As much as I would love that. I'm nervous that if after all this time Lego takes another crack at a castle theme and it flops AGAIN, we're probably never getting castle stuff again.
I feel if they would just sell these sets for retail, alot of these issues would be fixed. A slightly larger budget would have gone a long way here. Even with its issues, I can't imagine a set like this would sell poorly if sold like a standard set. But I guess the fomo tactics are paying off if they keep making these desirable gwps
I'm sure LEGO has no regrets, RIP. Honestly would have loved to have seen a smaller set (brickset.com/sets/6020-1/Magic-Shop is the perfect example) with more of the parts budget put into decking out Majesty with new prints and accessories.
I actually tried yesterday to piece together all missing elements from a Polish marketplace and everything including a correct helmet and shield came up to 50 dollars if I wanted to make the new one with old details like glow in the dark wand, feathers, halberfs etc.. So I now understand why Lego didn’t remade the moulds..
I think that's exactly what they plan to do. I would say by adding those to normal sets they just test if people are hyped enough to get them so in the future I am sure they will go to shelves too.
I actually love those rock pieces, because they made it so much easier to gain mass and volume when building sceneries. I grew up with the Adventurers theme and those pieces were perfect to build caves and temples, since they have a great natural shape with lots of connection points, but is also entirely hollow inside, and not a massive hunk of pieces that you could better use elsewhere to create more meaningful shapes. Especially great for "beginners" who do not yet have a large collection of same colored pieces to "waste" on a rock facade. Oh and 3D baseplates. Best thing ever.
Great pieces for playability, and I'm always here for that! LEGO is a toy after all, though the company seems to have forgotten that from time to time 🤣
So you're telling me that they're locking this behind a $250 paywall, and they didn't even give us decent minifigs? I agree with you that it's understandable for them to not reintroduce a whole new mold for a GWP, but they didn't bother giving us a shield; they didn't even bother giving the dragon knight printed legs; the silver helmet and shoulder pads do'nt even match the black helmets of old; and they didn't give Majisto any prints, DESPITE HAVING PRINTED MAJISTO PARTS ALREADY! Even if they added just a shield, this thing would have sold amazingly; do they even realize how much shields go for on Bricklink? That was the simplist, most obvious thing to include, and they didn't even do that. This set is NOT going to entice people to go out and spend $250, which sucks because since it obviously won't sell as well as the Forest hideout, LEGO may think that we don't want these GWP's anymore, when in reality, all we want is some quality prints and pieces. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
The main problem i have with the set (apart from the GWP threshold) is that the build doesn't do enough to modernize itself like the forest hideout from last year did.
That's a good point. It's a tricky balance to keep. You want to update it to make it a worthwhile new product, but you also need to be as faithful as possible for the nostalgia factor. Maybe Blacktron went too far to change things, and this one didn't change enough.
yeah, I agree. I didn't get the forest hideout gwp, but the dragon knights have nostalgic value for me, so I was quite excited for this. but it's not bringing anything new whatsoever, which is quite disappointing.
You make some great points, which I think explain the general negativity around this GWP in the Lego Castle community: 1) the minfigures should be heart of the set, but these underwhelm 2)the build has double/triple the piece-count but offers little discernible improvement/innovation over the original (the empty chest is a great example of this).
I really appreciate the honest review from you! Sometimes I wish that lego would start producing those 4 minifig packs again, so building a lego army of minifigures would be way easier
I’ve talked to the adulting is hard guy before, he has an absolutely insane collection of old castle figs. Seeing the pictures of these huge tubs full of never before assembled castle figs was absolutely nuts
I audibly gasped when you showed how Majisto is supposed to hold the scroll in the 2023 version. All because of a sticker. 😨 Great coverage of the two! I’ve got the original already, so I’ll be giving this GWP a miss. Still, it looks like a good faithful, albeit limited, remake. 👍
Thank you very much for your thorough and insightful comparison review. Your perspective resonates with many LEGO castle enthusiasts, myself included. While I don't possess the 1993 original, I too sense that LEGO's latest rendition didn't quite meet expectations. Personally, the scale of the construction isn't my primary concern. The essence of the Gift With Purchase (GWP) lies in the unique minifigures of Majisto and the dragon knight. Unfortunately, it seems LEGO's execution of this concept didn't fully capture the essence of these characters. I would be more than willing to invest $250 for an updated version of Majisto and the dragon knight, especially if it included intricately printed torsos and accessories, like the dragon knight's shield and helmet. In cases of limited budgets, prioritizing these critical elements is paramount. LEGO enthusiasts, much like yourself demonstrated in your Minecraft creations, are adept at crafting exquisite structures and environments. However, the ability to modify these cherished and old minifigures into modern interpretations is something that lies beyond our capability. Thus, focusing on these minute yet significant details would greatly enhance the overall appeal and authenticity of the set. I feel very sad that LEGO does not make it this time.
