Anyone who has been kinda irked about the bad guy to good guy ratio in the current LEGO Kingdoms series need not worry about getting reinforcements any longer. LEGO stores across the country have been carrying Kingdoms minifig Battle Packs for all you Castle System fans to beef up your forces. Each pack of knights/soldiers comes with five well-armed figures for $14.99 (USD). You can find them through third parties such as the Amazon links below, but you won’t find them for $14.99 – that is a price you will only find through the official LEGO stores (unless you get lucky). This price point is very acceptable when you take into account that figure packs from other series are not as accessory-equipped as these are. Also, the Build-A-Figure kiosk at the LEGO stores never really has a good Kingdoms/Castle selection of figure parts in my experience, so the two battle packs in this review are very much welcome to all the fans of LEGO’s medieval themed sets.
There will be more photos coming, but this is a fairly short review, given the subject matter.
By the Numbers:
Sets: 852921 Knights Battle Pack, 852922 Dragon Battle Pack
Year of Release: 2010
Type: Minifig Battle Pack
# of Pieces: N/A
# of Extra pieces: N/A
# of Minifigs and what kind: 5 in each pack – Knights
Stickers? No
Price: $14.99 MSRP
Ages: 6+
Time to Complete: N/A
Where to Purchase – 852921 Knights Battle Pack:
– Amazon.com (US) (These are through third parties – prices may vary)
– Amazon.co.uk (UK) (These are through third parties – prices may vary)
Where to Purchase – 852922 Dragon Battle Pack:
– Amazon.com (US) (These are through third parties – prices may vary)
– Amazon.co.uk (UK) (These are through third parties – prices may vary)
LEGO Kingdoms Battle Packs at flickr.com
(Remember: Click each image for a larger version at flickr)
Packaging
The package is nice with its shield shaped blister pack with a clear tray for holding/storing the figures. The Green Dragon Army troops’ package is color coded to their coat of arms (orange and yellow background) with a black bordered shield package card. The Red Lion forces’ grey, silver, and red colors are represented on their respective package. The title of “LEGO Kingdoms” is really the only thing printed at the top of the package card. There is nothing else to denote what set of figures it is for except for the color coded packaging and the colors of the minifigs’ armor. There is not even a standard 4 or 5-digit catalog number as with other sets unless you reference the numbers above the barcode on the back of the pack. You don’t have to worry about confusing anything though, since the packaging is clear, however if you are asking somebody to buy this or recommending it to somebody to buy for somebody else, you need to be specific about the colors of the minifigs and the packaging.
Thoughts
So, what are my thoughts on these sets? Well, I like the variety of soldiers that LEGO has represented here. Each set comes with a crossbow figure, a knight, banner carrier, and a ball and chain specialist. The only major difference is with the fifth figure. The Lion forces set includes a minifig with a pole-axe whereas the Dragon army set comes with a knight with a lance, green flag, and chest armor. None of the Lion figs come with armor of any kind. Take a look at the pictures to see who comes with what. My only minor issue is that the packages are not reusable unless you want to keep the tray for storage.
So, some of you might scoff at the price, but it’s comparable to the minifigs you can assemble in-store at the official LEGO stores and as long as you are buying straight from the official LEGO stores (or online), it will be $14.99. There are third parties selling these on Amazon, eBay, etc., and they are almost all selling at a higher price, since these are LEGO store-exclusives.
Both sets are both a welcome addition to the catalog, and are just plain pretty cool to have. These two sets are an excellent stocking stuffer idea, and/or are great to help you build a force of extraordinary magnitude.