#lego forestmen

[thebrickdwarf]

Brighter times ahead

[konschmidt]

Under the blueberry branches

[bluenpinkcastle]

20240302: the History of LEGO Castle day 062. From 1984-1993, the LEGO Group produced 56 (47 unique sets, 3 sets with a different set number but actually the same, 4 minifigure boxes, one set a non-separated part of a combo set, and one service pack) sets in several different subthemes, including the Black Falcons, Black Knights, Crusaders, Forestmen, Lion Knights, and Wolfpack. While many of modern catalogues have combined the Crusaders and the Lion Knights, some have left them separate for the sake of authenticity. I decided to include the original catalogues and this was definitely a nostalgic trip down memory lane. The main designers for the LEGOLAND and LEGO System Castle sets were Daniel August Krentz, Niels Milan Pedersen, and Steen Sig Andersen.

[androidfiles]

Random Set of a Day: 6103

6103 Castle Minifigures

I didn't own this set until deep in my adult years and I only recently made sure to verify I have all the parts and assemble them together, but 6103 Castle Minifigures lurks deep in my LEGO memories. My best friend growing up only had a couple LEGO sets--and this was the one he had that I didn't. Together with mostly forgotten memories of a since-lost 1992 catalogue from one of my earliest sets, it was the main source of knowledge for the existence of Forestmen, and it was a window on a dimly-known era of Lions and Black Falcons (though that was augmented by owning 6081 King's Mountain Fortress and seeing 6057 Sea Serpent and 6059 Knight's Stronghold in the 1993 catalogue I didn't lose).

As such, this set had a tactile importance to my memory in the pre-Internet era that made both the 1996 Dark Forest sets and the 2001-2002 Legends releases extra-exciting. With this trio of factions in one set, this is--in a very specific sense--the forerunner of Lion Knights' Castle.

My copy of the set was not all received at once, but was assembled from a few different sources, but most of five figs came in one go: a used lot that also included a nearly-complete 6066 Camouflaged Outpost.

Year Released: 1988 I Acquired: December 6th, 2017 Origin of Fig(s): No named characters (contains 2 Black Falcons, 2 Forestmen, 1 Lion soldier, 1 peasant)

Parts Score: 3.5 out of 5 (factoring in its purpose as a fig battle pack--there isn't a single "building" piece in the set) Playability Score: 3 out of 5 (some great fig diversity, but no locations or vehicles) Minifigure Score: 4.5 out of 5 Design Score: 3 out of 5 Personal Favouritism Score: 4.5 out of 5

Android Files Notes: There's definitely potential to see each of these guys now that we've hit the Castle realms, but insofar I never owned the set in childhood, none of these smiley-faced figs has a "character" likely to make them prominent. There's an argument to be made that the all-green Forestman was meant to be Robin Hood himself (i.e. the leader of the Forestmen), but even if we give that credence, I have the same fig with Camouflaged Outpost--where he has a horse--so there's no guarantee this one need appear.

[jbarchietto]

My entry to #bc_tipfest photo contest on @brickcentral :

The Medieval Band

For my 2nd entry, I used other tips, just to vary a bit :)

- Build an environment: I'm more used to shooting outdoors in natural settings, especially at this time of year. But I tried to change my habits by creating a 100% lego environment. As the main subject is a group of minstrels, the setting had to be medieval. I based the set on the forge. I used natural light to illuminate my scene, but with a large gold reflector to give it a warm ambience. I added tree branches (bonsai) to create a frame around the group and create a "cosy" atmosphere :)

- Use props and add details: brick-build scenes are already detailed, but adding props reinforces the impression. In this case, I wanted to create a group of minstrels, so I equipped them with medieval clothes and instruments that existed at the time, to be credible. I could have chosen anachronistic instruments to make a gag, but that wasn't my intention or the emotion I wanted to convey.

- Pose your subjects : I hesitated for a long time over the choice of faces, but I finally found those that corresponded well to the joyful mood of the minstrels while being compatible with singing and playing musical instruments.

I hope this photo speaks to you in the same way I imagined it :)

[lady-halibuts-chambers]

I still have such a deep affection for the lego Forestmen sets.

[bricksxbooks]

I support this product idea on LEGO Ideas, and you should, too!