as someone whos' first intro to Castle was Dragon masters line as a kid, this is a MUST for me. there are a few improvements I would have liked to see. But overall i think this a charming recreation. Can't wait to snag one of these and maybe army build with that new Knight torso!
Very fair coverage, which I appreciate. A lot of the reactions I've seen to this gwp have been very negative, probably due to the emotional investment we've all made hyping this thing up for almost a year.
You're almost certainly right on that one! This set has been laden with a lot of unrealistic expectations at this point, and being a GWP, it was never going to match them unfortunately. I think we can all safely say the figs are underwhelming, but I don't really understand why people have been going after the build itself, which is perfectly fine.
I think people have been going after the build because compared to some of the other remakes, this is much more true to the original than other remakes we have seen. When compared with the full Lego sets like the castle and Galaxy explorer remakes which both had significant upgrades to the design . While this isn’t 100% true for the other GWP remakes, I still think they had some improvements over their original set. This set is nearly identical to the OG in looks which means it suffers from the same “flaws” as early Lego, using blocky building techniques and creating lots of open space in the build to achieve scale
...or maybe because this set doesn't improve almost anything over original despite using 100 bricks more, while somehow making a lot of things worse? And the price tag to get one is just ridiculous?
I think the biggest problem is that it's going to be compared to the Forestman's Hideout GWP and Blacktron Cruiser GWP, which were both easy 10/10s. At the price point, I really just wish we got a shield and helmet for the Dragon Masters. They did a both for the upcoming Basil CMF, It just seems like they could have done it for the Dragon Masters. It is fairly disappointing, especially at 250 threshold.
@@CheeseyStudios It really didn't have much to make live up to. It was a fairly simple design, and a simple job to modernize. From a designer's perspective (myself), it simply comes off as overly faithful and out of touch from the designers' end, and greedy from middle-upper management's end.
When i eventually get my hands on this remake, i’m totally going to make some easy upgrades! Adding some gems to that chest, a barrel on the inside and an owl on the top. I already have the wizard torso and legs from that build a minifig wizard.
I,m doing the same+ I will change the flames to trans neon orange ones and maybe splurge for the correct helmet. With additional simple pieces it will live up to the Forestmen gwp
I've been going through my lego pieces from my childhood and trying to figure out which sets I had so I could rebuy them one day and one of them was 6020: Magic Shop! I really love this theme, it has such iconic castle item pieces. I don't have most of the pieces from that set any more but I do still have the coveted black bat helmet which i'm very proud of 😁 Great review as usual, I love your videos and I'm always looking forward to the next!
I still have my 6020 Magic Shop which I bought in 1993. It’s been assembled since then but in my reserve collection, i.e. not on display. Maybe I’ll add it to my display after 30 years!
@@drzander3378 I say do it if you have the space! It's such a cute little aside compared to the other sets, you might be able to build it on to and existing castle model, or on to the original Magical Workshop set if you have it!
@@jonozoom , Thanks for the prompt 👍. I may well add it to my display collection. I have a handful of forestmen minifigures and the 2022 version of Forest Hideout (40567). I reckon the Magic Shop would look good next to those minifigs and that set. Something to think about...
Amazing video! defiantly made me appreite the new one a lot more. With that being said though this still makes me disappointed there was so many great things they could have done to improve upon the original. On top of that this shouldn't have been a gwp instead, it should have been a set, that would have helped with many of the limitations.
