The Lio𓆏n Knightꦉs’ Castle is far and away the best castle Lego has ever produced, and we can hardly think of a more fitting tribute to celebrate the Billund brick builder’s 90th anniversary. And while it’s clearly a love letter to fans who remember the Castle sets of the 70s, 80s and 90s, it’s also a modern masterpiece that will delight younger builders too. If you can remember playing with Lego’s original fortress as a youngster – the famed ‘Yellow’ Castle – this sprawling build might just be what your imaginative young mind was able to conjure during playtime.
The Lion Knights’ Castle (10305) was released as an Icons set in 2022 to celebrate Lego’s 90th anniversary. Fans had the chance to vote for their favourite classic Lego themes and Castle emerge💎d victorious, with the response also prompting the release of the smaller, yet just as classy, Galaxy Explorer (10497).
However, a mix of classic callbacks and an overall modern build makes this one of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Lego sets ever and an enticing prospect for diehard brick builders and fantasy fanatics alike. If you’re an 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Elden Ring or Witcher fan, this might not be Stoꦑrmveil Castle or Kaer Morhen, but it’s a mighty fine replica of a high fantasy-🐎themed fortress nonetheless.
Lego's Castle theme dates back to 1978’s famed 'Yellow' Castle (375), but according to the instruction booklet intro spiel, its main inspiration was 1984’s King’s Castle (6080). And indeed, lifelong Lego fans will notice plenty of details inspired by various kits🐎 throughout the years, as well as the very subtly redesigned Lion Knights’ insignia.&nbs♛p;
The Lion Knights’ Castle was a hugely important set fℱor Lego to get right. After all, Castle fans might be feeling a little left out, with only the (31120) and Ideas (21325) to whet their middle-aged appetite. For that reason alone, the Lion Knights’ Castle is an extra-tempting offering, even at its hefty MSRP of / . But even if Castles was never your thing, it’s not just a throwback to the classics, it&r🅺squo;s a modern classic in its own right.
Features
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Price
$399.99 / £344.99
Ages
18+
Pieces
4,514
Minifigures
22
Height
15" (38cm)
Width
18" (44cm)
Depth
13" (33cm)
Item Number
10305
How easy is it to build?
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The fully detailed interior iℱs magnificent and works akin to a traditional dollhouse. (Image credit: Future)
Close 𒁏the castle up and it looks absolutely stunning f💦rom every angle.(Image credit: Future)
Close the castle up and it looks just as stunning fromꦿ the back and sides as it does the front. (Image credit: Future)
There’s ample room๊ for Minifigure placement behind the ramparts.(Image credit: Future)
The thatched roof is a tedious build, but it’s certa💦inly worth it. (Image credit: Future)
4,514 pieces
Neat drawbridge mechanism
Simple yet cleverly-implemented techniques
This mammoth s𝄹et’s 4,514 pieces are broken down into 26 stages across two instruction booklets and took just over 11 hours to build. It comprises two similarly🐬 sized modular sections that take up an instruction booklet each. The first is used to construct the left-hand section, which contains a long section of wall, a couple of turrets, and the cottage.
You begin by putting together the mead keg, market stall and wagon, before tackling the kitchen, hideout, living space, water mill, and banquet hall. The cottage walls are then put together, 🅺along wit𓂃h the children’s room and bed chamber, before the slightly tedious, yet visually impressive, thatched roof. The closing stages require you to build a pair of turrets and finish with a few landscape details.
At one poin𒁃t, you’re asked to lay down a whopping 42 1 x 1 tiles, with only a single diagram for reference
The gatehouse, tree, and turret that ta൩ke up the second booklet is arguably the more involved build. Once you’ve constructed the foundation you move onto the treasury, dungeon, tree base, and hideout. The focus is then shifted back and forth across multiple tasks as you build up the huge gatehouse, tree, and fathom a trio of clever mechanisms: the draw-bridge, back-door, and portcullis. You then tackle multiple parapets in tandem before finishing with the bridge and a weapons rack.
The Lion Knight🌟s’ Castle feels like a very large modular building, since much of your time is spent bu🌊ilding up walls and decking out interiors. As such, most of the build is relatively simple, but younger builders may find more tedious sections too much to handle without supervision – hence the 18+ moniker.