[heyheyitsjae]

I got the LEGO Lion Knights Castle

So recently I managed to get my hands on this new LEGO Castle set, and they did this cool thing with it where they put little messages from Majisto (the original LEGO Wizard from the 90’s) up in the corner at different parts of the build. But a few of these messages are a tad odd or interesting and I want to highlight them

A) First and definitely weirdest. So normally LEGO pieces are either 1 plate tall (a plate) or 3 plates tall (a brick.) A couple years ago they released this piece I like to call the “Minecraft candle” that’s only 1x1 studs wide, but is 2 plates tall.

The odd thing is that Majisto makes comments along the lines of “hey check out this weird piece” twice in the manual. The first time makes perfect sense because it’s the first time you use one (I think) in the entire build and it is a really weird part. The second time though is like halfway through the second manual, so like 3⁄4 's through the entire build and after you’ve put down like 100 of the damn things. It’s extra odd ‘cause sometimes these messages are like 30 steps apart, sometimes like 5, so they didn’t have to include a message there at all. If they were out of material it’d be fine to leave it blank. 

B) A while back there was this mobile app called LEGO Legacy: Heroes Unboxed. In it it was implied that Majisto used to date Willa the Witch (and also Basil the Batlord but that’s beside the point.) According to this set, however, Majisto is actually Willa’s cousin. It was the medieval era I suppose…

C) One of the characters they had in the retro lineups was The Black Knight. He started off as a member of the Black Falcons before splintering off to start his own faction known as the Black Knights. While the Black Falcons and Crusaders/Lion Knights had a bit of a back and forth rivalry, and you were supposed to root for the Crusaders, but neither was really marked as outright good or evil and they had peaceful interactions from time to time. The Black Knights however were consistently antagonized by the story, and always depicted as enemies of the Falcons, Crusaders, and Forestmen. 

We got some new lore in this manual. Apparently the Black Knight was driven to madness and greed after looking at a magical shard of amber now sealed in the Lion Knight’s dungeon. While the manual never explicitly states this I’m assuming the Falcons and Crusaders went to war over the Black Knight wanting the amber, and when the Black Knight left the Falcons and the Crusader King was replaced by the Lady of the Lion Knights peace came to the two factions. 

D) At one point Majisto describes a gear as “what sorcery is this” and I’m like “dude, you’re literally a magic wizard how is this weird for you.” I don’t think LEGO was including gear pieces in those old Castle sets so it’s probably a meta joke, but I’m like 90% sure knights IRL had gears in siege machines and portcullis mechanics and shit. Majisto makes a similar comment about a wall attached with hinge pieces (again probably a meta joke about LEGO being less boxy then it used to but in-universe it would just be a simple diagonal wall.) and another wall that grows and bends when you open the castle up (and… fair enough for that one.) 

E) The brown frog piece underneath the toilet trough is canonically not a pile of shit, it is a frog who has been shat on. 

F) Majisto has to poop standing up because his minifig has a dress piece and those can’t bend to sit down. 

G) At one point Majisto brags about being able to drop stones off the castle wall if the “dragon army” ever attack, which is weird because he’s the leader of the Dragon Knights!? TBF retroactively, in other LEGO media, Majisto has kinda become a Gandalf type, wandering from kingdom to kingdom helping where he can, so maybe he’s not considered their leader anymore and Burnabus took over/was always in charge in-universe. Also there are like three different groups of Dragon Knights, Majisto’s neutral Dragon Masters and then the evil Green Dragons and Red Dragons so maybe he’s talking about one of the latter two? Also also, if Ninjago is any indication, Dragons are a sentient race in the LEGO world so maybe some of them have militarized? 

[musical-chan]

Silly Game Time: What was one of your favorite games as a kid? Could be a video game, a board game, a schoolyard game or sport (like tag or volleyball), etc. And what is one of your favorite games now?

Not exactly a game, but playing with the Legos growing up. I had whole elaborate scenarios set up for my forestmen and the castle knights and wolf pack and *everything.* Better than any video game, really. (though I'm not gonna lie, I had really fond memories of playing Mario Bros 3 on my cousin's NES whenever I got a chance)

My favourite game at this moment is definitely one of the Zelda games but I couldn't tell you which one? Skyward Sword for the emotional impact it left. Tears of the Kingdom for the bat-shit insane gameplay mechanics. Breath of the Wild for the expansive exploration and melancholy feel of the world, Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask for making me cry EVERY SINGLE TIME, wth. The credits music comes up and I start getting teary-eyed.

