set would be such a hit today though. The set seems a bit "freezed"

[legotrainfan]

This is one of the classic sets I love like crazy but I don't have it. This set has a high degree of playability. I'd simply love to have it in my collection. Needless to say that I've voted for superb.

Edited November 18, 2008 by legotrainfan

[I Scream Clone]

I love the review dj,very detailed and thorough.

Im also a fan of Forestmen, however this set just looks like a big grey and black lump to me

Looks like there are a great assortment of figs and weapons pieces, and at the time I probably would have purchased this set. Now though I think I will be happy just buying forestmen off BL.

Keep up the good photography and reviewing!

Cheers

ISC

[Legoking]

Great review!

[KimT]

Great review!

Agreed, actually some of the best I've seen around here.

That's why I've indexed this

[Josh]

Loved it,wanted it, got it!I wish they brought out some more of the forestmen lego! There some of my favourite sets !!

[WhiteFang]

Hey dj2005, this review is super useful. It aided me by re-building this forestmen fortress. I bought this second hand about 6 months ago, and now I have re-built it and realised that some of the small parts are missing. I will need to ask from the seller though. Putting that aside, I must admit this entire built is very impressive with lots of playability. This is my very first, Forestmen Fortress and having the time to re-construct the entire set, simply puts a smile on my face, with the help of Peeron and your review.

[Lorentzen]

Very nice review indeed - I still have some of these forrestmen sets from when I was a kid, but alas they are all incomplete. I will however buy the missing pieces from bricklink some time this year. I will do so with all my sets that I still have instructions for, because they are all very special to me.

Thanks for taking me down memory lane

[VintageLegoEra]

Sorry to revive this thread, but it is important.

I have bought a new set but the seals are open. I want check on how many bags the set has.

Anyone can remember how many bags the set has or if someone has new one, can you double check please?

Regards

Edited March 23, 2016 by VintageLegoEra

[thetang22]

Do you not plan to put the thing together? If you do plan to, just put it together and see if anything is missing along the way.

I just actually gave this set back to my brother after 20'ish years for his birthday. It was his originally, but 90% of the old Castle Legos were mine, so it got bunched in with them and I held on to it for a couple decades. He's got a son now that's really into Legos, so I figured the 2 of them could enjoy it :)

[VintageLegoEra]

Thanks for your reply. It looks like complete but i want to make sure. At the moment i dont have an intention to build it thats why i asked so maybe there are some have this set still in their sealed bags :-).

Thats nice story you had with these vintage sets :-)

[mispeled]

This was my very first lego set, when I was six. I still have it, though it's a little worse for wear. I love forestmen!

[VintageLegoEra]

Thanks for your reply. It looks like complete but i want to make sure. At the moment i dont have an intention to build it thats why i asked so maybe there are some have this set still in their sealed bags :-).

Thats nice story you had with these vintage sets :-)

It is complete after checking :-)