MEDEIVAL: At long last Lego has returned to an amazing age. A medeival age.

This set is no doubt my favourite set I've owned. In this review, I will divide what is in the set into two main parts: the figures and the build itself.

minifigs: So, let's start with the Falcon Knights. This was a brilliant choice by lego, and I am very happy that they didn't just include two the overused lion or dragon knight factions in the set. Bringing back a very old and classic knight faction that has only been revised once before (lego kingdoms joust set) was a very good idea and the new armour pieces although on the bulky side, are still very neat. I also appreciate the use of the new sword from series 20. It is far more detailed than the normal sword and a bit longer too. It looks very similar too Gandalfs sword Glamdring. I do wish the shields had a blue rim though. In realistic thinking though, there shouldn't be a female knight.

The Smith himself is a very neat figure. Hi hair piece is very rare and I do not think it has come in that colour before. His hammer is the same piece that has been used for a long time. The beard piece in that colour isn't too special, but after all, it has too match the rare hair colour.

The Archer is clearly a representation of the forestmen theme. The torso is neat, but it doesn't quit do the forestmen justice in my opinion. Besides, it was already used in the Pirates of Barracuda Bay set. The hair piece is neat but they should've included a feather hat also.

The dog isn't too special, but I am glad they included it in the set. It gives it more character. Maybe it's the Smithy's husky dog who barks every time the intruding Falcon Knights show up, demanding the finest armour.

Perhaps one of my most favourite things in the whole set is the new colour of horse. I absoloutly love animals, and the inclusion of a new horse and carriage greatly improves the worth of the set.

The ground floor is of stone and is where the Smithy does his work. There are many neat features, including a grindstone, a light up furnace that literally glows when you push the bellows, a pile of coal, armour racks, and many accessories like two cooking pots, a broom, and a hatchet.

The outside is equally detailed. I like the inclusion of the pumpkin and what I take to be a squash at the backside of the ground floor, covered by the overhanging second floor. The tree at the front is obviously an apple tree, but it looks rather scrubby, as if it is in a cold environment. Beneath the tree is a well that has almost a magical look to it. Behind the tree and under the outside steps of the ground floor, is an arch where a pile of split logs awaits a roaring fire. The detailing of the whole structure is just amazing.

The first floor was probably my least favourite part to build, maybe because it has so many of the same bricks. But the finished look is rewarding. The doors to the ground and first floor are so well built that I think every mediaeval set to come (if there are any more and I certainly hope there are) should use the same design. The design of the table is simple but very neat, and the chairs are some of my favourite builds in the whole set. Vegetables for the Smithy and roast chicken for the stealthy archer!

The last few things I would like to mention are the roof and bear rug in the second floor or attic. The bear rug is another brilliant addition to the set, maybe being killed by the smithy's heroic dog for a warm skin during winter. The roof, although differing from the original design, is far neater and sturdier. It almost reminds me of scales or feathers. The wood framing on the roof is amazing and gives a very Nordic look to the Smithy's house.

There is one odd thing to mention in the set. Tucked away in a chest in the attic is an odd object for a mediaeval setting, suggesting that this rustic build is a bit more modern than it seems. A compass. Compasses didn't really begin to be used in Europe until the 1300s, making this structure 1400 A.D. or possibly more recent. Or there is another possabilaty, suggested at by the travel pack in the same chest. China began using compasses for military by 1000 A.D., so maybe this Smithy is more than he seems.

Finally, I would like to note is the probable location of this set:

A wolf or husky dog,

A Falcon or bird crest, which historically was used by many in northeastern Europe,

Gnarly apple tree, suggesting cold environment,

Nordic architecture,

All of this leads me to conclude that this is somewhere in Northern or North-eastern Europe, maybe southwest Russia. Or maybe it's supposed to be in Poland, or even Denmark, where lego was made! I think I am boring you with this history lesson!

so, overall this is the best set that has been released in 5 years!

When this set was announced my wife was really excited about getting it, I was not so bothered about it, as I like the modern modular buildings. But when it came out she sent for it, so we could add it to the growing collection.

The build in its self was very good, easily a one person's job, but could be built by two, with the second persons building all the extra bits, the wagon, the bed, chimney and such like.

The light up forge is a great touch with all the extra weapons and armour placed around looking as though it's being used, and looks great from a visual perspective.