100% spot on, Brad. The things that make this set disappointing are the limitations inherent in GWP’s and the nature of GWP’s in general. If it was $35ish and available at retail with prints instead of stickers, we all wouldn’t have our torches and pitchforks out.
I feel that with every new GWP set, I feel less and less that making sets like this exclusive to the service is a good practice. A full recreation of a set like this would be served better as a store exclusive or a regular retail release.
This is a set I'd rather MOC (lots of BrickLink orders) since you can add your own personal flair especially in the detail and minifigures. Great comparison video!
I was originally excited for this GWP when I 1st heard about it but seeing it in a video now I’m disappointed & I’m gonna pass on this one. I knew we obviously wouldn’t get the specialized helmet but was hoping we’d at least get the cool shield design.
Such a great review! And a very fair one too! I’m more looking forward to getting this now! Maybe my expectations were high as I’m a die hard Dragon Masters fan! At least we’ve got some attention after all the Falcon, Lion, Forestmen and Fright Knights love recently!
Saw you on S2 of lego masters! You made some incredible builds on there, glad to see you making reviews on YT! I'm not a fan of the stickers in these remake sets, but I think this is one of the better ones. However, the original is superior. I feel similarly about this one as I do the Eldorado Fortress remake.
Not even a Lego content consumer, but the thumbnail caught my eye. I really miss the old esthetics (packaging) that helps jump start a child's imagination, rather than enforcing how they should imagine.
The build of the shop itself is incredible. I totally agree with you on the lack of detail to the fig and the empty treasure chest. But overall this is a cool set, and I like your review style!
When I was like 6 my dad bought me both Dragon Wagon and Fire Breathing Fortress for my birthday. So much nostalgia. No idea where those sets are, but I still have the dragons!
not a lego enthusiast myself, i grew up with a fair amount thanks to my dad liking them, and also me/sis got some sets probably every once in a while, it really saddens me how the "quality" has gone down so much, due to streamlining production, or so i imagine; why print something onto a piece, when you can just mass-produce the same pieces and then put different stickers on them. i want to remember a lot of printed pieces in the lego i had; an ice cream shop with printed pieces, the magic scroll, think there was a treasure map, some pieces for a spaceship, etc. i have no idea what sets we actually had, but i do remember various parts from what i'd imagine to be some sets; including barrels and "coins"; that actually looked like small coins, wasn't a block you could attach to anything, but looked really dope in the chests and barrels. also had some of the dragon-masks for the horses, the dragon-plumes and wings (red and yellow, don't remember any blue), some of the shields too, ,very sad to see something that must be/have been so loved by enthusiasts just got downgraded so much, like, apparently windows doesn't have shutters anymore- so those are gone. it just makes me sad and angry that so many features are apparently replaced by stickers, which certainly shortens the lifespan of the "print" of the blocks. had a sandbox as a kid- our legos survived a lot of environmental damage. i don't think stickers will live through sand and water for very long..
Cost-cutting and efficiency of production have definitely been priorities at LEGO these last few years. It's unfortunate to see, because the quality has noticeably decreased in recent years.
A very fair and balanced review of both sets. I recently bought the original for the first time, and it’s really pretty great! I only had the dragon wagon as a kid…
I actually quite like the newer one. Especially the exterior looks really nice. There's just a few things I would've liked to see such as black armor for the knight, a torso print for Majisto (though I don't hate the unprinted one, it has this kind of retro feeling) and I would've really loved to see an interior with even just a little bit more detail. But otherwise I like the set.
I'm really glad you like it! It's certainly not 'the worst set of the year' that some people have claimed it to be. It is unfortunate that the set seems to lack the wow factor though.
As someone who has not grown up with the original set, I mean I didn’t even know this set or sub theme even existed until this promo was revealed, I’ve got to say I don’t think it’s bad as a standalone set, I do think the original is better, but I think people are hating on this set a little to much, and personally I do really like it and it will be my very first classic remake set, so I can’t lie when I say it will probably hold a special place in my heart😁
That's great honestly! I'm glad you like it. I agree that it is a good set. People's expectations got a little unrealistic while waiting months for it sadly (mine included lol)
I actually do have some nostalgia for some of the old LEGO things, even though I wasn't alive yet when they were releasing. This is because my dad had a bunch of old LEGO sets, and Magisto is one of my favourites in all fairness.
