Author Topic: 6697 Take Along Black Baron's Castle (Super 4)  (Read 5676 times)

Offline StJohn

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6697 Take Along Black Baron's Castle (Super 4)
« on: January 03, 2016, 22:09:59 »
This set has been out now for a while but has not been reviewed in this forum. I suspect it is not very much loved, so I want to speak up for it. This does not come easily because of some flaws, but, as a Playmobil castle, it merits our attention. Perhaps even a little bit of love.

A comparison must be made to set 4440 (a.k.a. 5803) Knight's Take Along Castle of 2007, another castle that does not stir a lot of affection in the Playmobil community but which I quite like, simply because it requires no assembly work whatsoever when you fancy filling spare minutes with a bit of knights play but otherwise like to keep your place free of bulky toys. I will come back to it later, but let me now draw attention to 4440's main weakness: its dreadful wolf emblem. Coincidence or not, 6697 too carries the wolf badge, less objectionable in its design perhaps, but still a far cry from the pretty Playmobil heraldry of yore.

Now over to 6697. Handy big box with flip lid, and quite full as well:



Bags and bits:



Not too many stickers:



Most stickers are for decorating the castle residence: four on the walls, one (a lovely carpet!) on the floor. Little markers point to their correct position, which is handy. Not optimal is the fact that the background grey of the stickers does not match the colour of the walls, slightly spoiling the effect of a hanging shield with swords:



The hardest sticker to place is the sixth, on the door. Cat lovers might consider leaving it out altogether:



Assembly is easy, and this is the finished model, basically a big central tower plus flanking walls with smaller corner towers (for clarity's sake I will refer to the latter as turrets). There is a breakaway element in the left-hand wall.




The tower is quite sturdy, and it might be a challenge to take off the roof after assembly (the wolf heads cover the slots for the clips that fasten the roof, and themselves cannot be removed without excessive force). The hinges for the side walls and first floor rear wall function well. The building is of the same bluish grey colour as the dragon towers 4835 and 4836, so quite different from the standard grey of most Playmobil castles. The stonework relief is rather nice (with mortar lines running uninterrupted from the tower onto the side walls), and is reminiscent of the pattern appearing on the walls of castles 4865 and 4866.

The handle has a neat little ball that prevents it from dropping down on your indoor scenes:



The castle is meant to be folded together for storage and transport, to which end the walls are wrapped around the tower. To achieve this, the top of the turrets will have to come off, and the allure (walkway) removed and stored, with its supports turned sideways:




The compacted model then looks like this:



As can be expected, there is not much scope for customizing, as far as I can see. But it was a positive surprise that the smaller wolf heads on the turrets are fixed with the help of yellow System X connectors, and can be used elsewhere:



Two features of the castle I do not understand:

It is great that the castle offers a way of accessing the tower roof, with a ladder and a lockable hatch:



But why the big hole? I assume that the classic hatch (30076140, etc) was not suitable (because it cannot be locked), but this does not explain why the opening is taking up about half of the platform. At any rate, the hatch seems to be a new part (slightly shorter but wider than a door).

The other one is the first floor apartment. As can be seen in one of the above pictures, the floor does not extend all the way to the back of the tower. Why? Space is premium, and the Black Baron and his treasure chest effectively take up all the room there is. His suite could easily have been a few centimetres deeper.

Moving on to the Klickies:



The two soldiers come with wrist guards that I have not seen before: longer and slimmer than the ubiquitous older model.

The red footman is looking good (but why always the long-sleeved undervests?) but I prefer him without the grey shoulder pieces. His helmet's nose protector hides the lovely irregular lock of his new-style classic hair. And why did he not get a shield?

The archer is too grey for a medieval figure, and strikes me more as modern military or police if we can disregard his elaborate collar. I have not encountered his bow in that colour before.

Black Baron is a nice figure. Unfamiliar as I am with the TV series, I'm at a loss to explain his anachronistic appearance, with uniform-style trousers but knight arms. Nor do I grasp the reason why his left and right arm are different. The chain around his neck is quite nice. His new type of new hair (as discussed before) has the partition out of the centre. It can indeed be worn by any other Klicky, with the same effect of covering one eye (red footman squeezing in!):



The Black Baron has nice face printing, but beware of printed beards that merely accentuate the lack of a chin!



