#lego forestmen's river crossing

[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.

[undergroundassassin-blog]

Perhaps you were one of those kids that had the Forestmen’s Crossing set? You know that one we’re talking about. It had those little minifigures that looked like Robin Hood and his merry gang and it had a rope bridge that allowed them to cross over that treacherous river (which was actually only 4 studs across—well within minifigure jumping range). Then, you probably know all about the Lego bow and arrow. Well, believe it or not, that handy Lego weapon is still around today, since the members of the Secret Ninja Force from the Lego Ninjago movie are wielding it!

That little bow has come a long way for sure and now you can even wield the tried and true accessory. This Ninjago Movie bow and arrow has the classic look of a Lego weapon, except it’s the perfect size for human hands! Your child can cosplay as Zane, the White Ninja, while using it, or you can even use it to relive those childhood days of playing Legos in your bedroom.

[bluenpinkcastle]

20240211: the History of LEGO Castle day 042. 6081-1 King's Mountain Fortress (1990, 438 pieces, 120 different parts) The King's Mountain Fortress is a mostly light gray castle with large brown double doors covered by a black drawbridge, a brown and green tree on the back corner, and a two story tower at the back of the castle behind the gate. The fortress is built on a green raised 32x32 baseplate with printed rock patterns and a large ramp. The set comes with eight minifigures and two horses, one black with a red saddle and one white with a red and yellow lion print barding. The minifigures include: -A glow-in-the-dark ghost, the second one so far in castle sets. -A knight with a dark gray visor on a dark gray helmet with dark gray armor over a red torso with blue arms and the silver printed breastplate pattern and black legs with a red belt. -A knight with a dark gray visor on a dark gray helmet with dark gray armor over a red torso with blue arms and the silver printed breastplate pattern and blue legs with a black belt. -Two Lion Knight guards with dark gray axe-wielder helmets, blue torsos with red arms and the triangular gold lion on a blue back ground with a gold border and black legs with a read belt. -Two knights with red torsos and blue arms and the silver scale mail print with black legs and a red belt. -A "maiden" with a red cone hat, a yellow printed minifigure head with black bangs and thick red lipstick, a white torso with a printed corset hinting at cleavage with a beaded blue necklace and white arms, and a blue 2x2x2 plain slope as a dress. New and unique parts for this set include -The 32x32 raised baseplate, only found in this set and 6086-1 Black Knight's Castle. This mold was also used in the blue and light gray pattern for 6276-1 Eldorado Fortress from 1989. -The black parrot, only found in this one set. -The white and blue corset torso, which was only found in this set, though the white pirate corset torso was distributed in 1989 from 6285-1 Black Seas Barracuda and the green corset torso came out in 1990 with 6071-1 the Forestmen's River Crossing, though this is the first corest torso to be paired with a slope designed to represent a dress. The 2x2x2 blue slope without internal tube was only found in four other LEGO sets from 1990-2003. The red cone hat was only found in two other sets (6067-1 / 10000-1 Guarded Inn and 1584-1 / 6060-1 Knight's Challenge). I have no box for this set and there are no alternate builds on the instructions, but Rebrickable user Legoivo made some alternate instructions. This set is a lot of fun, with the back gate on the second floor, the small dungeon with the large dungeon door, and especially the use of the raised baseplate to have a treasure room and a secret compartment at the bottom of the interior valley. I'm not as much a fan of the drawbridge mechanism, as it's harder to roll the wheel to pull the gate up or to let it drop. But did did also like the ghost's hidden compartment next to the main gate :) This is the sixth 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 not anymore. And sometimes I wonder if these three corset torsos is where LEGO actively decided to value making toys for boys over toys for everyone. Parts inventory for this set can be found at either BrickLink or Rebrickable and a free download of the instructions can be found at ToysPeriod. You can find more sets by Daniel August Krentz on Brickset.