Honestly, I'm not a huge dragon masters fan, the OG set had a wacky structure. I think the 6075 Wolfpack Tower would have been a better set to remake. Getting the old helmet with Chin Guard would be much better than getting the dragon master helmet.
Fabvideo Cheesy. I really enjoyed Majisto video. Your use of music works really well. I'm new still. alot of ur videos to go thru. I mostly collect Hogwarts.
Thank you for the detailed comparison. Your videos are always a pleasure to watch. Unlike most people, I actually really like the new set. I think it’s very well designed and remains very faithful to the original. However, the stickers, Majisto’s lack of torso print and the $250 GWP threshold are quite upsetting.
really fair assessments, a toy maker should really just set a standard with the stickers vs prints... LEGO is premium product they want big bucks for so should print everything. maybe they are too spread thin and need to edit to some more classic themes done right. with detailed builds abundance of accessories and quality materials. Like they did and can do with the lions knight castle. Which in that I do not even think they needed or should have included majisto, they likely figured they could add him to each set for extra cost of 2 cents and would help sell the mini count. But even with some of the sets flaws, its not really that which causes me the problems. Its the nostalgia taxed threshold to get it. It doesn't really feel like a deal or sale when its done like that. Most sales try to get you to spend less as an incentive to buy product.... they want you to spend more to get more product.
With this new GWP trend, I feel like it's both exploiting nostalgia, and testing the waters to see if reboots of their most famous original IPs is viable. But that latter idea isn't likely because these are hyper expensive GWPs.
Great and fair review! I plan to pick it up and I'll just upgrade the minifigs on my own. Was thinking Pearl Dark Grey shoulder armor and Helmet with Grille, and to put one of my old Dragon Master plumes on the helmet. Then just give it the old shield and find some nice double-printed legs that match with its torso. Majisto I might just re-use the old torso, pants and cape but use the new beard and face lol. I held off on some other interesting sets earlier this year, so I can sort of "justify" getting this GWP now :p
I was just rearranging my lego instruction booklets and came across the original version of this set and then somehow this vid pops up in my yt suggestions. Didn't even know they just remade the set :D
While I do love seeing these older sets getting the attention they deserve I do wish that they'd use them as an excuse to bring back old parts so they can use them in new and exciting ways even if it's only for a limited time and such. Man, not even Majisto is allowed to have a cape, frankly criminal LEGO, give us the capes back! the build is absolutely sick though regardless!
Interesting how they added tiny flowers and flames on the front that weren't in the original, when they took away the gems and bird - that must have been a conscious tradeoff, visual interest for sitting on a shelf over play value?
I actually had some of the old original shutters and I decided to use a pair of them by replacing the brick built ones with those. After doing this little tweak, it worked out just fine. Also you always place the extra wand piece in the treasure chest which is also just as good too.
Even if I couldn't get the old vers. of the set, and probably won't be able to get the remake, I still think this new one can bring such a nice playtime for a kid getting started with Lego. The simpliness of this castle-like theme forges the bases of the creativity, trying new things with pieces like the trees on each side.
Thank you so very much Cheesey Studios for this. Realizing now that to spend $200 to $250 to get this Free with Purchase set that isn't even as good as the 1993 verison is going to save me money in the long run.
Great review, it actually made me like the set much more. But man I'm starting to hate Lego as a company more and more, having the only castle set of 2023 be a GWP that's available for 5 days is disgusting.
I'm sure my brother had this as well as the castle with all the knights and kings and flags. We sold it probably over 20 years ago, he didn't care back then, which is a shame. He now wish he would have kept them especially after having 3 kids.
i was expecting the remake to at least make the roof like, not completely open, that and all the comprimises to replicate old pieces just makes this set kinda sad
Great example of how people undermine the past. The original set looks more modern than the new one. Modern day overcompensates, tries to make a small sets feel like a big one, whereas the 1993 set keeps it natural, the instructions aren't overdone, the wizard still feels a lot like a wizard despite lacking that trapezoid all wizards have! The 1993 has torso print, and I guess they thought they wouldn't have print in 1993? because it's not on the new one...