The set is modest in accessories. It comes with two free-standing torches and an ornate treasure chest, with a bag of coins to fill it (alleviating the worry that coins might be phased out). The chest is of a new colour, and the plastic has a pleasing wavy texture:



The best accessory to my mind is the wall-mounted ballista with two types of projectiles. It is a new model, also featuring (in a different colour) in 6002, and superior to the free-standing ballista first seen in the Roman sets of 2006: it is mobile yet secure, shoots well, and looks menacing. The ballista can be mounted on castle walls of set 4268, etc.:



as well as walls of castle 4865, etc.:



but does not fit Steck walls ( :-\).

There is only one ladder included in the set, but the castle requires four to be fully accessible. Geobra could have been more generous here.

It is time to reach a verdict. How does the Black Baron's Castle compare to 4440? Both sets have the same play features (mobility, breakaway wall, launcher) but are radically different is size and weight: 6697 may be taller but is far more compact than 4440, and also lighter. This makes it a more suitable "take along" castle in little hands.



The size reduction comes at a price, though. It is already noticeable in the box art that the turrets of 6697 are quite unrealistic, with the parapet reaching no higher than a Klicky's middle and offering very little space for action. Clearly, current design philosophy favours playability and convenience over realism. We need to bear this in mind when considering 6697's very rudimentary drawbridge (compared to 4440's fully operational one, albeit in red >:(), or its two minimalistic rock elements that only symbolize a mountain landscape but cannot be climbed by the figures (3665 where are you?? :sorrow:).

Some might regret this, but perhaps it is better to accept current trends in toy design and stop comparing the new with the old. The launch price of set 6697 was a bit hefty but I'm glad I purchased it in a sale. I still prefer 4440 for its more monumental look and deeper commitment to realism, but see that 6697 is a good and aesthetically pleasing toy.

StJohn :wave:
« Last Edit: January 03, 2016, 22:57:48 by StJohn »

Offline Tiermann

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Re: 6697 Take Along Black Baron's Castle (Super 4)
« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2016, 22:40:32 »
Thank you for the very thorough review. I would like to have the figures from this set but don't find the structure very useful seeming. I think it looks best folded up as a single large tower. Will watch for it on the secondary market for the figures I guess.

Offline Rhalius

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Re: 6697 Take Along Black Baron's Castle (Super 4)
« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2016, 23:34:42 »
It does look better folded up, but the wolf heads seem way too big for such a small tower.

To me it still just seems like some company is trying to make fake playmobil though, I get that vibe with all super 4 sets. While the idea is nice, its very poorly executed. Those stickers especially seem very amateurish. Not even a real rug but a sticker.

Offline Klickteryx

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Re: 6697 Take Along Black Baron's Castle (Super 4)
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2016, 02:40:10 »
I like the design features and the way it folds up is very good. I agree with Tiermann's assessment that it looks better folded up.
I think the walkways and scaffolding are wasted on it and would like to see these in another set, it would also have been nice to have the option of not using the red wolf heads.
The thing which is really bizzare is the placement of the gate lock. It would have been better to have this looking more like a klicky could use it.
The stickers are awful with the exception of the carpet which I really like. I have no problem with this as a sticker and it would be easy enough to mount it on card paper if you want a moveable carpet.
The klickies themselves look great and I hope to see that new sword elsewhere, it's probably the most accurate single hand medieval sword they've done to date. I'm also liking the braziers and ballista.

Basically I like all the accessories and think the actual castle is rubbish. Now back to sorting out the pile of steck in front of me.

Offline tahra

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Re: 6697 Take Along Black Baron's Castle (Super 4)
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2016, 08:46:25 »
Thanks for the detailed review... I am not buying system WHY stuff, so I've been saving a fortune in castles.

