{"id":6017,"date":"2010-06-04T10:50:44","date_gmt":"2010-06-04T15:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=6017"},"modified":"2010-06-05T02:58:55","modified_gmt":"2010-06-05T07:58:55","slug":"vault-review-lego-kingdoms-knights-showdown-jester-wizard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=6017","title":{"rendered":"Vault Review: Lego Kingdoms Review (#7950, 7953, 7955)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I couldn\u2019t give you an exact age of when I got my first Lego set, but I they were some of my earliest toys. Looking back among my early sets, I can tell you I\u2019ve always gravitated towards the Castle theme. Sure, I had some City and Space, but I always ended up with more Castle. As an adult collector, not much has changed. Although I was a fan of the Fantasy Castle theme, I couldn\u2019t be happier to see the classic Castle return under the new marquee of Kingdoms.<\/p>\n

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The new Kingdoms sets are more in vain of the Castle sets of the 80s. In recent years the Castle themes leaned heavily into fantasy for inspiration, creating a world where humans, dwarves, undead skeletons, and trolls all battled for control of the Lego realm. Now, it seems we\u2019re back to the more realistic medieval themes of kingdom vs. kingdom. (So far it looks like the Lion Kingdom vs. the Dragon Kingdom, but hopefully we\u2019ll get some Forestmen and Wolfpack in there.) Along with this also comes the more realistic architecture of the sets themselves. In this first review I\u2019m going to talk about three of the cheaper sets in this theme, eventually working my way up to the more expensive ones.<\/p>\n

#7953 Court Jester<\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen the Court Jester before. His hat originated from Harley Quinn, from the Lego Batman line. They later made a male Jester for the fantasy Castle theme. He looks basically the same, except his colors are red and blue instead of red and white. This set is an impulse buy and consists of only 22 pieces.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m actually pretty happy with this set. Even though it\u2019s small, it really gives the Jester more of an area in your Lego universe than he\u2019s had previously. Sure, you can have him parade around in front of the King, but we all know that gets boring. This Jester wants to take his act to the masses. Entertaining and bringing smiles to the common folk. What better way to do this than on his own little stage? Our Jester also comes with two sets of red, white, and blue studs to use as juggling balls. But, we all know show business is hard. So when the crowd is particularly rough on our funny friend, he has an alternate sad face with a little tear. Not too bad for $4.<\/p>\n

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#7955 the Wizard<\/strong><\/center>
\nThe second impulse buy in this new theme, the Wizard only comes with 19 pieces. Like the Jester, the Wizard is also only $4. But he can\u2019t be bothered by cost. He\u2019s busy trying to discover the secrets of\u2026 something.<\/p>\n

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One thing I found interesting was the lack of a printed shirt on the Wizard. I understand not wanting to waste money since his beard is going to cover up most of it, but I also like detail. So I would have enjoyed seeing a new clothing print for mage. Besides, who says all Wizards have to have long beards?<\/p>\n

Wizard comes with his wand, a workbench, two mysterious potions, and a green baby dragon. The scroll he is studying reads, \u201cYou are far more powerful than you would ever imagine\u201d. A cryptic message indeed, but who is it referring to: the Wizard, the baby dragon, you?<\/p>\n

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#7950 Knight\u2019s Showdown<\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n

The Knight\u2019s Showdown is 61 pieces, will cost you about $7, and is our first look at the military might of these new kingdoms. We get one Knight from each side, and the thing that jumped out at me right away was the new helmet design. With a narrow slit for vision, the cross design that decorates the front, and the ability to put a decorative plume on top, these new Bucket Helmets are easily going to become one of my favorites.<\/p>\n

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Something else I really like with these guys is the designs of their outfits. The Lion King\u2019s Knight is decked out in a snazzy red\/white checker patter. While the Dragon Knight has scale mail and chains running round his body. Also, just comparing the two Knight\u2019s faces, you can tell the Dragon Knight is a jerk. That\u2019s a jerky face if I\u2019ve ever seen one.<\/p>\n

