PlaymoFriends

General => Report & Review => Topic started by: Gis on September 16, 2010, 08:45:08

Title: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Gis on September 16, 2010, 08:45:08
I am really excited about the new knight sets and purchased a 4871 to go up against the 4873 I reviewed earlier.

There are many things I would have done differently in this set but don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a real good one and at 14 Euros it’s at a very nice price point!

Sorry for the picture quality I am having issues with lighting  :(
 
If you look at the box cover you see that this fabulous Lion knights are traveling east (right) where as the evil Falcon knights were going west (left) so clearly they are on a collision course! However I don’t think 2 vs 4 is a fair fight…have to get me some more Falcon knights!

(http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a415/gorraxpb/Review%204871/IMG_2638.jpg)

The back of the box shows everything in much more detail and there are already so many remarks I want to make. But I will refrain for now and will get to that in the more detailed pictures.

(http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a415/gorraxpb/Review%204871/IMG_2639.jpg)

In the following picture you see the contents of the box. Here they are in all their glory: three bags of playmo goodness, a horse, a horse coat and a pole. 

(http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a415/gorraxpb/Review%204871/IMG_2640.jpg)

Here is an overview of the unbagged things together with the contents of the first bag!

Here is my first major gripe with this set in particular, but there have been sets before with the same issue. If you make a set with a horse coat, please please please also have an accompanying head cover for the horse. What do you guys think should there be a yellow or white head cover for this horse, or maybe even black? I think yellow, but why can’t they make some form of matching head cover UGH!

The weapons are simple and straight forward, two swords and one axe, nothing to see moving along.
 
There is also a torch to light the cannon like thing and a arrow holder thingy.

The new shields are a thing of beauty, I really like the shape ! There is also a new feature on the back as the piece which the klicky holds can also be turned (see the second (blurry) picture).

Finally the banner is very nice, I like they made it in fabric and not plastic.

(http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a415/gorraxpb/Review%204871/IMG_2642.jpg)

(http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a415/gorraxpb/Review%204871/IMG_2654.jpg)

The second bag contains the klickies and their "wearables". Let’s get the easy part out of the way first.

There is a leather arm greave for the crossbow man; it’s a useful piece, nothing fancy.

There are three helmets, the two on the left ones are knight helmets that we have seen many a time but they added little red lion figures to go on top. I think it’s nice so I am happy with them. The next one is the standard conical helmet with a nose-guard added. I think this is one of the best helmet designs they have done in a long while and I think I will order some more from DS!

The two knight figures also have arms greaves. I think they are a new design, but nothing that creates a WOW effect.

Then we come to the meat of this set, the klickies, let’s go through them from left to right.

The klicky on the left is the cannoneer. Overall it is a very good design and there are lots of useful stuffs for customizing. However why oh why would soldiers in the middle ages NOT WEAR A HELMET??? Oh well, it’s easily fixed, but I really don’t understand.

The next one over is a piece of work. Why these angry eyebrows on one of the good kings man? The legs though are great, AFAIK they are a new design it’s a slightly shorter split skirt but with the legs have more detailed armor. I will be posting a custom with these soon, because I think they are very well done. But why oh why does it have a black split skirt when you have a yellow torso is beyond me. The armor he is wearing has already been discussed here and there are lovers and haters so let’s leave it at that!

And know we come to one of the best piece in the set. Just like the figure in 4873 this klicky lacks the faction’s crest, which I assume is done so kids can use it for whatever. This klicky has full plate armor though is what I think is one of the best pieces in this set. It is part of the klicky but it goes all the way to the bottom of his torso, it only covers the top part of his back though so that is still slightly unfortunate, but I am sure I will be able to put this to great use.

The last one in the row has the best raw design IMHO. It is a crossbow man so the short sleeves are ok and the rest of the klicky comes nicely together. He is the one with the new conical helmet and I can already imagine a whole regiment of these, although I might change their belts to red (/me WANTS!!)

(http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a415/gorraxpb/Review%204871/IMG_2646.jpg)

(http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a415/gorraxpb/Review%204871/IMG_2644.jpg)

And finally we have the cannon and the crossbow. I know they used cannons in the latter half of the Middle Ages; it’s just not for me. So I will happily put these aside and never look back. The new shooting mechanism is not as much fun as the old anyway so I think a lot of kids will be disappointed. The crossbow is of standard design.

(http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a415/gorraxpb/Review%204871/IMG_2648.jpg)

And finally we have the fully assembled troop. Like I said at the start, even though there are many things I would do differently I think it is a marvelous set and I am sure that I will buy more of them!

