Fright Knights Theme

[WesternOutlaw]

The Fright Knights Theme first appeared in 1997 as some would call another sub-theme of Castle. By no means can it be considered Classic Castle, and in looking at the sets closer, the theme is probably more along the line of later KK sets, but with much better figs.

I only own a few of the very small promotional sets to this theme always thinking that most of the collection was pretty bad. As I look at some of the sets now, they definately are a little better than I thought, at least containing some very good figs and pieces. I think the lack of popularity of Fright Knights was the poorly designed castles.

Take for example Night Lord's Castle (6097) pictured below. Great concept - a spooky dark castle tower with a witch lord on top. But look at the design. The overall construction is poor and similar to KK and some other themes we've seen Lego produce, the set is a Monster Mash of various pieces and colors.

What are your thoughts of the Fright Knights theme? Were they in fact Frightfully Fun, or rather Dreadfully Designed?

[Norro]

The subtheme which not only broke castle, but also Lego as well. It is no wonder they started to lose money from this poin t on... This was the year I began to seriously question what was worth buying instead of wanting one of everything...

Nathan

[natelite]

it's bat knights, not fright knights! ;-)

i think the helmets looked ridiculous...especially the one with the batwings. i dont think it is good to be honest. at least with the jellybeans you can spray paint over but you can't do much with a badly designed helmet.

[Bonaparte]

This set is only good for the figs and it's bricks.

Don't bother building it!

[snefroe]

well there were several themes lacking quality in the late 90's; 'fright knights' is no exception... I guess the difference between this theme and older themes, next to the quality, is that the older themes heavily relied on the medieval theme: castles, knights fighting each other for the hand of the princess, ... later on we got 'robin hood' themes... all very easy to recognice for the general public. this theme, however, doesn't really have anything to do with the medieval theme at all. it's more like a fantasy story, closer to 'Lord of the rings' than to 'Robin Hood'

[Norro]

It also has no instantly recognizable 'good' or 'neutral' faction, merely two factions both pitched as 'bad' fighting each other...

God Bless,

Nathan

[WesternOutlaw]

So, I'm reading two major areas that influenced the success (or lack there of) relating to this them.

- One was in fact a very poor design

- And 2nd, an unrecognizable theme that was more fantasy than Medieval.

In regard to the 2nd point, I did not mind this at all. I like a fantasy story and appreciate the "fright knights" (even with their "batty" helmets". In fact, I think the concept of the dark knights is rather clever and breaks traditional themes. Witches, wizards, dark knights, and dragons I like. In fact, more sets relating to these areas might be rather refreshing (vs. knights tournaments, traditional castles, and Camelot-related themes).

I think it's really more attributable to bad designed sets (mainly the castle structures). I compare this castle sub-theme to Dino Island of Adventurers. Overall poor design.

[snefroe]

I think it's really more attributable to bad designed sets (mainly the castle structures). I compare this castle sub-theme to Dino Island of Adventurers. Overall poor design.

true. every theme needs tos have his 'eyecatcher', the one set that attracts potental fans. In 'castle', that used to be a brilliantly designed castle with several knights, in Space themes, that used to be a huge space ship or a space station. Once people want that large set, they'll go for the smaller ones as well, because they want to complete that particular large set, make it even bigger/better. 'Fright knights' did not have that.

so i guess it's not only a lack of design of the sets, it's most of all the absence of that one spectacular castle...

[Brick Miner]

i think the fright knights were a great concept, but the sub-theme had a terrible execution. dark knights, witches, dragons,... all the components are there, and added up to some great (halloween-style) iconography.

i think the two genres of fantasy and medieval work great together, i just haven't seen LEGO do it right... both fright knights and KK2 are the dino island (as brickster coined) of castle :-D

actually, i haven't seen much fantasy/medieval genre stuff i like lately... didn't care for the LOTR trilogy, or HP movies (not quite medieval, but has the same roots, as far as wizardry). however, one fantasy/medieval combination i did like was the LEGO 3D movie i saw at LEGOLAND is summer. it was called spellcaster, and was possibly the coolest thing i experienced at the park !!!

- BrickMiner

[Mister Phes]

But look at the design. The overall construction is poor and similar to KK and some other themes we've seen Lego produce, the set is a Monster Mash of various pieces and colors.

I've been likening the design of the latest Knights Kingdom sets to "Fright Knight Architecture" for some time now.

it's bat knights, not fright knights! ;-)

Its probably both, but the US name for the sub-theme is Fright Knights.

Eg. http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?query=fright+knight

[Jipay]

*standing up to defend this line*

I own one of those set, and it is not such a bad line at all. First, the figures are excellent, you even got a witch (first castle female minifig in a looong time). Then, accessories are the key. You get a whole load of them with those sets.

I think that what makes them suck are the baseplates, really. The use of the pieces can be also a dissapointment, but I think that most of the users here could make a really cool castle out of them.

Last but not least : black dragons ! yummmyy :-)

It's much less historically accurate comparred to the previous lines though and I think this is what makes everyone hate them |-/

[WesternOutlaw]

First, the figures are excellent, you even got a witch (first castle female minifig in a looong time). Then, accessories are the key. You get a whole load of them with those sets.

In looking at the sets, I do like the figs and the accessories. The shields are pretty slick:

Check out the cape:

And the minifig torso's are pretty nice:

These pieces appear in 6087 (Witch's Magic Manor):

[Athos]

I think its borth frightfully fun and dreadfully designed. The set designs were horrible, though the Night Lord's Castle is good concept with a reasonably (for the time) decent execution.

On a side note, what is with this piece? It appears only in the Night Lord's Castle. And could just as effectively and easily be replaced with two of these pieces. No wonder Lego had financial difficulties, if they were making new molds for this...