Cat lovers might consider leaving it out altogether:

:lmao:

The castle is meant to be folded together for storage and transport, to which end the walls are wrapped around the tower. To achieve this, the top of the turrets will have to come off, and the allure (walkway) removed and stored, with its supports turned sideways:

I really like those "wood parts"... and the ladder in dark brown..

But it was a positive surprise that the smaller wolf heads on the turrets are fixed with the help of yellow System X connectors, and can be used elsewhere:

Oh.. interesting!

The two soldiers come with wrist guards that I have not seen before: longer and slimmer than the ubiquitous older model.

Ah, FINALLY some proper options for those arms... I wish they'd just kept the normal arms (the wrists, I mean).. And do not get me started on the speedo arms!  >:(


It comes with two free-standing torches (...)

I hand't noticed those "bases" before..

Like the others, I hunt the klickys... I am missing the brown torso one..

Offline Birdie

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Re: 6697 Take Along Black Baron's Castle (Super 4)
« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2016, 09:02:29 »
That's a very detailed review, thanks a lot!

What I like about this set is the carpet. I'd really like one of those now  ;D
And surprisingly, I like the new black haircut a lot when it's on a normal clicky's head.

The floor not going all the way through is ridiculous though. There's not enough room to do anything. It's the same with the new system WHY?! forest house.

Offline Salamander

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Re: 6697 Take Along Black Baron's Castle (Super 4)
« Reply #6 on: January 04, 2016, 21:33:55 »
My favourite thing about this review is the disclaimer/plea in the first paragraph!  :lol:

I love those fire holder thingies!

I'm not super familiar with all the different castles, but this seems pretty good one for a kid to pack up/take and play with.

Offline StJohn

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Re: 6697 Take Along Black Baron's Castle (Super 4)
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2016, 22:00:37 »
My favourite thing about this review is the disclaimer/plea in the first paragraph!  :lol:

Thanks! Well, with opinions here at Playmofriends sometimes less than sunny about recent Knights releases, I anticipated a level of criticism that the set has indeed provoked. And I see why: Playmobil nowadays seems a bit lazy in the classical themes where it used to shine in the past (knights, pirates), and more exciting things seem to be happening in modern themes. Lovers of historical stuff (like me) lose out. Yet I still prefer to judge a set for its own merits, and not by some long-lost golden standard, and can only conclude that this is a well-made and attractive toy. Of course nobody needs to like it, but saying that

its very poorly executed.

is simply not true. Somebody has designed this set with heart, and I'm sure that someday somebody will remember this as a much-loved childhood toy.

By the way, as some of you are interested in the figures, let me tell you that the next issue of the Super 4 magazine (Blue Ocean Entertainment AG) will be hitting the shops on March 5th, and will include the Black Baron figure!



Price €4.20. I'm happy to source some for sending abroad (postage €3.20 or €3.75, depending on size) so let me know (PM) if you want me to get you one.

Ah, FINALLY some proper options for those arms... I wish they'd just kept the normal arms (the wrists, I mean).. And do not get me started on the speedo arms!  >:(

Thanks, Tahra, you're a real master! I hadn't realised  :zz: that the old model wrist guard wouldn't fit on what you so aptly describe as "speedo arms".

StJohn :wave:


Offline tahra

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Re: 6697 Take Along Black Baron's Castle (Super 4)
« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2016, 22:30:03 »
Thanks, Tahra, you're a real master! I hadn't realised  :zz: that the old model wrist guard wouldn't fit on what you so aptly describe as "speedo arms".

Ah, no... "Speedo arms" are the arms of the "speedo klickys" - the ones (originally) in a swimsuit. And, btw, I did not invent that name, someone else did.

Anyways, the problem with the speedo arms is a LOT more serious than these "smooth wrist" ones (like the roman ones, and tshirts). They are gender specific. Yes, you read that correctly. There are MALE ARMS and FEMALE ARMS.

No, I am not over this.  ::)  >:(  :'(

Offline cheng

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Re: 6697 Take Along Black Baron's Castle (Super 4)
« Reply #9 on: January 15, 2016, 01:12:17 »
May i know the height (length) of the walkway supports and whether they are thicker than a klickies' hand grip?