This was one of the sets I really wanted for my birthday back in the 94 or 95, remember seeing it on the display for 18 Lats (currency in Latvia, it was around 36$, with an average salary at that time about 150$/m), so that was expensive and I usually got smaller sets for my birthday or NY. After few years I saved enough money for it, but it was discontinued already and I kept wanting it for many many years, when in 2014 I finally bought it on eBay and it was like one of those childhood dreams coming true. By having a lot of Lego sets from the 80-90th, that I have desired as a kid but bought as an adult, this set is one of those cherished, because it feels so perfectly made and well detailed with it's compact-size. Sadly, the remake didn't click for me. Feels like an expensive watch replica - from the distance looks great, but lacks all these details once you start observing it more closely...
I've been looking forward to this set since hearing rumors of it earlier this year. I had the original and was looking forward to adding this to my castle collection, but the $250 price point is steep. There are sets I held off on buying with the intention of getting them when this came out, but I'm still a ways off from meeting the price point and not sure it's worth it.
Honestly, I don't think it is worth it, especially if you do have the original. There's nothing special enough in this new one to justify that high price threshold
Thanks for the great video. I had this as a kid and recently put it back together. It is definetely still my favourite piece along with the Black knights castle and the wolf pack hideout. I am actually glad that the remake is so inferior and I own the original. Saved me from massive FOMO (which i had with the forest hideout GWP...which was still worth it).
Since I have to do Lego Christmas shopping I might as well get enough to get it and fix it. Still have the original pieces but used the nice angular studded pieces that hold the roof for other builds. They really should bring those pieces back! The knight though will be a squire to serve his proper Lord from 1993. Magistos I have enough to spare one with the old wand. Even though I don’t mind the new wand.
I had all the first Dragon Knights sets, except for Majisto's Workshop, who in the UK was called Merlin. In fact a lot of these sets had different names. Also, Majisto's Tower was the only set never released in the UK. I did collect the two cheaper sets; Merlin's Cart and the Dragon Knight cart. Sadly, I have none of my Castle themed sets, and I do regret it.
The biggest sin on this set is the dragon plumes and the lazy helmet. And I know parts molds budget. But they could easily re-do the entire 80s/90s line as an adult online-only collectible line. Or restart it for all customers and people will buy it. The Forrestmen hideout is an example of a set done right. Now I have to question if I will ever sit out on purchases just waiting for the GWP. Because I stalled my buy of the Vikings village for this reason.
Thank you for the comparison. I have the original so wasn't really interested in the remake since it is so close to the original but it was nice to see how they did it. I saw a MOC where it was redone like the ideas blacksmith shop so was hoping for something like that but oh well.
Never had many sets from the Dragon Knights range, literally Magic Shop (which I still have complete) and one from the later Dragon Lords(?) range which had the moulded bat wing helmets. I think I'll pick this up on ebay, much like the Forestman's Hideout, which again I had the original but sadly no longer own, as this will be a great piece to add to my collection and I'll hopefully one day be able to afford the Lion Knights castle, another set I had the original of. Man I loved facing the Forestmen off against the evil king, rescuing the princess and stealing the treasure, of course she'd get kidknapped by some scouting knights and she'd have to be rescued all over again.
@@CheeseyStudios Yup, this is a serious oversight on Lego not to have a full dedicated range. I know it didn't sell well a few years ago, but with the recent revival and how accepted they were, it's a fools errand to not make a full line.
I'm disappointed and I was realy hyped. - no Majisto print (!!!!) - no dragon shield - a sticker - lacking chest content, lacking falcon - 250$ gwp instead of 150
Honest question, having worked with people who send free products for a "preview" does it ever worry you to make criticisms about something like this for fear that Lego may begin to no longer send these? I think it's cool of them to do and I think honest criticism is amazing and that the feedback is actually valuable, but sometimes companies feel that it's like looking a gift horse in the mouth. Hoping Lego is one who takes feedback well and learns from it.