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The hidden bac💧k entrance 𝔍stairs are a really clever build.(Image credit: Future)
A winching system is used to raise and lower the drꦜawbri🦩dge. (Image credit: Future)
The toy in the♔ childrens’ room is a reference to the 1978 ‘Yellow’ Castle. (Image credit: Future)
When we said this set is missing a throne, wꩵe meant the other type of throne… (Image credit: Future)
Raising the castle on rocks has allowed for a prope🍎r underground du♛ngeon.(Image credit: Future)
There’s no shortage of weaponry to kit🅠 your Lion Knights out with. (Image credit: Future)
The market stall can be pos𒅌itioned within the castle walls or removed for play. (Image credit: Future)
While the build techniques themselves are rarely challenging, you’re often required to place a large number of bricks in a single step, particularly towards the end. At one point, you’re asked to lay down a whopping 42 1 x 1 tiles, with only a single diagram for reference. The best 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Lego Star Wars sets are sometimes playfully mocked for their propensity for big, grey ships, and this is a big, grey castle. As such, you&rsqu✅o;ll be laying down a lot of grey tiles, meaning it’s easy to miss a brick here and there if you’re not paying attention.
Far and away the most challenging building technique is the drawbridge, which uses Technic axles, gears, and chains t🍸o create a neat winching system. However, setting the drawbridge in position took us a few tries, since the diagram coul🎉d have been a little clearer.
Just because a building technique is simple, doesn’t mean it isn’t clever... and throughout the build we were constantly impressed by clever uses🅠 of existing Lego components and a variety of SNOT-brick applications. The stairway that leads up to the back door is one such example. You build it in an upright position before rotating it 90 degrees and attaching it using SNOT bricks. The result is a beautiful staircase that’s completely devoid of visible studs.
Design
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Pivot away the rock face to𝕴 reveal the forest people’s hid﷽eout beneath the castle. (Image credit: Future)
Window pots and climbing plants add a welcome dash of colour to ꦛthe gre💝y walls. (Image credit: Future)
The black tree trunk i🔴s an ode to the classic Forestmen sets.(Image credit: Future)
The turrets and ramparts really look the part 🎶with some fantastic details💟.(Image credit: Future)
The spinning water wheel is one thin𝕴g, but the grinding millstone is a fantastic touch! (Image credit: Future)
Opens up to reveal a full interior
22 Minifigures
No stickers!
Lego appears to have based the Lion Knights’ Castle on structures from the late medieval period and the gatehouse in particular reminds me of Bodiam Castle’s iconic front🙈age. The castle walls and turrets really look the part with a plethora of period details including ramparts, arr🐻ow slits, a working drawbridge and a portcullis that slams down in an instant, thanks to a clever Technic mechanism.
Lego has offset the masses of grey bricks by adorning the structure with a variety of colourful details and beautifully designed curiosities including a medieval cottage, flowery window boxes, ornate architectural details, climbing plants, and a large tree. The latter’s black trun▨k is a neat ode to the Fores𒀰tmen sets released from 1987-1990, which also featured black and green foliage.
A large part of the castle’s charm is its irregular design. Largely symme﷽trical castles do exist and Lego could have easily replicated this via a couple of large baseplates. But many castles were added 💫to or altered over the years and the Lion Knights' Castle reflects this. The hulking set is built atop a variety of differently shaped tiles, resulting in a build that’s both believable and bursting with character.
Open the set up and you’ll fin♛d a൲ beautifully detailed dollhouse-like interior, with more than ten rooms
While the Lion Knights' Castle comprises thousands of pieces and stands as one of the larger Lego sets ever created, it’s still only a small section of what would be a Minifigure-scale castle. After all, it doesn’t even have a keep. But despite the necessary limitations, the designers hav🍷e done a marvellous job of hiding the set’s diminutive size (comparative to the real world). It can be hinged open to create a sprawling folly or closed up to create a self-contained castle that can be viewed from any angle. In both instances, it looks suitably sized and the absent keep isn’t missed.
Open the set up and you’ll find a beautifully detailed dollhouse-like interior, with more than ten rooms including a bed chamber, mill, kitchen, armory, and even a medieval toilet – complete with a sponge on a stick…&nb𒀰sp;
One glaring omission is the lack of a throne room. This is a missed oppo💖rtunity and could have been easily added😼 to or swapped out for the living space with a harpsichord.