[bluenpinkcastle]

20240131: the History of LEGO Castle day 31. 6054-1 Forestmen's Hideout (1988, 202 pieces, 59 different parts) The Forestmen's Hideout is such a great little set and is a mostly black two-story build with green foilage and two green trees, built on two green 6x12 plates. The second level has a blue plate covered balcony with a light gray wall and two triangular shields with a light brown deer head with black antlers on a green background with a brown border. Hinge bricks allow you to close or open the set, which makes it easy to move and great to play with. The two forest minifigures for this set include a green torso with a v-neck, green arms, a printed black belt with a yellow buckle and a brown pouch with plain green legs, and a green torso with a red collar and red arms and a printed black belt with a yellow buckle and plain green legs. This set introduces another of my favorite bricks, the 3x3 facet wedge brick, as well as the brown forest shields which are only found in five other sets (6071-1 Forestmen's Crossing, 6077-2 Forestmen's River Fortress, 6024-1 Bandit Ambush, 6046-1 Hemlock Stronghold, and 6076-1 Dark Forest Fortress) and two service packs (6103-1 Castle Mini Figures and 5184-1 Castle Equipment). Other new and unique parts for this set include the green whip or plant vine and the yellow 2x2 circle tile with printed blue and red target center. The target was only found in two other sets (6077-2 Forestmen's River Fortress and 1624-1 King's Archer) and one service pack (5184-1 Castle Equipment). This is also the first set to use the black inverted double slope brick, which only shows up in black in nine other sets between 1990-1998. Back of the box builds for this set include several different forest fortresses, including a neat little table with a green roof. Webbrickfreak made free downloadable instructions for the alternate build with the table on Rebrickable. This is another set where I think it would be absolutely fantastic to build it with brown instead of black to make it look more like a tree fortress. Even though I enjoy this set greatly, as one of the original sets from my younger days, building black-on-black is not generally my idea of a good time. I don't know why, but black is a lot harder for me to see and a lot harder for me to build with. This shouldn't have been a very time-consuming build, but it took me about twice as long as other builds in this project with similar piece count. Perhaps in the future, I will rebuild it in another color and post the results :) Parts inventory for this set can be found at BrickLink or Rebrickable and a free download of the instructions can be found at ToysPeriod. BrickSet has a list of the other sets designed by the designer, Niels Milan Pedersen.

[bluenpinkcastle]

20240216: the History of LEGO Castle day 047. 6009-1 Black Knight (1992, 24 pieces, 11 different parts) The Black Knight is a very small set with limited buildable pieces, as it's just the knight on a black horse with a brand new, two-clip red saddle. Buildable parts of this set include a small brick built armor stand with a lance with a red flag. The minifigure has a black torso with black arms and the printed silver breastplate with black legs with a red belt. The knight has dark gray armor, a dark gray helmet with a black visor, and the brand new dragon plumes, which in this set is red, and includes the large dragon top, and "wings" for each side. This set also introduces the ovoid shield, in this case a blue dragon with red wings on a yellow background with a blue border. The newest minifigure part, and the thing which forever changed the direction of LEGO castle, is the introduction of the printed minifigure head, as this is a yellow head with a printed red mustache and goatee. Though the black bangs and red lipstick "female" head was produced in 6071-1 Forestmen's River Crossing and 6081-1 King's Mountain Fortress, those were only one isolated minifigure face in two different sets. From this point forward, almost all minifigure heads are printed with facial characteristics outside of the "standard smiley face", and in the castle theme, that means no more gender ambiguity. This was the last LEGO set I purchased FOR DECADES. Not just the last castle set, but the last set in general that I purchased until about 2012. Keep in mind, back in 1992, there really wasn't any way to get other parts or switch out things you didn't like. The internet existed but wasn't as easy to use as it is today and BrickLink didn't even exist until 2000 (then BrickBay, designed and built by Dan Jezek) and the LEGO Group didn't purchase BrickLink until late 2019. The LEGO pick-a-brick wall only existed in physical stores and those were not as common as they are today and ordering specific parts wasn't nearly as easy as it is today. All that to say that my favorite childhood toy no longer produced a product I felt comfortable buying and playing with, as there was no financially feasible way for young me to change out the all-scruffy facial hair for gender non-specific minifigures. Now. This set has a LOT of cool knight accessories. The armor, the helmet, the dragon shield, and the dragon plumes are all very cool. And now I've been able to find many of the dragon plumes and shields "in the wild" and purchased a bunch of helmets, so I can make my knights however I want, and so those elements are incorporated into my current builds. But back then? Young me was devastated. Parts inventory for this set can be found at BrickLink or Rebrickable and a free download of the instructions is available at ToysPeriod.