The second floor has some great detail, with the cooking pot, and food arrangement. Here it's tricky to see the playability of it. For the size of the floor space it's very crowded, and the chairs only need a touch, and they detach, tricky to put back with sausage fingers, knocking other things off!!!

The top floor is better, and less cluttered, with better accessibility, with the roof detached.

Now, here I would have thought, it would be the killer of the build. The roof, it looks like a right pain. Now surprisingly it wasn't, it's well thought out and doesn't take as long as it's looks.

That's reserved for the tree!!! What a pain, like all trees that Lego create, repetitive building. But the effect looks good, with added elements, a well, apples and an archery target.

It's nice to see the return of the black falcon, and the added minifigs. The blacksmith has a nice touch with the added beard.

Would I recommend it to build as an adult, yes. Is it a kid's playable build, no, too fiddly, and crowded.

OK, first up, I have to admit that I'm not really a collector of medieval themed LEGO sets. I owned exactly one real castle-set, that being the classic 1986 Black Falcon's Fortress. But the Medieval Blacksmith caught my attention the moment it got on the voting page of Ideas. I followed its rise to 10,000 votes and now here we are. Ordered on Feb, 2nd delivered on the 5th, finished building yesterday.
Now this may seem odd for someone who has been collecting LEGO for nearly three decades, but this is my largest set as of today (by pieces) and also the most expensive one I ever bought. Luckily. I had some savings left, otherwise my wife would have killed me for this...
Here we go, on now to this glorious set!

Parts

Most parts to this set are rather small, but this is essential to creating all the lovely details that make it so impressive. To me, there were also a lot of all-new parts, such as the apples, the longswords, the armor, helmets, and some other stuff. Also, there were several parts in new color schemes, at least to me, that is. I'm not gonna go into detail, which, it were quite a lot!
Most of the parts are standard bricks or wall-bricks in different colors and sizes for the stairs and outer walls. Obviously, there are a lot of dark/light blue and black roof tiles, brown tiles for the half-timber and all sorts of leaves for the tree, the garden and decoration purposes. A welcome surprise was the printed parts (OK, all Ideas sets had these), so no stickers at all. Another nice addition is the electric light brick underneath the forge.

Minifigures

Along with the Smithy come four minifigures (six, if you count the animals). LEGO's strict political correctness ruined some of the medieval flair for me, since they had to include two male and two female figures. Now I'm all good with 50/50 male/female figures in LEGO sets. Most recent City sets are like that and it's great!! But this is a MEDIEVAL set and we have a female archer (ok) and a female knight (???), which, at least to me, seems a little odd. Why not make it a single knight and like, the daughter of the blacksmith? Would have been more realistic in my eyes.
The other two minifigures are a male knight and, of course, the smith himself. He was my first minifigure with a real full beard! Cool!
Additionally, we get a horse to pull the carriage and a husky-like dog to guard the house. The minifigures have a TON of gear, such as everything needed in a smithy, pans, buckets, pots and even a butter churn for the kitchen, swords, helmets, shields with the classic black falcon logo and much more!

The build

Well, of course I knew this would take a while. Especially, since my kids tend to distract me from the process. But it took me almost a day to finish the set. While the build itself is not that difficult, it's the amount of parts and the number of bricks that are added in one step, which could heighten the difficulty. Back in the 90's it was completely normal, that quite a bunch of pieces were added in one step, but in times of super-detailed, over-easy instruction booklets, I think this counts as difficult... The parts, which are added even have a yellow outline to identify them as the new ones! What took me the most time was adding all the small parts to create the nice details. My fingers are slowly losing their tactile sense due to diabetes, so fiddling around with tiny bricks in small spaces can be quite challenging.
The house is built from bottom up (what else?), starting with the blacksmith's shop, the garden, the tree and the small well. The tree can be a little annoying due to repetitive steps and one has to be careful not to apply too much pressure when attaching the leaves to the very thin holders. The internal structure of the tree is also quite interesting, I won't spoil any more.
The kitchen is also full of small details and an interesting use of known parts (e.g. axes as backrest for a chair...). If you're thorough, the build is once again not that difficult.
The sleeping chamber and the roof are build next, with the roof consisting of two separate parts (!), that can be removed individually. The build is functional and not too difficult, just be careful not to ruin the nice pattern of the blankets on the bed by mixing the 1x1 tiles up! The roof itself is once again a little repetitive and one has to focus to use the right color of tiles in the right spot.
After finishing the house, the small carriage is build, which is an easy and satisfying finish.