I initially hated the brick baseplates, as they did not fit in with the rest of my sets. Now, however, I like them for landscaping and would like to get some more.

Anyhow, back to the matter at hand. The figures were good. I personally like the much maligned witch and batlord. Sure there are too many, but there have been too many Jar-Jars and Lukes and Vaders too. The black dragon was also a nice touch.

I wouldn't mind snagging a couple more of the sets, but they seem to go at pretty high prices on ebay, which also should say something.

Steve

[Jipay]

These pieces appear in 6087 (Witch's Magic Manor):

That's the set I own. I agree with everything stated by Athos :-)

[Norro]

I wouldn't mind snagging a couple more of the sets, but they seem to go at pretty high prices on ebay, which also should say something.

It says at the time they were avoided like the plague, but now that our standards hae been lowered by KK2 we just want old grey... X-D

God Bless,

Nathan

[Sting]

Grrreeat Torsos. I actually don't mind that large 6097 set. Well... actually... I only think the entire Spire thing with the big level on top is really really cool.(Where the bearded guard with the battle axe and sheild is standing). The rest sucks.

The theme could have been cool - the first truely evil charactersin the Castle World (as opposed to the greedy Wolfpack and Magical Dragonmasters. They could have been evil dark knights.

Like people said. It lacked direction and didn't fit at all with the old castle sets, yet it was supposed to (Royal Guard Minifig in 6097). It had some neat ideas (the witch would have gone along well with the wizards of the Dragonmasters), but overall was quite weak with horrible set design and a fragmented look stemmed from the fact that 1996 was Lego's last truely amazing year, and these were the first of the awful batch to come. I remember seeing The Fright Knights and the entire 1997 Lego Catalog and just feeling this horrible feeling of "The End". I knew it than. Something was wrong. Although many good themes(Ninja, The Adventurers) and sets came out until the late 90s, it was obvious in 1997 that many sets were going down in quality.

What is so bad about the Dino Island Line? There were some damn good sets in that line, including the plane and the Island Racer... but I guess besides that it mostly sucked. (I actually liked the tracked vehicle alot too).

[Captain Roger]

Fright knoghts were the worst lthing in classic castle theme...Dragon knights were surreal too(dragon, wizard....) but nice...Fright Knights are in excesive surreal with the flaying accesories

[Mister Phes]

It says at the time they were avoided like the plague, but now that our standards hae been lowered by KK2 we just want old grey... X-D

Sets like these would be good for the parts providing the set was sold cheaply. Problem is I've never come across a Fright Knight set that was cheap as it appears there is a decent appreciation for them over in this part of the world.

[gylman]

Although they were easily the worst of the castle sets pre KK, in the end, they were better than anything that followed after.

Just part of a long steady decline that has not yet been halted.

I have 3 copies of 6097, and it's a fun set. Good parts and if bought used without the box/instructions, usually can be had for a VERY low price on eBay (25-30$)

Now 6087, Witch's magic manor.... THAT's a fugly crappy set. Also a good parts pack, but for some reason it is not as cheap on eBay relative to its original price as 6097. Great source of burps'n lurps, though.

And of course, having old gray elements has actually increased their value compared to a few years ago.

[Mister Phes]

Why did the LEGO Company start designing Castle sets like this? Did they stop caring about design quality or is it the children that don't really care?

[WesternOutlaw]

Why did the LEGO Company start designing Castle sets like this? Did they stop caring about design quality or is it the children that don't really care?

Great question. I always wonder this myself. I think it's a combination of very bad designers and cost avoidance.

[alex54]

I have 3 copies of 6097, and it's a fun set. Good parts and if bought used without the box/instructions, usually can be had for a VERY low price on eBay (25-30$)

Now 6087, Witch's magic manor.... THAT's a fugly crappy set. Also a good parts pack, but for some reason it is not as cheap on eBay relative to its original price as 6097. Great source of burps'n lurps, though.

I've got those two sets and agree with you Gylman. The castle 6097 is fun and nice. But it would be better if all those walls were empty or loked buy doors. There are some nice accessories and a nice playability.

But the 6087 is very :-X : bad design and horrible flying thing! The concept is nice but it was so badly done!

And the wors set of this line is the 6037 witch's windship :-X!

So this line is not too bad for me, just 2 crappy sets. The concept is nice but no done like the older lines.

I read this topic when I was cleanning my 6097 castle (it is the occasion to see my missing parts and take pictures for my BS gallery)!

[Norro]

Why did the LEGO Company start designing Castle sets like this? Did they stop caring about design quality or is it the children that don't really care?

This year also coincided with the first line produced entirely by the new generation of the Lego family (from memory).

Nathan

[Darkness Falls]

I had one set from this line, and I gotta say:

WHAT THE HELL.

The line wasn't bad... it had great pieces, accessories, and Minifigures(But why the hell was that witch always in the sets?), but it was executed horribly. I had set 6037. Though I loved the axe, Dragon, and the Witch(And her sexy crystal ball.) I wondered, "What the hell is this supposed to be?"

So yeah. If you don't build the sets, just take out the pieces, and the line is GREAT!

[Sting]

For me, 1997 is when LEGO changed its entire style. In 1997, it was the last of the cool displays Lego used to have in Catalogs (where they would show all the sets in a lego/paper mache world), the quality in sets declined (as seen by the terrifying town, pirate, and castle sets released (Although the Imperial Armada sets, some of which released in 1996 I believe, were showing decline.)

For example

Old Style

New Style

I actually remember seeing the 1997 Catalog in a set I had bought and my stomach felt wierd. I could sense the difference. I somehow knew it wasn't going to be the same. And I was in grade 4!!

(EDITED on NOV 5th to compare 2 castle pages instead of a castle and a town)