PlaymoFriends
General => Report & Review => Topic started by: Rhalius on May 14, 2014, 23:39:57
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I waited for these to be released before placing my DS order, so got them as fast as I could pretty much. :)
(http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac337/Rhalius/025_zpsf2e0f3a7.jpg) (http://s913.photobucket.com/user/Rhalius/media/025_zpsf2e0f3a7.jpg.html)
Must say they are a great bunch of knights, each quite unique in their own way. Here's a more detailed oversight of all the items each one has.
(http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac337/Rhalius/021_zps317c3ab9.jpg) (http://s913.photobucket.com/user/Rhalius/media/021_zps317c3ab9.jpg.html)
I really like that each knight uses a different model of sword, shield, flag and most their stuff.. which does make it a shame they did not do this all the way through though.
There's another axe model after all.. they could have used that one as well, and the dragon knight could have had just one axe weapon instead.
Also two knights wear the same arm armor. Not needed either.
Please note though that I think my dragon knight has an extra mace.. I believe he's only supposed to have one.
The weapon rack appears to be the only new mold in these sets.
Here's the most noteable items in these sets.
(http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac337/Rhalius/022_zps09549611.jpg) (http://s913.photobucket.com/user/Rhalius/media/022_zps09549611.jpg.html)
The bronze and iron armor look quite nice in my opinion. Would have been nicer if the coloring on the iron armor was a bit more even, but it looks used. thats good.
Also, the dragon knight swords and the lion knight's axe are black! not dark metal, but black! Somehow I quite like this. Looks rather threatening.
I also wanted to show how these curved swords fit onto the back of the copper knight. Its quite snug and he cant really ride a horse this way.. with one sword there he can, but has to lean forward a bit. The other sword shapes seem to slide easier into these slots on his back, but might also fall out easier. the curved swords are quite snug.
Moving onto the new item: the weapon rack.
(http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac337/Rhalius/023_zpsaa947da8.jpg) (http://s913.photobucket.com/user/Rhalius/media/023_zpsaa947da8.jpg.html)
While theres nothing wrong with the old weapon rack models, this is a fine addition to it. Something more personal for a specific knight, and it can fit a lot of items in it.
Two weapons on the front, three at the back and room for a shield. The horse shield is best not put too far into this space though, since it gets stuck! something to do with the model. Took me quite some effort and a (playmobil)axe to get it out of there. The other shields go in and out just fine though.
I'm guessing all medieval collectors will be quite happy with at least one of these knights, the colors and heraldry seems quite good, better than usual at least.
(http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac337/Rhalius/024_zps5308909e.jpg) (http://s913.photobucket.com/user/Rhalius/media/024_zps5308909e.jpg.html)
On to my personal verdict for each knight:
The dragon knight:
+ has black swords.
+ has a unique armor coloring.
- has overdone heraldry, both the colors and the dragon symbol.
- Slight fantasy design.
The lion knight:
+ silverish armor.. its shiny.
+ Beautifull heraldry on the chest design.
+ wrist armor thats either new or not done in silver yet.
+ Unique color scheme.
+ Black greataxe.
- Shoulder armor is dark and can't be removed. Would have prefered a full silver armor suit.
- No Silver weapons.. I'd love to have weaponry with the same silverish shine as the armor.
The horse knight:
+ Bronze armor.
+ Completely unique heralrdry, not sure a horse has been used ever before.
+ Has less common sword and dagger models. (at least to me.)
- Weapons on back not always handy, slots for this look silly when empty.
- Shield easily gets stuck into weapon rack.
- Gold weapons don't match the copper that well, copper weapons would have been better.
- gold chainmail as "hair" Looks even more out of place than gold weapons, will replace this with hair.
The Eagle knight:
+ Shiny gold armor.
+ Beautifull shield.
+ Unique color combination.
- Feather keeps dropping from helmet.
- Arm armor could have been a more compact design.
- No noteworthy weaponry.
Still, I'd rate the horse knight as my favorite despite having the most flaws. I just really like the bronze armor. Equipment wise, it seems like he'd win the tournament between these guys since he has the best armor (no huge feathers or open face helmet) and can carry two sheathed weapons instead of one, giving him another edge.