(http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a415/gorraxpb/Review%204871/IMG_2656.jpg)

Thank you for reading!
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: flatcat on September 16, 2010, 08:55:46
Great review Gis! :wave:

I'm not sure I like the heraldry of this set (or any of the new Knights sets) :-[

The cannon looks pretty cool, though I am a sucker to anything with wheels! :lol:

Damo :)

Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Heronimus on September 16, 2010, 08:57:09
Thanks for the review, very detail and would like to get some of them :wave:
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: flatcat on September 16, 2010, 09:14:27
The more I look at your photos, Gis, the more they are appealing :lens: :yup:

I think it is the box image that doesn't do them any favours

Damo :)
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Erik on September 16, 2010, 09:17:36
Thanks for the review-nice job!I really like these guys too, already formed me a little company of about 60 men-they even look better in larger numbers!I love the-finally!-more realistic looking heraldry too! :)
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Bolingbroke on September 16, 2010, 09:22:14
Thanks for the review Gis  :)

I agree with you regarding the archer: the best looking figure in this set. Not that crazy about the rest I'm afraid. I'll still get some though, for customising.
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Erik on September 16, 2010, 10:02:50


The klicky on the left is the cannoneer. Overall it is a very good design and there are lots of useful stuffs for customizing. However why oh why would soldiers in the middle ages NOT WEAR A HELMET??? Oh well, it’s easily fixed, but I really don’t understand.

The next one over is a piece of work. Why these angry eyebrows on one of the good kings man? The legs though are great, AFAIK they are a new design it’s a slightly shorter split skirt but with the legs have more detailed armor. I will be posting a custom with these soon, because I think they are very well done. But why oh why does it have a black split skirt when you have a yellow torso is beyond me. The armor he is wearing has already been discussed here and there are lovers and haters so let’s leave it at that!






Men-at-arms mostly had to supply their own equipment during the middle ages, and helmets were extremely expensive...This guy can't even buy a shaving razor, so...

About the two "armoured" figures-try changing their legs, switching them.I did, and they look WAY better imho!

Thanks again for the nice review! :)
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Bolingbroke on September 16, 2010, 10:19:29
 :lol: :lol: :lol:

Swapping legs might work - yes. But again, this brings us back to what we were discussing some weeks ago. Why do you have to swap the legs of a new set in order to make the klickies look better? Isn't that what the PM design team should do? Why are some things obvious to us but not to them?

 ??? ??? ??? ???
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Erik on September 16, 2010, 11:11:08
:lol: :lol: :lol:

Swapping legs might work - yes. But again, this brings us back to what we were discussing some weeks ago. Why do you have to swap the legs of a new set in order to make the klickies look better? Isn't that what the PM design team should do? Why are some things obvious to us but not to them?

 ??? ??? ??? ???

You're right about that!It's like the "gold-legged" crusader special a few years ago...never understood that either. :)
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Wolf Knight on September 16, 2010, 11:19:34
Lovely pictures~!!! I dont have the time to got ttrough your review now Gis (will do so once I get home) but the blonde knight's torso looks very interesting!!! Its a new mold is it not??
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Gis on September 16, 2010, 11:31:16
Lovely pictures~!!! I dont have the time to got ttrough your review now Gis (will do so once I get home) but the blonde knight's torso looks very interesting!!! Its a new mold is it not??

It's a regular silver torso, the armor is seperate and is new AFAIK!
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Wolf Knight on September 16, 2010, 11:35:49
It's a regular silver torso, the armor is seperate and is new AFAIK!

Oh so its like the half plate one! Cool!
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Elric on September 16, 2010, 13:35:12
Good review!  Can't wait for these to come to the states.
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Martin Milner on September 16, 2010, 21:55:53
Great review Gis, I really enjoy your understated humor, and agree with so much that you say.

One thing you might have missed, if the symbol is a black lion (I think maybe it's actually a leopard or puma as it lacks a mane), why is the helmet crest red? It should be BLACK, for goodness sake.

Playmo have a horror of monotone. They just seem incapable of producing a single color knight. The main man in full plate should have the plate legs, but the tops should be silver not black. With the legs they gave him, if the boots were silver to match that'd be OK. He should also be on the horse (with full caparison), and the lesser armored man act as his squire.

I don't mind the helmetless figure, I've got tons of spare helmets and hair if I want to switch, and as he's a long way from the action, he may have chosen not to wear a hot and heavy helmet, or as Eric said, maybe he just couldn't afford a helmet.

