I'd never heard of this set, and my eyes popped when I recently discovered it. It had the immediate appeal of the wonderful half-timbered bookshop from the old Town Square set, with improbable colour (not least of the roof), which somehow fitted my idealized classic castle aesthetic. A bright blue roof somehow complements a yellow Castle.

I found a set, and cannot stress how much I enjoyed the build. The interior gives the impression of a complete living and working space, with workshop, living, and sleeping quarters packed into a building footprint appropriate to minifigure scale.

The logic of the building works in an appealing way, too: both the staircase and the fire and chimney make sense. And the fact that it opens via hinges also places it firmly alongside the yellow Castle in feel.

A new Ideas blacksmith shop is due out soon. It's a fabulous model, but it belongs firmly in the more realistic, less idealized MOCking camp. While I love it, It just doesn't have the naive charm of classic castle.

For a theme which has so little non-grey architecture, this is an absolutely essential item for classic castle fans. Highly recommended.

Read my other reviews:

WEETABIX1 · 375 · 383 · 677 · 3739 · 6035 · 6040 · 6041 · 6061 · 6062 · 6067 · 6918 · 7189 · 10193 · 10223 · 21325 · 21343 · 31109 · 31120 · 31132 · 70413 · 71002 · 71008 · 76208

Overall 5 bricks : a wonderful set, certainly in perspective of the time it was brought out. As mentioned before, put together with The Guarded Inn, the predecessors of The Medieval Market Village. Looking at it, 10 years old now, you wonder "why didn't I think of this?" Compared with the wonderful MOC's you see, this looks a very simple set but that is probably the strength of it. The best part of the set is in my view the detailed interior and the good color setting.

Building 5 bricks : Opposite to the theme before this set, Knight's Kingdom I with a lot of big wall parts, Daniel used only oldfashioned small bricks which is great building. You build 2 opposite sites of the house connected with hinges. The base is the Blacksmiths workshop with a stairway to the first floor. There you find a bedroom and on the other side a living room with a table, chair and a wine barrel. The second floor is a small loft where he hides the treasure box. Back of the house has a chimney for both the fireplace in the workshop and the living space. A great detail is the use of the pillars to stud the ceilings.

Parts 4 bricks : No outstanding parts, but that's logical considering it is a MOC made of parts collected from older sets. Proof of that is for example the use of windows coming from different periods : the small old style red windows and the newer round ones and the windows with shutters. Overall all nice parts usefull for other Castle MOC's and 2 very nice mini figures, especially the Maiden.

Playability 3 bricks : a great set but not much playing possibilities. As my 6 year old son stated : "Looks nice but it has no soldiers". More a collectors item or a set for a good looking Castle scenery.

Value 4 bricks : if you were lucky enough to have bought it in the shop when still available it's worth 5 bricks. Even used without box and instructions the price is almost €100,00 because it's hard to find, MISB price some €200,00. The advantage is that the set will probably raise in value, but it still is a lot of money.

This set, along with the other two Castle Legend sets (10000 & 10039) released at the same time, is responsible for bringing me out of my dark ages. When I saw the level of detail, the piece count and the cool figs all for the very reasonable price I HAD to buy it. The special three pack with the Legends Guarded Inn and Black Falcon's Fortress was a great buy and looking back I am very glad I did.

The design, colors, parts selection and overall look of the set are very appealing. If I had been slightly younger I am sure the play value would have been very high, and as it stands today the interior detail is enough for me to keep one of my two copies assembled.

I know for a fact this set inspired many multiple castle villages and buildings. For me it re-sparked my interest in castle and LEGO. Thanks to Dan Siskind and LEGO for this fantastic set!

When the set came out in 2002 it totally hit me and I had to get one. As a longtime "Castle" theme fan I always wanted to build a lattice house but never had enough bricks. This set shows an excellent lattice construction paired with a beutiful roof and very need indoor finish making it a real collector's item.

It shows what one can build with standard colors & standard bricks. Of course a house of that size could be done with the half of the parts needed in a third of the time.
But it never could be anymore lovely - once you finished it, you would like to stay there in this fairytale-land ;-)