What a spectacular tribute to being a child in 1980's! Although in 80's sets were a lot smaller by brick number, they were very impatiently waited and enthusiastically welcomed! But none had so much details; now it seems, after the realise of this set, that all previous sets were made to save the money for Lego and to be built as easier and faster they could be... But this set with 4.500+ pieces: the pure joy is to build it as slowly as you can with, maybe, a beer and I recommend in company of fellow Lego veteran because it is made of two major and completely separated sectors!

Another joy emerges because there's so much details that are to be almost completely hidden after the build is done.

This is my first and only set I bought after more than 30 years:1990's 6081: King's Mountain Fortress which now looks very simple and with its 10x less parts more like Playmobil set and very far from this marvellous new fortress! It has it all: numerous figures of different kind, a lot of hidden secrets during build and a great looks to have it on the shelf just to remind you of nondigital lego childhood we had.

A 400€ novelty item purchase is not something that I can do regularly, so I feel privileged to have been able to save up and get this set. But there are already many fantastic reviews that look at this build in great detail, so I won't do that here. Instead, I will take a bit more of a practical view, an owners experience. I wanted this set when I saw it, but would it be a good idea to actually get it? I particularly struggled with a couple of key questions.

- Do I have space for it? Official dimensions for the closed castle are available. But what about the different configurations possible with the hinged sections of the build? And are those measurements actually accurate?

- Will it be worth it? After all, the same sort of money could for example buy (almost) two Modular Buildings. And those are always absolutely great builds, let alone two of them!

After a lot of holding back on other purchases for quite some time, I couldn't hold myself any more. I placed the order quickly while just browsing around, before I had time to change my mind again. I told myself it will be worth it, and that I will find a way to make it fit in my home.

Display Size

With both hinged sections folded in, about 50cm of width is required. The 44.5cm indicated on the box does not seem to include the foliage of the big tree, which is actually true to how it's drawn. Fully closed up like this, I'd say it's 34cm deep.

With both sides unfolded, it's just over 70cm wide! But realistically you need at least 75cm to display it that way. At least. In this configuration, it's 31.5cm deep. But apart from the entrance ramp, most of the build will sit fairly far back, and especially the left side will have a lot of empty space in front.

With only the left side folded out (the one with the white house) it's 64cm wide and 33.5cm deep.

With only the right side unfolded it's 55cm wide and 32cm deep.

The shelf I'm displaying this set in is 35cm deep and that works, but ideally I would have preferred a couple more centimetres of breathing space to make it feel a little less cramped, in all configurations. The set definitely looks better with some extra space around it. It can also visually fit much better in your particular setting if you have the space to play around with the hinged flanks a bit more, or angle the entire castle slightly, which requires even more depth. In short, it probably displays better on a table than in a shelf, if you have that option. After all, it's beautiful all the way around.

The 38cm height is also correctly shown on the box, measured to the top of the tallest flagpole. The castle walls are 30cm at the tallest section. And if you switch the flags around, which is easy to do, you could squeeze this build into a space with just 35cm of height.

The full build will not fit in most regular bookshelves, a commonly used IKEA "Billy" for example only has 26cm of usable depth. However, at the front of the castle the entrance ramp can be detached, and thereby save about 7cm of depth. If you choose to turn the entire build around and display the open interior back side, that could be a viable option.

Value

So, is it worth the big expense? For reference, I currently have the Assembly Square and Boutique Hotel side by side on the shelf below. Impressively, the Lion Knights' Castle's presence isn't too far off from that combination. With Assembly Square being one and a half baseplate, two regular modulars might actually be a fair comparison. Recent modulars have around 3000 pieces each though, making it 6000 for two, so on that count you get a little less with the Castle's 4500. Then again, the Castle is only almost as expensive as two modulars. But it also comes with 22 minifigs, which is about twice as many as you'd get on average from two modulars. Then there are horses and a cow too!

The interior of the Castle is impressive with many nice and fun details. But I feel that there's more in the Modular Buildings. Maybe it's because of the way the modulars separate floor by floor? As opposed to the swing-open style of the Castle, which results in quite shallow half-rooms. You only really get to see the full interior spaces as you are building them, sadly.

About the title*, I just found it funny that out of the 4514 pieces in this set, about half are in the Medium Stone Grey colour, and not a single one of them is a regular 1x2 brick! There are however a whopping 281 textured 1x2's, used whenever a gap of that size needed to be filled. Even in unseen places. I also noticed many occasions where two 1x4's were used instead of a 1x8. It felt strange early in the build, but I soon realised how important this is for the final look of the model. I'm absolutely certain that it's not just done to push up the parts count, but for the subtle texture it results in. Grey walls would simply have looked too smooth and boring if built with fewer and larger pieces. Great attention to detail in a top tier set.

Less than top tier though, are clearly visible injection mould gate marks on many (especially smaller) pieces. I don't think this is specific to this set, but to LEGO in general of late. However, it feels worse to see it in an expensive product like this. I will point out that it wasn't as bad for me as I have seen others post pictures of. But still bad enough that I, for example, felt a need to check the 1x1 Bow pieces lining the top of the walls and make sure their ugly side didn't face outward. That, frankly, feels more like cheap knock-off than LEGO exclusivity.

