This was an interesting year for castle. I was coming out of my dark ages and bought the 2 cheapest of the 4 sets that year. Had I realized the hullabaloo about Lego animals I’d have bought 7189.

With a slimmer carriage and a single, better designed tree, this set could have been more economical.

I'm pretty sad I sold my smaller Kingdoms sets. Now I keep getting outbid by people that no doubt have the same sets 20 times already but want to army build and just have less problems with spending so much on stuff like the 7949 Kingdoms prison carriage so small it can only hold one prisoner sitting sideways. All because of the figs and horse. And don't get me started on the aftermarket of set 7187, which used to be 20 euro but now is 6-7 times that...

That said, I briefly had this set, but only the carriage and king with corresponding booklet. I quickly sold it, as I have no interest in half-completed sets and with the Dragon knights missing it would hav been too much of a hassle to complete it.

IMHO the Kingdoms sets were often not very fun in their design. Not a great balance in big and small parts. And, as evident in this set, sometimes there was a lack of both features and looks. It also doesn't help that we've had the breath of fresh air that was Fantasy Era castle before it.

That said... I miss original themes like this giving you a choice between many themes each year.

@PurpleDave said: " @Zordboy: Mirkwood was elves and spiders."

I see a random fish (?), but they've got the spiders taken care of.

Now this is what I call a king!

Surprised that crown mold was still around in 2011

I misread this at first as 'King's Carnage Ambush'. Now that's a set that sounds exciting!

@Zordboy said:
"I see a random fish (?), but they've got the spiders taken care of. "

Novel carp usage

@B_Space_Man said:
"This was an interesting year for castle. I was coming out of my dark ages and bought the 2 cheapest of the 4 sets that year. Had I realized the hullabaloo about Lego animals I’d have bought 7189. "

I wouldn’t beat yourself up too much - I could never face spending the £70 on 7189 whenever I saw it and as much as I’d love the goats I thought the windmill underwhelming. I’d love a decent ideas windmill though.

@Jackthenipper said:
"
I thought the windmill underwhelming."

I like sets as designed by Lego, but that windmill is my one minor MOC - an extra storey and a little crag under it. Absurdly short without it. Now absurdly wobbly, of course...

This was another great Kingdoms set, I went in hard with this line after coming out of my Dark Age.

@mediAFOL said:
" @Jackthenipper said:
"
I thought the windmill underwhelming."

I like sets as designed by Lego, but that windmill is my one minor MOC - an extra storey and a little crag under it. Absurdly short without it. Now absurdly wobbly, of course...

"
Sounds like a good mod - beyond the size I could never quite get past the sails on it and the barn was a bit simple especially compared with the splendour of the market village which I had been spoilt by. £10 less and I’d have been seriously tempted!

I recall that I considered this one of the most overpriced sets of its line. 7187 was much better. I still got this one, at a discount; I didn't have the king yet and figs and trees are always welcome.

I never got this set, but I do have the king minifig. He'll be displayed on my 90th anniversary lion nights castle once built. I got to get a display case for that one!

@Binnekamp:
Bricklink has a Used copy, only missing the spare parts, in the Netherlands, for €54. That’s less than 50% over MSRP, but I don’t know what people are bidding on eBay.

@Zordboy:
Eh, they’re small enough they’d probably get impressively airborne if you kicked them. I’m talking about the kind where you’re more likely to break a toe.

@Sandinista:
From 1995-2013, they only skipped years 1996, 1999, and 2001 in chrome. Then in 2013, it looks like they switched to drum-lacquered for two years before retiring it. The crazy thing is they made a non-chromed mold that they just used twice, for the troll king in 2009, and the LotR ghost army in 2013. I’m not sure if drum-lacquered needed a third mold, or if it would have used the same mold as chrome parts.

@LordDunsany said:
"I liked the look of this carriage (pulled by more than 1 horse!) despite its openness but always felt that it should have more guards like in 6044. I also disliked how none of the Dragon soldiers came with a shield!"

they always had too few shields in castle sets. there doesn't seem to be any reason why, just manufactured scarcity?

I remember getting it for £30 off bricklink. Seems a bit cheeky now but I made an offer, and at the time castle stuff wasn't such a hot property. I added another two horses to mine and it feels more balanced, but the actual carriage build is still quite fragile. Could have done with some reins as mentioned by others.

@ahughwilliams:
Not every combatant would have used a shield back then. Certainly archers and crossbowmen wouldn’t have had a free hand, but neither would anyone wielding a large two-handed weapon like the halberd (6123). Minifigs can’t really pull it off, but a two-handed sword (keeping in mind how many minifig swords are as long as a minifig is tall) presents a similar issue. As a kid (before 6123 existed), I had a tendency to slap a shield in the hand of any soldier who wasn’t armed with a bow or crossbow, but I probably handed out far too many swords for the era as well.

Of course, one possible explanation is that shields were often made of wood, and tended not to last as long as whatever weapon they were paired with. Maybe they just threw the scraps on the fire?

@Rimefang said:
"... we need a Castle Town theme more than another conflict theme."

YES! 1,000x YES!