As to the cannon, gunpowder was recorded in England in 1334, during the reign of Edward III, so there's plenty of opportunity for an early cannon like this one, though what on earth that missile is supposed to represent is another matter.

The castles in the series have no round towers, and were clearly not built with gunpowder weapons in mind. That's OK too, because obviously you don't develop a defense against a weapon before you've encountered it, nor are castles rebuilt quickly.


As the basic army-buildign set in the series I'll be buying several whern the hit the US, though as you say, there are a few modifications required to the figures to make them more acceptable. As Bolingbroke and Eric observed, you'd think the designers could do a better job than we could, but they obstinately refuse to.
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Gis on September 16, 2010, 23:32:05
One thing you might have missed, if the symbol is a black lion (I think maybe it's actually a leopard or puma as it lacks a mane), why is the helmet crest red? It should be BLACK, for goodness sake.

I don't mind the helmetless figure, I've got tons of spare helmets and hair if I want to switch, and as he's a long way from the action, he may have chosen not to wear a hot and heavy helmet, or as Eric said, maybe he just couldn't afford a helmet.

I agree with you on the fear of Monotone knights although the Red Lion doesn't bother me that much. There main color is yellow with white and black added with red accents. I think it works fine. It makes them less evil :-)

I understand that it is no problem for us to swap his head gear and I already suggested that. I just don't like it *grin*

Thanks for your very constructive feedback Martin!

Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: baden-wurttemberg on September 17, 2010, 02:03:37
Thank you for the great review Gis! I love the canon!  :love: Great pics!  :wave:




Baden  :fireman:
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Heronimus on September 17, 2010, 04:42:49
Gis, maybe you can take a picture of the instructions so playmodb could see new contribution from you~~!!!  8} 8-)
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Gis on September 17, 2010, 13:42:29
I already scanned them and sent them to Heather!
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: WarriorOfToys on September 17, 2010, 19:56:49
Very nice looking set, :o
Thanks for showing us Gis. :)
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: AndrewL on September 18, 2010, 11:38:54
Great review -- many, many thanks!

I've ordered a couple of these sets, together with some of the other new knights sets (via my German in-laws), so I should have them in a few weeks.

I had hoped I might be able to do the first review of these set, but you beat me to it! Oh well -- my fault for living on the wrong  side of the Channel  :lol:!

Cheers,

AndrewL
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Gis on September 18, 2010, 12:52:41
Thank you very much and sorry to beat you to it Andrew, very interested to hear what you have to say once you have received yours. Also there are still a couple oc other sets in the series to review!
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Justindo on September 27, 2010, 04:21:18
Thanks for the review, Gis. :)

I like the new heraldry a lot.  As with many of Playmobil's other medieval sets, this one is useful for parts.  Unfortunately, the Playmobil design team seldom succeeds when it comes to creating perfect individual klickies.  I do like the new plate armor legs, however, and I hope they make them in a variety of colors.  I also like the new plate armor breastplate.  As far as the cannon, it could work for the late middle ages and also for the conquistadors.
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Tiermann on September 27, 2010, 17:15:17
Great review Gis. I think I would do the head cover in white for the horse. It would maintain the rhythm of the parti-colored coat. I would have to try both to be sure which I like best.
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Justindo on September 27, 2010, 17:35:31
I've personally never been a fan of Playmobil's new horse head covers, as they look odd to me.  I prefer to use a bridle and reins.  Of course I understand that many like them and Playmobil should have included a yellow one with this set.  It would be nice if Playmobil included both a head cover and a bridle and reins like they do in 4339 in future sets.
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Wolf Knight on October 10, 2010, 21:25:35
Its only until now that I had the opportunity to go through the whole review .... sorry for being late but I am having rough time these days...

Anyways, I love the review and feedback, I'll agree with the legs and design flaws...I think I'll finally put my spare yellow split skirt of the 4666 special in good use!! As I did with my recent castle knights, there will be a few changes on my part as well!

I'll also agree with the monotone knight comment!!! At first I thought this was a red gryphon/eagle hed on the helmets...and I thought what the heck?  ??? ??? I like the fact that they are represending a feline animal but why red?  ??? ???

All and all I really enjoyed this detailed review and its feedback and I like to know what lies ahead of me ;D ;D ;D!!

Thank you Gis!!!
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Bolingbroke on November 11, 2010, 07:37:17
Bought all the Lion Knights (except the castle) yesterday, and I must say I am more than pleasantly surprised. I will still do some basic customising to get them in order, but I think they're still very nice figures for the most part.