[bluenpinkcastle]

20240228: the History of LEGO Castle day 059. The Forestmen (1877 Crusader's Cart, 1974-3 Smuggler's Hayride, 6042 Dungeon Hunters, 6054 Forestmen's Hideout, 6066 Camouflaged Outpost, 6071 Forestmen's Crossing, 6077-2 Forestmen's River Fortress) The Forestmen subtheme of castle ran from 1987-1990 and was originally marketed as "Robin Hood" sets but I think there was some copyright issues with the Earl Flynn movies and LEGO then had to rename all the sets, and thus, the Forestmen came to be. BrickLink, Rebrickable, and BrickSet all say the Forestmen sets include the following (only from this era, not including the 2022 gift with purchase): -1680 Hay Cart With Smugglers -1877 Crusader's Cart -1974-3 Smuggler's Hay Cart -6054 Forestmen's Hideout -6066 Camouflaged Outpost -6071 Forestmen's Crossing -6077-2 Forestmen's River Fortress

[bluenpinkcastle]

20240203: the History of LEGO Castle day 034. 6077-2 Forestmen's River Fortress (1989, 359 pieces, 98 different parts) The Forestmen's River Fortress is the first castle set built on a 32x32 thin baseplate. All the sets so far have been built on multiple green baseplate with hinges to open up the set. The set itself is a light gray and black fortress in the middle of a blue plate with green foilage around the exterior and a black bridge connecting the fortress to a small stripe of green land. The entire back wall of the fortress opens with the use of the thin hinge plate and several brick hinges. A small brown and black raft patrols the area around the fortress, with brown 2x2x2 barrels used as the main part of the raft. The six minifigures for this set include: -Two green forest people torsos with blue arms and a blue collar, a printed black belt with a yellow buckle, and plain green legs. -Two green forest people torsos with red arms and a red collar, a printed black belt with a yellow buckle, and plain green legs. -One green forest person with a yellow v-neck, green arms, a printed black belt with a yellow bucklet and a brown pouch, and plain green legs. -One Lion Knight with a red torso and blue arms and a gold lion on a blue triangular shield with a gold outline and red legs. Unique or rare parts: -This set introduced the light gray 2x4x2 string holder, found only in this set and a 1997 Town set (6486-1 Fire Engine). -The light gray corner wall with dark gray stone print was only found in two other sets, 6062-1 Battering Ram (1987) and (6074-1 / 10039-1 Black Falcon's Fortress (1986 / 2002). -The brown forest shields are only found in five other sets (6054-1 Forestmen's Hideout, 6071-1 Forestmen's Crossing, 6024-1 Bandit Ambush, 6046-1 Hemlock Stronghold, and 6076-1 Dark Forest Fortress) and two service packs (6103-1 Castle Mini Figures and 5184-1 Castle Equipment). -The target was only found in two other sets (6054-1 Forestmen's Hideout and 1624-1 King's Archer) and one service pack (5184-1 Castle Equipment). Back of the box, top flap, and other build ideas from the instruction manual include: -A plain light gray fortress on the water. -A tree with an observation platform on top. -A round-ish tree with plenty of foilage. -A fortress with two black towers in front of a light gray fortress compound. -A tree with the forest people right next to a two story light gray castle wall with the Lion Knight guard on it. -A light gray bridge. While this set wasn't one of my originals when I was younger, my sister-in-law sent me all her and her brother's LEGO from when they were younger and this set was in there. I think this is probably the least humane of all the dungeons and jail cells we've seen in the castle builds so far, as the Lion Knight is trapped in the water at the base of the fortress. There's no way to open the jail and I guess prisoners just have to wait for someone to pull them out of the water to get them out of it :) This is a very cool, very fun build, though with older instructions, the struggle is very real to make sure you put everything in its correct place and didn't miss anything. There's not even a parts inventory with these older sets like there are with the newer sets and their instruction manuals. Parts inventory for this set can be found at BrickLink or Rebrickable and a free download of the instructions is available at ToysPeriod. You can also find some of the other sets designed by this designer, Steen Sig Andersen, on BrickSet.