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The Lady of the Brave Lion features a unique cape and shield and features an alternative hairpiece✨ with a tiara, for🍬 when she’s not in full battle garb.(Image credit: Future)
Could this Blackꦑ Falcon Knightꦿ be searching for the Holy Grail? (Image credit: Future)
We really like the herald tr🐼umpeter’s puffingℱ face print. (Image credit: Future)
The castle features two child Mi๊nifigures and a little𝕴 lamb.(Image credit: Future)
The lute is a𒀰 fun accessory for this forest person.(Image credit: Future)
Horses with pivoting back legs are a mod con older Lego sets never h🌳ad. (Image credit: Future)
But that aside, eac🅰h room is bursting with neat details like the working millstone, dungeon cell occupied with a skeleton, or throwback to the original 1978 Castle (375), via the yellow miniature in the children's playroom. There’s even a secret hideout for the forest people to plot their next raid, hidden behind𝔍 the rock face next to the tree.
The vast majority of Lego builders will be happy to know that there isn’t a sticker in sight. And while there aren’t lots of printed p👍ieces beyond the Minifigures, we certainly weren't left wanting and this still adds to the premium feel.
The Minifigure selection is just as grand as the castle itself. You get a huge roster of 22 figures: nine Lion Knights, the Lady o🌠f the Brave Lion (queen), three Black Falcon knights, two forest people, two 𒆙children, two peasants, Tavern Keeper, Majisto Wizard, and skeleton. And that’s not including two horses, a cow, bird, lamb, and several frogs.
Since Lego is a toy that can be enjoyed by everyone, it’s nice to see knights of various genders, and while Lego could have supplied nine near-identical Lion Knights, the variety of face prints and gear are fantastic. The herald trumpꦅeter, for example, has puffed out cheeks and the sleeping guard is a hilarious and charming highlight.
Should you buy the Lego Lion Knights' Castle?
The sleeping guard is a charming add♊ition to the set. (Image credit: Future)
Dig out the herald trumpets, because this set deser🦩ves much fanfare. While this 90th anniversary set is a not-so-subtle nod to Lego's coveted past, it’s also a shining example of everything it’s accomplished since. It's a modern masterpiece that’s more than capable of capturing the imagination of brick-building newcomers, but it's also infused with enough nostalgia to transport Lego-loving adults right back to the Castle theme's '70s, '80s, and '90s heyday.
It’s a shame there’s no throne room and with a price-per-piece ratio of just 8.9 cents, it’s perhaps slightly pricey for a non-licensed product. But overall, it’s hard to find fault. It’s enormous, it’s detailed, it’s stunning 💞to look at, and perhaps most importantly, it took us right back to our childhood bedroom floor. If this is how Lego celebrates its 90th, 2032 can’t come soon enough.
Buy it if...
You’re a middle ages aficionado Like visiting castles, The ༺Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Dungeons & Dr🌞agons, The Witcher, or anything else medieval or high-fantasy themed? This set's for you!
You’re hoping Lego will bring back its Castle theme If yo🔯u're of the mindset that Lego’s Castle theme should still be a mainstay, you'll revel in the Lion Knights' Castle's generous do👍llop of brick-building nostalgia.
Don't buy it if...
You’re running out of room! The Eiffel Tower✃ (10307) has already taken up the dining room table and you’ve now hired a storage locker﷽ to dump all those Star Wars battle packs you never opened. You know who you are!
You've already splashed your cash Already spent your 2023 Lego allowance on (71043) and are n🅘ow savi༺ng for (10316)? We get it.
How we tested the Lego Lion Knights' Castle
I built the L♑ion Knights' Castle during 11 hours and across four evenings. An instruction booklet for each of the two modules would make it an ideal co-operative build and due to the special nature of this 90th anniversary set, I’d recommend putting it together in leisurely increments to savour what is one of the finest Lego sets ever produced.
When he's not putting together Lego or board game reviews for us, Mike is Deputy Editor of. He also brin🍒gs over 10 years of experience writing both freelance and for some of the biggest specialist publications.