I've never felt like I can't give negative feedback, which is really great. They encourage us to be honest, and we report directly to them what we and the viewers don't like about the set!
Though I don't think this set is bad by any means, I do think this set encapsulates everything I don't enjoy about modern LEGO. Modern LEGO builds are incredible but completely lack clear, defining, graphic parts! Minifigures now have so many accessories and printing abilities, yet it is never consistent or memorable. I really hope in the future LEGO steps back and recognizes how charming the chunky and simple elements of their older set were
I’m replacing the torso and robe for majisto with the BAM ones and adding one of those black Mandalorian capes cause they’re thinner than a normal cape. I’m taking apart the dragon knight and using the torso for my sig fig.
As someone who wasn’t alive when the original was on shelves I can totally see the appeal of this set and I think LEGO did an amazing job recreating the set. I’ll definitely be getting it, props to whoever was hellbent on making it 99% faithful.
It's a really great concept and was a perfect candidate for the remake! Love how it's all enclosed, and there's all sorts of great details in the interior.
I am alive too long for this set 😅 I had a lot of the 80's castle sets but went to high school in the 90's and sets from this era are totally new to me. I also definitely see the appeal of this set.
They are pretty cool to see! I hope it is a trend that sticks around as there's a lot of potential with the concept. They probably don't need to be this big in the future though xD
I will be picking it up, as I am buying Lego Rivendell and a few other sets with my next paycheck, but The biggest disappointment for me was hearing that the scroll isn't printed. I still own the original minus the scroll piece. I guess I will be getting a scroll piece second hand.
The lack of shield for the knight was disappointing. I also wish they would use brown for the trees on the remakes. That was something that always bothered me as a kid in the 80s and early 90s; using black for tree limbs and trunks. Now that there are multiple shades of brown, it would be fixing something that was always amiss with the old sets. At least, in my opinion.
I know some people brought that up with Forest Hideout, but especially with that set, it would have failed to capture that charm of the original model since it was so essential to the build. They may have been able to get away with it here though.
I really wish Lego could go back to the days when they’d design a set first and give it a price afterwards instead of giving the designers a price budget and forcing them to limit there designs to fit within those constraints. I’m sure Lego could potentially lose a few dollars that way and that would absolutely bankrupt the most successful toy company in the world, but we’d get a lot more great sets that way, and those small improvements could even convince some more people to buy more of these sets
I'm torn on this set because I really just don't like the way it looks, lol, but it looks "bad" (subjective of course) because it's original build looked "bad". I think Forestmen's Hideout turned out much better but that's mostly just because I think the old build still holds up pretty well. I only bring up my thoughts on that though because Lego seems to be trending in that direction with their remakes and I don't love it. Eldorado Fortress remake looks bad in my opinion, so many design choices were made to keep it close to the "original" but those original designs were because of a lack of good pieces, which we have no shortage of now. Lion Knights Castle looks incredible, and nothing like the original set. Pirates of Barracuda Bay (technically an Ideas set so ig it doesn't count) is a polished reimagining of Black Sea Barracuda. I vastly prefer reimagining old concepts with new pieces than trying to force new pieces to look like old ones, but I might be alone in that opinion.
I’ll probably try and get this one to go with the forestmans hideout and lion knights castle (if I ever get it). Really wish they just sold these gwps individually, they could just start a line of remakes like the old legends theme but I’m sure they know how to squeeze the most money out of us all lol.
yeah the shield, the shield would have been enough. well and just legs on majisto. the building roof should have been redone. it doesnt even have the right angle or meet up like the old one, and the old one wasnt great. and just decorate the burps like a bit. ugh!
Man I had a huge Lego collection that I ended up parting out and selling and the last guy who took everything I had left took a big fat ziplock bag of glow in the dark pieces I had been saving mainly mushrooms and spiders but there was other stuff in there too! I wish I’d kept a few of those
Hmm I don't remember hearing a criticism about using big parts back in 1994 for Dragon Masters. Great review, and I will probably buy this on ebay. They did so well with the forest Man remake but really did a poor job with one and we will call that wizard Fakejisto. They've done so many Wizards in the past why couldn't they get this right.
