GUIDE TO CLASSIC CASTLES

Firmly established as a theme, it was now time for Castle to expand its cast of factions beyond the walled domains

Words: Mark Guest Photography: Andrew Tipping and The LEGO Group

Deep in the darkest regions of the forest dwells a bunch of renegades. Unsure whether they where simply just an entity of myth and rumour, we packed our wagons to find out. The year was 1987 and a new tribe had been introduced to the Castle theme - one that in the coming years was going to provide a more diverse take on the range and would certainly expand the kingdom.

The newcomers were called Forestmen, a band of outlaw-looking folk who appeared themed around the Robin Hood genre, attired primarily in green. Their set was one of four new offerings in 1987 but arguably, through the eyes of a slightly plump child, the most exciting.

1987

As mentioned, this year saw only four new releases but within that, there was a great diversity in areas that previously had not really been touched upon. The two smaller sets were waterbound vessels in the form of a two-man boat and a more substantial five-man affair. There was only one set which contained what could be described as classically themed, which consisted of a castle wall and battering ram with the now-familiar knights, and the fourth offering was the Forestmen’s camouflaged outpost. To me, this originality indicated a confidence in the theme which was now starting to branch out beyond those original carts and castle walls and signified a stable longevity for this medieval LEGO world.

1987

THE SETS

The smallest set to be released was 6017 King’s Oarsmen. This was a small boat containing two Crusader knights. It was a simple affair, which you would expect from a set costing £2.50 with only 45 pieces. It measured 16 studs long at its longest point, while the hull measured 12 studs long and only four studs wide, so without removing the sail this boat was at capacity with two figures. For me, the interesting part of this set was not just the low price point but the use of weapons as parts. The main image on the packaging depicted one knight using his long-handled axe weapon as an oar or potentially,

The addition of Forestmen was a highlight of 1987 for fans

the boat's rudder. The mast of the ship was constructed using a brown lance inserted into a one-stud cylinder brick with four square flag pieces (with clips) attached as sails, a piece we had seen before as the sign for the Guarded Inn. The naming of this set and the fact one crusader sported a cloak and the other, amour breastplate printing, in my mind made me think these guys where some kind of elite force. 6049 Viking Voyager was the second boat in the range and consisted of 99 pieces but even to this day, seems an oddly-named set. There was not a Viking in sight but the design of the boat represented a scaled-down version of a Viking longship. I can only presume

this was perhaps a vessel used to hunt out Vikings. However, this set had 99 pieces and therefore was larger than 6017, measuring 28 studs at its longest point with the hull being 16 studs long. This was to accommodate the generous helping of five minifigures, all of which where again Crusader knights. Three carried the crossed-axe crest upon their chests and wore the helmet with chin guard in dark grey. These guys were depicted as the oarsmen for this vessel and used two brown spears each as oars. The figure with the blue and gold lion crest wore a dark grey helmet with neck guard and stood at the end of the boat guarding the treasure chest. The final knight, with armour printing, was a first in the fact that he wore the neck guard helmet, only this time in black. In this colour, this piece had previously been reserved for the Black Falcon knights and hadn’t been seen before on a Crusader. The boat itself was similar in construction to 6017 but used four red inverted hull pieces attached to a 2x10 plate due to the extra length. This was a great model and priced around the £10 mark at the time actually served as another good troop builder, even if already the Black Falcons were becoming considerably outnumbered. 6062 Battering ram was the only set in this wave of releases that offered to bolster to the dwindling Black Falcons ranks (now with red waistbands). However, the three defending Black Falcon figures were matched in numbers by three Crusaders. We had seen similar sets in previous releases but this one did show some advancement in detail within the range, due to the fact that not only was the wall hinged but it also sported a tower and doorway. The tower made use of the new hexagonal wall pieces that we

saw released the previous year and the arched doorway added playability. This also meant that adding this in to your existing modular castle gave you an extra turret and felt less like a low long wall. The siege weapon included was a brickbuilt battering ram. This construction had a platform across the top for the troops to attack the wall while underneath the ram (which sat level with the platform) could slide forward by four studs to re-enact the battering ram action. In my opinion this wasn’t the most exciting siege weapon to date, despite being the largest of the year with a 236 piece count. The main attraction of the set though was the figure count and wall section that fitted perfectly with 6074 Black Falcon’s fortress.

The biggest set released in this wave was certainly the most exciting in my view. 6066 Camouflaged Outpost was the first Forestmen set we had seen. It contained six minifigures, a horse piece and a very playable structure. The first thing worth mentioning is the variation across the six figures - although all where primarily green, only two where identical. There was an all-green archer with knotted tunic printing and money belt, there where two with red arms but one had a green hat and the other, brown. There was one with black sleeves and then two with blue. These coloured-sleeved versions all had the same curved neckline print but on each, the print corresponded with the sleeve colour. The set itself was superb and was made up of black and grey pieces to form an almost tree-like tower at one end with a concealed cave entrance at the other. The entire set was covered in green foliage pieces to enhance the fact this hideout was camouflaged. This set was crammed full of play features; not only did the large concealed cave entrance open but also, the black boulder on the

“1987 DID PROVIDE SOME SPLENDID DIVERSITY AND SCOPE FOR GROWTH”

side rotated to reveal another secret entrance. Additionally, the entire structure was hinged so it could open up to access the hidden treasures: a chest full of precious yellow goblets. This, as you can tell, was a great childhood highlight of mine and not only did it capture my Robin Hood fantasies but also, delivered theme expansion and endless playability.

CONCLUSION

Despite only providing four new sets, 1987 did provide splendid diversity and scope for growth within the theme; certainly enough to give fans something to stay excited about. The addition of Forestmen into the range was my highlight and left me excited to see what the next year was going to bring. Little did I know the scale of what was to come...