[bluenpinkcastle]

20240127: the History of LEGO Castle day 027. 6062-1 Battering Ram (1987, 240 pieces, 82 different parts) When I opened up the storage box for the Battering Ram, I found the original LEGO Catalogue in with the instructions and felt this would be a wonderful addition to today's build. Two whole pages of unique LEGOLAND Castle System sets! I spent so much time with these catalogues when I was younger. When I got duplicates of the same catalogue, I would sometimes cut one up and make my own scrap book of sets I really, really wanted and what I could do with them if I had them. Just seeing the pristine catalogue in this box filled me with so much nostalgia :) I actually like the Battering Ram a lot better than the previous Siege Tower (6061-1 from 1984), even though that one had a string-lowered platform and this one doesn't. The fortress here is a wall that could be combined with the other sets in the theme and I think if you had two of them, you could combine them into a very small fortress. Which might be something I try later today. The minifigures for this set cover just about every option available at the time, except for the knights with the silver printed breastplates. Though it's listed as a Black Falcons set, it has the same number of Lion Knights as it does Black Falcons. Each faction has one axe-wielder, one spear-wielder, and one archer, though all the Black Falcon torsos and legs are the same for all three minifigures. The three Black Falcons torsos are blue with black arms and the triangular shield pattern with the silver and black halved falcon and they all have black legs with red belts. The Lion Knights have two red torsos with blue arms and the black and gold triangular shield pattern with crossed axes and one has blue legs with a black belt and the other has red legs with a black belt. The last Lion Knight is the red archer torso with blue arms and the gold lion rampant on a blue background with a gold triangular outline and red legs with a black belt. This set is also the first set to include one of every type of triangular faction shield so far, with one each of the black and white falcon with a blue border, the black and white falcon with a yellow border, and two each of the yellow lion on a blue background with a red border, and the blue lion on a yellow background with a red border. The set also includes four brown spears and halberds and two brown bows with notched arrows. There are some Very Cool back of the box and inside flap alternate builds for this set, including a three-level castle tower, a small scene of a castle tower with the Black Falcons surrendering to the Lion Knights, the Black Falcons behind black barricades, a two story tower with a smaller siege engine and a guard behind a fence, a two story tower with a small cart, and a small prision with a weapons cart. Maybe in the future, I'll make instructions for all the back of the box builds, as there are currently no alternate build instructions for this set. I even included some alternate build pictures from the 1989 catalogue :) The light gray corner wall with dark gray stone print was only found in two other sets, 6074-1 / 10039-1 Black Falcon's Fortress (1986 / 2002) and 6077-2 Forestmen's River Fortress (1989) and the black 1x4x6 door was only found in 6080-1 King's Castle (1984), 6761-1 Bandit's Secret Hide-Out (1996), and 6769-1 / 6762-1 Fort Legoredo (1996 / 2002). Parts inventory for this set can be found on BrickLink or Rebrickable and a free download of the instructions can be found at ToysPeriod.

[bluenpinkcastle]

20240326: the History of LEGO Castle day 086. 6024 Bandit Ambush (1996, 60 pieces, 33 different parts)

Bandit Ambush is a small set built one a green 6x12 plate with a Large Ugly Rock Panel (LURP), several brown arches, green foliage, and light gray and black accents. The two minifigures in this set are brand new, as part of the Dark Forest LEGO castle subtheme. The first minifigure has a black hood, yellow minifigure head with brown bangs and longer side bangs, a brown quiver, a green torso with printed yellow v-neck, brown pouch on a black belt with a yellow buckle, and green arms, a brown bow with notched arrow, and plain light gray legs. The second minifigure has a brown hood, a yellow minifigure head with black bangs and mustache and facial scruff, a green forest person torso with printed maroon spikey collar, a cross-torso black belt, a black belt with yellow buckle, plain brown legs, a dark gray sword, and a brown forest person shield with a brown deer head with black antlers on a green background with a brown border. The only really unique part in this set, other than the Dark Forest minifigures, is the brown shield which only shows up in six castle sets (6024 Bandit Ambush, 6046 Hemlock Stronghold, 6054 Forestmen's Hideout, 6071 Forestmen's Crossing, and 6077-2 Forestmen's River Fortress) and two service packs (5184 Castle Equipment and 6103-1 Castle Mini Figures). Parts inventory for this set can be found on BrickLink or Rebrickable and a free download of the instructions is available on ToysPeriod.