Conclusion

The Lion Knights' Castle was an absolute joy to assemble. It brought back some good old memories, most of it is simply therapeutic stacking of bricks and plates, but with some interesting and complex angles thrown in. No stickers. And the only repetitive or tedious bit I found being the top of the main towers, everything else is constantly varied to keep your mind and fingers busy. Not to mention the tongue-in-cheek style of details, as well as notes imbedded throughout the instruction manuals. Many smiles guaranteed! I will add though, that after the first half of the build (left side), the other half felt surprisingly grim and dark, in comparison.

I think that if you are particularly interested in medieval themes, the Lion Knights' Castle is easily worth it's hefty price. It will blow you away. If you are not a castle fan then you are probably better off buying, perhaps, two Modular Buildings. It comes down to personal preference. I wanted to have more variety in my collection, a reminder that you can build anything, and some childhood nostalgia of having sets from all sorts of themes. I got exactly that, and a great display piece!

The Lion Knights' Castle delivers - a medieval set of great proportions that might just make you consider some new furniture.

Preface: I am a middle school teacher by profession, and the sole income for my household (wife and three kids, with our fourth due to be born any day now). I am by no means wealthy. As soon as the announcement was made for this set, I decided I would move heaven and earth to get my hands on it.

I had saved up enough VIP points to take $20 off, and I received some birthday money from relatives that helped to further offset the cost. I ended up paying about $270 out of pocket. While I felt some guilt about indulging in something that was a bit fiscally irresponsible, my wife was very supportive and understanding of my excitement.

I stayed up late to put in my order the night it released to VIPs, and after I clicked Checkout, I had mixed emotions of immense anticipation and that nagging guilt. But the deed was done. I had crossed the Rubicon.

The Box: When the package arrived and I opened it, I was immediately hit with a wave of nostalgia. All the financial concerns were swept away as my eyes soaked in a very familiar background encompassing the image of a set that was at once both the embodiment of my childhood and so much more.

The Instructions: The first of two instruction manuals shares some cool information about the development of the set and its sources of information. I actually gathered my family around and read these blurbs aloud to them. It felt too special to pass them by.

Periodically throughout the instructions Majisto the wizard chimes in to comment on the progress of the build or the parts usage. These are occasionally funny, and sometimes even offer some foreshadowing. I enjoyed that addition to the manual.

The Build: I personally believe that when you purchase a LEGO set, you're not just paying for the parts or the finished product, but the experience of building it. This is particularly true of advanced models. In my household, we almost always build new LEGO sets together, regardless of who bought it or received it. My wife, kids and I took turns building, and we frequently marvelled at the techniques employed in its design. It is absolutely brilliant engineering. Mike and Milan are now legends in my book. Even something as ordinary as a wall is full of character. There are very few repetitive sections. It is almost completely asymmetrical, and I never felt like any portion of the build was tedious. The functional elements, such as the portcullis, drawbridge, waterwheel / mill and secret doors are thrilling to watch come together. The static elements are no less captivating, and certainly beautiful.

The Parts: Unlike many of the predecessors that inspired its creation, the Lion Knights' Castle doesn't have many large parts. No massive raised baseplate, no BURPs, hardly any tall wall segments. The glorious edifice is an honest-to-goodness brick-built castle.

There are so many uncommon or new parts that you'll find in abundance, such as:

• Inverted 1x3 tiles
• 1/2 half circle bricks
• 1x1 studs-on-the-side plates with two studs vertically
• 2x3 plates with cutout
• 1x1x.66 plates...so much nicer than stacking normal 1x1s

I could keep going, but suffice it to say that if you ever chose to deconstruct this masterpiece for your own MOC purposes, you would have an incredible array of useful and versatile parts.

The Minifigures & Animals: There are so many, and they are so good. I can't get over how much I love the polished re-envisioning of the classic Lion and Falcon tabards. And despite the matching uniforms on many of the knights, no two are exactly alike. Every face is different, and there are several different helmets used. I am thrilled that they included some civilians and children, and the Forestmen family is just the best.

The animals are as varied as the people. A cow, two horses with different and uncommon coats, an adorable little lamb, a bird, a frog and a "frog" (no spoilers). The variety of colours is refreshing. My only lament, as others have mentioned, is the omission of a goat. You've got to think they'd see our complaints and cave at some point!

Overall Opinion: There's no arguing that this is an incredibly expensive set. And LEGO perhaps has started making too many massive, high-end sets for much of its market. I would love for a more moderate return of Classic Castle that would accommodate the limits of my wallet better.

But with all that said, the Lion Knights' Castle is worth every penny of that steep price tag. It's amazing as either a display model or a play set. My kids and I have been playing with it all morning since we finished building it. And like I said, you're paying for an experience as much as the plastic. The time spent putting it together is nothing short of sheer joy.

If you, like me, love Classic Castle, want an engaging build with little repetition and packed with interesting techniques and cool parts usage, and want to bask in the realised potential of LEGO bricks, this set is an absolute must. Do what you can to get it. Sell something on Ebay. Donate plasma. Pick up an extra shift for a week.

I have occasionally passed on sets that I really wanted because I didn't feel like I could justify it financially, and I still have regrets...(cough cough Medieval Market Village, Kingdoms Joust cough). But I will have no regrets this time. No regrets.