The completed model

Already during the build it is obvious, how highly detailed and realistic this medieval building is. The completed model has absolutely everything you would expect from it and more.
The smithy is accessible via a wooden door in the basement of the house. It is equipped with a glowing forge, two anvils (one on the outside for the final forging or repairs), a rotating grindstone, a good supply of coal, iron bars and poles, a table for finished goods and holders for a broom, shovel and hammer. It has windows to two sides, one of which can be opened. Outside the smithy are stairs to the main door with a stock of fire wood underneath. To one side of the house is a winding apple tree with a small well underneath, to the other is a small garden with pumpkins and herbs. The watchdog also has his place around here.
The first floor has another wooden door, leading to the kitchen. It has a dining table with two large chairs, a beer keg underneath the stairs, a stove, which is attached directly to the chimney above the forge, a kitchen table and lots of kitchen utensils and food. There are windows in three directions, which can all be opened and two torch holders next to one of them.
The second floor, which is accessible via the stairs, holds the sleeping chamber. The large bed has a nice greenish color pattern and an ornamental decoration. A large chest holds some additional gear and there is even a bearskin on the floor for additional style points. The other side of the room has a tiny scriptorium with an ink glass, feather and oil lamp. There is an open fireplace, which is also connected to the large chimney. There are three windows on this floor, two of which can be opened.
The roof consists of two segments which are loosely attached to the main building and supported by two large arches underneath the roof ridge. They are held in place by several wall-element-tiles.
The apple tree has several winding branches full of leaves and one apple each. A tiny frog rests on one of them and in the back of the tree is a target for practise shooting. The small well has one black-and-blue roof and a small bucket.
The carriage is towed by one horse and has space for two persons on the coach box. It has a small cargo space where weapons and goods can be stored and a shield and a lantern attached to the two sides respectively.

Overall opinion

I'm somewhat at a loss for words with this set...
It's SO detailed! It's SO nicely designed! It's SO realistic! It has Falcon Knights! It can even be used for playing, even though personally, the thought of kids playing with a set worth 150€ gives me all kinds of anxieties...
But this is one set mainly for display purposes. Or just to blow people's minds over how detailed and complex it is. The modular design is perfect for this building, since it creates a complete, realistic house - no doll-house or hinges to move a wall - and still allows you to investigate every single floor in all their details and awesomeness. I listed all the interesting components and features earlier, so I'm not gonna repeat them here. It's just: this set has it all: the realism, the fun and challenging build, the impressive looks, size, colors, huge variety of bricks, and... and... Yeah. Everything.
If there was anything to criticise, then maybe the female knight, as mentioned earlier, which subtracts a little from the medieval flair. Also, the front part of the roof, the one with the chimney, can be a little difficult to de- and reattach.
But that's bits and pieces and in no way can diminish the pure awesomeness (understatement here!) of this standout set! As mentioned, the price of 150€ is quite something, but, regarding the number of pieces and the overall WOWness, it is still OK, I think.
This one here is an absolute MUST HAVE for every fan of medieval LEGO and for all folks who just love the architecture of the Middle Ages. And that's me and now I have it and I simply can't stop marvelling at it and being all woooooweeeeee..... and....YES! and... well, you know the deal.

I was looking forward to this set since I began my second adult age lego phase almost two months ago. I'm not normally enough into the lego news or community to even be aware of sets before they release, but somehow I caught a glimpse of this somewhere. At first I was moderately psyched, but as I observed it a bit more my excitement built up quite a bit.

While lego pirates was a small part of my early childhood, the fad was dying down as I became old enough to get large-ish (for the time) sets. Castles and the Medieval setting was present for the largest chunk of my formative years (And LOTR, for tail end millennials like myself). So while I did love the lego ideas set "Pirates of Barracuda Bay" a lot, seeing this on the horizon really got my amped.

So, despite a poorly timed blizzard, I made it to the store the day after release and got the second to last set. The value is great, easily worth the 150$ for any lego fan. Anticipating the release of a lego set was a novel experience for me and, I must say, everything was perfect.

The packaging really helped sell the anticipation too. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I LOVE the new 18+ packaging. It took Lego long enough to begin catering to primarily adult fans with certain sets. Ideally I would want them to begin releasing sets without such kid-safe thematic content, maybe less shying away from anything remotely PG-13/R, but I gdt it. That'll take time to establish a significant adult portion of the market in the long term. The 18+ sets and their packaging are great signs of things to come.