But there's a ton of really great non-Zelda games I've played too! Bastion, by Supergiant Games, the same people who have done Hades/Hades2. Botanicula is an amazing, no-words puzzle game that has so many feelings. And talking about feelings with no words, Journey!? Of course Journey! Firewatch, the story of a man who lost a lot and became a ranger in a national park to help cope. Gris is a beautiful, beautiful game (even though I haven't finished it yet). RiME! Another beautiful game. Just....gosh, I can't...I could just go through my list of games and tell you something I like about all of them.

[metarix-studios]

Forestmen Hideout

Probably one of my favorite “rooms” built in to the new Lions Knights Castle set. Love the secret entranceway you open to get into their little hideout!

I went through a couple of variations when taking this photo. It was tricky lighting the cave through the small secret hatch that is built it, but with some extra lights on the side, I got the shot I was looking for. These two were some rejected shots that I started editing but wasn’t satisfied with. I think near the end I took close to around 50 shots! 😅

[richard-am]

All Lego Forestmen Colours So Far

[thebrickdwarf]

It's Black Falcons Friday!

[aardwolfpack]

Knights and Forestmen of my childhood reassembled.

[bluenpinkcastle]

20240210: the History of LEGO Castle day 041 6071-1 Forestmen's River Crossing (1990, 210 pieces, 60 different parts) The Forestmen's River Crossing is built on a 16x32 green plate with printed blue river through the middle and a small blue printed circle on one corner. A light gray and black building covered in foilage connects over the river with a brown bridge to another black building with more foilage. The set includes five different forest minifigures and a white horse with a red saddle. -A green torso with black arms and collar and a printed black belt with yellow buckle, plain green legs, and a green hat with small red feather. -A green torso with blue arms and a blue collar and a printed black belt with yellow buckle, plain green legs, and a brown hat with a three plumed feather. -A green torso with red arms and a red collar and a printed black belt with yellow buckle, plain green legs, and a green hat with large yellow feather. -A green torso with green arms and a yellow v-neck and a black belt with yellow buckle and a small brown pouch, plain green legs, and a brown hat with red three plume feather. -A green torso with a printed corset hinting at cleavage with a beaded green necklace and green arms, plain green legs, a printed yellow head with thick red lips and black bangs with a green bandana. The box for this build was severely damaged but what back of the box and inside the flap builds are visible consist of a very small forest bridge, a boat under a bridge, a three-story black and light gray building over the river, and a black and light gray bridge built across the river. This set has a number of unique and rare pieces, especially the "forestwoman" and the green river printed baseplate. The first green and blue printed baseplates came out in 1989 with the Pirates series (6270-1 Forbidden Island, 6260-1 Shipwreck Island, and 6265-1 Sabre Island) but this is the only flat water-pattern baseplate in the castle theme. And it is definitely a very, very cool baseplate :) This is also the second use of the brown ladder in the castle system, one of only three sets with this part (the other is 4588-1 Off Road Race Track). This is also the second usage of the brown rope bridge (the first, again, being 6270-1), a part that was only used in a total of 13 sets. The Forestmen's River Crossing is the last of the original Forestmen faction. The next closet version to the "Robin Hood" of LEGO Castle will be the Dark Forest series in 1996. This set has hidden entrances and the ladder is concealed and it's very, very cool! And this set certainly went out with a bang, as this was a fantastic set for its time but I have a few reservations about it now. This is the fifth castle set which specifically genders minifigures. This time, the gender identifications don't come because of their headgear or the label given by the catalogue, but by making a minifigure torso with a printed thin waist and a corset with cleavage, and a minifigure head with thick red lipstick. I think this actually bothers me a bit because up until this point, the minifigures had no gender, and even the four previous gender identifications were superfluous, as it was just a written label, but now, this minifigure is adding sexual characteristics. Before this minifigure, any of the minifigures could be any gender. But now? Now, there's even an implied romantic scene in one of the back of the box builds with the "forestwoman" and one of the other minifigures on a river boat. Now, there are sexual characteristics found on what used to be a generic minifigure. And sometimes I wonder if this single torso is where LEGO actively decided to value making toys for boys over toys for everyone. A parts inventory for this set can be found on BrickLink or Rebrickable and a free download of the instructions can be found on ToysPeriod. This set was designed by Daniel August Krentz and Steen Sig Andersen and you have find the other things they designed on BrickSet.

[lego-retro]

LEGO 6071 Forestmen's Crossing

Year Released: 1990 Number of Pieces: 213

[jbarchietto]

What if we put our figurines among the mushrooms this fall? ;)