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An interesting additional contrast between these two modern Knights is their armor and weapons. Unlike in the old days, where the Crusaders and the Black Falcons all shared the same color weapons and armor, these new factions don\u2019t. The King\u2019s troops have a lighter, silvery look to their accessories. While the Dragon Kingdom\u2019s men have a darker, almost iron look to theirs. I like this new difference and I\u2019m going to have to give the Lego Group props for it. It\u2019s a simple color change, yet adds more character to these little guys. Plus, you can always say these weapons are made of different materials now. <\/p>\n

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Besides the minifigures, this set contains a weapons rack. Yup, that\u2019s what that tiny thing with the flag and holding the sword is. Not much of a rack if you ask me. Looks more like a rock with a flag pole stuck in it. You also get a catapult for the King\u2019s Knight to use. (Hey, nobody said this was going to be a fair duel.) The catapult is simple and works on the basic lever system for action. I did like the fact that the wheels were made by putting together two round 4 stud barrel tops. It\u2019s usually the simple things that turn out the coolest.<\/p>\n

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All together, my first impression of the Kingdoms theme is pretty good. There are a lot of new figure designs I\u2019m happy with. Plus, I love the different colored armor and weapons. The price points are decent so far also. Now we just have to hope the bigger sets have some nice design to them. So, check back later for our next review of the new Lego Kingdoms.<\/p>\n

-Vault<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I couldn\u2019t give you an exact age of when I got my first Lego set, but I they were some of my earliest toys. Looking back among my early sets, I can tell you I\u2019ve always gravitated towards the Castle theme. Sure, I had some City and Space, but I always ended up with more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[126,34,10],"tags":[555,554,556],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/legoTN.jpg?fit=50%2C50","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-1z3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12272,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=12272","url_meta":{"origin":6017,"position":0},"title":"Vault Review: Nanoblock: NBH_010 Neuschwanstein Castle","date":"April 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"If you\u2019re familiar with my reviews you know that I\u2019m a big fan of trying out new toys. I love the stuff Hasbro and Matty make, but I also support the small and independent companies out there who bring much needed originality and freedom to the toy aisles. My newest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1589,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=1589","url_meta":{"origin":6017,"position":1},"title":"Mister Rants asks “Where’s my LEGO Pirate Advent Calendar?”","date":"September 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the last few years, the LEGO company has released something very cool for Christmas: a Lego Advent Calendar. Usually, the tradition is to do a \u201cCity\u201d theme, but last year they decided to throw caution to the wind and give us the first ever \u201cCastle\u201d themed calendar. The awesome\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mister Rant"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1338,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=1338","url_meta":{"origin":6017,"position":2},"title":"Friday Five 8\/28: Links You Need to Know About","date":"August 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Friday Five"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":642,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=642","url_meta":{"origin":6017,"position":3},"title":"ItsAllTrue on the Road: Oklahoma City Lego Store Grand Opening","date":"July 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"On Saturday, the Itsalltrue.net Crew got up unusually early and headed out to Oklahoma City for the grand opening of a LEGO Store at the Penn Square Mall. I was excited, to say the least. When NoisyDvL5 told me about the store, I knew I had to be there for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Event Coverage"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1750,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=1750","url_meta":{"origin":6017,"position":4},"title":"Vault Review: Lego 10193 – Medieval Market Village","date":"September 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Toys had a different meaning for me when I was a kid. Sure I had He-Man and GI Joes and Super Powers figures, but I didn\u2019t collect them. They were just toys I enjoyed playing with that parents and grandparents bought me. Sometimes I knew who the character was, sometimes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21828,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=21828","url_meta":{"origin":6017,"position":5},"title":"Review Round-Up (October 29th-November 4th)","date":"November 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s been a hectic last couple days, but I couldn\u2019t miss Review Round-Up! This week could be called Metalhead week! It\u2019s not all TMNT this week though. There weren\u2019t many comic book toys, but Hobbit figures are getting more love and we\u2019ve always got a healthy chunk of MOTU reviews\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6017"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6017"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6029,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6017\/revisions\/6029"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}