But onto the important part, the actual product. This is on the smaller side for builds I buy, I usually stick with 2k+, but the value and efficiency with their piece count was perfect here. The shop isn't immense but it's as dense as we could ask for. The build was consistently engaging and already seems like it'll have a place in the pantheon of "top 5" or at least "top 10" builds I've done...and I have been lucky enough to have stumble onto some amazing sets.

The three floors all feel detailed, the furnace and inner workings of the blacksmith's profession all feel unique to build and the light brick is a small but welcome addition. While no lego builds are challenging (I mean...they have instructions), the tree felt pretty finicky to get right. That's mostly due to the high volume of leaf pieces and branches jutting out. It wasn't any issue, but that many leaves can take a minute to get positioned so everything stays.

The second floor is an eating area. Interior-wise it felt like many other top tier buildings, which is really all we can ask for. The top floor is a bedroom with a very interesting if slightly odd looking bear rug. I'm very glad they tried something unique like that. It's presence and unique build more than make up for any oddness...which I would go as far as to say that the odd look adds to the build's charm. It in no way detracts from the experience.

The roof felt truly unique to build and may be one of the most significant factors in the build's external beauty. It SHOULD have felt tedious with so many similar tiles, but I didn't feel that way even for a moment. It fits on in a unique way, at least I haven't had a build use the same techniques. It sits firmly without issue but also feels easy to remove for interior access.

When it all comes together, this may very well be the single best LOOKING lego set I have ever seen. The amazing aesthetic is what originally drew me to the set but pictures don't do it justice. The contrast is just enough to make the set pop but not enough to ruin the whole aesthetic with a cartoony look. The only reason I am not unequivocally saying that this "IS" the best looking set is to compensate for recency bias. I truly don't think that's a major factor, though. It looks perfect.

The minifigures are mostly awesome. Four isn't a ton but the overal quality is more than enough to compensate. Four doesn't feel like we got shafted either, it's at the lower end of respectable for a set like this.

The blacksmith himself is great, he has the whole look down. The beard and hair seem unique and his two faces cover a majority of what I'd imagine a blacksmith needs to emote, "Affable, jolly fellow" and then "face contorted from unreasonable exertion in less reasonable temperatures". His wife or whoever she is seems to be the most forgettable. Not bad by any means, she seems to be a cool archer and has an interesting winking face...just not quite on the level of the other three.

The knights are one of the highlights. An older man and a middle-aged woman both have cool hair and helmets. Their cart seems both modern lego and yet harkens back to old lego castle days, especially with the horse. The female is equipped with an interesting halberd which, while bulky, can easily be stored in the cart. The male knight has a typical sword and shield but more than makes up for the standard weaponry by having the best piece I have seen in lego. It's got a great asymmetrical look and gives him a single stud on his back. I just added one of those 1×1 "dot" pieces to his back, (not into the lego community enough to know piece names nor am I particularly concerned with technicalities) it's the type with a small hole. It allowed for him to have his shield slung across his back so he doesn't always look ready to throw down against the under matched blacksmith and his wife. The shield fits in without that piece but not as snuggly and it looks a bit odd. These two knights were really amazing minifigure additions, and may be my favorites in recent memory.

If you even have a passing interest in lego castle, whether from nostalgia or just an interest in all things Medieval, this is absolutely not a set to consider or wait on. Maybe its a projection of my personal feelings towards the set, but I can easily imagine this being an "always out of stock" set (If i miss assembly square I will sue someone, not sure who or for what exactly but that feels like the most reasonable reaction). Arguably the best looking lego set, an amazing build and value head and shoulders above the lego norm, I would get this ASAP if you're even slightly interested. As much as I loved Pirates of Barracuda Bay, this one has got it and every other recent set beat, to me at least.

This is my favourite set of the year because I'm only interested in medieval builds and castles. However, I consider this set has a lot of issues. I'm really frustrated about many things, and I've immediately made a lot of changes before setting this set up for display.

I'll share the changes along the way.

Minifigures:

What is the purpose of the female archer minifigure? She adds some play value only if you have the imagination to use her for something. Because her role is not obvious for me. That being said, It's a really nice minifigure, although I would have preferred a new exclusive torso print.