I like the new cannons, which can look really good in a lot of knight-related dioramas all the way up to the late middle-ages (for eg the Great Siege of Malta), but I would've loved PM to give us some more spare missiles. Two is a little bit too tight-fisted for my liking, even moreso considering that 1) the sets are not that cheap to start off with 2) until a few years ago we used to have more stuff for our cash (the roman scorpions with 4 missiles being a case in point).

I like the new shields too, especially with the new handle mechanism. However I still think PM should be using the Egyptian shields more, the way you customisers do. Also, I would like to have seen more variety shape-wise. The 5 shields I got yesterday all have the same shape! What else?

Some figures are very very pretty even without having to customise them. For example the two footsoldiers that come with the treasure set and the catapult thingy set respectively are basically very well-executed updates of the old knights from the 90's. Others could have been much better done: for example I do not particularly like any of the armoured knights in these sets, with the standard-bearing one with the black legs being particularly vile. I also do not like the knight-logoed chestplate on the cannon guy ... looks like a medieval football shirt to me.

The spangelhelm with the nose guard is one of my favourite things about this set, and had been a long time coming. However I would've liked the nose guard to be a bit longer. It would've looked better.

That's about it for now. I will be buying the baddies at a later date. Yesterday I also bought the new crib, which I might review, and you know ... such buys can really make a dent in your monthly budget.

 ::) ::) ::)
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Bolingbroke on November 14, 2010, 09:28:16
(http://i53.tinypic.com/vyv7ub.jpg)

This is how I customised the knights I bought, just by swapping things around and using some spares I had lying around. The archer got his neck piece and his hair changed. The next three klickies are supposed to be infantry I guess - two of them got new legs (courtesy of the courageous knight special). The next one is a knight: I gave him the legs from the other knight in the set, and the horns from the evil polka dot knight from some years ago. The mounted knight, the horse headpiece is from an advent calendar (I think). The knight himself went thru some substantial changes: the legs from the knight special, and a whole new armour. Next two klickies are supposed to be guards. I removed that fugly red belt they had and instead gave them the classic dagger-at-the-back one recently used on the Masai warriors. The last klicky can perhaps be used as a cannoneer or something, although I must say I still hate that chestplate with a vengeance. I'll probably dismantle him again and use him for spares.
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Gis on November 14, 2010, 12:18:07
Thanks for sharing what you have done with these. I havent had to much time yet to play around with them as I am prioritizing other projects.

These knights do have a lot of potential....and a lot of spare parts *grin*
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Wolf Knight on November 14, 2010, 14:20:51
Great job on the customs!! I love them!! Trully there's a lot you an do with them!!! I also see you have an interesting libraby... :lens:
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Bolingbroke on November 14, 2010, 16:30:16
Thanks  :)

Yeah, that's the 'academic' section of my library  8} ;D
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Justindo on November 14, 2010, 21:20:07
I like your customs better than the originals, Bolingbroke! :)
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Bolingbroke on November 15, 2010, 13:38:26
Thanks  :)

Man, we're really wasted on this forum - give us a job, PM  >:( >:( >:(
 ;D
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: AndrewL on November 20, 2010, 15:53:53
@ Bolingbroke: very nice re-workings of the new Lion Knights. I agree that Playmobil often seem to create great new parts or colour schemes or heraldry, but their own combinations of parts and accessories fall short.

But I guess that leaves more opportunity for the likes of us to mess about and improve on Playmobil's designs!

Here's my take on redesigning some of the new Lion Knights: http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=6299.msg95201#msg95201

Cheers,

AndrewL
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Bolingbroke on November 21, 2010, 14:13:10
I like!

Where did you get those Roman arms with the white sleeve?
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: AndrewL on November 21, 2010, 14:43:40
Hi Bolingbroke,

The arms are from this guy: 30 00 6842 - Warrior, blue/yellow clothes, chainmail coif, blue/yellow shield on chest (http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/showpart.pl?partnum=30%2000%206842). A very nice figure, I think. When I got a few of these guys, I already knew the new Lion Knights were coming out, and I figured the yellow & white arms would work well with them.

Anyway, I used the guy with the yellow and white arms and his fellow from the same set for a group of customs I posted here: http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=5044.msg67920#msg67920

Cheers,

AndrewL
Title: Re: 4871 Review - Lion knight troop
Post by: Bolingbroke on November 21, 2010, 14:56:14
Ah. I see. Very nice indeed! I'm really looking forward to buying more of the new knights, but I'm broke  ;D