Gues I like the lion and eagle knight about equally, both good as the heroic kind. While I like the dragon knight less, he's better than I initially thought he would be. The unique armor coloring and black swords really are redeeming factors to consider.
I gues that pretty much covers everything. Feel free to ask further questions if you have them.
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An excellent review! They would make a grand addition to any collection. I like the horses too. I guess their garb will not fit the older style horses though, am I right? Thanks for the great pictures.
Joe
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Wow, now I really can't wait for mine to arrive.... they got through customs so it should be any day now. :love:
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Thanks for the review and great pictures! :)
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A very thorough review; thank you.
Armour and weaponry would often be the same for knights, only the richest knights would have armour made especially for them to unique designs. Most knights would, in effect, choose their armour from a pattern book, similarly with weapons.
The dragon knight's heraldry looks Celtic in its intricate dragon symbol, so quite authentic.
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Great review. I picked up all four but have only opened the red dragon so far, the others have to wait until I am home. I would have preferred the horse head cloth rather then the tack, but they matched colors up at least and it looks OK. This coat fits this horse type best as it was designed for it. I don't know if other horse types can wear it successfully. The horse heraldry is only the second time, the first a very different very old Native American design.
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Thanks for the detailed pics...
Love that blue one's torso.. and those colors.. :love:
Please tell me there is a part number for the half-cape for this new clockwork knight? Pretty please?
I really like the neckpiece, but looks a bit odd without the cape, and I'm missing several.
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What an excellent review! Thanks!
I have to read it again carefully, as I might have to ask you for several part numbers. That blue horse coat is a great addition, the green reins too, and the golden legs… :love:
I love that they reissued the pointed visor (green knight) that used to be only available with an old US-exclusive. The new weapon racks are nice and a bit of a change from the old mold. Could be used as a fence also maybe…
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Thanks for the review, Rhalius! All the instruction PDFs are online at Playmobil, search there or follow the little-blue-head links at: 5355, 5356, 5357 and 5358: Tournament knights (http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/your_set_list.pl?setlist=5355,5356,5357,5358;title=5355, 5356, 5357 and 5358: Tournament knights)
With 1676 PDFs online right now, and new ones getting put up very promptly, it's always worth a search on the official site!
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Thanks for the review, Rhalius! All the instruction PDFs are online at Playmobil, search there or follow the little-blue-head links at: 5355, 5356, 5357 and 5358: Tournament knights (http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/your_set_list.pl?setlist=5355,5356,5357,5358;title=5355, 5356, 5357 and 5358: Tournament knights)
With 1676 PDFs online right now, and new ones getting put up very promptly, it's always worth a search on the official site!
DOH! Thanks :-[
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Great review Rhalius! That painted armour does look cooler than I thought, and the extra weapons that come with these knights do make them a bit more worth their price.
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That worn steel/iron look is the actual plastic, its not applied paint at all. They did something really interesting there with the plastics in the molding.
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Thanks for the review, Rhalius! All the instruction PDFs are online at Playmobil, search there or follow the little-blue-head links at: 5355, 5356, 5357 and 5358: Tournament knights (http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/your_set_list.pl?setlist=5355,5356,5357,5358;title=5355, 5356, 5357 and 5358: Tournament knights)
With 1676 PDFs online right now, and new ones getting put up very promptly, it's always worth a search on the official site!
Thanks Hearher! And good to read you here again! ;D
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That worn steel/iron look is the actual plastic, its not applied paint at all. They did something really interesting there with the plastics in the molding.
That sounds awesome. That was probably my biggest concern with these pieces. Now I'm excited to get some. :) Thanks for the information.
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Thanks for the review. Really like the pictures!
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Thanks everyone.
I'm still trying to decide on what hair to give these guys.. I want to change their hair up a bit so they will be more unique from the standard version. Will get to it when working on the next story though, since then I'll have most playmobil out anyways.
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I'm still trying to decide on what hair to give these guys.. I want to change their hair up a bit so they will be more unique from the standard version. Will get to it when working on the next story though, since then I'll have most playmobil out anyways.
Hair wise, I'm guessing our green guy won't have "prince hair"... At least none of them has THAT hair! :P