The forge has a tongue that can be seen above the beard. Better use the other face.

The Falcon knights have the best torso & legs prints ever made. However the armour parts on their shoulders make them look like ninjago knights. Why these ugly parts ?

On top of that, one of them is a female warrior. They ruined the nostalgia. Please let us be man soldiers.

Here are some changes I have made. The female minifigure with the green torso is the one who rides on the chariot. She is the one who brings the weapons to the forestmen in the castle in the Forest. The 2 knights come along to find out if the forge is making weapons for the forestmen.

Of course I've changed the female face of one of the falcon knights with another one from my collection and I changed the weapons.

Weapons :

There are a lot of weapons included but I just can't get used to the big sword. This really shocked me when I saw the first images of this set. The 2 swords in the barrel are as big as the door next to it. The proportions really don't work for me. Unfortunaletly there are no smaller swords included. I replaced all the swords in this set.

Vegetation :

There is a little too much sand green in my opinion, but I'll agree with the choice because of the designer Namirob who chose the same colour. But the vegetation is too much in the "lime" color. Just normal green or bright green looks so much better. The lime colour is good for the tree, but I don't think it looks nice with the sand green as it is used.

Some green colours look good together. In my opinion these 2 don't. I've replaced the parts 32607 & 24866 in lime by similar parts in green & bright green.

The chariot :

The proportions of the chariot are not good in my opinion. It looks almost a square and the use of two 1x2x2 panels at the back is a really really bad choice. I've made the chariot 2 studs longer and I used a 4x4plate with 2 clips at the back to enable access from the back.

Animals :

The original idea had a goat in it. It also had a rabbit. They replaced it with a dog. One of the many reasons I voted for this idea is that I want this goat. Lego missed the opportunity to do something great here.

The rabbit could easily be included, instead they gave us a husky dog that doesn't really seem to fit in this medieval set.

Roof :

The use of shield tiles was a great Idea for the roof. I like the different colours. Again there is a lot of sand green, It seems a bit too much to have 4 colors, I might change the blue ones for dark blue someday. But I'm getting used to it as it is.

I've made one modification for the small roof above the front window. The 2 shield tiles on both sides can be placed 1 stud lower. Just add a 1x4 tile above them. I also added a 1x2 jumper plate underneath the shield tiles placed at the front (to hide the hinge bricks).

I really like that the main parts of the roof have 2 angles. The technic for supporting the roof without a connection is very well-designed.

The well.

I'm disgusted by the lime colour on the well and the roof of the well that isn't even finished properly at the back. I've completely replaced this build.

The chimney.

The chimney is too low. Way too low ! You can image the smoke immediately comes back in the house though the window next to it. I've made the cheney 2 bricks higher. I might even add a 3rd brick. This also was one of my first bad impressions of this set.

The bear carpet.

Many people seem to like this addition on the 2nd floor. For me it's just something to add more small parts as they frequently do. It feels too much creator 1in3 - like. It's ok for the skull on the sails of the pirate 31109 set but i my opinion it doesn't harmonise with the aesthetic of an 18+ set.

The chairs.

Chairs made in 3x3 studs are just to big in my opinion. Compared to human scales minifigures by themself are already very large with a width of 2 studs. The design might be original, I'm really dissappointed. This size just doesn't work for a minifigure. I'm not playing belleville. I replaced those chairs.

Something positive.

The ground floor is extremely well done. I love everything in the interior, all the accessories and how the light brick is integrated.

The stairs outside are 5 studs wide. I always love it when it's uneven.

The wooden frame of the building is very nice. It's a big building with no big flat surfaces. On every side of the building is something special.

The best technique is how the 4x4 macaroni tile is attached to the small roof above the fireplace. I'm amazed by that building technique because I don't understand the math behind it. Is it really exact, or does it fit approximatively ?

The ground level has mixture of dark tan, olive green & medium nougat filled with a lot of tiles and detail. Maybe a little to much square 2x2 tiles in dark tan but overall it works very well.

The tree has a very unusual technique, if you don't take a too close look it really works. I love the red appels for contrast.

Overall, I'm very happy with this set. I was getting so worried about have no mediaeval set for so many years. Even the horses seemed to be out of production.

This set finally satisfied many AFOLs like my.

Next step would be a huge 18+ castle. (because that little creator castle set we got this year, I could write a book about it ;)